Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU CK2 quest

[ZainAlJester]

I also agree that Carl should be on the spy network and that Raven should eat propaganda and be happy with it.

@King crimson Do you have an update scheduele?

 

[Alex Sol]

Okay. I would likely shuffle things around some more, but first draft is something like this. Maybe it can be useful for making further planning. Is there actions that people think need to be more focused on?

[] (Martial) Continue preparing for Trigon's arrival (Mari+Roxanne+Rebecca=+98)
[] (Martial) Engage in superpowered crimefighting abroad (Italy) (Nathan +Rose +72)
[] (Martial) Train someone to better use their powers (Carol) (Mina+Carol =+92)
[] (Martial) Have someone train in your metahuman training room (Nightshade)(Marcus + Eve+Kate=+72, +10)

[](Diplomacy) Lexpo DC 0 Fire+Ice =+49
[](Diplomacy) Meet with the League of Shadows DC 14 Lisa +15
[](Diplomacy) Negotiate with the Democratic Republic of Congo DC 17 Marie Luis Dahl +19
[](Diplomacy) Begin a hard propaganda push across all of your news sources DC 15 Rene+Lucy+Lance =+68
[](Diplomacy) Meet with Joan Dale DC 3
[](Diplomacy) Meet with Veronica Cale DC 13 Lana +15
[](Diplomacy) Donate to Native American communities DC 0
[](Diplomacy) Donate more to reconstruction efforts DC 0
[](Diplomacy) Meet with Wade Eiling DC 16 Paige +16

[] (Stewardship) Expand LexCorp DC 39 Vivian+Constance+Talia
[] (Stewardship) Continue to repair Metropolis DC 27 Starfire+Nathan =+42 (-10 to DC)

[] (Stewardship) Build another supercomputer DC 51 (DC 40 if Felicity is assigned)
Felicity+Frost =+55
[] (Stewardship) Give Leslie Willis her own TV show (DC 8 if Livewire assigned) Livewire+Oswald
[] (Stewardship) Develop and produce Costumes DC 28 Leonard+Mick+Sam = +48
[] (Stewardship) Provide Diana Prince with further funding for the West Coast metahuman training facility DC 0
[] (Stewardship) Continue funding the Lillian Luthor Foundation DC 0
[] (Stewardship) Begin creating helicopters DC 3
[] (Stewardship) Renovate Lexcorp Tower DC 0 +25 from Future Construction and production facilities
[](Stewardship) Begin producing music (DC 10, Carl + Siobhan+Johnny=17+Johnny stat+25 at the end )
[] (Stewardship) Donate to Bookworm DC 0
[] (Stewardship) Begin production of auto-kitchen DC 14 Brown +14
[](Stewardship) Design and produce small combat drones DC 12 Dr Moon +15
[](Stewardship) Buy more Gingo fruits DC 8
[](Stewardship) Begin producing handheld consoles DC 7


[] Create a worldwide spy network DC 64 Helena+Jinx+Villain=+93
[] Search for other viable presidential candidates Nygma+Meld+Elaine +73?
[] Use Zeta Beam transmat stations to smuggle in restricted materials

[] (Learning) Improve necessary tech for the O.D.I.N. System DC 24 Pamela+Caitlin+Karl=+90
[](Learning) Develop a new standard laser rifle for General Wells DC 7 Catherine
[](Learning) Attempt to reverse engineer Brainiac's cloaking system DC 57 Fixit
[] (Learning) Improve Kryptonite bombs DC 10 Meena
[] (Learning) Learn about robotics DC 3

[] [Raven] Teach Raven LexCorp propaganda DC 7 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Intrigue) Lex+Cass+Mercy=+97-???+41

 

[King crimson]

@King crimson Do you have an update scheduele?

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Not a consistent one, I don't commit to a hard schedule and life often gets in the way.

I'll say that the current plan is to get the update out today and I'm confident that things should work out. Beyond that I can't really tell you too much because if a professor of mine decides "I want to assign you a paper to write", or I start doing worse on bar prep stuff, I'm going to focus on that over the quest and I need to pivot my time accordingly.

 

[WheelOfTime]

Honestly I don't think any of the actions that have been chosen desperately need a double down so long as a good team is put on them, especially CRM since for as important as it is if we plan to put the twins on it it's guaranteed to be an overwhelming success anyway.

As for other options, as far as I can recall none that have ever really been discussed. The majority consensus, at least at the time the debate was happening, was that we should be using Raven's last developmental action ton something that would tie her more closely to LexCorp, exactly how to do so was the primary point of contention.

The issue to my mind is that Leonard is one of the more free thinkers within LexCorp, especially when it's just members of his own team he's working with. While there is a limited pool of candidates Leonard strikes me as the kind of guy who would completely dismiss certain ones because of positions they hold he disagrees with, whether he consciously doesn't give Lex all the information or it doesn't even occur to him that he's doing so I feel it's possible he would withhold some.

I could be wrong but that's my gut instinct.

No you're right, I misread KC saying that Nygma can leave behind clues as him deciphering them so he does get the +11 rather than the +9.

I see your point but I personally kinda feel that the difference isn't so significant that it's worth giving up one of our decent Stewardship hero units on a turn where we have so many Stewardship actions, especially since the alternative is trying to find something for Elaine to do.

Though you do raise a good point about Carl's talent for informational security, especially if Nygma is going to be leaving clues behind…

I'm not sure if we are firing her this turn, we're already getting rid of Moon and Louise which should hopefully bring us under the soft hero cap especially in conjunction with expanding LexCorp. Not to mention that Elaine is one of the few decent Intrigue hero units that can work well with Nygma, whether we put them together this turn or not they tend to be a good combination.

I think there's been some sort of miscommunication, unless I've missed something along the way having Raven practise blending in was never really brought up as a candidate in the prior discussions. Especially since it wouldn't tie her closer to us, if anything it would make her more comfortable with the idea of leaving, and I'm not sure how it would improve her and Jinx's relationship.

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I really don't see Leonard not doing good work and screwing over his employer. I think you're being a bit paranoid.

As for the spy network... Well, it goes from "near guaranteed rerolls" to "very likely rerolls" which is a solid drop. I personally value the spy network a lot and I think that the increase that Carl can give stewardship actions, 17 points, is less valuable than what he can provide a spy network.

Running a bit through the soft cap, I found king crimson confirming that the swap of firing moon and hiring Mina put us in a net neutral position, and that hiring Centurion and Coldcast pushed us above that, so we are at a deficit of 1-2 slots, so to guarantee getting below the cap and avoiding penalties (expanding Lexcorp can fail) we need to fire two people. That's the absolute minimum.

I found someone asking about if having Raven strengthen her skills in blending in could make her more loyal to Lexcorp and the answer was that yes it could and that it would also make her very happy. In that sense it's an option that's on the table so it's not nothing and it appears less resource intensive than both suggestions.

 

[DarthXeno1999]

Okay. I would likely shuffle things around some more, but first draft is something like this. Maybe it can be useful for making further planning. Is there actions that people think need to be more focused on?

[] (Martial) Continue preparing for Trigon's arrival (Mari+Roxanne+Rebecca=+98)
[] (Martial) Engage in superpowered crimefighting abroad (Italy) (Nathan +Rose +72)
[] (Martial) Train someone to better use their powers (Carol) (Mina+Carol =+92)
[] (Martial) Have someone train in your metahuman training room (Nightshade)(Marcus + Eve+Kate=+72, +10)

[](Diplomacy) Lexpo DC 0 Fire+Ice =+49
[](Diplomacy) Meet with the League of Shadows DC 14 Lisa +15
[](Diplomacy) Negotiate with the Democratic Republic of Congo DC 17 Marie Luis Dahl +19
[](Diplomacy) Begin a hard propaganda push across all of your news sources DC 15 Rene+Lucy+Lance =+68
[](Diplomacy) Meet with Joan Dale DC 3
[](Diplomacy) Meet with Veronica Cale DC 13 Lana +15
[](Diplomacy) Donate to Native American communities DC 0
[](Diplomacy) Donate more to reconstruction efforts DC 0
[](Diplomacy) Meet with Wade Eiling DC 16 Paige +16

[] (Stewardship) Expand LexCorp DC 39 Vivian+Constance+Talia
[] (Stewardship) Continue to repair Metropolis DC 27 Starfire+Nathan =+42 (-10 to DC)

[] (Stewardship) Build another supercomputer DC 51 (DC 40 if Felicity is assigned)
Felicity+Frost =+55
[] (Stewardship) Give Leslie Willis her own TV show (DC 8 if Livewire assigned) Livewire+Oswald
[] (Stewardship) Develop and produce Costumes DC 28 Leonard+Mick+Sam = +48
[] (Stewardship) Provide Diana Prince with further funding for the West Coast metahuman training facility DC 0
[] (Stewardship) Continue funding the Lillian Luthor Foundation DC 0
[] (Stewardship) Begin creating helicopters DC 3
[] (Stewardship) Renovate Lexcorp Tower DC 0 +25 from Future Construction and production facilities
[](Stewardship) Begin producing music (DC 10, Carl + Siobhan+Johnny=17+Johnny stat+25 at the end )
[] (Stewardship) Donate to Bookworm DC 0
[] (Stewardship) Begin production of auto-kitchen DC 14 Brown +14
[](Stewardship) Design and produce small combat drones DC 12 Dr Moon +15
[](Stewardship) Buy more Gingo fruits DC 8
[](Stewardship) Begin producing handheld consoles DC 7


[] Create a worldwide spy network DC 64 Helena+Jinx+Villain=+93
[] Search for other viable presidential candidates Nygma+Meld+Elaine +73?
[] Use Zeta Beam transmat stations to smuggle in restricted materials

[] (Learning) Improve necessary tech for the O.D.I.N. System DC 24 Pamela+Caitlin+Karl=+90
[](Learning) Develop a new standard laser rifle for General Wells DC 7 Catherine
[](Learning) Attempt to reverse engineer Brainiac's cloaking system DC 57 Fixit
[] (Learning) Improve Kryptonite bombs DC 10 Meena
[] (Learning) Learn about robotics DC 3

[] [Raven] Teach Raven LexCorp propaganda DC 7 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Intrigue) Lex+Cass+Mercy=+97-???+41

Click to shrink...

Wouldn't it be better to put Cheshire on the create a spy network action instead of jinx

 

[Alex Sol]

Wouldn't it be better to put Cheshire on the create a spy network action instead of jinx

Click to shrink...

Jade has decent intrigue(+15), but it does not compare to Jinx (+25), not to mention Jinx high coop with Helena.

 

[jonasquinn]

[] Create a worldwide spy network DC 64 Helena+Jinx+Villain=+93

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I'm very hesitant to put Villain on the spy network because we know he is actively looking for ways to undermine our authority. At best him knowing about the spy network and the methods we use to keep an eye on people makes it easier for him to keep his activities secret and at worst he could find a way to subvert it to his own ends.

I really don't see Leonard not doing good work and screwing over his employer. I think you're being a bit paranoid.

Click to shrink...

It's not about Leonard not doing good work or intentionally screwing us over it's just that something like "what makes a good presidential candidate" is a pretty subjective thing that could very easily be swayed by the assigned hero units personal beliefs and Leonard's are pretty different from Lex's

It is entirely possible that I'm worrying over nothing however.

As for the spy network... Well, it goes from "near guaranteed rerolls" to "very likely rerolls" which is a solid drop. I personally value the spy network a lot and I think that the increase that Carl can give stewardship actions, 17 points, is less valuable than what he can provide a spy network.

Click to shrink...

That's fair, I'll think it over.

Running a bit through the soft cap, I found king crimson confirming that the swap of firing moon and hiring Mina put us in a net neutral position, and that hiring Centurion and Coldcast pushed us above that, so we are at a deficit of 1-2 slots, so to guarantee getting below the cap and avoiding penalties (expanding Lexcorp can fail) we need to fire two people. That's the absolute minimum.

Click to shrink...

I wouldn't necessarily go so far as to say that that's the absolute minimum since that's planning for Expand LexCorp to fail, we don't want to fire hero units only to then not have had to.

I found someone asking about if having Raven strengthen her skills in blending in could make her more loyal to Lexcorp and the answer was that yes it could and that it would also make her very happy. In that sense it's an option that's on the table so it's not nothing and it appears less resource intensive than both suggestions.

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Would you ,ind providing that post? Not that I don't believe you but context can matter a lot with these things.

Plus just because that is a possible result doesn't mean it would be as good as ana croon dedicated to doing that thing.

 

[Randino Treviani]

Okay. I would likely shuffle things around some more, but first draft is something like this. Maybe it can be useful for making further planning. Is there actions that people think need to be more focused on?

Click to shrink...

We are taking the train Carol action in hopes of her learning to project kryptonite radiation, so a team of Carol, Roxy and Meena was devised, so our inquisitive expert on dhawan's particle and kryptonite is there asking insightful questions to nudge Carol in the right direction(open up rewards tables.

I'd prefer mari on design costumes, possibly with lana but I'm not picky, and for tactless, womanizing sam to never ever be assigned to designing a costume or uniform. Ever.

I don't think we want to send Lisa to talk to sexist, already having his patience tried by us failing this twice, Ra al Ghul. Pamela would work better instead. Lisa could be put on the Cale action, freeing up lana for costumes.

Leonard and sam can be put on begin producing music with soibhan, who their friendly with, and help her, which frees Carl up to be put on Design and produce small combat drones, which should activate his Robot trait for +22 to that action. Mick can go on the kryptonite action.

I need Jinx to be part of whatever team is on Ravens last special action. Can't support any plan without it.

I'd prefer to have Lex on one of the Odin actions, and since he needs to do Japan next turn, that makes improve Odin tech a lex team must for me.

I'm of the mind that talia can be put on the Vivian team so it doesn't need a double down and we can give one to Raven and one to Odin, and put the team on Lexcorp.

For metropolis repairs, Villain can lead a team of moon and Brown possibly? They would have higher bonus than your current team and it frees Starfire for socialization.

For candidates, Mercy and Helena would make a fine team, while nygma, meld, and Elaine tackle the spy network.

 

[jonasquinn]

I don't think we want to send Lisa to talk to sexist, already having his patience tried by us failing this twice, Ra al Ghul. Pamela would work better instead.

Click to shrink...

I'm kinda thinking we could put Paige on meeting the League, since it's specifically "meet the League of Shadows" and not "Meet Ra's" I'm hoping her trait won't fire.

As for Pamela, I think she'd be well placed meeting with Joan Dale. Between her Diplomacy, experience in politics and loyalty to Lex I think she'd be well suited to scoping Joan out and if absolutely necessary it opens the possibility for the use of pheromones.

While I'm here, @King crimson I'd like to spend 5000 XP boosting Marie's Diplomacy to the max if you wouldn't mind. Also while I have you, would you mind confirming whether or not Paige's trait would fire for meeting the League?

 

[King crimson]

So this is what the winning vote ended up looking like.

Spoiler: Winning vote

[ ] Expand LexCorp
[ ] Meet with the League of Shadows
[ ] Negotiate with the Democratic Republic of Congo
[ ] Continue funding the Lillian Luthor Foundation
[ ] Continue to repair Metropolis
[ ] Continue preparing for Trigon's arrival
[ ] Give Leslie Willis her own TV show
[ ] Create a worldwide spy network
[ ] Develop a new standard laser rifle for General Wells
[ ] Improve necessary tech for the O.D.I.N. system
[ ] Begin producing music
[ ] Attempt to reverse engineer Brainiac's cloaking system
[ ] Begin production of auto-kitchen
[ ] Provide Diana Prince with further funding for the West Coast metahuman training facility
[ ] Learn about robotics
[ ] Lexpo
[ ] Donate more to reconstruction efforts
[ ] Donate to Native American communities
[ ] Build another supercomputer
[ ] Engage in superpowered crimefighting abroad (Italy)
[ ] Develop and produce Costumes
[ ] Renovate Lexcorp Tower
[ ] Begin a hard propaganda push across all of your news sources
[ ] Meet with Joan Dale
[ ] Donate to Bookworm
[ ] Search for other viable presidential candidates
[ ] Train someone to better use their powers (Carol)
[ ] Have someone train in your metahuman training room (Nightshade)
[ ] Meet with Wade Eiling
[ ] Buy more Gingo fruits
[ ] Begin producing handheld consoles
[ ] Improve Kryptonite bombs
[ ] Begin creating helicopters
[ ] Meet with Veronica Cale
[ ] Use Zeta Beam transmat stations to smuggle in restricted materials
[ ] Design and produce small combat drones
[ ] Double Down X3

[ ] [Comp] Analyze Dhawan's particle

[ ] [Team] Establish a headquarters to meet in
[ ] [Team] Train in working together as a team

Can I just say that this is an incredibly ridiculously safe turn? You have more DC 0 actions than actions with a DC over 20 and five actions last turn, which I already felt was really playing it safe, have a higher DC than all of the actions this turn. I think this solidly confirms to me that I need to raise DC's across the board and actively remove DC 0 options. This is way too easy and I need to start taking actions to correct things.

I'm not going to change things now and I don't blame people for wanting to play it safe, but I'm unhappy with how riskless this has all become. I want to emphasize that this is me being unhappy with elements of my own design that I will be taking steps to fix once this turn is up. I don't want to get people too down on things but they should expect a broad increase in DC for a lot of actions.

In less dour news, I'm trying out the superhero team special actions. If something about them feels clunky or off base, let me know and give me feedback as I'm interested in tweaking and altering things to get it just right. I hope that everything with it makes sense.

I'm also very excited about the new mini-events. It is admittedly only five and there's a relatively small hero pool, but I'm quite curious to see how things will play out for you with these. I can't talk too much or I might end up spoiling things for people.

As always I hope you guys enjoy this and if you spot anything that looks like a mistake, feel free to let me know and I'll try to fix it. Without any further ado, here's the update.

Turn 33 Hero Vote
Please select the heroes you would like to assign to an action. Remember that all votes in non-plan format will be rejected and that there is a 1 hour moratorium on voting. If a hero unit is not assigned to a task then they act independently of all the available actions. You can also attempt to assign Emily Rice, Herbert Winston, Lance Gardner, and/or Jade Crock to an action (although it isn't guaranteed they will do it). Please note that this turn Jade is unlikely to contribute to most actions as she'll be taking actions to develop the Wonderland Races. If you wish to use the nanites in your plan please indicate the hero that you would like to use them with (Lex Luthor, Carol Ferris or Felicity Smoak) in your plan. The actions on which the nanites can be used is Continue to Repair Metropolis (reduces the DC by 7), and Renovate LexCorp tower (Adds 10 to the roll before calculation). The nanite swarm can only be used on a single action per turn. Also, if you want to use the pheromone spray please indicate on who and how in your plan. Jinx's Shadow can be assigned to certain Cassandra special actions for an additional bonus. Edward Wells will not be available to be assigned to any actions and any plan involving assigning them to one will be immediately discounted. Professor Turgo can be assigned to an action but he does not act like a normal hero unit, having a flat addition to actions as appropriate and no coop score interactions. Additionally, there is a subvote at the bottom of this entry that includes which actions you wish to encourage Talia al Ghul to take. While this does not guarantee what Talia will do it does strongly incentivize Talia to assist on one of the actions you put in the subvote. Additionally there is a subvote for if you want to make use of Leslie Willis' Slipping into a New Skin trait. Lastly please indicate on which actions you would like to double down.


Martial
[ ] Continue preparing for Trigon's arrival
DC 27 (the higher the roll the better the result)

[ ] Engage in superpowered crimefighting abroad (Italy)
DC 17

[ ] Train someone to better use their powers (Carol Ferris)
DC 52

[ ] Have someone train in your metahuman training room
DC 0 (Nightshade/Eve Eden is locked into this action)

Diplomacy
[ ] Meet with the League of Shadows
DC 14

[ ] Negotiate with the Democratic Republic of Congo
DC 17

[ ] Lexpo
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the event)

[ ] Donate more to reconstruction efforts
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the result)

[ ] Donate to Native American communities
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the results)

[ ] Begin a hard propaganda push across all of your news sources
DC 15

[ ] Meet with Joan Dale
DC 3 (rewards are capped)

[ ] Donate to Bookworm
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the result)

[ ] Meet with Wade Eiling
DC 16

[ ] Meet with Veronica Cale
DC 13

Stewardship
[ ] Expand LexCorp
DC 39

[ ] Continue funding the Lillian Luthor Foundation
DC 0 (The bigger the roll the more money is effectively contributed)

[ ] Continue to repair Metropolis
DC 27 (The better the roll the better the results)

[ ] Give Leslie Willis her own TV show
DC 33 (DC 8 if Leslie Willis is assigned to this action)

[ ] Begin producing music
DC 10 (Jonny Charisma will contribute to this action automatically)

[ ] Begin production of auto-kitchen
DC 14

[ ] Provide Diana Prince with further funding for the West Coast metahuman training facility
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the result)

[ ] Build another supercomputer
DC 51 (DC 40 if Felicity is assigned)

[ ] Develop and produce Costumes
DC 28 (DC 16 if Mari assigned to this action)

[ ] Renovate LexCorp Tower
DC 0 (the higher the roll the more stuff you can add and change. Future Construction gives an automatic +10 to the roll. Production facilities give another automatic + 15)

[ ] Buy more Gingo fruits
DC 8

[ ] Begin producing handheld consoles
DC 7

[ ] Begin creating helicopters
DC 3

[ ] Design and produce small combat drones
DC 12

Intrigue
[ ] Create a worldwide spy network
DC 64

[ ] Search for other viable presidential candidates
DC ??? (success is capped)

[ ] Use Zeta Beam transmat stations to smuggle in restricted materials
DC 0 (autosuccess)

Learning
[ ] Develop a new standard laser rifle for General Wells
DC 7

[ ] Improve necessary tech for the O.D.I.N. system
DC 24

[ ] Attempt to reverse engineer Brainiac's cloaking system
DC 58

[ ] Learn about robotics
DC 3

[ ] Improve Kryptonite bombs
DC 3

[ ] [Comp] Analyze Dhawan's particle
DC 9

Superhero Team Special Actions
So this is what superhero team special actions have been voted for. You can drop one of these actions. To indicate that you are dropping an action please format that part of the vote as "[ ] [Drop] (Insert Action name here)". These actions are not actually "actions" in the traditional sense and instead are more like long term goals that hero units will attempt to accomplish using other actions. Hero units can be assigned to these actions, but only specific hero units (which will be listed with the action) can be assigned.

[ ] [Team] Establish a headquarters to meet in (Carol Ferris, Beatriz Da Costa, Tora Olafsdotter, Eve Eden, Mina Chaytan, Siobhan McDougall, Roxanne Sutton, Zatanna Zatara, Nathan Craig Jones, Marcus Aelius, Brittney Meld, and Edward Nygma can be assigned to this action)

[ ] [Team] Train in working together as a team ((Carol Ferris, Beatriz Da Costa, Tora Olafsdotter, Eve Eden, Mina Chaytan, Siobhan McDougall, Roxanne Sutton, Zatanna Zatara, Nathan Craig Jones, Marcus Aelius, and Brittney Meld can be assigned to this action)

Cassandra Unique actions subvote
One of these actions can be undertaken during this turn but it doesn't have to be taken. Most of these options require assigning Cassandra to the option. These actions do not have to be taken but they will provide Cassandra with improvements as she grows. In order for any of these actions to be taken a hero must be assigned to it. Please include the Cassandra unique option in your plan if you want to use it.

Spoiler: Cassandra Luthor special actions

[ ] [Cass] Hire a martial arts instructor for Cassandra
DC 50 (Stewardship) (DC 44 if Jinx is assigned to this action) Cassandra Luthor is a martial arts prodigy. Hiring an instructor to teach her might be difficult due to how skilled Cassandra already is but could prove to be well worth it to get Cassandra to the next level and get a skilled fighter on your payroll.

[ ] [Cass] Hire an art tutor for the Cassandra
DC 10 (Stewardship) (DC 4 if Jinx is assigned to this action) Drawing could prove an excellent non-violent action for Cassandra and could serve as a viable alternate means for her to communicate with others. You aren't an artist yourself but you are sure you could hire someone to teach Cassandra the necessary skills (Can be overlapped and apply to both children)

[ ] [Cass] Desensitize Cassandra to death
DC 44 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Intrigue) David Cain did not take the final step in teaching his daughter to become a weapon by teaching her how to deal with death. Death is a natural part of life and you have no intention of letting the child in your care be traumatized by something as meaningless as it. Finishing her training as an assassin and removing a weakness seems like a good idea to you but it must be handled carefully

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra on science
DC 68 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) You have no intention of allowing Cassandra Luthor to remain ignorant as to science. While you don't expect her to be as smart as you as your daughter there are standards she must reach. Cassandra has grown by leaps and bounds and as such teaching her more could prove quite useful in the long term

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra learn to invent
DC 30 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra has a basic grasp of the fundamentals of most things in science. Now all that is left is to teach her how to do these things in the real world in a practical setting.

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra on chemistry
DC 44 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) With Cassandra's newfound breadth of knowledge you can now begin to teach her a variety of new subjects. Chemistry is admittedly not something truly necessary to run LexCorp but with Cassandra's grasp on mathematics you are confident she can pick it up and more knowledge is always useful

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra on physics
DC 37 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Physics can be argued to be the root of all sciences. Such a view is narrow minded and rather misses the point as physics is not solely preoccupied with a unified theory of everything but it does provide a practical basis for a lot. Educating Cassandra on this matter will provide her with a depth of knowledge and help prepare her to grasp the reigns of her future.

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra on engineering
DC 28 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra is by all means a brilliant individual. It wouldn't do for your daughter to not be talented in your own preferred fields. Educating her on engineering will enable her to more effectively live up to your legacy. Even if you don't truly believe she'll ever match up to you that is no reason not to encourage her to at least attempt to attain the same brilliance you have. After all even half of your knowledge would put Cassandra well above all but the most brilliant in the field.

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra on computer science
DC 47 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Computer science is an increasingly important emergent field. Learning to program and work with computers is quite likely to become a critical field in the future. As such it simply makes sense to have your heir learn about the subject

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra on advanced mathematics
DC 103 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra has struggled a touch with mathematics but her own memory has allowed her to progress through the subject at incredible speeds. Perhaps further fostering this might yield even more benefits as Cassandra continues to expand her education

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra architecture
DC 29 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Architecture is unlikely to ever become the central focus of Cassandra's life but it is something you have knowledge of and it is useful on occasion. Besides having the hobby of designing buildings is both one that is productive for your heir to have and one you can somewhat indulge.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra to draw
DC 23 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) A potentially useful skill and a creative outlet for your heir would be teaching her how to draw well and nurturing that talent

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra more advanced anatomy and pathology
DC 62 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra has all the makings to become an absolutely brilliant surgeon or doctor if educated correctly. She has a brilliant mind, lightning fast reflexes and an analytic eye combined with an ability to remain steady under massive amounts of stress and pressure and an ability to remain unphased by any of the more unpleasant aspects of the work. Beyond the fact that teaching Cassandra advanced anatomy and pathology will help set her up for these careers and give her further options and a more diverse skillset, it could potentially enhance her capability to glean information from people both living and dead and use that to her own advantage. Cassandra has already made significant strides in improving her capabilities, further educating her could result in her being able to truly master this field

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra botany
DC 37 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Botany isn't a critical field for Cassandra to know to be prepared for running LexCorp one day but she has shown an interest in what Pamela does for work before and so perhaps she may enjoy getting to learn about the subject. You'd hardly begrudge her the opportunity to further expand her minds horizons and push forward in subjects that interest her so long as it doesn't come at the cost of critical skills.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra basic toxicology
DC 40 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Without knowledge of chemistry Cassandra cannot get past the basics but an understanding of at least basic biology and mathematic should enable her to pick up the most rudimentary aspects of toxicology. Knowing how poisons work and by extension how to identify them and make use of them is a useful skill to have if you are going to engage in cloak and dagger games. It might be useful to teach Cassandra this skillset early so that she can expand it later on down the line

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra basic medicine
DC 8 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) While medical training can be complicated at the very least some of it is easy enough to understand and enable someone to act in a critical situation. True Cassandra likely won't see much value in it for a while but it can lay the groundwork for further exploration and it's better to know it and not need to use it than to need to use it but not know it.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra zoology and ecology
DC 26 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra's interest in animals has not gone unnoticed and with her understanding of basic biology she can now begin to truly explore that field. It's not critical information but you wouldn't discount it and a surprising amount of the information gleaned in learning these subjects can be incorporated into other disciplines later on.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra more about biology
DC 34 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra has made her first steps into learning about biology. Further expanding her knowledge base on this subject and pushing her to excel could be the step you need to enable her to dominate this field as well. Biology will almost always be useful to know and a deeper dive into the subject will enable Cassandra to pick up chemistry and a wide variety of other fields even faster as time goes on.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra ballet
DC 21 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Ballet is an excellent way to help teach Cassandra coordination and would give her a positive social outlet and would allow her to refine her skillset. Teaching her how to go through the forms might be a bit tricky but you are sure she can handle it.

[ ] [Cass] Arrange for further interactions between Cassandra Luthor and Cassandra Sandsmark
DC 34 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) Cassandra's previous attempts at interacting with her peers have enabled her to make a potential friend in Cassandra Sandsmark. Not only is Sandsmark's mother fairly well connected in the archeological field but the girl herself seems to have some kind of powers if Cassandra's intuition can be trusted. Perhaps this is a friendship worth further cultivating

[ ] [Cass] Arrange for further interaction between Cassandra and Antonia Moretti
DC 18 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) Cassandra's attempts at socializing with her peers have also earned her an amicable relationship with Antonia Moretti, the daughter of a prominent senator from New Jersey. This too is a relationship that can be expanded upon and developed to further give Cassandra and edge later on in life through the friends she has made

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra begin attending school
DC 0 (The higher the roll the greater the success) (Jinx's Shadow can be assigned to this action adding +5 at the end of calculation) (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) While Cassandra doesn't need to attend school, doing so can further her development. You are confident that Cassandra has developed more than enough social skills to run rings around her peers but perhaps it is worth putting it to the test how she'd react when she has to deal with them constantly and without respite for several hours in the day as well as dealing with individuals who have authority over her but aren't yourself or directly working for you. If you really want to you can even use it as a test to see how well Cassandra copes with being unable to rely on her reputation as a Luthor or even as a way to potentially tie Barbara Gordon even tighter to LexCorp. The opportunities abound and the details will obviously have to be determined later on but if you want a safe testing space for Cassandra to really practice her social skills then having her attend school could work out quite nicely.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra begin taking tours of Metropolis with a minder
DC 0 (The higher the roll the greater the success) (Jinx's Shadow can be assigned to this action adding +5 at the end of calculation) (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) One day Metropolis will belong to your heir. As such it might be best for Cassandra to get more first hand experience with the city and its people. Cassandra is aware of the city and its populace but due to her own relative isolation she doesn't truly know them. With her successfully interacting with her peers and learning how to act like she's much less than she really is, you feel confident enough about being capable of sending her out into Metropolis with a minder to ensure that she can get a better sense of what the city really is.

[ ] [Cass] Socialize Cassandra with adults
DC 13 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) Children are beneath both you and your daughter. You intend for her to learn amongst adults how to behave and interact. While it will be more difficult for her it will get her to understand the position she is in and hopefully teach her to start thinking like a Luthor

[ ] Educate Cassandra about interrogation
DC 22 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Intrigue) Cassandra was involved with interrogating captured members of Intergang. While she did succeed in her task it has become clear that Cassandra doesn't know how to properly interrogate others without resorting to violence. Teaching her the proper way to gather information would help make her a more well rounded heir

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra to fly a plane
DC 44 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Teaching your daughter some kind of talent might be useful in the short term and something like flying a plane would give her a highly versatile skill to use later on in life.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra to pilot a submarine
DC 48 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Teaching Cassandra how to make use of a submarine will give her a practical skill in the future and enable her to entertain herself in a non-physical manner.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra about acting
DC 7 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) The fundamentals of acting is learning how to lie and present a false face to others. While it is reassuring that your heir could never betray you, leaving her unable to both gauge when others are lying and do so herself will leave her vulnerable to others seeking to exploit her which is not a weakness you intend to leave your heir with.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra more about chess
DC 18 (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra Luthor has proven to be quite a talented chess player in your games to teach her the weight of obligations. Perhaps there is the spark of a potential grandmaster in your daughter. Nurturing this talent could earn her more prestige in certain circles and it would help develop her strategic thinking.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra Leadership
DC 10 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) As your heir Cassandra will be expected to take up the reigns of LexCorp after you are someday gone. While you do not expect her too be able to match your prodigious talents at leadership, as you doubt anyone could do as well as you, you do still intend to ensure that Cassandra is more than capable of taking on a leadership role as is demanded of any member of the Luthor family.

[ ] [Cass] Learn to read a cat's body language
DC ??? (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra has spent a lot of time playing with Janus. As time passes she has grown better and better at reading Janus' body language. Perhaps given enough time she can apply her knowledge of body language to non-human creatures eventually concluding in her being able to read all animals body language. For now you'll stick to cats but this could be the first step to a very interesting development

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra History
DC 34 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra for all of her talents knows little to no history that is not correlated to the existence of LexCorp or more modern events. It won't do to have an heir who doesn't know any history beyond her own. As such educating her about the world is imperative to getting her where she needs to be

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra more about psychology and sociology
DC 88 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra has shown herself to be remarkably adept at understanding people. Giving her a greater framework for which she can apply what she knows to others would only make her that much more effective. Cassandra has already proven adept at picking up and making use of this knowledge and is eager and interested in learning how to "win at people" as she jokingly has put it.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra about politics
DC 30 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Politics are an inherent part of life once you get powerful enough. As such Cassandra must learn how to navigate the political arena if she truly is to succeed you.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra about business
DC 34 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) If Cassandra is to be your heir then she must inevitably at some point learn how to manage and run LexCorp. Without knowing the principles of how businesses work Cassandra likely won't be able to take on her role as the next leader of LexCorp. As such it might be best to teach her now while she is still young and malleable

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra shadow you at work
DC 0 (The higher the roll the better the result) (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra tends to learn best from being able to directly observe something and come to conclusions based off of what she is shown. Based off of that you might be best off teaching her how to run LexCorp by having her observe how you do it. It will likely slightly slow you down when you answer her questions but it might be worth it to ensure that Cassandra is properly able to take over when you are no longer running the company

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra attempt to run her own section of LexCorp
DC ??? (DC reduced by 44 if Jinx is assigned to this action) (Jinx's Shadow can assigned to this action adding a bonus of +5 to the end of calculation) (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Stewardship) Perhaps you might be best off if you teach Cassandra in a more sink or swim style. Having her learn to struggle with running some insignificant part of LexCorp you'll temporarily hand control of over to her might enable her to develop her own style of leadership and her ensuing struggle would likely teach her a lesson or two about the cutthroat nature of business

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra practice balancing budgets
DC 13 (DC 9 if Jinx is assigned to this action) (Jinx's Shadow can assigned to this action adding a bonus of +1 to the end of calculation) (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Stewardship) Cassandra naturally is going to some day take over LexCorp. Having her learn to appreciate money as well as how to manage it is an important task for you to develop. Having Cassandra balance budgets, whether by providing her with a stipend to spend acquiring things or through solving various worksheets, could help foster this in your heir

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra learn to play the stock market
DC 0 (The higher the roll the better the result) (Jinx's Shadow can assigned to this action adding a bonus of +4 to the end of calculation) (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Stewardship) Cassandra has shown an extraordinary amount of promise as your heir. As such it might be worthwhile to have Cassandra learn to play the stock market by investing some money in there herself. Admittedly this might be having Cassandra jump into the deep end but there is some value in having someone learn by doing and thus getting a practical appreciation for what does and doesn't work.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra shadow Carol Ferris at work
DC 0 (The higher the roll the better the result) (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra does learn best by doing and as such it might prove to be best if Cassandra were to follow someone else to learn how they handle their business. A trip to California to observe how Carol Ferris runs her business for a month or so will hopefully help foster her development as a businesswoman and as someone capable of learning without your direct oversight all the while still being productive.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra review LexCorp's financial reports
DC 19 (DC 13 if Jinx is assigned to this action) (Jinx's Shadow can assigned to this action adding a bonus of +5 to the end of calculation) (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Stewardship) Cassandra has the mathematical knowledge in order to write up financial reports and solve the various calculations contained within. The only question is whether or not she can parse through the language in order to figure things out correctly. Since she will have to do it herself later on, it might be best to have your heir practice reviewing these documents while you are still around to catch any mistakes she might make.

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra about electromagnetism
DC 56 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Electromagnetism is one of the fundamental forces of the universe and understanding its underlying principles will enable someone to grasp a massive amount of scientific information. Cassandra already has some grounding in the very basics so perhaps teaching her more will enable her to further excel in that field.

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra about optics
DC 38 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Optics is fundamentally all about light, and while it can lead to lasers and holograms, the vast majority of the applications of this branch of science are far more mundane. Still educating Cassandra on more than the basics could prove beneficial in the long run.

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra about thermodynamics
DC 26 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) With the creation of the Cold Engine, LexCorp has essentially rewritten the book on thermodynamics. As such it might be best to ensure that your heir is solidly grounded in the subject. Giving her a leg up in how to build on your own work is only natural after all.

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra about acoustics
DC 40 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) As the cell phone king, sound is a critical part of your enterprises. The science of sound is not central to anything at LexCorp but perhaps in educating Cassandra on the subject she can surprise you and begin to contribute more to the next L-Phone's design

[ ] [Cass] Educate Cassandra on weapons design
DC 10 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) LexCorp is firstly and foremostly a weapons company. Cassandra already knows how to build and work with weapons, now she's received enough of a scientific grounding that she can truly begin to design her own. Bringing her into the family business will prove beneficial to enabling her to take over from you and it might give her an outlet to exercise her ingenuity in.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra about space
DC 18 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) While Cassandra understands a lot of scientific principles and laws about the world she has little understanding of what lies in the greater universe. Teaching Cassandra about things like the solar system and black holes might serve to expand her horizons even if it isn't always applicable to daily life.

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra in depth about projectile motion
DC 35 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra has already gained a fairly practical understanding of projectile motion and a knack for applying it to real-world scenarios. Educating her on it in full can serve to make her even more adept at this branch of scientific knowledge

[ ] [Cass] Teach Cassandra how to fill out important paperwork
DC 3 (Cassandra must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Stewardship) While Cassandra is undoubtedly a brilliant girl, it might be best if you give her a solid groundwork in how to file patents and write scientific papers so that she can make use of her brilliance without being exploited by those who understand bureaucracy better than her.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra spar against Silver Banshee
DC 18 (Cassandra and Siobhan must be assigned to this option for it to be taken) (Martial) Having a metahuman like Silver Banshee presents a unique opportunity for honing Cassandra's martial prowess. After all Siobhan's regeneration means she can survive what would normally be fatal blows, and her strength makes her even more able to challenge Cassandra without being a master martial artist. Both girls could likely learn something if pitted in a few spars against one another, even if it might lead to bad blood if it's allowed to get out of control. Still it's an opportunity to push Cassandra out of her comfort zone and encourage her to not let her skills in any one area stagnate.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra experiment with the Sword of Beowulf
DC ??? (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Martial) Cassandra has proven capable of briefly picking up the Sword of Beowulf and now that she's older she has shown interest in making use of it. It would be quite a boon if your heir was able to make use of what is currently a very expensive desk ornament but when messing with magic there is always at least some degree of risk involved due to your lack of understanding. Still Cassandra is confident that she can handle it.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra attempt to learn magic
DC ??? (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Magic is not something you personally understand. However what information you have gathered on the subject suggests that children are significantly better at learning magic than adults are. While Cassandra is on the cusp of becoming a young woman she still as of now qualifies as a child. With her close relationship with Jinx, there is a good chance that Cassandra might be able to glean something where you are unable to.

[ ] [Cass] Visit the Charles McNider school for metahuman youth
DC 10 (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) There's nothing stopping you from exerting your influence and enabling Cassandra to visit the Charles McNider school for metahuman youth. And you are confident that once Cassandra arrives on campus she could easily bend a few of the more susceptible students to her will and mold them into useful pawns and underlings. It might earn you some suspicion from the staff but it could prove well worth it in the long run.

[ ] [Cass] Allow Cassandra to acquire another pet
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the results) (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Stewardship) Cassandra has a particular fondness for animals and with her access to her own income comes a desire to purchase another pet. Such a thing might engender some greater responsibility even if Cassandra has already proven capable of taking care of pets with Snowy and Janus. Still she has let them get fairly out of hand so it might be necessary to provide her with a pet that forces her to be a little more hands on with responsibility. Still despite all of this a pet is a good opportunity for several object lessons.

[ ] [Cass] Acquire a car for Cassandra's use
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the result) (Stewardship) While Cassandra does not technically need a car right now, it would be useful for her to have in the future. Additionally, with Jinx reaching the age at which she can begin to drive, acquiring a car for Cassandra's use allows your daughter to have a covert way to reward Jinx for serving her loyally. Regardless of whether or not the car is purchased or produced you're confident that you can achieve a good number of things through the acquisition of a company car for Cassandra.

[ ] [Cass] Give Jinx a raise
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the result) (Stewardship) Giving Jinx a raise is unlikely to be effective for much more than potentially binding her loyalty closer to Cassandra and really incentivizing her to succeed but at the same time those on their own are decently useful things to do.

[ ] [Cass] Have Jinx further optimize Cassandra's schedule
DC 50 (This action can only be taken if Jinx alone is assigned to this action) (failure on this action is auto-capped to bare failure) (Stewardship) Jinx is still somewhat new to her role as Cassandra's personal assistant but you are confident that with Jinx's zealotry for the role and her understanding of your daughter, she can eventually further optimize Cassandra's schedule. It's likely to be immensely difficult for Jinx at first but if this hill can be overcome, not only will it enable Jinx to become more effective in assisting Cassandra but it will also potentially allow Cassandra to more effectively and efficiently develop her own skills.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra practice being Jinx's boss
DC 5 (Both Cassandra and Jinx must be assigned to this action in order for it to be taken) (the higher the roll the better the result) (Stewardship) There are likely to be some teething issues at first but having Cassandra learn and practice how to be in charge of a subordinate in an official business capacity is an important skill to develop. Having her practice with Jinx is a safe way for Cassandra to start getting her feet wet with this sort of work and at the same time it is likely to encourage loyalty from Jinx's end and get her more used to taking orders from Cassandra. If all goes well not only will Cassandra be able to function better as a boss but she and Jinx will be able to more effectively work together

[ ] [Cass] Allow Jinx to create and begin managing an online presence for Cassandra
DC 0 (Jinx must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) Jinx has experience with the use of Handshake and has a fair bit more experience in being an online presence than Cassandra does. While you don't wish to get this done prematurely, you can see the benefits in having Jinx begin managing public relations for Cassandra early and start to get Cassandra's name out there while Cassandra focuses on more important matters

[ ] [Cass] Hire an additional academic tutor for Cassandra
DC 56 (DC 35 if Jinx is assigned to this action) (Stewardship) With the state of the world right now, relying on Emily Rice to act as a tutor for Cassandra is plainly inefficient and unlikely to be as effective as it can be. While you have no major gripes with Ms. Rice's performance, you are confident that an additional academic tutor for Cassandra could help shore up those issues.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra Luthor learn about the law
DC 63 (DC 57 is Jinx is assigned to this action, DC 33 if Lucy Lane is assigned to this action) (Jinx's shadow can be assigned to this action for +1) (Cassandra Luthor Must be assigned to this action to take it) (Learning) Cassandra has already proven to be fairly effective at learning the ins and outs of the law. As the heiress to a major company, it is always useful for Cassandra to learn as much as she possibly can in this regard so that she can more easily navigate in a cutthroat environment on how to make the law work for you.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra subsidize and sponsor Jinx's education
DC 0 ( the higher the roll the better the results) (Stewardship) Jinx has proven herself to be an immensely useful connection for Cassandra. However despite all of this, Jinx remains fairly rough and untrained. LexCorp has educated her, but you have not gone above and beyond into molding her to be as useful a tool for Cassandra as possible. Having Cassandra openly subsidize and sponsor Jinx's further education might have the two grow closer and would enable Jinx to learn more skills then she could elsewhere

[ ] [Cass] Socialize Cassandra with peers her own age
DC 23 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) While Cassandra has proven more than capable of interacting with other children her own age, it has become fairly clear that her own intelligence and maturity seems to somewhat work against her as it causes her to often disdain other children her own age. Having Cassandra practice at social interactions with children her age might further assist her in this matter and could potentially enable her to meet some useful individuals. You don't need Cassandra to like many peers her own age, you just need to ensure she can effectively interact with and make use of them.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra practice non-violently gleaning information by confronting Barbara Gordon
DC ??? (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Intrigue) When she was younger, Cassandra had issues with interrogation where she resorted to violence and torture right out of the gate to get the information she wanted. By denying Cassandra the easy way out, you can observe what Cassandra's actual capabilities are when going up against Barbara Gordon, simultaneously seeing how adept Cassandra is at interactions with a nominal peer. You don't expect to glean too much information, though whatever you could get may end up being useful as instead this serves as a way to measure Cassandra's capabilities

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra make a request to meet with Kid Flash
DC ??? (Diplomacy) An unforeseen benefit of having a daughter is that you can occasionally make moves that otherwise aren't really viable. By having the request to meet with Kid Flash be posed as your daughters whims, you can disarm at least some suspicions regarding your intent as people would likely read it as you spoiling your daughter rather than conspiring to gain more information on the Flash's capabilities. It may end up proving worthwhile to attempt something like this.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra practice running and managing various in-house services
DC 18 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Stewardship) With Cassandra's discovery of the legal loophole that allows you to exert control over others by offering more in-house services it might be worthwhile to have Cassandra attempt to practice running and managing these organizations so that she can see her discovery all the way through and pick up some important skills along the way. Naturally there will be a lot of safety nets present but it might be a nice way to let her dip her toes into things.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra meet with Bette Kane
DC 5 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) While Cassandra does not have a conventional friendship with Bette Kane, Bette is interested in continuing to interact with and compete against Cassandra. Having Cassandra continue to cultivate their relationship and interact with Bette might prove beneficial. Who knows perhaps the currently one-sided rivalry may end up pushing Cassandra to truly excel in every way she can.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra practice meditation
DC ??? (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) While there's no immediate tangible benefits to meditation, the practice can install discipline. While Cassandra is quite well behaved, teaching her a little more patience and attempting to curb some of her youthful proclivities could prove quite beneficial. Who knows there may even be some other more esoteric benefits as well.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra begin studying the necessary skills to become a surgeon
DC 54 (Cassandra Luthor must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Cassandra has all the makings of a good surgeon. Admittedly while her knowledge is not quite up to par where it would be ideal, she knows enough that she could begin learning the necessary skills to become a surgeon. Practicing and getting the hang of the necessary suite of skills to excel in the field could prove quite worthwhile

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra meet with Emmylou Brown
DC 12 (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) While Cassandra is unlikely to find much value in Emmylou as a person, having her meet and interact with the younger girl is something she'd be willing to do as it allows her to potentially get more leverage on Enoch Brown. While it's not the cleanest solution, this might serve as a good opportunity to teach Cassandra to cultivate good relations even if she doesn't see value in the individual in question in an immediate sense. Emmylou for her part is almost certainly going to end up thinking positively of Cassandra and a good dynamic might payoff far later down the line.

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra practice piloting an exosuit
DC 37 (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Martial) Cassandra is quite skilled in a wide variety of physical disciplines. Giving her some more familiarity with how to pilot and maneuver an exosuit might prove to be quite beneficial as it'll help push Cassandra's martial capabilities to the next degree.

Spoiler: New Cassandra Luthor Special actions

[ ] [Cass] Allow Cassandra to create and debut a costumed persona
DC 30 (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Martial) While Cassandra has not made much use of her debut thus far, allowing her to create and act in a costumed persona, complete with a secret identity, might be a way to let her hone her combat skills whilst also giving her free reign to act in the world at large. Cassandra at the very least would enjoy the opportunity to act even if naturally there is the risk of her getting hurt.

[ ] [Cass] Arrange for Cassandra to engage in an interview
DC 8 (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) With Cassandra having now appeared in public, people are more interested in her than ever. As such now is the perfect time for Cassandra to springboard her reputation using the interest in her to further shape the public's perception of your daughter.

[ ] [Cass] Arrange for Cassandra to have a celebrity career
DC 25 (Diplomacy) While this is the kind of action that might work best with Cassandra on board, your media empire can easily catapult Cassandra into being a star. Celebrity is a soft power in and of itself and giving it to her might prove quite useful all things considered. It could prove tricky putting Cassandra in the public eye, but you are confident your daughter will live up to your expectations

[ ] [Cass] Have Cassandra act as the public face for a charity
DC 19 (Diplomacy) Making use of the interest and image of Cassandra you are quite confident that you could market some sort of charity to the masses and make a profit on it. Cassandra might prove a bit upset if you do this and don't let her get involved in it but if you want to move around money, it might prove useful to you.

[ ] [Cass] Let Cassandra compete in sports
DC 0 (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (the higher the roll the better the results) Whilst you find most of the most popular sports rather distasteful, you're confident that Cassandra would enjoy being able to compete and prove her superiority to the masses in an acceptable setting and establish a reputation for her very early on. Additionally having a career in competition might prove useful in providing you a cover to get into and out of key locations.

[ ] [Cass] Let Cassandra meet the public
DC 0 (Cassandra must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) While it might prove problematic in that it gives your enemies a direct opportunity to attack your daughter, arranging for Cassandra to meet and speak with the public at large might prove useful to you in establishing who Cassandra is early on and ingraining a set perception in the mind of the masses.

Raven Unique actions subvote
One of these actions can be undertaken during this turn but it doesn't have to be taken. Most of these options require assigning Raven to the option. These actions do not have to be taken but they will provide Raven with improvements as she grows. In order for any of these actions to be taken a hero must be assigned to it. Please include the Raven unique action in your plan if you want to use it. This is the last turn Raven's unique actions will be available.

Spoiler: Raven Special actions

[ ] [Raven] Desensitize Raven to Death
DC 77 (DC 50 if Helena Bertinelli is assigned to this action) (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Intrigue) As of right now Raven is immensely squeamish and uncomfortable with death. Raven wants to be able to do everything she possibly can to stop Trigon but at the same time Raven is unlikely to be able to deal with foes that need to be put down permanently. Teaching her to overcome her own limits and thus become a more effective combatant might be something worth investing in

[ ] [Raven] Learn about economics
DC 3 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Raven grew up in what was essentially an isolated commune with no connection to the outside world. As such she is woefully undereducated on what money is and how it works and almost all of the basic tenants needed to live in a modern society which uses currency. Making sure that she is more educated on this will make Raven less dependent on you but at the same time it is going to be a massive pain if Raven ends up as an adult who is incapable of paying her taxes because she was never taught how to do so.

[ ] [Raven] Learn about engineering
DC 15 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Likewise Raven's relatively isolated upbringing has left her with little to no knowledge of how various aspects of engineering work. Educating her on this ought to end up making her a more well-rounded individual and while it's unlikely that Raven will ever end up an out and out engineer, she is capable of at least learning the basics

[ ] [Raven] Learn about physics
DC 20 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Raven's knowledge of physics is actually rather sound at a base level though ultimately a little eclectic. While she understands the concepts of Newton's laws, she has no idea who Isaac Newton is. As such while concepts like gravity, magnetism and even the basics of circuits are all well within Raven's grasp, she largely is disconnected from the variable's used in most people's conceptions of physics and has odd holes in her knowledge, like a complete lack of knowledge on what atoms are. Educating Raven out to fill in the gaps in her knowledge and enable her to function more effectively in the modern day.

[ ] [Raven] Learn about chemistry
DC 4 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) On the other hand, Raven's knowledge of chemistry is downright atrocious. The entire field seems to be a complete mystery to Raven and as such while it's not necessary to educate her on this subject matter, doing so would enable Raven to have a much better grasp of this entire area of science.

[ ] [Raven] Learn about biology
DC 34 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Because Raven's knowledge and understanding about various scientific fields remains wildly inconsistent and odd for anyone who grew up outside of Azarath, Raven actually has a relatively fantastic grasp of human anatomy. Even bizarre seemingly useless information like the proportional ratios of the four humors in an average healthy human body is something Raven has a grasp on. On the other hand while Raven is practically and expert in human anatomy and has a basic understanding of animal biology, she lacks any understanding of cells and their component parts and most of her knowledge on animals is largely derived from old books.

[ ] [Raven] Learn martial arts
DC 14 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) While Raven does know how to use her powers, she has received next to no training in martial arts. Correcting this oversight could very well enable Raven to be a lot more capable as a combatant

[ ] [Raven] Exercise intensely
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better he results) (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Martial) The fact of the matter is that while Raven is not particularly overweight or out of shape, she has done relatively little exercise over the course of her life. Having Raven start exercising might help her get more in shape which can have a wide variety of benefits. She now has mandatory exercise as part of her position in Lexcorp but properly whipping her into shape should speed things up.

[ ] [Raven] Learn to use weapons
DC 6 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Martial) Raven has virtually no familiarity with how to use any sort of weapon and prior to leaving Azarath had never seen a gun before. Educating Raven on how to use weapons will help improve her combat capabilities, not only by letting her wield them but also by teaching her how to work around various kinds of weapons.

[ ] [Raven] Debut as a LexCorp sponsored superhero sidekick
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the results) (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) Raven has a strong desire to go out and help people. As such the role of a superhero seems to naturally call to her. That being said you don't fully trust Raven to act on her own without supervision. Having Raven act as Ultraviolet's sidekick would allow you to build up Raven's loyalty to both LexCorp and Ultraviolet, allow you to channel Raven's desire to good in a productive manner that satisfies her and would potentially be a good PR move.

[ ] [Raven] Debut as a LexCorp sponsored superhero
DC 15 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) While acting as a superhero does appeal to Raven and you do have the means to let her act on this desire, you have your reservations about allowing Raven to debut as a solo superhero. Even ignoring her age, allowing Raven to be her own hero under her own discretion would make Raven the most happy and satisfied she could be, but at the same time it would also leave you with less control over Raven and her behavior. Furthermore, the lack of supervision would mean that any mistakes on Raven's part are going to have more time to fester and get worse before you can fix them. That being said there is an appeal to this action and if you can pull it off it would be a big win for you as it would let you increase the roster of LexCorp superheroes and keep Raven invested in working with LexCorp.

[ ] [Raven] Continue practicing blending in with normal everyday people
DC 16 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Intrigue) The fact of the matter is that right now as she is, Raven stands out immensely from the average everyday person on the street. Her preferred outfit involves wearing a cloak and a leotard, she lacks a lot of knowledge about the rest of the world and she holds some beliefs, like the fact that unicorns are real, which no doubt hold some basis from what she learned in Azarath, but would make a normal person think she's absolutely delusional. Letting Raven practice blending in with normal everyday people will help Raven adjust to modern life and enable her to be less obtrusive when out in public.

[ ] [Raven] Learn about Leylines
DC 21 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Raven has an interest in learning about leylines particularly with Azarath's connection to one. As a genuinely talented magic user Raven is quite capable of studying and learning about leylines but there still is the fear that something might go wrong if she's left totally unsupervised.

[ ] [Raven] Practice using her powers
DC 54 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Martial) Raven's powers allow her to do a wide variety of things. All that being said Raven still can push her abilities even further than she currently has. Giving Raven the space and time to practice using her powers might end up resulting in her ultimately improving her capabilities even further beyond the training she has currently done

[ ] [Raven] Acquire and collect books
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the results) (Stewardship) Bizarrely enough despite her having grown up in an isolated magical commune, Raven is very well-versed in literature and enjoys reading books. Furthermore, Raven grew up being able to learn magic from spellbooks. Acquiring and collecting books for Raven to use not only will make Raven happier but it also might result in Raven learning to pick up a new skill.

[ ] [Raven] Learn about world history
DC 2 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Raven grew up in an isolated magical commune. As such while she does somehow know the very broadest strokes of world history, she's woefully lacking in anything even remotely close to real depth in understanding and as such is woefully lacking in this subject. Educating Raven on history will likely result in her becoming more well-rounded and will allow her to more effectively navigate the modern world.

[ ] [Raven] Have Raven attend high school
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the results) (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) Raven desires to some degree to be normal and you can see the benefits of letting her socialize with her peers in a relatively safe setting. It would be a time commitment on Raven's part but the benefits of letting her have hands on interactions with others in the real world and allow her to make her own friends are quite advantageous for you. There is the concern that significant emotional disturbance, something not entirely lacking in high school, might cause Raven's more demonic side to flare up but that's ultimately a very minor risk and this could prove well worth taking.

[ ] [Raven] Practice magical empathy
DC ??? (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) Raven has some experience with magical empathy but she's unsure of how best to use it and expand upon it. Letting her learn more about it could prove useful but as of right now the skill remains a near total unknown.

[ ] [Raven] Practice astral projection
DC 24 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Intrigue) On the other hand, Raven does know a lot more about astral projection and even knows various methods to improve it. The ability to project herself a great distance away to interact with and affect objects while being relatively undetectable and untouchable to others is something you could greatly benefit from Raven getting better at. As such allowing Raven to have a safe quiet place to practice this skill could prove to pay dividends.

[ ] [Raven] Learn even more about magic
DC 48 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Alternatively, you could allow Raven to more generally learn about magic. Raven has so far proven to be more versatile and adaptable than any other magic user you have met short of the Greek Goddess Circe herself. Considering the fact that Raven is confident she can learn much more about magic than she currently does, it stands to reason that Raven can grow massively more powerful. Allowing Raven to learn magic can result in you slowly but surely being able to plume the depths of magical abilities and potentially gain an underling with unmatched magical might. Raven has already made several strides to strengthen her knowledge, perhaps you can push things even further in a beneficial direction.

[ ] [Raven] Teach Raven LexCorp propaganda
DC 7 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Intrigue) You have Raven in a unique position where for all of her cynicism and pessimism, she's still uniquely naive and holds an easily manipulatable romantic view of the world. As such it would be immensely easy to begin feeding Raven propaganda in order to get her marching to the beat of the LexCorp drums. It would need to be a delicate operation and Raven is likely to question and try to find countervailing opinions but with your degree of control you could succeed in this matter. It's a risk for sure but if it pays of securing Raven's loyalty and zealotry might be an incredible prize.

[ ] [Raven] Socialize Raven with peers her own age
DC 13 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) Raven has already begun to learn how to blend in and pretend to be a normal person. Having Raven socialize with peers her own age will not only give her a chance to flex those skills in a practical setting but it also might make her happier and allow her to form connections outside of her mission to stop Trigon.

[ ] [Raven] Socialize Raven with peers about her age at LexCorp
DC ??? (Raven and one other hero unit must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (DC varies depending on hero units assigned) (Diplomacy) Alternatively, you could attempt to exploit Raven's desire to conform and fit in by warping her perception of a "normal teenage girl". By having raven socialize primarily with the LexCorp peers you have chosen her to, you might be able to forcibly forge bonds between Raven and members of Cassandra's generation and tie Raven closer than ever to your company. You might even be able to alter her behavior if you're successful enough.

[ ] [Raven] Have Raven practice expressing herself through hobbies
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the results) (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Diplomacy) Raven has not had much time to explore who she is and what she really wants out of life. Giving her the ability to more openly express herself might give her an outlet to unprocessed emotions that could help her in the long run and would ultimately make her happier and improve her quality of life.

[ ] [Raven] Have Raven examine the defenses against Trigon
DC 0 (autosuccess) (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) Until Tala comes back to you with more information on Trigon, Raven remains your expert on his intentions and capabilities. As such having her examine the defenses you've already set up might give you a solid assessment of how effective your current defenses are.

[ ] [Raven] Learn about human biology
DC 54 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Raven has managed to learn the basics of healing and has gotten a fair bit more versatile in her use of magic because of it. That being said her capabilities are currently fairly severely bottlenecked by her lack of understanding on how humans work. While she's by no means clueless, a more in depth accounting of human biology would help to make her a more effective healer if push comes to shove.

[ ] [Raven] Learn more about warding
DC 33 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) While Raven has already picked up the basics of warding she could theoretically advance her skills in the discipline further. While you don't have all of the literature on the subject, you have enough that Raven ought to be able to improve by studying the work of others.

[ ] [Raven] Learn about enchantments
DC 56 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) While Raven doesn't have too much grounding in enchantments as of right now, you do have records of what Circe did as well as some more generic treatises on what enchantments can be done. You also have the Sword of Beowulf and the hellfire wands as a way for Raven to potentially observe an enchanted object. While it will not be easy to teach, you're fairly confident that Raven ought to be able to at least pick up something from how the magic works if given enough time to study it.

[ ] [Raven] Learn more about diabolism
DC ??? (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Admittedly Raven hates drawing upon the demonic aspect of her powers and she has been given at least some grounding in the subject of diabolism. That being said with your ownership of the book "Faustian" as a guide to a few of the more well-known denizens, you're confident that Raven could glean more on the subject, provided she's willing to push things further.

[ ] [Raven] Learn more languages
DC 10 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) With Tala's tutoring involving grounding in ancient Greek and Egyptian concepts, Raven has grown significantly more interested in learning languages. While translation technology does make things significantly easier, Raven is more interested in learning the language organically so as to more effectively understand subtleties that she might otherwise miss. While Raven has a knack for languages, already knowing how to speak a few, she could always learn more and thus potentially expand what magic she can learn.

[ ] [Raven] Study Thaumaturgy
DC ??? (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) While Raven has been given a fair bit of grounding in thaumaturgy by Tala, it actually runs somewhat counter to what she knew of Azarath's traditions. As such Raven has grown interested in potentially exploring the subject. While it is very, very difficult to figure out, Raven is certain that she might be able to figure out some answers if she's allowed to do research on the matter.

[ ] [Raven] Have Raven get a learner's permit
DC 8 (Stewardship) Raven has expressed interest in being a "normal teenager" multiple times by now. As she is turning sixteen soon, you could indulge her and get her a learners permit. You're confident that Raven is capable of passing the intellectual parts of permit acquisition, although she definitely needs someone's help in navigating the bureaucracy. Aiding her in this acquisition will make her more capable of blending in with average everyday people and might make her feel more fond of LexCorp for providing her with these opportunities.

Spoiler: Brand New Raven special actions

[ ] [Raven] Attempt to learn telepathy
DC 68 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Raven's breakthroughs in mind reading have allowed her to theorize what might be needed in order to magically form telepathic links. Of course this is somewhat rooted in theories she alone has come up with and its unlikely to be easy, but being able to work with a telepath might be worthwhile.

[ ] [Raven] Attempt to learn mind reading
DC 134 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Similarly Raven's ability to enter the minds of others does suggest that she could learn to read the minds of others. That being said Raven has admitted that this is not something that would come easy to her and she's very worried about consequences of attempting this if she doesn't know what she's doing.

[ ] [Raven] Practice entering minds
DC ??? (dependent on if another hero unit is assigned and which one is assigned) (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) Raven has figured out how to enter another individual's mind but has no idea what to do once there. Having her practice entering others minds and navigating them would make her more adept at doing so.

[ ] [Raven] Study possession
DC 39 (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Learning) So long as it's kept strictly academic, Raven is fairly comfortable learning about possession. It's not an area that's too explored in magic as it's generally considered dangerous to dabble in as thinning the barrier between the self and another entity often leads to some sort of bleed-through. Still so long as it's just academic it should be safe.

[ ] [Raven] Practice possessing others
DC ??? (dependent on if another hero unit is assigned and which one is assigned) (Raven must be assigned to this action for it to be taken) (Martial) Raven has figured out the basics of possessing others and while she is deeply uncomfortable with taking control of and violating the free will of other beings, it is something she could be pressured into doing. It is risky business and could backfire if you're not careful though.

Events subvotes
Please select which of the following events you'd like to interfere with as well as how you'd like to interfere with them. You can select as many or as few of the options as you would like to from the list below so long as they are not mutually exclusive (don't vote to both participate and not participate in an event). Please also select as many heroes as you would like (although at least one hero must be chosen) from those that are listed as available next to the mini-event to participate, provided there are no additional qualifications. Keep in mind that any event with a "(N)" in its title is a nemesis mini-event and that these events will potentially affect the Nemesis gauge. Write-ins are available for these mini-events but they are heavily, heavily regulated and need to pass QM approval. The events available are as follows:

A Precipitous Peace Conference: (This mini-event is locked in and will be taken automatically) (Available hero units are Lex Luthor, Mercy Graves, Pamela Isley, Cassandra Luthor, Jinx, and Dr. Moon) (Up to three hero units can be assigned to this mini-event and any hero unit assigned to it will be removed from the events of White House, Black Heart and anything that might come from it) As you've already established in negotiating with Count Vertigo, LexCorp's building in Austria as a neutral mediator. With Cassandra already revealing that Count Vertigo had lied to you, albeit about minor matters, someone needs to attend the peace conference to make sure things go smoothly. Whoever goes to this event will be able to network with the various parties present, but will also need to act to ensure surprises are kept to a minimum.

White House, Black Heart (N): (Available hero units are Lex Luthor, Mercy Graves, Pamela Isley, Carol Ferris, Cassandra Luthor, Jinx, Oswald Loomis, and Lucy Lane) (Up to three hero units can be assigned to this mini event) (Choosing not to participate in this event may result in you getting forced to participate in a different mini-event) President Garner has made a very strange move as of late, inviting Supergirl to meet with him at the White House. Considering he's never made a similar offer to Superman and has even spoken out against him, this is very, very strange, but you suspect that there might be more at play here than it initially seems. As such you might need to step in and get involved in the matter to prevent things from going wrong

Man of the Apes (N): (Available hero units are Siobhan McDougal, Beatriz Da Costa, Tora Olafsdotter, Eve Eden, Raven, Mina Chaytan, and Marcus Aelius) (Up to two hero units can be selected for this mini-event) After having seen a good number of individuals go after Superman to prove themselves as the strongest there is, it's quite strange to instead have someone arrive to challenge Ultraviolet instead. Admittedly a bizarre human headed cybernetic gorilla is not what you expected, but it's still a threat. Ultraviolet is busy on the other side of the country and whilst you could let the SCU step in to handle it, it might be best to prevent Superman from having any sort of victory.

Up Your Armory (N): (Available hero units are Edward Nygma, Rose Wilson, Leonard Snart, Sam Scudder, Helena Bertinelli, and Arthur Villain) (Up to two hero units can be selected for this mini-event) Fairly LexCorp has received a mysterious message from "Captain Ironfist" regarding a demonstrating involving Superman. There was not much detail in the message, just a video player that is currently inert but had a time written on it. It's up to you to decide if you want to intervene or to see if there's anything worthwhile to come from this message)

Love Hurts (N): (Available hero units for this are Roxanne Sutton, Samuel Scudder, Starfire, Nathan Craig Jones and Marcus Aelius) (Up to three hero units can be selected for this mini-event) An unknown alien craft has landed and out of it has emerged an alien that looks human but has demanded to fight "the strongest man on the planet" due to the earth being able to hold off Brainiac's invasion. Nominally she might be looking for Superman but you don't intend to let her move unopposed. Acting to deal with this alien might prove to be the most effective move for you.

[ ] [Event 1] The A Precipitous Peace Conference mini-event is locked in and must be participated in. Up to three hero units are available for this mini-event and those three units will be uninvolved in what occurs in White House, Black Heart or any events that occur due to not participating in White House, Black Heart. (Please select which hero units you would like to use)
-[ ] [Action] Actively mingle with others in the peace conference and attempt to facilitate neutral peace talks
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to tilt the board so as to aid Vlatava's position as much as possible without resorting to anything outright against the terms of negotiation
-[ ] [Action] Make use of the pheromone spray and Merlino mind control devices to tilt things in a specific manner
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to cause the peace talks to go wrong to reignite the war
-[ ] [Action] Write-in
-[ ] [Action] Wait and do nothing and let others lead things, only stepping in as necessary

[ ] [Event 2] Participate in the White House, Black Heart mini-event. As a fair warning, choosing not to participate in this mini-event may result in you being forced into another mini-event. Up to three hero units can be assigned to this event and any hero units assigned to A Precipitous Peace Conference will not be available for this mini-event. (Please select which hero units you would like to use)
-[ ] [Action] Reach out to your contacts in the government to attempt to prevent Supergirl from meeting the president
-[ ] [Action] Contact Superman to try and get him involved early (choosing this option will increase the nemesis gauge)
-[ ] [Action] Publicly denounce this sort of meeting and use it to push a political agenda
-[ ] [Action] Head to Washington DC to intervene in person
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to contact Supergirl to prevent her from going to this meeting
-[ ] [Action] Write-in
[ ] [Event 2] Don't participate in the White House, Black Heart mini-event

[ ] [Event 3] Participate in the Man of the Apes mini-event. Up to two hero units can be selected for this mini-event. (Please select which hero units you would like to use)
-[ ] [Action] Move to immediately defeat and capture the human headed cybernetic gorilla
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to negotiate with the human headed cybernetic gorilla
-[ ] [Action] Wait for Superman to arrive and only then step in to deal with the situation
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to lure the human headed cybernetic gorilla out of Metropolis
-[ ] [Action] Battle the human headed cybernetic gorilla and draw out the fight as long as possible to attempt to make it a good publicity event
-[ ] [Action] Write-in
[ ] [Event 3] Don't participate in the Man of the Apes mini-event

[ ] [Event 4] Participate in the Up Your Armory mini-event. Up to two hero units can be selected for this mini-event. (Please select which hero units you would like to use)
-[ ] [Action] Watch the video player in a secluded unobserved location
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to track down where the video that is being played is occuring
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to preemptively locate Captain Ironfist
-[ ] [Action] Give the video player to the police
-[ ] [Action] Actively broadcast what's on the video player for more people to see
-[ ] [Action] Write-in
[ ] [Event 4] Don't participate in the Up Your Armory mini-event.

[ ] [Event 5] Participate in the Love Hurts mini-event. Up to three hero units can be selected for this mini-event. (Please select which hero units you would like to use)
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to battle the alien yourself, deceiving it into thinking that your forces are the reason Brainiac was repelled
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to negotiate with the alien
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to trick the alien into fighting Superman
-[ ] [Action] Wait until Superman and the alien are fighting and then spring into action
-[ ] [Action] Attempt to destroy the alien's spaceship to prevent it from leaving the planet
-[ ] [Action] Write-in
[ ] [Event 5] Don't participate in the Love Hurts mini-event.

New Skin Subvote
Once per turn during the hero vote portion of the turn, Leslie Willis can make use of her "Step into a new skin" trait. This trait allows Leslie Willis to pose as another hero unit and appear to have different stats visible to all other units. If a unit becomes aware that Leslie is disguised as this person then the disguise is compromised and there is no hidden or misleading information. Leslie can make use of her actual stats but requires passing an intrigue check dependent on the other units to pass it. The degree of success by which Leslie passes or fails the check will determine whether she uses her own higher stats while remaining undetected, uses the disguises stats (if they are lower) while remaining undetected, using the disguise stats while rousing suspicion, or uses her actual stats and outs herself. If a disguise has higher stats than Leslie's actual stat, only Leslie's stat will be used and it'll just appear to unaware hero units that the roll was different if possible. Coop scores are generated after each first encounter with an unaware unit. Each disguise has its own "false stats" that others can see. Sample preexisting disguises will be provided in the spoiler box here

Spoiler: Leslie Willis false identities

• Portia Friendly
  • Martial: 12
  • Diplomacy: 4
  • Stewardship: 6
  • Intrigue: 14
  • Learning: 3
  • Appears to be a Metropolis Police Officer
  • People Aware of Disguise: Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves
• Gia Jane
  • Martial: 17
  • Diplomacy: 2
  • Stewardship: 5
  • Intrigue: 8
  • Learning: 6
  • Appears to be an army officer
  • People Aware of Disguise: Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves
• Mia O'Maya
  • Martial: 1
  • Diplomacy: 7
  • Stewardship: 8
  • Intrigue: 4
  • Learning: 6
  • Appears to be a young unremarkable woman
  • People Aware of Disguise: Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves
• Gabriella Canard
  • Martial: 4
  • Diplomacy: 15
  • Stewardship: 6
  • Intrigue: 21
  • Learning: 2
  • Appears to be a reporter/journalist
  • People Aware of Disguise: Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves
• Alexis Stuge
  • Martial: 4
  • Diplomacy: 4
  • Stewardship: 6
  • Intrigue: 4
  • Learning: 6
  • Appears to be a normal LexCorp worker
  • People Aware of Disguise: Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves
• Sophia Sage
  • Martial: 1
  • Diplomacy: 7
  • Stewardship: 8
  • Intrigue: 3
  • Learning: 24
  • Appears to be a scientist/medical doctor
  • People Aware of Disguise: Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves
• Regan Killton
  • Martial: 15
  • Diplomacy: 2
  • Stewardship: 5
  • Intrigue: 9
  • Learning: 1
  • Appears to be a criminal
  • People Aware of Disguise: Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves

Please pick your favorite option from the list below. If you are not using a template but are selecting a disguise, write-ins are necessary.
[ ] [Skin] Use a premade disguise template (please select which one you would like to use)
-[ ] [Skin] Keep false stats as is
-[ ] [Skin] Alter false stats (please write-in the alteration you would like to make

[ ] [Skin] Use a new disguise
-[ ] [Skin] Please write-in a basic description of the disguise and provide a stat line for it

[ ] [Skin] Don't have Leslie make use of a disguise persona

Recommendations for Talia subvote
As part of your plan, you may select as many actions as you would like to that are present elsewhere in your plan and place them as part of the list of actions you want to recommend Talia assist you on this turn. Recommendations are not a guarantee that Talia will take the action, but it will heavily impact the decision-making process as to which action Talia selects to assist on. Every action that you recommend Talia assist you on will be given equal impact beyond normal considerations. Additionally, Talia will become aware of any actions recommended to her, regardless of whether or not she would have been aware of them beforehand. Your vote for this subvote ought to be formatted similar to the example listed below (though you ought to put an X instead of an Ex. I'm just formatting that portion that way to insure that my example is not counted as a vote).

[Ex] [Talia] Example Action
[Ex] [Talia] Example Action 2
[Ex] [Talia] Example Cassandra Special Action
[Ex] [Talia] Example Supercomputer Special Action

Jobs and Positions at LexCorp

• Lex Luthor: Head of LexCorp, CEO of LexCorp, CFO of LexCorp
• Mercy Graves: Head of LexCorp Security, Lex Luthor's Personal Bodyguard, Lex Luthor's Personal Assistant
• Cassandra Luthor: Holds no official title or position, is the LexCorp Heiress
• Pamela Isley: Head of Botanical Research at LexCorp, Head of LexCorp's Green Initiative
• Katherine Kane: Head of an elite squad of LexCorp security forces, LexCorp Law Enforcement Liason
• Rebecca Carstairs: Head of Extranormal research, LexCorp Representative
• Roxanne Sutton: Official Ferris Aerospace Test Pilot, LexCorp Representative
• Carol Ferris: Head of Ferris Aerospace, LexCorp Sponsored Superhero (as Ultraviolet)
• Mari McCabe: Head of McCabe Fashion
• Karl Helfern: Head of Medical Research
• Oswald Loomis: Head of television programming at Lightspeed Entertainment
• Jinx: Cassandra Luthor's Personal Assistant
• Carl Draper: Chief Architect, Head of the DIR
• Felicity Smoak: Head of Computer Development
• Marie Louise Dahl: Chief PR Representative
• Edward Nygma: Freelance Investigator and Acquisitions Expert
• Rose Wilson: Assistant to the Head of LexCorp Security
• Dr. Moon: LexCorp Medical Researcher
• Lisa Snart: Lightyear Entertainment Actress, Human Relations consultant for LexCorp
• Leonard Snart: LexCorp security force Captain
• Samuel Scudder: LexCorp security force specialist
• Mick Rory: LexCorp security force member
• Lucy Lane: Lex Luthor's personal lawyer
• Meena Dhawan: LexCorp Physics Researcher, Head of Research on Dhawan's Particle
• Caitlin Snow: LexCorp Researcher
• Louise Lincoln: LexCorp Researcher
• Vivian D'Aramis: LexCorp Administrator
• Constance D'Aramis: LexCorp Administrator
• Robert Frost: LexCorp Administrator, member of the Japanese Government's metahuman oversight committee
• Nathan Warbow: Head of Future Construction
• Paige Monroe: Senior PR Manager
• Lana Lang: Head of LL Fashions
• Rene Carpenter: Company Psychologist
• Elaine Marsh Morton: Security Consultant and Risk Assessment Specialist
• Edward Wells: Serial Peacemaking Officer
• Siobhan McDougall: LexCorp Worker and Security Contractor, Superheroic understudy
• Helena Bertinelli: Chief officer of LexCorp Special Investigative Team
• Rachel Roth: LexCorp extranormal activities consultant, is a LexCorp Ward
• Fixit: LexCorp Special Contractor
• Leslie Willis: LexCorp sponsored radio show host and media pundit
• Cory Anders: Cassandra's part-time bodyguard, is a LexCorp ward
• Beatriz Da Costa: LexCorp sponsored superhero (as Fire), Fashion Consultant
• Tora Olafsdotter: LexCorp sponsored superhero (as Ice), Fashion Consultant
• Eve Eden: LexCorp sponsored superhero (as Nightshade), Extranormal researcher
• Arthur Villain: LexCorp Medical Researcher, LexCorp Medical Research Supervisor
• Catherine Devereux: LexCorp Medical Researcher
• Enoch Brown: LexCorp Zoological and Biological Researcher
• Brittney Meld: DIR Member, LexCorp Accounting Analyst
• Mina Chaytan: Extranormal consultant and part-time superhero
• Nathan Craig Jones AKA Coldcast: Officially sponsored hero
• Marcus Aelius AKA Centurion: Officially sponsored hero
• Emily Rice: Full time scholastic tutor for Cassandra Luthor, Part time physics consultant
• Herbert Winston: Private scholastic tutor
• Barbara Gordon: LexCorp intern (Will be leaving this turn)
• Janus the two-headed lion cub: Mascot
• Snowy the four-armed Japanese Macaque: Cassandra's pet

[ ] [Jobs] Keep titles and positions the same
[ ] [Jobs] Fire a unit
[ ] [Jobs] Change some titles and positions
[ ] [Jobs] Add an additional title or position to a unit

 

[King crimson]

While I'm here, @King crimson I'd like to spend 5000 XP boosting Marie's Diplomacy to the max if you wouldn't mind. Also while I have you, would you mind confirming whether or not Paige's trait would fire for meeting the League?

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Sure thing, I'll make the exp related changes now. I also will not be hard confirming if Paige's trait would fire for meeting the League, but I will soft confirm that barring exceptional circumstances, it will not.

Edit: The EXP should be spent now.

 

[Duke William of]

People smarter than me, you know what to do! Plz make a plan so I can blindly follow along.

 

[Randino Treviani]

Can I just say that this is an incredibly ridiculously safe turn? You have more DC 0 actions than actions with a DC over 20 and five actions last turn, which I already felt was really playing it safe, have a higher DC than all of the actions this turn. I think this solidly confirms to me that I need to raise DC's across the board and actively remove DC 0 options. This is way too easy and I need to start taking actions to correct things.

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That's fine. I'd like to clarify that I mostly copied someone else's action and swapped out a few of the ones I found uninteresting for actions that made tech, a propaganda action. I really didn't know about how many DC 0s there were until this update.

Either way, I don't think actions with DCs over 50 need to increase? But point taken..

Also, several of the low DCs, like Congo and Propaganda, were ones we wanted to take anyway, or ones the election makes us feel pressured to take.

 

[jonasquinn]

Can I just say that this is an incredibly ridiculously safe turn? You have more DC 0 actions than actions with a DC over 20 and five actions last turn, which I already felt was really playing it safe, have a higher DC than all of the actions this turn. I think this solidly confirms to me that I need to raise DC's across the board and actively remove DC 0 options. This is way too easy and I need to start taking actions to correct things.

I'm not going to change things now and I don't blame people for wanting to play it safe, but I'm unhappy with how riskless this has all become. I want to emphasize that this is me being unhappy with elements of my own design that I will be taking steps to fix once this turn is up. I don't want to get people too down on things but they should expect a broad increase in DC for a lot of actions.

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Before I get into making a plan I do want to address this because it strikes me as somewhat unfair.

Firstly, you're extrapolating from two turns out of almost fourty which I don't think is a sizeable enough sample to make significant changes. Secondly, I think it is somewhat understandable that when we have so many actions to play with but not have enough hero units to cover them we'd play somewhat safe with a few actions. Thirdly, a fair number of said actions weren't necessarily chosen just because they have low DC's but because we wanted to do them and they just happened to have low DC's.

And finally I do feel it would be kinda unfair to make actions that have low DC's for good reasons somewhat arbitrarily more difficult just because people are choosing some low DC actions, especially as the amount of actions available continues to go up.

Not to go in a rant or anything, and sorry if it came across that way, but I can't really agree with that course of action.

 

[King crimson]

That's fine. I'd like to clarify that I mostly copied someone else's action and swapped out a few of the ones I found uninteresting for actions that made tech, a propaganda action. I really didn't know about how many DC 0s there were until this update.

Either way, I don't think actions with DCs over 50 need to increase? But point taken..

Also, several of the low DCs, like Congo and Propaganda, were ones we wanted to take anyway, or ones the election makes us feel pressured to take.

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So I'll be honest, I don't really care to assign blame for why things have turned out the way they did save for to myself. Again I don't think the thread did anything really wrong, I just think a flaw in my design has come up.

I'm not necessarily going to increase the DC of every action, with higher DC actions being likely to stay untouched, but there's some general rebalancing I want to do.

Before I get into making a plan I do want to address this because it strikes me as somewhat unfair.

Firstly, you're extrapolating from two turns out of almost fourty which I don't think is a sizeable enough sample to make significant changes. Secondly, I think it is somewhat understandable that when we have so many actions to play with but not have enough hero units to cover them we'd play somewhat safe with a few actions. Thirdly, a fair number of said actions weren't necessarily chosen just because they have low DC's but because we wanted to do them and they just happened to have low DC's.

And finally I do feel it would be kinda unfair to make actions that have low DC's for good reasons somewhat arbitrarily more difficult just because people are choosing some low DC actions, especially as the amount of actions available continues to go up.

Not to go in a rant or anything, and sorry if it came across that way, but I can't really agree with that course of action.

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I'm not just extrapolating this from two turns out of nearly forty, I'm looking at general trends across the board for the past few turns. Turn 31 and 30 have way less DC 0 actions, but they also follow the general trend of being very risk averse with only a single action guaranteed to have a DC over 50.

If we want to get technical, I'm looking at the last 12.12% of the game and realizing a general trend has emerged that I do not like and want to fix. I think it's a sizeable enough analysis that I should be justified in making at least some changes.

Also I think it's very understandable for the thread to play it safe. I think it's a very rational thing to do. The degree to which "safety" has gotten is ridiculous. You currently have 53 hero units and 39 actions. If I were to remove the 9 (about a fourth of your total action potential) DC 0 actions, you would only have 5 actions that wouldn't get a hero unit assigned to them assuming you assigned only one hero to every action. There were 7 sub-DC 10 actions this turn, meaning just doing them raw has a less than 10% chance to succeed. You also have selected for 3 double downs, which can be used defensively to further reduce your chances of failure.

It is very understandable that the thread would want to play it safe. I do not want the thread to be able to play it as safe as they currently are considering how unlikely you've managed to make any failure whatsoever.

For your third reason, my counter is that if I've created an action pool such that people can accidentally create a turn as safe as this one without intending to do so, then I need to make it harder.

As for balance being unfair, you've got to generally trust me on this. I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater (I currently don't believe anything will be increased in DC by more than 15 at the absolute most), but I feel like I need to make changes. One of the things I actually want to do is increase the DC for specialized labs as that feels a little too strong right now for how consistent it is at dropping DCs to enable the state of the game to be what it is.

I'm trying to examine the entirety of the quest and figure out what I can do to resolve what I think is an issue with as few changes as possible. I'm not trying to make the game arbitrarily more difficult, I'm trying to prevent the thread from trivializing difficulty which was originally intended.

Edit: Is it maybe somewhat unfair that I'm altering DC's now to try and make things more difficult? Yes, probably. At the same time though, I think the changes I'm making will be positive for the health of the game and ultimately I'm the final arbiter of it. You're allowed to be unhappy with the change but at the same time, I'm allowed to be unhappy with the current state of things and want to fix it.

 

[HavocOrder0999]

Can I just say that this is an incredibly ridiculously safe turn? You have more DC 0 actions than actions with a DC over 20 and five actions last turn, which I already felt was really playing it safe, have a higher DC than all of the actions this turn. I think this solidly confirms to me that I need to raise DC's across the board and actively remove DC 0 options. This is way too easy and I need to start taking actions to correct things.

I'm not going to change things now and I don't blame people for wanting to play it safe, but I'm unhappy with how riskless this has all become. I want to emphasize that this is me being unhappy with elements of my own design that I will be taking steps to fix once this turn is up. I don't want to get people too down on things but they should expect a broad increase in DC for a lot of actions.

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@King crimson I would like to comment on this, I had it ready right before you posted.

While I think we would be fine with a failure resulting in a lowered DC, we don't want to risk a failure that causes a crisis event and gets our people injured or killed. We also build labs to reduce DCs so that we can get into this position where we can maximize success and minimize failure, same with acquiring new tech like the Brainiac microchips that lowered DCs.

I wouldn't mind taking some DC ??? actions and DC 100+ actions if we didn't have to fulfill obligations or if we didn't need to fill the full 39 actions. I really want the Supertank action, but failing it by a large margin could cause it to accidentally self-destruct in our building, so we'd need a really good team, but they are currently needed on other actions.

I totally get what you're saying; it's fun as GM when your players make a fumble and need to scramble to get themselves out of a mess because you get to see how creative they can be, but we have a lot of incentives to avoid risks and lower our danger chances.

One way to get us to go with those actions is to break big DC actions into multiple steps, so we know it's not an all-or-nothing action. We had that with AMAZO, the cold engine, and the Zeta Beam stations. Another is when a hero unit wants to do a certain action next turn, or it hurts co-op, which has gotten us to do stuff for Roxanne and Oswald, even if it is a high DC action. We also act to compete with WayneTech, you've seen how much anger there is when they one-up us on something.

 

[King crimson]

@King crimson I would like to comment on this, I had it ready right before you posted.

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That's fine, and I hope you don't mind if I respond to you somewhat piecemeal.

While I think we would be fine with a failure resulting in a lowered DC, we don't want to risk a failure that causes a crisis event and gets our people injured or killed. We also build labs to reduce DCs so that we can get into this position where we can maximize success and minimize failure, same with acquiring new tech like the Brainiac microchips that lowered DCs.

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Again I get this, this makes sense. I understand why the thread is doing what it is doing, it's rational. I just feel that right now it's currently the quest is a touch too easy for the thread as a whole.

I wouldn't mind taking some DC ??? actions and DC 100+ actions if we didn't have to fulfill obligations or if we didn't need to fill the full 39 actions. I really want the Supertank action, but failing it by a large margin could cause it to accidentally self-destruct in our building, so we'd need a really good team, but they are currently needed on other actions.

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So I don't really buy this. Yes 39 actions is a lot and its hard to fill. There are 59 "DC 0" actions in just Martial, Diplomacy and Intrigue. This is almost certainly a side effect of the chaos of making it hard to make a coherent vote on the action vote, but people are irrationally afraid of failure and over-exaggerate the difficulty of getting a viable hero team working.

The capacity to make turns that are largely safe with one or two crazy actions has been viable for a while. However, that's not what's happening in quest. What's happening is that people are getting more and more conservative over time, and are taking less and less risks, while the pool of low or 0 DC actions grows bigger and bigger.

As such we get to the current state of the game, where the elements intended to encourage people to take more risks by providing them safe coverage options are actually allowing people to take less risks. As such I want to correct this by raising the DC on at least some of the options that were low DC to encourage risk taking behavior since they are clearly not working as intended.

Additionally on the obligations, I have zero sympathy. Virtually every obligation stems from a choice the thread has made, obligations like meeting the League of Shadows are not DC intensive, you generally have a lot of time to handle these obligations, and you have 39 actions to work around them. I don't think there's much of a legitimate argument here about it meaningfully preventing the thread from taking higher DC actions.

I don't think that the thread needs to freely engage in DC 100+ actions, but about 25% of the actions are DC 0 and about 5% are 50+ (but still sub-DC 75), there's an unfortunate skew towards pretty intense risk aversion. It's a flaw of the game design and one that came about because I wanted to introduce more low DC options to increase the likelihood of people taking risks.

I totally get what you're saying; it's fun as GM when your players make a fumble and need to scramble to get themselves out of a mess because you get to see how creative they can be, but we have a lot of incentives to avoid risks and lower our danger chances.

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It's less that it's fun for me as the GM, and more that I think something I tried to do doesn't work and is making the game far easier than it should be. Yeah you're incentivized to lower risks and avoid danger. The elements I included to try and encourage risk taking behavior are instead being used to further mitigate risk however, and that's bad game design.

I have no interest in making the game incredibly easy, and right now this game feels too easy.

One way to get us to go with those actions is to break big DC actions into multiple steps, so we know it's not an all-or-nothing action. We had that with AMAZO, the cold engine, and the Zeta Beam stations. Another is when a hero unit wants to do a certain action next turn, or it hurts co-op, which has gotten us to do stuff for Roxanne and Oswald, even if it is a high DC action. We also act to compete with WayneTech, you've seen how much anger there is when they one-up us on something.

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I'd like to note that AMAZO, the Cold Engine and Zeta Beam stations were also all above 50 DC before hand. I'm not trying to get people to swing for the fences, I'm trying to get the game to stop from breaking down into a guaranteed success-fest.

That being said I also don't like using hero units to force you into actions too much. I'm definitely going to use it as a tool from time to time, but considering it's also a way for me to signal that a hero unit is becoming problematic and that it can feel like the QM is railroading if it's overused and so I'm a bit averse to using it as a tool.

Lastly the thread does act to compete with Wayne Enterprises from time to time, but by and large it does so incredibly reactively and it's also not really healthy for me to start intentionally making use of people's anger to get them to take risks. It's going to come off as arbitrary and railroady.

Frankly I'm not trying to radically alter player behavior, I'm trying to get rid of an element that was intended to do one thing, but is actually contributing to its opposite.

 

[King crimson]

Sorry for double-posting but beyond just raising the DC for a good number of actions, I'm also going to be taking a look at DC reducing options, the nemesis gauge system (I feel like the thread doesn't meaningfully interact with it) and just generally tuning up difficulty a bit to get things back to where I feel they should be.

I'm not going to suddenly make the quest incredibly brutal and punishing (I'd like to imagine I've earned trust on implementing changes and introducing or cutting systems as appropriate), but I do want to tune things up and move away from the current state a bit.

Edit: if I just wanted to increase risk/make people more willing to take high DC options, then I'd make the action vote a plan vote. That would get rid of other things I like though so I'm not going to do that. There's a lot of competing elements/interests I need to balance when seeing if I want to make a change or not.

 

[jonasquinn]

Should probably look at and discuss the events on offer before making any plans.

A Precipitous Peace Conference: (This mini-event is locked in and will be taken automatically) (Available hero units are Lex Luthor, Mercy Graves, Pamela Isley, Cassandra Luthor, Jinx, and Dr. Moon) (Up to three hero units can be assigned to this mini-event and any hero unit assigned to it will be removed from the events of White House, Black Heart and anything that might come from it) As you've already established in negotiating with Count Vertigo, LexCorp's building in Austria as a neutral mediator. With Cassandra already revealing that Count Vertigo had lied to you, albeit about minor matters, someone needs to attend the peace conference to make sure things go smoothly. Whoever goes to this event will be able to network with the various parties present, but will also need to act to ensure surprises are kept to a minimum.

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As it says this is locked in and Lex is an obvious choice IMO. As for who else, I'm thinking either Mercy and Cassandra or Cassandra and Jinx.

Mercy serves as Lex's bodyguard and bringing Cassandra opens up the possibility of her meeting and befriending the children there and potentially sending a message to Vertigo that we don't give a shit that he doesn't like her. Alternatively Cassandra and Jinx can also protect Lex in a pinch, bringing Jinx may intrigue the older kids and opens up the possibility of using magic to mess with certain things.

White House, Black Heart (N): (Available hero units are Lex Luthor, Mercy Graves, Pamela Isley, Carol Ferris, Cassandra Luthor, Jinx, Oswald Loomis, and Lucy Lane) (Up to three hero units can be assigned to this mini event) (Choosing not to participate in this event may result in you getting forced to participate in a different mini-event) President Garner has made a very strange move as of late, inviting Supergirl to meet with him at the White House. Considering he's never made a similar offer to Superman and has even spoken out against him, this is very, very strange, but you suspect that there might be more at play here than it initially seems. As such you might need to step in and get involved in the matter to prevent things from going wrong

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This screams to me that Ultra-Humanite is planning to hijack Supergirl's body now that he's done what he needs to in Garner's. We very much would like to stop that but there is the risk that sending anyone risks him jumping into them instead though if we manage to save Kara and expose Ultra-Humanite we could get a huge win out of this.

I think if we do this then Carol is a must, she's our main superhero who would be Abel to put up a fight and iirc has a decent rapport with Kara. Who else to send I'm not sure.

Man of the Apes (N): (Available hero units are Siobhan McDougal, Beatriz Da Costa, Tora Olafsdotter, Eve Eden, Raven, Mina Chaytan, and Marcus Aelius) (Up to two hero units can be selected for this mini-event) After having seen a good number of individuals go after Superman to prove themselves as the strongest there is, it's quite strange to instead have someone arrive to challenge Ultraviolet instead. Admittedly a bizarre human headed cybernetic gorilla is not what you expected, but it's still a threat. Ultraviolet is busy on the other side of the country and whilst you could let the SCU step in to handle it, it might be best to prevent Superman from having any sort of victory.

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I'll be honest, I have no idea who this is. I've tried searching them and have come up with a few possibilities but none of them are solid and after a certain point whenever you look up a robot gorilla in DC all you get is Mallah.

The best guesses I can come up with are Iron Eagle, Monkeywrench or the Master of Games

Despite his name Iron Eagle does kinda resemble a giant gorilla and theoretically could have been hired to try and take Carol down, Monkeywrench I know absolutely nothing about other than he is a robot ape and Master of Games kinda looks like an ape, wanting to find the strongest person around would suit him and he'd have a cybernetic body if he'd already absorbed the power of someone with cybernetics, perhaps Steel?

These are all total guesses and my only real suggestion right now is to send our best fighters.

Up Your Armory (N): (Available hero units are Edward Nygma, Rose Wilson, Leonard Snart, Sam Scudder, Helena Bertinelli, and Arthur Villain) (Up to two hero units can be selected for this mini-event) Fairly LexCorp has received a mysterious message from "Captain Ironfist" regarding a demonstrating involving Superman. There was not much detail in the message, just a video player that is currently inert but had a time written on it. It's up to you to decide if you want to intervene or to see if there's anything worthwhile to come from this message)

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If Toybro is reaching out the I see no reason not to accept, it's just a matter of who to put,on it. I'm thinking Nygma and Helena for maximum Intrigue.

Love Hurts (N): (Available hero units for this are Roxanne Sutton, Samuel Scudder, Starfire, Nathan Craig Jones and Marcus Aelius) (Up to three hero units can be selected for this mini-event) An unknown alien craft has landed and out of it has emerged an alien that looks human but has demanded to fight "the strongest man on the planet" due to the earth being able to hold off Brainiac's invasion. Nominally she might be looking for Superman but you don't intend to let her move unopposed. Acting to deal with this alien might prove to be the most effective move for you.

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I'm 99% sure that this is Maxima, an alien ruler who typically pursues Superman as a romantic partner as part of her peoples culture around having the strongest children possible. If we can shift her focus to one of our heroes instead we may be able to take advantage of the situation.

To that end Nathan and Marcus are absolute musts for this action IMO, the third one is slightly trickier. Starfire and Roxy are better for an actual fight but Maxima may react negatively to us sending women whereas Sam isn't particularly good at fighting.

I'm not just extrapolating this from two turns out of nearly forty, I'm looking at general trends across the board for the past few turns. Turn 31 and 30 have way less DC 0 actions, but they also follow the general trend of being very risk averse with only a single action guaranteed to have a DC over 50.

If we want to get technical, I'm looking at the last 12.12% of the game and realizing a general trend has emerged that I do not like and want to fix. I think it's a sizeable enough analysis that I should be justified in making at least some changes.

Also I think it's very understandable for the thread to play it safe. I think it's a very rational thing to do. The degree to which "safety" has gotten is ridiculous. You currently have 53 hero units and 39 actions. If I were to remove the 9 (about a fourth of your total action potential) DC 0 actions, you would only have 5 actions that wouldn't get a hero unit assigned to them assuming you assigned only one hero to every action. There were 7 sub-DC 10 actions this turn, meaning just doing them raw has a less than 10% chance to succeed. You also have selected for 3 double downs, which can be used defensively to further reduce your chances of failure.

It is very understandable that the thread would want to play it safe. I do not want the thread to be able to play it as safe as they currently are considering how unlikely you've managed to make any failure whatsoever.

For your third reason, my counter is that if I've created an action pool such that people can accidentally create a turn as safe as this one without intending to do so, then I need to make it harder.

As for balance being unfair, you've got to generally trust me on this. I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater (I currently don't believe anything will be increased in DC by more than 15 at the absolute most), but I feel like I need to make changes. One of the things I actually want to do is increase the DC for specialized labs as that feels a little too strong right now for how consistent it is at dropping DCs to enable the state of the game to be what it is.

I'm trying to examine the entirety of the quest and figure out what I can do to resolve what I think is an issue with as few changes as possible. I'm not trying to make the game arbitrarily more difficult, I'm trying to prevent the thread from trivializing difficulty which was originally intended.

Edit: Is it maybe somewhat unfair that I'm altering DC's now to try and make things more difficult? Yes, probably. At the same time though, I think the changes I'm making will be positive for the health of the game and ultimately I'm the final arbiter of it. You're allowed to be unhappy with the change but at the same time, I'm allowed to be unhappy with the current state of things and want to fix it.

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While I still disagree with the idea of increasing DC's I do trust you not to go overboard with them so for now I suppose I'll just see where you go with this even if I'm not the biggest fan.

Sorry for double-posting but beyond just raising the DC for a good number of actions, I'm also going to be taking a look at DC reducing options, the nemesis gauge system (I feel like the thread doesn't meaningfully interact with it) and just generally tuning up difficulty a bit to get things back to where I feel they should be.

I'm not going to suddenly make the quest incredibly brutal and punishing (I'd like to imagine I've earned trust on implementing changes and introducing or cutting systems as appropriate), but I do want to tune things up and move away from the current state a bit.

Edit: if I just wanted to increase risk/make people more willing to take high DC options, then I'd make the action vote a plan vote. That would get rid of other things I like though so I'm not going to do that. There's a lot of competing elements/interests I need to balance when seeing if I want to make a change or not.

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To be fair I think a part of why we rarely interact with the Nemesis Gauge is because we play Lex as far more subtle than usual and because Superman doesn't realise how much of a threat Lex is he doesn't mess with us enough to ratchet the gauge up too much yet.

Additionally while we don't take nemesis actions too often we do regularly engage with nemesis events which is in its own way engaging with the system.

That's just my two cents though.

 

[Alex Sol]

@King crimson Can you remind who leads action with Cassandra in it? Cass because she has higher intrigue? Or Jinx because she is older and not considered child any more?

 

[Simon_Jester]

Can I just say that this is an incredibly ridiculously safe turn? You have more DC 0 actions than actions with a DC over 20 and five actions last turn, which I already felt was really playing it safe, have a higher DC than all of the actions this turn. I think this solidly confirms to me that I need to raise DC's across the board and actively remove DC 0 options. This is way too easy and I need to start taking actions to correct things.

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I think part of what's actually going on here has to do with the action economy. People usually aren't going to be fired up about doing a dozen different high-risk challenging projects per turn, so after you've voted for the high-risk projects you really care about, there's the question of what to do with all the many many other action points.

So a lot of them get spent on relatively minor low-risk low-reward activities that slowly reshape the playing field in Lex's favor like "rebuilding Metropolis" or "reaching out to this or that interesting person" or "inventing a new thingamajig that'll make him a billion more dollars."

It's not entirely unrealistic, when you think about it, for LexCorp to be doing an absolutely enormous stack of relatively inconsequential things that with their resources are unlikely to fail, as sort of the 'outer layer' of activities surrounding an 'inner' layer of stuff that's specifically important or sweepingly ambitious.

Though this doesn't mean that there shouldn't also be some 'spicy' or 'interesting' actions incentivized as well.

...

I imagine that someone like a Batman villain, someone with few resources of his own and a constant incentive to work on stuff that is not made easy for him by the institutions around him would be forced to take proportionately many fewer low-DC and many more high-DC actions... whereas Lex really only has a reason to take high-DC actions if they specifically increase the chances of achieving his goals or are part of developing some new supertech that's too good to pass up.

 

[King crimson]

@King crimson Can you remind who leads action with Cassandra in it? Cass because she has higher intrigue? Or Jinx because she is older and not considered child any more?

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As Cassandra is now thirteen, she can lead actions besides learning actions. As such if she and Jinx are assigned to the same action, the one with the higher stats leads.

 

[AizenMD]

Hey @King crimson, I remember you mentioning that we could influence Emmylou's education. Also, the DC reductions for teaching Cassandra and Raven from the Turn 31 child education center seem to be missing again

 

[Simon_Jester]

The capacity to make turns that are largely safe with one or two crazy actions has been viable for a while. However, that's not what's happening in quest. What's happening is that people are getting more and more conservative over time, and are taking less and less risks, while the pool of low or 0 DC actions grows bigger and bigger.

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Ohh, I see what you mean. On the other hand, I think that this may in part be the voting mechanism biting you in the ass.

You use approval voting rather than plan voting for action economy to get actions that are an organic outgrowth of what people most want to do.

The thing is, it's easy to get consensus around a low-DC action where even a weird unexpected failure seems unlikely to screw us over too badly, such as "rebuild some apartment buildings" or "invent new type of frozen food" or whatever.

It's harder to get consensus around which high-DC actions to take. For instance, everyone's kind of interested in experimenting with the alien supertank, but it's not obviously more attractive than any of a dozen other competing ???-DC or high-DC options on our menu.

So part of the incentive structure at work here may be that everyone can agree that it's a good idea to do unobjectionable things, but dangerous things are much less likely to get near-100% buy-in specifically even if everyone agrees we should do more cool dangerous things in general.

You may just see people still being relatively risk-averse anyway, just at a higher baseline level of risk.

 

[ZainAlJester]

i think that there is a good trend of people coordinating more with each other compared to earlier parts of the quest that seemed to let a lot of fun actions in that i don't see people letting get in today and the difficulty wasnt a factor as much or at all. i dont think that people are more risk averse than before i think that by coordinating together they can be more risk averse.

i think that removing lower dc actions wont really achieve the outcome you want either it will just make players avoid large teams and spread heroes more thinly through resources so the relative degree of risk taking will be same the while the chances for big successes will be reduced so you wouldnt have done anything. failure is very punishing so risk averse people arent going to become more risk averse they are just going to become less reward focused

i think that you can get away with increasing the dc to a degree but you should have other methods too like making the dc higher but having more actions where specific hero units reduce the dc or offer incentives for things like combos where if you taken an action then it can give a bonus to another action but if you dont take it quickly it will dissappear the turn after and stuff like that.