I foresee this path ending with all the shards fused except Vulcanus, forgotten in some vault, which will be the key some plucky hero uses to defeat an immortal Cindy and start the cycle over again.
I foresee this path ending with all the shards fused except Vulcanus, forgotten in some vault, which will be the key some plucky hero uses to defeat an immortal Cindy and start the cycle over again.
I foresee the forced invasion of a world, although it's not clear if we move to control the fake, or the Institute moves to control us .
I foresee this path ending with all the shards fused except Vulcanus, forgotten in some vault, which will be the key some plucky hero uses to defeat an immortal Cindy and start the cycle over again.
Thus the reason we need to burn all of the potential future plucky heroes.
I think Ingvars plan is to seal the rest of us inside the weir when he does his ritual. By breaking our shard we might make it impossible for him to succeed.
Celebrim, you make a very good argument about the potential for fusing the crystals, but I still prefer to destroy them. Tiph's comment makes a lot of sense, don't want to be in a crystal race with Ingvar, especially since he seems already really good at convincing people to mess with crazy magic forces beyond their ken.
0
Options
AnialosCollies are love, Collies are life!Shadowbrook ColliesRegistered Userregular
Sure, I'll join in with a vote for the path of wealth (resources), power (knowledge. DRAGONS.), and destroying those who would seek to control us (SMASH THEM).
You know, I get the instinct for smashy-smash. Isn't that, in the end, everyone's first instinct as a response to something new? but really, we want/desire/need more power, and blowing up our magical artifacts is a bad way to get more power. We're releasing magic, fair enough, but we're releasing it out into the wild. We have an awesome magic pet that we keep, and you guys wanna let it loose into the wild, and maybe it'll come back and help us someday. Well, it's helping us /now/. If we learn more about the shards, maybe we'll be in a position to blow them up in a way that gives us more power, but as it is, keep our little artifact alive and helping us.
Generalísimo de Fuerzas Armadas de la República Argentina
@Mojo_Jojo just something I noticed, some people are voting with -/+ but also starting their mana/fortune vote with +. Just thought I'd point it out, easy to misread a destroy as a combine sometimes.
You know, I get the instinct for smashy-smash. Isn't that, in the end, everyone's first instinct as a response to something new? but really, we want/desire/need more power, and blowing up our magical artifacts is a bad way to get more power. We're releasing magic, fair enough, but we're releasing it out into the wild. We have an awesome magic pet that we keep, and you guys wanna let it loose into the wild, and maybe it'll come back and help us someday. Well, it's helping us /now/. If we learn more about the shards, maybe we'll be in a position to blow them up in a way that gives us more power, but as it is, keep our little artifact alive and helping us.
[Adaptable] During a round, one positive trait of the target is cancelled
[Lucky] One reroll per round
[Ranged(short)] Make one attack without retaliation before melee
[Wizard] Must spend 1 mana per round or lose all but one dice
[Swarmfighting] +1 on rolls when targeting an enemy targeted by another ally
[Hard to kill] If beaten in combat make a difficulty 8 check. On success the unit is not destroyed
[Sluggish] Only rolls dice every second round
Artifacts
Vulcanus
Grants Ranged(short) to the bearer
Intelligent(?)
The Archive
Reflections on the twin shards and their ultimate connection to the artifact once known as The Weir
Lowers difficulty of drawing by 2
Increases output of drawing by +1/dice
Increases mana income by +1 / turn
Allows shard fusion/destruction
A detailed consideration of the entities which lurk below and how to effectively bind them into perpetual servitude
Diplomacy
The Drowned Lady: Caldeot, the town by the Drowned City Relations: Respectful and amiable
Axiom: The Fistcaster Loyalist Relations: Hatred
Missing an arm
Shardless
Ingvar: The Instigator Mechano-Sage Relations: Unknown
Summary
Cinders extended her hand out to the quartz. It sparkled internally in response and the lavashaper felt a wave of energy course throughout her body. The power that it contained was too much to sacrifice. The shards would be fused together.
Preparations took several hours in all. Cinders mixed wood ash with seawater to make a thick lumpy paste and began to draw pale lines on the black lavastone floor of the crystal chamber. Each stroke of the diagram mirrored the lines of destiny linking the lavashaper to each shard and the shards to one another. By the end, the bare chamber was intricately decorated. Overlapping spirals of circles and strings of runes from in the ancient languages of lava and strength. Cinders stood a little away from the two shards, her own position marked out by the arcane script. It was time. She clapped her hands together and the ritual began.
She awoke some time later, folded up in a corner of the crystal chamber. She couldn't quite remember the specifics of what had happened. A flash and then she was here, slowly coming back to her senses. The pale markings of the arcane diagram were now a confused, smeared mess. Deep within, Cinders could feel a rolling emptiness, her reserves of magical energy had been stolen. Reaching out, she could sense that this fate was not unique to her at all. When she'd first arrived in this world she had been struck by the rampant magics. Now, those were diminished. As The Weir reformed it intuitively locked away more magic from the world around it.
At the heart of the chamber a new solitary shard dominated. A dull-silver sphere held on a pedestal of smouldering jet black stone and multifaceted glittering crystal. Cinders approached the fused shard. The metal surface rippled and shimmered but no images resolved. Instead, knowledge arrived unbidden in Cinders' mind. No longer were there seven distinct pieces of The Weir. Now there were four. Others had fused their own shards. Not one had succumbed to the temptation to shatter and release a fragment of that power. Exactly which had fused and where they were was too hard to resolve. As too was whether the shards had been taken by force or mutual agreement. Her mind turned to the locked away world, the home of the Institute. The metallic surface of the shard cleared at once. Now the lavashaper could see deep into the opaque heart of that world. Damage had been done but it was starting to heal. For a moment she watched the tiny figures in their sundered world.
Despite the essence which had been drained from her, Cinders could feel the new energies boiling within the shard. It was only a minor sacrifice and a temporary one at that.
[Crystal fusion drains all mana from Cinders. Bonus dice for Cinders (drawing etc., not dice to pass checks) upgraded to d8. Mana income increased by +2. Study income increased by +1. Fortune income increased by +1]
She retired to her study. There was much to muse on for the moment. Down below in Glassalia they hardly noticed the potentially world-shattering events that had unfolded so close to their homes. It would be days if not weeks before they noticed any effects in their world. Cook was discussing cartography with some of the others, sketching out crude maps in the sand and showing off the sextant he'd found only recently, wreckage from another shipwreck some years ago. Their navigation skills would be adapted to the land to better find their way and how to spot potential sources of new vital resources. And also how to remain hidden in the process. Archbeth spoke up, presenting a very different application of the lesson: They could send one of their number to Caldeot to live amongst them and provide a source of information on the strange people there.
[+2 study from accelerated experiments on summoning. Scouting now gives a chance of additional positive effects from exploring and gives the option of spying]
Decision Time
(A letter, a number, a symbol from each option and then and specify Mana/Fortune for your vote bonus)
Peasant action: A: Build houses (shelter for 25 peasants) (costs 15 resources) B: Build a farm (+20 food) (Costs 15 resources) C: Build a ship (allows contact with Drome and whaling) (costs 100 resources) Scout the mainland [specify south or east]
E: Establish a trade route with Caldeot (+1 silver piece / turn) (costs 10 silver pieces)
F : Send a spy to Caldeot (costs 1 peasant, 10 silver pieces and 1 silver piece / turn)
G: Raise militia (produces a [Militia] unit, costs 5 resources and 5 peasants)
H : Work a double shift on the sawmill (produces 5+1d6 resources)
Cinders action: 1: Help the peasants (Pay 2x resource cost in mana and 0 resources on build, or pay 5 mana on production to obtain +1d8 resources) [Make sure the peasant action chosen makes sense]
2: Try to draw more mana from the crystal shards (difficulty 11: Success gains 3d8+3 mana, Failure is bad) 3: Accelerate the experiments (costs 3 mana to obtain +1d8 study)
4: Call for an audience with Nephroditi (costs 3 mana) 5: Boil the lake to expose the drowned city (costs 100 mana)
6: Attack/Annex Caldeot (specify units)
7: Release the automaton and follow it to the tundra and Ingvar's reunion (specify units)
8: Muse quietly on your throne (effectively a turn skip)
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
0
Options
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
Also, I'm open to ideas for what Cinders might like to pull from her old home inside the crystal shard. No need to include it in the vote, just let me know what you'd like to see here and I'll try to work it in.
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
0
Options
jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
Not a like, functional thing at all, but I like the idea that Cinders had a focus that she used before (she finds she no longer needs it or something), but when she pulls it out, Vulcanus gets all jealous about it.
0
Options
AnialosCollies are love, Collies are life!Shadowbrook ColliesRegistered Userregular
I know it's been mentioned before, but to clarify. Rolling a test (like option 2) is rolling 3d6, adding them together, and comparing against the target number?
In the case of option 2, the target is 11, so we roll 3d6 (which averages to 10.5) and have to get 11 or higher in order to get a bunch of mana. I think it's worth a roll.
We're earning a ton of mana per turn, so I don't feel a pressing need to try our luck with the drawing (as my multiple single-digit DnD characters can attest).
GNU Terry Pratchett
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
I'd like at least a turn's worth of normal mana income to deal with a possible failure before rolling those dice.
I was thinking a pet. Not combat-ready, just a small thing like a fire-bird, hell hound, or a sentient lava lamp (with the same jealousy aspect).
I actually like the idea that Vulcanus is jealous of a non-sentient object because it is a sentient object.
On the other hand, the possibility of our semi-sentient lava glaive ineptly trying to romance our magic lava lamp seems too entertaining to ignore.
We can still shatter things in the future, just unlikely we will get very many chances to take one the way we did from Axiom. More likely we will form alliances and hatch intricate schemes to backstab them before we get a chance to smash one again.
[Adaptable] During a round, one positive trait of the target is cancelled
[Lucky] One reroll per round
[Ranged(short)] Make one attack without retaliation before melee
[Wizard] Must spend 1 mana per round or lose all but one dice
[Swarmfighting] +1 on rolls when targeting an enemy targeted by another ally
[Hard to kill] If beaten in combat make a difficulty 8 check. On success the unit is not destroyed
[Sluggish] Only rolls dice every second round
Artifacts
Vulcanus
Grants Ranged(short) to the bearer
Intelligent(?)
The Archive
Reflections on the twin shards and their ultimate connection to the artifact once known as The Weir
Lowers difficulty of drawing by 2
Increases output of drawing by +1/dice
Increases mana income by +1 / turn
Allows shard fusion/destruction
A detailed consideration of the entities which lurk below and how to effectively bind them into perpetual servitude
Diplomacy
The Drowned Lady: Caldeot, the town by the Drowned City Relations: Respectful and amiable
Axiom: The Fistcaster Loyalist Relations: Hatred
Missing an arm
Shardless
Ingvar: The Instigator Mechano-Sage Relations: Unknown
Summary
Cook headed south. They'd heard that New Thett was in that direction and now was the time to "discover" it. Following the coast around eventually they struck the path which led back toward Caldeot. Confidently they followed it in the opposite direction, down toward the south and west. The geography gradually changed, the forests of cyprus, olive and linden gave way to oak and birch while rocky outcroppings burst from within the soil, reaching toward the skies like the fossilised claws of some long dead beast.
A short time into the second day, Cook and his scouts stopped at a fork in the road. It was obvious which way New Thett lay as there was a sign. The sign also confirmed that Caldeot was someway behind them. The other direction along the fork was labelled as 'Laren Mine', but somebody had attempted to strike this out unsuccessfully. A little way further they came to a pair of farm labourers toiling in a field, and Cook asked about the mine and why the name had been struck out. The answer was simple: It was haunted. The mine had been highly productive until recently. An expected shipment of copper ore didn't arrive, so the Thetti noble who owned it, Lord Laren, sent out some of his men to investigate. They did not return. A second, much larger, expedition found the mine deserted and confirmed that anybody who went in far enough to need to light a lantern would never been seen again. Unwilling to throw endless souls to their doom, the mine was abandoned. Cook checked the dates and confirmed that the haunting coincided with the arrival of Lady Cinderella.
The night was closing in on the third day of travel when the lights of New Thett could be seen. The town surrounded a natural bay which was full of ships of all shapes and sizes. The city was generally quite low and split into two distinct regions by a wall that had long been overwhelmed by the growth of the merchant town. The newer, outer region was dotted with a number of squat stepped pyramids. A second taller wall encompassed most of the town, but there were signs of habitation butted up here and there outside of even this. No doubt each of those corresponded to a gate. The road ahead met the town before turning south, but Cook and his team of scouts headed back home to Glassalia rather than explore further abroad.
[Explore check fails. No secret bonuses this time]
Within her tower, Cinders stood before the fused crystal and set her hands on the warm metallic surface. It shifted a little underneath her fingers. Inside of it she could feel a wealth of energy. Breathing deeply, she grasped at the energy and pulled it within herself. The flow was near overwhelming, but Cinders' will was strong and she was able to constrain it to a manageable level. The shard was reaching for her too, trying to draw some aspect of Cinders in exchange for the power, but the lavashaper resisted. Drawing arcane energy was potentially a two way street it seemed.
[Drawing succeeds +13 mana]
Exhilarated from her success, Cinders left her tower - there was some commotion with the commoners. A new family had arrived: Husband, wife, daughter just of working age and an infant. There was some discussion about whether Glassalia welcomed outsiders and questioning about where the family had come from. Cinders arrived nearly noticed, and was able to listen to their tiresome story of bandits stealing what little they had and burning their crops. It was a boring tale that had no relevance. Glassalia needed bodies used to working. And all were welcome to serve her.
[Growth Event! +3 Peasants join Glassalia]
Decision made, she left the peasants to figure out the logistics and strolled along the fringe of the forest. Hours passed as the wizard surveyed her land and mused on what would come next. Would she gather the rest of the shards and bind them all into her own crystal? Would that starve this world entirely of magic once more? Would she crush the other crystals one at a time? Would she ignore all of this and follow more esoteric avenues? Her revelry was interrupted by a baby crying.
The two children from the new residents of Glassalia were on the beach. The elder was doing a poor job of comforting her baby, holding it out in front of her. She whispered a story to it that Cinders just caught on the wind,
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child, and wanted everything for himself, and the young girl was practically a slave. But what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and he had given her certain powers. So one night, when the baby had been particularly cruel to her, she called on the goblins for help! "Say your right words," the goblins said, "and we'll take the baby to the Goblin City. And you will be free." But the girl knew that the king would keep the baby in his castle for ever and ever and ever, and turn it into a goblin."
Cinders watched with interest. Watched not only the teenage drama but also the lines of destiny that connected the siblings. The interesting thing about babies was that it was impossible to tell if they had Potential. But it was possible to inject Potential into them regardless if you tried hard enough. And it was this that Cinders could see future: A possible new apprentice.
The girl's voice picked up as she spoke, until she was holding the crying baby aloft and calling out
"I can bear it no longer! Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!"
Perhaps now was the time to hurry destiny along.
Decision Time
(A letter, a number, a symbol from each option and then and specify Mana/Fortune for your vote bonus)
Peasant action:
A*: Build houses (shelter for 25 peasants) (costs 15 resources)[/s]
B*: Build a farm (+20 food) (Costs 15 resources)[/s] C: Build a ship (allows contact with Drome and whaling) (costs 100 resources) Scout the mainland [specify southwest, south, east]
E: Establish a trade route with Caldeot (+1 silver piece / turn) (costs 10 silver pieces)
F : Send a spy to Caldeot (costs 1 peasant, 10 silver pieces and 1 silver piece / turn)
G: Send an envoy to New Thett
H*: Raise militia (produces a [Militia] unit, costs 5 resources and 5 peasants)
I : Work a double shift on the sawmill (produces 5+1d6 resources)
*requires choosing option 1 due to a lack of resources
Cinders action:
1: Help the peasants (Pay 2x resource cost in mana and 0 resources on build, or pay 5 mana on production to obtain +1d8 resources) [Make sure the peasant action chosen makes sense]
2: Try to draw more mana from the crystal shards (difficulty 11: Success gains 3d8+3 mana, Failure is bad) 3: Construct a mana focus (costs 50 mana. Reduces drawing difficulty by 3 and adds +1d8 to drawing)
4: Accelerate the experiments (costs 3 mana to obtain +1d8 study)
5: Call for an audience with Nephroditi (costs 3 mana) 6: Boil the lake to expose the drowned city (costs 100 mana)
7: Attack/Annex Caldeot/New Thett (choose one and specify units)
8: Personally travel to New Thett to establish diplomatic relations
9: Investigate the mine (specify any units to accompany Cinders)
10: Release the automaton and follow it to the tundra and Ingvar's reunion (specify units)
11: Muse quietly on your throne (effectively a turn skip)
Baby action
£: Wait until the baby is untended and take it unseen as a new apprentice (costs 15 mana)
$: Stride out to the beach and relieve the girl of her sibling to be your new protégé (costs 15 mana)
%: Leave the baby for the moment, see if it develops Potential naturally before taking it into the Obsidian Tower
Mojo_Jojo on
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
0
Options
AnialosCollies are love, Collies are life!Shadowbrook ColliesRegistered Userregular
I-4-£ +Fortune
I say leave a note from the "Goblin King" just for flavor.
Posts
I foresee the forced invasion of a world, although it's not clear if we move to control the fake, or the Institute moves to control us .
Break the shard, break the world.
Thus the reason we need to burn all of the potential future plucky heroes.
Sure, I'll join in with a vote for the path of wealth (resources), power (knowledge. DRAGONS.), and destroying those who would seek to control us (SMASH THEM).
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Look, everyone's voting red. It suits the magic.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Might as well try to get fire skeletons real quick because that's the cheapest research and we're waiting a bit anyway.
Decision F 3 $ +: Training scouts, researching summoning and researching it hard and fusing the crystals
Bonuses: +14 Fortune, +2 Mana
Things
Fortune: 31/50 [+1/turn]
Growth: 9/10 [+2/turn]
Peasants: 6
Population: 12
Shelter: 25
Food: 25
Resources: 2 [+1/turn]
Silver Pieces: 40 [+1/turn]
Study: 4/25 Summoning [+2/turn]
The Obsidian Tower
Fused shards: Foreseen, Loyalist
+11 mana / turn, +1 resource, / turn, +1 growth / turn, +1 study / turn, +1 fortune / turn
[Ashvent] - Prevents scrying in the region
[Scholar's Hall] - Allows research, +1 study/turn
Glassalia
[Fertile Farm] = +25 food
[Glass houses] = +25 shelter
[Lumber yard] = +1 resource / 10 peasants / turn)
[Tavern] = +1 growth / turn
[Scouting] = Difficulty 15 check when exploring to uncover additional bonuses
Individuals & Armies
Combat: 5 dice, 4+ strength [Lucky] [Wizard] [Ranged(short)]
Equipment: Vulcanus
Vote bonuses: +1 Mana or +1 Fortune per vote
Militia [5 Peasants]
Combat: 2 dice, 7+ strength, [Swarmfighting]
Skeleton Warriors
Combat: 2 dice, 8+ strength, [Hard to kill]
The Apprentice, Geomancer
Combat: 2 dice, 6+ strength [Adaptable] [Wizard]
Sanders, The Magma Wyrm [adds +25 to fortune threshold. Improves fortunes]
Ingvar's Machine [Imprisoned]
Combat: 3 dice, 5+ strength, [sluggish]
[Adaptable] During a round, one positive trait of the target is cancelled
[Lucky] One reroll per round
[Ranged(short)] Make one attack without retaliation before melee
[Wizard] Must spend 1 mana per round or lose all but one dice
[Swarmfighting] +1 on rolls when targeting an enemy targeted by another ally
[Hard to kill] If beaten in combat make a difficulty 8 check. On success the unit is not destroyed
[Sluggish] Only rolls dice every second round
Artifacts
Grants Ranged(short) to the bearer
Intelligent(?)
The Archive
Lowers difficulty of drawing by 2
Increases output of drawing by +1/dice
Increases mana income by +1 / turn
Allows shard fusion/destruction
A detailed consideration of the entities which lurk below and how to effectively bind them into perpetual servitude
Diplomacy
Relations: Respectful and amiable
Nephroditi: The Bonemancer Wanderer
Relations: Business-like
Trade route: +1 silver piece / turn
Axiom: The Fistcaster Loyalist
Relations: Hatred
Missing an arm
Shardless
Ingvar: The Instigator Mechano-Sage
Relations: Unknown
Summary
Cinders extended her hand out to the quartz. It sparkled internally in response and the lavashaper felt a wave of energy course throughout her body. The power that it contained was too much to sacrifice. The shards would be fused together.
Preparations took several hours in all. Cinders mixed wood ash with seawater to make a thick lumpy paste and began to draw pale lines on the black lavastone floor of the crystal chamber. Each stroke of the diagram mirrored the lines of destiny linking the lavashaper to each shard and the shards to one another. By the end, the bare chamber was intricately decorated. Overlapping spirals of circles and strings of runes from in the ancient languages of lava and strength. Cinders stood a little away from the two shards, her own position marked out by the arcane script. It was time. She clapped her hands together and the ritual began.
She awoke some time later, folded up in a corner of the crystal chamber. She couldn't quite remember the specifics of what had happened. A flash and then she was here, slowly coming back to her senses. The pale markings of the arcane diagram were now a confused, smeared mess. Deep within, Cinders could feel a rolling emptiness, her reserves of magical energy had been stolen. Reaching out, she could sense that this fate was not unique to her at all. When she'd first arrived in this world she had been struck by the rampant magics. Now, those were diminished. As The Weir reformed it intuitively locked away more magic from the world around it.
At the heart of the chamber a new solitary shard dominated. A dull-silver sphere held on a pedestal of smouldering jet black stone and multifaceted glittering crystal. Cinders approached the fused shard. The metal surface rippled and shimmered but no images resolved. Instead, knowledge arrived unbidden in Cinders' mind. No longer were there seven distinct pieces of The Weir. Now there were four. Others had fused their own shards. Not one had succumbed to the temptation to shatter and release a fragment of that power. Exactly which had fused and where they were was too hard to resolve. As too was whether the shards had been taken by force or mutual agreement. Her mind turned to the locked away world, the home of the Institute. The metallic surface of the shard cleared at once. Now the lavashaper could see deep into the opaque heart of that world. Damage had been done but it was starting to heal. For a moment she watched the tiny figures in their sundered world.
Despite the essence which had been drained from her, Cinders could feel the new energies boiling within the shard. It was only a minor sacrifice and a temporary one at that.
[Crystal fusion drains all mana from Cinders. Bonus dice for Cinders (drawing etc., not dice to pass checks) upgraded to d8. Mana income increased by +2. Study income increased by +1. Fortune income increased by +1]
She retired to her study. There was much to muse on for the moment. Down below in Glassalia they hardly noticed the potentially world-shattering events that had unfolded so close to their homes. It would be days if not weeks before they noticed any effects in their world. Cook was discussing cartography with some of the others, sketching out crude maps in the sand and showing off the sextant he'd found only recently, wreckage from another shipwreck some years ago. Their navigation skills would be adapted to the land to better find their way and how to spot potential sources of new vital resources. And also how to remain hidden in the process. Archbeth spoke up, presenting a very different application of the lesson: They could send one of their number to Caldeot to live amongst them and provide a source of information on the strange people there.
[+2 study from accelerated experiments on summoning. Scouting now gives a chance of additional positive effects from exploring and gives the option of spying]
Decision Time
(A letter, a number, a symbol from each option and then and specify Mana/Fortune for your vote bonus)
Peasant action:
A: Build houses (shelter for 25 peasants) (costs 15 resources)
B: Build a farm (+20 food) (Costs 15 resources)
C: Build a ship (allows contact with Drome and whaling) (costs 100 resources)
E: Establish a trade route with Caldeot (+1 silver piece / turn) (costs 10 silver pieces)
F : Send a spy to Caldeot (costs 1 peasant, 10 silver pieces and 1 silver piece / turn)
G: Raise militia (produces a [Militia] unit, costs 5 resources and 5 peasants)
H : Work a double shift on the sawmill (produces 5+1d6 resources)
Cinders action:
1: Help the peasants (Pay 2x resource cost in mana and 0 resources on build, or pay 5 mana on production to obtain +1d8 resources) [Make sure the peasant action chosen makes sense]
2: Try to draw more mana from the crystal shards (difficulty 11: Success gains 3d8+3 mana, Failure is bad)
3: Accelerate the experiments (costs 3 mana to obtain +1d8 study)
4: Call for an audience with Nephroditi (costs 3 mana)
5: Boil the lake to expose the drowned city (costs 100 mana)
6: Attack/Annex Caldeot (specify units)
7: Release the automaton and follow it to the tundra and Ingvar's reunion (specify units)
8: Muse quietly on your throne (effectively a turn skip)
I know it's been mentioned before, but to clarify. Rolling a test (like option 2) is rolling 3d6, adding them together, and comparing against the target number?
In the case of option 2, the target is 11, so we roll 3d6 (which averages to 10.5) and have to get 11 or higher in order to get a bunch of mana. I think it's worth a roll.
Let's gamble mysterious unpleasant consequences for the chance to recharge our mana stores.
I'd like at least a turn's worth of normal mana income to deal with a possible failure before rolling those dice.
I was thinking a pet. Not combat-ready, just a small thing like a fire-bird, hell hound, or a sentient lava lamp (with the same jealousy aspect).
We're earning a ton of mana per turn, so I don't feel a pressing need to try our luck with the drawing (as my multiple single-digit DnD characters can attest).
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
Cinder's diary, still hidden in her room.
I actually like the idea that Vulcanus is jealous of a non-sentient object because it is a sentient object.
Apotheosis is a worthy goal for the one true magic, right?
I still liked shattering better.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Decision D(South) 2: Scouting to the south and finally attempting to draw
Bonuses: +10 Fortune, +3 Mana
Things
Fortune: 42/50 [+1/turn]
Growth: 1/10 [+2/turn]
Peasants: 9
Population: 15
Shelter: 25
Food: 25
Resources: 3 [+1/turn]
Silver Pieces: 41 [+1/turn]
Study: 6/25 Summoning [+2/turn]
The Obsidian Tower
Fused shards: Foreseen, Loyalist
+11 mana / turn, +1 resource, / turn, +1 growth / turn, +1 study / turn, +1 fortune / turn
[Ashvent] - Prevents scrying in the region
[Scholar's Hall] - Allows research, +1 study/turn
Glassalia
[Fertile Farm] = +25 food
[Glass houses] = +25 shelter
[Lumber yard] = +1 resource / 10 peasants / turn)
[Tavern] = +1 growth / turn
[Scouting] = Difficulty 15 check when exploring to uncover additional bonuses
Individuals & Armies
Combat: 5 dice, 4+ strength [Lucky] [Wizard] [Ranged(short)]
Equipment: Vulcanus
Vote bonuses: +1 Mana or +1 Fortune per vote
Militia [5 Peasants]
Combat: 2 dice, 7+ strength, [Swarmfighting]
Skeleton Warriors
Combat: 2 dice, 8+ strength, [Hard to kill]
The Apprentice, Geomancer
Combat: 2 dice, 6+ strength [Adaptable] [Wizard]
Sanders, The Magma Wyrm [adds +25 to fortune threshold. Improves fortunes]
Ingvar's Machine [Imprisoned]
Combat: 3 dice, 5+ strength, [sluggish]
[Adaptable] During a round, one positive trait of the target is cancelled
[Lucky] One reroll per round
[Ranged(short)] Make one attack without retaliation before melee
[Wizard] Must spend 1 mana per round or lose all but one dice
[Swarmfighting] +1 on rolls when targeting an enemy targeted by another ally
[Hard to kill] If beaten in combat make a difficulty 8 check. On success the unit is not destroyed
[Sluggish] Only rolls dice every second round
Artifacts
Grants Ranged(short) to the bearer
Intelligent(?)
The Archive
Lowers difficulty of drawing by 2
Increases output of drawing by +1/dice
Increases mana income by +1 / turn
Allows shard fusion/destruction
A detailed consideration of the entities which lurk below and how to effectively bind them into perpetual servitude
Diplomacy
Relations: Respectful and amiable
Nephroditi: The Bonemancer Wanderer
Relations: Business-like
Trade route: +1 silver piece / turn
Axiom: The Fistcaster Loyalist
Relations: Hatred
Missing an arm
Shardless
Ingvar: The Instigator Mechano-Sage
Relations: Unknown
Summary
Cook headed south. They'd heard that New Thett was in that direction and now was the time to "discover" it. Following the coast around eventually they struck the path which led back toward Caldeot. Confidently they followed it in the opposite direction, down toward the south and west. The geography gradually changed, the forests of cyprus, olive and linden gave way to oak and birch while rocky outcroppings burst from within the soil, reaching toward the skies like the fossilised claws of some long dead beast.
A short time into the second day, Cook and his scouts stopped at a fork in the road. It was obvious which way New Thett lay as there was a sign. The sign also confirmed that Caldeot was someway behind them. The other direction along the fork was labelled as 'Laren Mine', but somebody had attempted to strike this out unsuccessfully. A little way further they came to a pair of farm labourers toiling in a field, and Cook asked about the mine and why the name had been struck out. The answer was simple: It was haunted. The mine had been highly productive until recently. An expected shipment of copper ore didn't arrive, so the Thetti noble who owned it, Lord Laren, sent out some of his men to investigate. They did not return. A second, much larger, expedition found the mine deserted and confirmed that anybody who went in far enough to need to light a lantern would never been seen again. Unwilling to throw endless souls to their doom, the mine was abandoned. Cook checked the dates and confirmed that the haunting coincided with the arrival of Lady Cinderella.
The night was closing in on the third day of travel when the lights of New Thett could be seen. The town surrounded a natural bay which was full of ships of all shapes and sizes. The city was generally quite low and split into two distinct regions by a wall that had long been overwhelmed by the growth of the merchant town. The newer, outer region was dotted with a number of squat stepped pyramids. A second taller wall encompassed most of the town, but there were signs of habitation butted up here and there outside of even this. No doubt each of those corresponded to a gate. The road ahead met the town before turning south, but Cook and his team of scouts headed back home to Glassalia rather than explore further abroad.
[Explore check fails. No secret bonuses this time]
Within her tower, Cinders stood before the fused crystal and set her hands on the warm metallic surface. It shifted a little underneath her fingers. Inside of it she could feel a wealth of energy. Breathing deeply, she grasped at the energy and pulled it within herself. The flow was near overwhelming, but Cinders' will was strong and she was able to constrain it to a manageable level. The shard was reaching for her too, trying to draw some aspect of Cinders in exchange for the power, but the lavashaper resisted. Drawing arcane energy was potentially a two way street it seemed.
[Drawing succeeds +13 mana]
Exhilarated from her success, Cinders left her tower - there was some commotion with the commoners. A new family had arrived: Husband, wife, daughter just of working age and an infant. There was some discussion about whether Glassalia welcomed outsiders and questioning about where the family had come from. Cinders arrived nearly noticed, and was able to listen to their tiresome story of bandits stealing what little they had and burning their crops. It was a boring tale that had no relevance. Glassalia needed bodies used to working. And all were welcome to serve her.
[Growth Event! +3 Peasants join Glassalia]
Decision made, she left the peasants to figure out the logistics and strolled along the fringe of the forest. Hours passed as the wizard surveyed her land and mused on what would come next. Would she gather the rest of the shards and bind them all into her own crystal? Would that starve this world entirely of magic once more? Would she crush the other crystals one at a time? Would she ignore all of this and follow more esoteric avenues? Her revelry was interrupted by a baby crying.
The two children from the new residents of Glassalia were on the beach. The elder was doing a poor job of comforting her baby, holding it out in front of her. She whispered a story to it that Cinders just caught on the wind,
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child, and wanted everything for himself, and the young girl was practically a slave. But what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and he had given her certain powers. So one night, when the baby had been particularly cruel to her, she called on the goblins for help! "Say your right words," the goblins said, "and we'll take the baby to the Goblin City. And you will be free." But the girl knew that the king would keep the baby in his castle for ever and ever and ever, and turn it into a goblin."
Cinders watched with interest. Watched not only the teenage drama but also the lines of destiny that connected the siblings. The interesting thing about babies was that it was impossible to tell if they had Potential. But it was possible to inject Potential into them regardless if you tried hard enough. And it was this that Cinders could see future: A possible new apprentice.
The girl's voice picked up as she spoke, until she was holding the crying baby aloft and calling out
"I can bear it no longer! Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!"
Perhaps now was the time to hurry destiny along.
Decision Time
(A letter, a number, a symbol from each option and then and specify Mana/Fortune for your vote bonus)
Peasant action:
A*: Build houses (shelter for 25 peasants) (costs 15 resources)[/s]
B*: Build a farm (+20 food) (Costs 15 resources)[/s]
C: Build a ship (allows contact with Drome and whaling) (costs 100 resources)
E: Establish a trade route with Caldeot (+1 silver piece / turn) (costs 10 silver pieces)
F : Send a spy to Caldeot (costs 1 peasant, 10 silver pieces and 1 silver piece / turn)
G: Send an envoy to New Thett
H*: Raise militia (produces a [Militia] unit, costs 5 resources and 5 peasants)
I : Work a double shift on the sawmill (produces 5+1d6 resources)
*requires choosing option 1 due to a lack of resources
Cinders action:
1: Help the peasants (Pay 2x resource cost in mana and 0 resources on build, or pay 5 mana on production to obtain +1d8 resources) [Make sure the peasant action chosen makes sense]
2: Try to draw more mana from the crystal shards (difficulty 11: Success gains 3d8+3 mana, Failure is bad)
3: Construct a mana focus (costs 50 mana. Reduces drawing difficulty by 3 and adds +1d8 to drawing)
4: Accelerate the experiments (costs 3 mana to obtain +1d8 study)
5: Call for an audience with Nephroditi (costs 3 mana)
6: Boil the lake to expose the drowned city (costs 100 mana)
7: Attack/Annex Caldeot/New Thett (choose one and specify units)
8: Personally travel to New Thett to establish diplomatic relations
9: Investigate the mine (specify any units to accompany Cinders)
10: Release the automaton and follow it to the tundra and Ingvar's reunion (specify units)
11: Muse quietly on your throne (effectively a turn skip)
Baby action
£: Wait until the baby is untended and take it unseen as a new apprentice (costs 15 mana)
$: Stride out to the beach and relieve the girl of her sibling to be your new protégé (costs 15 mana)
%: Leave the baby for the moment, see if it develops Potential naturally before taking it into the Obsidian Tower
I say leave a note from the "Goblin King" just for flavor.