Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Zero Credibility]

I think we should keep things as simple a possible because complicated plans rarely survive first contact with the enemy anyway. Using mental control to force some of them to close the gates before we attack - that's a good idea and it could buy us a couple of seconds. But beyond that, I think we should go for the gates ourselves anyway, to make sure they don't open it again. After all, that is the first thing any thinking enemy would do and we don't really know how intelligent these creatures are. If we are worried about how powerful these creatures are in melee, we should concentrate on ranged instead. Oh, and if they attempt to retreat leave them the tunnel we just exited to go there. The last thing we want is to stand between these things and the only escape route.

 

[Nevill]

Oh, and if they attempt to retreat leave them the tunnel we just existed to go there. The last thing we want is to stand between these things and the only escape route.

Yes, I thought about that. I just don't like the idea of them lurking around and would prefer to kill them all. But I'd rather have the gates stay closed.

And, well, this is a different kind of CYOA. I treat is as a PnP session, and just give general guidelines of what I think should be done with the resourses we have.

The train of thoughts is simple - we have a satchel charge, a superior enemy force, and 4 mages just trained in the ways of mind manipulation. K follows naturally from this.

There is no overly complicated plan to follow - just lure the enemy on the minefield and make them go BOOM. The rest is just fluff explaining how to do that.

 

[Azira]

Flopped to include Nevill's plan.

 

[Nevill]

Using mental control to force some of them to close the gates before we attack - that's a good idea and it could buy us a couple of seconds. But beyond that, I think we should go for the gates ourselves anyway, to make sure they don't open it again. After all, that is the first thing any thinking enemy would do and we don't really know how intelligent these creatures are.

Well, you have to folllow up on closing the gates somehow. If you compel the enemies to do something, then your mages aren't slinging other spells. And we know that these creatures are not to be trifled with.

What you are talking about is I:

I) You and Thaïs use compulsion to have the Blues close and bar the doors while the rest of your group attacks. You will have to maintain concentrate on your target but it would get the doors closed quickly.

But then you'll just have more enemies to deal with, because your ranged power is only half of what it could have been.

What K does to help offset this is tbat it adds a damage source that has the potential to outweigh all of your ranged spells, which you then can fully dedicate to manipulating the battlefield.

As to what a thinking enemy would do - that is the whole purpose of mind manipulation, not to let them think clearly and guide their thoughts and actions in a way that would prevent them from reacting in an efficient manner.

I am inclined to change the last part of the plan to 'force them to escape through the tunnels, and not run back to the gates'.

 

[Zero Credibility]

I didn't even notice that option, I'll add it to my vote. We may then have less firepower, but we if can pull this trick before we charge in (and why not, we can see them right now, can't we?) we can then order those we control to attack their allies. That way we make sure that more of them won't come through the doors to flank us while we (temporarily at least) remove from the fight our thralls and their targets.

 

[Nevill]

It is not a mind control spell, though. This post talks about mind magic in detail.

It should be extremely difficult to compel the target to do what it strongly does not want to do. It makes them aware that something is not right. Which is why I am more certain in the success of making them chase Tyrvard instead of turning them against each other.

I don't see glaring holes in the plan. It plays that ambush angle tuluse and Erebus suggested while having a way to deal with the threat as a whole in an efficient way.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Why not just make them think that their friends are nice tasty humans then?

 

[Nevill]

Why not just make them think that their friends are nice tasty humans then?

That... might actually work. But what is our goal here? Would it distract the bulk of their group when the real humans arrive? Would they not suspect something when the greater threat appears and no one else attacks the tasty humans closest to them?

They have an intelligence on a human level. While it could distract them and shift their attention away, it probably won't occupy them when there will be bigger issues for them to worry about.

 

[Zero Credibility]

It is not a mind control spell, though. This post talks about mind magic in detail.

It should be extremely difficult to compel the target to do what it strongly does not want to do. It makes them aware that something is not right. Which is why I am more certain in the success of making them chase Tyrvard instead of turning them against each other.

I don't see glaring holes in the plan. It plays that ambush angle tuluse and Erebus suggested while having a way to deal with the threat as a whole in an efficient way.

Well, they haven't spotted us yet. So ideally we should have them close the doors before the fight even starts, sneak up to where we were before and do it. Then, when the doors are closed but before one of them tries to open it again everyone rolls in, bomb throwing, swords swinging and spells casting to maximise our surprise advantage (the group clustered around the other doors are a particularly tempting target for some explosives). If done this way we can either keep controlling our targets to keep them or anyone else from opening the doors or send them on the other side of the room, release control and join the fight directly in hopes that they will not have the time to open it back again.

 

[Nevill]

You have just restated I. It's a good option, but it diminishes our firepower by two mages who have to concentrate on maintaining the compulsion spell.

The upside is that the rest of the group can concentrate on the fight itself.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Indeed, that's why I voted for it. Though I don't see it wining, so I did did also put a conditional vote on going all out with ranged weapons - it is too risky to get into close combat with monsters with unknown fighting abilities that could very well be poisonous while we have no healing supplies. We could probably think of something even if we spend all of our ammo here, but our expedition is light on manpower and we can't afford loses.

As for something more along the plans in J or K, well those run the risk that not all monster are going to charge after our bait in to our trap. There is a chance, a good chance that they are intelligent as well, and any intelligent enemy would make opening the gates to the rest of their forces outside their first priority, especially if we just closed them. With the unknown number of these guys outside, I have to put priority on closing the gates fast and making sure they stay that way before we clear the rest of them. I or C or other go-for-the-gate options do that. J or K start with closing the gates, but there is nothing really preventing them from opening them while we are busy with the ambush. We could come back up after dealing with our attackers only to find another 20 of them charging at us and most of our ammo already expended.

 

[Nevill]

As for something more along the plans in J or K, well those run the risk that not all monster are going to charge after our bait in to our trap.

That is why K opens with Derryth casting mass compulsion and Thais assisting her. These guys are already hostile, what they need is just a little nudge in the right direction. If they think of us not as a threat, but as a food and new toys to play with, why would they call for reinforcements to deal with a lone target (or three)? They would rather chase us down so that we would not escape. We will not charge them, and Tyrvard will be running in circles, only strengthening their assumption that we are weak meat just waiting to be devoured.

Magic has all the answers!

J or K start with closing the gates, but there is nothing really preventing them from opening them while we are busy with the ambush.

If they all leave to hunt us down, there will be no one left to reopen the gates. Which is the real appeal of these option compared to the initial suggestion about ambushing a single group of the creatures - we deal with them all at once.

 

[Ghaad]

You don't really have to make them eat each other - just attack. Simply have A believe that B took the limb that belonged to A. They don't seem THAT human - standing in groups eating the victims on the spot seems more animalistic in nature, so a fight over the spoils shouldn't seem out of place. What's more, to have A and B fight each other you don't need to cast a spell on both, only on one of them - and once started it might not be necessary to maintain the suggestion, the fight should continue on its own.

We have 4 mages in all, one who has mastered the mass suggestion, 3 only suggestion. Derryth could try and make some of them block the front door, while the other 3 start fights in the small groups. After Derryth finishes, she can join in suggesting fights among them.

The point would be to make them fight one another - preferably to the death - without interfering or making our presence known for as long as possible. The mages should concentrate on instilling violence and a sense of having been wronged by the others and the let "human" nature take its course. Should the fight show that they have some sort of code and they don't kill / maim each other (although they do canibalize each other), only then do they start with the compulsion that they kill the loser - and if killing one another is some sort of taboo, then the on-lookers will have more reason to fight the killer.

As long as they kill each other the group should stay out of sight, and only when no more damage seems to be possible should they attack - preferably with spells and bows while holding the ramp to make sure no one unbars the front door.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Yeah, but that's an if. Will we get them all with our spell? Will one of them have enough presence of mind to open the gates before charging after us? What if some of them retreat when they hit our ambush and run for the gates, their only way out now? I, C or other options that have us go for the outer gate make sure they can't open it back again. I'd rather not leave something a important as that to chance.

 

[Nevill]

Will one of them have enough presence of mind to open the gates before charging after us?

Just why would they do that? A mind of a pursuer does not work that way.

You can even implant the idea on them that closing the gates cuts a possible path of retreat for us.

What if some of them retreat when they hit our ambush and run for the gates, their only way out now?

That is why I made the amendment to let them - or make them - escape through the tunnels. Just free the path you want them to take.

If some still reach for the main gate, well, we still have ranged capabilities, and we still can play tricks with their minds now that their will and morale are broken.

I'll amend my choice to K>I>E, though. This will be a major pain to count, I assume. :D

Will we get them all with our spell?

That's a good point. Fangshi, how do mass mind spells work? Do they require line of sight to all of them?

 

[Zero Credibility]

It's still a risk. Assuming that the enemy will behave just as we expect them to is a pretty big assumption, even if we help them along with some magic (though I would be wary of putting that much importance on perfectly casting a spell we only learned today - there's dices to be rolled here and the odds might not be that favourable). The simpler plans have the advantage of not making that assumption - if they fight us we fight back, if they go for the gates we will be there, if they run we shoot them in the back. Maybe this would cost us more in comparison to plan K if that plan works out perfectly. But that's an if.

 

[tuluse]

I thought of another concern. Do we have to worry about collapsing the passage by using the satchel charge?

 

[Azira]

Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies.

Depends on whether Fangshi is a sadistic GM I'd say. I know people who'd love to pull one of those on the players. So far though, I see Fangshi as relatively benevolent. So yes, possibly, but I don't think it necessarily spells disaster if we do collapse it.

 

[tuluse]

I don't think we're going to kill ourselves, but I could see getting cutoff from our goal here.

 

[Fangshi]

That's a good point. Fangshi, how do mass mind spells work? Do they require line of sight to all of them?

They usually work in the exact same way as the regular variations they are based on. So in this case yes, you need a line of sight to the group you are targeting. The hope is that once you get them started their instinct will take over and they will all charge you. But you won't know till you try.

Do we have to worry about collapsing the passage by using the satchel charge?

Well the building is old and you are using explosives but I would not worry too much; the Smiths built things to last. It is a possibility I suppose if you get real unlucky but you have no real way of knowing till you try.

Current Tally:

Anabanana 1D 2A
tuluse 1B 2A
Smashing Axe 1E>C>G 2A
Zero Credibility 1I>C 2A
Jester 1E 2A
Kz3r0 1C 2A
Azira 1K>E>C 2A
Grimgravy 1E>C 2A
Erebus 1H 2A
Nevill 1K>I>E 2A

1. Pre Flop:
A)
B) 1 vote
C) 1 vote
D) 1 vote
E) 3 votes
F)
G)
H) 1 vote
I) 1 vote
J)
K) 2 votes

1. Post Flop:
A)
B) 1 vote
C) 2 votes
D) 1 vote
E) 5 votes
F)
G)
H) 1 vote
I)
J)
K)

2.
A) 10 votes
B)

 

[Fangshi]

Alright, I will give it four to five more hours and then close things up.

Reserved for Final Count:

Anabanana 1D 2A
tuluse 1B 2A
Smashing Axe 1E>C>G 2A
Zero Credibility 1I>C 2A
Jester 1E 2A
Kz3r0 1C 2A
Azira 1K>E>C 2A
Grimgravy 1E>C 2A
Erebus 1H 2A
Nevill 1K>I>E 2A

1. Pre Flop:
A)
B) 1 vote
C) 1 vote
D) 1 vote
E) 3 votes
F)
G)
H) 1 vote
I) 1 vote
J)
K) 2 votes

1. Post Flop:
A)
B) 1 vote
C) 2 votes
D) 1 vote
E) 5 votes
F)
G)
H) 1 vote
I)
J)
K)

2.
A) 10 votes
B)

Alright you will take a balanced approach and head for the front door to close and bar it. You will also arm the girls.

Update will either be in the next eight to twelve hours when I finish clearing snow or it will be some time tomorrow (maybe 24 hrs).

Edit:
So much snow... update will be out tomorrow... maybe 18 hrs or so...

 

[Erebus]

TPK, here we come.

 

[Boxer]

TPK, here we come.

Psht. DM way too pussy for TPK. He cant even bring himself to kill anyone from the closer circle.

 

[Jester]

TPK, here we come.

Psht. DM way too pussy for TPK. He cant even bring himself to kill anyone from the closer circle.

Time will tell... Time will tell.

 

[Fangshi]

Ah, if you want to see characters die then just consistently put your people in harms way and make bad decisions, one failed check is all it will take. No one in the story is plot critical, any of them can die if you make the wrong/right choices and they roll badly.

Really I figured a good number of them would be dead by now but aside from talking to Christine with a 2 CHA character the 'Dex has not really fucked up yet and I don't really kill just to prove I can. Don't much see the point really...

On the bright side the Blues have much more than twenty followers now so there are plenty of opportunities for someone to die...

Update is done, will probably post it soon as at this point I am just fiddling around with it and not actually achieving much...