Force sensitive Thrawn is a serious risk. Do not call up that which you cannot put down. Thrawn is trustworthy and reasonable, but his goals are not our own, and he is ruthless enough to turn against us. He won't stab us in the back, he is too honorable for that. But formally leave, do his own thing which we don't like, and refuse to stop voluntarily? That seems in character.
c) Otherwise, we could throw in the towel, remove the lava blaster and change it to Personal Attention, effectively guaranteeing a crit on the Mother Talzin action with or without Asajj's involvement.
This seems like the simplest and most straightforward option. If we're only losing the Lava Blaster that doesn't seem like such a bad thing. It's a, "Well this would be nice and we'd like it when we go kill Palpatine, but it's not going to make or break any future encounters."
Plus, the lava crystal will still be waiting later. I understand wanting to get it done, but this seems like one of the few actions where postponing doesn't have any real drawback. It also frees up Asajj for other actions or to shuffle people around.
c) Otherwise, we could throw in the towel, remove the lava blaster and change it to Personal Attention, effectively guaranteeing a crit on the Mother Talzin action with or without Asajj's involvement.
I ran the numbers for Personal Attention. With PA and one Watcher, we'd have an 80% chance of a crit. With PA and Asajj's support, it'd be a 103% chance of a crit (+9 for her stats, +5 for Miraluka Genemod, +10 for Force bond).
That's one way to guarantee success against the biggest baddest Force witch in the galaxy, one who gave even Palpatine conniptions (he stayed away from Dathomir because he was scared of Mother Talzin...)
Or we could stick with the 80% chance of crit, and reassign Asajj to some other task -- perhaps the Jebble Box, freeing up Cheriss Sair to once again learn from the Jedi Builders.
I ran the numbers for Personal Attention. With PA and one Watcher, we'd have an 80% chance of a crit. With PA and Asajj's support, it'd be a 103% chance of a crit (+9 for her stats, +5 for Miraluka Genemod, +10 for Force bond).
That's one way to guarantee success against the biggest baddest Force witch in the galaxy, one who gave even Palpatine conniptions (he stayed away from Dathomir because he was scared of Mother Talzin...)
Or we could stick with the 80% chance of crit, and reassign Asajj to some other task -- perhaps the Jebble Box, freeing up Cheriss Sair to once again learn from the Jedi Builders.
Sounds like a good decision to me. Either double down on neutralizing or maybe converting a major danger, versus having the mecha guru learn to become even more bullshit.
Given a choice between either of those versus a lava blaster for our personal use, it seems like a gimme.
Though admittedly assigning Asajj, a self-enlightened Sith, on the Jebble Box seems like it would be interesting. In either a good or bad way, hard to say, but interesting.
Okay, trying to figure out the Mother Talzin action now that it's Diplomacy:
a) If we reassign Jango to help (his Diplomacy gives +13), then we'd need another Intrigue hero to cover the Armand Isard operation.
Grievous would give +11 Intrigue, more than enough to guarantee success, but that'd just leave the Paramilitary action in need of support.
b) Alternately, we could reassign PR-1 (also +13) and reassign Mungo Baobab to cover the 'Oust Shu Mai' action, and let one of our other heroes take the 3rd hero action (perhaps Galen would like to research cortosis? Though that would leave the Taozin research with only 90% chance of success)
c) Otherwise, we could throw in the towel, remove the lava blaster and change it to Personal Attention, effectively guaranteeing a crit on the Mother Talzin action with or without Asajj's involvement.
d) Or lastly, we could really throw in the towel, give up on the Mother Talzin action this turn, assign Ciaran to learn Blazing Chain + build lava blaster, reassign Asajj to some other action (her bonuses are excellent, so we'd basically guarantee that another action becomes a crit), and wait until next turn to deal with the Dathomiri sorceress.
B seems like a bad idea. Fry is already pushing it, adding another of the not fully committed heroes to that action just seems like asking for trouble.
Force sensitive Thrawn is a serious risk. Do not call up that which you cannot put down. Thrawn is trustworthy and reasonable, but his goals are not our own, and he is ruthless enough to turn against us. He won't stab us in the back, he is too honorable for that. But formally leave, do his own thing which we don't like, and refuse to stop voluntarily? That seems in character.
We're Sith, albeit a heretical one. We fundamentally thrive on conflict. Setting up an opponent to keep us sharp once we've dealt with all our current threats is a reasonable course of action.
As for things to buy, I would highly suggest that we build that theme park on Bespin. Perhaps it could be some sort of... hologram fun world?
Sounds like a good decision to me. Either double down on neutralizing or maybe converting a major danger, versus having the mecha guru learn to become even more bullshit.
Given a choice between either of those versus a lava blaster for our personal use, it seems like a gimme.
Though admittedly assigning Asajj, a self-enlightened Sith, on the Jebble Box seems like it would be interesting. In either a good or bad way, hard to say, but interesting.
At this point I'm inclined to move Asajj to cover the Jebble Box (giving it a 67% chance of crit) and Cheriss to the Jedi Builders (for a 53% chance of crit on that action).
We could guaranteeing a super-crit on a single action (though it'd be hilarious to see Dr. Snark's face if our final roll result was Over 200 for the Talzin action), but it makes more sense (in my opinion) to significantly increase our chances of crit-ing on three actions, especially when one of them involves a Sith alchemical zombie plague thing.
At this point I'm inclined to move Asajj to cover the Jebble Box (giving it a 67% chance of crit) and Cheriss to the Jedi Builders (for a 53% chance of crit on that action).
We could guaranteeing a super-crit on a single action (though it'd be hilarious to see Dr. Snark's face if our final roll result was Over 200 for the Talzin action), but it makes more sense (in my opinion) to significantly increase our chances of crit-ing on three actions, especially when one of them involves a Sith alchemical zombie plague thing.
Not gonna lie, a 200+ roll on such a unknown and important roll would be amazing to witness, but not something to bank on. We likely to get more payouts for choosing more things we can feasibly crit on, and add more traits. Especially since Jebble Box and Jedi Builders both touch on big parts of Asajj and Cheriss' characters, so those crits are likely to give them new traits or upgrade existing ones.
Okay, here's my no-kidding-pretty-sure-final plan for Turn 29 Actions. Feedback welcome, but I'm going to start working on the bases and balance sheet.
[] Plan Diplomancer
Balance Sheet
Hoo boy. Making contact with paramilitaries, and Hoersch-Kessel Drive, and Obi-Wan, and Quinlan Vos, and Shard engineers, and Noghri assassins, and an Ossus Force sect (with complimentary Great Library and tree-Jedi librarian), and Baron Papanoida, and Jedi Builders, and Disciples of Twilight, and Mother Talzin... yeah, I think diplomacy is the name of the game this turn.
We have not one, not two, but three actions with unknown '???' odds. One is Thrawn's hero action to counter Admiral Trench, which has a 79% chance of crit. Another is our intervention on Honoghr, which warranted our Personal Attention and has a 84% chance of crit. The final one is our confrontation with Mother Talzin, which required another Personal Attention to reach 80% chance of a crit. Assuming these actions have baseline odds between 10-20%, we're sitting pretty comfortably with each, especially with our two rerolls in case any of them fail.
Martial: Pick 2:
[] Militia Standardization: Chance of Success: 80% Reward: CNS militia forces increase in quality.
[] Paramilitary Support: Chance of Success: 60% Cost: 150 Upkeep: 75 Reward: Martial bonus; paramilitary groups confirmed as anti-Palpatine assets
-[] Grievous
Given the triple threat of Admiral Trench, the Malevolence, and the Pride of the Core, we need to secure Neutral Space as our first priority. 'Militia Standardization' does that.
As for our anti-Palpatine assets, I was torn between 'Preying Mantises' (anti-piracy bounty hunters), but 'Paramilitary Support' is a broader base of support, and gives us a default bonus to Martial actions. Income is nice, but not really necessary. Bonuses are worth their weight in gold.
CNS Militia: 80% + 15 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) = 100+% odds, with 35% chance of crit
Paramilitaries: 60% + 10 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 19 (Grievous) = 100+% odds, with 49% chance of crit
Diplomacy: Pick 1 Regular Action, 1 CNS Action, 1 Force Order Action, 1 Free Action:
[] Negotiating With "The Negotiator:" Chance of Success: 60% Reward: Obi-Wan Kenobi brought into the anti-Palpatine conspiracy (Free Action)
[] Shards Encased In Iron (CNS): Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Contact with Shard worlds established, potential to recruit Shard engineers
[] Between the Light and Dark: Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Contact with chosen organization established
-[] Ysanna
[] Taming A Lone Wolf: Chance of Success: 40% Reward: Quinlan Vos subverted
-[] Silas Cata
-[] 6 Watcher teams
[] The Burning Rain (CNS): Chance of Success: ??? Cost: 250 Reward: Relief sent to Honoghr, ???
-[] Personal Attention
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a free action, and thank heavens, because this category is crazy busy.
We need to deal with Quinlan Vos, and I believe strongly that our priority should be to subvert/recruit him (rather than assassinate him), which means we need to pick it as a Diplomacy action. I also strongly believe that we need to deal with the Honoghr bioweapon now, which means we need to allocate our Free Action to this category so we can pick it up we can assign our CNS action to that. (Given the unknown odds, we should assign our Personal Attention to this one as well). My only regret is that Honoghr is a Diplomacy and not a Martial action, so we don't have an excuse to assign Grievous to help out.
I am strongly inclined to assign our Free Action to this category as well, given just how many options are here (and how many we have to leave on the table). We could spend it on recruiting Ferrus Olin, or Arligan Zey, or Chewbacca. However, I've been dying to get my hands on those Shard engineers, and now we have a chance. (How much do you want to bet they give us an extra Learning action? I expect to bitterly regret how many turns we delayed picking this).
Finally, the big question-mark for me is which Force Sect to contact. I'd love to pick Tython and help the Jedi reform, or Almas and recruit/subvert a heterodox Jedi Academy with all its goodies. But for this turn, I decided to go with Ysanna, the Jedi survivors of Ossus, home of the Great Jedi Library.
Obi-Wan: 60% + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) = 100% odds, with 40% chance of crit
Shard Engineers: 70% + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) = 100+% odds, with 40% chance of crit
Ysanna: 70% + 15 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) = 100+% odds, with 35% chance of crit
Quinlan Vos: 40% + 15 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 14 (Silas Cata) + 6 (Watchers) = 95% odds, with 55% chance of crit
Honoghr: ??? + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 44 (Personal Attention) = ??? odds, with 84% chance of crit
Stewardship: Pick 2 Regular Actions, 1 Free Sienar Action and optionally 1 other Sienar Action:
[] Sienar Custom Vessel: Chance of Success: 90%
-[] Interdictor Vessel: Cost: 200 (Free) Reward: Interdictor vessels designed/produced
-[] Dedicated Salvage Vessel: Cost: 200 Reward: Salvage Vessels/Heavy Transports designed/produced
[] The Revolution Will Be Televised: Chance of Success: 80% Cost: 150 Reward: Media network set up with Baron Papanoida
[] Oust Shu Mai: Chance of Success: 40% Reward: Shu Mai ousted from Commerce Guild and new leadership chosen
-[] PR-1
-[] Talesan Fry
Okay, so we can double-up Sienar actions this turn. We should definitely spend our free one on the Interdictor vessels, since those are basically Thrawn's signature and will be incredibly useful against the three fleets rampaging through Neutral Space. For our second... I'm torn between salvage vessel (presumably a default bonus to all salvage rolls, which could be huge) or a Sienar upgrade better suited for defense (given the three fleets rampaging through Neutral Space). Unfortunately, 'medical battlefleet' isn't a Sienar upgrade, but those dedicated carriers might still be handy. However, I'm inclined to go with the salvage vessels, given just how many salvage rolls we have each turn, and how much a bonus to those would benefit us.
For our regular actions, connecting with Baron Papanoida's media empire/galactic spynet is definitely locked-in (that will be a huge asset for counter-programming against Palpatine's propaganda). As for the second, I'm intrigued by the potential in the swoop-biking action, and I'd love to get my hands on one of the shipwright corporations (though we can assign Mungo to that instead), and I've love to get a medical battlefleet to defend CNS space. However, now that we have the hero support, I'm pretty sure we should finally pull the trigger on Shu Mai.
Interdictors: 90% + 10 (default) + 20 (omakes) = 100+% odds, with 30% chance of crit
Sienar Salvage: 90% + 10 (default) + 20 (omakes) = 100+% odds, with 30% chance of crit
Papanoida: 80% + 10 (default) + 20 (omakes) = 100+% odds, with 30% chance of crit
Shu Mai: 40% + 10 (default) + 20 (omakes) + 15 (PR-1) + 12 (Talesan Fry) = 97% odds, with 57% chance of crit
Intrigue: Pick 3:
[] Real Bad Moon Over Coruscant: Chance of Success: 50% Reward: Palpatine facility destroyed
-[] The Silencer
[] Autonomous Hunter-Seeker Teams: Chance of Success: 90% Cost: 150 Reward: Teams set up to handle actions that are guaranteed successes with reduced bonuses
[] Strike Palpatine's Inner Circle: Chance of Success: 40% Cost: 150 Reward: Targeted member/group discredited/neutralized/etc
-[] Armand Isard
-[] Jango Fett
'Autonomous Hunter-Seekers' is locked in -- that will give us an extra Intrigue action, which we need to clear out all the minor actions that have fallen by the wayside.
I also strongly feel that we need to continue 'striking at Palpatine's Inner Circle'. I'd like to wait on COMPNOR (the racist mob that gives Palpatine full-throated public support) until we can launch an anti-slavery raid on the founder's homeworld of Senex-Juvex. Likewise, replacing Saro Sanuo can wait until we're nearly ready to press the red button. Right now our priority should be Armand Isard -- as the diabolical (and gifted) intelligence chief, he is vital to Palpatine's plans. Cutting him out of the loop should have a major impact on Palpatine's ability to punch back.
For our final action... it comes down to defense v. offense. On the one hand, I'd like to figure out who's hunting after Galen Erso, but I'm inclined to say Erso should be safe for one turn, especially if we have him working in an out-of-the-way lab somewhere. On the other... we've been putting off dealing with Palpatine's cloning operation on Centax II, and that is definitely a priority before we press the big red button.
Hunter-Seekers: 90% + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) = 100+% odds, with 40% chance of crit
Armand Isard: 40% + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 15 (Jango Fett) = 95% odds, with 55% chance of crit
Centax Clones: 50% + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 14 (Silencer) = 100+% odds, with 54% chance of crit
Lore: Pick 1 Regular Action, 1 Archaeological Action, 1 Force Study Action:
[] Research Alternative Force Schools: Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Learn techniques from other Force users
-[] Disciples of Twilight
[] Archaeological Expeditions: Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 50 Reward: Expedition to chosen location launched
-[] Aliston Nor
-[] Cheriss Sair
[] The Hunt For The Jebble Box: Chance of Success: 50% Cost: 200 Reward: Jebble Box/Muur Talisman secured
-[] Asajj Ventress
Okay, for our archaeology action, I was torn between Kathol Rift (seriously: there's a Force sect that has teleportation techniques) and Belsavis (a bunch of Rakatan artifacts, including Mother Machine and a series of teleportation gates). But ultimately I decided to go with Aliston Nor, because if there's one thing more interesting than teleporting Jedi, it's a Force sect that specializes in, basically, mechu daru on crack -- using the Force to build anything you set your mind on. Yeah, I'm sold.
For our regular action... hoo boy. As much as I'd like to keep the Jebble Box out of Palpatine's hands, I really don't want to touch anything to do with rakghouls, and I have a bad feeling about the Box's inhabitant. Celeste Morne, who's been in stasis for several millennia, was a Shadow of the Jedi Covenant, an anti-Sith extremist group that was responsible for the Padawan Massacre of Taris and other atrocities. I doubt she'll be a fan of ours. On the other hand, Fanhunter696 makes a good point that this isn't about gaining the Jebble Box for ourselves, as it is denying it to Palpatine. If we do pick it, we'll need to assign hero support to make sure it's safe.
For our 'Force Study', if we can't pick the follow-up to research the Corellian Jedi's history, then the next best option is the Disciples of Twilight: specialists in light-bending and shadow-bending. As Barondoctor says, "a full ninja package".
Aliston Nor: 70% + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 13 (Cheriss) = 100+% odds, with 53% chance of crit
Twilight: 70% + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) = 100+% odds, with 40% chance of crit
Jebble Box: 50% + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 27 (Asajj) = 100+% odds, with 67% chance of crit
Learning: Pick 2, or pick only one Research action and halve its time:
[] Non-Human Genemods: Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 100 Reward: Genemodding available for non-human species
[] Anti-Force Research: Chance of Success: 50% Cost: 200 Reward: Anti-Force subject researched [Takes 2 turns]
-[] Taozin
-[] Galen Erso
Now that our 'Anti-Force Research' is accelerated and no longer locks our Learning actions for multiple turns, we should make sure to assign an action to that, especially since learning about the taozin may let us block Palpatine's precog and/or penetrate his dark-side veil, which would be huge for our chances of successfully pressing the big red button.
For our second action... I'm torn between any number of actions. 'Non-Human Genemods' unlocks the rest of our Hero Units for genemod bonuses, and ensures that 'mass genemods' will affect all of our forces (including Wookies and Kaleesh, for instance). I'm inclined to pick that, then Mass Genemods next turn. On the other hand, there is a lot of potential in the 'Analyze Chiss Archives' (Unknown Regions ftw), commando gears is another high priority, and nano-droids have been put on the back-burner for quite a few turns now.
Non-Human Genemods: 70% + 30 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) = 100+% odds, with 50% chance of crit
Taozin: 50% + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 18 (Galen Erso) = 100+% odds, with 58% chance of crit
Personal: Pick 3:
[] Personal attention/Increased Focus: Chance of Success: 100%. Reward: Your stats + Force Sight bonus added to a action of your choice
-[] The Burning Rain
[] Personal attention/Increased Focus: Chance of Success: 100%. Reward: Your stats + Force Sight bonus added to a action of your choice
-[] One Mean Witch
[] Annoy Padme (Free Action, no bonuses): Chance of Success: Yes. Reward: Entertainment
[] One Mean Witch: Chance of Success: ??? Reward: ???
-[] Personal Attention
-[] 1 Watcher team
PA was necessary for the Honoghr action, so that fills out our three. Unfortunately, Mother Talzin is another high priority action, and requires our Personal Attention to ensure success. I decided against assigning Asajj to help out (which would have guaranteed a supercrit, with a final bonus of +103 to our roll) in favor of assigning her to the Jebble Box and letting Cheriss learn from the Jedi Builders.
Unfortunately, this meant that we were not able to build our custom lava blaster (lava crystal + Blazing Chain = Force empowered heat-seeking grenade launcher the size of a pocket pistol) or develop our 'Advanced Blazing Chain' for extra synergy. I am crossing my fingers that there are no immediate crises next turn, so Panory won't be disappointed again by another turn of delay.
This also meant we weren't able to follow up with Anakin, but I'm okay with that. He's on his own pilgrimage, and I trust that he'll return in his own time (especially since we're besties with his quasi-girlfriend Padme, so we have the inside scoop). The Chosen One can wait another turn.
Personal Attention: 100%
Personal Attention: 100%
Annoy Padme: Always
Mother Talzin: ??? + 15 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 44 (Personal Attention) + 1 (Watcher) = ??? odds, with 80% chance of crit
Hero Units: Optional, Pick Up To 3 & 1 Genemod, Uses Hero Unit's Full Stats:
[] Under The Knife: Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 100 Reward: Selected Hero Unit genemodded
-[] Choose 1 Hero Unit:
--[] Thrawn
-[] Choose 1 Genemod:
--[] Voss: (Lore, ???)
[] Thrawn - Unravelling The Spider's Web: (Uses Martial Bonuses, Thrawn must be assigned to this action if chosen) Chance of Success: ??? Reward: Thrawn determines Trench's next move, ???
-[] 2 Watcher teams
[] HK-47 - Write the Book: (Uses Lore Bonuses, HK-47 must be assigned to this action if chosen) Chance of Success: 80% Reward: Anti-Force user simulations designed, ???
[] Mungo Baobab - Mergers And Acquisitions: (Uses Stewardship Bonuses, Mungo Baobab must be assigned to this action if chosen) Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Chosen company contacted, ???
-[] Hoersch-Kessel Drive
For the genemods: Thrawn is our best strategist, and giving him sensitivity to the Force (with a natural talent for precognition and farsight) will only multiply his effectiveness. Pairing him with Voss vision was a no-brainer.
Thrawn's action is likewise locked-in: we have three fleets rampaging through Neutral Space, and Thrawn is our best man to deal with it. Easy peasy.
HK-47 won't be happy, given all the war going on, but we need him to set up our anti-Force simulations, to prepare our ground forces for the big red button, and now's as good a time as any seeing as the Foundry's been secured.
Finally, Mungo is fairly new, so I wanted to start him off with an easy 'clean' business operation: making contact with the nearly bankrupt Hoersch-Kessel, and seeing if we can help them out and/or buy them out and use their assets for ourselves. 60% chance of a crit makes it a pretty good bet....
Voss Genemod: 70% + 25 (default) + 20 (omakes) = 100+% odds, with 45% chance of crit
Thrawn: ??? + 15 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 41 (Thrawn) + 3 (Watchers) = ??? odds, with 79% chance of crit
HK-47: 80% + 20 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 17 (HK-47) = 100+% odds, with 57% chance of crit
Mungo: 70% + 10 (default bonus) + 20 (omakes) + 30 (Mungo) = 100+% odds, with 60% chance of crit
Free Action: +1 Diplomacy Action
Usually this is one of the toughest decisions to make each turn, but that certainly wasn't the case here. Wow did we need help with our Diplomacy turn -- between the free Obi-Wan action and the Free Action, we engaged in five Diplomacy actions this turn, and it still felt like too few.
Hero Support (applies half the stats to a chosen action):
PR-1: [] Oust Shu Mai
The Silencer: [] Bad Moon Over Coruscant
Silas Cata: [] Taming A Lone Wolf
Cheriss Sair: [] Archaeological Expeditions: Aliston Nor
Thrawn: [] Unravelling The Spider's Web
Grievous: [] Paramilitary Support
Asajj Ventress: [] The Hunt For The Jebble Box
HK-47: [] Write the Book
Jango Fett: [] Strike Palpatine's Inner Circle: Armand Isard
Talesan Fry: [] Oust Shu Mai
Galen Erso: [] Anti-Force Research: Taozin
Mungo Baobab: [] Mergers And Acquisitions: Hoersch-Kessel Drive
Watcher Support (20 teams available, 1 Point per assigned team):
[] 6 teams assigned
-[] Taming A Lone Wolf
[] 1 teams assigned
-[] One Mean Witch
[] 3 teams assigned
-[] Unravelling The Spider's Web
At this point I'm inclined to move Asajj to cover the Jebble Box (giving it a 67% chance of crit) and Cheriss to the Jedi Builders (for a 53% chance of crit on that action).
We could guaranteeing a super-crit on a single action (though it'd be hilarious to see Dr. Snark's face if our final roll result was Over 200 for the Talzin action), but it makes more sense (in my opinion) to significantly increase our chances of crit-ing on three actions, especially when one of them involves a Sith alchemical zombie plague thing.
I have to say that that, in a narrative sense, the idea of both Ciaran and Assaj assigned both to Talzin´s Action seems much more interesting than having Assajj finding the Box.
Another thing to consider is that whatever happens Celeste is much more likely to react positively to Cheriss, a force sensitive scientist, whereas Assaj being a sith could cause problems (being a Jedi shadow and all that). Plus In this case Cheriss is absolutely immune to the Rakghoul disease, and that is always a plus in my books.
We're Sith, albeit a heretical one. We fundamentally thrive on conflict. Setting up an opponent to keep us sharp once we've dealt with all our current threats is a reasonable course of action.
Do we want to start thinking of who we want as our post-Sidious frenemy? Thrawn might actually be ideal on that front. Brilliant and hard to predict. Sane. Reasonable collateral damage. Responsible enough to put differences aside should a common enemy arise.
b) Alternately, we could reassign PR-1 (also +13) and reassign Mungo Baobab to cover the 'Oust Shu Mai' action, and let one of our other heroes take the 3rd hero action (perhaps Galen would like to research cortosis? Though that would leave the Taozin research with only 90% chance of success)
Leaning towards this, although I would like to remind you about Galen's aversion to weapon-related research. Probably better to point him at Kyber crystals, since that's his life's work anyway.
Leaning towards this, although I would like to remind you about Galen's aversion to weapon-related research. Probably better to point him at Kyber crystals, since that's his life's work anyway.
Could swap Galen with Cheriss, and Galen towards something us? Though putting Cheriss on anti-Force stuff would be sorta weird, it doesn't seem like a deal-breaker for her.
Leaning towards this, although I would like to remind you about Galen's aversion to weapon-related research. Probably better to point him at Kyber crystals, since that's his life's work anyway.
Could swap Galen with Cheriss, and Galen towards something us? Though putting Cheriss on anti-Force stuff would be sorta weird, it doesn't seem like a deal-breaker for her.
That depends on how you define "weapon related". If you define it as "something which is directly used to harm someone", then no, it doesn't fall under that category. If, however, you define it as "something which will be used for violent ends, even if it does not directly cause injury to another living being", then it definitely counts.
Martial: Personally I'd rather swap Paramilitary to Maladians as described above, but the explicit bonus listed in Paramilitary helps its case. Another +5 would turn 60% actions into 95% default, but broadly speaking I consider Martial bonuses to be the least valuable, simply because we have a load of Martial Heroes to throw at our problems without worry. I suppose the imminent threats puts Militia Standardization over There Is No Machine, it's only real competition.
You make a good point, though each of our Martial Heroes can double as specialists in some other field (typically Intrigue), so more default bonuses give us more flexibility in how we use our heroes. As for 'There is No Machine':
[] There's No Machine That Can Stop Us: Granted, you do have some of the best fighters in the galaxy under your command but 90% of the time they don't really work together in a single fight. So, why not set up a room in the Foundry to act as a high-intensity training zone for some teamwork lessons? It would also make for some excellent recruitment footage if nothing else. (Starts mini-turn)
Speaking for myself, I really like this concept, but given that it's not a concrete action (no set 'chance of success', no set reward), my inclination is that when we do pick it, we assign literally every single Martial-heavy character we can. I'm talking Personal Attention, plus at least Asajj, Thrawn, HK-47, Grievous, Jango, and the Silencer. I'd like to see if we can't throw PR-1 and Cheriss in there as well, but that might make it hard to ensure success with our other actions. But long story short: 'No Machine' should be a trial run for the real deal, the big red button. That's my plan.
Diplomacy: Sorry man, but with Honoghr now eligible for the CNS slot you know you can't justify reaching out to the Shards. Toss the Free Action elsewhere.
Part of me agrees with you, but honestly, I've been dying to grab those Shard engineers, especially since I'm pretty sure it'll give us an extra Learning action (we've been stuck at 2 actions for several years now, both in-quest and real-world). There are a lot of other appealing options that we could spend our Free Action on, but this is my hill -- Shard engineers are to me, what Blazing Chain is to Panory and Disciples of Twilight is to Barondoctor.
I agree that we need to secure the line of succession, but that can really wait until we're on the verge of attacking Palpatine. Saro Sanuo is a minor functionary at best, despite his involvement in the Granta Omega scandal, whereas Armand Isard is a critical piece of Palpatine's conspiracy (Isard has directly acted against pretty every one of Palpatine's rivals, arranging for their exile/imprisonment (Seti Ashgad) or assassination (Finis Valorum) or discrediting (everyone else). Plus he's responsible for the kill teams dealing with clone defectors.
Non-Human Genemods lets us upgrade all of our non-humanoid heroes (including Grievous and potentially Cheriss). It also unlocks a number of new genemod options, including most of the 'Force Genemods' we intended to unlock last turn. Finally, it also ensures that when we pick 'mass genemods', we'll be upgrading all of our troops, including all the Wookies, and Kaleesh, and Nekghouls, and our non-human Abysswalkers.
while this all sounds fair and all how much money do we have left over for bases? because beyond anything else i want defenses for everything we can get.
while this all sounds fair and all how much money do we have left over for bases? because beyond anything else i want defenses for everything we can get.
A bit over 10k, and we will be getting the full defenses. I put a list of base upgrade packages together the page after the update to give an idea on costs and the defenses was about 3450.
I have to say that that, in a narrative sense, the idea of both Ciaran and Assaj assigned both to Talzin´s Action seems much more interesting than having Assajj finding the Box.
I'll admit, if we ended up having to duel Talzin, possibly to the death, Ciaran and Asajj as sisters-in-arms versus the Night Mother would be amazing to read, esecially if we super-crit.
...Actually wait, is it possible for Asajj to seize control of that entire faction if she's assigned? That could be a very compelling reason for the two to double down here. A mere crit could get them to stay out of our way, while an epic crit adds them to our cause.
Hmmm...I think that given the nature of the project (which is closer to bio-analysis than anything else honestly) it would be fine, but there is the inevitable "just think of the potential!" issue that naturally stems from it...
I'd say that it's probably fine, so long as Jedi don't start dropping dead en mass due to a sudden and inexplicable inability to use the Force on their opponents. That might raise some eyebrows.
In all sincerity that's what it's going to be in a mechanical sense: if that action gets chosen I'll use it as a (badass) excuse to test run mechanics I'll use once the finale rolls in. It was just too cool of an idea to not include it.
I imagine that they were "tragically lost" during the operation, largely due to Ciaran's paranoia about what having the keys to a planet-killer would do to her mentality (see also the dilemma with the Foundry).
I'll admit, if we ended up having to duel Talzin, possibly to the death, Ciaran and Asajj as sisters-in-arms versus the Night Mother would be amazing to read, esecially if we super-crit.
...Actually wait, is it possible for Asajj to seize control of that entire faction if she's assigned? That could be a very compelling reason for the two to double down here. A mere crit could get them to stay out of our way, while an epic crit adds them to our cause.
This is a pretty good argument for going all out on Talzin´s action, but would be even better to actually recruit her, in the Comics she was capable of possessing Dooku, a powerful Sith Lord on his own right, even after losing a significant part of her power when Jar Jar broke her Orb/Phylactery, so it would help a lot to fight Palpatine.
And even if that is not the case, a Super Crit would probably mean to learn the Nightsiters magic, that is broken as shit because it is basically Vodoo magic, and is also give us an ability to further use the dark side abilities without getting corrupted by it. To quote myself
The first one is that their standard powers seem to be incredibly versatile and varied, ( since they are basically magic), they can create objects, became invisible, increase the physical capabilities of other bings, control monsters as big as the rancors, and most impressive to use the dark side without being completely consumed by it...
This is a pretty good argument for going all out on Talzin´s action, but would be even better to actually recruit her, in the Comics she was capable of possessing Dooku, a powerful Sith Lord on his own right, even after losing a significant part of her power when Jar Jar broke her Orb/Phylactery, so it would help a lot to fight Palpatine.
And even if that is not the case, a Super Crit would probably mean to learn the Nightsiters magic, that is broken as shit because it is basically Vodoo magic, and is also give us an ability to further use the dark side abilities without getting corrupted by it. To quote myself
So I will suggest @Publicola to assign both Ciaran and Ventress to Talzin, and put Cheriss back to searching the Box.
...Actually the increase the power of other beings could have some hilarious synergy with Ciaran and Asajj's force bond, especially when they fight together. Actually learning the Nightsister's abilities is its own action already though.
Wasn't Vaapad about channeling the Dark Side from your opponent without actually using it yourself? Wonder if that's a concept Ciaran and Asajj can yank, and just start channeling and passing the Force between each other as needed. One's going on the offensive, tilt their combined force abilities to that one, one's going a bit deep into the Dark Side, use the other as a counter-balance to stabilize them.
That'd be fun. And particularly relevant for Palpatine since he's really good and getting under people's skin.
