This is the sort of highly complex thing that would be produced one at a time.
This is correct, the bowstring has little impact it's mostly the wood of the bow that contributes to arrow propelling. The issue with that is that it's not difficult to make a bow stronger mundanely. You're usually more limited by the maximum strength the archer can draw the bow with.
Autostabilizing the bow I'm not sure would have all that much impact since archers usually have fairly steady hands, and would be a fairly complex effort I think for the gain.
These sort of things would take a whole lot more people, but you could start working towards this yes. Farming in particular would take quite a lot of workers to make any noticeable surplus.
I did say you could try this, and even added some actions for it.
I'll add in something for the first two, the latter rather require you do more hunting.
I'm surprised no one wants to investigate the voice in the forest. I figured people would at least mention it.
Investingating the mysterious voice in the hyper magic forest where almost everything wants to kill you while still being barely established doesn't sound like the best idea.
Just read through the whole thing and I like it a lot so far.
Have some questions about the setting, but that will have to wait until I'm back at a computer
feels to dangerous for me at this point. It already fucked up our troops once and that was quite painful.
It being voice based and seemingly haveing a wide range makes it dangerous enough that i prefer to keep away from it at least until we found a way to not get affected by the voice/magic (or at least get some resistance out of it).
feels to dangerous for me at this point. It already fucked up our troops once and that was quite painful.
It being voice based and seemingly haveing a wide range makes it dangerous enough that i prefer to keep away from it at least until we found a way to not get affected by the voice/magic (or at least get some resistance out of it).
Uhh... The voice actually didn't affect our troops, only spooked them, which makes me think the voice is not the magical part... Also, since they could kind of figure out an area for the voice, it's probably something fixed on the ground or otherwise difficult to move around, so I was thinking something plant based. Though I do agree with the feeling, we aren't ready for it, no matter what it is. Even if it was just an orc ambush we would be hard pressed to win without losses, so we shouldn't approach it for now.
Uhh... The voice actually didn't affect our troops, only spookked them, which makes me think the voice is not the magical part... Also, since they could kind of figure out an area for the voice, it's probably something fixed on the ground or otherwise difficult to move around, so I was thinking something plant based. Though I do agree with the feeling, we aren't ready for it, no matter what it is. Even if it was just an orc ambush we would be hard pressed to win without losses, so we shouldn't approach it for now.
The thing behind the voice may have been, but not the voice itself, because our soldiers weren't affected by it :3 So, following the voice, bad. Hearing it? Maybe not... Maybe.
[X] Plan Magic Tree House
-[X][Construction] Try to put up a couple wooden watchtowers in the Overgrowth. (50 Denier in needed materials)
--[X] Treehouses
-[X][Levy] Guard
--[X] The construction crew
Your efforts at building something in the Overgrowth finally begin to pay off. Your construction crew manages to get some basic treehouses in place to serve as watchtowers along the border you're supposed to guard. It wasn't at all easy as early efforts were rapidly destroyed by the movement of the trees over time. They manage to get some platforms rigged up that allow the tree to shift a little without tearing them apart though, partially through connections to the trees with more give to them, and partially through the use of rope suspension techniques.
It was good that you put guards in place though as the wolves probed the area several times before seeking easier targets. Without the levy protecting them things would have turned out far worse. They were also useful in keeping some of the more aggressive vines and brambles at bay while the crew worked. There's nothing quite like a vine trying to entangle you while you work.
+10 to oppose enemy stealthy entry
-[X][Personal] You could produce some basic enchanted gear for one of your units. Sharper blades and harder armor are staples for a reason. (100 Denier in needed materials)
--[X] Footmen
Even if you aren't doing it for a massive profit, enchanting blades to be a little bit sharper and helms to be a little bit harder is exactly what you spent much of your time learning to do as a child. The simple aspects of gathering bits of energy throughout a day and then imbuing it into an item is as natural as it gets. Such simple day projects never result in enough magic to make a very big impact, but even a little bit across many soldiers can add up to quite an advantage.
-[X][Personal] Spend time with your men. It might be useful.
-[X][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
Spending time with your men doesn't go very well this season. As the danger in the forest intensifies this summer they all are on high alert to keep their skins intact, and they're acutely aware that you're the one in charge of the garrison putting them in danger.
-[X][Hunters 1] Hunt for food, reduce upkeep by 50
Even though they were experienced with the Overgrowth its activity this season was particularly high. The hunters chanced upon a beehive. While they've seen the unusually large bees throughout the forest they've been no more aggressive than their smaller kin so of little threat to experienced hunters. The party that stumbled upon the hive had the bees virtually declare war upon them however and many of them died to hundreds of stings. The sole survivor of the patrol had little to add but describing the sound of all the bees as an awful din.
-[X][Hunters 2] Scout, learn more about the forest, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
Your scouts and patrols have better luck this season than the hunters, for the most part keeping a vigil on the same stretch of forest between the sea and the cliffs. They encounter various threats a few times, but thanks to their training and equipment they manage to fend them off without suffering any significant casualties. They repulse or kill several orc scouts, and Leo doesn't believe any got past them.
The scouts still hear the voice on occasion though they give it a wide berth. It does seem to be sounding more annoyed and exasperated as time goes on though. There's also been the occasional chunk of wood with a happy face and a dot on a very crude depiction of the Overgrowth discovered in their travels. You've been brought a few of them. They're by no means great artwork. Certainly you've seen many far superior sculptures and etchings in the castle your father lives in.
There's something a bit strange about them though you couldn't place your finger on, and you consulted with one of the carpenters to see if they pick up on it. He noticed straight away that there's no tool marks. It's more similar to if the wood grew that way than it being carved. You'd have thought that nonsense, but this isn't a normal forest. You're rather regretting not reading up on the Overgrowth before leaving home now.
The sawmill you've spent the past few seasons preparing started operation this season. You didn't make any ceremony of it, but there was still something viscerally satisfying to watching some of the trees being rapidly chopped down and stripped by skilled lumberjacks. Even if they grew back just as quickly, making them into a profit source for you felt good.
Of course that made it all the worse when wolves began picking off the lumberjacks. Compared to taking down a two thousand pound elk with horns like a battering ram crossed with swords, brawny humans with axes must be far easier targets. In a matter of days none of the lumberjacks are willing to leave the walls of the camp, and the wolves stalk the area nearby voraciously. The howling often goes through the night. No one is willing to leave the walls without a strong party of soldiers.
You have a meeting with Leo to discuss it afterwards.
"Not sure what I can do really, we need guards everywhere and have to block the pass at the same time."
"Kind of obvious that there'd be an attack on the group cutting the forest." Leo cuts straight to the heart of the matter. You can't object because in retrospect it really is.
"Master Revaria had too many points to consider, you could have helped." Olivia tries to defend you earnestly from where she pretends to sweep.
"I'm here to carry out your goals well, not to set the goals. You have to make these sorts of mistakes to learn from them," he explains plainly.
"I'd rather not make the mistakes that cost lives at all," you complain. You can practically feel Olivia's smile.
"We all make mistakes, but you're doing better than I expected of a noble with no experience at all. Not that it was a high bar to pass mind you." That was almost a complement.
"I suppose that's part of why the men closed themselves off from me." You sigh.
"Eh you can't expect too much too fast, you are their boss after all, and this is a dangerous post." Leo shrugs.
"It's needed for the protection of the rest of the kingdom. I'm sure Master Revaria wouldn't waste any of their lives." Olivia's words make you wince a little at the thought of the first levy.
"Well there's also the lack of proper housing for them all. Hard to feel good about the boss when you're living in a tent and the boss has a private house with his attractive female servant," Leo says, bringing a blush to Olivia's face and distracting her from the previous thought.
"Yeah I need to get the housing situation sorted too, but I'm not sure how quickly I can do that. If I put the new construction inside the walls the cooks would need to work outside them, and no one's willing to work outside the wall without guards. I'll need to bring in new lumberjacks anyways, and I expect they'll hear about it and make the same demand in short order. I can't say they're wrong to ask for it either," you conclude.
"We're likely going to want to keep a unit of some sort on base defense in the future anyways, leaving it vulnerable when we know the wildlife can leave the forest just isn't a good idea. Plus if the orcs know we're leaving the base unguarded they could strike there to cut off our troops' supplies," Leo explains.
"Yeah I can see that now."
Plans for Fall: (Base costs shown, increase 10% for merchants issue)
[][Construction] Improve the wall with guard towers offering some protection from ranged weapons and a higher vantage point. (50 Denier)
[][Construction] Expand a palisade to cover a larger area. Needed to safely fit more buildings within the wall. (50 Denier in needed materials)
[][Construction] Improve the barracks with more furniture, bedding, separated rooms with sturdy doors for the officers. (100 Denier in needed materials)
[][Construction] Expand the barracks to deal with a doubled number of men, taking into account the need for it to be off the ground from the start this time. (150 Denier)
-[] Inside the wall (forces cooking and toilets outside the wall)
-[] Outside the wall (in danger from wildlife)
[][Construction] Build a rabbit pen? (25 Denier)
[][Construction] Write-in
Thanks to Olivia handling many of the mundane tasks of life for you now that she has her gloves, you have more time free for other things. You could squeeze in two actions now, but they would be on d85 rather than d100. You can also assign her to assist in any other task, though some jobs she'll obviously be of more use in.
[][Personal] You could produce some basic enchanted gear for one of your units. Sharper blades and harder armor are staples for a reason. (100 Denier in needed materials)
-[] Specify a unit.
[][Personal] Have Leo give you a bit of training. However much you hate it, being better at fighting will help a lot if something is trying to eat you. (Must be taken with appropriate Captain action)
[][Personal] Try to convince your father to increase your funding. That seems like squeezing blood from a stone, an angry stone, but might be worth trying.
[][Personal] Recruit new units. Specify what kind.
-[] Replace losses, 20 denier
-[] What units?
[][Personal] Investigate the signs in the forest. You're probably going to want guards.
[][Personal] Experiment on the effects of materials from the Overgrowth on enchanting.
[][Personal] Write-in
[][Sawmill] Shutdown, remove costs
[][Sawmill] Entice some new workers, bribe old ones to stay, and assign a unit to guard it. (50 denier and must assign guards)
(Keep in mind you have 2 units of hunters, unit 1 is weakened)
[][Hunters] Hunt for food, reduce upkeep by 50
[][Hunters] Scout, learn more about the forest, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Hunters] Investigate the voice in the forest. (Requires Personal or Captain, as they don't want to go.)
[][Hunters] Catch a bunch of rabbits for the rabbit pen. (Requires rabbit pen.)
[][Levy] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Levy] Train with the captain (must be taken with captain action, is not advised at this time)
[][Levy] Guard
-[] The base and sawmill
-[] The construction crew
-[] The merchants that bring your supplies (eliminate 10% modifier)
[][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Footmen] Train with the captain (must be taken with captain action, is not advised at this time)
[][Footmen] Guard
-[] The base and sawmill
-[] The construction crew
-[] The merchants that bring your supplies (eliminate 10% modifier)
[][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
[][Captain] Train Olivia
[][Captain] Recruit new units. Specify what kind.
-[] Replace losses, 20 denier
-[] What units?
[][Captain] Train regulars (must be taken with appropriate action)
[][Captain] Train you (must be taken with appropriate action)
370 starting -700 upkeep this turn -55 construction - 110 enchanting +600 season payment +25 partial hunting +100 partial sawmill profit = 230 Denier
Upkeep next turn: 635+10% - 200 Sawmill profit?
[X] Plan Whats Out There
-[X][Construction] Expand a palisade to cover a larger area. Needed to safely fit more buildings within the wall. (50 Denier in needed materials)
-[X][Personal] Investigate the signs in the forest. You're probably going to want guards.
--[X] Olivia comes with
-[X][Sawmill] Entice some new workers, bribe old ones to stay, and assign a unit to guard it. (50 denier and must assign guards)
-[X][Hunters 1] Scout, learn more about the forest, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Hunters 2] Investigate the voice in the forest. (Requires Personal or Captain, as they don't want to go.)
-[X][Levy] Guard
--[X] The base and sawmill
-[X][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
Time to go poke at the forest. And expand the base so we can put the barracks in.
[X] Plan Time Management
-[X][Construction] Expand a palisade to cover a larger area. Needed to safely fit more buildings within the wall. (50 Denier in needed materials)
-[X][Personal] Investigate the signs in the forest. You're probably going to want guards.
--[X] Olivia comes with
-[X][Personal] Experiment on the effects of materials from the Overgrowth on enchanting.
-[X][Sawmill] Entice some new workers, bribe old ones to stay, and assign a unit to guard it. (50 denier and must assign guards)
-[X][Hunters 1] Scout, learn more about the forest, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Hunters 2] Investigate the voice in the forest. (Requires Personal or Captain, as they don't want to go.)
-[X][Levy] Guard
--[X] The base and sawmill
-[X][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Captain] Train Olivia
Mostly the same as the above plan but I added the second personal actions and moved the captain from comanding troops to training Olivia to make better use of our cleary stretched human resources.
[X] Plan Whats Out There
-[X][Construction] Expand a palisade to cover a larger area. Needed to safely fit more buildings within the wall. (50 Denier in needed materials)
-[X][Personal] Investigate the signs in the forest. You're probably going to want guards.
--[X] Olivia comes with
-[X][Sawmill] Entice some new workers, bribe old ones to stay, and assign a unit to guard it. (50 denier and must assign guards)
-[X][Hunters 1] Scout, learn more about the forest, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Hunters 2] Investigate the voice in the forest. (Requires Personal or Captain, as they don't want to go.)
-[X][Levy] Guard
--[X] The base and sawmill
-[X][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
[X] Plan Time Management
-[X][Construction] Expand a palisade to cover a larger area. Needed to safely fit more buildings within the wall. (50 Denier in needed materials)
-[X][Personal] Investigate the signs in the forest. You're probably going to want guards.
--[X] Olivia comes with
-[X][Personal] Experiment on the effects of materials from the Overgrowth on enchanting.
-[X][Sawmill] Entice some new workers, bribe old ones to stay, and assign a unit to guard it. (50 denier and must assign guards)
-[X][Hunters 1] Scout, learn more about the forest, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Hunters 2] Investigate the voice in the forest. (Requires Personal or Captain, as they don't want to go.)
-[X][Levy] Guard
--[X] The base and sawmill
-[X][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Captain] Train Olivia
Mostly the same as the above plan but I added the second personal actions and moved the captain from comanding troops to training Olivia to make better use of our cleary stretched human resources.
But... This kinda makes no sense? Olivia will be with us on the forest, but training at the same time, and the hunters need us or the captain, but none are going...
But... This kinda makes no sense? Olivia will be with us on the forest, but training at the same time, and the hunters need us or the captain, but none are going...
For the first it says exactly nowhere that this is a problem and I dout it will be since it shouldn't take that much time to explore a know spot of the forest for the second you just fail catastrophicaly at reading comprehension because I don't now how you could forget the action you have just mentioned that fast, it is kind ridiculous.
[][Construction] Expand a palisade to cover a larger area. Needed to safely fit more buildings within the wall. (50 Denier in needed materials)
[][Personal] Investigate the signs in the forest. You're probably going to want guards.
[][Personal] Write-in While investigating the signs in the forest, take note of any instances of the mysterious voice and try to find a pattern.
[][Hunters] Hunt for food, reduce upkeep by 50
[][Hunters] Scout, learn more about the forest, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Levy] Guard
-[] The base and sawmill
[X][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
[][Sawmill] Entice some new workers, bribe old ones to stay, and assign a unit to guard it. (50 denier and must assign guards)
This is the cutest thing I've seen in the entire month. Can't believe I missed this, although... was the Original tag always there? I don't remember it being there when the quest started.
The entire atmosphere of a hostile impregnable forest where dangers and mysteries lurk behind every corner - er, trunk, - makes me incredibly giddy.
Can anyone walk me through the list of problems we currently need solved? The two most egregious ones seem to be money and manpower, which are interconnected. We need men for any work attempted outside the palisade, for patrols, for protecting patrols, and for defending the base of operations - and we simply don't have the coin to hire enough troops. So we need to concentrate on finding more income sources, and quickly.
Since the very soil and plantlife of Overgrowth seem to contain magic - which we suspect can transfer to the animals feeding off the land - can we evaluate its worth as magical reagents, if such things are practiced? Mages are traditionally the ones willing to splurge in pursuit of either power or knowledge, so as far as income is concerned, anything magical could be our gold mine.
I suppose there are more mundane ways of profiting off the forest, like lumber and furs. We are already doing the former, though don't have nearly enough dakka to hunt comfortably.
I see we are using hunters to alleviate at least some of our supply costs. Didn't Tristan theorize that one of the reasons the rabbits lost their regenerative abilities could have been feeding them normal food? Well, if it was the diet responsible for this, wouldn't it affect our people too? Might be worth running some experiments...
On an unrelated note, Olivia is adorable, and I find Tristan's attitude towards her an interesting mix of caring and thoughtlessness.
-[X][Personal] Investigate the signs in the forest. You're probably going to want guards.
--[X] Olivia comes with
-[X][Hunters 1] Scout, learn more about the forest, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Hunters 2] Investigate the voice in the forest. (Requires Personal or Captain, as they don't want to go.)
Just so I would understand... the Hunters 2, us and Olivia are all a part of the same action, right?
Initially I thought that 'the signs' referred to the strange symbols our hunters saw 'impressed' upon the trees, which is a bit different from investigating the voice. Probably safer, too.
This is the cutest thing I've seen in the entire month. Can't believe I missed this, although... was the Original tag always there? I don't remember it being there when the quest started.
The title line has undergone a few revisions. I didn't tag it as Original to begin with because in my eyes its a fairly generic fantasy world. But it's pointed out that it doesn't need to be truly unique to count as Original.
Thanks for these compliments. I'm glad you like the characters. For Tristan I'm trying for sort of halfway between a stereotypical noble and a good person, kind of sort of.
I'm quite glad to see the level of thought you put into this. It kind of makes me giddy.
Just so I would understand... the Hunters 2, us and Olivia are all a part of the same action, right?
Initially I thought that 'the signs' referred to the strange symbols our hunters saw 'impressed' upon the trees, which is a bit different from investigating the voice. Probably safer, too.
Well I didn't make it clear enough I guess, but this is all heading towards the same location. And the signs weren't on trees, but rather pieces of wood on the ground.
[X] Plan Whats Out There
-[X][Construction] Expand a palisade to cover a larger area. Needed to safely fit more buildings within the wall. (50 Denier in needed materials)
-[X][Personal] Investigate the signs in the forest. You're probably going to want guards.
--[X] Olivia comes with
-[X][Sawmill] Entice some new workers, bribe old ones to stay, and assign a unit to guard it. (50 denier and must assign guards)
-[X][Hunters 1] Scout, learn more about the forest, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Hunters 2] Investigate the voice in the forest. (Requires Personal or Captain, as they don't want to go.)
-[X][Levy] Guard
--[X] The base and sawmill
-[X][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
Well I didn't make it clear enough I guess, but this is all heading towards the same location. And the signs weren't on trees, but rather pieces of wood on the ground.
Mostly the same as the above plan but I added the second personal actions and moved the captain from comanding troops to training Olivia to make better use of our cleary stretched human resources.
We can't use Olivia while we're using her for something else.
And we suffer a dice penalty when splitting actions.
Normally, this is fine, but not when we're going to poke the spoopy shit
For the first it says exactly nowhere that this is a problem and I dout it will be since it shouldn't take that much time to explore a know spot of the forest for the second you just fail catastrophicaly at reading comprehension because I don't now how you could forget the action you have just mentioned that fast, it is kind ridiculous.
You seem to fail at comprehension, actually. How can we be going if we're training with the captain, and he isn't going? Or do you mean we will all go over there, leave the base without leadership and train while exploring something probably dangerous? I never meant that, as you imply, one thing is not the other. It is exactly what it seems for anyone who can read: a mokery to the idea that you can do it all together. I honestly don't speak rudely, but man, you really go too far, saying something impossible and then trying to make fun of me, implying idiocy of all things, because of your own inability to see the impossibility.
You seem to fail at comprehension, actually. How can we be going if we're training with the captain, and he isn't going? Or do you mean we will all go over there, leave the base without leadership and train while exploring something probably dangerous? I never meant that, as you imply, one thing is not the other. It is exactly what it seems for anyone who can read: a mokery to the idea that you can do it all together. I honestly don't speak rudely, but man, you really go too far, saying something impossible and then trying to make fun of me, implying idiocy of all things, because of your own inability to see the impossibility.
Okay here is the thing, I can understand confusion about Olivia, at the end of the day is easy to forget a turn involves three whole months, way way more than it would take to go to an specifi place on the forest and back, so there is nothing stopin her from speding the vast majority of the time training and then take say a week for the spedition. I can undestand even more the confusion about leadership since it is not clear but our comand staff includes several sageants so even if we and the captain aren't around peopl aren't leaderless.
What I am unale to fathom is were did you get tha no one is going with the hunters and that we are training with the captain.
-[][Personal] Investigate the signs in the forest. You're probably going to want guards.
--[] Olivia comes with
-[][Personal] Experiment on the effects of materials from the Overgrowth on enchanting.
Look here are my plans personal actions, one specificaly about leading people into the forest and none whatsoever about us training, I have no idea where did you get any of that. That is why it was ridiculous, you had just cometed on our action to lead the hunters then asked why no one is leading the hunters, why wouldn't we lead the hunter ? The action is right there and we have nothing conflicting with it simple as that.
Okay here is the thing, I can understand confusion about Olivia, at the end of the day is easy to forget a turn involves three whole months, way way more than it would take to go to an specifi place on the forest and back, so there is nothing stopin her from speding the vast majority of the time training and then take say a week for the spedition.
It's a reasonable assumption to make. However, this is a part of game mechanics where assets can't be assigned multiple actions.
The confusion stems from Olivia being assigned to us and to the captain at once, and us going to the forest while the captain presumably stays at the base to command troops (who only get mechanical bonuses if they have hero units with them, and are otherwise as good as leaderless).
If you don't have the captain train Olivia she can assist one of the other actions for a variable bonus (not sure how to represent that as exclusive with training her).
It's easy to miss, but there is a restriction, which I think applies to all units? If Leo trained regulars, for example, we probably wouldn't be able to assign them any missions except base defence.
