In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

2D means we're keeping the gun ready for when the thing comes our way, which it will, and once it does, we shoot it, at which point it will do a lot of damage.

 

And why is that?

We have a lot of trouble deciding what to do because we don't know how the situation will develop.

 

You're assuming that someone or something will definitely come for her, which is not at all guaranteed. And if nothing does come for her, then we won't be able to reliably support the group. A slingshot will enale us to at least provide range support.

I'm still on 1C because I'm hoping that we'll take the proactive course of action and help out Elizabeth, instead of hanging back and waiting for an ambush that might never come. Besides, Sophie can spot an approaching beast (unless she's too distracted) and yell for help, at which point either us or Tlallia can come in for support.

Edit: I'm really uncomfortable with us using a revolver at a long range for the first time. That's when we might actually hit our guys.

 

Mostly because I expect it to go after Sophie and us at some point. Same reason why I expect not guarding Sophie will end up with her getting assaulted unless we're picking A maybe.

We can do ranged support with a revolver too. Revolvers aren't exactly hard to fire. And we need a weapon that delivers real damage.

Tlalli and Sophie aren't very mobile in this mire. Tlalli can't do an amazing ninjutsu flip over the shifter to keep it from hurting Sophie. Just because Sophie can call for help doesn't mean help will arrive in time for her. Not when the shifter here is explicitly making the bog harder to move in.

Then why are you picking 2C? If you pick C we have to shoot from long range, and neither a slingshot nor a revolver will do much good there. Understand that Tlalli herself expects to be unable to catch up with the fleeing shifter. We're not going to be faster than her. At least here at most we'll deal with medium range, and we'll be able to make sure we can protect Sophie. Sophie cannot protect herself, whereas Elizabeth has those boots and the sphere and Bernard to see to her safety.

 

So no real basis.

Us reinforcing Sophie may be the very reason why disaster would strike from a different direction. Cover up the weakest point, the next in line becomes the new weakest.

We are not in the same spot, though. We are in a position to reinforce either of 3 groups, meaning we can walk up to Liz before the shifter gets there.

 

All I understand is that, should Tlalli fail to handle the hag, we're all dead regardless of what we do. If you want to argue that her opponenet can bypass her and head for Sophie, then that is indeed one of many possibilities. However, it isn't a given, and I even find that unlikely. With Tlallie's arsenal of ranged astras, her snake first among them, I don't expect her hag to get far.

As far as Elizabeth's shifter is concerned, if we join her and Bernard, then that thing is done for and we'll be able to provide any assistance anywhere on the field. What I'm proposing is that we kill the wounded opponent first, and take care of any potential third party later.

No, with 2 C we're rushing over to help Elizabeth at close range:

Unless you take the 'back up' part to mean that we'll back up dat ass.

 

If we don't, with Sophie being by far the weakest link, I expect her to get into the worst position. The worst case scenario is if the current shifter runs after the previous shifter and both go for Elizabeth, but even then she would be able to run for it with her fancy boots and Bernard's help. If we want to avert that one as well we should be going A (and hope nothing else bugs Sophie).

You have no basis for this claim. May as well ask treave whether we can make it to Elizabeth's group before the shifter arrives.

I'm not sure why you find it unlikely. The shifter here is worsening the mire to ruin everyone's mobility. The idea that it could outmaneuver Tlalli to take a shot at Sophie isn't some strange unlikelihood. It's also pointed out clearly in the update that Sophie is the only one left alone right now, which is also a pretty good sign that calling for help will not do her much good if something happens. Call me cautious but I think our best move is to see to Sophie's protection here. Elizabeth has the sphere, her own boots, and Bernard to look after her safety.

 

Yes, because treave never stokes our paranoia with ambiguous descriptions. /s

The whole point of the situation is that we are a novice who has no idea of how this battle will develop. I say take the initative and force the enemy to react.

Fair enough. I think that 2D is a waste of initiative and the opportunity to prove ourselves to a potential mentor. As well as a waste of Elizabeth Points, which may or may not exist.

 

The swamp is I think the big point of worry. If we go help Elizabeth and come back quickly, sure, it would put us in a good position, but we do have to take the risk of leaving Sophie undefended and grandma hopefully doing OK against an unknown and unforeseen enemy. (Gma may know what it is, she may not, she may be prepared for it, she may not).

The clear source of danger right now is here, not over there. Everything you mention just now, baltika, about seems far more secondary and tangential concerns.

 

Saying Sophie is the only one left alone is not an ambiguous description.

I don't think we should look at our goal as being trying to win the battle here. Tlalli will handle that. We just need to minimize casualties.

Try 2A then. It's a tad riskier (and more likely to get us injured) but if you want initiative that can help settle this, that's probably the way to go. Although with 2A I might favor brass knuckles over revolver, since there's less risk of friendly fire that way. My concern is that we're really the side character to this fight and we should recognize our role as such. If we try to act like we're the hero here we're more likely to fuck something up than if we try to keep our side out of harm's way.

 

Tlalli has indicated earlier that she's fairly confident in facing a shapeshifter one on one, but that she can't chase one successfully. The one shapeshifter is in melee range, thus it is less likely it will be able to run off. It's still a possibility. Elizabeth has, as others have pointed out, great mobility and a fearsome guard dog. Sophie is a sitting duck. Every other plan seems to rely on the fact that nothing will go wrong, guarding Sophie is a way of hedging our bets. If this Tlalli character was looking for an apprentice with potential, I'm sure she'd rather have a cool headed apprentice who could be expected to gauge danger and manage risks accordingly - be a smart hunter - rather than be a 10yo little dipshit who'll mindlessly zerg the biggest and baddest animal he sees at the first opportunity. Being small and weak, the brass knuckles don't seem like the greatest equaliser. We're tough as shit, though. We might get lucky or be able to delay. We're good at using the slingshot. Pebbles don't seem all that great against a monster, but hey a high velocity dense projectile is not nothing. We might get lucky. Revolvers seem a little risky as well, we might fuck up but presumably Tlalli won't give a 10yo a gun without at least a little crash course. High damage potential, and sweet loot as well. The sword, while being (imo) the coolest option, is also the worst one. It'll be unwieldy to use and we'll just cut ourselves up with it. I think the safest bet is the sling, but it is also the most boring bet. Guns, man. Who doesn't like guns?

 

Thank you for stating the bold part, this identifies the source of our disagreement and should help us avoid arguing in circles, as we are wont to do.

I think that this is the time for us to be aggressive and approach the situation with a mindset for victory, not to sit on the sidelines. I say this not because I want to chase glory, but because the original plan fell apart and Tlalli might not have the entire situation under control anymore. I have confidence that she can take down her shapeshifter, but should Bernard not handle the one him and Elizabeth are chasing, then they are in trouble. As impressive as he is, Bernard is just a leopard.

I think that it is more important to control the battlefield variables we are aware of, namely the two shifters. We have no guarantee that there are more of them in the bushes.

I think it's unlikely that Tlalli's opponent can slip past her melee skills, fire snake and her decades of experience. We have an opponent who is wounded, but not disabled, fighting the leopard and Elizabeth ('a cornered animal is more dangerous' comes to mind). I would prefer we focus on these two opponents and try to defeat them, instead of letting them dictate the terms of the engagement.

The update does state that it's 'another shifter,' both from Sophie's words and the description for D.

Yeah, I'm warming up to it. If I flop, it'll be to AA. I want to be like gramma.

 

I get that the plan was for us to catch up to team Liz/Bern (oh wow i see) and finish the shifter, so that part of the battlefield has deviated from the plan too. Now let's say we take a gun - do we have reason to be confident that we can go there and quickly wrap up the situation? Just go in and shoot and hope we can aim, and then bring them back?

 

That's what I'm thinking yes. I think our aim will be alright at close range, we exhausted this discussion over the last two pages. With three on one (Bernard, Elizabeth and us with a revolver vs. a wounded shifter), I think we can dispatch him quickly.

If necessary, Elizabeth has the boots of free movement (I assume they work as advertised) to help her relocate quickly and buy either Elizabeth or Tlalli time with her grenade, or just a distraction, until we or Bernard arrive for backup.

 

The problem is that you leave Sophie undefended, which is a very dangerous prospect imo, since she's the one person who can't defend herself.

 

We already covered this: Sophie is only in imminent danger if you assume that Tlalli won't be able to hold down her opponent with all of her tricks and experience, or if there's a third shifter hiding in the bushes. Neither are impossible, but I think that if we finish the shifter that's going after Elizabeth, we'll be able to react as needed.

I'll pipe down now, to let others catch up and let the willing express their viewpoints.

Edit: another thing we ought to consider is whether or not the situation can spiral out of control if we sit back. If, for instance, the wounded changeling overpowers Bernard and goes for Elizabeth, or decides to tag-team Tlallia, then we are in deep trouble as well.

 

Guys, let's take the choice of weapon out of the equation for a second and take a look at the battlefield as a whole. While I try to avoid spamming, I think I'm presenting a point here that only Tigranes has alluded to so far. Tigranes Baltika9 Nevill Absinthe Lambchop19 ItsChon Azira Kz3r0 baud

treave, did Grandma Tlalli give us any info on these shifters? Do they live in swampy environments and lurk inside there?

I have a feeling that we've stumbled onto these creatures' natural habitat, and there might be more of them. One burst out of the swamp, and is fleeing, presumably wounded, and headed in the direction of Liz and Bernard, who are lying in wait:

Okay, so this shapeshifter, is doing exactly what Grandma wants - heading in the direction of a trap, courtesy of Liz and Bernard. If Tlalli thought that Bernard wasn't capable of handling it, this wouldn't be part of the plan. They don't need any help. That rules 2C out.

As for protecting Sophie, I think that 2E does exactly that. Yeah, the goal is to protect Sophie, but you have to think to yourself - well, where are these creatures coming from? Well, duh, the swamp. So it's much smarter to cut them down/shoot them down as they emerge rather than wait for them to be fully prepared/ready to attack while we're already with Sophie. 2E is preemptive, and stops the problem before these creatures manage to reach Sophie.

Weapon-wise, I gotta say, I don't like the revolver. I'd prefer our guy to have more primitive weaponry - I think it fits the character concept a bit better.

1B
2D

 

Guys the ranged weapons are only useful if you have ammo. Can't run out of ammo for fist or blade.

 

Thank you for breaking us out of our circlejerk, Esquilax.

Not quite. The original plan involved Tlallia finishing the lone hsifter off by herself:

Unless we are confident in the leopard's ability to do the job itself, then I think we ought to reinforce Elizabeth to compensate for Tlalli's absence. In the absence of a pissed off grandma with a sharp stick, an angry ten year-old with a gun will have to do.

That said, I do like E, but it will only work if there's another shifter. Else, we will pass up our ability to help anyone and we'll look pretty dumb to boot. It's a gamble, but the pay off is huge.

I also want to retract a point i made previously:

We don't need to prove anything to her. She's already impressed enough to take us hunting and she even gave us weapons. This implies trust and cofidence.

Meh. I want granny's gun, but a stick is nice too. We can be her mini-me!

 

Again, I would caution against "have your cake and eat it too" options.

It never works out.

I get that you're assuming we have a ranged weapon and would be waiting like a sniper, except our accuracy sucks. It would be better for us to be on the ground near whomever we are trying to protect.

Especially since 1C appears to be winning and we have never shot a gun in our life.

 

You won't make it there before the shifter arrives - even Tlalli wouldn't have if things were going fully to plan.

She did not tell you much, but you know she was only expecting one, and that she started tracking this thing on a different floor.

 

What are the distances between the groups? Is Sophie close enough to Tlalli so that the latter can react if she kills her opponent quickly?

 

They all, I'm sure have their respective strengths and weaknesses. And to be honest, would have the same potential for either ranged/melee weapons anyways, so it makes sense to just pick whatever weapon you think is the coolest.

If you want our Hunter to have a little bit of cowboy in him, go with the revolver. If you like a more primal, Tarzan kind of vibe, like I do, the sword/slingshot seems more in that direction. If you are a dedicated member of the Zhang Jue Appreciation Society (which should be everybody, btw), go with the knuckles.

Okay great, then that was within Grandma's expectations anyways. When the monster comes Liz's way, throw the orb, then she'll come and finish it off. That's all part of the battle plan.

I don't think that this is a "have your cake and eat it" kind of argument I'm presenting, though. Or at least, I hope not! As these LP's have shown many times in the past, sometimes one choice is better than the others. My argument is this: Shapeshifters are emerging from the swamp > The swamp is the focus of the battle/danger zone > Therefore, keep an eye on the swamp and shoot/stab anything that comes out of there, before it gets the chance to reach Sophie. It's pretty simple and not overly complicated. Obviously, I'm basing this on the assumption that these things are emerging from the swamp, but I don't feel like I pulled that one out of my ass either, as I based it off the update.

Besides, as an unskilled marksman, I'd rather get a shot off at something that is still trying to get it's bearings from a position of relative safety than when it's running straight for us/Sophie. We're a Hunter, and we ought to think like one. Hunters are patient, they wait for the right moment.

 

Except Talli is tied down with another shifter, and Elizabeth is a good distance away from her:

Again, that part of the battle is not going according to plan. Whereas the original plan involved Tlalli backing up Bernard and Liz, the situation now has only Liz and Bernard against that shifter. I think it would be best if we took care of the known variables first, before focusing on the unknowns.

 

The two most logical courses of action are either protecting Sophie or help Elizabeth to quickly dispatch her opponent.
Helping Tlalli can get us stuck unless we are sure to kill the target very quickly, acting as an observer is pointless, we are not a sniper.