TreeQuest: Magitech (Riot Quest)

It really was a good turn, lots of fantastic stuff here. I am also pleased with us having two Speakers and the unlocking of their magic and such. So yeah, great stuff!

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So I still don't understand the difference between Wizard Tree and Magic Tree. That said I'm going to go Magic Tree because I think 6 in Magic Research and 6 in Magic actions will basically cover what I want. Right now its almost entirely Magic Research but the idea is that I will actually start to CAST magic soon, meaning actions outside of the magic research category.

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[X] Magic Tree

[X][Action] Light/Darkness Negacion (Magic Research)
[X][Focus] Hevel
[X][Focus] Monster Energy
[X][Focus] Life Indeed
[X][Focus] Store Resources Against Future Need

I'm going to stick with Light/Darkness Negacion magic because seriously I want that done. (Because its noted with the Magic Research keyword already I get the boost, but I will remember to mention 'oh hey this action is magic-bound, so can I haz my boost' when it comes to other actions that don't have the keyword written out.)

So I'm good with the Creatures and Speakers assisting us in any action.

I'm willing to change some of the Focus, and also add an Auto-Focus vote, if there is a great need and such.
 
So I still don't understand the difference between Wizard Tree and Magic Tree. That said I'm going to go Magic Tree because I think 6 in Magic Research and 6 in Magic actions will basically cover what I want. Right now its almost entirely Magic Research but the idea is that I will actually start to CAST magic soon, meaning actions outside of the magic research category.
Wizard Tree does research and magic. (and magic research)
Magic Tree does magic and magic research.
 
[X][Action] Empty Veil (Void)
[X][Focus] Grow the Forest
[X][Focus] Finish Laser Computer
[X][Focus] Finish Laser Computer x2
[X][Focus] Grow Clever Tree
[X][AutoFocus] None
[X][Squirrel] Construct squirrel-sized flying devices in imitation of the Dire Bat.
[X][Deer] Add your collective fury to the patrols around the greater Forest.
[X][Moles] Report back to your evil overlord on our progress. That overlord being: us.
[X][Beavers] Have clandestine relations with the giant rat people beneath the earth.
[X][Bees] Forge the might Honey Sabre to counter the Malice of our enemies.
[X][Ants] Help build the computers by showing the trees how scent signals work.
[X][Wolves] Ask Marta if wolfsbane is actually dangerous to wolves or just called that.
[X][Corvids] Try to learn illusion magic using your voice instead of your sight.
[X][Bears] Sleep. While sleeping, contribute more than everyone else combined.
[X][Lesser Fire Salamander] "FOOLISH MORTALS."
[X][Speaker] Check for headset damage.
[X][Speaker] Update your sound card.

I'm glad Ms. Yarrow liked what she saw. Without directions, she's not likely to again!
 
I'm willing to change some of the Focus, and also add an Auto-Focus vote, if there is a great need and such.
Since you asked, Grow a Clever Tree / Grow a Wise Tree would mean that Finish Laser Computer and Growth Incorporated could be finished in one turn thanks to the Speaker bonus so voting for one or both may be useful to accelerate our growth and research.
 
Hello, I just recently found this story (first time participating in a quest, not sure how this works)
[X] Root Tree
[X][Action] Analyze Special Tree Growth
[X] I wish to grow bigger
 
Hello, I just recently found this story (first time participating in a quest, not sure how this works)
[X] Root Tree
[X][Action] Analyze Special Tree Growth
[X] I wish to grow bigger
Welcome, the categories are important for the tally tool, so it should be
[ ] [Tree] Root Tree
(I removed the x as i don't want to actually vote for it, as making a vote in this post would mean the tally bot ignores my previous voting post)
Also, if I may ask, what category is the "I wish to grow bigger" in? Can't see how it makes sense.
[X] Mind Tree
[X] Study past examples of illusions. See if they relate to Light or Darkness.
You need to include the categories of your votes, too.
[][Tree] Mind Tree
[][Action]Study past examples of illusions. See if they relate to Light or Darkness.
(+ the X between the [])
 
The wizard tree gets points for name, but the Magic Tree gets points for the stats of it. So yeah not sure which I want to go with.
If you could convince kinglugia to agree with a name-change, you could rename the Magic Tree.
If you really want a rename, and kl really doesn't, I could potentially create a duplicate (stat-wise) with an alternate name.

Done.

(Because its noted with the Magic Research keyword already I get the boost, but I will remember to mention 'oh hey this action is magic-bound, so can I haz my boost' when it comes to other actions that don't have the keyword written out.)
Thanks! Good thinking!

[X][Lesser Fire Salamander] "FOOLISH MORTALS."
Lol!

Hello, I just recently found this story (first time participating in a quest, not sure how this works)
Welcome!

Done.

[X] I wish to grow bigger
This doesn't count as a vote by the current standards of the parser, BTW.
But a worthy goal!

There are three ways to pursue it, that I think a typical Tree would know about:
  1. Seek to improve the whole Forest (via existing research or new write-ins)
  2. Seek to grow your specific Tree (same - though I don't think there is any existing research on this subject)
  3. Vote in 25 total rounds and become an Ancient Tree, which will let you grab up to 3 ranks of Tall Tree.
    • You could potentially forfeit most Elder Tree bonuses and get 1 rank of Tall Tree after a mere 10 rounds of voting.
Welcome!

[X] Study past examples of illusions. See if they relate to Light or Darkness.
Please put the [Action] tag after the [X] here.
(I can manually add your vote to my own notes, but it's easier if you format the vote so that the tally tracks it.)

@Robinton is Growth (Animal) also for Elves and Humans?
Yes.
I think that, total, there are either four or five main Growth variants: Plant, Animal, Fungi, and either one or two for Bacteria and such.

Though then there is weird stuff like "Growth (Crystalline Formations)" and such. Those aren't nearly as complicated, so I'd tend to say that almost-nobody actually has a rank in that directly. Rather, you have a rank in something complicated, and it lets you do the simple thing as well.

Then cases like "conceptual uses of Growth" that get complicated.

You need to include the categories of your votes, too.
[][Tree] Mind Tree
True.
I typically update my notes with any Tree votes as they come in, so that doesn't matter as much in practice.
But in principle that is the right way to format the vote.
 
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I think that, total, there are either four or five main Growth variants: Plant, Animal, Fungi, and either one or two for Bacteria and such.

Though then there is weird stuff like "Growth (Crystalline Formations)" and such. Those aren't nearly as complicated, so I'd tend to say that almost-nobody actually has a rank in that directly. Rather, you have a rank in something complicated, and it lets you do the simple thing as well.

Then cases like "conceptual uses of Growth" that get complicated.

Time to work on our "Growth: Personal" magic!

Or "Growth: Moral". Nothing could go wrong with that.
 
Would "Finish Laser Computer" fall somewhere within the bounds of magic/ancient tech research? or is this more of an engineering issue and thus out of scope?
 
@Robinton, how much would it take to build a Godzilla fillius or even Godzilla Earth?
Well… Hmm… You don't know all of this In Character, but a chunk of it you can probably figure out:

Magic can alter Physics, but only insofar as you understand what you're doing and have the energy to pay for it. I'll assume that you're trying to properly build Godzilla, not "create an illusory Godzilla that can only apply just enough force to make the punches real but doesn't otherwise exist." A straightforward approach to Godzilla would immediately collapse under its own weight.

If you spent a-few-thousand to maybe ten-thousand Research successes on metamaterials and gargantuan construction, that would unlock a full Godzilla directly. (That Research requirement might be low; I should probably check to see how unrealistic the metamaterials would have to be.) But a better way, I think, would be to put in a real effort to research Pattern-Tech, and ask the Last Star for occasional pointers. With some time and effort - and plenty of Pattern-Tech examples to examine - you should eventually be able to reproduce Pattern-Tech. With maybe a thousand Research to unlock basic Pattern-Tech, and maybe another two-thousand to get all the variants you need, you should be able to reliably design a full Pattern-Tech-based Godzilla with 3,500 Research or less. (Again, I might decide this is a bit low, but probably not more than a factor of 5-10 at worst.)

Of course, if you somehow chanced across a Pattern-Tech item with the effect of "when equipped to a life-form or giant robot, the equipped will be treated as 100x smaller for purposes of the Square-Cube Law," you'd be set. (That's way too complicated for you to make anytime soon, but suppose you somehow acquire one.) Put in three hundred Research to properly design the thing, finish the next phase or two of Movement Research, and you're pretty much set there.

Then you have to Grow Godzilla Earth. A point of Growth gives, as a rough estimate, probably about 1 cubic foot of material? Assume a Collector Tree is 30 feet tall, and make the (massive) assumption that its trunk plus leaves is effectively the same amount of material per foot of height, then note that it's probably not quite a full foot in diameter, so it probably has around 20 cubic feet of material. It costs 10 Growth to grow, so roughly 2 cubic feet of material per Growth success. But! Magic also matters a lot here, as the more Magical the more costly. And this thing would probably be significantly more complicated and Magical than a Collector Tree - but also you're growing it in bulk which would suggest at least a modest discount… So probably about 1 Growth Success per cubic foot of material.

Google claims Godzilla Earth is about 220 million pounds, and a cubic foot of conventional flesh is around 60 lbs (just under the weight of a cubic foot of water; assume it can barely float). So you're talking around 3.67 million cubic feet, or a roughly equal number of Growth successes.

Trying to build a giant robot/tree/monster/thing of less than ~1,000 feet would be cubically cheaper, of course. A 100-foot robot would only cost around 3,670 Growth successes, a much more reasonable number.

Then we have maintenance. Because a 1k-foot robot is going to cost… um… a lot of Resources. Pattern-tech and metamaterials or go broke just paying for the thing to sleep the day away levels of expensive.

TL;DR: Feel free to start designing now, but if you want Godzilla Earth, set up the optimization spreadsheets and start Growing new Collector Trees with wild abandon. Because you're going to want Magnitude 40+.

Addendum: A way to cheat size, or the plain old illusory approach, would be cheaper. Still expensive, but cheaper. Of course, those options have their own downsides…

Would "Finish Laser Computer" fall somewhere within the bounds of magic/ancient tech research? or is this more of an engineering issue and thus out of scope?
Definitely not Ancient Tech Research.
Magic Research... not really. At this point, it's closer to "Programming" plus "Hardware Design" than anything else.
Lots of smarts needed, small bits of material, and a whole lot of patience.
There's a bit of Magic, and I'd maybe give you the (Magic) tag if you wanted, but not really (Magic Research).
 
Vote closed
Scheduled vote count started by Robinton on Jan 22, 2023 at 11:26 PM, finished with 109 posts and 52 votes.
  • 52

    [X] Finish Laser Computer
    [X] Cultivate the Surrounding Plants
    [X] Light/Darkness Negacion (Magic Research)
    [X] Grow Clever Tree
    [X] Store Resources Against Future Need
    [X] Raise the Shield
    [X] Magical Construct Analysis
    [X] Empty Veil (Void)
    [X] Reach Out to Minds (Psychic)
    [X] Telekinetically attack by uprooting southern Vines. Move closer if necessary.
    [x] Feed the Swarm (Bees)
    [X] Life Indeed
    [x] Test Shrub: Be the primary focuser of the new Shield-Piercing Attack, likely to be tested on volunteer shielding trees. (Write-in? Attack?)
    [X] Ice/Fire and Fire Within
    -[X] Destructive testing on enemy Vines on remaining portals. If they are highly resistant to the fire without, let's see what happens when you turn the Fire Within against them!
    -[X] Move closer if necessary
    [X] Analyze Mundane Movement (Biology Research) (Movement Research)
    [X] Analyze Mundane Movement (Biology Research) (Movement Research)
    -[X] Also analyse other trees' movement during combat if possible
    [X] Connect to Shadow Spinners (after finding some I suppose)
    [X] Mining Mushrooms Manifold: grow the mining portion of the fungal network and infrastructure for separating out samples of any interesting minerals that it might find for the researches to poke at.
    [X] With acceptable range, now begin developing telekinetic strength. Mine limestone via telekinesis, focusing on quarrying and moving the heaviest possible blocks each time.
    [X] Grow Wise Tree
    [X] Grow the Forest
    [X] check on Lesser Wraith
    [X] Research portal magic, using the new information we gathered from the last attack
    [X] Monster Energy
    [X] Flesh, Not of My Flesh
    [X] Store Resources Against Future Need. I want to focus on store water for the future, asking for help when using a little of ice or fire magic when needed to avoid damage (ice on summer and fire on winter)
    [X] Travel as far Southwest as I can, avoiding settlements and intelligent beings, until I either feel my connection to the rest of the Forest weakening, or reach the Friendly Ant territory.
    [X] Design the Defender Ent
    [X] Weather Analysis
    [X] Analyze Special Tree Growth
    [X] Study past examples of illusions. See if they relate to Light or Darkness.
    [X] Growth Incorporated
  • 20

    [X] Finish Laser Computer
    [X] Grow Clever Tree
    [X] Growth Incorporated
    [X] Grow Wise Tree
    [X] Finish Cleaning Up Evil Vines to Make Sure the Problem Stays Gone
    [X] Monster Energy
    [X] Flesh, Not of My Flesh
    [X] Finish Laser Computer x2
    [X] Grow the Forest
    [X] Stockpile Thorns
    [X] Light/Darkness Negacion (Magic Research)
    [X] Ice/Fire and Fire Within
    [X] Check on Lesser Wraith (Keep Friend Friend!)
    [X] Finish Laser Computer x3
    [X] Magic-Drain
    [X] Magical Construct Analysis
    [X] Blot Out The Sun
    -[X] Southern Vines
    [X] Complete Laser Computer
    [X] Upgrade Shield Tree
    [X] Mining
    [X] Finish Cleaning Up Evil Vines to Make Sure the Problem Stays Gone*2
    [X] Check on Lesser Wraith (Keep Friend Friend!)*2
    [X] Finish Laser Computer x4
    [X] Empty Veil (Void)
    [X] Raise the Shield
    [X] Ice/Fire and Fire Within. Maybe we can take water from other beings?
    [X] Hevel. I really need to take vapor and store more water.
    [X] Hevel
    [X] Life Indeed
    [X] Store Resources Against Future Need
  • 9

    [X] Life Indeed
    [X] Lead the squirrel watch over your Forest
    [X] Finish Cleaning Up Evil Vines to Make Sure the Problem Stays Gone
    [X] Ask Arthur to teach and/or train Betty and Ben Grimm to better defend themselves. There are too many dangers nearby...
    [X] Construct squirrel-sized flying devices in imitation of the Dire Bat.
  • 6

    [X] Finish Cleaning Up Evil Vines to Make Sure the Problem Stays Gone
    [X] Assist with Growth Incorporated
    [X] Add your collective fury to the patrols around the greater Forest.
  • 4

    [X] Mind Tree
    [X] Heart Tree
  • 8

    [X] Dig Tunnel from Forest to Newton Village
    [X] Undermine Hostile Roots
    -[X] Southern Vines
    [X] Finish Cleaning Up Evil Vines to Make Sure the Problem Stays Gone
    [X] Mining for Linestone (8 dice)
    [X] Assist fight against vines
    [X] Report back to your evil overlord on our progress. That overlord being: us.
  • 5

    [X] Chew Hostile Plants
    -[X] Eastern Vines
    [X] Finish Cleaning Up Evil Vines to Make Sure the Problem Stays Gone
    [X] upgrade Weather Tree
    [X] Have clandestine relations with the giant rat people beneath the earth.
  • 5

    [X] Scout for Lingering Vines to Make Sure We Don't Miss Anything
    [X] Assist fight against vines
    [X] Forge the might Honey Sabre to counter the Malice of our enemies.
  • 6

    [X] Keep our Creatures Clean
    [X] Death to Pests
    [X] Assist fight against vines
    [X] Help build the computers by showing the trees how scent signals work.
  • 1

    [X] Ask Marta if wolfsbane is actually dangerous to wolves or just called that.
  • 8

    [X] Contribute to Finish Laser Computer
    [X] Finish Cleaning Up Evil Vines to Make Sure the Problem Stays Gone
    [X] Contribute to a project - Finish Laser Computer
    [X] Invite immigrants
    [X] Weather Analysis
    [X] Try to learn illusion magic using your voice instead of your sight.
  • 12

    [X] Tree Maintenance
    -[X] Put 1 Focus Action towards growing a Lens Tree until completion and then a Wise Tree until we've reached the cap for both
    [X] None
    [X] Computers for All. One focus action into Finish Laser Computer until complete.
    [X] Spectral Researcher
    -[X] Apply 1 Focus per turn to researching the Lesser Wraith until all related projects are complete, prioritizing whichever is closest to completion.
    [X] Any
    [X] Background Tasks
    -[X] Put 1 Focus Action towards growing a Lens Tree until cap, then Grow the Forest
    -[X] Put 1 Focus Action towards growing a Wise Tree until cap, then Research the current Negacion project.
  • 10

    [X] Finish Cleaning Up Evil Vines to Make Sure the Problem Stays Gone
    [X] Attack an Enemy
    -[X] Southern Vines
    [X] Enhance Growth
    [X] Fight remaining vines
    [X] Attack the Vines
    [X] Sleep. While sleeping, contribute more than everyone else combined.
  • 6

    [X] Learn the Ins and Outs of Being Speakers
    [X] Learn the Ins and Outs of Being Speakers*2
    [X] Further Focus
    [X] Life Indeed
    [X] Life Indeedx2
    [X] Check for headset damage.
    [X] Update your sound card.
  • 4

    [X][Lesser Fire Salamander] Make Friends with Marta Yarrow
    [X][Lesser Fire Salamander] Burninator
    [X][Lesser Fire Salamander] "FOOLISH MORTALS."
 
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