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Author Topic: Wands Race - [Moskurg] {COMPLETED}  (Read 183638 times)

Nirur Torir

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Design Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #15 on: March 19, 2017, 08:50:37 am »

Teletalk is my secondary pick. It was my first, but it doesn't open the way as much for offensive spells (I'd like to at least be close to an offensive spell, in case they pull something powerful), and one wizard per 5 squads limits its usefulness slightly.

Detect magic is a good idea, and opens new doors, like mage candidate screening and anti-magic. It might be enough to let us know where the wand is before the fireballs start flowing forth, so we could scatter.

I feel like we could actually do this (sort of) with a revision? Like, not make it work at super long range, but even slightly longer range (5-10 meters, or something) would be enough to keep wizards out of harm's way whilst they read minds.
That's still too close to be useful in a full scale battle. If we can get a way to use multiple casters on one spell first, then we might be able to use a mere revise action to get it long ranged enough.
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S34N1C

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Design Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #16 on: March 19, 2017, 09:47:18 am »

So who's doing the propoganda? I'm shit at that kind of thing.


+1 to teletalk
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Kashyyk

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Design Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #17 on: March 19, 2017, 12:24:36 pm »

I plus one teletalk. As it is written, the Arstotzkan's will have to infer from Iituem's descriptions as to our spell. As it is subtle that will be hard to do. They'll have no idea what our spell is;, only that we're weirdly organised and reactive.
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evilcherry

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Design Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #18 on: March 19, 2017, 12:30:26 pm »

Always a Moskurger.

+1 to Teletalk

Given their lack of brains capable of thought, Astrotakans can only command the most straightforward kind of magic or the fireball.

NUKE9.13

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Design Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #19 on: March 19, 2017, 12:48:11 pm »

Some propaganda, then:

al-Mutriqa (The Hammer) is a pious man, driven by a single vision; to bring the Light of God to the heathen Arstotzkans. And he truly, in his heart of hearts, believes that the best way to do this is to crush their heads until they convert. He is an accomplished warrior, well-read scholar, master poet, and wizard extraordinaire.
He did not set out to become a wizard; he simply read the Spellbook out of idle curiosity, hoping to perhaps find some inspiration for a new poem. Yet what he read turned some switch in his brain, and he saw in those ancient pages another aspect of his God; a new way to praise His name and do His deeds. He wrote his poem, in the end, and several more. But these poems were also treatises on the nature of magic, and attempts to combine elements of the faith with it.
al-Mutriqa wears fine scalemail armour ((If wizards can wear armour in this setting)) beneath his flowing robes, which are opulently dyed in yellow, red, and purple. A helmet is worn beneath his turban. In one hand he holds a mace, in the other an open spellbook. When he casts he is surrounded by a glowing light, which he claims is the Light of God made manifest through his devotion.
As a poet and a scholar, he is considered a paragon by the nobles of Moskurg, who gladly follow him into battle. As a warrior and a man of the faith, he is considered a hero by the common soldiers, who fight twice as hard at the sight of his banner fluttering in the wind.
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Iituem

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Revsion Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #20 on: March 19, 2017, 04:10:06 pm »

Teletalk: [1+1, 4, 1+1] After several months of hard work, you have managed to figure out two-way telepathy between mystics.  You encountered many difficulties and unexpected problems along the way, since there was a lot of trouble getting the mind reading to just hit surface thoughts, or to read thoughts correctly instead of just emotions.  Nevertheless, you have a workaround; teletalk beacons, glyph-marked rods that come in pairs allow two mages who can cast the modified version of Detect Thoughts to read one another's mind.  The expense of the beacons, which require forged bronze and silver to function, limits their distribution to existing mystics.  You were also unable to solve the range limitation of the base spell, so whilst this allows squads to co-ordinate only relatively close groups can teletalk.  This limits its deployment in full battle.

Unfortunately, there is a pretty significant drawback; frequent usage of the teletalk rods results in emotional 'bleedthrough' between mages, accidental sharing of dreams and other forms of psychological trauma.  The mystics who use them are often unstable and deranged, occasionally having full on psychotic breaks or even going mad and speaking only in fragmentary riddles.  Morale of led troops suffers whilst teletalk mystics are co-ordinating them, a drawback which is at least mitigated by improved communication.

It is now the Revision Phase.
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Kashyyk

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Revision Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #21 on: March 19, 2017, 04:13:47 pm »

Darn. I think the bleedthrough is the more important problem to fix. If we can get that safe, we could in theory have relays of mages passing information down a battle line.
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NUKE9.13

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Revision Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #22 on: March 19, 2017, 04:20:13 pm »

Hmm. Well, we could've rolled better there.

Darn. I think the bleedthrough is the more important problem to fix. If we can get that safe, we could in theory have relays of mages passing information down a battle line.
Yeah, fair enough. As it is now Teletalk is basically useless. And as you say, the applications of safe, medium-range communications are endless.

I'll vote for Fixing the Teletalk Bleedthrough
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Nirur Torir

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Revision Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #23 on: March 19, 2017, 06:18:52 pm »

Bah, I wanted leather armor. Gotta fix this before it breaks all our experienced mages.

Fixing the Teletalk Bleedthrough
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Iituem

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Revision Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #24 on: March 19, 2017, 09:04:40 pm »

Teletalk Revision: [1!]  Unfortunately, despite your best efforts you are unable to remove the bleedthrough effect in teletalk connections before the year is out, so ambushes although well co-ordinated are led by spitting, erratic lunatics.  You make some progress towards fixing the problem, but not enough.

Stand by for Combat Phase.
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evictedSaint

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Revision Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #25 on: March 19, 2017, 09:23:23 pm »

Am I reading this right? Over the course of four die rolls, we got three 1's?

Iituem

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Re: Wands Race - 911 Revision Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #26 on: March 19, 2017, 11:20:44 pm »

Forenia, 911

In the mountains, the balance of power shifts.  Moskurg has moved additional troops into the mountains to try and gain back their castle, but they fail spectacularly to even get to the battlefield, losing skirmish after skirmish to Arstotzkan traps, many of which are concealed behind rolling clouds of fog.  Arstotzka in turn has failed to win out on most of its return skirmishes with Moskurg, because although the mountains are astoundingly defensible, this goes both ways.  Nevertheless, Arstotzkan forces were able to push back Moskurgers around their newly captured castle and have been building outer walls and watchtowers in place to hold their new territory.  Once again, terrain has proved the key factor in victory.

Arstotzka has gained significant territory in the mountains.

Despite our losses against terrain, Moskurg is still fielding an enlarged army in the mountains, defending our last holdings and ready for a glorious push forwards - when circumstances permit.  Unfortunately, any benefits from increased communication between skirmishing parties has been lost due to the growing insanity amongst our mystics.  Amongst the many other advantages the Arstotzkans have in this terrain, the excessive range of Arstotzkan longbows is responsible for many of the deaths trying to reach battle; proud Moskurgers tend to march in the open, where they are easily struck down by such foes.


In the jungles, fighting is as bitter as ever.  Moskurger raiders have the clear advantage in the thick jungle, despite the skill of proud Arstotzkan longbowmen who are nevertheless not best suited to ambush tactics.  Magical concealment in the form of rolling clouds of steam help somewhat, but Moskurger raiders are seemingly always able to tell which clouds contain real troops and which are decoys, raining arrows down upon them.  Although the two armies are evenly matched when it comes to actual battle, only half of the Arstotzkan troops ever manage to reach the battlefield, a cruel mirror of their own victories in the higlands.  Moskurg slowly begins to make some territorial gains, but their real victory comes in the butchering of thousands of brave Arstotzkan souls.

The favourable conditions of high heat and excellent ambush ground have repeatedly won the day for glorious Moskurg, but the true hero of the hour is none other than al-Mutriqa and the Black Phantasms, our finest wizard-poet and battle-scholar and his cadre of black-armoured riders.  Surrounded by the finest horsemen of Moskurg, al-Mutriqa is a blazing sun amidst a dark cloud of destruction.  Brightly burnished scale mail sits beneath wide, flowing robes of red, gold and purple, as al-Mutriqa rides into the terrified bands of the enemy, striking skulls in twain with his heavy golden mace and raising a shining white wand to cast his light across the field.  al-Mutriqa himself seems to be one of the few wizards immune to the teletalk madness; he has simply grown more fervent in his faith with exposure to the rods.

Strangely, a madness seems to have affected the enemy as well as our own.  Common soldiers in hide vests with well-made longswords were seen giving orders to brightly armoured buffoons who seemed to have little idea how to ride a horse.  Arstotzkan thanes argued in broad daylight over questions of tactics and strategy, sometimes making it almost unneccessary to read their thoughts.  Coupled with our continual reads of the enemy and the somewhat haphazard co-ordination of our troops, we continue to use the enemy's own tactics against them, eliminating any benefits their leadership might provide.


Fighting in the plains has been even more brutal than in the jungle.  Armies clash with common frequency, and with no clear advantage in raids and skirmishes armies are meeting one another more or less intact.  Arstotzka successfully took a major town in the plains early in the summer, only to lose it again in autumn.  Territory is changing hands with alarming speed, but there have been no real gains.  There have, however, been losses on both sides, with Moskurger cavalry chasing down fleeing Arstotzkans and Arstotzkan mages entangling fleeing Moskurgers in what appear to be massive spiderwebs, spun out of thin air, that hold their targets in place long enough for the infantry to come take hostages or execute the losers.  Although both sides have lost a number of troops, the Arstotzkans have come out of the exchange worse for wear.

Despite our classic advantages in formation fighting and our numerical superiority, even our cavalry support, we have had a hard time of the fight chiefly because despite their inferior troops (in number, anyway, which is where it counts), they are supported by their own master wizard, Myark.  The most frustrating thing about Myark is that he is so difficult to find; being of common stock, he hides amongst the carls rather than leading them amongst the Arstotzkan thanes, only to reveal himself by raising what appears to be Arstotzka's stolen wand, a short staff of burnt wood, set with bronze runes.  As soon as this staff is presented, many of our spearmen will try to flee, only to be held in place by their braver comrades - at least until the fireballs hit.


At sea, the tides have turned, at least in the western sea.  Admist the vicious sea battles between longship and sailboat, sailboats have been attacked by swarms of biting, stinging insects, which would not be such a problem were it for the fact that their stings seem to burn away the cloth of sails!  Both Moskurg and Arstotzka lose ships as fighting intensifies, but with the aid of their blazing wasps, the Arstotzkans are gaining command of the jungle coast.


We have lost troops, but we have a comparative advantage.  The King has chosen to reinforce the western sea and send more troops to the plains in hope of victory.


It is 912, the Design Phase.

Propaganda Contest:  Moskurg has received the Revision Credit this turn, due to their entertaining propaganda description of al-Mutriqa.

Spoiler: State of Forenia, 911 (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Moskurger Equipment (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Moskurger Spells (click to show/hide)

Am I reading this right? Over the course of four die rolls, we got three 1's?

I'm afraid so.  Although two became 2s due to picking a fairly simple project.
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Shadowclaw777

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Re: Wands Race - 912 Design Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #27 on: March 20, 2017, 12:06:38 am »

I think joining one of these one of these Arms Game would be quite interesting..., Glory to Moskurg!

I recommend a spell to help us deal and defeat large amount of groups, and since we are utilizing spells for the mind than maybe we could design something to be something akin to Induce Mass Insanity or if that is a bit too ambitious than maybe something as Induce Mass Confusion , I'd imagine that while these concepts of these spells are certainly pretty sporadic that it could help deal with large groupings of troops. I'd just assume that this kind of spell would be directed from the spell caster and not the surrounding area which would of course be detrimental. While, yes certainly since our opponent is using cloaking spells than something like a True Sight or whatever could be developed, but that IMO is the boring and consistent route.

I'd imagine for our double revision phase we could do some improvements over the pre-mentioned padded armor to become made out of much more resilient material, maybe focus on making the armor more sturdier against fire-based attacks for our soldiers in the plains? Than either we try for another go at removing the side effects that is caused by Teletalk or maybe focus on making the sails on our boats more potent to defend against to being inflamed, as to protect our boats against the flame-based wasps
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: March 20, 2017, 12:10:51 am by Shadowclaw777 »
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evictedSaint

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Re: Wands Race - 912 Design Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #28 on: March 20, 2017, 12:08:04 am »

Alright, let's spend this turn trying to hammer out the kinks in our radios teletalk wands.  If we can get rid of the bleedthrough (perhaps by refining what thought frequency the wands are attuned to?) we should then see if we can boost the range without bumping up the expense.  It's fine if they're simply Expensive, we wouldn't need more than one a squad anyways.

NUKE9.13

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Re: Wands Race - 912 Design Phase [Moskurg]
« Reply #29 on: March 20, 2017, 02:26:19 am »

Teletalk Revision: [1!] 
Oh Eff. I thought revision was supposed to be reliable.

Alright, let's spend this turn trying to hammer out the kinks in our radios teletalk wands.  If we can get rid of the bleedthrough (perhaps by refining what thought frequency the wands are attuned to?) we should then see if we can boost the range without bumping up the expense.  It's fine if they're simply Expensive, we wouldn't need more than one a squad anyways.
Sounds like a job for our revision credit.

I recommend a spell to help us deal and defeat large amount of groups
I dunno, it sounds like when it comes to large-scale combat we come out ahead. I'd rather have something to deal with skirmishes.
Also, it sounds like the Arstotzkans prefer smaller groups of elite units.

Quote
and since we are utilizing spells for the mind than maybe we could design something to be something akin to Induce Mass Insanity or if that is a bit too ambitious than maybe something as Induce Mass Confusion
I was going to say that this is outside of our sphere, but then I remembered that we just invented a spell that drives its users mad. All we have to do is open up mental communication with the enemy mages and deliberately flood them with foreign thoughts and emotions.
I think going for Mass- anything at this point is a bit ambitious. Besides, 'tis the wizards and commanders that we really want to target.
I think we do need an offensive spell, so I suggest Induce Targeted Insanity- by reversing the direction of Detect Thoughts (/ making Teletalk one way), and having our already insane mages channel their insanity through it into the enemy, we can hopefully drive their mages (and possibly commanders?) mad.

Though I could also see the argument for Leather Armour. Or Wooden Shields (covered in leather or fireproof cloth, since they'd be used to block fireballs, amongst other things).

EDIT: Changed my mind, am now supporting Gust of Wind instead.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2017, 11:32:41 am by NUKE9.13 »
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