Remove ads

Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Reader mode
Mathilde's fighting style is based on being able to wield around a big greatsword without being impeded by clunky armor but still being protected by Aethyric Armor. We don't need to fix what ain't broke.
 
Parabola said:
Mathilde's fighting style is based on being able to wield around a big greatsword without being impeded by clunky armor but still being protected by Aethyric Armor. We don't need to fix what ain't broke.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's literally only gauntlets, their aren't heavy and we'll made ones (and we know plenty of dwarfsBlacksmiths who would volunteer to help) can be as unimpeding as just wearing gloves.
 
Tobtorp said:
Well what if you only have the outer part be metal and the palm side be a leather glove? Thats iirc a actual way to do gauntlets that give more of a grip.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
The outer part being metal is the problem. Otherwise you could just wear things under the full suit of plate and have it work.

If it's aesthetics you care about, Mathilde is a Grey Wizard who kinows Illusion, so you can imagine her with any sort of look and it'd probably be feasible.
 
ReImagined said:
The outer part being metal is the problem. Otherwise you could just wear things under the full suit of plate and have it work.

If it's aesthetics you care about, Mathilde is a Grey Wizard who kinows Illusion, so you can imagine her with any sort of look and it'd probably be feasible.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
With outer i meant the back of your hand (words failed me back there) not the whole of your hand. There are gauntlets which have only a glove on the the palm side for better grip.
 
Tobtorp said:
Well what if you only have the outer part be metal and the palm side be a leather glove? Thats iirc a actual way to do gauntlets that give more of a grip.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Leather attracts Ghur, so is probably just as troublesome as metal which attracts Chamon. Normally that wouldn't be a problem for most wizards, but we actively channel Ulgu into any weapon we hold, so we want to minimise any possible corruption.

Can we work around it? Yeah, probably. Is it worth the effort? Eh, probably not?
 
Tobtorp said:
Well what if you only have the outer part be metal and the palm side be a leather glove? Thats iirc a actual way to do gauntlets that give more of a grip.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Well, then you'd have ghur and chamon right where all the fine control gestures for ulgu happen.

Seems pretty straightforward to me.
 
Nerdasaurus Rex said:
Leather attracts Ghur, so is probably just as troublesome as metal which attracts Chamon. Normally that wouldn't be a problem for most wizards, but we actively channel Ulgu into any weapon we hold, so we want to minimise any possible corruption.

Can we work around it? Yeah, probably. Is it worth the effort? Eh, probably not?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Awww, stupid logic making my cosplay dreams go bad...
 
If it were purely aesthetic gauntlets that don't actually protect as armor, it might be doable. But also, Mathilde is an illusionist, so purely aesthetic gauntlets are rather unnecessary. She could lay an illusion on top of herself that she were a fully-armored Chaos Champion and lean into the evil overlord aesthetic if she really wanted to.
 
Parabola said:
If it were purely aesthetic gauntlets that don't actually protect as armor, it might be doable. But also, Mathilde is an illusionist, so purely aesthetic gauntlets are rather unnecessary. She could lay an illusion on top of herself that she were a fully-armored Chaos Champion and lean into the evil overlord aesthetic if she really wanted to.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Ok but if you don't actually have cool spiky gauntlets what's the point?

IronFist said:
Ithiilmar Gauntlets :p
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
... Goddamnit now im all for the ilthimar trade...
 
Self-improvement-wise, we're at 3/4 for Branarhune and finishing that would be very nice, though we'll probably want to take a fifth action, unfortunately, because we rolled low on the Guard Bypass in what history is calling "some tragic dice luck bullshit" (history is ignoring the boxcars that show up when we need them, obviously) and so one of the most important elements of our style doesn't work.
Boney said:
In a way, the idea of the guard bypass is similar to that of the momentum dump, but where the momentum dump takes advantage of the fact that Branulhune is motionless when it is summoned, the guard bypass is at war with it. When you swing a greatsword at an enemy you're putting a lot of energy into that strike, and Branulhune disappearing and reappearing might bypass defences, but it appears without the speed it had an instant ago. Imperial greatswording techniques have no answer to this problem, but this is where the influence of the Order of Guardians begins to shine. Like all Dwarven martial styles, they take it for granted that they might need to fight in confined spaces, so they have a series of drills and techniques to increase swinging power without needing a full wind-up.

[Branarhune training: Martial, 9+23+7(Library: Greatswords)=39.]

It takes some trial and error to adapt the ones that Gunnars taught you into something that can be applied mid-swing, and then a lot of practice to be able to trigger it at what would have been the moment of impact and then to resummon the blade in time. Due to safety measures built into the Rune itself, Branulhune refuses to be summoned when there is something in the way, which Kragg only gives a few dire hints about before disappearing back into his workshop, but you glean enough for it to be clear that it's for similar reasons to the dangers of Substance of Shadow. Reality is built on the assumption that all matter has its own space, and using magic to break that rule tends to have unpredictable and dangerous consequences. Wizards are cautioned not to, but Runesmiths just don't let you. So you don't just need to flicker it away and back again, you need to be able to identify and swing in an arc where there is space to resummon Branulhune inside the opponent's guard.

It would be a vast understatement to say that this presents significant logistical challenges. While it is possible to deactivate the Runes on Branulhune so it can be maintained and sparred with safely, it is not possible to deactivate individual Runes, so you cannot safely practice with the Rune of the Unknown against any living person without making it extremely likely that person will end up extremely dead. You take up a training blade the size and weight of Branulhune and spend some time within the training halls of the Undumgi anyway, having those that wish to hone their defensive skills block and parry your swings while you study the way they do so and do your best to identify where the guard bypass might be used. Then you have the carpenters of Karag Nar build you a series of training dummies in the shape of where those opportunities exist. The dummies prove absurdly fragile, of course, but the silver lining to this is that it gives you more incentive to get it right, as obliterating a training dummy with a mistimed strike to the guard that blows right through it is immensely frustrating when you only have a few dummies a day to work with.

At the end of a few weeks of this, it would be a vast overstatement to call yourself happy with the results, especially compared with the results of developing the quick-draw. But short of seeking out some novel means of practicing it or honing it in live combat, it's about as advanced as it's going to get. You do your best to convince yourself that you're content with that, and turn your attention elsewhere.

[Branarhune aspect developed: guard bypass. Remaining aspect: hand switching.]
[Branarhune stretch goal identified: double tap. Strike at an enemy's guard, let the impact damage or destroy what they parry or block with, dismiss and resummon Branulhune to rid yourself of the rebound energy, then swing again using the Order of Guardian's techniques.]
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
So we can do the stretch goal to have an actual "fuck your parry" maneuver like we wanted:
Boney said:
My current plan is that once 4/4 is hit, the thread will be asked whether they want to call it done or to go even further beyond by refining the guard bypass further. The training sword would be a big help for that.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
And already got the training sword for it, even.
 
In addition to Branarhune - which I support, and my turn plans include - I would like to suggest that the Iron Orcs thing may in fact be a self improvement action in disguise. You see, a while ago I asked what investigating the Iron Orcs is actually going to include, and Boney's answer was
Boney said:
If Bretonnian Knights can't find them, then they either have some way to know they're coming and avoid them, or they're hidden from mundane senses. So the straightforward approach requires searching with speed, stealth, and really good long-range Magesight. It's hard to see that as anything but a solo job for Mathilde.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
"Searching with speed, stealth, and really good long-range Magesight" sounds like scouting, and you know what that means?
Boney said:
Scouting (2/3)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Now I'm not saying that we're guaranteed to get that last skill point from searching for the Iron Orcs, but I could definitely see it happening. Mathilde's super advanced sword style needs to be carefully developed in the swording lab, but Mathilde's very basic scouting skills could feasibly be improved the way most of our skills were improved during the reconquest of Karak Eight Peaks: in the field.
 
picklepikkl said:
And already got the training sword for it, even.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
On that subject, we also asked Boney and he said it's valid to have a plan that has two Branarhune training actions. So unlikely though it is, it's possible to finish Branarhune + do the bonus in a single turn.

LadyLynn said:
@Boney , would it be possible to spend 2 AP on developing Branarhune in a single turn?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Boney said:
As long as it's made clear in the plan whether this is just intended to go towards finishing the fourth basic aspect or whether it's intended to go for the stretch goal.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
 
Last edited:
Tasoli said:
If we want to go to Mordeim we should get an army. It should not be that hard for Mathilde to whistle up an army from somewhere. Either Dwarves, Roswite or Mercenery one.

Incidently keeping track of Mercenaries was an EIC option for some time so if you guys have ambitions in that direction it is something to consider.

And hey another way to spend money. Maybe that will stop wasting our gold on books we would get free otherwise.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Trouble with going to Mordheim with an army is that is Ostermark territory.

If we want to mess with anything in Stirland Roswita is more than happy to allow it of course, but I don't know that the Chancellor of Ostermark will be as accommodating.
 
Mopman43 said:
Trouble with going to Mordheim with an army is that is Ostermark territory.

If we want to mess with anything in Stirland Roswita is more than happy to allow it of course, but I don't know that the Chancellor of Ostermark will be as accommodating.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Trampling Mordheim again with an army is probably a ok in his book. That city is still full with gribbles and it got burned down just recently.
(Ok not that recently)
 
Mopman43 said:
If we want to mess with anything in Stirland Roswita is more than happy to allow it of course, but I don't know that the Chancellor of Ostermark will be as accommodating.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
As a Lord Magister Mathilde can probably convince Chancellor of Ostermark to let her kill some gribblies in some ruins. And since she would be on command soldiers coming from Stirland or somewhere else probably wouldn't matter.

Parabola said:
If it were purely aesthetic gauntlets that don't actually protect as armor, it might be doable. But also, Mathilde is an illusionist, so purely aesthetic gauntlets are rather unnecessary. She could lay an illusion on top of herself that she were a fully-armored Chaos Champion and lean into the evil overlord aesthetic if she really wanted to.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Mathilde Weber explaning herself to Magister Vigilants colorised;
 
Last edited:
Parabola said:
On that subject, we also asked Boney and he said it's valid to have a plan that has two Branarhune training actions. So unlikely though it is, it's possible to finish Branarhune + do the bonus in a single turn.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Oh, I forgot about this.

A plan with double Branarhune training + Iron Orcs sounds kinda compelling, actually? Then we'd likely have completed swordstyle ready for combat we might encounter. Maybe I should get back in the turn planning headspace...
 
Tasoli said:
As a Lord Magister Mathilde can probably convince Chancellor of Ostermark to let her kill some gribblies in some ruins. And since she would be on command soldiers coming from Stirland or somewhere else probably wouldn't matter.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Plus, she recently got imperial orders to look into the waystones.
Mind, I want to do bretonnian adventures before I do anything with Mordheim.
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top