[LP CYOA] Epic

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I think treave is giving us powers that are somewhat limited in scope so far. Giving us one überpower would ruin the exercise. My take on this is that we should vote for whatever we feel is right, not for what it might become later. And arguing that this or that power lets us do everything is moot. I'm rather certain that treave will be a clever arbiter and disallow abuse in any form.

This.

edit: only the Codex would try to minmax a CYOA.

 

[newcomer]

I guess with the passage of time these powers will merge anyway, after we find the principles behind what we're doing. I think I'll just pick what suits the situation right now

 

[Kipeci]

I would like to find out the principles behind crushing people into a volleyball of meat with our minds.

 

[Esquilax]

I guess with the passage of time these powers will merge anyway, after we find the principles behind what we're doing. I think I'll just pick what suits the situation right now

This. Let's cut out the bullshit mental masturbation (I've been just as guilty of it as everyone else) and worry about winning this battle. This choice is simple. We need to win tomorrow. What power is most likely to help us win tomorrow?

It definitely isn't A. The telekinesis is still weak and not enough to rock the tower, wishful fancies of ripping off the wheels of a sturdy machine weighing several tons aside. It won't really help much in combat either, since Nabu can shrug it off easy. Elemental manipulation with fire and lightning is better, as is light here.

 

[Bloodshifter]

Finally Thought prevails! (yes I am guilty but hey I'm drunk been and is drunk)

This. Let's cut out the bullshit mental masturbation (I've been just as guilty of it as everyone else) and worry about winning this battle. This choice is simple. We need to win tomorrow. What power is most likely to help us win tomorrow?

It definitely isn't A. The telekinesis is still weak and not enough to rock the tower, wishful fancies of ripping off the wheels of a sturdy machine weighing several tons aside. It won't really help much in combat either, since Nabu can shrug it off easy. Elemental manipulation with fire and lightning is better, as is light here.

Still behind C

 

[Omicron]

C

 

[Vernydar]

Just saying, but, I'd wager Ean won't be doing much tomorrow

"We’ll do something to help you out, but this is not going to be pretty for your body afterwards. Hope you can take it, kiddo."

I know I'm just reading through, but, I think you should choose looking at the grand picture. No point in choosing something for tomorrow, considering that you're likely to be seriously injured and out of commission after today

 

[Azira]

Just saying, but, I'd wager Ean won't be doing much tomorrow

"We’ll do something to help you out, but this is not going to be pretty for your body afterwards. Hope you can take it, kiddo."

I know I'm just reading through, but, I think you should choose looking at the grand picture. No point in choosing something for tomorrow, considering that you're likely to be seriously injured and out of commission after today

This.

 

[Esquilax]

No way. We've got to be involved in the fight in some way tomorrow, no matter what condition we're in. It doesn't necessarily mean charging in on our chariot, it could just mean setting the tower ablaze way while we are on the fortress battlements tomorrow. What are the men going to think as their mighty leader cowers behind walls while the Babylonians slaughter them? You can't sit this one out, you have to be involved in the fight in some meaningful way for morale purposes.

Telekinesis sucks for tomorrow, it will do us no favours.

 

[Azira]

What will the men think when we're suddenly hurling strange magicks? Magicks they've only seen or heard of Gieloth using?

Unless you count the fires from the skies that Naram purpotedly called down on our hometown to oust Shulgi, but that was ages ago in a different country.

So far though, we haven't overtly displayed anything uncanny. We're clearly superhuman, yes, but we've not in sight of others (except for a few, very select companions) sparked fires or stuff like that. I'd still prefer something less flashy.

 

[Esquilax]

So far though, we haven't overtly displayed anything uncanny. We're clearly superhuman, yes, but we've not in sight of others (except for a few, very select companions) sparked fires or stuff like that. I'd still prefer something less flashy.

Like I said, it doesn't need to be so overt. A blast of flame as the tower triggers a fire trap and none of our men are the wiser. There are plenty of overt applications of telekinesis too - you tear a wheel off with your mind or use a spectral sword, people are going to notice. The same logic applies to all the choices, A isn't exempt from being noticed either.

You still haven't answered my original question. How will A help us win? It can't unleash energy/blinding light on Nabu, it can't take down the tower, so what good is it?

And we have to fight tomorrow. What do you propose we do? Lie in bed to recuperate? Michael Jordan would perform in the playoffs no matter what, and he's a mortal. So we can't exactly relax either.

 

[newcomer]

What will the men think when we're suddenly hurling strange magicks? Magicks they've only seen or heard of Gieloth using?

Unless you count the fires from the skies that Naram purpotedly called down on our hometown to oust Shulgi, but that was ages ago in a different country.

So far though, we haven't overtly displayed anything uncanny. We're clearly superhuman, yes, but we've not in sight of others (except for a few, very select companions) sparked fires or stuff like that. I'd still prefer something less flashy.

We can spice it up with "Ra's blessing", or we can shapeshift the Honourblade to become a "Sceptre of Ra". Boost morale without freaking our soldiers, and make them see us as a blessed warrior. Of course it works best with C, but it can also be applied with any skills

 

[Baltika9]

What will the men think when we're suddenly hurling strange magicks? Magicks they've only seen or heard of Gieloth using?

Unless you count the fires from the skies that Naram purpotedly called down on our hometown to oust Shulgi, but that was ages ago in a different country.

So far though, we haven't overtly displayed anything uncanny. We're clearly superhuman, yes, but we've not in sight of others (except for a few, very select companions) sparked fires or stuff like that. I'd still prefer something less flashy.

We can spice it up with "Ra's blessing", or we can shapeshift the Honourblade to become a "Sceptre of Ra". Boost morale without freaking our soldiers, and make them see us as a blessed warrior. Of course it works best with C, but it can also be applied with any skills

Praying to Seth would be the better option. In this period he was the closest thing to a god of thunder and storms the Egyptians had, not yet a full chaos god.

 

[Esquilax]

Praying to Seth would be the better option. In this period he was the closest thing to a god of thunder and storms the Egyptians had, not yet a full chaos god.

Cool. Still, doesn't matter who pray to, hiding our immortal nature is as simple as "Ra/Seth/L. Ron Hubbard has bestowed me with his favour after I slew the enemy general last night, brothers! The lightning in the sky was sure sign of our victory this day! With this mighty sword, I shall harness the power of the everlasting sky against our foes!"

And we wouldn't even have to do even as much as that. Burn it up as it crosses the threshold and we're set. Just because we have powers over the elements or light energy doesn't mean we have to use them in the most obvious and heavy-handed way we can.

oscar: We're defending ourselves from a siege. We're the ones launching arrow volleys, not defending from them. As for sending them flying off the walls/killing them in various gruesome ways, that's what the traps are for. We still don't have a reliable way of taking out the siege tower, and we need an edge against Nabu in our crippled state. Telekinesis doesn't give us any of that.

Edit: I do see one advantage. It makes losing our sword far less likely. But we lose the sword anyways if we die tomorrow, so moot point.

 

[oscar]

Telekinesis sucks for tomorrow, it will do us no favours

Deflecting arrow volleys? Sending Babylonians flying off the walls?

 

[Zero Credibility]

So far though, we haven't overtly displayed anything uncanny. We're clearly superhuman, yes, but we've not in sight of others (except for a few, very select companions) sparked fires or stuff like that. I'd still prefer something less flashy.

Like I said, it doesn't need to be so overt. A blast of flame as the tower triggers a fire trap and none of our men are the wiser. There are plenty of overt applications of telekinesis too - you tear a wheel off with your mind or use a spectral sword, people are going to notice. The same logic applies to all the choices, A isn't exempt from being noticed either.

Oh? Which of the two are we going to have easier time explaining to the pharaoh if we live through this:
1) "And then the wheel on the tower fell off and the whole thing toppled over on their troops. Shoddy Babylonian workmanship."
or
2) "And then god Seth answered my prayers and smited the tower with thunderbolts. Or Ra has given me power to burn them with light."
I'm guessing 1.

You still haven't answered my original question. How will A help us win? It can't unleash energy/blinding light on Nabu, it can't take down the tower, so what good is it?

Here's the problem I have with this argument: you presume that in our weakened state telekinesis will fail to do anything useful against the tower, but B or C will still work as intended. Why? At least we have some prior experience with telekinesis. With B or C absolutely none whatsoever. How do you know they will be useful or work at all?

 

[CappenVarra]

Sweet zombie Jesus, "everything is energy so energy is the most powerful choice", really?

The reason I like telepathy and telekinesis as complements to martial prowess is that they're non-flashy and can (in general) be used without attracting attention from everyone in a few miles radius. Also, I like the "psionic knight" theme they imply... I wanted light manipulation instead of Volourn, but that train has sailed (what can I say, it's a different universe)...

And the way the update is written implies that we'll pretty much be out of the battle tomorrow (C&C), could be wrong...

 

[Esquilax]

Oh? Which of the two are we going to have easier time explaining to the pharaoh if we live through this:
1) "And then the wheel on the tower fell off and the whole thing toppled over on their troops. Shoddy Babylonian workmanship."
or
2) "And then god Seth answered my prayers and smited the tower with thunderbolts. Or Ra has given me power to burn them with light."
I'm guessing 1.

Precisely. If we live through this. Let's focus on living through this and cross that bridge when we reach it. I'll admit that it would be tougher to explain if we use powers of elemental manipulation so overtly, but we needn't start flinging fireballs all over the place.

Although perhaps we could come up with something clever with telekinesis. I don't want to keep ragging on A, and I'd like to be a bit more constructive, so how about this: we can tell our men that our mighty sword can also function as a boomerang, or that we're such a great warrior that the sword will return to us when thrown. So while we're sitting back on the battlements so we don't get hurt even worse than we are now, we launch the sword in an arc, to carve up the siege tower while it's going through traps, then have it return to us. It's far-fetched, but at least it has a mundane explanation.

Here's the problem I have with this argument: you presume that in our weakened state telekinesis will fail to do anything useful against the tower, but B or C will still work as intended. Why? At least we have some prior experience with telekinesis. With B or C absolutely none whatsoever. How do you know they will be useful or work at all?

But we already know the basics of elemental manipulation. C is a wild card, which is why I flopped to B.

newcomer: Wouldn't work. Civil war/panic/chaos. We need Astarth for his 10,000 strong army - taking power would have to be done far more gradually. If we kill him, Lord Marduk of Babylon (who, I will remind everyone, is sullying our fine legacy) will be able to sieze Egypt. Like it or not, Astarth is a very capable ruler.

 

[newcomer]

So far though, we haven't overtly displayed anything uncanny. We're clearly superhuman, yes, but we've not in sight of others (except for a few, very select companions) sparked fires or stuff like that. I'd still prefer something less flashy.

Like I said, it doesn't need to be so overt. A blast of flame as the tower triggers a fire trap and none of our men are the wiser. There are plenty of overt applications of telekinesis too - you tear a wheel off with your mind or use a spectral sword, people are going to notice. The same logic applies to all the choices, A isn't exempt from being noticed either.

Oh? Which of the two are we going to have easier time explaining to the pharaoh if we live through this:
1) "And then the wheel on the tower fell off and the whole thing toppled over on their troops. Shoddy Babylonian workmanship."
or
2) "And then god Seth answered my prayers and smited the tower with thunderbolts. Or Ra has given me power to burn them with light."
I'm guessing 1.

You still haven't answered my original question. How will A help us win? It can't unleash energy/blinding light on Nabu, it can't take down the tower, so what good is it?

Here's the problem I have with this argument: you presume that in our weakened state telekinesis will fail to do anything useful against the tower, but B or C will still work as intended. Why? At least we have some prior experience with telekinesis. With B or C absolutely none whatsoever. How do you know they will be useful or work at all?

Or maybe this?

3. The god Ra/Seth has told me that I should be the one who leads the people of Egypt from now on (stabs Astarth)

We can also replace "I" with Akil or any other person of our choice

 

[newcomer]

Wouldn't work. Civil war/panic/chaos. We need Astarth for his 10,000 strong army - taking power would have to be done far more gradually. If we kill him, Lord Marduk of Babylon (who, I will remind everyone, is sullying our fine legacy) will be able to sieze Egypt. Let's work from the shadows.

Well, maybe what we need is a cult of Ean above all gods. Sigh... who is Astarth's successor? maybe we can brainwash convince him that we are a divine being, and then proceed to dethrone Astarth the same way as what Shulgi did.. of course after the campaign. We can also try to convince Astarth but from what I see, that's not going to happen unless we have close to final level psionic power, at least from what I observe

 

[Zero Credibility]

Oh? Which of the two are we going to have easier time explaining to the pharaoh if we live through this:
1) "And then the wheel on the tower fell off and the whole thing toppled over on their troops. Shoddy Babylonian workmanship."
or
2) "And then god Seth answered my prayers and smited the tower with thunderbolts. Or Ra has given me power to burn them with light."
I'm guessing 1.

Precisely. If we live through this. Let's focus on living through this and cross that bridge when we reach it. I'll admit that it would be tougher to explain if we use powers of elemental manipulation so overtly, but we needn't start flinging fireballs all over the place.

Although perhaps we could come up with something clever with telekinesis. I don't want to keep ragging on A, and I'd like to be a bit more constructive, so how about this: we can tell our men that our mighty sword can also function as a boomerang, or that we're such a great warrior that the sword will return to us when thrown. So while we're sitting back on the battlements so we don't get hurt even worse than we are now, we launch the sword in an arc, to carve up the siege tower while it's going through traps, then have it return to us. It's far-fetched, but at least it has a mundane explanation.

Here's the problem I have with this argument: you presume that in our weakened state telekinesis will fail to do anything useful against the tower, but B or C will still work as intended. Why? At least we have some prior experience with telekinesis. With B or C absolutely none whatsoever. How do you know they will be useful or work at all?

But we already know the basics of elemental manipulation. C is a wild card, which is why I flopped to B.

I guess what I like about telekinesis is that is much less flashy compared to other choices - maybe not as impressive, but also much less likely to draw attention to ourselves. And we know the basics of fire manipulation - nothing so far about electricity and especially nothing about calling thunderbolts from the sky.

 

[ScubaV]

Finally Thought prevails! (yes I am guilty but hey I'm drunk been and is drunk)

This. Let's cut out the bullshit mental masturbation (I've been just as guilty of it as everyone else) and worry about winning this battle. This choice is simple. We need to win tomorrow. What power is most likely to help us win tomorrow?

It definitely isn't A. The telekinesis is still weak and not enough to rock the tower, wishful fancies of ripping off the wheels of a sturdy machine weighing several tons aside. It won't really help much in combat either, since Nabu can shrug it off easy. Elemental manipulation with fire and lightning is better, as is light here.

Still behind B

Are you flopping to B or did you mean still behind C, your original vote? I'm assuming the latter for my unofficial tally:

A - 8
B - 6
C - 6

At least B isn't winning. Still, I think the usefulness of A is blunted by the fact that the basic push/pull mechanism is something we already do much better with our super strength, just not at range.

 

[Smashing Axe]

See, Ill flip to C rather than A if we can do contingency voting. But that gets complicated. ATM my #1 choice is B

 

[anus_pounder]

A

 

[Esquilax]

I guess what I like about telekinesis is that is much less flashy compared to other choices - maybe not as impressive, but also much less likely to draw attention to ourselves. And we know the basics of fire manipulation - nothing so far about electricity and especially nothing about calling thunderbolts from the sky.

Here's the thing: I think that youre defining B and C as to have a very narrow set of applications. While the idea that C would apply to all energy, EVERYWHERE is absurd, it nevertheless has a lot of the applications that I described, and would open up new doors in other places. Likewise, B is not about calling thunderbolts from the sky: it's merely the most potent form of the elemental manipulation tree which we have only a handle of the basics on (i.e. same level of proficiency as telekinesis). Fire manipulation/calling thunderbolts from the sky are part of the same set of skills, so they're not separate entities.

There are plenty of unsubtle uses of A that would make it useful in battle. The best one that I can think of would be using the Honourblade as a spectral sword to aid us in battle without exposing ourselves, which is probably what we're going to need to do tomorrow if we want to stay alive. If you can think of a better way I'd like to hear it.

With C, a flash of blinding light on an enemy can be explained away. A burst of flames when we already have flame traps everywhere can also be explained away. As I said before, the subtlety isn't necessarily in the powers*, it's in how you use them. Nevertheless, the focus should be on surviving tomorrow first and foremost, subtlety second.

* Ean's best asset is his Physical Ability tree, and that's about as unsubtle as it gets. And even then people think the dude is a mortal despite the fact that he moves faster than anyone they've ever seen and can shrug off wounds without a problem. So it's all in how you use it.