Inactive [LP CYOA] Overlord

[Nevill]

I'm not saying it's impossible to round them up, I'm saying that without first monitoring the battlefield it will be difficult to get a good grip on the enemy's numbers and location so that you can finish them off cleanly.

And if we aren't concerned with taking prisoners, would it be easier for us?

My primary wish is that none of them would get away.

I'd be ok with this too.

My heart bleeds for you, then.

You chose to save the kids. That rules out any immediate choice where you change your mind for some reason and automatically decide to kill everything that moves. Too bad.

 

[lightbane]

It's going to be quite hard to round them all up or prevent them from fleeing during battle unless you try to herd them into a single spot with your wolves. Even then that tactic is not guaranteed to work. Too much distance to cover.

Erd can use a combination of Mass Sleep, Spell Extend, Mana Destruction, Thunder/Fireball, Whirlwind, Thunderstorm, Tornado, Thunder wolves and Lightning Spear to do the trick. Make the enemies bounce back and fort with the explosions until many are dead/too wounded to continue. Moreover, Doppleganger can be used to double our firepower somewhat.

EDIT: The Familiar and the Battle Premonition can be useful to monitor the situation as well.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I'm saying that without first monitoring the battlefield it will be difficult to get a good grip on the enemy's exact numbers and location so that you can finish them off cleanly. You could do that in the ruins, but it is too late to do that here.

Which is another argument in staying out of this:

By siding with the prince we effectively side with his kingdom against the Barzamites. Any witnesses that are left will undoubtedly report this. Better to have our picnic with the fam and leave.

 

[treave]

Erd can use a combination of Mass Sleep, Spell Extend, Mana Destruction, Thunder/Fireball, Whirlwind, Thunderstorm, Tornado, Thunder wolves and Lightning Spear to do the trick.

In the middle of the village? Well, if you're going to wipe everyone out...

 

[Esquilax]

Okay, guys, why are we getting involved in this mess? We have several options in intervening here, but none of them are particularly pleasant:

A. You decide not to let past experiences bias your judgment. Helping out a prince of the kingdom would be more useful than merely helping out a village chief, which is one possible outcome you had considered coming here. Besides, you can't let a potential cutie die before you've seen her face. Judging from your battle in the ruins, you doubt it will be anywhere near as risky as the prince thinks unless they pull out some trick that you have not seen before.

B. You suspect that the enemy forces are here for the prince. You can make it easy for them. You capture the prince alive and use him for your own negotiations - he will never see this coming. You have no idea what you are going to ask of them yet, but you are sure you will think of something once you have the prince in hand. Maybe women, or money, or information, or all three. Should negotiations fail... well, it is too bad for the raiders, then.

C. You didn’t come here to save the village, and things are rapidly becoming more of a hassle than you asked for. You’ll take your toys and go home.
1. Kidnap the twins.
2. Kidnap the prince.
3. Kidnap the prince’s adjutant.
4. Kidnap the twins and the prince.
5. Kidnap the twins and the prince’s adjutant.
6. Kidnap the prince and the prince’s adjutant.
7. Kidnap them all, of course.
8. Kidnap none of them.

D. It is time for a break. You wave the prince off, wishing him good fortune, and then sit and have a picnic.

I am reluctant to involve myself in this mess. The Barzamite raiding party is quite strong, and while I believe we can take them out by Gigadyning them to smithereens like we do everything else, doing so will reveal that we are more than some wandering mage, while also forcing us to side with the Methussians. And for what? Some petty title? Please. This prince can go fuck himself. This guy isn't Kyle Theseus, he won't betray us, he's actually worse than that; he's just an idiot. Maybe I've missed a few details, but sending a small force to attack a well-organized raiding party? This man is a glory hunter.

As for what we do, well, this might be a great time to kidnap the prince. Once he is gone, the deed will be pinned on the Galbadians. We can rely on Rin, our master interrogator, to get information out of the prince. Hopefully after killing a dozen or so people she's gotten better at it.

As for the twins, they're a problem. They're probably itching for vengeance, so they'd probably want us to kill the raiding party. They're delighted we saved their lives, but taking the prince and his adjutant isn't the sort of thing that they would appreciate. Also, they're witnesses. They've gotta come with us.

Voting C7>D for now, want to learn more about Methuss from the Prince himself. With all the witnesses out of the way, Methuss will think that the Prince was kidnapped by the Galbadians, who are in fact actually the Barzamites. What a clusterfuck.

 

[Nevill]

Better to have our picnic with the fam and leave.

I think treave is saying that a picnic would allow us to leave no witnesses if we wanted to since we would be able to observe them instead of being thrown into a fight right away.

Could be wrong, though.

Some petty title? Please.

The choice of reward is open to discussion.

 

[treave]

Maybe I've missed a few details, but sending a small force to attack a well-organized raiding party? This man is a glory hunter.

You missed the details where the 'raiding party' had disguised their actions as a bunch of normal bandits and he was sent here by 'His Majesty'.

I think treave is saying that a picnic would allow us to leave no witnesses if we wanted to since we would be able to observe them instead of being thrown into a fight.

Yes, and the prince would also gather them in one easy spot for you to nuke once you're done with the picnic. Whereas it's a bit harder to throw your spells around if you are concerned about collateral damage. But that's up to your choices in the next update, if you decide to help. You could try challenging the Barzamite commander to a one-on-one duel witnessed entirely by both sides, see if they fall for that trick. Otherwise you could do B, take the prince hostage and lead the raiders on a merry chase until you have all of them where you want them. There are a few options I suppose, it's just not as easy as wade in, kill men, take bitches, that's all.

 

[Esquilax]

The choice of reward is open.

Some money, a lesser knighthood? At the cost of embroiling ourselves with Methuss in a messy conflict we barely even understand? Not worth it.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I'm going to go ahead and flop and also add C7 to my conditionals:

D>C7>B>C1>C5

Yes, and the prince would also gather them in one easy spot for you to nuke once you're done with the picnic.

I am in favor of this too.

 

[Nevill]

Some money, a lesser knighthood?

If that's all what your fantasy can muster.

A piece of land to call ours (we are squatting right now), an access to their library, a nice 10/10 adjutant, or an alliance until the conspirators will be overthrown. All of those are possible.

At the cost of aligning ourselves with Methuss in a conflict we barely even understand?

A conflict is already ongoing, and I know I am not siding with the Barzamites in this. Take your pick out of the rest.

 

[lightbane]

In the middle of the village? Well, if you're going to wipe everyone out...

Ah right. I forgot about the causalities. We started this to save some minor villagers after all

You know what? I edited slightly my voting post to add D, since it sounds good as well.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

A conflict is already ongoing, and I know I am not siding with the Barzamites in this. Take your pick out of the rest.

Why? How do you know the Barzamites weren't ordered to rape because that's what the Methusians did to them? How do you know that you won't be helping even worse monsters?

I like treave's suggestion of either luring them all into one place with B, or letting the prince do it for us in D.

That way we kill the people we know need to die, but still remain neutral and probably unseen by everyone except the twins.

 

[Esquilax]

A piece of land to call ours (we are squatting right now), an access to their library, a nice 10/10 adjutant, or an alliance until the conspirators will be overthrown. All of those are possible.

Hey, it's not much, but we have secrecy and we have the advantage of being a neutral player in the game for now. I'll take tactical versatility (i.e. having the option open to learn about and side with some other powers) and knowledge of what's going on over these trinkets.

A conflict is already ongoing, and I know I am not siding with the Barzamites in this. Take your pick out of the rest.

How do you know the Methussians are any better than the Barzamites? The "slave of Methuss" comment? The fact that they potentially have an angel on their side, and according to the Barzamite side, angels are basically vessels of destruction and ruin? I don't think anybody is going to come out clean in this war and I'd rather keep my options open for now before siding with these guys permanently. And right now, that means we take down the Prince while he least expects it so that we either have (a) a bargaining chip, or (b) bait for the Barzamites.

 

[Baltika9]

The only thing of value we can get out of the prince is knowledge about their angel. Question is, what's the best way to go about it? Overall, Esquilax is making the most sense to me, why the fuck do we care about these people? I want to play this quiet in the early stages, so none would get curios about us and start investigations, therefore C7>C1, either we take the people we need, or get the fuck out of dodge.

 

[Nevill]

Why? How do you know the Barzamites weren't ordered to rape because that's what the Methusians did to them?

Because Barzamites - those Barzamites - killed our goblins, and Methussians haven't yet.

And chances are, if we form the alliance here, they won't. So there is no reason for me to provoke Methussians, especially considering that this is their territory and they can send a retaliatory force much stronger than the one we can handle, whereas Barzamites are limited in their choices if they don't want an all-out war.

Simply put, Barzamites are a much more convinient enemy to have, and there is no need to go into a moralfag frenzy over this.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Esquilax, can you be persuaded to add D to your conditionals? C7 is my second choice as hopefully we can get out without being seen, but I'm not sure if it will get the votes.

 

[Nevill]

I'll take tactical versatility (i.e. having the option open to learn about and side with some other powers) and knowledge of what's going on over these trinkets.

I remember a guy who was desperate for some diplomacy because we aren't all that strong.

A paltry force. If this 30-strong war party with mages among them is part of a larger group, then we simply don't have the numbers to compete right now. Based on that, I think the wisest options are either (a) diplomacy or (b) bide our time and build ourselves up while remaining hidden. Now, if diplomacy goes sideways, that's one thing, but I don't think it's smart to go for the aggressive option right away here.

We are a neutral party who are occupying land that does not belong to us. If we side with anyone else over this, it will lead to the scenario that I recall you wanted to avoid.

 

[treave]

Thinking about it, in A you could also help him break his men out of the encirclement with just enough force that the enemy is not scared off, and then carefully lead them away from the village into more open ground so you can do a proper head count.

Anyway, here's a few questions that can guide your decision:

The Prince: more useful to you alive or dead?
The Prince's Knights: more useful to you alive or dead?
The Twins: more useful to you alive or dead?
The Villagers: more useful to you alive or dead?
The Barzamites: Kill them all, or let them report to their country? And will you be able to take the prince away without them noticing, if you choose to?

It would be easier to make a case by pointing out the pros and cons of each, I think.

 

[Esquilax]

Because Barzamites - those Barzamites - killed our goblins, and Methussians haven't yet.

Christ, are you still getting misty-eyed over those fucking goblins? You sure know how to hold a grudge. We tortured and killed the raiding party that did it, are we going to go kill everyone somewhat related to these guys to save a bunch of retarded furballs? It's done.

And chances are, if we form the alliance here, they won't. So there is no reason for me to provoke Methussians, especially considering that this is their territory and they can send a retaliatory force much stronger than the one we can handle, whereas Barzamites are limited in their choices if they don't want an all-out war.

Simply put, Barzamites are a much more convinient enemy to have, and there is no need to go into a moralfag frenzy over this.

Yes, we are in Methussian territory, but they don't know that. And what they don't know won't hurt us. I get it, it is a highly risky play. We're kidnapping a prince, stashing him in Methussian territory close to a site where there's apparently a religious relic attracting attention, but we are invisible for now. And so long as the prince isn't found, it will be assumed that the Galbadians did it. We have an opportunity and we have a scapegoat.

I remember a guy who was desperate for some diplomacy because we aren't all that strong.
...
We are a neutral party who are occupying land that does not belong to us. If we side with anyone else over this, it will lead to the scenario that I recall you wanted to avoid.

The YOLO cannot be stopped!

But that was like, five updates ago. The situation's changed a bit, and an interesting opportunity has presented itself. You don't often happen upon the chance to kidnap royalty, now do you? This guy doesn't know who we are, and neither does Methuss.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

We are a neutral party who are occupying land that does not belong to us. If we side with anyone else over this, it will lead to the scenario that I recall you wanted to avoid.

No one is advocating siding with the Barzamites, bro. And there is no guarantee that siding with the prince won't lead to a conflict. Governments usually aren't fond of power that they cannot control.

We are a great power that is in their backyard. Once they see what we are and what we can do, they will want to either control us or destroy us. Maybe that control will come in the form of an alliance or maybe he will just go home and set the same people who captured the last angle out to capture us.

edit:

Christ, are you still getting misty-eyed over those fucking goblins? You sure know how to hold a grudge. We tortured and killed the raiding party that did it, are we going to go kill everyone somewhat related to these guys to save a bunch of retarded furballs? It's done.

I know, right? This from the guy who chides me for hating Kyle.

 

[Nevill]

Christ, are you still getting misty-eyed over those fucking goblins? You sure know how to hold a grudge. We tortured and killed the raiding party that did it, are we going to go kill everyone somewhat related to these guys to save a bunch of retarded furballs?

Yes.

I don't know what kind of attitude the Minotaur had, but no one messes with our furballs.

You give us trouble, we kill you, your family, your pet, your vermin and we give your neighbours a dirty glance that makes them gulp.

Yes, we are in Methussian territory, but they don't know that. And what they don't know won't hurt us. I get it, it is a highly risky play. We're kidnapping a prince, stashing him in Methussian territory close to a site where there's apparently a religious relic attracting attention, but we are invisible for now. And so long as the prince isn't found, it will be assumed that the Galbadians did it.

We are kidnapping the Prince in a location that is one day's walk away from our HQ. What do you think is going to happen?

Hint: a search party.

Seriously, bros. Think ahead just a little.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

No, bro, you think a little:

1. An armed human raiding party attacks.
2. The prince defends and is ambushed.
3. After the battle, the prince is no where to be found.

Now who would you suspect? A goblin village that's a whole day away?

edit:

Yes.

I don't know what kind of attitune the Minotaur had, but no one messes with our furballs.

You do realize that our gigadine killed like 40 goblins, right?

You give us trouble, we kill you, your family, your pet, your vermin and we give your neighbours a dirty glance that makes them gulp.

Seriously, I was saying the same thing about Kyle and I got treated like I was being a butthurt psycho. So potential love interest's death is not as upsetting to you as a dozen goblins you never even met?

 

[Elfberserker]

I think this pretty much boils to how you see it. Is this the GOLDEN OPPURTUNITY or STEP INTO UNKNOWN SHITSTORM.

Pros for helping the prince:
+Friendly relationship with man of influence and power...May possible develope into working relationship
+Reward with knighthood being one option, but most likely we can choose more materialistic rewards with less political position.
+ It should affect our standing with kingdom as highly positive task, since we saved one of royalty.
+ Prince might be glory hunter, so he might be easier to manipulate??? As long as we don't steal his glory

Cons for kidnapping prince:
- The prince might be backstabbing bastard
- We don't have single fucking idea about political situation.
- May possible have enslaved an angel.
- This most likely will push us towards methussian route

As far as I can tell the kidnapping the prince, twins, adjutans and some play soldiers for Rin means we can pretty much kill everyone else and stay hidden? Or at laest as neutral party.
Speaking of party, I am interested see those galbadia dudes since everyone seems to want involve them into war, but so far we haven't seen single one of them.

Edit: Whatever we will do, something will explode. This thing reminds me of powder keg with dozens of flamethrowers.

 

[Nevill]

Now who would you suspect? A goblin village that's a whole day away?

Dude, don't be that guy.

Regardless of whom I suspect I will still do a search, because it is what you do when important people go missing, and since the location is close the scouts will stumble upon the village.

Unless you think they are gonna be like 'oh, a prince went missing - no big deal, we have spares'.

So much for your SIKRIT BAYSE.

You do realize that our gigadine killed like 40 goblins, right?

Weren't ours by then.

But even if we did, they are our minions to do with them as we please.

 

[archaen]

A. We need to get some basic info and being savior asking questions is likely to work better than Rin in the kitchen.