I can think of a few options that would qualify, honestly. None of them perfectly, but the more restrictions the enemy finale has the better the tactics idea works...what you also need is something for low restriction finales
How about something like a deflecting strike? Basically, a finale that you can only use in response to someone else using one meant to deflect the finale into someone else (or the environment if there is no one else there).
Basically, give it the restriction that you could only use it in response to another finale, that unless there are two or more hostiles it wont actually damage your opponent even if you win (and even with more enemies you likely still want to kill the one who threw off the finale rather then a random mook) and that its only as damaging as the finale that is thrown our way.
Then again this might be too good.
I actually didn't really like finales in the original, felt they overshadowed the rest of the combat system but that's mostly just a personal openion.
How old is Audrey? I'm pretty sure it said we were almost 18 but at the start we were 14. I think I just didn't get the progression of ages but I would like a clarification. Maybe put the age in the Character Sheet.
How about something like a deflecting strike? Basically, a finale that you can only use in response to someone else using one meant to deflect the finale into someone else (or the environment if there is no one else there).
Basically, give it the restriction that you could only use it in response to another finale, that unless there are two or more hostiles it wont actually damage your opponent even if you win (and even with more enemies you likely still want to kill the one who threw off the finale rather then a random mook) and that its only as damaging as the finale that is thrown our way.
Then again this might be too good.
I actually didn't really like finales in the original, felt they overshadowed the rest of the combat system but that's mostly just a personal openion.
These costing Zeal is a big limitation, which hopefully helps avoid too much overshadowing. And yes, that seems like a valid Finale option in theory. Though one with less restrictions would likewise be valid.
How old is Audrey? I'm pretty sure it said we were almost 18 but at the start we were 14. I think I just didn't get the progression of ages but I would like a clarification. Maybe put the age in the Character Sheet.
[X] Plan Vanguard's and Psyche, yay minion boosts
-[X] [Focus Action] Locked into going on an Adventure
-[X] [Secondary Action] Continue exchanging letters with Mildred, Margh, and Jory
-[X] [Secondary Action] Carry on chatting to the local Thanes/Knights/Squires/people of importance
-[X] [Chancellery] Locked into continuing "Read the Traveller's Guide to Britannia" to enable said Adventure
-[X] Training and Zeal (54 Training, 103 Zeal)
–[X] Spend 27 Training on getting Vanguard's Prayer to Mastered
--[X] Spend 9 Training on getting Light Revelation Rank 3 -> 4 & 1/16
--[X] Spend 3 Training on getting Blinding Blast (generic light blast rote) to Rough
–[X] Spend 6 Training on getting Cloak of Invisibility to Refined
–[X] Spend 9 Training on getting a Light Meditation that makes our attacks all look like Basic Attacks to Refined
–[X] Psyche 5 -> 6 (32 Zeal), 0 Beads -> 0 Beads 60/74 (60 Zeal), 92 Zeal Total Used, 11 Left
Audrey's advancements were becoming ever more stark by the day! After familiarizing herself with the new capabilities she had gained between Bradamante's addition to her cohort–as well as the intricacies of Severance and the magic of Light–she had found her mind growing ever quicker–eventually reaching the threshold of a sixfold division! While not a significant milestone, her sharper senses and wider attention span brought no small benefits in themselves–especially to her Companions.
Crowley even started figuring out how to take advantage of Audrey's Hama constructs! Just as Bradamante gained sharper control of the water she already had a knack for manipulating! Combined with Audrey's ever-growing grasp of the Light, the three were just short of invincible!
Which wasn't to say that she was invincible–Sir Vieux had disabused her of this rather quickly. She had come just far enough to see just how high the mountain to climb was. He was one of the strongest Knights in Wessex–certainly one of those with the highest Decade–and even with Crowley and Bradamante at her side, she couldn't even put a scratch on his Plate!
He didn't even need to do anything fancy–she'd call it straight up unfair, but he did have hundreds of years of experience and training going behind that. It would be stranger still if he wasn't outrageously mighty compared to a Squire not even twenty years of age yet.
The important thing is that what was once so far beyond her that the idea of even measuring the difference in their strength was ludicrous–now she had a relatively decent idea of what a senior Knight's level was–and how even they would be hard pressed if caught in a bad position, let alone challenging a true master.
She would have to work hard to avoid ending up where she could be overcome like that. But it was good to have goals to work towards!
Audrey's foundations were set, and her Companions were now operating as a coherent unit together–this was her focus for the past year, and it was for very good reason, as this would be a key milestone in her career!
The Squires of Warwick had been gathered this day, lined up in one of the planning rooms of the burh's central stronghold. Before them were seated the Master Knights that had guided them thus far–and at the head of the table was Ealderman Rothulf Waering, sizing up the five Squires of Warwick standing at attention before him.
"Your masters are in agreement, that the time has come for you to leave the nest and start earning your keep in earnest." He begins, sternly but not entirely without patience. "If any of you disagree with their assessment–speak now, because once we get started, you're Soldiers of God and Defenders of Wessex, and balking at your duties will be a matter of military discipline."
There's not a single peep from the five Squires–none had been trained poorly after all–and even Gilbert held his ground! He'd come such a long way! They all met the Ealdorman's gaze, holding their ground as he met each of their gazes in turn.
Satisfied, he grunted in recognition–and began rolling a scroll onto the planning table. "Then we'll begin–now that your training has reached an advanced stage, you're cleared to pick up some of the slack in our interior patrols." He explained while moving some of the weights on the table to keep the scroll–now obviously a map of the county–unfolded. "We'll start by dividing you up–Howlande and Gilbert as one pair, with Sawyer and Reid forming a second one. Eotenslaga, you'll work with your Companions as our third prong."
Audrey fought hard to keep her expression stern and steady, even as her heart went aflutter at the recognition of her prowess. A glint in the Ealderman's eyes suggested he wasn't fooled, but he was decent enough not to tease her when there was work to be done. What a nice gentleman! "We'll be pointing out areas of concern as our reports come in–issues that don't appear to warrant a full deployment of our Thanes to sort it out–but that doesn't mean it won't--this is a test of your judgment as much as it is a test of your strength. If you can sort it out on your own–all the better, but if the matter escalates–or requires greater manpower to clean up, don't hesitate to call for reinforcements. You'll do no good to the Crown biting off more than you can chew and getting yourselves killed–your seniors are going to be busy posturing up on Watling Street so the Danes don't get any fancy ideas, so they're not going to be able to pull you out of the fire.."
It was straightforward enough–at least in principle. A taste of what life as a fully fledged Knight would entail–the tireless nature of a Chivalric Cultivator adept at wide-ranging investigation and problem-solving when they aren't busy projecting power or causing problems for the Kingdom's foes. For a Thane to not unduly exhaust themselves doing the same thing, they needed to deploy in great numbers–but that meant fewer on reserve to respond to any new crisis or enemy attack.
Knights could keep the little hazards of life and the dangers of the wild at bay nearly indefinitely, as long as they put their minds to it. Idea Complete: Traveller's Guide to Britannia
More importantly, Audrey had recently finished memorizing the Traveller's Guide to Britannia! It was a copy of an older book, dating back from Roman times, and had a good list of regional hazards best left avoided. Handy for an adventurer to know–but doubly so for a Squire to be able to tell what they'd be getting into in advance!
"Eotenslaga, here's what I have for you…"
Audrey focused then, turning the full weight of her attention on the Ealdorman's next words…
[ ] "We've gotten reports of a woodsman getting mauled by a wild beast, best guess is it's a wolf of some kind. Not too odd on its own, this kind of thing happens here-and-there if you get careless–but this happened just outside his cabin, which suggests we've got a man-eater on the loose. Go sort it out."
-Traveller's Guide: A wolf? Not a chance, even if it was one of the Frenzied ones spilling over from the Danelaw, the woodsman was mauled, not eaten as you'd expect. This might well be a Werewolf problem, which is much more troublesome.
[ ] "We've gotten reports of a Troll moving in under one of our bridges and trying to charge people for crossing. Now, it hasn't killed anyone, but we can't afford to let this kind of thing become a habit or else we're going to be buried in squatters in no time. Convince it to find someplace else to dig in, or barring that, take it out."
-Traveller's Guide: Under a bridge? Not a Norse Troll then, which dies with a single bit of exposure to the sun. This is likely a native example, better described as a Lesser Giant. They have their little obsessions–but for one to move into man's domain like this? Something probably displaced it.
[ ] "One of our villages has reported one of their children going missing. Yes, this happens from time to time, but the place is secure, and it happened under the watch of one of our Thanes–who swears that it wasn't some runaway or a dumb test of courage that went bad. Something probably took them, and we need you to find out who. Get them back if you can, and if you can't, you damn well avenge them.
-Traveller's Guide: This smacks of the Little Folk, this kind of backhanded warning is precisely their way of operating when someone's starting to violate an agreement but things haven't devolved to the point of open warfare. The real question is, what was the deal, and can it be made right again?
[ ] "You're on mobile reserve thanks to that Charger of yours, stay in the area and keep your eyes peeled, you'll be the first we call on if something gets out of hand–aside from that, you're free to handle any personal projects in the County. Just don't go so far we can't reach you on short notice"
-Traveller's Guide: You did notice an anecdote in the section on Warwickshire in the guide, about the author spending a night in an old Roman Fort. You're pretty sure that between Crowley, your memorization of the books, and the mobility you get with Bradamante, you can find it and see if anything valuable has been missed in the many years since the fall. The wilderness is pretty big, and while the most precious stuff was probably taken with the garrison when the fort was abandoned, even the leftovers could be highly valuable. It's a gamble with no guarantees one way or the other, and there's a good chance something would have taken residence, but if you want a quick way to turn free time into treasure, this could be your ticket forward.
0~0~0
AN: Choose Your Own Adventure! Each of these is a Fun and Engaging dip into the weird shit going on at the local level in the Written World–as well as an entertaining example of what you'll have to be Concerned With in your day-to-day life as a Knight since then you will be responsible for solving this shit or otherwise making sure it gets solved, one way or the other. Do Note that the only one of these that is happening is the one you pick, you are not deciding who lives and who dies on the scale of a County, and likely won't until much later in the game. So pick based on which adventure you folks want to read about the most.
As an added note, as you can see, the fourth option is–as you've undoubtedly guessed–your unlock from finishing the book on time. The other three have fixed rewards, the fourth option is going to involve Grace Checks however, and you might find out it's a lot of work for a middling reward aside from a little experience against whatever's taken up residence in that free real estate. As stated, it'll be a gamble, with no real ways to nudge the odds in your favor.
At any rate, thanks again for following! I'm still accepting donations at my new Ko-fi for the Audrey Character Sheet–10% doesn't sound like much, but it's still solid progress towards making her a real person! If you want to be a part of this undertaking, the link is still here.
[X] "We've gotten reports of a Troll moving in under one of our bridges and trying to charge people for crossing. Now, it hasn't killed anyone, but we can't afford to let this kind of thing become a habit or else we're going to be buried in squatters in no time. Convince it to find someplace else to dig in, or barring that, take it out."
-Traveller's Guide: Under a bridge? Not a Norse Troll then, which dies with a single bit of exposure to the sun. This is likely a native example, better described as a Lesser Giant. They have their little obsessions–but for one to move into man's domain like this? Something probably displaced it.
I want to fight the troll, the family blood demands it.
[X] "You're on mobile reserve thanks to that Charger of yours, stay in the area and keep your eyes peeled, you'll be the first we call on if something gets out of hand–aside from that, you're free to handle any personal projects in the County. Just don't go so far we can't reach you on short notice"
-Traveller's Guide: You did notice an anecdote in the section on Warwickshire in the guide, about the author spending a night in an old Roman Fort. You're pretty sure that between Crowley, your memorization of the books, and the mobility you get with Bradamante, you can find it and see if anything valuable has been missed in the many years since the fall. The wilderness is pretty big, and while the most precious stuff was probably taken with the garrison when the fort was abandoned, even the leftovers could be highly valuable. It's a gamble with no guarantees one way or the other, and there's a good chance something would have taken residence, but if you want a quick way to turn free time into treasure, this could be your ticket forward.
Gambles can be fun
Otoh
[X] "One of our villages has reported one of their children going missing. Yes, this happens from time to time, but the place is secure, and it happened under the watch of one of our Thanes–who swears that it wasn't some runaway or a dumb test of courage that went bad. Something probably took them, and we need you to find out who. Get them back if you can, and if you can't, you damn well avenge them.
Getting Audrey a chance to get a working relationship with some dwarves sounds useful
[X] "You're on mobile reserve thanks to that Charger of yours, stay in the area and keep your eyes peeled, you'll be the first we call on if something gets out of hand–aside from that, you're free to handle any personal projects in the County. Just don't go so far we can't reach you on short notice"
-Traveller's Guide: You did notice an anecdote in the section on Warwickshire in the guide, about the author spending a night in an old Roman Fort. You're pretty sure that between Crowley, your memorization of the books, and the mobility you get with Bradamante, you can find it and see if anything valuable has been missed in the many years since the fall. The wilderness is pretty big, and while the most precious stuff was probably taken with the garrison when the fort was abandoned, even the leftovers could be highly valuable. It's a gamble with no guarantees one way or the other, and there's a good chance something would have taken residence, but if you want a quick way to turn free time into treasure, this could be your ticket forward.
Lot's of interesting options, leaning towards the giant one for obvious reasons and the gacha one.
The wolf one could be cool if the it's powerful and eating it's heart gives an ability, but i'm not sure if that was specifically a norse thing.
Picking these 2 for now.
[] "We've gotten reports of a Troll moving in under one of our bridges and trying to charge people for crossing. Now, it hasn't killed anyone, but we can't afford to let this kind of thing become a habit or else we're going to be buried in squatters in no time. Convince it to find someplace else to dig in, or barring that, take it out."
-Traveller's Guide: Under a bridge? Not a Norse Troll then, which dies with a single bit of exposure to the sun. This is likely a native example, better described as a Lesser Giant. They have their little obsessions–but for one to move into man's domain like this? Something probably displaced it.
[X] "You're on mobile reserve thanks to that Charger of yours, stay in the area and keep your eyes peeled, you'll be the first we call on if something gets out of hand–aside from that, you're free to handle any personal projects in the County. Just don't go so far we can't reach you on short notice"
-Traveller's Guide: You did notice an anecdote in the section on Warwickshire in the guide, about the author spending a night in an old Roman Fort. You're pretty sure that between Crowley, your memorization of the books, and the mobility you get with Bradamante, you can find it and see if anything valuable has been missed in the many years since the fall. The wilderness is pretty big, and while the most precious stuff was probably taken with the garrison when the fort was abandoned, even the leftovers could be highly valuable. It's a gamble with no guarantees one way or the other, and there's a good chance something would have taken residence, but if you want a quick way to turn free time into treasure, this could be your ticket forward.
[X] "We've gotten reports of a Troll moving in under one of our bridges and trying to charge people for crossing. Now, it hasn't killed anyone, but we can't afford to let this kind of thing become a habit or else we're going to be buried in squatters in no time. Convince it to find someplace else to dig in, or barring that, take it out."
-Traveller's Guide: Under a bridge? Not a Norse Troll then, which dies with a single bit of exposure to the sun. This is likely a native example, better described as a Lesser Giant. They have their little obsessions–but for one to move into man's domain like this? Something probably displaced it.
[X] "We've gotten reports of a Troll moving in under one of our bridges and trying to charge people for crossing. Now, it hasn't killed anyone, but we can't afford to let this kind of thing become a habit or else we're going to be buried in squatters in no time. Convince it to find someplace else to dig in, or barring that, take it out."
[ ] "We've gotten reports of a woodsman getting mauled by a wild beast, best guess is it's a wolf of some kind. Not too odd on its own, this kind of thing happens here-and-there if you get careless–but this happened just outside his cabin, which suggests we've got a man-eater on the loose. Go sort it out."
-Traveller's Guide: A wolf? Not a chance, even if it was one of the Frenzied ones spilling over from the Danelaw, the woodsman was mauled, not eaten as you'd expect. This might well be a Werewolf problem, which is much more troublesome.
[ ] "We've gotten reports of a Troll moving in under one of our bridges and trying to charge people for crossing. Now, it hasn't killed anyone, but we can't afford to let this kind of thing become a habit or else we're going to be buried in squatters in no time. Convince it to find someplace else to dig in, or barring that, take it out."
-Traveller's Guide: Under a bridge? Not a Norse Troll then, which dies with a single bit of exposure to the sun. This is likely a native example, better described as a Lesser Giant. They have their little obsessions–but for one to move into man's domain like this? Something probably displaced it.
It being NOT a Norse Troll means it doesn't have "Regen: Yes", so very much killable. Also, we have a good diplo roll, so we should have a good shot at getting him to move house instead. Plus, this is basically our family's whole job.
[ ] "One of our villages has reported one of their children going missing. Yes, this happens from time to time, but the place is secure, and it happened under the watch of one of our Thanes–who swears that it wasn't some runaway or a dumb test of courage that went bad. Something probably took them, and we need you to find out who. Get them back if you can, and if you can't, you damn well avenge them.
-Traveller's Guide: This smacks of the Little Folk, this kind of backhanded warning is precisely their way of operating when someone's starting to violate an agreement but things haven't devolved to the point of open warfare. The real question is, what was the deal, and can it be made right again?
This seems doable, as we have Litany of Resolve to try bounce any Fae mind tricks and Gift of Tounges to be garunteed to be able to speak to them, but lesser Fae in particular are the type (to my understanding) who are most likely to poke Audrey's Pride, and that may cause issues. We do have a decent Diplo roll as well, which will help.
[ ] "You're on mobile reserve thanks to that Charger of yours, stay in the area and keep your eyes peeled, you'll be the first we call on if something gets out of hand–aside from that, you're free to handle any personal projects in the County. Just don't go so far we can't reach you on short notice"
-Traveller's Guide: You did notice an anecdote in the section on Warwickshire in the guide, about the author spending a night in an old Roman Fort. You're pretty sure that between Crowley, your memorization of the books, and the mobility you get with Bradamante, you can find it and see if anything valuable has been missed in the many years since the fall. The wilderness is pretty big, and while the most precious stuff was probably taken with the garrison when the fort was abandoned, even the leftovers could be highly valuable. It's a gamble with no guarantees one way or the other, and there's a good chance something would have taken residence, but if you want a quick way to turn free time into treasure, this could be your ticket forward.
I prefer this one the most, we have a rather good Grace score for our age I believe so we have a good shot at good loot, plus random monster sounds interesting and fun. Plus, direct loot gain could mean magic items, while the rest of the jobs seem like various Prestige quests that might have a small bit of loot.
[X] "You're on mobile reserve thanks to that Charger of yours, stay in the area and keep your eyes peeled, you'll be the first we call on if something gets out of hand–aside from that, you're free to handle any personal projects in the County. Just don't go so far we can't reach you on short notice"
Not relevant, but if we manage to slay a Dragon or something similar and bathe in it's blood, would we become like Siegfried? Or is getting power from the blood/essence of powerful magical beasts a Norse thing?
Not relevant, but if we manage to slay a Dragon or something similar and bathe in it's blood, would we become like Siegfried? Or is getting power from the blood/essence of powerful magical beasts a Norse thing?
Heart eating is specifically Norse...bathing in a dragon's blood would probably not have the same effect on a Knight as a Norseman, but it'd sure do something. Dragons are a big deal.
[X] "We've gotten reports of a Troll moving in under one of our bridges and trying to charge people for crossing. Now, it hasn't killed anyone, but we can't afford to let this kind of thing become a habit or else we're going to be buried in squatters in no time. Convince it to find someplace else to dig in, or barring that, take it out."
-Traveller's Guide: Under a bridge? Not a Norse Troll then, which dies with a single bit of exposure to the sun. This is likely a native example, better described as a Lesser Giant. They have their little obsessions–but for one to move into man's domain like this? Something probably displaced it.
[X] "You're on mobile reserve thanks to that Charger of yours, stay in the area and keep your eyes peeled, you'll be the first we call on if something gets out of hand–aside from that, you're free to handle any personal projects in the County. Just don't go so far we can't reach you on short notice"
-Traveller's Guide: You did notice an anecdote in the section on Warwickshire in the guide, about the author spending a night in an old Roman Fort. You're pretty sure that between Crowley, your memorization of the books, and the mobility you get with Bradamante, you can find it and see if anything valuable has been missed in the many years since the fall. The wilderness is pretty big, and while the most precious stuff was probably taken with the garrison when the fort was abandoned, even the leftovers could be highly valuable. It's a gamble with no guarantees one way or the other, and there's a good chance something would have taken residence, but if you want a quick way to turn free time into treasure, this could be your ticket forward.
[X] "You're on mobile reserve thanks to that Charger of yours, stay in the area and keep your eyes peeled, you'll be the first we call on if something gets out of hand–aside from that, you're free to handle any personal projects in the County. Just don't go so far we can't reach you on short notice"
[X] "One of our villages has reported one of their children going missing. Yes, this happens from time to time, but the place is secure, and it happened under the watch of one of our Thanes–who swears that it wasn't some runaway or a dumb test of courage that went bad. Something probably took them, and we need you to find out who. Get them back if you can, and if you can't, you damn well avenge them.
Do Note that the only one of these that is happening is the one you pick, you are not deciding who lives and who dies on the scale of a County, and likely won't until much later in the game. So pick based on which adventure you folks want to read about the most.
Honestly I would have figured that what we don't pick gets assigned to someone else not that it doesn't happen.
I trust our grace rolls.
[X] "You're on mobile reserve thanks to that Charger of yours, stay in the area and keep your eyes peeled, you'll be the first we call on if something gets out of hand–aside from that, you're free to handle any personal projects in the County. Just don't go so far we can't reach you on short notice"
-Traveller's Guide: You did notice an anecdote in the section on Warwickshire in the guide, about the author spending a night in an old Roman Fort. You're pretty sure that between Crowley, your memorization of the books, and the mobility you get with Bradamante, you can find it and see if anything valuable has been missed in the many years since the fall. The wilderness is pretty big, and while the most precious stuff was probably taken with the garrison when the fort was abandoned, even the leftovers could be highly valuable. It's a gamble with no guarantees one way or the other, and there's a good chance something would have taken residence, but if you want a quick way to turn free time into treasure, this could be your ticket forward.
[X] "We've gotten reports of a Troll moving in under one of our bridges and trying to charge people for crossing. Now, it hasn't killed anyone, but we can't afford to let this kind of thing become a habit or else we're going to be buried in squatters in no time. Convince it to find someplace else to dig in, or barring that, take it out."
-Traveller's Guide: Under a bridge? Not a Norse Troll then, which dies with a single bit of exposure to the sun. This is likely a native example, better described as a Lesser Giant. They have their little obsessions–but for one to move into man's domain like this? Something probably displaced it.
