NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Just spotted this:

Steelfathers also have a similar aura, but presumably don't have odr...

Wait, do Steelfathers come from combining a different cultivation style with Norse?

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I don't think so. Or at least, I don't think that's what makes them a Steelfather...that's explicitly some sort of pact/blessing involving Steel itself. Well, for everyone but Ironjaw anyway. They may also practice additional cultivation styles (though I personally suspect that's not universal at all), but that's not what makes them Steelfathers.

 

[KreenWarrior]

I don't think so. Or at least, I don't think that's what makes them a Steelfather...that's explicitly some sort of pact/blessing involving Steel itself. Well, for everyone but Ironjaw anyway. They may also practice additional cultivation styles (though I personally suspect that's not universal at all), but that's not what makes them Steelfathers.

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Well, right. But nothing we've seen of Norse cultivation involves making pacts with Steel. We don't even know where that would fit in. On the other hand, Finnish magic may involve spirits, and Sten learned Steel in Finland, and our QM called out having both orthstirr and Finnish magic.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Well, right. But nothing we've seen of Norse cultivation involves making pacts with Steel. We don't even know where that would fit in. On the other hand, Finnish magic may involve spirits, and Sten learned Steel in Finland, and our QM called out having both orthstirr and Finnish magic.

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I strongly suspect you can make pacts with spirits with seidr alone, no need for foreign cultivation.

 

[Shard]

I was thinking a bit about Norse Cultivation in modern day and it seems like it would be insanely 'wacko'.

Internet slapfights (Flythings?) now have real stakes. So much Nid thrown around. People also like using their real name, because Orthsirr.
Blogposts would be a way to churn out thousands of Orthsirr. But also a way to lose everything, it's as high-stakes as it can get.
He said she said fights can be settled with oaths, because they're bound to Orthsirr.
Sports are even more crazy because you can literally lop off people's arms and legs and then just put them back afterwards. Broken legs? Meh. What's a foul even?
People aren't actually very good at fighting because all their stats went into Hugr, Silver-Tongue, Composure, Wordplay and Barbed Tongue.
Can you use Orthsirr in writing computer programs?
You can trust Norse gaming companies to always release a quality product. Reputation is everything.
Medicine is insane.

Imagine doing a cooking show and at the end of it you have 10000 Orthsirr or something.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Blogposts would be a way to churn out thousands of Orthsirr. But also a way to lose everything, it's as high-stakes as it can get.

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I suspect Orthstirr is more based on, like, conceptually how many people have heard of your deeds and in what light than a specific numerical value of people, which would prevent it being quite this ridiculous. Like, someone known the world over is still know the world over, but someone known in a specific city is still only known in a specific city regardless of the city's size. You don't gain Orthstirr per person but per, like, community...in modern life the communities would be bigger, and being part of more than one would be easier, but you wouldn't gain more Orthstirr for being valued by a city of 10 million than a medieval Norseman would from being equally valued by a city of a few thousand, or at least not orders of magnitude more.

So Bloggers could get famous using their real names...but not as famous as actual celebrities, and even they have a cap, I suspect.

People aren't actually very good at fighting because all their stats went into Hugr, Silver-Tongue, Composure, Wordplay and Barbed Tongue.

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This seems unlikely, because in order for Orthstirr to remain and continue functioning in the same way, people you insult can always challenge you to a fight and you lose everything if you lose too badly. And they have your real name because you need to be using it to gain Orthstirr in the first place. You have to be able to back up your tough talk or you're screwed.

 

[Mystic Pentagram]

[X] Plan Pushing To The Edge

 

[I.F. Ister]

Well, for everyone but Ironjaw anyway.

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Ironjaw is just kinda like that.

Every rule has its exception and he is no different

Skyfire

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Yeah, you're definitely getting Skyfire as a kenning, one day.

The only question is; what are its effects?

I'm thinking something along the lines of '+1 to all combat rolls while in flight'?

Also, reward dice of course

I suspect Orthstirr is more based on, like, conceptually how many people have heard of your deeds and in what light than a specific numerical value of people, which would prevent it being quite this ridiculous.

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To give you a small peak behind the curtain; the more Norsemen there are in the world, the less orthstirr is gained

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

To give you a small peak behind the curtain; the more Norsemen there are in the world, the less orthstirr is gained

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Each, or in total? Like, is the pie the same size and just effectively smaller because it's shared with more people, or is the pie actually smaller?

 

[Shard]

To give you a small peak behind the curtain; the more Norsemen there are in the world, the less orthstirr is gained

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That's interesting. Likely part of why the Nornir give all Norsemen a fixed lifespan. Only so much space for characters in a world, after all, which means everyone gets less 'screentime'.

I wonder if Norsemen lifespans are also shorter when there are more Norsemen, or if the Norns don't manage the balance on that side.

 

[Alectai]

I mean, it's conservation of ninjutsu in action. One Ninja is a terrifying threat, an entire clan are faceless mooks.

Orthstirr works the same way. Five people fighting for screentime is an ensemble cast, a thousand is an impractical mess, this is likely the reason behind the Age Limit. Notably, it seems like the age limit is subject to revision, if you're awesome enough.

It's how long your show is contracted out for, good ratings means regular extensions, bad ones risk early cancellation. The Enemy then is an asshole network exec with a Political Agenda who tries to aggressively cancel things it doesn't like, but it still has to answer to shareholders. In this case, the Nornir, and it can't just unilaterally cancel a smash hit without getting thrown out, so it just meddles from the sidelines until the popularity fades and it goes for the kill.

 

[I.F. Ister]

OTL, there were around ~200,000 (iirc, grain of salt on this one) Norsemen living in Scandinavia at this time (not accounting for those living outside of Scandinavia), with Europe at large having around 60 million people in it. I like big numbers, so there's a fair few more Norsemen in NorseQuest, but the general gist of it is still the same. Population bloat lowering orthstirr gain isn't something you're gonna have to worry about in the scope of this quest. It's just a bit of background thing.

More 'characters' on the stage, the less time in the limelight each of them gets, which means that the audience has less time to connect enough to tell their friends and so on and so forth.

The Enemy then is an asshole network exec with a Political Agenda who tries to aggressively cancel things it doesn't like, but it still has to answer to shareholders.

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Because of how hard you're stretching that analogy tickles me, you get a Reward Dice

0~0~0

Side note: I got blasted by an idea for Steampunk Cultivation while at work today.

Related: I now know what my next quest is going to be.

Like, it is ridiculous how well the Rankine cycle lends itself to cultivation.

 

[Alectai]

I will never say no to Reward Dice, I'm glad you got a chuckle out of it.

 

[Shard]

The Norse Cultivation system must have been bonkers back when there were like a few thousand Norsemen.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Side note: I got blasted by an idea for Steampunk Cultivation while at work today.

Related: I now know what my next quest is going to be.

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I am in.

 

[Alectai]

I mean, I'm now thoroughly hooked, as long as the premise isn't something I don't care for, I'll probably participate in anything you do at this point.

 

[mythfan12]

While I haven't been participating as much as I've been going through not having some medication, I would also like to voice my interest in the future steampunk cultivation quest.

 

[Constenanto]

Steampunk cultivation sounds cool. Would definitely be down for that.

 

[Shard]

By the way,

Has anyone noticed that both our spiritual plants (yes I know, sample size of two, not a lot), have had the theme of their second 'unlock' effectively countering themselves? Hearthroot has +Fire Damage, then +Fire Resistance, Sealwood Tree has +Glue, then +Counterglue.

I wonder what their 'third evolution' might be?

Like, it is ridiculous how well the Rankine cycle lends itself to cultivation.

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Steampunk quest sounds interesting, especially if we get to play full Cultivation Discovery mode like here (hopefully not as dangerous).

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Has anyone noticed that both our spiritual plants (yes I know, sample size of two, not a lot), have had the theme of their second 'unlock' effectively countering themselves? Hearthroot has +Fire Damage, then +Fire Resistance, Sealwood Tree has +Glue, then +Counterglue.

I wonder what their 'third evolution' might be?

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We're really only at the first unlock for both of those. They only started growing useful things at all when we hit 9 Odr on them, and we haven't gone beyond that on either. I do think them both having counters is super relevant, but it seems part of their basic functionality rather than a second tier thing (we have not yet hit the second tier).

 

[Alectai]

3 Odr was enough for the berries, and presumably the Sap, then 6 Odr grew another berry and presumably more Sap, while adding a soft-counter to the first thing.

The next breakpoint is probably going to be either at 9 Odr, 12 Odr, or 36 Odr, depending on if it increases at a linear scale (+3 per step), doubles per each level (3, + 3, + 6), or follows the Trick progression scale. (3, 6, 36, 72)

If it's following the Trick Progression though, the next step should be exceptionally good. Refined to Mastered is a gigantic shift in practicality, where even expensive Tricks become something you can integrate into your combat style, cheap ones become effectively spammable, and really cheap ones become free.

One possibility is that the number of Produce we get increases even before we hit the next breakpoint. We should probably consider start figuring out how Produce develops once we get Hugr up to Infusion 3 I think.

 

[Serous]

I wonder how one is supposed to generate Odr without Orthstirr thought. There should be a way to do so, considering that Orthstirr was only added afterwards.
There sounds like there is a relatively static total Orthstirr pool in the world, which was probably formed by whatever sacrifice was made to create Orthstirr in the first place.

 

[Constenanto]

I wonder how one is supposed to generate Odr without Orthstirr thought. There should be a way to do so, considering that Orthstirr was only added afterwards.
There sounds like there is a relatively static total Orthstirr pool in the world, which was probably formed by whatever sacrifice was made to create Orthstirr in the first place.

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? I don't recall it ever being confirmed that orthstirr was added post-Enemy. The communal pool is a different matter.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

3 Odr was enough for the berries, and presumably the Sap, then 6 Odr grew another berry and presumably more Sap, while adding a soft-counter to the first thing.

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Ah! So it did. I'd forgotten. That probably does mean it's following Trick progression, which makes the next stage both expensive and likely quite powerful (probably doubled effects, if I were to guess, to parallel the halved cost of Tricks).

I wonder how one is supposed to generate Odr without Orthstirr thought. There should be a way to do so, considering that Orthstirr was only added afterwards.

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As Constenanto says, that hasn't been confirmed at all. I think Orthstirr is integral to Odr cultivation and always has been.

 

[Alectai]

Ah! So it did. I'd forgotten. That probably does mean it's following Trick progression, which makes the next stage both expensive and likely quite powerful (probably doubled effects, if I were to guess, to parallel the halved cost of Tricks).



As Constenanto says, that hasn't been confirmed at all. I think Orthstirr is integral to Odr cultivation and always has been.

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2 bonus fire damage or 2 fire resistance would both be very powerful, especially since it's also probably going to create a lot more of both resources, and that assumes there's nothing new added either.

2 bonus fire damage for instance completely negates Born of Fire's impressive fire Resistance for instance, and unlike Odr costs, chomping on a Fireberry is basically free, and we can technically stockpile them using Pockets as well. I wouldn't be surprised either if further developing our Produce is a key part to advancing in Saga Establishment.

 

[Shard]

It would be pretty funny if we use a fireberry+tracking eyes kindle spinner (3+1+1) to actually hurt Sten with fire.

A "what" moment, although I expect he has enough Fire Resist that it's only scratch damage. At most.

Does the battlefield have rocks? We can try the Throw trick and/or Boulderdrop/Boulderbolt Sten. How much damage does a dropped/thrown Boulder do anyway?