Remove ads

I'm a High Fantasy Tax Collector, So What? A CKII Tax Collector Quest

Reader mode
We need to offer something to the dicegods.
EDIT:
They seem to hate our guts:sad:
WallFlower threw 1 100-faced dice. Total: 36
36 36
 
Last edited:
Hrm. Some disclosure and an interest check:

Disclosure: the PC has basically powercrept the setting, which is completely my fault, but unfortunately it's created a pretty unfun dynamic on both sides of the screen. Going forward, there's probably going to be either a redefinition away from the party, or by far the more likely outcome, this case will be the end of the quest.

Interest check: how many people are still interested in playing out this case and possibly quest? If there's significant interest, we'll probably keep playing under the current ruleset through the end of the case and figure out what to from there, but otherwise I'll just speed through a conclusion to the case and wrap up the quest there.
 
I am finding this weird hesitation to post to this thread, can't rightly explain it, but I do intend to keep reading. I think that it has caught me at a few bad times, combined with the ongong political issues and investigative/mystery nature of it, there is a lot to follow, and I have had difficulty following the details, but as I said, this likely has something to do with not being at my best when I read it. I suspect that it could end quite satisfactorily on its present mission, what with the fate of the nation and possibly a good deal more besides hanging rather directly upon it. I would love to see more from the characters beyond, but it would be a clear point to end it on. And it could always be resumed later, possibly with a new format.
 
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
Hrm. Some disclosure and an interest check:

Disclosure: the PC has basically powercrept the setting, which is completely my fault, but unfortunately it's created a pretty unfun dynamic on both sides of the screen. Going forward, there's probably going to be either a redefinition away from the party, or by far the more likely outcome, this case will be the end of the quest.

Interest check: how many people are still interested in playing out this case and possibly quest? If there's significant interest, we'll probably keep playing under the current ruleset through the end of the case and figure out what to from there, but otherwise I'll just speed through a conclusion to the case and wrap up the quest there.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Speaking just as a reader for the narrative, it really doesn't get bigger than this without totally redefining the setting and going all 'take the war to the gods' crap. And as a reader, I'd much prefer a well-written and proper ending to just something dying or getting a slap-dash wrap-up.

But speaking as an uninvolved party who's seen all the salt, the justifications, and drama it caused? I don't see how continuing the quest beyond this case is going to lead to anything good for anyone. Once the loss of "faith in the institution" that is one's fellow players and/or the QM sets in, it's not a matter of rebuilding it. It's how long one can string along the quest before some new bad decision or argument comes up that drags things further down.

For what little it's worth, my principles as a reader and author that say finishing this thing properly outweigh my skepticism in the ultimate quality of the final product. But I don't think trying to salvage something here is going to end well. My advice is to wrap this up, learn from it, and never make the same mistakes again.
 
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
Hrm. Some disclosure and an interest check:

Disclosure: the PC has basically powercrept the setting, which is completely my fault, but unfortunately it's created a pretty unfun dynamic on both sides of the screen. Going forward, there's probably going to be either a redefinition away from the party, or by far the more likely outcome, this case will be the end of the quest.

Interest check: how many people are still interested in playing out this case and possibly quest? If there's significant interest, we'll probably keep playing under the current ruleset through the end of the case and figure out what to from there, but otherwise I'll just speed through a conclusion to the case and wrap up the quest there.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I wouldn't mind continuing, but I also have barely ever seen a quest end before so that would be a new experience. Most of the quests I read just kind of stop posting or become immortal like some kind of glorious cancer, so being part of a quest that actually wrapped up in a satisfying manner would be pretty cool.
 
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
Hrm. Some disclosure and an interest check:

Disclosure: the PC has basically powercrept the setting, which is completely my fault, but unfortunately it's created a pretty unfun dynamic on both sides of the screen. Going forward, there's probably going to be either a redefinition away from the party, or by far the more likely outcome, this case will be the end of the quest.

Interest check: how many people are still interested in playing out this case and possibly quest? If there's significant interest, we'll probably keep playing under the current ruleset through the end of the case and figure out what to from there, but otherwise I'll just speed through a conclusion to the case and wrap up the quest there.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I have forgotten most of details of what has been going on and would need to find the time to reread everything if I want to be capable of making plans again.

If the quest is ever going to have a finale however then this arc makes a great one. You can barely get higher up than deposing a regent.
 
I like this quest and in my opinion quite a few people who are disliking it didn't pay attention to the mechanics being used. A lot of the salt came from losing all those special items in that warehouse fire caused by a bad RER roll.

In my opinion this quest bcame bearable again because that caused a lot of those know it alls to quit. They always wanted foolproof plans and when the RER screwed them over they threw a hissy fit. Those RER rolls weren't new, in fact in the first case my plans were chosen a lot and they got screwed over from time to time as well, hence why that annoying bishop from the first case is still around causing troubles. I always knew foolproof plans weren't possible due to those random rolls, so I played using calculated risks. That way even when it goes wrong I am like "Well, I took a gamble and lost, let's see what we get."

The only thing I sort of disliked was the whole us getting sidelined by having to try and deal with the Shan An, whilst our original mission was to find traitors. So in that regard I was very pleased that whole debacle happened and we could go back to finding traitors, rather than trying to play ambassador.

So yeah, I am actually liking this quest more than before.
 
TheShadowOfZama said:
I like this quest and in my opinion quite a few people who are disliking it didn't pay attention to the mechanics being used. A lot of the salt came from losing all those special items in that warehouse fire caused by a bad RER roll.

In my opinion this quest bcame bearable again because that caused a lot of those know it alls to quit. They always wanted foolproof plans and when the RER screwed them over they threw a hissy fit.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I don't think that's a fair summary of the situation.

First of all, it's extremely insulting and dismissive. "People who were unhappy when we lost most of our stuff to a couple of bad event rolls are just know-it-alls who want foolproof plans." That's kind of an upraised middle finger to them, y'know?

Second of all, being frustrated at high-variance bad events isn't exactly the sole province of know-it-alls. The warehouse fire came after a long succession of being fucked over by natural disasters that chained into one another and distracted or incapacitated the party, or (as you note) random events (like the Shi Anh) that made it impractical to focus on the theoretical mission of the party.

I don't think you can say "we're well rid of all those bozos who eventually gave up when it looked like we could never realistically accomplish our mission because of all the Bad Shit getting in our way." Even if "the players will get kicked in the teeth randomly sometimes" is part of the game design and totally intentional, any given person can only eat so many kicks in the teeth before they're apt to become demoralized. It's just a reality.
 
Simon_Jester said:
I don't think that's a fair summary of the situation.

First of all, it's extremely insulting and dismissive. "People who were unhappy when we lost most of our stuff to a couple of bad event rolls are just know-it-alls who want foolproof plans." That's kind of an upraised middle finger to them, y'know?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

They took quite a bit of my joy away from this quest, don't blame me for being happy. I could have sugar coated it, but the end result would come down to the same thing.

Simon_Jester said:
Second of all, being frustrated at high-variance bad events isn't exactly the sole province of know-it-alls. The warehouse fire came after a long succession of being fucked over by natural disasters that chained into one another and distracted or incapacitated the party, or (as you note) random events (like the Shi Anh) that made it impractical to focus on the theoretical mission of the party.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yeah, but all those failures landed us in unique situations that quite often made me just as interested in seeing what would happen. The July days very nearly screwed over the first case, but I liked the event. The Shi Anh were different as that was just a pointless side quest that we were stuck on for far too long. We were meant to find traitors and we got stuck being ambassadors. It actively put the find traitors quest on hold.

Simon_Jester said:
I don't think you can say "we're well rid of all those bozos who eventually gave up when it looked like we could never realistically accomplish our mission because of all the Bad Shit getting in our way." Even if "the players will get kicked in the teeth randomly sometimes" is part of the game design and totally intentional, any given person can only eat so many kicks in the teeth before they're apt to become demoralized. It's just a reality.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

True, but these people came in with the wrong expectations. Like I said some of my plans got screwed over as well (the July days nearly necked us in the first case to keep it within one year and the bisshop remains free), in my opinion though it was very clear from the start that the RER rolls would cause unfortunate situations from which there was no escape. The OP never hid that fact, so while of course people are allowed to say "Alright, we don't like it anymore, we're out." this is something they should have known from the start, it was not something that was added after the first case. However people started playing with utter risk minimalisation, "no don't pick that option it requires a thirty, take this one because it is an auto-pass." Whilst I don't say pick something that requires a ninety to pass, if the thing with thirty would be more beneficial then try it, because the RER might cause problems for the next turn.
 
Regaurdless, it might have partially because of the starting rolls. On one hand, the MC was absurdly good, but on the other hand, we are spending a lot of time putting out fires that are cropping up everywhere. Honestly, I could see why some people would get upset, but well, the whole nation was a dumpster fire that keeps flaring up. I mean, even good ones could cause problems with how bad the country is, considering the time we needed to go ambassador to minimize the potential damage of that trade expedition...
Simply put, this quest was really shaped by that nation roll.
 
I have been reading this quest from the beginning. I have found that as time went on I was voting less and less. While like many players I got incredibly frustrated bad how bad luck seemed to fuck us over in the random event section, seeming to force us to drop some of the more interesting threads we were pursuing, I never really lost interest in the universe. That said as another poster mentioned I believe a lot of my lack of involvement is a combination of personal/life reasons not because I have given up on it.

Honestly Goodpoint I feel like if you are not enjoying the quest even if there is sufficient interest in the thread it might be wise to rap it up. Few things can sour a quest quite as badly as the QM not enjoying it. If you feel like you can address the issues that have made things unfun for both you and many of the questors then by closing things down and reworking stuff then that would probably be for the best. It would be nice to get back some of the people we lost in the big blow up the thread has honestly felt a kind of listless ever since we lost so many of them.

I will admit that if fixing it means moving away from our current cast of charters I would be saddened, as I have grown somewhat attached to them, but if that's the only way you can see to fix things then do what you must. On the other hand, if you can't find a way you are satisfied with to fix things then all the more reason to close things down. Either way, getting us to an ending would allow you to step back and reexamine things without leaving the people still here hanging. Then you can decide things one way or the other.
 
Last edited:
Remove ads
INTERREGNUM MONTH 5
  • Threadmarks
    • Martial
    Company Hires
    DC: 20. Roll: 19 + 2 + 3.2 + 2 + 4.6

    You're in luck, apparently - one Etrellan mercenary band, the Horns of Plenty, is currently looking to duck their heads for the next while, so their interests in disappearing into the countryside and your interests of having bodyguards happily coincide.

    Interestingly, they don't seem to be as overawed by Ophelia-Oskaria - it could be that the disharmony is reducing the effect, but in the privacy of your mind you're hoping that you're right about the limitations of the spirit of Oskaria.


    Intrigue
    Whispers
    DC: 10. Roll: 22 + 2 + 2 + 6.0 = 32.0.

    Diplomacy
    Requesting Barony Meetings
    DC: 20. Roll: 20 + 2 + 2 + 4.8 = 28.8

    You know that you will receive nothing but delays, on account of noble dignity and whatnot. The best that you can get is "we will consider this matter at the soonest convenient date for our parties," which, translated, probably meant in about another month or so, and without delay.

    Well. No use hoping for the moon, you supposed.


    Stewardship
    Calculating Net Losses
    DC: 25. Roll: 24 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 6.7 = 36.7

    Stewardship
    Documenting Conditions
    DC: 15. Roll: 24 + 2 + 2 + 0.4 = 28.4

    Piety
    Reaffirming Oskarian Blessings
    DC: 20. Roll: 20 + 1.0 = 21

    The Aurora is cold and distant. Ramshackle houses continue to smolder, casting an ominous red gaze over the ashes of the camp. You note another house, and attempt to determine how many people lived here once. It takes you a few minutes, but you find the shards of a few spindles, and that alone tells you somewhere around three spinners lived in this house, which suggested somewhere between two to four foragers also under this roof.

    Quietly, you draw a circle, and bury the spindles. That's the best you can do right now.

    Ophelia stands at the door, white light gone from her body. Her frame is loosely rigid, like the remains of a sickly old oak devoured from the inside. You can only guess that Oskaria didn't want to spend any more time morosely staring at doors, it appeared.

    Just as well for you.

    "Come, Ophelia. Let's move on to the other thing we must do," you say, leaving the house behind you.

    Ophelia stands unmoving as you pass her by, even now towering over you.

    "Is it...really such a good idea? Can we even work with...it?" Ophelia asks quietly.

    You sigh. "Let us set that matter aside for now, then. Come, and I will tell you a story."

    Ophelia turns and quietly falls in step with you.

    "Before I begin the story, I must warn you that it has been some time since I have heard this story recited to me, and unfortunately I was not the one blessed with the gift of tongues.

    "Nevertheless," you say, seating yourself. "I shall attempt to relate it in proper fashion, and that means we ought to be seated in a small room beneath a cold ceiling, although on short notice, being seated shall do."

    The ground is cold and uncomfortable, and the words stick, the old intonations sounding vaguely off yet resonant.

    "There is a story every Colonist is intimately familiar with, since time immemorial. In the long ancient past, so ancient that not even a single stone has survived the passage of such time, once there was our clan. I spin a tale of a time before Justice carved itself out of order, before Wisdom had carved itself out of Time, and before even People carved itself into being. Should you reach far back enough, you would find that our clan predates the kingdoms, the Calamity, and the very rivers and mountains themselves.

    "In this long ancient past, our clan eked out its living on the land. We lived, we died, and we prospered in the hills and the caves.

    "One day, a Tyrant came down to our ancestral lands and demanded our clan follow its ways. Its ways were foreign, unnatural, and could not possibly sustain us all, so we refused.

    "This displeased the Tyrant greatly, and so the Tyrant reached out and scoured one tenth of our clan without the slightest trouble. The Tyrant then threatened that each sunrise we refused to comply, that they would repeat what they had just done. Then, the Tyrant went to sleep.

    "For one day and one night, our clan struggled. We tried hitting them - but our fists glanced off their skin. We tried biting - but found that our teeth broke before their skin was even scratched. We hurled stones, but found no more purchase. On and on through the first day and night, and we could not even scratch them.

    "So in the midnight hours, we told ourselves that perhaps it was invulnerable when it was sleeping, but when it awoke we would have a chance.

    "When the sun rose on the second day, the Tyrant awoke, opened its sleepy eyes, and batted aside our attempts to wound it. Oh, we struggled, but we posed no resistance to the Tyrant, and once again it scoured a tenth of our number before returning to sleep.

    "So for the second day, we sat back, hopelessly defeated. Some called to escape the Tyrant, and some called to appease the Tyrant, and still others demanded to live where their ancestors lived and die where their ancestors died, for even in an era so far lost there were still the ancestors.

    "And so it was this debate raged for one day and one night. We argued until the sun arose, at which point the Tyrant awoke and once again scoured one tenth of our number, uncaring of our debate."

    You pause, and see Ophelia wordlessly watching the stars. From this angle, you cannot tell what she feels. You wonder if you have failed to tell the story correctly, or with the power it should carry, but nevertheless to finish the tale halfway would be a disgrace.

    "I wonder if the stories diverge here. Some colonists say that this is where the clan stood, fought, and died, taking down the Tyrant at the cost of nine tenths their number. Others say this is where the clan escaped, leaving the Tyrant to chase echoes in the vast caves until the earth swallowed up the Tyrant.

    "For our clan, the Appeaser won control - and so on the fourth sunrise, the Appeaser has the clan bow in reverence to the Tyrant.

    '"We will accept your ways,' the Appeaser says. ' We accept your terms, so long as you spare our lives.'

    "So our clan lived on beneath the Tyrant, through the depradations and injustices and the violations that the Tyrant visited upon our clan with abandon. We buried more than we birthed in those long years, as years turned into decades turned into lifetimes.

    "But even the Tyrant was unable to escape time, and the Tyrant was such an existence such that it could never raise children of its own. So one day, the Tyrant died, and although our clan was halved in number our clan survived, and while the Tyrant themselves died we still carry whatever scraps of knowledge and power the Tyrant gave to us.

    "Now, uncountable eons later, our clan lives to tell this story, while even the bones of the Tyrant have been swallowed by the Earth and crumbled into so much dust in the wind."

    "That is the story passed down from the first generation to the seventh generation," you finish, breaking out of your rapturous tone. "Perhaps we will be unable to resist the predations of the Tyrant, but so long as we survive the Tyrant's gifts will be ours, and in time even the Tyrant will pass."

    Ophelia sighs.

    "Okay. Do what you need to do."

    In light of recent events, this is rather unfortunate - in light of the historically minded among you, similarly. Note that Agueda is speaking in his own capacity as a Colonist who has integrated extremely successfully personally and as a member of a deeply integrated colony - his views and his stories are by no means universal.

    You may want to stick a pin in this thought.


    Learning
    Special Tooling
    DC: 25. Roll: 23 + 2 + 0.2

    Piety
    At the Edges
    DC:???. Roll: 16 + 1.9 + 1 = 18.9

    "A bust," Tekla says, knees dirty and hands stuffed into his pockets. "Couldn't find anything."

    "Mm. Found nothing, or was unable to find conclusions?" you ask.

    "Found nothing. Whatever this is, this is pretty far outside the Compact wheelhouse," Tekla angrily mutters. "And there is something - it's just not the usual unusual stuff."

    "That…" Cormag says, hesitantly. "We have asked the local spirits, and they said there was nothing there, right?"

    "I believe so, yes," you nod.

    "So we are dealing with something that is notably atypical, is spiritual in nature, and hides itself from other spirits, correct?" Cormag continues, hands cupped in prayer.

    "That about sums it up," Tekla angrily huffs.

    "I may have encountered something like this in my studies, but I'm not certain - however, I think there may be someone who knows something nearby. At least, I hope old Palmira's still around…"


    Random Event Roll: 36

    The smoke plumes on the horizon tell a story. They tell a story of a rogue army of young patriotic men reveling in the murder and destruction of the hated other for which they blame all woes.

    You want to interrupt.

    But you don't think you can.

    In other news, some local baron has made a whole thing out of a hunt they're about to do - which is curious indeed.


    Salaries and Wages Expense: 5 Budget
    Facilitation Expense: 4 Budget
    Mercenary Expense: 5 Budget.
    Research Expense: 6 Budget
    Net Loss: 20 Budget

    Remaining Budget: 94 Budget

    The evidence you have laid out is thus far damning in your mind.

    You have Regent Coburn's illegal orders to collect taxes multiple times, stamped in his name. You have a visualization and a description of the land he was obligated to protect as part of his domains and his oath to the church, and how he desecrated it with imported labor in contravention to his obligation to denote and regulate immigration into his capacity as minister of State, especially immigration of the special category.

    Category one violation: dereliction of his duties to his peers. Category two violation: dereliction of his duty to the Compact.

    However, you still lacked evidence of connecting overexploitation to his personal decisions, despite the fact that in order to conceal these work camps from everyone else he had to have been aware that there were work camps violating local agreements on land use. Furthermore, you'd need some proof that this overexploitation was ongoing, rather than a mysterious paroxysm of violence. Without those pieces of proof, however, it would be trivially easy to spin the devastation caused by your foolish introduction of an army into the region to be your fault.

    You also lacked hard proof of how they came here in the first place. Hopefully you'd be able to get some answers from what you were tracking down.

    Unfortunately, you don't know if you can truly spin a violation of category three: dereliction of duty to vassals. You simply lack enough information to tell.


    Cormag advises you to talk with old Palmira.

    Kerrie is in agreement that the suspiciously large and ostentatious hunting party is worth checking out.

    Ophelia is slightly concerned about how much money you have left.

    You need the testimony of the spirits beforehand at some point, and you're not confident in the memories of spirits.


    You may spend as much money as you have available. You would be well-advised to find some sources of revenue, before the economy realizes how badly the lumber supply in the region was propped up by all the illegal foresting camps.

    You have three [Free] Action that may be spent in any category.

    You can cooperate with your teammates to add +3 Base Stat to an action you are cooperating on.

    You have four more months to register evidence before you have to start tangling with the new Registrar of Evidence.

    Ophelia carries a bright red glow in her role as Ophelia-Oskaria.

    Martial (Choose 1) {Ophelia-Oskaria Action}
    [] [Martial] Hunting Party
    Officially, one local baron is going hunting. Unofficially, there sure are a lot of people in that hunting party. You may as well meet up with them in person. DC: 20. Cost: 2 Budget.

    Diplomacy (Choose 1) {Tekla Action}
    [] [Diplomacy] Requesting Barony Meetings II
    You laid the groundwork, time to see it through. DC: 25. Cost: 6 Budget.
    [] [Diplomacy] The Merchant Elite
    You don't know if the merchants are aware a market collapse is incoming, but you may as well give them a headsup. They might even pay you for it. DC: 25. Cost: 10 Budget.
    [] [Diplomacy] The Cooperatives
    On the other hand, if the cooperatives don't find out about the impending lumber supply implosion, they don't have the depth to survive. Truthfully, they probably won't have the depth to survive even with the warning - but maybe this can get you a little bit ahead of the curve. DC: 10. Cost: 0 Budget.

    Intrigue (Choose 1) {Kerrie/Agueda Action}
    [] [Intrigue] Hunting the Hunters
    You want to find out much more about this "hunting party", and you are perfectly happy willing to find out without asking permission. DC: 25? Cost: 0 Budget.

    Learning (Choose 1) {Tekla Action}
    [] [Learning] Old Palmira
    Cormag's mentioned talking to an old woman he calls Old Palmira, who might be able to help you narrow down whatever weird spiritual entities you've caught sight of. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
    [] [Learning] Illusive Gear
    It's still probably not safe to show your face - or, well, your body in public. Ditto for Cormag, who has it worse right now. DC: 15. Cost: 2 Budget.
    [] [Learning] Trinkets
    Your budget is running dangerously low. Perhaps it is time to offload some things. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.

    Stewardship (Choose 1) {Ophelia-Oskaria Action}
    [] [Stewardship] Registration of Updated Data
    You have compiled some more reports, and you want this in public record earlier rather than later. DC: 20. Cost: 1 Budget.
    [] [Stewardship] Temporary Labor
    If you're hard up on work you could find some odd jobs that levy your crew's vast talents to make some quick money… DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.

    Piety (Choose 1) {Ophelia-Oskaria Action}
    [] [Piety] Requesting Spiritual Testimony
    You need testimony of the before times, and hopefully the nature spirits have someone calmed down and might be willing to provide it. DC: 25. Cost: 10 Budget.
    [] [Piety] At the Edges II
    On the other hand, Tekla feels like he might be able to just find whatever it is is out there by brute force, now that he has a better idea of the problem. DC: 25??? Cost: 2 Budget.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan Zama
    -[X] [Martial] Hunting Party
    -[X] [Diplomacy] Requesting Barony Meetings II
    --[X] Add Free action to Requesting Barony Meetings II
    -[X] [Diplomacy] The Cooperatives [Free action]
    -[X] [Intrigue] Hunting the Hunters
    -[X] [Learning] Old Palmira
    -[X] [Stewardship] Registration of Updated Data
    -[X] [Stewardship] Temporary Labor [Free action]
    -[X] [Piety] Requesting Spiritual Testimony

    I think this is a good mix of keeping the search going and trying to look for some money. Most of these should be auto-successes if I am not mistaken.

    Also I am glad to see you're back to writing this story!
     
    Last edited:
    [X] Plan Back On The Hunt
    -[x] [Martial] Hunting Party
    -[x] [Diplomacy] The Cooperatives
    -[x] [Intrigue+Free] Hunting the Hunters
    -[x] [Learning] Old Palmira
    -[x] [Learning] Illusive Gear
    -[x] [Stewardship] Registration of Updated Data
    -[x] [Stewardship] Temporary Labor
    -[x] [Piety] Requesting Spiritual Testimony
     
    [X] Plan Back On The Hunt
    -[x] [Martial] Hunting Party
    -[x] [Diplomacy] The Cooperatives
    -[x] [Intrigue+Free] Hunting the Hunters
    -[x] [Learning] Old Palmira
    -[x] [Learning] Illusive Gear
    -[x] [Stewardship] Registration of Updated Data
    -[x] [Stewardship] Temporary Labor
    -[x] [Piety] Requesting Spiritual Testimony
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top