That wasn't my goal, but I'm really unconvinced by your argument that "we'll have to pray that he won't find glory". We can fail at every roll, choosing terms can fail as much as trying to assert us as the foremost tribune.
because they are vague I'm not convinced it's going to work. He is not going to agree to be shut out of command (because we wouldn't either), and otherwise? Everything that has to do with logistics is his job, but when we have to negotiate with villages to open up their granaries it's our job, because we are an orator? There will be overlap and therefore friction.
That's fair, i suppose this is partly the infamous logical fallacy of "it's safer if we control it" on my side that makes people fear flying more than cars, and total expulsion from command might be a silly overreach. Still, we can surely do something to arrest his rise, instead of leaving it entirely to him. If we fail it's a bad either way, but if we succeed,we get either a more loyal subordinate than overshadow, or the "he started it" card.
Because they are vague I'm not convinced it's going to work. He is not going to agree to be shut out of command (because we wouldn't either), and otherwise? Will he get logistics while we get negotiations? Everything that has to do with logistics is his job, but when we have to negotiate with villages to open up their granaries it's our job, because we are an orator? There will be overlap and therefore friction.
That's fair, i suppose this is partly the infamous logical fallacy of "it's safer if we control it" on my side that makes people fear flying more than cars, and total expulsion from command might be a silly overreach. Still, we can surely do something to arrest his rise, instead of leaving it entirely to him. If we fail it's a bad either way, but if we succeed,we get either a more loyal subordinate than overshadow, or the "he started it" card.
Hardly. Whether you agree with me or not as to the extent of what cult would do to the Terms option, surely you can agree that Terms is the "let's be professional" approach as opposed to the "let's be friends" connect option? You are not going to be winning his loyalty when making Terms. You might win his respect if the MC does well in the upcoming war and doesn't make decisions he disagrees with, but he will definitely not be a loyal subordinate. Did you forget the guy is both older than the MC, and is the son of the consul? He will definitely be vying for control and attempting to sideline us. Regardless of his own yet-proven ambitions (and I have no doubt he has them), he has to due to his position.
Hardly. Whether you agree with me or not as to the extent of what cult would do to the Terms option, surely you can agree that Terms is the "let's be professional" approach as opposed to the "let's be friends" connect option? You are not going to be winning his loyalty when making Terms. You might win his respect if the MC does well in the upcoming war and doesn't make decisions he disagrees with, but he will definitely not be a loyal subordinate. Did you forget the guy is both older than the MC, and is the son of the consul?
To be entirely fair, as with all options we can't be sure what making terms will eventually mean, even two turns from now. It can be anything from completely lopsided in Atellus' favour (something I personally heavily doubt), to them sharing command and doing as two consuls would do. Switching overall command each day.
To be entirely fair, as with all options we can't be sure what making terms will eventually mean, even two turns from now. It can be anything from completely lopsided in Atellus' favour (something I personally heavily doubt), to them sharing command and doing as two consuls would do. Switching overall command each day.
Yes, hence why I said Terms + Cult (+ Centurions depending on if that comes before or after this) would help make it a more equal arrangement rather than the lopsided deal racnor keeps claiming.
To be entirely fair, as with all options we can't be sure what making terms will eventually mean, even two turns from now. It can be anything from completely lopsided in Atellus' favour (something I personally heavily doubt), to them sharing command and doing as two consuls would do. Switching overall command each day.
Fair point. I think i've made all the arguments i can with the info we have on Terms, with the disagreement currently resting partially on info the character knows but we don't. I do hope we get more info on what our protag intends for Terms, but if not that uncertainty alone might make overshadow the better bet.
On that note, could I convince you to set Cult as the first or second action in your plan? If we do use overshadow, it seems like it would be best to have both brotherhood and Cult up immediatly before he can use too many of his own downtime actions.
(for all my frustration with it, your plan is definitely second choice IMO)
No, it just seems like our current differences are based on differing assumption about what Terms means to our protag. There's no point in debating when we have different premises, so i'm waiting for either WoG or a lack of WoG on the issue, with the latter being a strong argument in favor of overshadow to me.
Sorry if i seemed angry at you, i was actually intending to try and tone things down after proclaiming that Thyreus made ad-homenim attacks, which was excessive when they were just frustrated with what was in retrospect a bias of mine. However, it seems internet tone failure has now struck me just as it did them.
No, it just seems like our current differences are based on differing assumption about what Terms means to our protag. There's no point in debating when we have different premises, so i'm waiting for either WoG or a lack of WoG on the issue, with the latter being a strong argument in favor of overshadow to me.
Sorry if i seemed angry at you, i was actually intending to try and tone things down after proclaiming that Thyreus made ad-homenim attacks, which was excessive when they were just frustrated with what was in retrospect a bias of mine. However, it seems internet tone failure has now struck me just as it did them.
You might win his respect if the MC does well in the upcoming war and doesn't make decisions he disagrees with, but he will definitely not be a loyal subordinate.
Well, he won't be a loyal subordinate either way, even with making connections. Young Roman men of clearly similar ambitions, both risers who seek greatness and glory and have clear significant skills, will at best be in friendly competition.
However, I think people should be careful. While it's certainly possible for this to be a fight, if Cassianus turns out to be a jerk, let's also think about the potential opportunity. A young man around our age with some commonalities could be a political asset that is transformed into a political partnership. Building such a friendship early could turn into a great investment later, and it is wise to build friends that are entirely detached from the typical factions or patronage relationships that one might expect in this cutthroat, tightrope walking world we live in.
No, it just seems like our current differences are based on differing assumption about what Terms means to our protag. There's no point in debating when we have different premises, so i'm waiting for either WoG or a lack of WoG on the issue, with the latter being a strong argument in favor of overshadow to me.
Sorry if i seemed angry at you, i was actually intending to try and tone things down after proclaiming that Thyreus made ad-homenim attacks, which was excessive when they were just frustrated with what was in retrospect a bias of mine. However, it seems internet tone failure has now struck me just as it did them.
Atellus intends to do just this — make terms. Define who does what and where. He intends, hopefully, to maintain control over the day-to-day running of the legion, but that simply depends on how insistent Cassianus is. The other tribune is in a position where he cannot be easily ignored, with his own staff and powerbase, and so discussions may quickly become negotiations — you both wanting military glory is obvious, but (as an example) Cassianus may be more skilled in Logistics and want full control over supplies and supply lines, on the thought that the quickest way to a man's heart is his belly. Atellus may give him this in exchange for control over legal jurisprudence, et cetera.
That is if things go well.
If the two of you find yourselves unable to come to compromises, you may simply resort to the old-fashioned consular system: he commands today, you command tomorrow.
If talks go even worse, you may somehow be unable to reach even that small compromise, and will actively both begin building up powerbases within the legion and attempting to outdo the other for the men's hearts. Cassianus has come so very far and suffered so very much to reach where he is, and he absolutely will not see it torn from him by some pampered lordling.
However, I think people should be careful. While it's certainly possible for this to be a fight, if Cassianus turns out to be a jerk, let's also think about the potential opportunity. A young man around our age with some commonalities could be a political asset that is transformed into a political partnership. Building such a friendship early could turn into a great investment later, and it is wise to build friends that are entirely detached from the typical factions or patronage relationships that one might expect in this cutthroat, tightrope walking world we live in.
Technically speaking, he is the son of the pro-Marius consul (though they are having in-fighting as we just saw), so he does at least nominally have a faction.
I have been convinced to drop The General from any of my plans for now. Its DC would probably be too high before we placate Marius by establishing a working leadership of the legion. Futhermore, I'm still unsure how such personal interaction would look after a Sullan victory. I have thus switched it our for Brotherhood and this is what I'm proposing: [] Plan The Power Of Friendship
-[] Connect
-[] Promote Centurions
-[] Brothers in Arms
-[] Training
-[] Correspondence
--[] Scaevola
-[] The Scipians
-[] Brotherhood
-[] Para Bellum
-[] Study
-[] Si Vis Pacem
-[] The Crone of Bithynia
This plan focuses on a number of synergies:
1) By partnering up Connect with The Scipians and Brotherhood we maximise our appeal to our new Co-tribune.
2) Brotherhood and Promote Centurions firmly establish us as THE tribune, even if the Connect roll goes sideways.
3) Connect and Brothers in Arms have a nice symbolic synergy. In both Patricians and Plebians/Novus Homo try to find common ground.
4) Training and Para Bellum should prepare the VI legion to face Pontic phalanx formations.
5) Si Vis Pacem gives us the regional information we need to implement knowledge gained from Study for this campaign.
Sadly, Sparring is no longer available. Just like when we sparred with Pompey's legionaries, it could have been a interesting way to start our social interactions with Cassianus.
As mentioned before, this plan is light on non-legion social actions. I regret this, however dealing with this new command situation requires our immediate attention. I did manage to fit in The Crone of Bithynia, since auguries are always fun to read and potential very powerful gameplay wise.
Alternatively, one might go for a similar plan, but more focused on taking control: [] Plan The Chosen Tribune
-[] Overshadow
-[] Promote Centurions
-[] Brothers in Arms
-[] Training
-[] Correspondence
--[] Scaevola
-[] The Cult
-[] Brotherhood
-[] Para Bellum
-[] Study
-[] Si Vis Pacem
-[] The Crone of Bithynia
It lacks the nice symbolic synergy, but it also takes all the actions necessary to further increase our standing with the legion.
The Lupercalia was winding down. The second wild festival to consume Rome in as many months, it had torn through the city with the fervor only a people desperately attempting to distract themselves from their current predicament can muster. Yet the Lupercalia was no mere triumphal celebration: it was a festival of birth and life and fire, a celebration of the ancient mother wolf who had nursed the first King of Rome, and above all a plea to the gods to hold back the winter and the shadow another year. It was Rome's oldest festival, deeper and older and darker than the Greek gods who had followed after. It was a rite of flesh and flame and bone that their ancestors had danced in the shadows of the seven hills in a time when Rome's dominion stretched only as far as the eye could see from the top of the Palatine Hill.
On the Ides of Feburatus the people of Rome, great and small alike, had gathered one and all at the mouth of the Lupercal, that ancient cave at the foot of the Palatine where in elder days two boys named Romulus and Remus had suckled at a wolf's teats. There, the priests of the Luperci, the ancient brotherhood of the wolves, had sacrificed seven goats for the seven hills that had known seven kings, and the citizens of Rome had let loose in a revel to shame Bacchus himself. Then the mad satyr god Pan had danced wildly through the Forum, and the gods of Olympus and Hellas were for a moment forgotten as the Romans returned to the spirit of an older, wilder day. Incredible amounts of wine were spilled, great swathes of flesh were bared, and men danced in the street garbed in the skin of goats, their voices raised in guttural song.
In the aftermath, most Romans of any standing, if they had come to consciousness, would nurse sore throats and splitting headaches for days to come.
Well, most men.
The women of Rome, though they had enjoyed themselves well in the Lupercal, had duties still to tend to. The week's meals would not buy themselves. The dozens, nay hundreds of vases and plates and amphorae shattered during the Lupercal could not magically replace themselves, nor could the households of the great men manage themselves in their drunken stupor. Foreigners and merchants had been driven from the city for the festival, but the moment the sun rose, they filtered back in, and their markets were filled with a strange sight -- streets packed thick with nothing but Roman women picking through the stalls and perusing their wares. Oh, there was a slave here and there, of course, and a servant to carry goods, but gone were the pompous Senators and booming aediles, the boasting legionnaires and crooning orators. For a few quiet hours, as the sun split the sky after Lupercalia, the daughters of Mars alone walked in Rome.
Cingulla Major paced through the streets carefully, picking at things that caught her eye here and there. Glaber loomed at her side, his impassive face a welcome but --for once-- unnecessary deterrent. He had insisted on coming, and she had relented, more for his sake than her own. She had left all the slaves at home, which the tall bodyguard had remarked was an odd choice for a woman going shopping.
And he had been right, she reflected. She was not shopping. Well, not for this at any rate, she thought as she passed her hand over a set of shriveled fruits which the owner, a grinning Sicilian, claimed were freshly picked.
No, she was here for something else. Someone else.
And she had spotted her: A striking raven-haired woman in a rich flowing dress of the sort called a stola, who strode through the Forum as if she owned it. A bevy of other women surrounded her, and though they all spoke and whispered and giggled in turn, any observer could tell that they hung on her word. This was Valeria of the Cornelii, wife to the eminent Publius Cornelius Lentulus, currently serving as praetor in charge of the distribution of Senatorial funds, a position the famously curt and sullen man held only due to the influence of his wife and her family.
Valeria, Cingulla knew, was a woman of influence in Rome. Her father was a pontiff of no small influence, and her husband's position as praetor meant she had a grip on a good portion of the city finances and, most importantly, their allotment in the coming year. Each of the witless birds currently chirping in her ear was anything but -- the right word here and the correct bit of flattery there, and their husband's election campaigns might receive a good bit of funding from a mysterious benefactor.
Cingulla had no husband to flatter for, and her brother, gods knew, was managing just fine on his own. But she was tired of sitting around, tired of waiting for that despicable oyster-faced worm Curtilius to swoop back and claim her as his.
Motioning to Glaber to stand back, she fixed her hair slightly, conjured the same beaming smile she had reserved for her father's favorite suitors, and made her way towards the small crowd of women.
"...and the absolute nerve of him! Well, I gave him a piece of my mind after that, let him know that if he sends any more slaves into the baths after me, he won't be getting them back!" Valeria finished.
A burst of laughter erupted in the small room, a tittering fake sort of thing that only a narcissist might find rewarding. Valeria beamed. She sat on a plush couch surrounded by a handful of other women from the Forum, among them Cingulla.
Cingulla leaned back and sipped at her wine again, more for an opportunity to let that banal smile slip from her face than out of any real desire to drink it. She had been in the entourage of Valeria for days now, and though she had told herself she would not become a giggling crony, her fake smile had not left her face in what felt like lifetimes. Only the thought of another awful day of teaching her little sister Greek (dear gods, why had her brother taken Theo?) kept her docile and giggling like some goat-brained farmgirl. It was part of the act, part of the dance, the give and take. She had to keep it up.
Had to.
Valeria clapped. "Well, girls, I'm afraid that's it for today. My husband will be back from the gyms momentarily, and he won't be so receptive to guests, I'm afraid." A chorus of appropriately dejected sighs followed her proclamation, and the crowd of women exited the lounge, talking loudly amongst themselves about Valeria's many virtues and how very nice her domus was, and weren't her slaves so well behaved?
Cingulla stood to follow, but Valeria rose to block her path.
"No. Not you, I think. Sit, girl." Valeria's voice was changed. The airy titter was gone, and her blue eyes were shards of ice.
Cingulla sat, trying to mask her confusion as she projected the practiced smile once more and blinked her eyes in a manner she hoped was coquettish. "Mistress Valeria, what on earth--"
"Do you know, I had thought you one of Flavia's girls? But even that trollop would have the good sense to send someone who could actually act."
"Valeria, dear, I don't--"
"I swear to all-seeing Jove, call me dear one more time and I'll cut your bloody hands off, girl. Are you deaf or just stupid? Who sent you? That two-faced whore Catiline?"
Cingulla blinked, and when she spoke again, her voice was natural, if shaky. "No one...no one sent me, mistress. I came on my own."
That seemed to be the only answer that the looming domina had not expected. Her brow furrows, and when she speaks again, her voice is a hair less harsh. "On your...own? And what mad devils possessed you to do that?"
"You...forgive me, mistress, but you are a woman of power in the city. I had hoped, perhaps, that by gaining your favor I might...well, that I might help my family, and my brother."
At that, Valeria's face softens. "Ah. So you really are just stupid, then."
At Cingulla's indignant snort, she cut in again. "It is not an insult girl, even if it may seem it. We are all stupid to begin with. Sit, be quiet, and listen."
Valeria relaxed on the couch, though her eyes still shone like the Tiber in winter. "First of all, girl, consider this: what help can my favor give your brother, or your family? My husband is a praetor, and his influence is over coin the Senate has given him power over -- he can only spend it where they wish."
"But your followers, they--"
She laughed, a cold thing. "They do not want my money, silly girl. Even if I were willing to convince my husband to steal money from under the Senate's nose, it would not be so I could turn around and give it to some weasel-cocked aedile because his wife whined compliments into my ear for a few weeks."
"Then why--"
"Did I not tell you to shut up and listen?" Valeria snapped. She sipped at her wine for another moment, then continued. "They follow me because they are spies, my dear. Yes, yes," she followed in a tone of mock surprise, "Spies. They try to pry information on my husband and his dealings out of me, and I try to figure out who they are working for. We laugh and titter and glare daggers behind our cups at one another. It is a fun game we play."
"One you are spectacularly bad at."
Cingulla hangs her head. "Gods above, I'm an idiot. Here I thought I was a player, when --"
"When you weren't even playing? Wrong again. That's the first step, girl."
Cingulla raises her head, an eyebrow raised above teary eyes. "The first step?"
Valeria smirked. She was enjoying this. "The first step lies in learning to play — or rather, the very act of realizing that you're playing. That we're all playing, whether or not we like it." She finished her wine with a great gulp and hissed with satisfaction. She filled up two more cups, then turned to Cingulla and offered her one. "It is a game every Roman plays, from their birth to their death, and we are all pieces and all players. It is the oldest game in the city, and it will never end."
Strabo was one of the generals fighting in the northern part of Italy during the Social War. However, Strabo's part of the army does not seem to have participated in the Battle of Tolenus, which (according to this) was commanded by the then-consul Publius Rutilius Lupus and Marius himself.
Specifically, during the Battle of Tolenus, the Roman army was divided into two camps. The part led by Rutilius was ambushed, and slaughtered nearly to the man (8000 deaths are recorded, including Rutilius himself). Marius only found out about the ambush when he noticed dead Roman bodies floating downriver, at which point he rallied his part of the army and counter-attacked, forcing the Italians to retreat.
If Cassianus fought in the Battle of Tolenus... he would have served under Marius directly. That is, unless he was one of the (very) few survivors of Rutilius' army, at which point he was presumably transferred to the command of Strabo (rather than remain in his original legion to fight for Marius). Still, it's odd that he doesn't mention any further details -- like "I fought for you in the Battle of Tolenus" or "you saved my bacon in the Battle of Tolenus". It's also odd that the Battle of Tolenus is the only battle Cassianus actually mentions, given how mixed its legacy was: yes, it was a Roman victory, and the Italians were driven from the field, but a serving Consul died, and so did half of a legion, and the occasion was marked by several days of public mourning in Rome. On the other hand, Cassianus may be counting on Marius having fonder memories of the battle since it was his victory -- and perhaps this is why Marius comments on Cassianus being a 'flatterer'.
Sorry if i seemed angry at you, i was actually intending to try and tone things down after proclaiming that Thyreus made ad-homenim attacks, which was excessive when they were just frustrated with what was in retrospect a bias of mine. However, it seems internet tone failure has now struck me just as it did them.
Writing pussyfooting wasn't even meant as such. It was simply the first description which came to my mind and could have easily been "tread carefully". It was late and as a not native speaker it didn't occur to me that it could be offensive. I'll own up to the second one, though, as I was baffled and a bit annoyed that you would use random chance as an argument in a quest.
However, I think people should be careful. While it's certainly possible for this to be a fight, if Cassianus turns out to be a jerk, let's also think about the potential opportunity. A young man around our age with some commonalities could be a political asset that is transformed into a political partnership. Building such a friendship early could turn into a great investment later, and it is wise to build friends that are entirely detached from the typical factions or patronage relationships that one might expect in this cutthroat, tightrope walking world we live in.
Oh definitely, which is why I think that making a connection is a better choice than making terms as it at least tries to form some kind of amicable work relationship where else the other comes across as a mutual agreement to not step on each other's toes, while leaving us free to compete for influence.
At the end of the day we have to build those type of friendships and connections as the lone wolf will never rise in Ancient Rome. Our goal will be to be the leader of a faction vying to transform Rome in our image. One which will hopefully achieve the three goals "make Atellus undisputed ruler of Rome", "reform the state so it can survive" and "improve every Roman's lot in life".
Yet the Lupercalia was no mere triumphal celebration: it was a festival of birth and life and fire, a celebration of the ancient mother wolf who had nursed the first King of Rome, and above all a plea to the gods to hold back the winter and the shadow another year. It was Rome's oldest festival, deeper and older and darker than the Greek gods who had followed after. It was a rite of flesh and flame and bone that their ancestors had danced in the shadows of the seven hills in a time when Rome's dominion stretched only as far as the eye could see from the top of the Palatine Hill.
"Did I not tell you to shut up and listen?" Valeria snapped. She sipped at her wine for another moment, then continued. "They follow me because they are spies, my dear. Yes, yes," she followed in a tone of mock surprise, "Spies. They try to pry information on my husband and his dealings out of me, and I try to figure out who they are working for. We laugh and titter and glare daggers behind our cups at one another. It is a fun game we play."
"One you are spectacularly bad at."
Cingulla hangs her head. "Gods above, I'm an idiot. Here I thought I was a player, when --"
"When you weren't even playing? Wrong again. That's the first step, girl."
Cingulla raises her head, an eyebrow raised above teary eyes. "The first step?"
Valeria smirked. She was enjoying this. "The first step in learning to play: realizing that you're playing. That we're all playing, whether or not we like it." She finished her wine with a great gulp and hissed with satisfaction. She filled up two more cups, then turned to Cingulla and offered her one. "It is a game every Roman plays, from their birth to their death, and we are all pieces and all players. It is the oldest game in the city, and it will never end."
Anybody every tries to paint the Roman Republic/Empire as this military-empire, a nation of soldiers by soldiers... Remind them how often leaders had to hire elite foreigners from the farthest portions of the known world to act as bodyguards.
If Mars if the God of War, then he is also the God of Politics and Espionage. So to do his children live devoting every day and action to his name.
... am I the only one who heard that and think this was what the Luna Wolves called their 'totally secular lunar solstice celebration'?
Anybody every tries to paint the Roman Republic/Empire as this military-empire, a nation of soldiers by soldiers... Remind them how often leaders had to hire elite foreigners from the farthest portions of the known world to act as bodyguards.
If Mars if the God of War, then he is also the God of Politics and Espionage. So to do his children live devoting every day and action to his name.
Writing pussyfooting wasn't even meant as such. It was simply the first description which came to my mind and could have easily been "tread carefully". It was late and as a not native speaker it didn't occur to me that it could be offensive. I'll own up to the second one, though, as I was baffled and a bit annoyed that you would use random chance as an argument in a quest.
Oh definitely, which is why I think that making a connection is a better choice than making terms as it at least tries to form some kind of amicable work relationship where else the other comes across as a mutual agreement to not step on each other's toes, while leaving us free to compete for influence.
At the end of the day we have to build those type of friendships and connections as the lone wolf will never rise in Ancient Rome. Our goal will be to be the leader of a faction vying to transform Rome in our image. One which will hopefully achieve the three goals "make Atellus undisputed ruler of Rome", "reform the state so it can survive" and "improve every Roman's lot in life".
I've come around to that view, actually. I think I got too pulled in to my plan of fighting greeks and forgot to plan beyond that. The compromise would ensure stability while we fought Mithridates,and is still the best option for just that by far, but when the civil war becomes a danger there are 3 possilbites 1)he's our friend, we stick together, 2) he is overshadowed/weak, he loses control or 3) we split the legion and probably stab eachother to death in a ditch somewhere.
Honestly, your plan is also a good connect template, just swapping brotherhood and cult for the consul and the scipians. I still really want to fit Marius in somewhere if i can though. I don't expect too many more chances for that after all.
You know what's really the worst? Being told that there is an update in a few hours. If it's a good story, you check again and again for the new part.
Well, not quite the worst thing. Getting verbally castrated ranks higher. Damn, that gloryhound still has some bite in him.
Yeah, I figured Theo would help with Greek. Glad to see that we Romans, even if we war on each other and proscribe each other and kill each other, can still agree on the one true enemy. The sea and boats.
Pursuing intellectual options earns XP for intelligence and education. Who knew.
I know we couldn't have known, but I'm still miffed at that wasted option.
Ah, it reminds me of Bovianum. This reminds me of... home.
...Holy shit Theo gives us Intelligence XP?! We should take him with us everywhere!
...And Theo was also blessed by the gods, just like us -- he has the Gift of Hermes.
Okay, 'Seafaring' just took on new level of importance: it's not just understanding how to fight battles on the seas, it's about being able to use our actions while traveling over water, without suffering a huge 'seasick' penalty.
...If not for the -8 Seasick penalty, we would have rolled a 31 and a Resounding Success. I think that'd be our first roll over 30 in the entire quest...
Okay, I didn't realize our slim our odds were -- that DC 18 was always going to be insanely tough to beat. Even with our +8 bonus, we had at best a 50% chance of success. This affects our choices for Personal Actions this turn, since Asiaticus is going to be just as tough a nut to crack (if not tougher due to his 'seething with resentment') while seeking out Marius will be even harder to research success (most likely a harsher DC given his extra importance, he distrusts us due to our relationship with Sertorius, I doubt we'd get a bonus for 'Old Blood', and he's not an Orator... we're never going to succeed at that action!)
Yikes. That wasn't even close.
This is probably the most significant paragraph of the whole chapter, given how much importance Cassianus will have in the immediate future. He's a novus homo -- so, unlike us, he comes from the common stock -- but was elevated by a frickin' consul of Rome as his son and heir. He effectively has the benefit of both backgrounds: he can relate to the common soldier, but he's welcomed among the elite because of Asiaticus.
This whole conversation was hilarious, and remarkably revealing: I didn't realize just how splintered the Marian sect was, and how much distrust there was between Marius and his biggest 'supporters'. Marius seems to hate Cinna just as profoundly as he hates Sulla... this does not bode well for the Marian cause. Or perhaps it should give us hope, for if Marius wins and then dies (given his ill health, more likely than not), there will be a fair bit of chaos within the Roman political landscape. And, as we all know: "chaos ish a laddah".
Also an incredibly important passage for what it reveals about Cassianus. "The young man seems quite confident for someone who has just seen his patron -- the source of his influence in Rome -- taken apart and disregarded in the space of minutes." This should be a BIG HUGE NEON RED WARNING LIGHT for us. Cassianus is transparently a political creature: born to the common man, flattered his way to become the son of a consul of Rome, possessing such self-confidence that when his patron is shredded to pieces in front of him by the most powerful man in the known world, he doesn't skip a beat. That's... that's actually really intimidating, is what it is. We have the loyalty of the legion for the moment, but Cassianus is precisely the sort of person who could take that away from us. We must tread very carefully here.
'Overshadow' is obviously the riskiest option here, and given Cassianus' self-confidence and charisma, I'd really worry whether we'd be able to pull it off. 'Undermine' is a bit more underhanded, and possibly more likely to succeed (it relies on us exploiting our existing relationships with the men) but our Intrigue and Subterfuge stats aren't spectacular, so I'm not confident in that choice at all. 'Connect' has the biggest upside: Cassianus is a potentially major rival, and developing a friendship could ensure we work together, here and in the future. However, it's possible Cassianus just won't be interested, in which case we'll start off on our back foot as he tries to steal the loyalty of our men. 'Make Terms' is probably the most neutral outcome -- neither good nor bad, just enough to ensure any personal rivalry doesn't negatively affect the performance of the legion.
I have no idea which of these options I prefer.
Okay, big responsibility, time to shine. Not that any option we don't pick, Cassanius will; we should keep our eye not only on what benefits the legion, or what benefits us, but also what options Cassanius could use to shore us his support among our men. Even if those options don't improve our position, denying them to Cassanius may prove necessary.
Straightforward: make sure the men are ready to win a battle. It's important, and might help us improve our own martial abilities, but I'm not sure either we or Cassanius could use it to develop ties to the legion.
This one is absolutely, unequivocally locked. Way too important to leave to the other guy.
Serve as the face of justice for the legion, and fulfill our primary duty as broad-striped tribune. I'm fairly inclined to pick this one.
Our scores for Stewardship/Administration aren't the greatest -- if we pick this option and fail, it'd be much worse for us than if Cassanius does this successfully. I'm inclined to skip this one.
Huge expense for little return -- our equipment looks less pristine, but it's still usable, and paying out of pocket to equip an entire legion would absolutely break the bank.
This is important, but would probably make us less popular. As long as someone (cough Cassanius) is taking care of it, we should be fine skipping it.
...This could be important, not just for ensuring the legion fights well together, but for denying to Cassanius the opportunity to shore up his support among the men. It would also be an effective test-run for our effort to tread the fine line between populares and optimates. This has my vote for our third action.
...Also important, but definitely something to leave to the other guy.
...If we had a fourth action, I'd pick this, but I don't think it's important at this stage (we should wait until we're actually preparing for battle) and we already had enough religious 'cred' thanks to our Cult of Mars that we should be fine.
Pretty sure everyone knows my vote, and why. (Cicero!)
Calm before the storm. Right. That's not intimidating at all.
...Nice, but low priority at this point.
That DC 18 was killer, and I'm pretty sure our odds will be even worse this round given what just happened with Marius. Plus, as remarkable as it is say this about a consul of Rome, but he's basically a non-entity at this point. Hard pass.
This one has huge upside (it's frickin' Marius!) but equally huge downside (if Sulla wins, we do not want to be strongly associated with Marius). More importantly, I'd expect the DC would be ludicrously high, so our odds of actually getting Marius to like us is really slim. Probable pass.
...I'm somewhat inclined to skip this, for the same reasons as before (our Intrigue and Suberfuge scores aren't high enough to check our Cassanius' faction without his noticing) but we have basically no information about Cassanius, and this is one of the only ways we have of gathering information. We should seriously consider this one.
Big upside, as far as securing the loyalty of the men, but there's a potential downside of being too attached to the Marian faction if Sulla does win.
As we saw with the Seasick penalty this round, we really need to pick this, if only to ensure we're able to get use out of our future rounds traveling by sea.
We get a huge bonus thanks to Theo, and this is why we brought him with us. I say yes.
I'm pretty sure our bonus from Theo would also apply to this, and it will be directly useful in our fight against Mithradites. I say yes.
Useful for the 'end boss', but I'm not sure it's a high priority at this early stage.
...From a meta-gaming perspective, getting another prophecy could prove very useful. From an in-character perspective, we're pretty conscientious about consulting the will of the gods on each step of our path. I say we go for it!
I have no idea. Absolutely no idea. If we do pick any of the above, we may need to pick this just to ensure we succeed. If we roll the dice on friendship with Cassanius, this won't be necessary, but still...
Huh. All three of these options seem like one-time-only opportunities, but I have no idea which of them would be useful for us down the road. Any suggestions? We may want to replace one or more 'study' action with these, given how rare such opportunities are.
If we're going to ingratiate ourselves with Marius, we should definitely pick this to pave the way. Even if we don't, it'd still be useful, to give us a better understanding of our new commander, so we understand his strategies and the thinking behind the orders he gives us. This action is an excellent opportunity to become a more effective subordinate, and for that reason alone, I vote yes.
Do we know if Telamon is tracking the XP of other characters besides Atellus? Because if so, we might not want to take Theo with us everywhere, because--
Only the thought of another awful day of teaching her little sister Greek (dear gods, why had her brother taken Theo?) kept her docile and giggling like some goat-brained farmgirl.
Cingulla is really sweet. We have to find her a good match. One where she doesn't despise her husband and one which will help not just our familiy's status, but her own in society.
