Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

StarkDemise · Feb 26, 2018

[X] Plan Train The Watch, or How To Not Have A Watch Revolt On Our Hands

Stewart9 · Feb 27, 2018

"Long exposure to scholarship has given her an appreciation for literally everything else" the wording of the sentence connected to the trait does more then imply at least to me a dislike of writing papers about magical workings like the matrix but what is done is done. Exmorri I just colored your site name in the post to make it clear I was talking to you because I have noticed people some times miss stuff in other peoples posts. I was not trying to tag your post. Flicker is going to be annoying when we are working in the lab and writing but it sounds like it could be useful when we are trying to hid and in general be sneaky so it is both good and bad for us.

[X] Plan Train The Watch, or How To Not Have A Watch Revolt On Our Hands
-[X] The Dwarves have crossed into the Empire and joined up with the Empire forces. Perhaps you could spend some time with the general staff as the two of them start to work together.
--[X] Enquire about arranging for some Tunnel Fighting trainers for the future "War Below" (after the Purge), or at least make some contacts. Not hired right now, we can't afford them.
--[X] Ranalds Blessing
-[X] Stirland Watch: Work alongside Jack to administer the Watch. Choose another Organizational Action for the Watch.
--[X] Improve the training of the Watch, hiring trainers and dedicating paid time each week to sharpening skills.
---[X] perhaps an injured Greatsword or officers provide some candidates? And Jack might know some trainers in the arts of avoiding notice. Watchmen who arrived prior to us probably can't read. A formal program of a few old-timer veterans with the right attitude and aptitude being paid to train newcomers. Does Van Hal know a retired Witch Hunter who could pass on some investigation skills? Maybe Julia can suggest an Agent particularly skilled at ferreting out information and sifting useful leads from bad.

Horium · Feb 27, 2018

[X] Plan Train The Watch, or How To Not Have A Watch Revolt On Our Hands

chocolote12 · Feb 27, 2018

Stewart9 said:
"Long exposure to scholarship has given her an appreciation for literally everything else" the wording of the sentence connected to the trait does more then imply at least to me a dislike of writing papers about magical workings like the matrix but what is done is done. Exmorri I just colored your site name in the post to make it clear I was talking to you because I have noticed people some times miss stuff in other peoples posts. I was not trying to tag your post. Flicker is going to be annoying when we are working in the lab and writing but it sounds like it could be useful when we are trying to hid and in general be sneaky so it is both good and bad for us.

[X] Plan Train The Watch, or How To Not Have A Watch Revolt On Our Hands
-[X] The Dwarves have crossed into the Empire and joined up with the Empire forces. Perhaps you could spend some time with the general staff as the two of them start to work together.
--[X] Enquire about arranging for some Tunnel Fighting trainers for the future "War Below" (after the Purge), or at least make some contacts. Not hired right now, we can't afford them.
--[X] Ranalds Blessing
-[X] Stirland Watch: Work alongside Jack to administer the Watch. Choose another Organizational Action for the Watch.
--[X] Improve the training of the Watch, hiring trainers and dedicating paid time each week to sharpening skills.
---[X] perhaps an injured Greatsword or officers provide some candidates? And Jack might know some trainers in the arts of avoiding notice. Watchmen who arrived prior to us probably can't read. A formal program of a few old-timer veterans with the right attitude and aptitude being paid to train newcomers. Does Van Hal know a retired Witch Hunter who could pass on some investigation skills? Maybe Julia can suggest an Agent particularly skilled at ferreting out information and sifting useful leads from bad.

You could avoid having to recolor your text white by either writing the entire post and then highlighting only the text you want colored, or by highlighting the colored text you want not to be colored and then selecting the "none" option at the bottom of the selection grid thing.

wingstrike96 · Feb 27, 2018

[X] Plan Train The Watch, or How To Not Have A Watch Revolt On Our Hands

Exmorri · Feb 27, 2018

Well, that's been a surprisingly peaceful turn in the thread.

seems like the Purge will last another six months before the final assault on Castle Drakenhof (which I've been using interchangeably with just Drakenhof, though they're two different albeit nearby places - sorry about that). Your accumulated discretionary funds can just last that long with no additional spending, but if it goes even a single Purge Turn longer than that you'll be in the negatives

This turn the Purge will be finishing off the Ghoul Woods; next turn is the southern Hills. After that is the final preparations before the attack on Drakenhof, which will have separate options for last-minute preparations (including hiring battle wizards). So you have two 'proper' purge turns left until the climax of the Purge.

This looks to be on track nicely, hope no more vampires with giant ghoul armies pop out of no man's land.

- The perils of subordinates: you can't see Julia's dice or full charsheet, so you can't see for sure whether she just glitched the roll, whether there's traits that make it a poor fit for her, or whether there's something untoward going on.

I think we should investigate and double-check Julia at some point, learn more of her charsheet. We hired her largely on rep, then gave her a lot of money to handle and she lost (or 'lost'?) quite a bit of it. But planning for the Watch is good too.

[X] Plan Train The Watch, or How To Not Have A Watch Revolt On Our Hands

veekie · Feb 27, 2018

BoneyM said:
Box after box of delicate glass and crystal components are unpacked from the straw that cushioned them for their journey to Wurtbad, and has been mouldering ever since. You're forced to gently transfer a mother cat and her kittens from the next she had made among your crystal lenses, and she glares at you sullenly as you work from her new home in an emptied box the entire time.

We pissed off a kitty!
They will take revenge!

One unversed in the strange and subtle art of enchantment may think that this work could be completed in an afternoon, but they'd be very thoroughly convinced otherwise the first time their sloppy work exploded in their face. Prisms need to be angled exactly correctly to concentrate light at the correct angles - and natural light, too, since magical light would taint whatever you were trying to work with. Which means finding a source of high-quality candles - beeswax is the only local source, but oils found in certain trees in the Southlands or carved out of enormous creatures found in the seas were even better. And for times when no artificial light was suited, a series of mirrors needed to be set up to reflect sunlight into laboratory, which also need careful measuring, and to be solidly fixed in place so the damn cats can't knock them out of alignment.

Hmm, interesting.
Though even natural light is hardly going to be clear of noise either, given the waves of Ulgu at dawn and dusk, as well as the Hysh from pure sunlight, Azyr from moonlight...adjusting for all those is going to be like trying to write with a pencil at the end of a ten foot pole.

And we probably have shutters for Morrslieb.

Also necessary is to track down local sources for a whole range of substances standing on the intersection between chemistry and alchemy, necessary not for their action on physical matter but on how they can alter a substance to be better able to play host to the winds of magic. One could, through effort or skill, force the winds into any item, but it is far easier to first make an item a slightly less unnatural home for it. For those useful substances you can't find local sources for, you send off to Altdorf for the processes for creating them from more-common ingredients.

A thousand little preparations that combine to take the onerous task of forcing winds into an inanimate object from nigh impossible down to merely very difficult. You hope you find the time to make the effort worth it.

Reagents would probably be...I think acids, which we can get from the local mines, though refining the tailings from the mines to an adequate purity is going to take long hours with crucibles. Lye from calcinated limestone if we want it pure, or from bone if we want it cheap. Gold and silver catalysts almost certainly doctored with. Charcoal for filters, and especially pure charcoal is going to need to be prepared ourselves since nobody would be making that quality except in a smelting town or near the colleges.

And keeping the reagents of high purity would be a bitch on the open market. You have to distill your own or hire someone trusted not to try to scam some cash off a wizard.

"Let us hope so," Van Hal murmurs. "We've had ample practice in coordinated sweeps through difficult terrain, the only difference is this time it's forest instead of hills. We push forward on a wide front until we meet serious resistance and then we draw in to crush it, just as we've done a hundred times over by now." Gustav and the generals salute and hurry off to put the orders into action, leaving you with Van Hal and Kasmir.

I'm assuming Van Hal is projecting confidence here to the generals, since forest is a heck of a lot worse than hills for our army type, as the trees break up ranks worse than a slope, and this benefits feral undead which fight in close or no order anyways.

Also bloody pikes and guns hate forests.

"Strigoi," he says. "Given the option, there's no type of vampire I'd rather fight. No politics, no plots, no hiding. Just the terrible monster they all are, visible for any to see."

"It could have lurked in these hills for generations," Kasmir notes. "Feeding on wildlife and the innumerable dead of Sylvania. Until it's vile court grew to where the Hills couldn't sustain it, and then they would have burst forth upon Southern Stirland."

"A stroke of luck we caught it now, I suppose," Van Hal says, though he doesn't sound convinced, and you can understand why. A heavy price has already been paid, and the Singing King isn't even slain.

I'm with Kasmir here. If the Singing King built up and poured out we'd have been completely out of position to face it, and the undead will expand mightly in number on their initial push. Certainly whichever force first engages the vampire is going to be wrecked.

You make mental notes at the masterpiece of delegation that is the modern army as the machine ticks away frantically in front of you.

Next up for the Watch after the Purge turns, I think, would be to get some damned administrators.

Information flows in, orders flow out, and paperwork accumulates. Some confused lieutenants have taken to filling in the contact reports for the greenskins they face, which... well, no reason to discourage that, you suppose - it can be filtered out later, or you could just add it to the enormous archive of information back in Wurtbad.

Oh! This is good!
Greenskin compositions are important, especially the size and level of decoration on the bosses and shamans.

Then, finally, the retched singing is found one more, and the army closes on it like the steel jaws of a trap. Van Hal races to join the front, with you and Kasmir at his side, and when you all arrive you're presented with the sight of the Singing King's new court: Fang Island, a ramshackle greenskin fortress construction of wood and bone formed to resemble a massive set of jaws emerging from the ground. And now it looked as if someone had given those jaws a few solid blows, as one side of the fortress had been demolished, with greenskin corpses littered around showing where they fought to the last in the defence of their stronghold against an endless tide of hunger-crazed ghouls, which even now were swarming the fortress like ants from a kicked hive, stripping the flesh from the fallen.

No better time for it than right after they fought a shitload of greenskins in a fortress!

"Then we flush him out," Van Hal replies shortly. "Where are the cannon?" The four of you look around for Schultz, who has been handling logistics, but he's nowhere to be found - the sudden concentration of forces had been a confusing mess, and a great deal of the strength Stirland had brought to bear was still scattered across the Woods - including, unfortunately, Asarnil. "No matter. Bring the crossbowmen together and start firing volleys into the fortress. Either they emerge and face us, or they don't and die in droves. Gather what knights we have, they can fight unmounted among the spearwall. Kasmir, Mathilde, will you join me in the lines?"

Thats quite a screwup...but the woods are terrible terrain for cannon so they're probably miles behind us.
Vaguely wondering how they lost track of the dragon though

To think an Elector Count is down to besieging a fortress using crossbows.

Crash. You heard somewhere that ghouls were once humans, that turned to cannibalism and were twisted by it. Crash. You doubt it, personally; you suspect that whatever mechanism transforms one into the creatures known as ghouls, Crash, possibly related to that which transforms people into beastmen? Thunk. That it has a side-effect in it's early stages of a ravenous hunger for fresh meat, and the closest fresh meat to the average person is other people. Crash. You wonder if the Amethyst Order has ever studied the matter. Crash. You wonder if such study would even be allowed, or whether it would be considered too close to necromancy. Crash. You wonder if it's even a question worth answering, when the only answer truly needed is that of steel. Thunk. And a cry even more inhuman than the others arises, as the Singing King finally accepts the invitation that so many bolts have been sending to him.

It is, actually. The better the process is known, the better to destroy 'wild' habitats and harbors for ghouls and beastment. The better for Witch Hunters to find the traces of their presence.

...but probably not for us. I'm not sure how we'd begin to study human mutation without deliberately inducing it, being affected by it or gazing into Dhar for long hours on mage sight.

With a chanted prayer that you faintly realize is a continuation of the one that began the battle, the Priest of Sigmar glows, literally glows, with what you cannot help but know is the manifestation of the truest faith in the Champion of Mankind. The gloom of the forest is driven back as a mirror to the sun in the sky bursts forth from the armoured priest, and the courage of every true servant of the Empire is bolstered as- you shake your head, trying to regain your concentration. Something about whatever it is Kasmir was doing (was it magic? was it divine? was there a difference?) seemed to twist your thoughts into grandiose purple prose, and you can't afford to be distracted. Because as the terrible creature advances, undeterred by the beacon of faith that Kasmir has become, you step between the two of them. Since the first pull of a trigger of this battle, you've been drawing the Ulgu that lies thick in the shadows of these woods into you, and shaping it into the most difficult and potent spell of Grey Magic you know. And as your silhouette falls upon the tide of the dead, you let the magic within you burst forth.

And in an instant, holy light and caustic Ulgu woven by the combined will of a priest and a wizard slam against the packed ranks of the creatures and they melt.

Literally.

The terrible cries of the Singing King are nothing compared to the hundreds of agonized screeches torn from the throats of those between you and the King, and the air is filled with their cries and the smell of boiling flesh and a horrible fog of vapourized skin. In instants the creatures have either literally or figuratively melted away and there's nothing between you and the Strigoi, and the worst cry yet fills the air, as the set of lungs that commanded a battlefield is given over to nothing but the expression of pure agony as the creature's skin boils away to reveal blackening muscle and yellowing bone, until they, too, begin to liquefy...

The legendary resilience of the grave might had been enough to counter even that, had Van Hal not chosen that moment to raise his repeater rifle and unload every single blessed bullet into the hideous creature.

For an instant, your shadow stretches across a portion of the battlefield filled only with the bubbling corpses of the rightfully dead, until Kasmir's beacon of light blinks out and shadow rush back in to fill the void.

[Spearline holds against the charge: 35 vs 84]
[Swords advance: 95+20 (Knights) vs 86]
[Kasmir interrupt 92+??]
[Mathilde interupt 95+18]
[Van Hal fires: 66+24]
[Strigoi rolls to not die: 22+20 (vampiric resilience)]

Damn, this is going to join the Stirland myths once these guys go into circulation.
We crossed the streams. The super undead thing is gone AFTER the front lines broke from the power of the undead.

Praise Sigmar!

After that, the battle was over; all that remained was cleaning up. Whatever terrible hold the Strigoi vampire held over the ghouls was shattered, and they reverted to mindless instinct and fled; unfortunately for them, they fled into the fortress, so the only escape from the Empire's steel was to throw themselves from the battlements upon the spikes of wood and bone crafted by the greenskins the ghouls had slaughtered and feasted upon. If greenskins had souls, you reflect, that would give theirs succour. The final tally is more brutal than you had expected; a full quarter of the spearmen died in the initial terrible charge of the ghouls, and many more are injured, and there's much damage done to the swordsmen, too. Combined with the previous losses, as much as a third of the Army of Stirland is no longer fit for combat, and you see Van Hal brooding over those figures time and time again.

...in fact, given the sheer level of losses, I'd hate to see if they got a second clash in. We hadn't even gotten Drakenhof in SIGHT yet!

When the Throng of Zhufbar arrives, having decided to follow up their hard-won victory over the greenskins by destroying their fort, they find it already far advanced in deconstruction, with a single tent standing in the middle of it all, and within it Van Hal is carefully scrubbing the last vestiges of flesh from the skull of what had once been a Strigoi vampire. His gift to you, he had said, and you suppose you could always use a terrifying paperweight for the laboratory.

[Title gained: Sängerkritisch]

Spoopy table decor obtained. Theres a nice story in that.
And the title...its probably a good thing I don't speak german since that looks something like a Vampire Slayer title?

Artemis1992 · Feb 27, 2018

veekie said:
And the title...its probably a good thing I don't speak german since that looks something like a Vampire Slayer title?

No, it means something like "critical of musicians", it's not even aproper noun and you have to make a broad guess what it could be as a german native.

In other words perfect for the quasi-german-ish that is Reikspiel.

Alliterate · Feb 27, 2018

Exmorri said:
Well, that's been a surprisingly peaceful turn in the thread.

Hopefully spending a personal action on the Watch will give an opportunity to speak with some of these senior watchmen and get a better understanding of their grievances, too.

Artemis1992 said:
No, it means something like "critical of musicians", it's not even aproper noun and you have to make a broad guess what it could be as a german native.

In other words perfect for the quasi-german-ish that is Reikspiel.

I'd assumed the intention was "critical of singers", being as we melted the Singing King. "Music critic" or "Singing Critic" would be a snappier English formulation.

Sinsystems · Feb 27, 2018

You know at this rate I would not be surprised if our Intelligence attaches are expanded to include reports on other enemies of the empire such as Beastmen.

Alliterate · Feb 27, 2018

Sinsystems said:
You know at this rate I would not be surprised if our Intelligence attaches are expanded to include reports on other enemies of the empire such as Beastmen.

They'd need reformulating to capture enough info to categorise them. 'Glow in eye sockets' vs 'number and shape of horns (Ram, Goat, Deer, Elk, Cattle, none- ratlike, other) and similar things for Greenskins (size, fetishes) and so on. Which means getting them written by someone with the right knowledge.

Sinsystems · Feb 27, 2018

Alliterate said:
They'd need reformulating to capture enough info to categorise them. 'Glow in eye sockets' vs 'number and shape of horns (Ram, Goat, Deer, Elk, Cattle, other) and similar things for Orcs (size, fetishes) and so on.

Well obviously, but it would be useful regardless.

Alliterate · Feb 27, 2018

Alliterate said:
---[X] Speak with some and gain a better understanding of the senior Watchmens' grievances and discuss our shared hopes for the future of the Watch. We really respect the Watch and want to address their concerns, we owe our life to a brave and dedicated village Watchman. Shouldn't every child in Stirland have the same protection, and more?

Added this about speaking with the senior watchmen, seeing as were spending a personal action on this we should have an opportunity(?)

vsh · Feb 27, 2018

@BoneyM how do you feel about plans similar to the winning one, namely those with a lot of write-in suboptions? Not every QM out there like this kind of voting style.

Boney · Feb 27, 2018

In general I'm not opposed to it, but for this one specifically I can't say I'm a fan. At best, it seems like a lot of unnecessary words to plump out the length of the voting candidate to make it seem like the 'best' one. At worst, it seems like an attempt to cheat the dice by laboriously walking Mathilde through every step of what can be done.

Every single thing written in in the currently winning vote is extremely basic steps Mathilde would have taken on her own. Why does anyone think it needs to be specified that Mathilde would be aiming to make contacts with the dwarves when spending a month with the dwarves? Why was it written in that Mathilde should seek out retiring veterans to act as trainers when she has been almost exclusively hiring retiring veterans? Can somebody please explain this to me?

Edit: oh god he edited in more words.

Snowfire · Feb 27, 2018

BoneyM said:
In general I'm not opposed to it, but for this one specifically I can't say I'm a fan. At best, it seems like a lot of unnecessary words to plump out the length of the voting candidate to make it seem like the 'best' one. At worst, it seems like an attempt to cheat the dice by laboriously walking Mathilde through every step of what can be done.

Every single thing written in in the currently winning vote is extremely basic steps Mathilde would have taken on her own. Why does anyone think it needs to be specified that Mathilde would be aiming to make contacts with the dwarves when spending a month with the dwarves? Why was it written in that Mathilde should seek out retiring veterans to act as trainers when she has been almost exclusively hiring retiring veterans? Can somebody please explain this to me?

It's a mixture of the best and worst, depending. That's really all there is too it. Complex plans (regardless of how silly the 'complexities' often are in terms of necessary) get people to look and go "Oooh, this guy has done their work on this!" But it's also something that can be - not always, but can be - exactly what you're worried about. Walk completely through and maybe the QM will be nice to you. That said, there's another side to it too - as always - in that sometimes QMs will...um...forget that characters have agency beyond exactly what players give them in votes. Given your record though, I'm not seeing it.

tl;dr questers are often silly.

In other news, water is wet.

Boney · Feb 27, 2018

--[X] Enquire about arranging for some Tunnel Fighting trainers for the future "War Below" (after the Purge), or at least make some contacts. Not hired right now, we can't afford them.

Recruiting tunnel fighting trainers for the Watch was explicitly requested by the leader of the Sewer Jacks, and making contacts should go without saying.

---[X] A formal program of a few old-timer veterans with the right attitude and aptitude being paid to train and pass local knowledge to newcomers. Perhaps injured Greatswords or officers provide some candidates to sharpen fighting skills? Jack might know some trainers in the arts of avoiding notice. Watchmen who arrived prior to us probably can't read. Does Van Hal know a retired Witch Hunter who could pass on some investigation and Corruption-spotting skills? Maybe Julia can suggest an Agent particularly skilled at ferreting out information and sifting useful leads from bad. Anything that comes up from the meeting with the senior Watchmen below?

Mathilde's process for trying to finding suitable recruits for literally any task: a) retiring veterans, and b) ask the people around her if they know of any candidates. This is a process she's gone through a half-dozen times and not once has it had to be explicitly spelled out in the winning vote.

---[X] Meet with some and gain a better understanding of the senior Watchmens' grievances and discuss our shared hopes for the future of the Watch. We really respect the Watch and want to address their concerns, we owe our life to a brave and dedicated village Watchman. Shouldn't every child in Stirland have the same protection, and more?

Oh come on. No, you cannot get the equivalent of another action by writing in enough extra words. And even if you could, these words are so clumsy and blatant that it would actually get Mathilde a harsh negative on her dice roll if I allowed it. How well do you think this will go? These are men that have dedicated decades of their lives to Stirland and upon being too old or crippled to serve as soldiers, they continued to serve as Watchmen. And you want Mathilde to go up to them and try to shame them for not caring enough about children? Are you kidding me?

This goes right back to what I've been saying about the nonsense surrounding Masteries: this is not an adversarial relationship, please don't try to turn it into one. I will not have Mathilde drop stone dead if you forget to write 'continue breathing oxygen' in the vote, and treating me like I'm the type to end it all in Rocks Fall Everyone Dies if you don't write a fifteen-point checklist on how to not die just makes me want to spend my time doing other things.

Alliterate · Feb 27, 2018

BoneyM said:
In general I'm not opposed to it, but for this one specifically I can't say I'm a fan. At best, it seems like a lot of unnecessary words to plump out the length of the voting candidate to make it seem like the 'best' one. At worst, it seems like an attempt to cheat the dice by laboriously walking Mathilde through every step of what can be done.

Every single thing written in in the currently winning vote is extremely basic steps Mathilde would have taken on her own. Why does anyone think it needs to be specified that Mathilde would be aiming to make contacts with the dwarves when spending a month with the dwarves? Why was it written in that Mathilde should seek out retiring veterans to act as trainers when she has been almost exclusively hiring retiring veterans? Can somebody please explain this to me?

Edit: oh god he edited in more words.

Uh... sorry? As for an explanation- e.g. for the sources of trainers, it initially seemed sensible to point out available sources? In case there are some you didn't think of? That seems to have been an error in judgement.

Then... it seems I got carried away. I wanted to articulate... a vision for the Watch. It appears I'm an over-editing plan micro-manager, and I tend to be a verbose writer anyway. I'll try and restrict that in your quest. I'm still pretty new to the game form, and different QMs have different styles.

I'll try and keep it short an succinct in future. My apologies. Of course, as it's your quest you are free to disregard what you feel is extraneous.

Boney · Feb 27, 2018

Voting closed, writing will begun after I've calmed down a bit. I'll be doing everyone a favour and boiling down the winning vote into this:

[*] Plan Train The Watch, or How To Not Have A Watch Revolt On Our Hands
-[*] The Dwarves have crossed into the Empire and joined up with the Empire forces. Perhaps you could spend some time with the general staff as the two of them start to work together.
-[*] Stirland Watch: Work alongside Jack to administer the Watch. Choose another Organizational Action for the Watch.
--[*] Improve the training of the Watch, hiring trainers and dedicating paid time each week to sharpening skills.
-- [*] Ranald's Blessing

Exmorri · Feb 27, 2018

BoneyM said:
Every single thing written in in the currently winning vote is extremely basic steps Mathilde would have taken on her own. Why does anyone think it needs to be specified that Mathilde would be aiming to make contacts with the dwarves when spending a month with the dwarves? Why was it written in that Mathilde should seek out retiring veterans to act as trainers when she has been almost exclusively hiring retiring veterans? Can somebody please explain this to me?

Sure. I don't know if this is the correct explanation, but it is at least an example explanation that might apply: there's a certain kind of quest which seeks to give players fine control so that the players won't holler "Why did the character do <dumb thing>!?" This may occur after an actual character blunder, or pre-emptively.
From there one may get into a feedback loop where QM says "Well, now that you've asked for fine control it's up to you to remember the things you're controlling, I'm not letting you have it both ways at once" and then players then go "Oh god we need to be very specific and make sure to remember everything" and issue even more detailed plans and ask for even more fine control. Which becomes a habit for some people.

And the result is thorough planning of everything, as perhaps exemplified in Marked for Death.

[X] Action Plan: Rationalization

Goals:

Survive.
Maintain a positive mindset.
Continue the mission.
Reassure the team.

Methods:

General:
- Follow Akane's lead while she's our sub-team leader. Follow Minami's lead before we leave, and after we regroup.
- Try to avoid triggering Minami's insecurities.
  - She's team leader, but she inherited a team who treats her as an outsider. Avoid reminding her of this.
- When moving, minimize chatter in favor of alertness.

Main Questline:
- (Almost) nonstop 15-16hr run back.
  
  Break only when we need to replace Skywalkers.
  
  Take this time to replenish chakra, food, and water.
  
  Noburi should check on the prisoners to ensure they are alive but chakra-drained. Unconscious if appropriate.
  
  First ask Noburi if there are consequences to keeping them unconscious/chakra-drained for this long. If there is no issue, suggest we do this.
  
  If SOP, slightly hydrate the prisoners.
  
  Check based on standard for prisoner exchange (MInami/Jiraiya should have said something offscreen) and Noburi's knowledge as a medic.
  
  First time we get the chance, check Goda & his retinue for false teeth/cyanide capsules/other suicide methods.
  
  (DON'T SAY OR SUGGEST THIS OUT LOUD) Just in case Minami missed it. She did seem out of it.
  
  If we MUST stop to sleep, set up a Skytower and sleep. Keep shifts.
- Drop off Goda and his ninja bodyguards. Also give the intel we recovered.
  
  Ask if they want us to wake them up via chakra water.
  
  If prompted, give a mission debriefing.
  
  Collect weapons & food supplies.
  
  See if we can get a spyglass or telescope. Ask Mari-sensei or Jiraiya if we get the chance to talk with them.
- Take some time to rest after our run. Keep shifts.
  
  If allowed, sleep in Konoha. Our old apartment, or estate if Jiraiya bought it.
  
  If not allowed, head a ways to our destination, set up a Skywalker, and then sleep.
  
  Skywalk back to the team.
  
  It's a 22 hour run (to Nagi Island, on average). Don't exhaust ourselves with a second all-nighter.

Reassure Team Uplift before we leave.
- Be respectful. Don't be tactless, not here.
- People died, and that sucks.
  
  I want to focus on the positive: we accomplished what we set out to do.
  
  Keiko, you demonstrated just how powerful and useful your pangolins are, exactly as you said they would be.
  
  Noburi, you dealt with that situation with surgical precision: no non-combatants were killed in the takedown and you effortlessly captured two experienced ninja with no risk to our team.
  
  We didn't mess up and accidentally kill Goda despite the fight between several Chunin or better combatants.
  
  Given our status as a heavy-combat squad I don't know if we could have done any more.
  
  BUT as we get stronger and stronger, we'll gain the skill and ability to do better, and next time hopefully have other options than hurting innocents.
- If we've already left, do this with Akane and Noburi first, and then repeat with Keiko and Kagome when we get back.

Complete an After-Action Report.
- Do the report after we regroup with the team, as time permits.
- Keep in mind Minami still considers us to be the Cold Stone Killers/outsiders.
- Disguising our trump card usages so we might not need to kill witnesses
  
  Disguise Pangolins using physical coverings or Henge. Ask Pangolins in future?
  
  Apply Mist first, then Pangolins attack while LOS is blocked using Mist.
  
  Timing between the air-team landing and the boat team?
  
  Not a problem this time, but could have been one if the enemy was stronger.
  
  Learn Whispers on the Wind, useful for signaling for ambush.
  
  Maybe have Panda be part of the air-team and be unsummoned beforehand as a signal?
  
  Better knowledge of the Pangolin's personal combat ability for better diagnosis of enemy ninja capabilities.

Talk with Akane.
- Do this after we've handed off the prisoners and have time to talk. Preferably in a private setting, maybe before we re-join the main group.
- Be open but respectful. Don't be tactless, not here.
- Talk about our (Hazou's) feelings regarding what happened.
  We feel guilty because our long-term plans revolved around changing the system, yet despite that we are now we're complicit in executing dozens of civilians.
  
  We understand why it was done (increased risk of Leaf's rivals finding out), but still hate that we chose killing innocents over the risk of serious failure.
  
  We're scared that we'll give up, grow disillusioned, and/or end up becoming just another part of the system.
- Ask her about Guy's philosophy and YOUTH.
  How does she reconcile this with what happened?
  
  What would Guy do? What would Lee?
- Give her a hug. Best girlfriend deserves it, and more.

(Optional) Meet Mari-sensei.
- Do this ONLY if we are cleared to stay in Konoha for sleep, and get the opportunity.
- Give her a hug.
- Tell her we missed her.
- Ask her how things have been going in Konoha.
  Her befriending of the clan head wives.
  
  The political situation.
  
  Jiraiya's...Ask if Jiraiya's alright.
- Ask if she thinks Jiraiya'll let us do some work to find Hana, after the mission's over.

Contingencies:

(While transporting the prisoners) If we see someone in the air:
- IMMEDIATELY dive onto the ground and use the local terrain to cover our escape.
- Try to evade their ability to find us before heading back to Konoha.
- If this seems impossible (they are gaining on us) let Akane make the decision to go to Konoha, continue running, or fight.

I suggest you handle it by treating deep-indent writeins as loose suggestions at best, where Mathilde will take the level of precautions you (and the dice) find it sensible for her to take, regardless of whether the players are careless or micromanaging.

Edit: Accidentally missed some words.

Dadarian · Feb 27, 2018

Snowfire said:
It's a mixture of the best and worst, depending. That's really all there is too it. Complex plans (regardless of how silly the 'complexities' often are in terms of necessary) get people to look and go "Oooh, this guy has done their work on this!" But it's also something that can be - not always, but can be - exactly what you're worried about. Walk completely through and maybe the QM will be nice to you. That said, there's another side to it too - as always - in that sometimes QMs will...um...forget that characters have agency beyond exactly what players give them in votes. Given your record though, I'm not seeing it.

tl;dr questers are often silly.

In other news, water is wet.

I'll be honest, the initial iteration of the plan which I voted for was much simpler, and I didn't bother to read the updated version because I assumed it was in the same vein.

Shows what happens when you assume I guess.

Boney · Feb 27, 2018

Exmorri said:
And the result is thorough planning of everything, as perhaps exemplified in Marked for Death.

[X] Action Plan: Rationalization

Goals:

Survive.

Maintain a positive mindset.

Continue the mission.

Reassure the team.

Methods:

General:

Follow Akane's lead while she's our sub-team leader. Follow Minami's lead before we leave, and after we regroup.

Try to avoid triggering Minami's insecurities.

She's team leader, but she inherited a team who treats her as an outsider. Avoid reminding her of this.

When moving, minimize chatter in favor of alertness.

Main Questline:

(Almost) nonstop 15-16hr run back.

Break only when we need to replace Skywalkers.

Take this time to replenish chakra, food, and water.

Noburi should check on the prisoners to ensure they are alive but chakra-drained. Unconscious if appropriate.

First ask Noburi if there are consequences to keeping them unconscious/chakra-drained for this long. If there is no issue, suggest we do this.

If SOP, slightly hydrate the prisoners.

Check based on standard for prisoner exchange (MInami/Jiraiya should have said something offscreen) and Noburi's knowledge as a medic.

First time we get the chance, check Goda & his retinue for false teeth/cyanide capsules/other suicide methods.

(DON'T SAY OR SUGGEST THIS OUT LOUD) Just in case Minami missed it. She did seem out of it.

If we MUST stop to sleep, set up a Skytower and sleep. Keep shifts.

Drop off Goda and his ninja bodyguards. Also give the intel we recovered.

Ask if they want us to wake them up via chakra water.

If prompted, give a mission debriefing.

Collect weapons & food supplies.

See if we can get a spyglass or telescope. Ask Mari-sensei or Jiraiya if we get the chance to talk with them.

Take some time to rest after our run. Keep shifts.

If allowed, sleep in Konoha. Our old apartment, or estate if Jiraiya bought it.

If not allowed, head a ways to our destination, set up a Skywalker, and then sleep.

Skywalk back to the team.

It's a 22 hour run (to Nagi Island, on average). Don't exhaust ourselves with a second all-nighter.

Reassure Team Uplift before we leave.

Be respectful. Don't be tactless, not here.

People died, and that sucks.

I want to focus on the positive: we accomplished what we set out to do.

Keiko, you demonstrated just how powerful and useful your pangolins are, exactly as you said they would be.

Noburi, you dealt with that situation with surgical precision: no non-combatants were killed in the takedown and you effortlessly captured two experienced ninja with no risk to our team.

We didn't mess up and accidentally kill Goda despite the fight between several Chunin or better combatants.

Given our status as a heavy-combat squad I don't know if we could have done any more.

BUT as we get stronger and stronger, we'll gain the skill and ability to do better, and next time hopefully have other options than hurting innocents.

If we've already left, do this with Akane and Noburi first, and then repeat with Keiko and Kagome when we get back.

Complete an After-Action Report.

Do the report after we regroup with the team, as time permits.

Keep in mind Minami still considers us to be the Cold Stone Killers/outsiders.

Disguising our trump card usages so we might not need to kill witnesses

Disguise Pangolins using physical coverings or Henge. Ask Pangolins in future?

Apply Mist first, then Pangolins attack while LOS is blocked using Mist.

Timing between the air-team landing and the boat team?

Not a problem this time, but could have been one if the enemy was stronger.

Learn Whispers on the Wind, useful for signaling for ambush.

Maybe have Panda be part of the air-team and be unsummoned beforehand as a signal?

Better knowledge of the Pangolin's personal combat ability for better diagnosis of enemy ninja capabilities.

Talk with Akane.

Do this after we've handed off the prisoners and have time to talk. Preferably in a private setting, maybe before we re-join the main group.

Be open but respectful. Don't be tactless, not here.

Talk about our (Hazou's) feelings regarding what happened.

We feel guilty because our long-term plans revolved around changing the system, yet despite that we are now we're complicit in executing dozens of civilians.

We understand why it was done (increased risk of Leaf's rivals finding out), but still hate that we chose killing innocents over the risk of serious failure.

We're scared that we'll give up, grow disillusioned, and/or end up becoming just another part of the system.

Ask her about Guy's philosophy and YOUTH.

How does she reconcile this with what happened?

What would Guy do? What would Lee?

Give her a hug. Best girlfriend deserves it, and more.

(Optional) Meet Mari-sensei.

Do this ONLY if we are cleared to stay in Konoha for sleep, and get the opportunity.

Give her a hug.

Tell her we missed her.

Ask her how things have been going in Konoha.

Her befriending of the clan head wives.

The political situation.

Jiraiya's...Ask if Jiraiya's alright.

Ask if she thinks Jiraiya'll let us do some work to find Hana, after the mission's over.

Contingencies:

(While transporting the prisoners) If we see someone in the air:

IMMEDIATELY dive onto the ground and use the local terrain to cover our escape.

Try to evade their ability to find us before heading back to Konoha.

If this seems impossible (they are gaining on us) let Akane make the decision to go to Konoha, continue running, or fight.

oh god why

I kind of feel bad for my harshness now, I didn't realize this was trauma-induced behaviour.

Snowfire · Feb 27, 2018

Exmorri said:
And the result is thorough planning of everything, as perhaps exemplified in Marked for Death.

[X] Action Plan: Rationalization

Goals:

Survive.

Maintain a positive mindset.

Continue the mission.

Reassure the team.

Methods:

General:

Follow Akane's lead while she's our sub-team leader. Follow Minami's lead before we leave, and after we regroup.

Try to avoid triggering Minami's insecurities.

She's team leader, but she inherited a team who treats her as an outsider. Avoid reminding her of this.

When moving, minimize chatter in favor of alertness.

Main Questline:

(Almost) nonstop 15-16hr run back.

Break only when we need to replace Skywalkers.

Take this time to replenish chakra, food, and water.

Noburi should check on the prisoners to ensure they are alive but chakra-drained. Unconscious if appropriate.

First ask Noburi if there are consequences to keeping them unconscious/chakra-drained for this long. If there is no issue, suggest we do this.

If SOP, slightly hydrate the prisoners.

Check based on standard for prisoner exchange (MInami/Jiraiya should have said something offscreen) and Noburi's knowledge as a medic.

First time we get the chance, check Goda & his retinue for false teeth/cyanide capsules/other suicide methods.

(DON'T SAY OR SUGGEST THIS OUT LOUD) Just in case Minami missed it. She did seem out of it.

If we MUST stop to sleep, set up a Skytower and sleep. Keep shifts.

Drop off Goda and his ninja bodyguards. Also give the intel we recovered.

Ask if they want us to wake them up via chakra water.

If prompted, give a mission debriefing.

Collect weapons & food supplies.

See if we can get a spyglass or telescope. Ask Mari-sensei or Jiraiya if we get the chance to talk with them.

Take some time to rest after our run. Keep shifts.

If allowed, sleep in Konoha. Our old apartment, or estate if Jiraiya bought it.

If not allowed, head a ways to our destination, set up a Skywalker, and then sleep.

Skywalk back to the team.

It's a 22 hour run (to Nagi Island, on average). Don't exhaust ourselves with a second all-nighter.

Reassure Team Uplift before we leave.

Be respectful. Don't be tactless, not here.

People died, and that sucks.

I want to focus on the positive: we accomplished what we set out to do.

Keiko, you demonstrated just how powerful and useful your pangolins are, exactly as you said they would be.

Noburi, you dealt with that situation with surgical precision: no non-combatants were killed in the takedown and you effortlessly captured two experienced ninja with no risk to our team.

We didn't mess up and accidentally kill Goda despite the fight between several Chunin or better combatants.

Given our status as a heavy-combat squad I don't know if we could have done any more.

BUT as we get stronger and stronger, we'll gain the skill and ability to do better, and next time hopefully have other options than hurting innocents.

If we've already left, do this with Akane and Noburi first, and then repeat with Keiko and Kagome when we get back.

Complete an After-Action Report.

Do the report after we regroup with the team, as time permits.

Keep in mind Minami still considers us to be the Cold Stone Killers/outsiders.

Disguising our trump card usages so we might not need to kill witnesses

Disguise Pangolins using physical coverings or Henge. Ask Pangolins in future?

Apply Mist first, then Pangolins attack while LOS is blocked using Mist.

Timing between the air-team landing and the boat team?

Not a problem this time, but could have been one if the enemy was stronger.

Learn Whispers on the Wind, useful for signaling for ambush.

Maybe have Panda be part of the air-team and be unsummoned beforehand as a signal?

Better knowledge of the Pangolin's personal combat ability for better diagnosis of enemy ninja capabilities.

Talk with Akane.

Do this after we've handed off the prisoners and have time to talk. Preferably in a private setting, maybe before we re-join the main group.

Be open but respectful. Don't be tactless, not here.

Talk about our (Hazou's) feelings regarding what happened.

We feel guilty because our long-term plans revolved around changing the system, yet despite that we are now we're complicit in executing dozens of civilians.

We understand why it was done (increased risk of Leaf's rivals finding out), but still hate that we chose killing innocents over the risk of serious failure.

We're scared that we'll give up, grow disillusioned, and/or end up becoming just another part of the system.

Ask her about Guy's philosophy and YOUTH.

How does she reconcile this with what happened?

What would Guy do? What would Lee?

Give her a hug. Best girlfriend deserves it, and more.

(Optional) Meet Mari-sensei.

Do this ONLY if we are cleared to stay in Konoha for sleep, and get the opportunity.

Give her a hug.

Tell her we missed her.

Ask her how things have been going in Konoha.

Her befriending of the clan head wives.

The political situation.

Jiraiya's...Ask if Jiraiya's alright.

Ask if she thinks Jiraiya'll let us do some work to find Hana, after the mission's over.

Contingencies:

(While transporting the prisoners) If we see someone in the air:

IMMEDIATELY dive onto the ground and use the local terrain to cover our escape.

Try to evade their ability to find us before heading back to Konoha.

If this seems impossible (they are gaining on us) let Akane make the decision to go to Konoha, continue running, or fight.

What the actual fuck.

Dadarian · Feb 27, 2018

Exmorri said:
[X] Action Plan: Rationalization

Goals:

Survive.

Maintain a positive mindset.

Continue the mission.

Reassure the team.

Methods:

General:

Follow Akane's lead while she's our sub-team leader. Follow Minami's lead before we leave, and after we regroup.

Try to avoid triggering Minami's insecurities.

She's team leader, but she inherited a team who treats her as an outsider. Avoid reminding her of this.

When moving, minimize chatter in favor of alertness.

Main Questline:

(Almost) nonstop 15-16hr run back.

Break only when we need to replace Skywalkers.

Take this time to replenish chakra, food, and water.

Noburi should check on the prisoners to ensure they are alive but chakra-drained. Unconscious if appropriate.

First ask Noburi if there are consequences to keeping them unconscious/chakra-drained for this long. If there is no issue, suggest we do this.

If SOP, slightly hydrate the prisoners.

Check based on standard for prisoner exchange (MInami/Jiraiya should have said something offscreen) and Noburi's knowledge as a medic.

First time we get the chance, check Goda & his retinue for false teeth/cyanide capsules/other suicide methods.

(DON'T SAY OR SUGGEST THIS OUT LOUD) Just in case Minami missed it. She did seem out of it.

If we MUST stop to sleep, set up a Skytower and sleep. Keep shifts.

Drop off Goda and his ninja bodyguards. Also give the intel we recovered.

Ask if they want us to wake them up via chakra water.

If prompted, give a mission debriefing.

Collect weapons & food supplies.

See if we can get a spyglass or telescope. Ask Mari-sensei or Jiraiya if we get the chance to talk with them.

Take some time to rest after our run. Keep shifts.

If allowed, sleep in Konoha. Our old apartment, or estate if Jiraiya bought it.

If not allowed, head a ways to our destination, set up a Skywalker, and then sleep.

Skywalk back to the team.

It's a 22 hour run (to Nagi Island, on average). Don't exhaust ourselves with a second all-nighter.

Reassure Team Uplift before we leave.

Be respectful. Don't be tactless, not here.

People died, and that sucks.

I want to focus on the positive: we accomplished what we set out to do.

Keiko, you demonstrated just how powerful and useful your pangolins are, exactly as you said they would be.

Noburi, you dealt with that situation with surgical precision: no non-combatants were killed in the takedown and you effortlessly captured two experienced ninja with no risk to our team.

We didn't mess up and accidentally kill Goda despite the fight between several Chunin or better combatants.

Given our status as a heavy-combat squad I don't know if we could have done any more.

BUT as we get stronger and stronger, we'll gain the skill and ability to do better, and next time hopefully have other options than hurting innocents.

If we've already left, do this with Akane and Noburi first, and then repeat with Keiko and Kagome when we get back.

Complete an After-Action Report.

Do the report after we regroup with the team, as time permits.

Keep in mind Minami still considers us to be the Cold Stone Killers/outsiders.

Disguising our trump card usages so we might not need to kill witnesses

Disguise Pangolins using physical coverings or Henge. Ask Pangolins in future?

Apply Mist first, then Pangolins attack while LOS is blocked using Mist.

Timing between the air-team landing and the boat team?

Not a problem this time, but could have been one if the enemy was stronger.

Learn Whispers on the Wind, useful for signaling for ambush.

Maybe have Panda be part of the air-team and be unsummoned beforehand as a signal?

Better knowledge of the Pangolin's personal combat ability for better diagnosis of enemy ninja capabilities.

Talk with Akane.

Do this after we've handed off the prisoners and have time to talk. Preferably in a private setting, maybe before we re-join the main group.

Be open but respectful. Don't be tactless, not here.

Talk about our (Hazou's) feelings regarding what happened.

We feel guilty because our long-term plans revolved around changing the system, yet despite that we are now we're complicit in executing dozens of civilians.

We understand why it was done (increased risk of Leaf's rivals finding out), but still hate that we chose killing innocents over the risk of serious failure.

We're scared that we'll give up, grow disillusioned, and/or end up becoming just another part of the system.

Ask her about Guy's philosophy and YOUTH.

How does she reconcile this with what happened?

What would Guy do? What would Lee?

Give her a hug. Best girlfriend deserves it, and more.

(Optional) Meet Mari-sensei.

Do this ONLY if we are cleared to stay in Konoha for sleep, and get the opportunity.

Give her a hug.

Tell her we missed her.

Ask her how things have been going in Konoha.

Her befriending of the clan head wives.

The political situation.

Jiraiya's...Ask if Jiraiya's alright.

Ask if she thinks Jiraiya'll let us do some work to find Hana, after the mission's over.

Contingencies:

(While transporting the prisoners) If we see someone in the air:

IMMEDIATELY dive onto the ground and use the local terrain to cover our escape.

Try to evade their ability to find us before heading back to Konoha.

If this seems impossible (they are gaining on us) let Akane make the decision to go to Konoha, continue running, or fight.

Do people find this fun?

Sinsystems · Feb 27, 2018

Dadarian said:
Do people find this fun?

You'd be surprised, I've seen quests where people literally started making spreadsheets and economic calculations.

Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

A Penguin Flailing Against The Keyboard Of Life.

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Polyglot of Chimera

The King of Queen's

Polyglot of Chimera

The King of Queen's

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