Nobility on the Golden Plains [A Clan Builder / Cultivation Quest]
- Thread starter Arcanestomper
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
-
- Tags
- original xianxia cultivation
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I don't think anyone is writing off Diplomat or Merchant as unimportant, just less central to our job than Administrator since administration and alchemy are literally our job description. Ninja and General would be very useful as well...if we wanted to engage in espionage or full military campaigns, which I don't think we do any time soon.
Remember that getting as much as we do from cultivation is actually a specific trait. We earn double what the rest of the world does when we use that action...without that we'd be getting only one level per three actions, which is a real slog. I'm pleased it's not that bad, and that raising our cultivation will speed it up. Those are both nice.
- Location
- Hell
You are indeed missing the point yes. The point is to find out what exactly it does. When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. I want to at least recognize that there different potentially better way of doing things.
Consider how the bandit situation could have gone if we had even the basic of tactics or subterfudge.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
If we had them at a decent rating, sure, but so far literally all of our DCs are something like a 10+...the odds of succeeding at that with a 1 in a skill are quite bad. So we have to spend two actions, almost a whole turn of actions, on each individual skill to 'unlock' the actions, then we get to see them, but not do them because we suck at them and it will almost universally be a terrible idea.
Now, once we hit 2 or especially 3 it becomes a much more reasonable thing to actually take the actions, but that's more actions training. Getting every skill we don't have to 2 (which still has bad odds of success at DC 10, mind you, just not quite as much so...5/12 vs. 5/18) is something like 12 actions if everything went perfectly, it's probably more like 13-14 in practice. That's a lot of actions to spend on skills alone. Should we do it? Maybe, but it's gonna take a while and I'm talking priorities here...what do we want, to suck at a bunch of different things or to actually be good at some of them?
I'm not, like, advocating against getting skills, I'm pointing out the very high opportunity costs involved and that we need to keep those in mind and prioritize focusing on those which will actually help us most. Should we grab Ninja and General? If we think they'll be useful, eventually, sure. Should we prioritize grabbing them at low ratings over, say, maxing out our Administrator, alchemy skills, and Diplomacy? No, we should not, IMO.
On a separate matter:
I think this should be 2.6/5? We did it with Cultivation 7, a +3 bonus for Wood, and then a +3 for the roll, for a 13 on the dice, I think?
I don't count any skill gains until the next turn.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ah! That changes the calculus on a few things sometimes. Good to know.
Turn 6: (Year 2/Summer)
Turn 6: (Year 2/Summer)
[X] (Trait) Aspiring Administrator
[X] (Elder Assignment) Plow Through it
[X] Plan: Admin Access
--[X] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. [Cultivation]
-[X] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll
--[X] Administrator
-[X] Teach Promising Apprentices (Goal: 12/20)
-[X] Write an Alchemy Manual (Goal: 0/20)
[X] (Elder Assignment) Plow Through it
[X] Plan: Admin Access
--[X] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. [Cultivation]
-[X] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll
--[X] Administrator
-[X] Teach Promising Apprentices (Goal: 12/20)
-[X] Write an Alchemy Manual (Goal: 0/20)
You spend the summer season reading the journals of the old medicine hall masters. You've read them before, but that was to try to understand their insights on alchemy itself. Now you are paying attention to what they wrote about more mundane matters. How they organized the hall. How they handled disputes and organized tasks. How they found and promoted new talents.
It's not entirely enlightening. Most of the old masters didn't spend much effort explaining their decisions like they would a pill recipe. But in between the grumblings about personnel problems and celebratory chronicles of major events you are able to glean some insights.
Some of which you immediately apply to the teaching of the apprentices you had chosen before. This season you make excellent progress with them. Not only do you impart the fundamentals of alchemy to them, but you also manage to winnow out those who lack essential traits such as talent and dedication to the art. You are left with a smaller, but much more focused group of apprentices who are shaping up to be excellent alchemists.
They are not there yet. There is only so much knowledge you can cram into their heads at one. They require actual experience brewing elixirs and running errands in the silver grass pavilion. But in three or four years they should be an excellent new crop of alchemists.
After some consideration you decide not to make this a one time thing. You designate this group as the Maple Cadre and give them slightly elevated privileges. Then spread the word that the remaining apprentices may yet get their chance if they prove diligent enough.
Maple Cadre Progress: 1/4
On completion can either be used to boost the Silver Grass Pavilion or produce a loyal retainer.
Of course, while picking out the most talented apprentices is useful, improving the baseline for all the apprentices will also go a long way to increasing the effectiveness of the silver grass pavilion. As such you spend most of your nights poring over alchemy texts. You spend quite a lot of time comparing how they teach various aspects of alchemy. You make notes of the points of contention and similarity and write down your own insights.
You synthesize everything into several scrolls of your own work, then go back over it annotating portions that strike you as still being too complex. You revise this several times until you have three scrolls that teach what you consider the fundamentals of alchemy. The Properties of Natural Treasures, the Fusion of the Cauldron, and the Nature of Pill Toxin.
Reading back over them however you get the feeling that while they technically explain everything they are still a bit dry and complex for the average beginner. You remember how bored some of your alchemy texts made you when you were just starting out. You'd rather not be remembered by countless generations of apprentices for that style of text.
Not just for the sake of your reputation, but the pavilion library already has numerous scrolls like that. If you want this manual to be widely used the apprentices have to voluntarily prefer it over other manuals. Unfortunately that means you'll need to spend more time on revising your scrolls yet again.
Trouble Clocks
Major: The Kasjan Dispute [X] [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]Minor: Accusations of Inexperience [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Special Actions
Alchemist Bonus--- [ ] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. [Cultivation, School of the Jade Cauldron, School of the Iridescent Toxin]
Turn Actions
You may personally lead 3 actions without penalty.Remember that you can also write omakes for other members of the clan to deal with issues you can't.
Cultivation (+7) [Cultivation]
[ ] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll--- [ ] Select a trait, skill, or technique to boost with the XP gained.
------ [ ] Who benefits from this boost?
[ ] Plant the Seed (Goal: 50)
Nurture your spiritual core by providing it with plenty of wood qi. Prepare a space in your soul to accept it by obtaining enlightenments as to your path. You will need to have a firm conviction and understanding of yourself in order to provide sufficient insights for the core to take root.
Your mother has asked you to wait before doing this.
[ ] Watering the Roots (Goal 100)
Locked
[ ] Pruning the Sapling (Goal 150)
Locked
[ ] Breakthrough: Eating the Fruit (Goal: ??)
Locked
Administration (+2) [Administration]
[ ] Recruit More Alchemists (Goal: 0/10) (Spirit Stones: $1)Send An Lia out into the city to hire more alchemists for the pavilion. There are always small alchemist shops and loose cultivators that can be recruited by a large clan like the Zhuge. They won't be the best or most loyal, but that can be fixed with time.
Size: +1
[ ] Request More Alchemists (Goal: 0/10) (Reputation Test)
Request that the clan elders assign more alchemists to the silver grass pavilion. Despite your low clan influence this is still likely to be accepted simply because it isn't a very large demand. There are thousands of alchemists scattered among the various pavilions around the province.
Unless you happen to catch the clan elders in a bad mood these will likely be better than the alchemists you can recruit on your own.
Size: +1
[ ] Clean up Corruption (Goal: 0/20) (Stress: +0.25)
It will be rather difficult, but you can track down all the cases of corruption in the Silver Grass Pavilion and put an end to it. Many of the alchemists likely just need a warning, but some will need to be removed entirely. But it should get easier as you weed out the worst of the bunch.
Size: -1
Discipline: +1
Alchemy (+8) [Leaf Cauldron + Core]
[ ] Brew Flowing Ivy Elixir (Goal: 3/5 Repeatable) (1/3 Stress Free)It's always good to have some healing elixirs on hand. You already have the recipe so it shouldn't be too hard to brew a few elixirs. You will gain 1 elixir for each five points of progress.
[ ] Research a new Recipe (Goal: ??)
--[ ] What kind of elixir are you trying to make?
You can try to figure out the recipe for a new pill or elixir. You are quite talented in alchemy so you can try to make nearly anything, but more complex and potent recipes will be harder. They may also require more exotic ingredients.
[ ] Use a Flowing Ivy Elixir (1 Elixir)
-[ ] The Target
Use 1 elixir and your wood qi to fully heal a cultivator of the Knight realm or below.
[ ] Assign the Silver Grass Pavilion a Task
-[ ] Elixir or research
You are the head of the pavilion. You can assign the pavilion as a whole tasks to complete. Even in its current state the alchemists will still carry out your orders. Though their output will be limited.
Automatically carries out a task.
Will continue every turn until stopped.
[ ] Purchase New Equipment (Goal: 0/10) (Spirit Stones: $5)
You can purchase some better pill cauldrons from the markets in Fragrant Lotus City. This won't be cheap. You'll need to save up for some time, ask the elders for more stones, or find another way to make money. But it should noticeably improve the output of the pavilion's alchemists.
Facilities: Fine -> Good
[ ] Lead a Grand Project
-[ ] Write in Goal
In order to increase the loyalty of the alchemists in the Silver Grass Pavilion you need to prove that you are a capable leader who can provide them with benefits in the future. You aren't sure how exactly to do that at the moment, but you can start by proving that you are a capable alchemist.
The best way you can think to do that is to marshal the entire pavilion into a grand working producing a rare pill of high grade and realm. This will be a complex endeavor. So your first step will be figuring out what you want to try and make.
Quest (+4) [School of the Iridescent Toxin]
[ ] Go on an Adventure (Goal: ??)You probably shouldn't be heading out to explore ruins and look for treasures on your own, but you don't have anything else particularly pressing to do. Take some time off to go slay monsters, search ancient palaces, and roam the wild lands looking for fortunate encounters. (Depending on the roll you can find useful locations, harvest rare materials, loot treasures, tame spirit beasts, increase your cultivation, and possibly reduce stress.)
Learning (+5) [Sage]
[ ] Teach Senior Alchemists (Goal: 0/10) (Face Test) (Stress: +1)You are the best alchemist in the silver grass pavilion, and you could teach even the most senior alchemists in the pavilion a thing or two. Unfortunately many of them are significantly older than you and unlikely to listen well. You'll have to force them to accept your teachings.
Expertise: +1 Grade
[ ] Consider Other Promising Apprentices (Goal: 0/20)
The last batch of apprentices weren't terrible, but it is beneath your dignity to continuously teach apprentices every year. Not to mention you lack both the time and inclination to do so on a regular basis. Still the idea has merit. You just need to find some competent teachers to handle the majority of the work. There will likely be some pushback from the alchemists who prefer to handle their apprentices on a personal basis, but you aren't looking to teach every apprentice like this anyway.
Organize an apprentice teaching system.
[ ] Monitor Maple Cadre (Goal: 7/20) (One completion per year)
You don't want to spend all your time on your chosen apprentices. They aren't personal disciples or anything, but you shouldn't leave them entirely to their own devices either. You can take some time every so often to check on them. Ensure that they have what they need, answer their questions, and make sure they aren't getting in trouble.
Maple Cadre Progress: +1
[ ] Write an Alchemy Manual (Goal: 9/20)
You could also collect the current training materials that the apprentices are using and collate it into an alchemy manual. You are unlikely to provide any exceptional insight in your manual. You aren't an alchemy grandmaster. But the benefit is that all the apprentices would be learning alchemy in a way that is both standardized and fitted to your personal style of alchemy.
Incremental improvement to Expertise and Disciple
Diplomacy (+0) [Diplomat]
[ ] Request a Larger Budget (Goal: 0/20) (Reputation Check) (Stress: +1)The clan elders are unlikely to grant the Silver Grass Pavilion more money, but you can always ask.
Budget: +?
[ ] Request a Personal Stipend (Goal: 0/20) (Face Check) (Stress: +1)
You could also ask the elders for a personal allotment of spirit stones. You'd be free to use these spirit stones in any way you wish. If they agree to grant your request of course.
Spirit Stones: +?
Personal [Automatic success]
[ ] Spend Time with your Family (Automatic)You could try to spend some time with your siblings, or even your mother. You don't know who would be available so it would be up to fate who exactly you can pull away from their duties.
[ ] Discuss Clan Matters with your Brother (Automatic)
You wish to prove yourself to the clan so discuss with your brother how you can help with the current diplomatic dispute with the Kasjan clan. Your initial plan is to make a significant amount of Flowing Ivy elixirs to offer as a potential reparation if such becomes necessary.
Sorry about the delay and the brevity of this turn. A couple things came up and I kind of got thrown off my writing.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Someone should write an omake dealing with the Kasjan issue.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Okay, basic idea for a plan:
[X] Plan Continue Our Work
--[X] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. [2 TP Leaf Cauldron, 1 TP Iridescent Toxin]
-[X] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll
--[X] Administrator
-[X] Monitor Maple Cadre (Goal: 7/20) (One completion per year)
-[X] Write an Alchemy Manual (Goal: 9/20)
This is real simple, it's just continuing our progress on the things that are already partially completed, something I definitely think we should focus on until, well, until they are in fact completed.
I definitely agree with this. We lack anything like the skill set, so an omake is probably our best bet. I do not have the OOC skill set to write anything good though, I don't think.
[X] Plan Continue Our Work
--[X] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. [2 TP Leaf Cauldron, 1 TP Iridescent Toxin]
-[X] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll
--[X] Administrator
-[X] Monitor Maple Cadre (Goal: 7/20) (One completion per year)
-[X] Write an Alchemy Manual (Goal: 9/20)
This is real simple, it's just continuing our progress on the things that are already partially completed, something I definitely think we should focus on until, well, until they are in fact completed.
I definitely agree with this. We lack anything like the skill set, so an omake is probably our best bet. I do not have the OOC skill set to write anything good though, I don't think.
He's picking up Administration through listening to his elders complain. LOL.
So the group of apprentices he's teaching have a name good toknow.
Basically he's trying to make a book that both works, shows his view on things and isn't boring so that people pick it up.
Yeah this is going to be an issue.
Makes sense he doesn't have the time to teach every year, it'll be good to make a proper system to handle this.
Life happens it's okay.
Yes, though if the clock runs out it still will go poorly for the Zhuge clan. But just to be clear I do mean the clan as a whole not you. I won't penalize you personally for a clock running out that you had no control over. This is more setting up background events to make the setting a bit more fleshed out.
Makes sense, the MC is part of the Clan so his success and failure is heavily tied to it, stuff like this just happens sometimes. It'll be a broad impact so it'll hit the Clan pretty evenly.
[X] Plan: Business and Teaching
--[X] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. [Cultivation]
-[X] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll
--[X] Administrator
-[X] Monitor Maple Cadre (Goal: 7/20)
-[X] Write an Alchemy Manual (Goal: 9/20)
We should just focus on our strengths at this point and on making progress in securing and improving our pavilion. The clock is too close to finishing that attempting to get personally involved now might possibly backlash against us.
--[X] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. [Cultivation]
-[X] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll
--[X] Administrator
-[X] Monitor Maple Cadre (Goal: 7/20)
-[X] Write an Alchemy Manual (Goal: 9/20)
We should just focus on our strengths at this point and on making progress in securing and improving our pavilion. The clock is too close to finishing that attempting to get personally involved now might possibly backlash against us.
- Pronouns
- He/It/Argh!
Distill them into a single retainer? That sounds demonic...
Haha, no it's more about picking the best of them out. If you choose that option I'll give you a list of potential retainers.
Actually I think what I'll do is when the cadre times out I'll give you a list of retainer options as well as the option to pick none of them and assign points to the pavilion.
- Location
- Space between realms
- Pronouns
- He
[X] Plan: Business and Teaching
@Arcanestomper would it be possible to find the not-as-talented Alchemist and train them up to be admin/bureaucrats/accountants? Kinda like how hospitals need medically literate admins. This will ease our burdens as managers and make monitoring for corruption easier. Like as a stopgap we can ask for some in other branches as we train up ours.
@Arcanestomper would it be possible to find the not-as-talented Alchemist and train them up to be admin/bureaucrats/accountants? Kinda like how hospitals need medically literate admins. This will ease our burdens as managers and make monitoring for corruption easier. Like as a stopgap we can ask for some in other branches as we train up ours.
That's probably a downgrade compared to preparing ingredients, maintaining equipment, and cleaning up semi dangerous leftovers
Like telling a lab technician to go do paperwork.
(My wife was a lab technician for a research scientist so I assume it would be similar)
Like telling a lab technician to go do paperwork.
(My wife was a lab technician for a research scientist so I assume it would be similar)
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Plan: Look into the problem.
It's funny that the other two plans are exactly the same
It's funny that the other two plans are exactly the same
- Pronouns
- He/Him
They have different expenditures for our Alchemist TP.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oh huh. They show the same thing in the tally. Weird.
WhoTheHeckity
But no one ever asks HowTheHeckity
- Location
- Murica 🦅
[X] Plan: Business and Teaching