In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

The reason he couldn't handle the pretentious books wasn't because he's stupid, but because he lived in the woods all his life. Kind of hard to wrap your head around geopolitics when you just spoke to the second human in your life a few months ago.

He's actually quite sharp and learned to read and got a pretty thorough education in only 6 months. GED ain't got nothing on our foster dad apparently. I'm not saying he's a genius, but at 6 INT he's clearly more intelligent than not.

 

I think the willpower stat is helping him as far as studiousness is concerned.

 

With the late flops and additional A vote, I believe AB has it.

 

Well, he's obviously a disciplined, tough, determined kid, so that helps with being diligent when it comes to studies. Conscientiousness counts for a lot.

However, we should be mindful of that old sports cliche, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." Especially the last part of that statement. There are very few even highly intelligent kids that can understand a thing off that reading list, both because it requires a high degree of the ability to think and conceptualize a lot of abstract concepts and a wealth of life experience to ground them in some sort of reality. The latter part will come in time, and the former would take A LOT of investment, which tbh I personally wouldn't be keen on at the expense of developing our Perception or physical stats. I don't like the idea of our guy becoming too soft/civilized and developing into a boring autist. I didn't like Scholar for that very reason. (though I loved the Ambassador's Child background too)

Don't get me wrong, getting the INT boost was cool and I think it rounds him out nicely, but I like that feral, survivalist edge to the character and we shouldn't lose that.

 

Wait, we actually memed our way to an A victory? Gentlemen, it was an honor to fight beside you.

 

Trust the codex to have wildly swinging flops at the last moment. I think we went A->B->D->B->A overall.

Eh, I'm of the opinion that talent is more like having a very good foundation that makes the rest easier and faster to pick up. And you can develop a good foundation. Similarly, developing a higher int seems like it would help us acquire skills more quickly. It also seems like a must-have (along with Perception) for the Traps skill I want us to try out for once. We've never done high level traps before, and I want to see sort of crazy awesome happens when we start pushing Traps into 8+.

That's a big reason why I get a bit motivated to push for learning opportunities. If we don't seize learning opportunities when we can, we're going to get pushed more into making that kind of trade-off. But if we do seize learning opportunities, we can develop a better breadth of skills without having to make those kinds of sacrifices. It's also worth noting that last time if we had picked honing our body, we wouldn't have developed a stat boost from it. We would just have learned more about our injury and why we're not recovering as well as we want to. Something tells me that further developing medicine skill (or asking the doctor) will also help us answer those kinds of questions though.

I agree that we definitely shouldn't lose that, but I don't think developing int requires us to lose our survivalist edge. What do you think about developing into more of an Indiana Jones type character? Dude was an archeologist, and a smart one, but certainly had his own survivalist edge. I'm leaning towards developing in that direction.

 

That's a good question. treave, if it's not too intrusive a question, what would high level Traps skills entail? Are they more complex mechanisms, the ability to meld traps with Astra abilities, that sort of thing?

That's not the case. We would have increased our strength, as intended, it just wouldn't have restored our DEX. The training would allow us to figure out what was wrong with us, physically though. Then again though, we wouldn't have the nice lore dump either had we gone that route, so there's always trade-offs.

Indiana Jones is charming, witty, and played by an actor who was one of the biggest male sex symbols ever. I guess we could have the same occupation, but the similarities end there. We're not that guy.

I like the idea of a mountain man type for sure, not necessarily archaeologist though (semantics I guess, but archaeologist to me implies dusting off old fossils, the mountain man experience implies something more rugged). Someone who can brave the far reaches of The Tower, and potentially beyond. He's already curious about the world around him, and has the requisite mental/physical toughness to live in difficult conditions, so it fits.

 

So you want to be Roald Amundsen without the family ship business? I guess I'm cool with that.

What I want is to experience this era and the setting to its fullest like a man living in it would: grow up with the gang in the village, fall in love (we don't have many choices, but we all agree on Elizabeth, yeah?), get conscripted into WW1, lose our childhood friends to mustard gas, become a depressed alcoholic and seek an escape through radical politics, join up with a band of anarchists/royalists (since treave already said there wouldn't be any communist parties for us), try and fail to establish an anarchist commune/royalist party, flee to the woods to escape the authorities, find the elves, try to promote anarchism/monarchism with the elves, find out they're so monarchist/anarchist that we're not really welcome there, and so on...

I'm other words, I want to have fun. I think we're putting the cart way head of the horse with all of these life- and skill- planning walls of text. We're a scarfaced kid with a baby who escaped from an abusive guardian and got taken in by a priest. It's good to be mindful of the direction we want to develop our character in, but let's keep in mind that we know barely anything about this setting, or the opportunities available to us, and focus more on the here and now.

My reticence to join this adventure is a good example of the folly of this line of thinking: I was so wrapped up in becoming a RESPONSIBILITY FISH, that I lost sight of the fact that we're a lonely ten-year old kid who should be making friends and doing the dumb shit tean-year olds do.

Yes, Lambchop19, you're right, this was fun. Almost as fun as getting conscripted into the Knights will be.


Absinthe, I don't get your fascination with traps. I mean, sure, SMA is pretty cool, but a 10/10? No way.

 

My guess it will depend a lot on how we exercise Traps skills and what kinds of skills we merge with it on the way. Alchemy, Arithmetic, and Astra skills can all be used alongside Traps. Even ranged weapon skill seems like it could be used to help us set a crossbow trap or something.

That is decidedly not what treave said:

Now that I look at it, does that mean we would've gained 1 int regardless?

I don't think we're going to be full-on Indiana Jones either (and I don't want to copy Indiana Jones 100% at any rate), but he was a rugged archeologist, survivalist, and adventurer while still being a learned man.

Plain traps don't seem that interesting, agreed, but at a high enough rank it seems like Traps will let us pull Nikola Tesla or Zhuge Liang type ridiculously amazing stunts. I'm just expecting that at a high enough stage our Traps skill will become something impressive and entertaining alright. And we've never done a Traps-focused character before, so I want to see where that leads.

Speaking of Tesla, treave, what is he doing right now anyway? I think he's alive in our timeline.

 

In that context I was only asking treave about the dexterity stat, so when he responded back that we would have been where we are but with more knowledge on why we’re messed up it was in respect to dexterity alone. We got a +1 int for the int option, if we’d spent our time strength training or forcing ourselves to talk to people that would presumably have been directed into strength or charisma since they’re the corresponding stats.

 

Hm, maybe I was misinterpreting what treave said. He said we'd be at the same place we are now stat-wise, so I assumed he was speaking in terms of overall stats. Treave, if you could clarify?

By the way, Kipeci, you might want to cut that quote down to only the part you are responding to. It's turned into a bit of a wall of text.

 

I vow to never read any of this shit

 

treave AB indeed takes it with how the current votes are distributed.

With Kz3r0s switch and the vote from a bear named spigot, it is now

===Poll===

==1st choice==
A - 10 (11)
B - 7 (9)
C - 0
D - 3 (0)
E - 1

==2nd choice==
A - 3
B - 18

Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler

Baltika9 - A A
Absinthe - A>D>C B
Nevill - AB
Lambchop19 - AB
ItsChon - A>D B
Zerafall - AB
baud - AA
Esquilax - AB
a bear named spigot - AB
kz3r0 - AB

CappenVarra - BB
hello friend - BB
Grimgravy - BB
asxetos - BB
oscar - BB>CB
ERYFKRAD - BB>DB
Egosphere - BB

Tigranes - DB>BB>CB
Azira - DB > AB
Kipeci - D>B A

Life of the Party - EB

Just depends on when you want to lock it.

 

That's not the trap Baltika9 was on about.
Abort
Abort
Abort

 

What Kipeci said. I was only referring to the dex stat there.

 

Into the Ruins (III)

“Quick, hide. Someone’s coming.” You hush the girls and herd them behind the metal block, extinguishing your lantern as you do so. The room turns pitch black.

“The knights?” Sophie whispers, crouching down while still keeping a respectable distance from you.

“Most likely,” replies Elizabeth, who is instead so close that you can hear her breathing in your ear. “We’re not supposed to be here, so it’s better if they don’t find us.”

“Shh.” You remind them again to be quiet. A strange, oppressive pressure is bearing down upon you. Someone… or something… is beyond that door, and they are about to enter.

The door slides open. The dim glow from the hallway illuminates multiple figures, marching into the room in single file. The lead figure is holding a large lantern to light their way. You recognize them – the same knights in white who were in the clearing earlier on. There are four of them. Scotty’s father enters shortly after, walking besides someone who looks like he could be the leader of the knights: a young, blonde man with a more ornate uniform lined with gold trim and a short mantle swishing in his wake.

Then, the last man enters. He is tall, very tall, and very thin, dressed in a black robe that looks tattered and torn, stained with the dirt of long journeys. His cheeks are sunken and a long beard covers his chin. His black, straggly hair is parted down the centre. But despite his gaunt countenance, his eyes burn with a dark intensity.

“We’re here, monk,” says Nathaniel. “Is this the room you wanted?”

“I hope we were not dragged all the way up the Tower on a wild goose chase,” says the commander, casting a cold eye around the room. “Are you sure of this?”

The bearded man walks quietly towards the centre of the room, taking slow, measured steps. “It is as God has ordained, Alexei. This is the place.” His voice is sonorous, and you can’t help but take a deep breath at the weight of it. You do not understand why, but something feels wrong about him.

“I had thought it would look grander,” sniffs Alexei. “No matter. If you are correct, then your introduction to the Tsar is secured, strannik.”

“God is always correct, and God’s words are what I obey.” The man – apparently a monk – raises a jagged, wicked knife to his palm. The blade tears the skin with ease, drawing blood. He places the bleeding hand over the crystal orb, chanting something in a language you do not understand. The red liquid drips over the orb, and orange sparks come to life within it, dancing, joining, until they form a small flame that sparkles with all the colours of the rainbow.

There is a loud rumbling that sounds like it is coming from far, far away, and tremors shake the floor. The girls grab onto each other, stifling back a scream of surprise while you steady yourself calmly. It is as if the entire ruins is about to collapse in on itself. Thankfully, that does not happen.

“It is done,” says the monk when the rumbling subsides. “The way is open. Another of the gates will have opened. We can now come one step closer to the Throne of God… All is for the sake of our Tsar.”

“Indeed, may God bless his reign,” says Alexei solemnly. “All that is left is to witness the open gate with our own eyes. The thirtieth floor… the White Wall.”

“That is where we must go, yes.” The monk stares upwards before closing his eyes. “One step closer to God.” Suddenly, his eyes snap open, and you press yourself against the metal block, ceasing your spying. “We have visitors, it seems. There seems to be someone… hiding outside the door.”

At that exact timing, the door slides open, revealing Andrew with his sword raised, and Scotty trembling behind him.

“Scotty!” shouts Nathaniel. “What in blazes are you doing here?”

“You should have kept a tighter leash on your son, Mr. Howell,” Alexei frowns. “Bring them in.”

Two of the knights step forward to execute his orders. But then, Andrew does something panicky and probably quite foolish.

“S-Stay away!” Shouting, he raises his Astra over his head. A mild blue gleam coats the sword and he swings it at the knight approaching him. The blade flashes so fast that you can hardly see it, and then you hear a strangled scream. Blood flies through the air as the knight falls back, clutching the cut across his chest. It doesn’t seem to be deep – the knight remains on his feet, and he glares at Andrew. Angered, he whips out his revolver, pointing it at the petrified boy.

“Calm down!” shouts Nathaniel, grabbing the knight’s gun-arm. “Alexei, get your men under control! They’re just kids!”

You take another deep breath and frown. Where you are, you cannot see the monk… but you have the feeling that he is looking right at the metal block you are hiding behind.

***

A. You take out your slingshot and shoot out the lantern. Returning the darkness should distract them long enough for an escape attempt.

B. You take out your slingshot and shoot at Alexei. Being the leader here, if you distract him you should also throw the knights into disorder.

C. You shoot the monk. It is risky, but he is a mysterious factor, and you don’t know what he can – and wants to do - should you give him the chance. This should hopefully create enough of an opening for your surprise escape.

D. You reveal yourself while having the girls remain hidden. If you attract their attention on purpose and play for time, the girls might be able to find an opening to sneak out.

E. You wait and see how everything plays out – it is too risky to do anything at the moment. Besides, you don’t think they are going to kill you even if they find you… probably.​

 

A, failing that, whack Rasputin.
So A>C

 

I am leaning towards E at the moment. Shooting out the lantern seems like a good way for utter chaos to erupt and the boys dying, as well as there being consequences even if we do manage to escape. B and C are both rather silly. Don't get me wrong, a slingshot to the dome piece can fuck someone up depending on how powerful it is and the ammunition, but I'm not particularly confident in that being very effective. D is just undesirable period, as I'm not about to risk my skin and Rain's only guardian for these two chicks, regardless of how much we want to fuck Elizabeth.

E

 

I was right, these are Russian knights. And this monk is probably Grigori Rasputin.

Since I wanted to join the Russian knights from the beginning, I'll vote D.

That's a terrible idea. Rasputin's legendary longevity might have arisen from a series of (un)fortunate coincidences in real life, but in a setting with actual magic, I think it's best to not fuck with the magic man.

Thanks to Andrew's rash actions, I think that the options that can lead to a favorable outcome are very limited. Here's my assessment.

A will give us a head start on running away, but the hallways of these ruins are already illuminated. I'll put money on trained adults being able to outrun a child with a bum leg. Bad choice.

B is a bad idea: one of their soldiers just got wounded by a kid with a magic sword, so everyone is already on high alert. If we sneak attack their leader for +1d6 damage, then all hell might break loose and people might die. And those people probably won't be the armed and trained soldiers. Terrible choice.

Ditto for C, plus what I said above.

D will work as written, I'm sure of it. We sacrifice ourselves for the gang, but we're very likely to get conscripted. Plus, Scotty will probably try to dump the whole thing on us in front of his dad.

E is a wild card. On the one hand, if our group keeps quiet, then we'll likely be able to stay hidden. On the other hand, I'm not sure Elizabeth and/or Sophie will be able to refrain from doing something stupid to save their friends.

Ho-ho, so those items actually were Astras.

It's cool if you prefer Kaiserin, bro.

 

E > A. I'd love for the order of the eagle to lose their shit and take Andrews head off with a shashka. Just make sure we have our hands firmly on Elizabeth and Sophie's mouths when/if they do.

 

Why not join them and get our own shashka? Join the army, it'll be fun.

 

treave What are the knights wearing? Andrews sword cut one of them and they're garbed in white, so is it just basic white robes? How tall exactly is the monk dude, by our best estimate?

What about Rain, come on now man. We can't very well leave her in the village, and I'm not letting her anywhere near this Rasputin fellow. All that guff about Rain and protecting her, and now you're ready to just abandon her?

 

We're not Scottish