Shifts that discriminate between teams, are too complex by the moderator's standards, or are too grand in scale or scope, will be altered beyond what was intended. This will be focused on making them more reasonable.Sorry Tric but I don't think that shift will fly. It'll need to affect both teams the same.
At the end of the design phase the moderator will roll a d6. On a 6 both teams receive the designs the other team designed instead of their own.
It does though. If we do Tech stuff, it suffers. If we do Magic stuff, it's better.Quote from: from the existing rulesShifts that discriminate between teams, are too complex by the moderator's standards, or are too grand in scale or scope, will be altered beyond what was intended. This will be focused on making them more reasonable.Sorry Tric but I don't think that shift will fly. It'll need to affect both teams the same.
My proposal for a chaos inducing, salt producing shift;Quote from: ShiftAt the end of the design phase the moderator will roll a d6. On a 6 both teams receive the designs the other team designed instead of their own.
Reverse 6: TricMagic
Named Heroes: these are Unique and powerful units that can be improved by designs added to them. They get stronger as they fight
Named heroes: Thanatos Russ (1)
Named heroes:(1) Thanatos Russ
Reverse 6:(2) Tric Magic, Jerick
Named heroes:(2) Thanatos Russ, Failbird
Reverse 6:(2) Tric Magic, Jerick
Named heroes:(1) Thanatos Russ,Worst case scenario, it does a funny on turn one and either us or the Red Team Shift it away the very next turn. I figure it's worth that minor risk to get a +1
Reverse 6:(3) Tric Magic, Jerick, Failbird
A large(about twice the height of a pawn upright), inhuman construct made of durable metacrystal, colored according to the faction it belongs to. Moves at a slow walk when upright, or a sprint on all fours. Moderate Intelligence, can follow moderately advanced directions, but cannot move in formation due to feral mind. Its forelimbs end in metacrystal scythes that deal moderate damage in broad sweeping slashes.A solid crowd-clearing shock troop, sprints ahead of the army and then gets up and starts cleaving gashes into the front line when it reaches them. Will serve to massively soften the enemy force before our army proper even engages.
A large humanoid construct made of durable metacrystal, colored according to the faction it belongs to. Moves at a brisk walk and in solid formations. Complex intelligence, may follow complex directions and move in complex formations. Wields a pair of metacrystal tower shields that deal minor damage but have a high likelihood of blocking attacks, especially in proper formation.A living wall. In theory while the Reavers are charging in and opening holes in the enemies lines, the Bulwarks would be marching in front and guarding our front lines from Rook beams or whatever other ranged weapons the enemy potentially develop.
Bishop ():
Fairy Gate ():
-Primary?: TricMagic
Reaver ():
-Primary?: TricMagic
Bulwark ():
-Primary?:
Roll the Dice, let them fall where they may ():
Fear is the mindkiller. Though It'd be silly to be caught with the Wizard chess piece when they have a Bishop.On the contrary I'd much rather have THE WIZARD
Swarmers are small, fast, skittering, six-legged assemblies of metacrystal. They have a pincer on their front and their rear is a device used to make other swarmers. Swarmers can only make swarmers (or other very similar swarmer vairents we design in the future) but do so rather rapidly allowing for quick, exponential growth of their numbers. When approaching an enemy they will attempt to either burrow into or latch onto them. Once secured they'll begin to vibrate and resonate quickly detonating in an explosion of crystal shards and released energy
Bishop ():
Fairy Gate ():
-Primary?: TricMagic
Reaver ():
-Primary?: TricMagic
Bulwark (1): Jerick
-Primary?:
Swarmer (1): Jerick
Roll the Dice, let them fall where they may ():
The WizardFear is the mindkiller. Though It'd be silly to be caught with the Wizard chess piece when they have a Bishop.On the contrary I'd much rather have THE WIZARDSpoiler (click to show/hide)
Bishop ():One Wizard for your wizarding needs.
Fairy Gate ():
-Primary?:
Reaver ():
-Primary?:
Bulwark (2): Jerick, TricMagic
-Primary?:
Swarmer (1): Jerick
The Wizard (1): TricMagic
-Primary?: TricMagic
Roll the Dice, let them fall where they may ():
Bishop ():
Fairy Gate ():
-Primary?:
Reaver (1): Failbird
-Primary?: Failbird
Bulwark (3): Jerick, TricMagic, Failbird
-Primary?:
Swarmer (1): Jerick
The Wizard (1): TricMagic
-Primary?: TricMagic
Roll the Dice, let them fall where they may ():
Supporting tric may as well gib majority
Bishop ():Thank ye for thy contribution to magical might and walls.
Fairy Gate ():
-Primary?:
Reaver (1): Failbird
-Primary?: Failbird
Bulwark (4): Jerick, TricMagic, Failbird, Thanatos Russ
-Primary?:
Swarmer (1): Jerick
The Wizard (2): TricMagic, Thanatos Russ
-Primary?: TricMagic
Roll the Dice, let them fall where they may ():
Bishop ():
Fairy Gate ():
-Primary?:
Reaver ():
-Primary?:
Bulwark (4): Jerick, TricMagic, Failbird, Thanatos Russ
-Primary?:
Swarmer (1): Jerick
The Wizard (3): TricMagic, Thanatos Russ, Failbird
-Primary?: TricMagic, Failbird
Roll the Dice, let them fall where they may ():
Quote from: BulwarkA large humanoid construct made of durable metacrystal, colored according to the faction it belongs to. Moves at a brisk walk and in solid formations. Complex intelligence, may follow complex directions and move in complex formations. Wields a pair of metacrystal tower shields that deal minor damage but have a high likelihood of blocking attacks, especially in proper formation.
The Wizard
A purple clothed crystal being specialized in metamagical flow. The cloth acts as conductor for magical energy, allowing the piece to build up a large amount of energy into a compressed sphere before lobbing it at foes. Like most compressed energy when containment fails, it explodes. Violently. Comes with a cool staff topped in a cyan blue crystal filled with the compression spell formula. Fights from the mid/backlines ordering others to protect it. Low Usage.
Cloth Shroud should at least make it simple to form alts. Also got an idea to use the stuff to form golems with a central core, using it as a conductor. Overall a very productive turn.
Bulwarks can have a lesser version. Keep the shield, standard metacrystal durability. Perhaps we should shift a Revision Phase into being?
After the battle phase each team will choose a design (either their own or the enemy's) to either make one step cheaper or one step more expensive
Six Core elements, magical fundamentals from which to be built upon. Fire, Water(yes that includes ice), Earth(Everything from metal to soil), Air, Electricity, Natura(Biological matter and Life). All in balance around the elementally neutral base that is Metacrystal.
With their formation, the creation of non-Metacrystal things becomes dramatically simplified, provided they are reasonably within the bounds of the elements. However the elements are not unlimited. To create a fully animate construct will require one of two things:
1. A basis in the biology from Natura, which are capable of higher speed and thought with less difficulty, but resist large scale integration of other elements and can be killed with things such as blood loss or destruction of vital organs.(Theoretically starvation is also an issue, but it's not hard to just produce lumps of plant/meat matter to be fed on)
or
2. A Metacrystal core, providing far more elemental flexibility and possessing no biological failings, but causing greater limitations in mental and physiological complexity.
Revision Phase ()Voting for more complex materials for making more complex units.
Unvision Phase ()
Market Fluctuations ()
Elemental Foundations (1); Jerick
Revision Phase ()Yeah. I'll go for Revision Phase if we mostly-but-not-quite flub a design this turn and/or get handed one by the 6.
Unvision Phase ()
Market Fluctuations ()
Elemental Foundations (2); Jerick, Failbird
Revision Phase ()
Unvision Phase ()
Market Fluctuations ()
Elemental Foundations (2); Jerick, Failbird, TricMagic
Those Stymphalian things are exactly the kind of thing we could be requesting from the Menagerie. So the question is do we make a negotiator or something to care and feed animals this turn at the risk of losing progress on the battlefront? Or do we ignore making that kind of infrastructure design, ignore future long run benefits to hit them harder now? I feel there's a good chance they'll make something to support animals this turn. Otherwise what's the point of making that shift?Yes but here's the thing: this world is currently not made to support the existence of long-term life like the Menagerie would want. We can feed them and give water, sure, but the lack of sunlight is going to be a big problem for most creatures. And the Stymphalian's in particular are the kind of creature where their main function is inherently sacrificial, they basically use themselves as living arrows and that means anything they're exposing themselves to anything they don't kill. If we design a creature we can at least be sure we'll have unrestricted use of it and that it can have metacrystal eyes for sunless sight.
Swarmers are fast, skittering, and winged six-legged insects of quarter a meter in length. They have compound eyes, a pincer on their front, and emits pheromones to work in concert with other insects. When approaching an enemy they will attempt to either burrow into or latch onto them. Once secured they'll begin to to tear into and burrow into the target. They are capable of self-detonation through a chemical reaction to break holes in tougher prey. Their complexity is directly offset by their ability to be created in large numbers due to their small size.
Pawns given a durable metacrystal shield based upon the bulwarks and a sharp obsidian/crystal lance, they interlink into a shield wall with allies. The use of earth-aspect mana is imbued into their bodies, making them foes of surprising resilience. They travel the ground, linked to the earth, but can climb walls as if it were floor and have a solid stance hen supporting each other.
A large inhuman fire elemental made of flames, colored according to the faction it belongs to. Moves at a slow float on the ground when upright, or a formless flight. While formless, it's core is exposed to attack, but it can spread freely to cause chaos and appear at any point those touch. Minor Intelligence, can follow simple directions, but cannot move in formation due to it's nature. Its forelimbs end in razer-hot scythes tipped in white flames. It uses these to slash through the armor as it spreads fire and panic. Given enough time, it's body can become giant by absorbing more of it's element, feeding off the fallen.
The messengers are floating assemblies of stable metacrystal that hover just a little ways off the ground. They cannot fly any higher, are rather slow and have no offensive or defensive abilities. However they can read the minds of any nearby creature or entity capable of something resembling thought and they can transmit their own thoughts and ideas directly to anything it can read. Cognitively simple minds can be overwhelmed by the thoughts and ideas the messenger sends them allowing the messenger to convert them to the blue entity's cause. They are however able to send messages between messengers and far greater distance allowing instant transmission of information. The messengers are very cognitively complex and are capable of high level strategic thinking and coordination and serve as officers for the blue entitiy's forces. These traits also make them excellent negotiators
Main design
Army Swarmer ()
Shieldbears ()
Messengers (1) Jerick
Mercenary Recruit
Flame Reaper ()
The birds would likely be an Air/Nature/metal mix?I mean, I'm no scientist but I'm pretty sure Birds don't need wind magic to fly. These are pretty much just reinforced birds of above-average size. Think like a shoebill with a spear for a beak.
Main designMy bad I though you were submitting the flame reaper as something from the menagerie. My brain has been scrambled lately. Hence me missing the fact that we get two designs this turn. (It has been quite the week for me too). That said I'm not sold on making a request just yet. If we fail we'll be locked out of making a request for a number of turns or we could get the vague GM promises of other consequences. I'd rather get a negotiator to improve our odds of not screwing up our merc rolls. I'd be much more comfortable rolling every chance we got then.
Army Swarmer (1) Jerick
Shieldbears ()
Flame Reaper ()
Messengers (1) Jerick
Mercenary Recruit
Support Unit ()
No requests yet(1) Jerick
Main design
Army Swarmer: (1) Jerick
Shieldbearers: ()
Flame Reaper: ()
Messengers: (1) Jerick
Mercenary Recruit
Support Unit ()
No requests yet (2): Jerick, Failbird
Question, does it actually cost us anything to hire mercs?
Main design
Army Swarmer: (1) Jerick
+1 : ()
Shieldbearers: ()
Flame Reaper: ()
Messengers: (2) Jerick, Failbird
+1: (1) Failbird
Mercenary Recruit
Support Unit ()
No requests yet (2): Jerick, Failbird
Main design
Army Swarmer: (2) Jerick, TricMagic
+1 : (1) TricMagic
Shieldbearers: (1) TricMagic
Flame Reaper: ()
Messengers: (2) Jerick, Failbird,
+1: (1) Failbird
Mercenary Recruit
Support Unit (1) TricMagic
No requests yet (2): Jerick, Failbird
Main designThat's purely an assumption. The truth is we don't know what kind of threshold we're dealing with for the requests. Something as generic as 'support' won't be the highest but we're currently rolling with a minus two. If the messengers are even just alright we go from -2, to +2 on those rolls. A single turn of patience means our odds go way up (unless the reverse dice kicks in). I don't want to be sitting here having pissed off the menagerie with an excellent negotiator unit not able to negotiate just because we couldn't wait a turn. We can't support too much right now anyway.
Army Swarmer: (2) Jerick, TricMagic
+1 : (1) TricMagic
Shieldbearers: (1) TricMagic
Flame Reaper: ()
Messengers: (2) Jerick, Failbird,
+1: (2) Failbird, Jerick
Mercenary Recruit
Support Unit (1) TricMagic
No requests yet (2): Jerick, Failbird
Fallacy never answered if we could cut contracts.
If we've contracted a mercenary design, we have to feed it. I'm asking if, if we want another design but it would put us over the amount we can pay, can we cut loose a design we received.Fallacy never answered if we could cut contracts.
Okay, please explain what you mean exactly by 'cut contract'. I'm happy to answer reasonable questions.
Failure may aggravate the relevant Mercenary faction, making Mercenary Requests to them temporarily impossible, or having far worse consequences.What we're worried is about flubbing the roll and making them not want to deal with us for several turns (or possibly attack us if we roll really poorly). We don't want to anger the zoo keepers.
No that's not the worry. We can always make a design to make us able to support more mercs. That's not a problem. Capacity is not the issue. The issue is that bad rolls on the negotiation rolls are stated to be something that can piss off the menagerie keepers.If we anger them, we can just shift in a new merc group. And I went for something fairly generic for a reason.Quote from: from the rulesFailure may aggravate the relevant Mercenary faction, making Mercenary Requests to them temporarily impossible, or having far worse consequences.What we're worried is about flubbing the roll and making them not want to deal with us for several turns (or possibly attack us if we roll really poorly). We don't want to anger the zoo keepers.
If we've contracted a mercenary design, we have to feed it. I'm asking if, if we want another design but it would put us over the amount we can pay, can we cut loose a design we received.Fallacy never answered if we could cut contracts.
Okay, please explain what you mean exactly by 'cut contract'. I'm happy to answer reasonable questions.