Remove ads

Punching through the Masquerade (Modern Magical Cultivation Quest)

Reader mode
The stats govern the dice pool, so they are almost definitionally the thing that will speed us the most. As we see from tempering black bile, very high DCs are present in this quest, so giving ourselves room to stack dice is also important.
 
Honestly, I'd like to try tempering one of each stat if we can, so we can see if there's any benefits to doing all of them. I'm especially curious as to how Phlegm will work since we have a boon amplifying that, but it seems the boon's effects are chiefly narrative so far (Though I hope it lets us speed run the elementalism part)
 
I'm down for raising each stat at least once, yeah. I think after that we might want to focus on Yellow and Black Bile for a bit, but the important bit is, IMO, to not slow down too much on the stat-boosting.
 
Alectai said:
Don't we have to renew our Least Ward now too?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


So... about that. Unfortunately that was a bit of a fuckup on my part. You triggered it back in turn seven and since it was only a four turn duration it technically should have ended back in turn 11, but the year long hiatus and my apparent aversion to updating the character sheet last year meant I lost track of when it should have ended. You can reup the ward on turn fifteen, when the full moon rolls in. Coincidentally the summer solstice will be happening the same day. Much like it did this year.

Edit: but not to worry, completing the Rite of Investiture got you some spiritual protection from your coterie of spirits, so you're not totally naked without it.
 
Last edited:
Useless Writer said:
So... about that. Unfortunately that was a bit of a fuckup on my part. You triggered it back in turn seven and since it was only a four turn duration it technically should have ended back in turn 11, but the year long hiatus and my apparent aversion to updating the character sheet last year meant I lost track of when it should have ended. You can reup the ward on turn fifteen, when the full moon rolls in. Coincidentally the summer solstice will be happening the same day. Much like it did this year.

Edit: but not to worry, completing the Rite of Investiture got you some spiritual protection from your coterie of spirits, so you're not totally naked without it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Good to hear!

Plan incoming then.
 
[ ] Plan: Training Montage!
-[ ] Work your shifts at The Crystal Gardens: (dc:7-13) (uses your Blood and Yellow Bile stats) (Grants 1d3 windfall if you dont fail the check, with an additional point of windfall for every two points over 13 you roll) (Raise pool 1/10)
--[ ] Tap +1 Sylph Dice for this
-[ ] Socialize with a Spirit: The Elementals aren't very chatty, but you're accumulating connections with spirits who are. Perhaps you can get to know them better? (Uses Blood) (Costs one action)
--[ ] Phlecket: The dwarf-shaped spirit is potent, he's already willing to teach you magic, perhaps he'd be open to idle conversation?
---[ ] Offer an Ember: If a single Ember was enough to give Lord Typhon some measure of wiggle room from his divinely forged chains, what might an Elemental spirit do with it? And what would he offer in return?
----[ ] Tap +2 Untyped Dice for this
-[ ] Ask Phlecket for Instruction on Elemental Spellcasting: Phlecket has a duty to instruct you on the secrets of Elemental spellcasting. Set some time aside and get to learning. (Uses Phlegm + Yellow Bile) (Costs one Action) (May spend three actions per turn on this)
--[ ] 3 Actions
--[ ] Tap Salamander, Undine, Daimon of Knowledge for total of +4 Dice,
-[ ] {Resource Generation} (Occult) Kindling Embers
--[ ] One Action's worth
---[ ] Use Flame Scarred Tablet (Up to max safe limit)
---[ ] Tap Gnome Dice (+1) for this

Basically, this is attempting to lean into Camilla's greatest strength--namely, being an absolute overachiever student who grasps onto new fields and makes them her own. We can't afford new books yet, but we have a teacher, and we have time and motivation for it. So this spends 4 of our actions on learning, only coming out for air to do our job and make more Embers.

This is our lowest hanging fruit with regards to gaining actionable strengths in the short term, so we should take full advantage of it, and maybe do some trading under the table while we're at it.
 
Last edited:
Useless Writer said:
But then your attention wavered for a moment and the building heat, rather then enflaming your heart to greater passions, errupted from a quickly opened mouth into a gout of flame that only barely avoided doing damage to your apartment.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Unrelated to anything we're talking about, I've been rereading the quest to refresh my memory and dragon breath looks like a fun spell to have. We should try doing it on purpose sometime.
 
Alectai said:
This is our lowest hanging fruit with regards to gaining actionable strengths in the short term, so we should take full advantage of it, and maybe do some trading under the table while we're at it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You know we can make a Divination without spending actions right?

Having more information on the Spirit hunting us would be a good idea.

[X] Preparing for the Storm
 
I considered the same, but are Empousas any good at guard duty? That's more combat-adjacent than the actual thing.
 
It does say they can bodyguard, I'm just more interested in shoring up our personal ability in the first turn of the event than anything else. It just got here, we should have at least a little time before it zeroes us in.

And Camilla can do a lot of learning really fucking fast if she buckles down on it. That Genius level intellect should matter even in learning like this, I think.
 
Last edited:
[X] Plan: Training Montage with Tempering!
-[X] Work your shifts at The Crystal Gardens: (dc:7-13) (uses your Blood and Yellow Bile stats) (Grants 1d3 windfall if you dont fail the check, with an additional point of windfall for every two points over 13 you roll) (Raise pool 1/10)
--[X] Tap +1 Sylph Dice for this
-[X] Socialize with a Spirit: The Elementals aren't very chatty, but you're accumulating connections with spirits who are. Perhaps you can get to know them better? (Uses Blood) (Costs one action)
--[X] Phlecket: The dwarf-shaped spirit is potent, he's already willing to teach you magic, perhaps he'd be open to idle conversation?
---[X] Offer an Ember: If a single Ember was enough to give Lord Typhon some measure of wiggle room from his divinely forged chains, what might an Elemental spirit do with it? And what would he offer in return?
----[X] Tap +2 Free Dice for this
-[X] Ask Phlecket for Instruction on Elemental Spellcasting: Phlecket has a duty to instruct you on the secrets of Elemental spellcasting. Set some time aside and get to learning. (Uses Phlegm + Yellow Bile) (Costs one Action) (May spend three actions per turn on this)
--[X] 2 Actions
--[X] Tap Salamander, Undine, Daimon of Knowledge for total of +4 Dice.
-[X] {Self Improvement} (Occult) Tempering your body and soul with Embers: Through possesion of the Golden Apple given to you by Lord Typhon, you understand how to warp and shift your body, mind, and soul to greater heights of capability. While you are presently limited to the peak of human capability, there are hints of a way to break through to something beyond human. (Costs one action) (You may use untyped dice to boost your capabilities)
--[X] Tempering Your Sociability: (DC 12) (Costs 4 embers) (Dice pool 5(Blood +Yellow Bile))
-[X] {Resource Generation} (Occult) Kindling Embers: You're close to half full, it's surprisingly liberating to finally expand your brazier. (Creates new Embers) (Requires you have at least one Ember) ( Uses Yellow Bile and Black Bile)(DC 5, every five points beyond that creates one additional ember, automatically stops at the safe number of embers you can create unless otherwise specified)(Costs one action) (Current Embers 5/13)
--[X] Use Flame Scarred Tablet (Up to max safe limit)
--[X] Tap Gnome Dice (+1) for this
 
Last edited:
[X] Plan: Training Montage with Tempering!

Good enough I guess, one less training but we temper another stat. Which'll only leave Phlegm behind.

On the other hand, Phlegm is our strongest attribute, and I wonder how raising the Water stat with Fire is going to work out. We have no reason to believe that it'll go poorly, do we @Useless Writer ?

Actually, on that note, does our Trait actually have any major influences outside of just reading and researching faster? It cost us 3 points but didn't even raise our dice cap, but Handicapped is a huge millstone around our necks and only gave us 2. Or do we have to Temper our Phlegm once to learn how our Boon interacts with cultivation?

(Then again, I don't think we're even properly a Cultivator yet, we're just a Practitioner, right?)
 
Last edited:
[X] Summer Snow Sabbatical
-[X] Work your shifts at The Crystal Gardens: (dc:7-13) (uses your Blood and Yellow Bile stats) (Grants 1d3 windfall if you dont fail the check, with an additional point of windfall for every two points over 13 you roll) (Raise pool 1/10)
--[X] Two Free Dice
-[X] Ask Phlecket for Instruction on Elemental Spellcasting: (Uses Phlegm + Yellow Bile) (Costs one Action) (May spend three actions per turn on this)
--[X] Two Actions
--[X] Undine's aid (Phlegm)
--[X] Salamander's aid (Yellow Bile)
-[X] {Self Improvement} (Occult) (Costs one action) (You may use untyped dice to boost your capabilities)
--[X] Tempering Your Sociability: (DC 12) (Costs 4 embers) (Dice pool 5(Blood +Yellow Bile))
-[X] {Resource Generation} (Occult) Kindling Embers: (Creates new Embers) (Requires you have at least one Ember) ( Uses Yellow Bile and Black Bile)(DC 5, every five points beyond that creates one additional ember, automatically stops at the safe number of embers you can create unless otherwise specified)(Costs one action) (Current Embers 5/13)
--[X] Two Untyped Dice
--[X] Gnome's aid (Black Bile)
--[X] Specify the number of Embers you wish to create (2 embers)
---[X] Use paper
----[X] Jade Stone: (Unknown Result) (Might be Positive???)
-[X] Socialize with a Spirit: (Uses Blood) (Costs one action)
--[X] Phlecket: The dwarf-shaped spirit is potent, he's already willing to teach you magic, perhaps he'd be open to idle conversation?
---[X] Social call: Idle conversation with Phlecket as previously specified
---[X] Sylph's aid (Blood)
-[X] Occult Paraphernalia
--[X] Warding Charm: (Costs two ticks) (Grants two untyped dice for spiritual protection, can be upgraded through your own spellwork)
--[X] Occult books: (Costs two ticks per purchase made) (Provides 1 book for research purposes)
---[X] Runes
---[X] Psionics
 
I support this plan, i would have liked making a Divination. But i suppose we can do one later.

Also, we should start farming favor with our spirit patrons. Using actions to take care of our temples.

[X] Plan: Training Montage with Tempering!
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top