Remove ads

Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Voting is open
Reader mode
BungieONI said:
He has not clarified if it is, but its a hope I do kinda ponder. The dictionary and tech docs would be the main one in this instance.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yeah, we just kind of skipped to the end of the reverse-engineering process for the Skaven tech-base, and also worked up the never-before-seen means to actually read it all.
Derpmind said:
Not really. It only lasts just long enough to shove one hero unit over, basically a handful of seconds. Nowhere near the 16+ hours that Mathilde can ride a Shadowsteed for.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Shadowsteed technically only lasts until you get where you're going and get off, or until Sunrise; Steed of Shadows probably just gets you where you want so fast that nobody stops to wonder if the spell ends because it ran out of time or because it got its job done.
 
TaliesinSkye said:
We needed to build a huge focusing array to gather and shape Ulgu to do that though, didn't we? It's easy because the tower is doing most of the work for us, like an engine. We couldn't just walk up to the mountain and touch it to use its shadow to acid everything.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
We did not. We only needed to build something suitably large into the mountain such that we could claim it was a distinct object, because the spell works on distinct objects. The battery was so that non-wizards could power it, and also to give us an Ulgu-filled room for research and stuff.

Notably, we could have cast Burning Shadows on the Citadel, an entire castle, without any preparation.
 
Ericwinter said:
So, random aside time, but has Boney ever mentioned if bringing all those Skaven things--the dictionary, the technical books, and now those Esshin reports on the Civil War--over to the colleges would be enough to get another Great Deed? Because reading the definition of Great Deed it seems kinda amibguous, as we weren't actually eliminating an immediate and highly dangerous threat, but at the same time, it would still be a ridiculous intelligence coup with many side effects that could echo even farther than destroying Alkharad's college.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Probably not; a Great Deed is something that means they didn't have to call out the Army when they otherwise would have.
 
TaliesinSkye said:
We needed to build a huge focusing array to gather and shape Ulgu to do that though, didn't we? It's easy because the tower is doing most of the work for us, like an engine. We couldn't just walk up to the mountain and touch it to use its shadow to acid everything.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
The tower in this case is as Chocolate said, and to give a bunch of other functions which either manipulate the shadow of the mountain, create a light source, or mess with clouds and other covers.


picklepikkl said:
If it costs an extra AP, though, I don't want to do it. I'd rather just dictate it to Max and knock it out in 1.5 actions. That's high enough quality.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Same, and I'm also very leery about it for secrecy reasons. I'd rather not have that many potential leaks on what we're doing.
 
chocolote12 said:
We did not. We only needed to build something suitably large into the mountain such that we could claim it was a distinct object, because the spell works on distinct objects. The battery was so that non-wizards could power it, and also to give us an Ulgu-filled room for research and stuff.

Notably, we could have cast Burning Shadows on the Citadel, an entire castle, without any preparation.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That is curious. Can you think of any other spells that are capable of very large effects without needing any more wind to accomplish them, or is Burning Shadows just a weird outlier we can chalk up to GW writer inconsistency?
 
BungieONI said:
The dictionary and tech docs would be the main one in this instance.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Fair enough, though we might as well drop the intelligence off as well since we'll be there. It's not like we've got much else to do with them.
Chimeraguard said:
So, it's a Favour for the entire Empire, and so to get one, we need to do something that has significantly altered the playing field in a good way for the entire Empire. Preventing the creation of a College of Necromancy that could provide organized training to Necromancers is one example. I think an intelligence coup on the scale of deciphering both the Skaven language, and a hyper-detailed manual of their equipment would probably qualify.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
An entire library of technical manuals, actually. That's why I figured it might be a good candidate.
BungieONI said:
It would? I don't recall him saying anything in that direction.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Eh, the only thing I recall about increasing the quality was grabbing magical terminology, but I'ver missed most of the last few days due to internet
duskrider42 said:
[X] Plan KISS 3
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Uh, dude, the vote has already been called.
 
BungieONI said:
Same, and I'm also very leery about it for secrecy reasons. I'd rather not have that many potential leaks on what we're doing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I suppose we could ask the Grey College for a linguist or three who are read in on the Conspiracy of Silence and trustworthy, if we did want to go that route. I imagine they've got access to all sorts of experts, both in house and outside. I am also unsure if it's really necessary, though. We could always get linguists involved for a second edition if we really need to, perhaps.
 
Briefvoice said:
Probably not; a Great Deed is something that means they didn't have to call out the Army when they otherwise would have.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Things that turn the tide of a battle when the Empire is at war also qualify:
BoneyM said:
When the Imperial Army is actively campaigning, turning the tide of a battle that the main force is engaged in would count.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
One might suggest that the Imperial Intelligence Agency might count, given the raids recently led on Under-Nuln and others; suddenly the Empire is actually capable of conducting intelligence operations on them to begin with, which is a pretty big tide-change.

However, I wouldn't be too hopeful about that; 'wrote a book on the Skaven language' doesn't sound as cool as 'murdered an entire college of evil battle mages and their ancient vampire master, then burned down their castle of darkness and flew out on a gyrocopter with a Dragon Skull strapped to the front', even if it might have been as useful.
TaliesinSkye said:
That is curious. Can you think of any other spells that are capable of very large effects without needing any more wind to accomplish them, or is Burning Shadows just a weird outlier we can chalk up to GW writer inconsistency?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yes. Gold Magic, Relatively Simple, Stoke The Forge:
BoneyM said:
Stoke the Forge: Causes a fire to burn as hotly as naturally possible and without consuming fuel for up to an hour.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Target is 'a Fire', no other qualifiers. It could be a candle or a Magnesium-laced Bonfire.
 
Last edited:
TaliesinSkye said:
That is curious. Can you think of any other spells that are capable of very large effects without needing any more wind to accomplish them, or is Burning Shadows just a weird outlier we can chalk up to GW writer inconsistency?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
A number of Jade spells that alter biological functions. Fat of the Land, which dispenses with the need for food for an entire week, is Relatively Simple regardless of whether you're casting it on a small reptile or a huge mammal.
 
BungieONI said:
Same, and I'm also very leery about it for secrecy reasons. I'd rather not have that many potential leaks on what we're doing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
picklepikkl said:
If it costs an extra AP, though, I don't want to do it. I'd rather just dictate it to Max and knock it out in 1.5 actions. That's high enough quality.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I disagree, alongside the untapped potential of the snek juice, Queekish is by far the greatest service that we can do to the Empire, we don´t want something good enough, we should aim for perfection...
 
Physics is what the universe runs on when magic isn't screwing with it. Once magic enters the picture, all bets are off. That absolutely includes conservation of energy. Even trying to rationalize magic as a type of energy or even an energy source doesn't make the numbers work.
 
That's at least three spells that shift scale without shifting wind input requirements, then.

But if the underlying model is conceptual, then why all the stuff about bigger spells requiring more wind? What's the alternate model for why that's necessary besides the conservation of energy one?
 
TaliesinSkye said:
That is curious. Can you think of any other spells that are capable of very large effects without needing any more wind to accomplish them, or is Burning Shadows just a weird outlier we can chalk up to GW writer inconsistency?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Mindhole, which can remove the entirety of the memory of your existence from a person who you have lived your whole life with is the same spell that removes all memory of you from a guard you just walked past a second ago.

Take No Heed, through which you can walk through a crowded amphitheater or a room with one sleepy father with no discernible difference.

The spell Lens on the Sky which creates magical telescope-lens. Something we can do with a unaspected cantrip.

This amber spell.
BoneyM said:
The Winter's Long Slumber: Touched willing creature falls into hibernation sleep for several months.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Doesn't specify size limits.

BoneyM said:
Fat of the Land: Touched creature does not need to eat for one week. Long casting time.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Same with this Ghyran spell.

BoneyM said:
Inextinguishable flame: Makes one flame inextinguishable. Duration depends on Magic, up to one year
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This spell is part of our Red Tower, and doesn't specify the size of the Flame.

This isn't all of them, and I'm pretty sure there are others.
 
chocolote12 said:
Yeah, we just kind of skipped to the end of the reverse-engineering process for the Skaven tech-base, and also worked up the never-before-seen means to actually read it all.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
While the tech book if certainly a coup I don't think it will instantly have us reverse-engineering skaven tech. We still need to work out how to take warpstone out of the equation. I think we should pass the book of to Johann with our shiny new skaven-to-imperial dictionary since he is best placed to take advatage of it.
 
picklepikkl said:
If it costs an extra AP, though, I don't want to do it. I'd rather just dictate it to Max and knock it out in 1.5 actions. That's high enough quality.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
BungieONI said:
Same, and I'm also very leery about it for secrecy reasons. I'd rather not have that many potential leaks on what we're doing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
If it works anything like writing papers, a higher roll on a very useful subject will make it much more widely read by those who it would be useful to (i.e. a better-written lexicon makes learning and translating Queekish easier than it would be with a badly-written one.) In that case we absolutely want the linguists, though I'd say we should only bring them in for assembling the final draft.

As for leaks, there are few better than Mathilde to vet people and ensure they keep quiet.
 
Fanhunter696 said:
I disagree, alongside the untapped potential of the snek juice, Queekish is by far the greatest service that we can do to the Empire, we don´t want something good enough, we should aim for perfection...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
tryingtobewitty said:
If it works anything like writing papers, a higher roll on a very useful subject will make it much more widely read by those who it would be useful to (i.e. a better-written lexicon makes learning and translating Queekish easier than it would be with a badly-written one.) In that case we absolutely want the linguists, though I'd say we should only bring them in for assembling the final draft.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Spending an AP on a +15 to a roll we already get something like +50 on (between our stats, Max's traits, and our library) is not really my jam.

If it's just money, then sure.
 
chocolote12 said:
However, I wouldn't be too hopeful about that; 'wrote a book on the Skaven language' doesn't sound as cool as 'murdered an entire college of evil battle mages and their ancient vampire master, then burned down their castle of darkness and flew out on a gyrocopter with a Dragon Skull strapped to the front', even if it might have been as useful.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
How about "also delivered an entire library capable of completely revolutionizing the Empire's technology tree gathered while starting the chain reaction which led to an entire Karak full of eight different factions imploding?" OH, and we can only read the library due to our new dictionary in the first place.
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Voting is open
Remove ads
Back
Top