Inactive [LP CYOA] Overlord

He'd be dumb too if he fell for your tricks to stall and dig out more information from him.

 

Well, these are guidelines that do not have to be followed literally, for not to mention it is an ancient villanous tradition to politely answer any question related to their plans and objectives (although it applies more to the evil leaders than their henchmen). Same case with offering your enemy the possibility to join your side instead of killimg him outright.

In any case, I am sure Erd will know what to do.

That reminds me: oddly enough the Demon King was quite shy about explaining his world domination plans, in spite of being such a follower of established traditions.

EDIT: I haven't fully counted the votes in detail, but by now I believe A won by majority of points.

 

A.

 

Final tally:

A - 10
B - 2
C - 6

edit: Was going to update immediately, but other stuff popped up so it'll have to wait. Maybe Monday.

 

Monday, eh?

 

Looking forward to see a brutal match/one-sided carnage with Kek's battle. Hopefully Erd will try something more imaginative than spamming LIGHTNING BOLT!! Gygadine over and over again. Perhaps summoning Barbatos' Gauntlet, then overcharging himself with Battle Aura to knock out Kek with a single punch will do the trick. Either way, I wonder how will Rin, Arlin, Z and the gobbos will react once we bring them these jellies.

Actually, perhaps it would wise to delay our department in order to capture a few of the incoming knights to keep the pink slimes "entertained", lest they start getting "too friendly" towards Arlin, the goblins or even Mercant himself.

 

This is basically my impression of Quekquek. He is annoying, and so he should be killed.

A.

 

Treave still has nearly 19 hours before it ceases to be Monday on Howland Island.

 

Well, at least things are progressing fine so far. These days I've started reading Epic and well... I must say it has an excellent writing and awesome setting. Now I get the whole "Theseus trama" thing, along with Gobblecock's wisdom about how "smart evil is actually quite boring" thing (which would explain why the Codexers went full retard with Dio Brando Genes). However, the CYOA press page has some chapters missing, or the previous vote count not always included, which means that the chosen course of action is not always apparent.

Nevertheless, treave, have you considered doing a short CYOA work for ChoiceofGames? I'm sure you would be able to write a good story with little issues.

 

It's the other way around. 'Codexian evil is actually quite retarded'. See, this one is much more accurate!

I had this theory that we (as in, the players) count as 'evil' something that we can't rationalize. Just like we downplay some things done by Erdrick which would normally be perceived as 'good' because there is a cold calculation behind them - or at least, it exists in the minds of the players.

Therefore only irrational characters are considered 'truly evil'.

Can you link those? I was the one making the index, so it is quite possible, but I might be able to fix that if I knew what you are referring to.

Also, do you know that chapter names are clickable and that they link to the forum posts? You can thus easily check what the vote was - usually the results are on the last two pages.

treave's CYOA always struck me as more ambitious than the ones you can commit to paper with all the alternative routes explored. Sure, we only get to see one development of the story in this format, but it takes us places.

 

Bloody hell, work never ends. I'll get back in here as soon as I'm done, which should be soon. Also need to finish playing Rance 03 and Monquest Paradox but that can wait.

I definitely don't have the time at the moment. A short piece might be interesting in the future, but honestly I'd want to have an editor for this sorta thing.

 

I know of a competent editor who lives in the US. She might be interested, and I could put you in touch, should you want to, treave?

 

Nevill
Well, personally I believe there are several degrees of "evil". For example, Dio's sociopathic, "sacrifice everything for personal gain" nature is standard "smart evil". It's quite boring because his behavior is the regular one that all noble-blooded and the aristocratic scum have.

Meanwhile, there was that LOLCHAOS EVILLL cult, complete with human sacrifices, casual cruelty, fanaticism and a literally monstrous leader with no redeeming qualities. It was so over-the-top that it became quite hilarious for me (although I'm not sure what the deal was about them, since they eventually faded into the background and were barely mentioned anymore). By the way, why was that kid batshit insane? And why was Shulgi turned into a wolf?


In Erdrick's case, pretty much everything he has done so far in his life (both before and after his "angelic transformation") was done because he wanted something else in exchange. The closest thing to doing something for goodness' sake, expecting nothing in return, was the act of saving the twins. Even then, the general consensus was to kidnap adopt them into our forces, waiting for the day they become adults and thus more capable.

Anyway, the missing chapter in the CYOA press conversion is chapter 6.18, from Book 1, the aftermath of the infamous Sinistar "Sphere diplomacy": https://rawgit.com/sissbruecker/cyoa-press/master/books/epic-book-1/out/complete.html#112

There's simply no text here, only a link with the Codex's equivalent page. By the way, many thanks for your information, I didn't know I could do that with the chapter titles.

*Casts Google*

Oh dear, Erdrick is going to have a treat, isn't he? Chances are that sooner or later, he'll get way more than he bargained for.

 

The Black Slime Attacks

Without warning, you hurl a bolt of ice at Quekquek. The bluish-white orb streaks towards the black slimelord… and fizzles harmlessly upon contact with the firm jelly. Quekquek laughs a jiggling laugh, throwing his featureless head back. “Naïve! Did you think that would work? Puny magic. My body is immune! So, have chosen sides?”

The slime possesses some form of invulnerability to magic: you do not think it is a trait that you can overpower with sheer magical might. It may be similar to Globe of Invulnerability, in that you would need to use a more complex spell to overcome his defenses. What a pain. “Between a beautiful slime queen and… well, whatever disgusting thing you are, it was a foregone conclusion as to which side I would pick,” you say, scratching your chin. “Perhaps if you turn into a cute girl and beg for your life now I might let you go.”

The black slime laughs again. “You think I am as weak? As my offshoots? Do not underestimate Quekquek! I thought you wiser.”

You throw another Icebolt at him. As before, it does not work.

“Too scared? Is that all?” taunts Quekquek. He raises himself up high, gelatinous muscles stretching and flexing. “My turn!” With surprising speed, Quekquek pours forward, the pressure of the jelly concentrating into a battering ram headed right for you.

Time for a slightly more powerful spell. Your magic coalesces, condensing into a large white orb. A biting cold emanates from the orb, as if it contained the essence of winter itself. Focusing your will, you launch it at the incoming slime. It hits Quekquek head on and shatters. Immediately, a freezing wave bursts out from the point of impact as the energies trapped within the orb are set free. The blades of grass beneath the slime turn rigid and shatter. The frost wave spills over the spring, instantly creating a layer of ice wherever it passes. Somewhere at your back, Aria, still wearing nothing but a cloak, yelps at the sudden drop in temperature and hides behind Lucy. The slime queen Brunnen shivers, retreating as far as she can. Quekquek himself is turned into a statue of ice, stopped dead in his tracks by the Iceball you had just cast.

Not for long, though.

With a roar, he breaks free, his form twisting and changing. The ice cracks and shatters, unable to contain Quekquek. His muscular arms lengthen and multiply in number, each limb ending in enormous claws. Solid obsidian crystals form on the surface of the jelly and begin to spread all over his head, chest and limbs, forming armour similar to that worn by the slime queen. Growling, Quekquek hunches over, black wings erupting from his back. What a slime would do with wings, you don’t know, but as the slimelord beats his chest and roars defiantly at you, you fire two more Iceballs at him.

Deep within the black jelly, there is a bubbling and a flash of red. One of Quekquek’s hands folds in on itself until it has formed something akin to a tube. From inside, a stream of liquid fire pours out, splashing across your icy orbs and causing them to evaporate in a puff of steam. At the same time, numerous small vents form all over Quekquek’s wings, small openings that look like eyes. A sickly purple mist begins to pour forth from the vents. It spreads, curling and expanding lazily.

“No! Dangerous. If it touches you… terrible poison. You will die!” warns Brunnen. Stretching her arms towards the mist, she begins to emit a similar mist that floods the entire clearing, except coloured a pale gold. It mingles with the purple, and you see miniscule sparks flashing wherever the two mists meet. “I will contain! Negate! Hurry, stop him!” pleads the slime queen.

“Useless! It is all useless!” gloats Quekquek. “You will all die here!” Making more of his baseless threats, he charges towards you, his ends of his now countless arms morphing into huge, club-like protrusions. They whip around, moving like an army of agitated snakes, and slam to the ground in a swift flurry of powerful attacks that tear up and shake the earth. It is a powerful attack that could overcome your defensive spells due to the sheer number of strikes delivered in a short period of time.

That is why you have circled around behind Quekquek, using the Shadow-Slaughtering Demon Steps.

“So, Barbatos, what do you think?” you ask.

“You and the slimelord should stand your ground and punch each other silly, of course. Nothing builds character like a slugfest. Especially with a durable one such as this, he could stay in the fight long enough that you might even learn a new technique or two!”

“I hate pain, just so you know.”

“Well, then you might have to get a little serious for this one, boy.”

You duck as Quekquek whirls around, sending his arms – no, they look more like tentacles now – slicing over your head. You count all the ways you can get a little serious. All of them involve the devastation of a large part of the forest.

***

A. You treat Quekquek as a training exercise, dragging out the battle. You do not get a lot of chances to practice on something that won’t die easily.

1. You practice the martial skills you have obtained from Barbatos’s Gauntlet. Closing in, you begin to pummel the slime with your fists. You are not going to stand there and engage in a slugging match like Barbatos said, but he has a point about learning new techniques.

2. You empower your Sword with Gigadyne, allowing you to harm Quekquek directly. You should put your sword training to more use once in a while. Chopping him into little pieces will be cathartic, and you might figure out new things you can do with a sword.

3. You try different combinations of spells on Quekquek, trying to find something that will work on the rampaging slimelord. Nothing too destructive, of course, you don’t want to destroy the clearing, but perhaps you may find a more surgical way of using your offensive magic.

---

B. You get a little serious. Extending the fight longer than it has to be is just a massive pain. You make a move to end it with little effort on your part.

1. You cast an Ice Storm at full power, bombarding the clearing with enormous icicles that will turn the area into a frozen wasteland. Once he is slowed down, you will smash the frozen Quekquek and grind him into little pieces with a Tornado spell.

2. You call down a Thunder Dragon and have it combat Quekquek. It would be a good way to see just how strong your dragon is in comparison to the monsters of this world, although the collateral damage would be high.

3. You use a high-powered Gigadyne on the slimelord. You need to cut loose once in a while too.

---

C. It's Aria's time to shine. Her, and Lucy too. Taking down a slimelord would be an educational experience for them. Of course, you will be cheering for them from the sidelines - you might even give them a bit of help - but they will be taking the starring role in this battle. Why else would you bring them along?


***

 

Not at the moment, no. I'm barely managing to update a single CYOA regularly as it is.

Some people are just born twisted. That, coupled with the boon of apparent superpowers, makes things really go to their head.

Also Shulgi is obviously a tryhard by nature and thought being a wolf was Cool with a capital C.

 

That added C... Yeah, a naked teenager on a cow is just the thing for a midboss fight.

I don't really want to leave evidence of our visit here for the scouts to find. Is that a concern, treave? Or are we bound to end up with scorched earth anyway?

Tentatively leaning to A3, a more elegant way of using our power would be nice.

The queen asks us to hurry, though. How does the poison battle progress? Do we see any signs that we are on a time limit?

 

Any of the A choices won't reveal much. B choices will leave clues that a really epic battle took place here, or at least it would seem that way. But on the other hand, you don't run the risk of anything going wrong in the short-term by ending it as quickly as you can be bothered to.

Had the choices gone differently, e.g. mediating with the rookie knights, or saving all of them, it's possible that they might have been here right now.

You can't tell. You don't have the expertise. The queen doesn't really know how long she can hold out either. If you brought Zayan along, she would be able to calculate it though.

 

What about B1? The ice would melt, no? What other clues would be left there? Withered grass?

What about the slime queen? Can't she tell us?

Or do you mean to say she already did?

 

Even if you melt the ice there'll be craters from the icicle impacts, not to mention the Tornado spell would clear out most of the surviving trees in the spring's immediate vicinity, and then some.

 

And how does Erdrick want to use his Gygadine? Like he did with the Minotaur Lord?

 

Also, does the All Clear spell we've learned protect from Poison?

It is a status effect...

Speaking of which, its description is missing on the front page.

 

He would try something along the level he used against Rin back in the prologue, maybe a bit higher.

You don't see why it wouldn't work to cure poison, provided that it is magical in origin, but you would have to cast it after it has already been inflicted. It clears status ailments, it doesn't protect against them in advance.

 

I'd like to humor Barbatos every once in a while. A1.

 

B2.

Let's release our dragon once in a while. Or at least spell that contain it.

Also, Treave - your avatar make me think that it is good idea to have Chaos around.