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[UristMcRiley]

+1 too Change Venom

[Doomblade187]

Spirit Bee
Change Venom: (2) Doomblade, UristMcRiley

[Stirk]

"Free AI" Concept:

Unique Resource: High up in the mountains in central Etroa is a fresh water spring surrounded by ice and snow. This is the "Whispering Water", as its name suggests you can hear snippets of conversation long past simply by being near it. Any object dipped in this water gains the bizarre ability to "whisper", that is to say you hold it up to your ear and can hear voices speaking at low volume. At first the whispering is nonsense. Just random phrases perhaps spoken near the spring in the past centuries. This can be remedied by whispering back into the object. It will learn a new phrase like a parrot would. So for example when an ancient hunter took his arrow then dipped it in the Whispering Water and repeated "East five suns to town. East five suns to town. East five suns to town....", any who held the arrow to their ear would hear "East five suns to town" until the object was broken.

As strange as this phenomena is, stranger still is the discovery that it is actually learning the phrase rather than simply mimicking it. An arrow tied to a tree as a sign mark will be unable to go East five suns to the town, but it will "understand" that there is a town five days by foot to the East. Early Etroans got little use of this ability, despite belief that charming objects would increase their potency. It wasn't until more advanced mechanisms became common place that this was put into use. As the whispering is caused by slight vibrations in the material mimicking the human vocal cords, it is capable of performing any action that can be done with slight vibrations. In a practical sense this means things like pull on a trigger, flip a small switch, or moving a dial.

For one example of how this would work, we look to a historic account of the assassination of a king. One day a mighty king was found with a bolt through his heart in his bed, despite having many diligent guards watching the doors throughout the night. A crossbow was discovered hidden in his room, and when placed to the ear repeated "Fire when the King enters the bed. Fire when the King enters the bed. Fire when the King enters the bed...", the murder weapon having acted on the assassin's orders pulling its own trigger and completing the mission.

Set Apart: While the pre-agg Etroans had no form of formal writing, the Whispering Waters created an odd "writing system" based utilizing the whispers. Small objects would be whispered into, marked for what they contain, then stored away for later use. Sign posts like those used in the example where common, as where trader's notes, stories, and whatever else you'd expect writing to be utilized for. Common material for use was leaves (often sewn together in a primitive "book" or scroll) for temporary notes, with rocks being used for more permanent records, and precious metals and gems for sacred or critically important state messages (As in another historic account, where a Prince sent a ring to a Princess asking for her hand in marriage).

I may be getting too much into Godgame mode and not enough into AR mode >_>

[Rockeater]

Spirit Bee
Change Venom: (3) Doomblade, UristMcRiley, Rockeater

[Jilladilla]

The continued lack of including all proposals in the votebox is distressing to me...
Apologies for the question marks, some of them were inherited by Twinwolf's 'list of proposals' that they put on Discord, and I wasn't sure what Stirk wanted their latest proposal to be called.

Prompt 1; what set us apart?:
Devil's Swarm (req: "Change Venom")
Etroan Clans 
Etroan Baths

Prompt 2; our Special Resource, and a thing that uses it:
Etronium + boulder-kite-scouts
Spirit Bees + Spirit-beekeeping(?)
Sunshard + Heating
Actnium + Ironbark Armor: (1) Jilladilla
Change Venom(?) + Does of Burden: (3) Doomblade, UristMcRiley, Rockeater
Free AI?/Whispering Water? + Writing System?

As another point for Actnium... Do remember everyone that we are not restricted to just this one resource; we can make more. And last I checked, there were no rules against making Special Resources interact with each other. Through potentially enhancing whatever other resources we make; we can extract more value out of their sure to be lesser supply; at the cost of increasing Actnium costs (remember that we get 2 of our initial special resource at start as a freebie; after start we can assign a resource to 1 of our nodes). Yes, some of you may think it's boring, but I for one believe that it is a strong baseline that will encourage us to spread out and do many varied wondrous things; instead of being one trick ponies who are nearly utterly reliant on a single unique quirk to compete. A baseline where we can go 'you want warbeasts? Here, you can do them. You want a massive supertank? Yup. We can do that too. A Sky Battleship you say? Whip up an anti-grav or other thing to make things fly that isn't just a rewrite of Caelium (I think Etronium's 'less dense than air' shtick is a good enough break, by the way) and we're good.' It's a plead to a diverse base to allow any and all proposals and ideas to have a chance to thrive. A diverse baseline that allows us to place niche things in the niche they belong in; instead of trying to cram them into other roles that something else would fit better.
I do not plan to keep Actnium as our one and only special resource if we go with it.

[Stirk]

As another point for Actnium... Do remember everyone that we are not restricted to just this one resource; we can make more. And last I checked, there were no rules against making Special Resources interact with each other. Through potentially enhancing whatever other resources we make; we can extract more value out of their sure to be lesser supply; at the cost of increasing Actnium costs (remember that we get 2 of our initial special resource at start as a freebie; after start we can assign a resource to 1 of our nodes). Yes, some of you may think it's boring, but I for one believe that it is a strong baseline that will encourage us to spread out and do many varied wondrous things; instead of being one trick ponies who are nearly utterly reliant on a single unique quirk to compete. A baseline where we can go 'you want warbeasts? Here, you can do them. You want a massive supertank? Yup. We can do that too. A Sky Battleship you say? Whip up an anti-grav or other thing to make things fly that isn't just a rewrite of Caelium (I think Etronium's 'less dense than air' shtick is a good enough break, by the way) and we're good.' It's a plead to a diverse base to allow any and all proposals and ideas to have a chance to thrive. A diverse baseline that allows us to place niche things in the niche they belong in; instead of trying to cram them into other roles that something else would fit better.
I do not plan to keep Actnium as our one and only special resource if we go with it.

But it *will* be our only resource until we can snag a new one, and the resource to define our entire nation. It doesn’t allow for anything unique on its own and adding in a second or third resource doesn’t change that. You can’t make warbeasts or supertanks or flying battleships with *just* this resource. You could sprinkle it on completely normal mundane gear and get a slightly better version, but it doesn’t seem to be enough to open up anything new on its own even in your new argument. What you are saying sounds like it would be something to add later to boost our main resource rather than acting as our main resource by itself.

[Jilladilla]

But it *will* be our only resource until we can snag a new one, and the resource to define our entire nation. It doesn’t allow for anything unique on its own and adding in a second or third resource doesn’t change that. You can’t make warbeasts or supertanks or flying battleships with *just* this resource. You could sprinkle it on completely normal mundane gear and get a slightly better version, but it doesn’t seem to be enough to open up anything new on its own even in your new argument. What you are saying sounds like it would be something to add later to boost our main resource rather than acting as our main resource by itself.

We will be able to snag a new resource as soon as the game proper starts. And I do contest you saying we can't do warbeasts or supertanks with just this resource; sure they may not be as good as they could be with a dedicated resource; but we could do that nonetheless... Sky Battleships I'll give you (I assume your definition is 'basically an actual battleship, but flying'), though we could likely make a pretty potent Zeppelin that could swat any mundane plane out of the sky. And the resource will not necessarily define our entire nation. Inithar came close-ish to that with their Refocyte; but they are more than their resource, if you took the resource away from them they would still be Inithar. (Embral is further detached from their special resource; it does not define them) If all that could be said about our nation is that 'they're the guys with the [INSERT RESOURCE HERE]'; we will have utterly failed lorewise. No matter how cool the resource is or the things we did with that resource were.

Other concerns I have is that you apparently seem to think that it would only give us a minor boost and not get us anything special on its own. I've said this before, and I'll say it again; the power of special resources lies in our creativity in applying it. Even the most fantastical of them could amount to a 'mere +1' if not leveraged properly. There's fun things to be done when we can enhance the properties of things; potentially beyond normal limits, it may be 'mundane' but physics fuckery is still there to be had. Sure, we can enhance gunpowder or bullet itself to get mere '+1 guns'; but what if we instead enhanced the recoil pad's capability to cushion and then proceeded to use a larger bullet, which could then possibly carry a useful payload if big enough? (A combination of those things could potentially get us frighteningly effective Anti-Tank Rifles, note) And your last point; of doing it later to 'boost our main resource'..... Stirk? That would run completely, absolutely, 100% against my true goal with it! As it would then serve to 'boost our one trick further' instead of provide the open doors of possibility it would give as our 'main resource'. (I suppose another way to put it is that I wish to see an interconnected web of special resources that we then leverage to be greater than the sum of their parts; that hasn't been done before in an AR, to the best of my knowledge.)

I will acknowledge that your last point is a technically valid course of action, though... I would just be sad if it came to happen. Wouldn't fault you guys, it would make some tactical sense. But would still be sad.
Sorry for the little rant at you there near the end. It's just you somehow, literally, nearly word-for-word typed out a concern I had.

[Stirk]

We will be able to snag a new resource as soon as the game proper starts

Sure, but we start with two of the resource we're deciding on now and will have to dedicate nodes in order to build more. By the same token there is no urgent need to choose this over the others if we can just make it later. Using just what you are saying now, it would seem smarter to make something else then add this "booster" design later (so it can actually have something to boost).

And I do contest you saying we can't do warbeasts or supertanks with just this resource; sure they may not be as good as they could be with a dedicated resource; but we could do that nonetheless...

Again I would ask for examples. What warbeast or supertank could we make with your resource that we could not using mundane materials?

And the resource will not necessarily define our entire nation

But it is supposed to. Being able to mutate animals however you like during pre-agg days is going to change the way your nation unfolds. Having an unlimited source of heat is going to change how your nation unfolds. If you have a normal nation despite having a near-fantasy resource something went wrong.

I have no idea what any of the things you mention are.

Other concerns I have is that you apparently seem to think that it would only give us a minor boost and not get us anything special on its own. I've said this before, and I'll say it again; the power of special resources lies in our creativity in applying it. Even the most fantastical of them could amount to a 'mere +1' if not leveraged properly. There's fun things to be done when we can enhance the properties of things; potentially beyond normal limits, it may be 'mundane' but physics fuckery is still there to be had. Sure, we can enhance gunpowder or bullet itself to get mere '+1 guns'; but what if we instead enhanced the recoil pad's capability to cushion and then proceeded to use a larger bullet, which could then possibly carry a useful payload if big enough?

Then we still just have +1 guns that went for caliber instead of faster bullets. By the same token we could add some Bear muscles to our soldiers to let them trot around with massive guns, make less-dense-then-air recoiless rifles, or have the steampunk walker use vehicle sized weapons. It isn't like the limiting factor for how big an infantry weapon can be has ever been recoil, while I'm sure the soldier's shoulders would appreciate the help it wouldn't even prevent muzzle rise to allow for faster rates of fire.

I still don't see how this material could be used for super warbeasts or super tanks.

And your last point; of doing it later to 'boost our main resource'..... Stirk? That would run completely, absolutely, 100% against my true goal with it! As it would then serve to 'boost our one trick further' instead of provide the open doors of possibility it would give as our 'main resource'.

What happened to "With creativity and a resource we can do anything!"? If a resource really is just a tool to let us have creative ideas that don't have to conform 100% with reality, then it won't matter what resource we pick. It will still be true. If a resource is just a one note trick, then why would this resource be any different than the others?

[Vostok]

The continued lack of including all proposals in the votebox is distressing to me...
Apologies for the question marks, some of them were inherited by Twinwolf's 'list of proposals' that they put on Discord, and I wasn't sure what Stirk wanted their latest proposal to be called.

Prompt 1; what set us apart?:
Devil's Swarm (req: "Change Venom")
Etroan Clans 
Etroan Baths

Prompt 2; our Special Resource, and a thing that uses it:
Etronium + boulder-kite-scouts
Spirit Bees + Spirit-beekeeping(?)
Sunshard + Heating
Actnium + Ironbark Armor: (2) Jilladilla, Vostok
Change Venom(?) + Does of Burden: (3) Doomblade, UristMcRiley, Rockeater
Free AI?/Whispering Water? + Writing System?

As another point for Actnium... Do remember everyone that we are not restricted to just this one resource; we can make more. And last I checked, there were no rules against making Special Resources interact with each other. Through potentially enhancing whatever other resources we make; we can extract more value out of their sure to be lesser supply; at the cost of increasing Actnium costs (remember that we get 2 of our initial special resource at start as a freebie; after start we can assign a resource to 1 of our nodes). Yes, some of you may think it's boring, but I for one believe that it is a strong baseline that will encourage us to spread out and do many varied wondrous things; instead of being one trick ponies who are nearly utterly reliant on a single unique quirk to compete. A baseline where we can go 'you want warbeasts? Here, you can do them. You want a massive supertank? Yup. We can do that too. A Sky Battleship you say? Whip up an anti-grav or other thing to make things fly that isn't just a rewrite of Caelium (I think Etronium's 'less dense than air' shtick is a good enough break, by the way) and we're good.' It's a plead to a diverse base to allow any and all proposals and ideas to have a chance to thrive. A diverse baseline that allows us to place niche things in the niche they belong in; instead of trying to cram them into other roles that something else would fit better.
I do not plan to keep Actnium as our one and only special resource if we go with it.

[TricMagic]

Salt/meme/funpost.


SALT

For those who lived in the many valleys and forests of the homeland, food was precious. Moreso, one of the first things that catapulted our tribes from mere wanderers was the presence of SALT crystals growing naturally in caves. It was delicious, and eventually, we also learned to use it to preserve food. But that wasn't all it did for us. For some reason, our people grew to be far stronger than the animals we hunted. Rather, as our tribes lived, some came to experiment with the SALT crystals. Feeding meat salted by this SALT to animals we tamed actually increased their overall strength as well. Eating the meat of a bear preserved with SALT eventually gave rise to the strength and vitality of a bear. Likewise, eating a gazelle boosted speed and grace, though they were far harder to hunt.

Later applications showed it had potential as a binder for medicines of the time as well. Though as with SALT, we also needed much water as well. But our strength, speed, and corporation would lead us to becoming more advanced than others simply because we were stronger, better, than the competition.


Taming Communion
One particular aspect of our people was our strength. But we also had understanding of the animals we ate with SALT. It took some time, quite a few generations, but eventually people were born in the tribe that could understand animals to a degree themselves. They used this to form the first bonds, partnerships with wolves. This later extended to members of the bird and cat kingdoms. And with SALT, these animals also grew stronger over time, far beyond what you would expect from them.

Time however, would tell a tale of growth among their descendants, along with our tribe.

Prompt 1; what set us apart?:
Devil's Swarm (req: "Change Venom")
Etroan Clans 
Etroan Baths
Etroan Taming Communion (req: "SALT"): TricMagic

Prompt 2; our Special Resource, and a thing that uses it:
Etronium + boulder-kite-scouts
Spirit Bees + Spirit-beekeeping(?)
Sunshard + Heating
Actnium + Ironbark Armor: (2) Jilladilla, Vostok
Change Venom(?) + Does of Burden: (3) Doomblade, UristMcRiley, Rockeater
Free AI?/Whispering Water? + Writing System?
SALT: (1) TricMagic

Because I had the idea of SALT in an AR. It effectively turns what is eaten with it into a type of predation, gaining some of the attributes. Only a bit, but over time, it adds up. Needless to say, it also goes with taming and breeding/mutating our own beasts of war. Once the science actually gets to the point that can be done anyway.


For Twin, on SALT.

SALT. It takes the material, and when eaten with it, imbues some of that materials 'Ability'. Eating the meat of a wolf would naturally boost strength and speed to a degree. This doesn't have an immediate effect though, it builds over time. This is effectively improvement now. As the body grows, the effects show.

Granted, for SALT, it is an effect that will be seen over time. It's only as you enter the more modern science age that you could make faster modifications. For the old times, it will simply effect the evolution of the tribe each generation, will improvements occurring on the cellular level. Needless to say, the body will reject any negative changes, while embracing those deemed as positive, such as strength, agility, and coordination and balance. Being able to understand and communicate with animals would also be deemed beneficial. Though so would a more feral instinct in some cases.

Guess the best way to say, is that SALT is like ARs, a roll of the genetic dice. It definitely will end up greatly influencing the Etroan people though, even if any other effects are likely locked until the modern era.

[Stirk]

If we're going with the mutagen, can we have something cooler than War Deer?

Change Venom Companion: Diamond Dogs
With the local fauna being both monstrous and plentiful, we needed our own form of monsters to combat them. The local Etroans who discovered the mutagen put it to use enhancing their hunting dogs, combing them with fish scales, turtle shells, or particularly strong "Monster" pieces to allow for an armored dog hybrid that spread throughout the land. Early Diamond Dogs tend to be wolflike, with greyish armored shells covering their back and scales across their neck and bellies. This armor was more then tough enough to keep the monsters at hold while the humans supported the beast with ranged weapons.

And our as-of-yet used normal design:

Etroan Longbow: A simple design, created out of a single piece of wood. It is a bow as tall as its wielder, giving it significant range and power despite its simplicity. Typically hunters would gather together to send volleys into larger targets, causing the monster to bleed out as the diamond dogs kept the creature busy. It generally favored firepower over speed, with a large pull to get past the powerful hide of its prey.

[Madman198237]

Prompt 1; what set us apart?:
Devil's Swarm (req: "Change Venom")
Etroan Clans 
Etroan Baths

Prompt 2; our Special Resource, and a thing that uses it:
Etronium + boulder-kite-scouts
Spirit Bees + Spirit-beekeeping(?)
Sunshard + Heating
Actnium + Ironbark Armor: (3) Jilladilla, Vostok, Madman
Change Venom(?) + Does of Burden: (3) Doomblade, UristMcRiley, Rockeater
Free AI?/Whispering Water? + Writing System?
SALT + Etroan Taming Communion: (1) TricMagic

Note that I moved your proposals together, Tric, as the resource comes with a second design, i.e. you describe the resource AND a design utilizing said resource.

[Twinwolf]

Guys you realize nobody is voting on Prompt 1 right

(As in you are supposed to, but nobody has)

[TricMagic]

Guys you realize nobody is voting on Prompt 1 right

(As in you are supposed to, but nobody has)

I did, then Madman decided to change it.

OK. We are voting for a Special Resource, which must have Lore. And a Design which defined us. The special resource and actual design can be different.

[Stirk]

Guys you realize nobody is voting on Prompt 1 right

(As in you are supposed to, but nobody has)

I did, then Madman decided to change it.

OK. We are voting for a Special Resource, which must have Lore. And a Design which defined us. The special resource and actual design can be different.

We get two designs, one using the resource and one that doesn't need to use the resource.