In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

[Baltika9]

Certainly, no one's record is perfect, and I've had my share of mistakes, but I think we all saw it coming that the cow was sphere diplomacy levels of bad decision-making.

Actually, I didn't. I really trusted its intelligent eyes. Who knew that the Hindus were right and cows act as mana capacitors?

Hey, if you think I've fucked up, feel free to point it out.

That's one way to get told to get a room. Our back-and-forth took up about a whole page out of the last three, and I don't think that this is the place for such discussions. Standby.

 

[Absinthe]

I'm honestly surprised. The problem wasn't the cow as much as it was that we were a complete novice (albeit a talented one) and had a lot riding on it, on short notice. That cow wasn't going to build our magic armor for us. Anyway, the real point I'm trying to make here is just this: that your preference to look on the fun and thematic side of things causes you to ignore the practical side of it, even when there are serious problems. I like fun votes myself, but damn, they have to workable options first.

Also, woops, you weren't the one pushing the cow vote. It was Tigranes.

 

[treave]

Drama before it even begins, that bodes well.

Anyway, whether or not a meme choice works is ultimately up to my whims, so no one's at fault for that one. If I was inclined to prolong that particular LP I would have asspulled it to make it work.

 

[Absinthe]

Drama before it even begins, that bodes well.

This ain't drama though. It's barely at the level of a back-and-forth.

Anyway, whether or not a meme choice works is ultimately up to my whims, so no one's at fault for that one. If I was inclined to prolong that particular LP I would have asspulled it to make it work.

Well that'll be something to keep into account for future meme votes. Honestly I do feel like none of us were particularly interested in keeping that one going.

 

[Azira]

Hey, I wanted Hobo Rider to succeed.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Hey, I wanted Hobo Rider to succeed.

Same.

 

[Nevill]

Yes, but he would not be Hobo Rider without a ride. I thought we could give him one!

Instead we took him for one.

 

[Tigranes]

I'm honestly surprised. The problem wasn't the cow as much as it was that we were a complete novice (albeit a talented one) and had a lot riding on it, on short notice. That cow wasn't going to build our magic armor for us. Anyway, the real point I'm trying to make here is just this: that your preference to look on the fun and thematic side of things causes you to ignore the practical side of it, even when there are serious problems. I like fun votes myself, but damn, they have to workable options first.

Also, woops, you weren't the one pushing the cow vote. It was Tigranes.

Hey now, let's let bygones be bygones, eh? No use dwelling on the past, eh? No need for a Nuremburg between pals, eh? Eh? Guys?

(Mea culpa, I had no idea the cow would actually win.)

Anyway, this from absinthe I think is key:

Growing up with a silver spoon in your mouth is a little meh. Having to push yourself to thrive in your surroundings is more interesting to me.

Honestly I think this is definitely SLUMRAT. The world is going to change rapidly. We're not picking for a baby boomer to go through years of steady economic growth in a stable society, we're picking for a world where the silver spoon you're born with can become grounds for the guillotine and the knowledge you pick up at McKinsey's isn't going to serve you well.

It also seems to me that background is more primary for us from an RP standpoint, since it specifies what kind of person we are - after which the sign can be a secondary device to help round out our stat distribution.

 

[Nevill]

We're not picking for a baby boomer to go through years of steady economic growth in a stable society, we're picking for a world where the silver spoon you're born with can become grounds for the guillotine and the knowledge you pick up at McKinsey's isn't going to serve you well.

Perhaps.

Or perhaps we are picking a setting with a great melting pot (the Tower, a source of interest for many powers and individuals from all across the world), where it would be nice to discern motivations of people you come across and how to navigate around them, which is something a politician's child would be familliar with.

Of course, we could always cruise on the winds of BRO against everything that is UNBRO, and perhaps it is all the reason and knowledge we'll ever need, but we can try to play a subtler game once in a while?

 

[Baltika9]

Now that we're finally getting to the meat and potatoes, and with no consensus on our voting method in sight, I think it would be wise to post the poll again and list our front runners.

==Lead candidates by archetype with sign after conditional votes==

Ambassador/Twins - 4

Merchant/Twins - 3

Slumrat/Fish - 3

Tallies

Spoiler

==Votes by archetype with sign with conditionals==

Ambassador/Twins - 4

Hunter/Fish - 1

Merchant/Twins - 3

Slumrat/Fish - 3
Slumrat/Crab -1

Scholar/Archer - 1
Scholar/Virgin - 1
Scholar/Ram - 2
Scholar/Crab - 2

==Votes by archetype with sign==

Ambassador/Twins - 3

Hunter/Fish - 1
Hunter/Archer - 1

Merchant/Twins - 3

Slumrat/Crab - 2
Slumrat/Fish - 1

Scholar/Ram - 2
Scholar/Virgin - 1
Scholar/Archer - 1
Scholar/Twins - 1
Scholar/Crab - 2

==Raw votes==

Ambassador - 3
Hunter - 2
Merchant - 3
Slumrat - 3
Scholar - 7
---
Twins - 5
Fish - 2
Archer - 2
Crab - 3
Virgin - 1
Ram - 2

Votes

Spoiler

Baltika9 - Ambassador/->Slumrat/-
Nevill - Ambassador/Twins
Smashing Axe - Ambassador/Twins

Esquilax - Hunter/Fish
baud - Hunter/Archer>Ambassador/Twins

Azira - Merchant/Twins>Merchant/->Scholar/-
ERYFKRAD - Merchant/-
Egosphere - Merchant/Twins

Tigranes - Slumrat/Fish
Nahel - Slumrat/Crab
Absinthe = Slumrat/Fish>Hunter/Archer>Merchant/Fish

asxetos - Scholar/Archer
lightbane - Scholar/Virgin
Lambchop - Scholar/Ram
Kipeci - Scholar/Ram
hello friend - Scholar/Twins>Slumrat/Fish
Kz3r0 - Scholar/Crab
grimgravy - Scholar/Crab

 

[Absinthe]

Hey, I wanted Hobo Rider to succeed.

Same here, but I honestly didn't care much if we did fail. Otherwise I'd've tried persuading others more to avoid the obviously bad vote. Also, last CYOA wasn't Hobo Rider. Hobo Rider was a very brief superhero CYOA that's still unfinished.

Hey now, let's let bygones be bygones, eh? No use dwelling on the past, eh? No need for a Nuremburg between pals, eh? Eh? Guys?

(Mea culpa, I had no idea the cow would actually win.)

TIGRANES... YOU... HAVE ERRED.

Honestly I think this is definitely SLUMRAT. The world is going to change rapidly. We're not picking for a baby boomer to go through years of steady economic growth in a stable society, we're picking for a world where the silver spoon you're born with can become grounds for the guillotine and the knowledge you pick up at McKinsey's isn't going to serve you well.

Slumrat or Hunter tbh. I like both. Hunter+Archer is also a great all-rounder, which means we get a lot of options on how to handle a situation and less "oh we're obviously amazing at this and mediocre to bad at the rest, so let's just do that" auto-pilot decisionmaking.

It also seems to me that background is more primary for us from an RP standpoint, since it specifies what kind of person we are - after which the sign can be a secondary device to help round out our stat distribution.

From a RP standpoint total stat combination matters too though. As I mentioned above, when you have a big penalty to stats, you are going to have a difficult time being that kind of person. A build with -3 int is definitely going to have RP repercussions. Ambassador+Twins is also probably going to disdain fighting (with -2 str and -1 con). He's just not going to be pulling Xu Jing type heroic stunts unless we go out of our way to train up his weak strength and constitution and even then we will end up being more average to slightly below average (which is not good fighting material) than good until we've invested enough stat-ups (like +3 strength and +1 constitution at least).

 

[Baltika9]

Slumrat or Hunter tbh.

You know what, maybe this voting scheme isn't so bad after all. All of you peasants and intellectuals can stay divided over strength and intelligence bonuses, or whatever it is that is fashionable with the rabble. Meanwhile, we distinguished gentlemen will sail to a smooth victory. Caesar, the old fox, was right. 'Divide et Impera,' indeed.



Seriously, though, I really like the Slumrat background, and I would be down for joining the proletariat in the coming turbulence and then volunteering to fight in the Revolution, but it doesn't seem quite as interesting to me as the Ambassador background. His silver spoon won't matter as much in this place, since we're a foreigner in these lands. Balancing the demands of whichever crowned head sent us here against the social and political realities of the Tower will surely make for an interesting game.

I'm more inclined to go for something like Ambassador/Bull and challenge every reprobate, degenerate and foreigner that dared insult our King/Emperor/Tsar/Sultan, but I'll take the background in whatever form I can get.

Of course, we could always cruise on the winds of BRO against everything that is UNBRO, and perhaps it is all the reason and knowledge we'll ever need, but we can try to play a subtler game once in a while?

So, Ean 2.0?


Tempting.

 

[treave]

Guess we can't decide, huh.

Alright, let's do it this way then. We'll vote for backgrounds first, and I'll check back in another 24 hours to see how things have gone. If there hasn't been any change there the background with the highest number of votes so far will be picked by default.

The votes will then be open for another 24 hours to decide the stat spread. Again, if there are no changes by then, I'll pick whichever sign has the most votes and we'll just have to roll with it.

If you think that's not enough time to decide, lemme know.

 

[Egosphere]

Merchant's Heir

 

[Azira]

I've realised I'm not particularly hung up on one background over another, so I'll list them in my order of preference:
Amended backgrounds vote;

The Merchant’s Heir>The Scholar’s Scion>The Ambassador’s Child>The Novice Hunter>The Slumrat

 

[Nevill]

The Ambassador’s Child

Subject to flopping to Merchant's Heir if it doesn't get the votes. Not to be confused with conditional voting, I will just be replacing my vote wholesale if that happens.

 

[Grimgravy]

Scholar's Scion > Novice Hunter

 

[Absinthe]

Slumrat=Hunter (Whichever is higher)

As I said before, I think the backgrounds where you have to push yourself to thrive in your surroundings are more interesting than the ones where you are born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

Another question we may as well weigh now is what attributes and magic type we want. Air/water/earth/fire and mutability/dynamism/fixation. Depending on the background, some of these options will be ruled out, so better to keep it into account when picking backgrounds now. What kind of character are we really trying to make here?

 

[Kipeci]

Scholar’s Scion > Merchant’s Heir

SCIENCE!! or a gilded tongue seem most valuable in a chaotic time by this point, one’s personal strength seems like a less important factor if most people are going around with guns and soul weapons. Brains and leadership pays better dividends over brawn in more modern times.

I’d rather avoid the Ambassador’s Child as that seems to be a bit too stuffy, but I’d still gladly take that over slumrat.

 

[Absinthe]

Considering how there are two combat skills for melee weapons and unarmed, I'm guessing that this is not the era where guns rule supreme. Although in terms of ranged combat, Hunter is best. Personally I like the Hunter+Archer combo: +0 str, +1 dex, +1 con, +1 wis, +1 int, +0 cha, fire mutability, ranged weapon 1, stealth 1, traps 1. It's a well-rounded character with solid brains and skills.

Then again I'm also partial to Slumrat+Fish, which takes the water mutability (+0 str, +2 dex, +1 con, +1 wis, +0 int, +0 cha, water mutability, intimidate 1, sleight of hand 1, stealth 1).

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Merchant's heir

 

[hello friend]

Slumrat > Ambassador > Hunter

 

[Baltika9]

Guys, we are critically behind on our DISCUSS!!! Legend took us twelve pages to get past character creation. At the rate we're going, we won't even reach page 7.

Such an attack on our sacred traditions cannot stand!


==Votes after conditionals==

Ambassador- 7

Hunter - 2

Merchant -3

Slumrat - 2

Scholar - 8

==Raw votes==

Ambassador - 4
Hunter - 4
Merchant - 4
Slumrat - 3
Scholar - 6


Poll

Spoiler

Baltika9 - Ambassador
Nevill - Ambassador/Twins
Smashing Axe - Ambassador/Twins

Esquilax - Hunter>Ambassador>Slumrat
baud - Hunter>Ambassador
Life of the Party - Hunter
Absinthe - Slumrat>Hunter

Azira - Merchant>Scholar>Ambassador>Hunter>Slumrat
ERYFKRAD - Merchant
Egosphere - Merchant
CappenVarra - Merchant/Lion

Tigranes - Slumrat>Hunter
Nahel - Slumrat/Crab
hello friend - Slumrat>Ambassador>Hunter

asxetos - Scholar/Archer
Lambchop19 - Scholar/Ram
Kipeci - Scholar>Merchant
Kz3r0 - Scholar
grimgravy - Scholar>Hunter
lightbane - Scholar

 

[Absinthe]

I'm not sure if people will be voting the same way if we are voting solely on background now. You may as well alert everyone who hasn't re-voted to see if they are changing their votes now that we're doing it by background (which I frankly disagree with).

 

[Kz3r0]

The Scholar’s Scion