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Inactive [LP CYOA] Overlord

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
If you're still looking for a tie breaker, I change the Weapon Enhancement to Another Face.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
edit2: And that second roll was an accidental click.
Clearly we need to use the average as a resulting roll. :M

And yeah, seems I have mistaken archaen's vote. Fixed now, and Baltika's flop added.

I think we are unsubtly encouraged to create more ties for the glory of the procrastination God. Thought it would be an interesting mechanics if a tie would lead to a different result than either of the options. We've got a perverted scholar at chargen as an 'averaged option', but there might be some unexpected outcomes involved.
 
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lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,196
Dammit, now I'll have to wait yet another day for another update and meet our future torture/tentacle-rape especialists. :decline:

By the way, if dryads are truly forest spirits, this means actually we won't be able to avoid them forever: as time passes and our base inevitably expands, sooner or later the trees will have to be removed to make space for more buildings/unit generators/metal extractors, which will most likely piss them off along with any other kind of treehugers/druids this world has.

However, that shouldn't be an issue for the moment nor the short-term future, at best.
 
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TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
I was going to flop from another face to regeneration, but then I noticed I'm voting both another face and regeneration. But I want regeneration more. Withdrawing my vote from another face.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
TOME We really do need the illusion magic. Before we weren't sure how people viewed angels negatively, but now we know and we've also built a rather negative reputaion with our current face:

Methuss Kingdom: -28 (Shunned)
Erise Village: +25 (Accepted)
Ontoglia: -15 (Neutral)
Capital City Yuiria: -50 (Disliked)
Fortress Naguria: -75 (Hated)
Tradestown Velburg: -25 (Shunned)

Barzam Ecclesiocracy: -50 (Disliked)
Dijeh Kingdom: 0 (Neutral)
Galbaldy Kingdom: 0 (Neutral)

Adventurer's Guild: -5 (Neutral)
Nine-Fingers: 0 (Neutral)

Based on that -50, I wonder if the resurrection succeeded...
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Eh. I'll withdraw my vote from Regeneration. Even though I want it, we have a short-term solution for now.

Perhaps on our next level-up...
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
Why bother with illusion magic? The ruling class hates us, sure, that just gives us reason to liquidate them. Changing our face to slink back in craven defeat and become some worm in their midst is intolerable when it comes at the cost of combat-improving material like regeneration.

I promote Regeneration.
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
Another face won't do us much good. It won't hide angelic halo or wings, so it is just a stepping stone to something useful, but even then I dislike the idea of hiding. Unless we do things shulgilike.

I would prefer full wizard mode (i.e. no melee combat EVER) and ignoring healing magic, but since that isn't happening, I think regeneration is a perfect fit for battlemage.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Another face won't do us much good.
Minor Heal won't either. What a waste of a spell, right?

But it served as a pre-requisite for Regeneration (+pod) that suddenly everyone wants. :M

even then I dislike the idea of hiding.
Does everyone dislike the idea of not getting Zayan out of Ontoglia by force, I wonder? What does that have to do with hiding?
 
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lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,196
People here are forgetting that helping the slimes will most likely piss off Methuss further, as we would have to deal with their stream of knight rookies and other hostile enemies, so we kinda need a little bit of Illusion magic to avoid this from happening. After all, I'm sure that given the opportunity everyone would gladly go to the Adventurer's Guild in order to cause even more chaos inside and outside their ranks, right?
Lastly, who says we have to use Another Face on ourselves? Unless the GM treave says otherwise, we could cast it on someone else to cause a rather big distraction. :troll:
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
People here are forgetting
I don't think so. Kipeci's master plan always was to piss as many people as possible and then Gigadyne everyone because we are absolutely undefeatable. :M

He is consistent with his votes to reveal angelic features to the Prince, to kill every Barzamite with Gigadyne, to act openly, to strip in the middle of a banquet and now to go back to Yuiria and piss them some more. :)

I am not in favor of this as I do not like our prospects to show ourselves as a major threat without an army to back up this claim. I don't think we would fare well fighting an army of a hundred thousands (and the reappearance of a Demon King heir might warrant such a responce), let alone become someone who would join the kingdoms in their crusade against us. Byarlant has archmages, Methuss has the numbers and their angel, Barzam has the Magic Canceller and some really powerful artefacts, and Gods know what Galbaldy and Dijeh have. I do not want to piss everyone at once, not yet.

Which requires a certain amount of subtlety. I know, not the strongest of Codexian traits.

Illusions give us a chance at interaction where previously there would be none - especially since we are considering restoring our second wing, which would make concealment even more difficult - and more interaction means we have more choice in how the events unfold. For me, the farther this LP goes from Diablo, the better it will be for it.
 
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Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
The great hosts of the Earth are bountiful fountains of tender XP waiting to be harvested. :M

Even if we fail for a first run, we can teleport away like a coward, lick our wounds and return stronger than ever. I see no reason why we need to destroy absolutely everyone in one fell blow. That just promotes stagnation, no room for self-improvement.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Even if we fail for a first run, we can teleport away like a coward
Where to, though? It's not like we have a secret hideout to fall back upon. We only have Grahferde, which we are slowly starting to turn into a fortification, and you are hellbent on revealing it before it finishes.

I see no reason why we need to destroy absolutely everyone in one fell blow.
In other words, skip from the first chapters straight to the epilogue? That can be arraged, I suppose. :M

Edit: Reading comprehension, where art thou? :oops:
 
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a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Another face won't do us much good. It won't hide angelic halo or wings
True, but it's a start. A better illusion spell will probably be down the line, just like with the heal spell.
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
I was referring to the idea of turtling until we have an unstoppable horde and only then daring to move out and crush skulls.

All we need for teleporting away like a ninny is to be somewhere where a thousand buff, angry templars with swords are not. Doesn't need to be teleporting; Gigadyne has all the answers, so there's also zipping away in lightning form. Once we're out, we sleep on sticks and eat gall, in general think vengeful thoughts, we build our health back up and then return to crush the kingdoms with the power gained from Gigadyning thousands of their men off the face of the Earth in the earlier step.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
What's the motivation behind destroying everyone right now?
Well, they kind of want us dead - or will want us dead shortly. :paranoiac:

Barzam - for killing their expedition and robbing them of their artefact.
Methuss - for messing with the nobles, though motivations differ (the Crown Prince might dislike us for interfering with Farland, the rest for the murder of Wisteria)
Dijeh - for stealing their inventor.
Byarlant - we are a rival to their archmage and his pet/master Athos. With a name like Jilius Gallardo, it's a given that we are bitter enemies! :M
Galbaldy - because it is rowdy and competitive and won't stand aside if the 4 others join on the fun! +M

Most of them have reasons to become our enemies. Thankfully, they either don't know them yet, or don't know where to find us.

All we need for teleporting away like a ninny is to be somewhere where a thousand buff, angry templars with swords are not. Doesn't need to be teleporting; Gigadyne has all the answers, so there's also zipping away in lightning form.
That will last us until we run into another Magic Canceller or its equivalent.
 
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treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
To Catch A Fish

The main highway following the river Amscray is well-travelled; carriages and carts can be often found trundling along its roughly paved surface. A short distance from Yuiria, there was a large metal sign just outside where the thoroughfare began, proclaiming its name as Amscray Way. The locals shortened the name and took to calling it Amway. For obvious reasons, you do not follow the road. Instead, you travel along the river itself on foot – or rather, Lucy’s feet – avoiding as much contact as possible. Passing by numerous small villages, none of which seemed to have more than a few dozen inhabitants, you have Aria ask for directions on your behalf. The villagers had been rather tight-lipped but let slip enough to ensure that you were on the right track. Soon, you are off the beaten path. A mountain range – the river’s source – lies before you, and instead of following the main stem of the river, you find yourself following one of its many tributaries further upstream, and deeper into the foggy, damp lands where the slimes are said to reside.

Three days into your journey, you run out of food.

“I-I’m a growing girl,” mumbles Aria, half-apologetic, half-mortified. You shake the cloth bag. Nothing but crumbs can be heard. Lucy moos.

“It’s not your fault,” you reply. “I only brought three days’ worth of food on purpose.”

“But why?” asks Aria, her eyes wide.

“Bringing any more would be a waste when I could just snap my fingers and be back in Grahferde and have a nice, hot goblin-cooked meal.”

“Oh.” Her stomach rumbles at the thought.

“That, and it’s cheaper to scrounge for your own food. Practically free, in fact.”

“We… aren’t going back for food?”

“Hands out, Aria.” She complies dutifully. You take out a long wooden pole that you had been carving in your free time. There is a string attached to it, and a metal hook dangling at the end. You put the pole in her right hand and the bag of crumbs in her left. “Go get some fish.” You didn’t get much fish in Grahferde, and it would be a nice variation to your usual diet. Seeing Aria’s doubtful face, you add, “It’s part of your training. To capture a fish is to test the prowess of your hands and eyes.”

That seems to have convinced her. Aria marches off to the river, the pole swinging from side to side over her shoulder. You, on the other hand, hop up onto a nearby branch. Pulling your hood deeper over your head – and wincing when you hear it snagging against that damnable halo – you lean back on the wide trunk of the tree.

“Think the little missus will be fine on her own, do you?” says Barbatos.

“I’ll be keeping an ear out, even if I don’t look like it,” you say, your eyes half-closed.

“Well, it is a good time to train on controlling your aura, I say. You have been neglecting the way of the fist for far too long, boy, and you have nothing better to do at the moment, do you?” nags the gauntlet.

You grumble, but he is right: you have nothing better to do. In the distance, you can hear the gurgling flow of the river. You let your magic flow in a pulse matching the river’s beat, channeling it into the force that Barbatos calls an aura. Fully closing your eyes, the flow takes shape in your mind. The rushing of the water. The miniscule, almost undetectable turbulence swirling from its numerous denizens. The scene feels so close that you feel like you could almost reach out and part the water with your bare hands…

There is a loud splash – two loud splashes – and you pick up Aria’s faint cry of surprise. Eyes snapping open, you leap towards the river immediately, hopping from tree to tree as your heavy cloak flaps around you, still keeping your wings concealed. You arrive at the riverbank a scant few seconds later, Lucy trotting along the forest floor as she follows you there. Is it a monster? A slime? Or…

A single look tells you all you need to know about the situation. Aria is standing knee-deep in the water, soaking wet, her boyish clothes plastered to her slim frame. In her hands she clutches the head of a fish that is the size of a large dog. It is still wriggling and fighting for its life. The hook of her fishing pole is entangled in its lip, but there is also an arrow sticking out of its side. At the other end, its tail is held on tightly by a brown-haired young girl of Aria’s age. Her chainmail dress tinkles as she tugs at the fish’s tail.

Aria pulls at the head and shouts, “Let go of my fish, you metal bitch!”

“It’s mine, you… you stupid country floozy!” shouts the girl in return. Behind her, you can see four other youngsters in similar gear: blue livery over chainmail, swords, axes and shields. Five of them in total, three boys and two girls.

“Ah.” These must be the knight trainees that Wisteria spoke of.

Down at the river, Aria seems to have come to the same conclusion. “You five… you are trainees with the kingdom’s knightly order, is that it?”

“That’s right, bumpkin. So this fish is mine! We need it more than you do!”

“We don’t get any rations at all, miss,” explains one of the boys, a tall and lanky one with a perpetually depressed look on his face. “We’re supposed to scavenge what we can get along the way as part of our training.”

“Hah, that’s none of my business now, is it?” snorts Aria haughtily in a way that somehow reminds you of Rin.

“It should be,” complains another of the rookies. “We train and fight to protect the people. We are prepared to lay down our lives to do that, so surely you wouldn't begrudge us a fish?”

“You aren’t prepared to starve to protect the people, I see,” taunts Aria mockingly, keeping her death-grip on the weakening fish.

“You are quite getting on my nerves.” The girl who had been squabbling with Aria grimaces.

“I am, am I? Is that all your knightly training affords you?” Aria giggles. “I bet I could fight circles around you anyday.”

The knight girl’s blue eyes flash angrily. “Do not mock our training!”

With an arrogant grin, Aria drops the head of the fish without warning. The other girl tumbles over, unbalanced by the sudden weight on her hands. She splashes into the river, spluttering. Her teammates shout out in warning and alarm. When she looks up, Aria already has her sword drawn, pointing it at her face. “If this was a real fight, you would already be dead,” says Aria coldly.

The girl’s face knits into a frown, and then she springs into movement in a flash, drawing her own blade and knocking Aria’s sword aside in a single, practiced movement. A surprised Aria retreats, her legs splashing through the water.

“A silly peasant girl thinks she can play with swords,” drawls the girl slowly. “Just because you have a weapon doesn’t mean you know how to use it.”

“Oh yeah? Try me,” retorts Aria, waving her sword around as it traces a silvery arc through the air.

“Eileen, don’t do this!” her friends call out. You get the distinct feeling of an “Oh no, not again!” in their voices.

“Watch me! I’ll win the fish back and show that the pride of the knights is not to be mocked! I am Eileen Mesthall, Knight-Apprentice in the Order of the Azurelion, leader of the 16th Blue Squires! I challenge you to a duel here and now!”

“Aria Heavensell, eldest disciple of the Mercant Fighting Style,” remarks Aria quietly. “I accept your challenge!”

“A duel over fish,” murmurs Barbatos. “Indeed, whosoever possesses strength, possesses dominion over the white piscean flesh of the riverine king. A worthy cause!”

You keep quiet, looking at their wet, dripping figures. Aria is lithe and slim, her soaked clothes outlining every curve she has, and even under the chainmail you can tell that Eileen Mesthall is quite well-developed for her age. The both of them would definitely blossom wonderfully in a few short years. It only serves to remind you that the absolute worst thing about this situation is that no matter how enticing a wet catfight is to you, nothing will happen. You sigh.

Lucy lows and looks up at you with big, brown questioning eyes. ‘What do you want to do?’ seems to be what she is asking.

***

A. You send Lucy over to interrupt the duel. You can always get more fish after the knights have left. There is no need to fight over this particular one.

B. You interrupt the duel yourself, revealing yourself to Aria. Your presence should be enough to get the knights to back off, and you are certain you can handle this diplomatically. They should know where the slimes are and be able to guide you there.

C. You intervene and capture the rookies. They aren’t very useful to you, but you can’t have them traipsing around the forest while you are looking for the slimes. It should be a simple task to defeat them without revealing yourself.

D. You watch over Aria and let her handle it. There is no need for you to step in here, and careful observation could gain you more information. Win or lose, she should be able to learn a lesson here, though you are not yet certain what that lesson is yourself.
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
“Hands out, Aria.” She complies dutifully. You take out a long wooden pole that you had been carving in your free time. There is a string attached to it, and a metal hook dangling at the end. You put the pole in her right hand and the bag of crumbs in her left. “Go get some fish.” You didn’t get much fish in Grahferde, and it would be a nice variation to your usual diet. Seeing Aria’s doubtful face, you add, “It’s part of your training. To capture a fish is to test the prowess of your hands and eyes.”
Erdrick will (eventually) be the best dad ever! :love:

The hook of her fishing pole is entangled in its lip, but there is also an arrow sticking out of its side.
Bowfishing with a combat bow? That's pretty hardcore.

“Aria Heavensell, eldest disciple of the Mercant Fighting Style,” remarks Aria quietly. “I accept your challenge!”
Heh, I only noticed her family name just now. It's a pretty badass one, for a villager. So she is the elder twin, eh?

As much as I want to watch a wet t-shirt contest, I am not certain about our course of action. The kids are heading to the slimes, so we should be able to find those by following them anyway, regardless of the encounter result.

treave, how recognizeable are we to the kids, considering the illusion spell? Would they be able to connect us to the killer of their Knight Captain? Is being seen undesireable to us?

We probably could be identified at a later date, now that Aria gave away her name... but no one but Farland should know her... :|

Is it important that Aria does not know we are here? I would not be against her winning the duel with our, ah, help, which would hopefully be more useful than the one we provided to Arlin. That, and she would be able to trade the fish for information (more like share food with them while they are gossipping) from her position as a victor. We did try to make her more mercantile, after all.

I just want to let her have her fight, but if there are any profits we might extract, I'd like to take advantage of those as well.
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Ah, what the hell. Let's follow the wisdom of BRObatos, for once.
“A duel over fish,” murmurs Barbatos. “Indeed, whosoever possesses strength, possesses dominion over the white piscean flesh of the riverine king. A worthy cause!”


“Watch me! I’ll win the fish back and show that the pride of the knights is not to be mocked! I am Eileen Mesthall, Knight-Apprentice in the Order of the Azurelion, leader of the 16th Blue Squires! I challenge you to a duel here and now!”

“Aria Heavensell, eldest disciple of the Mercant Fighting Style,” remarks Aria quietly. “I accept your challenge!”
A challenge is issued! Do we want the kids to shy from it?

Let the Mortal KKKombat begin! Let skill and daring decide the fate of this raw tasty morcel!

Do it, Aria! For the honor of the Mercant Fighting Style!! :hero:
 
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