In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

[Kalarion]

Flop to E. I just... man that sounds cool as fuck.

This is hard men.

 

[BlizzardStockholmSyndrome]

*sigh*

You could have played anything from a smooth talking conman to a 100yo badass monk, but instead you picked the 24yo black sheep noble with alcoholism and PTSD.

Codex, do we need to talk?

I would be more concerned about your fixation with young aztecan boys.

Besides: if you go with a conman what will you do once you're elbow deep in lovecraftian abominations? Try to seduce them? 100 year old monk. Yeah, that's cool and all but this isn't master roshi, one stiff wind and he will need a hip replacement.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

I would be more concerned about your fixation with young aztecan boys.

E was my first choice, nigger.

Besides: if you go with a conman what will you do once you're elbow deep in lovecraftian abominations? Try to seduce them?

Better than starting to drink and pissing yourself.

Yeah, that's cool and all but this isn't master roshi, one stiff wind and he will need a hip replacement.

Someone didn't read Legend. You don't even know what you don't know.

 

[Baltika9]

Flop to E. I just... man that sounds cool as fuck.

This is hard men.

Yeah. Lu Zhi is pretty cool too, definitely going to interact with the supernatural directly, but he's coming to this Tower to die. Von Falkenhayn's story definitely captures my imagination more: confronting his shortcomings, living after his failure, and the tantalizing prospect of redemption and rejuvenation. B is definitely 'it' for me.

 

[Tigranes]

Eehhhhhh. I'm good with most options, but B doesn't really sound very fun or new.

Depressed, low self-esteem,

As treave said of Wrinkly, the character of the PC influences the kind of content/prose we get. Dude's going to mean a lot of tired old "I'm a spoiled/emo/PTSD/sad dude" humdrums until we eventually rework his shitty personality.

A recurring theme in our CYOAs is trying to make our character do what they really can't, and then ending up with halfway house vomit. The other characters have at least one character trait that allows them to be proactive and get shit done (strong of heart, cunning, intelligent, focused). Whereas B is the kind of guy that will look at an exciting adventure in the face and go for a drink instead, face danger with a moment's chance to act and get PTSD instead, get to talk up a girl but act out his depression instead.

nothing is expected of him except to stay out of the way

B-guy also seems to start as a loser and will be denied opportunities until slowly encountering interesting things, kind of like Wrinkly. Why do that again?

 

[Baltika9]

Eehhhhhh. I'm good with most options, but B doesn't really sound very fun or new.

Depressed, low self-esteem,

As treave said of Wrinkly, the character of the PC influences the kind of content/prose we get. Dude's going to mean a lot of tired old "I'm a spoiled/emo/PTSD/sad dude" humdrums until we eventually rework his shitty personality.

A recurring theme in our CYOAs is trying to make our character do what they really can't, and then ending up with halfway house vomit. The other characters have at least one character trait that allows them to be proactive and get shit done (strong of heart, cunning, intelligent, focused). Whereas B is the kind of guy that will look at an exciting adventure in the face and go for a drink instead, face danger with a moment's chance to act and get PTSD instead, get to talk up a girl but act out his depression instead.

nothing is expected of him except to stay out of the way

B-guy also seems to start as a loser and will be denied opportunities until slowly encountering interesting things, kind of like Wrinkly. Why do that again?

Not how I read it. Falkenhayn seems like the sort of guy who has adventure come for him. Unlike Wrinkly, Max doesn't currently have a goal in his life - even his starting situation is despite him, being assigned to the posting by his family. How he handles rock bottom is up to him and up to us. No friends, no little sister, no allowances for being a child. Just a wounded soldier, alone.

I think that's pretty cool.

Edit: von Falkenhayn is also the one most likely to have guns. That's pretty cool too.

Edit 2: tally so far

A - 2
Azira
Tigranes

B - 5
ERYFKRAD
Baltika9
hello friend
BlizzardStockholmeSyndrome
ItsChon

C - 1
Orbit

D - 1
Nahel

E - 4
Kipeci
Kalarion
ChumBucket
Non-Edgy Gamer

 

[Grimgravy]

D>E

 

[hello friend]

I'm flopping to E, if - and only if - B wins.

 

[ItsChon]

Honestly, C is the best option out of all of them now that I think about it. Codex is full of virgins and losers so I know it’s hard for you to imagine being a chad, but I like how proactive the character sounds and there is a ton of potential for great role play. I’m flopping to

C>B>D

E and A are hands down the worst options though. A because I’m not roleplaying as a fucking chick, and E because he’s a 100 fucking years old. I want us to create a character and craft a story for him. Option E is a Monk that already has his entire character carved in stone. Yeah it’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks, blah blah blah, but I want to approach the tower from a fresh prospective. Not to mention, we already played an autistic anti-social orphan with Wrinkly, do we really want to go back to not saying anything?

 

[Tigranes]

Changing from A to C>A. I can get with a good old tongue-licking scammer cliche if it overcomes B.

I’m not roleplaying as a fucking chick, and E because he’s a 100 fucking years old.

Spare me, you can do aliens or dudes with five testicles or wrinkly with a face out of sauron's asshole, but oh noes this imaginary dude is too old? It's not like we have to roleplay arthritis*. Language barrier is definitely the problem. Likewise, the central conceit with A is the idea of being someone who is out to disprove and tear down perceived superstitions.

*Until arthritis causes E to fumble his dexterity save at a crucial moment, leading to sphere diplomacy.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

I’m not roleplaying as a fucking chick

Not just any chick. From the sound of it, she's a crotchety old Dana Scully type.

I think it'd be an interesting change of pace from the usual male protagonists we play, but she's not really a top pick for me either.

Option E is a Monk that already has his entire character carved in stone.

By that standard, all of them have their character set in stone, since all of them have a backstory and all of them have personality traits. None are a blank slate.

That said, the story hasn't even been written yet. Who is to say what choices we'll make and how it will influence the writing?

Not to mention, we already played an autistic anti-social orphan with Wrinkly, do we really want to go back to not saying anything?

This is actually a fair point.

Ya know what, I'll just go ahead and do D > B > E, just because of the language thing. I still think E would be a cool character, but I wouldn't look forward to more encounters we have no chance of talking our way out of at all. Though E might handle himself well-enough in a fight for it not to matter. Maybe.

edit: updated my journal

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Not how I read it. Falkenhayn seems like the sort of guy who has adventure come for him. Unlike Wrinkly, Max doesn't currently have a goal in his life - even his starting situation is despite him, being assigned to the posting by his family. How he handles rock bottom is up to him and up to us. No friends, no little sister, no allowances for being a child. Just a wounded soldier, alone.

I think that's pretty cool.

These are all valid reasons to pick him. Again, I don't feel any of the choices here are bad. I just think there's a high chance of B becoming a disastrous playthrough. Going from disfigured cripple to mentally ill loser. Might be fun though, I agree. I've added it in as a conditional.

 

[ItsChon]

Spare me, you can do aliens or dudes with five testicles or wrinkly with a face out of sauron's asshole, but oh noes this imaginary dude is too old? It's not like we have to roleplay arthritis*. Language barrier is definitely the problem. Likewise, the central conceit with A is the idea of being someone who is out to disprove and tear down perceived superstitions.

*Until arthritis causes E to fumble his dexterity save at a crucial moment, leading to sphere diplomacy.

I was never interested in doing aliens/dudes with five testicles, and Wrinkly was a child which is perfectly consistent with my bias against older characters. Not to mention the language barrier.

By that standard, all of them have their character set in stone, since all of them have a backstory and all of them have personality traits. None are a blank slate.

That said, the story hasn't even been written yet. Who is to say what choices we'll make and how it will influence the writing?

I mean I guess, but perhaps due to the fact that I am a zoomer, I just don't like the idea of us trying to roleplay a wise old man. It doesn't interest me in the slightest, and I think it would be a waste.

 

[ItsChon]

Ya know, what, I'll just go ahead and do D > B > E, just because of the language thing. I still think E would be a cool character, but I wouldn't look forward to more encounters we have no chance of talking our way out of at all. Though E might handle himself well-enough in a fight for it not to matter. Maybe.

Also, what's wrong with C?

 

[BlizzardStockholmSyndrome]

I would be more concerned about your fixation with young aztecan boys.

E was my first choice, nigger.

Besides: if you go with a conman what will you do once you're elbow deep in lovecraftian abominations? Try to seduce them?

Better than starting to drink and pissing yourself.

Yeah, that's cool and all but this isn't master roshi, one stiff wind and he will need a hip replacement.

Someone didn't read Legend. You don't even know what you don't know.

Don't get your panties in a twist oldfag sport, it was just a joke. I apologize.

I don't know what I don't know, true, but having a 100 year old monk in a Victorian and now Roaring 20's setting just doesn't seem right to me. For the type of world this is, it feels like a gimmick character. One thing is to be a fish out of water and the other is to be completelly alien to your surroundings.

Here's my reasons why Max would work as a character: we are before the great depression, when the world tries to drink the sorrows of the great war away; our character is in line with the world he is living in. Everyone pretending that all the bad stuff has ended and we are in for a new begining when secretly they are huffing enough cocaine to kill an elephant. The world is going too far, too fast and is due for a collapse. Max being who he is, a depressed alcoholic, seems to be the only sane man in a world gone crazy. He's a good characte archetype for this type of world. He's also in his mid 20's, he still has time to change and grow.

Why I'm against the monk? He's 100 years old. By all accounts his adventure should be over by now or this is the last leg of the journey.

The skeptic A would be a close second to B but she fits the XIX century a lot more than the XXth, what with Theosophical society running around and whatnot.

Finally, why not a conman? Because he would fit a lot more in the 60's cold war era of the tower. You need a smooth operator to play a game of spy vs spy. Also he sounds like a one trick pony, always trying to bullshit his way out.

 

[Nicebrain]

B

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Also, what's wrong with C?

Nothing. I just don't feel like playing a manipulator.

I don't know what I don't know, true, but having a 100 year old monk in a Victorian and now Roaring 20's setting just doesn't seem right to me.

But Aztec gods walking the Earth, or the physical incarnation of a British political cartoon being a child-eating monster does?

As to the setting, we've been in jungles, ancient ruins and dreamlands. There's no telling how much the disaster changed the tower, and I doubt one Chinaman is really going to stick out among freaks like John Bull.

He's 100 years old.

That's what makes him interesting.

Try to let go of the idea that he's a cripple who can barely walk. (As funny as that might be to play.) He made a journey across the world to get here and he's no intention of stopping his journey just yet.

If you want to play a deadly old master with knowledge of ancient Chinese secrets™, he's your man. A merciless, methodical philosopher here to search for...well, that's a mystery we'd have to play him to find out.

 

[BlizzardStockholmSyndrome]

That's what makes him interesting.

Try to let go of the idea that he's a cripple who can barely walk. (As funny as that might be to play.) He made a journey across the world to get here and he's no intention of stopping his journey just yet.

If you want to play a deadly old master with knowledge of ancient Chinese secrets™, he's your man. A merciless, methodical philosopher here to search for...well, that's a mystery we'd have to play him to find out.

That's the point: he is already a deadly old master, where else is there for him to go? What input did we have in him becoming what he is today? Solving the challenges of the Tower as a powerhouse feels less rewarding that turning a character into a powerhouse.

 

[Absinthe]

E

 

[ItsChon]

I really don't know why we're picking a character that is so detached from everything that makes this setting great. He is a hundred year old Monk, who has obviously dedicated his entire life to whatever order he is apart of. Did we forget about all the cool Knightly Orders? The Hunter's Association? Why would our Monk have any reason to join these cool organizations, to learn about them and interact with the cool lore that is behind each of them? Tower politics? Yeah, say goodbye to that, because I can't think of an IC reason why our monk would be interested in any form of politics; it's actually far more likely that he would wish to remain detached from those kind of worldly things. And again, HE DOESN'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE. I want to learn more about the tower, about Rain and some of the other things we saw. Why are we handicapping ourselves from doing exactly this?

That's what makes him interesting.

Try to let go of the idea that he's a cripple who can barely walk. (As funny as that might be to play.) He made a journey across the world to get here and he's no intention of stopping his journey just yet.

Who the fuck said he the monk can barely walk? Do we even know if he has aged normally?

B-guy also seems to start as a loser and will be denied opportunities until slowly encountering interesting things, kind of like Wrinkly. Why do that again?

This is off the mark completely.

Disgraced and traumatized in the Great War, he has been shipped off by his aristocrat family to a remote posting in the Tower. While nominally tasked with overseeing his house’s preparations for the great treaty signing to come, nothing is expected of him except to stay out of the way and ideally drink himself dead in a corner where no one will notice.

Option B states we have been directly put in charge of overseeing how our house is going to prepare for the great treaty. While our character is depressed and traumatized, there is nothing that suggests we can't go about turning this around. This seems to be one of the most impactful roles out of all the choices presented to us, as we can have a direct impact on a treaty that is going to determine the world order of the setting for years to come. We are a noble and an aristocrat, who says we can't go about making money moves? Our family has money and they don't give a fuck about us, what if we organize a dangerous expedition? They'll be happy to give us some funds in hopes that we fuck off and die somewhere, not causing any more of a ruckus or spending any more money. Your reasoning behind B isn't very solid, but even then, I think B is definitely superior to that of option E.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

I really don't know why we're picking a character that is so detached from everything that makes this setting great.

B is in the lead, though, isn't it?

Who the fuck said he the monk can barely walk? Do we even know if he has aged normally?

I was referring to this:

100 year old monk. Yeah, that's cool and all but this isn't master roshi, one stiff wind and he will need a hip replacement.

Option B states we have been directly put in charge of overseeing how our house is going to prepare for the great treaty.

Reading comprehension roll failed. He's in charge in name only. "nothing is expected of him except to stay out of the way and ideally drink himself dead in a corner where no one will notice."

While our character is depressed and traumatized, there is nothing that suggests we can't go about turning this around.

Well, of course we'll have the opportunity to try, but maybe read over the choice again and realize that we probably won't have much influence over anything without having to fight for it somehow. And even then, that may not be the best choice.

Our family has money and they don't give a fuck about us, what if we organize a dangerous expedition?

Ah, I can see your codexian instincts on how to kill this next character have already started revving up.

 

[Baltika9]

Tally, with all the flops counted for expedience. All of the usual suspects seem to have voted, treave.

A - 2
Azira
Tigranes

B - 6
ERYFKRAD
Baltika9
BlizzardStockholmeSyndrome
ItsChon
Non-Edgy Gamer
Nicebrain

C - 1
Orbit

D - 1
Nahel

E - 7
Kipeci
Kalarion
ChumBucket
Non-Edgy Gamer
grimgravy
Absinthe
hello friend

 

[Kipeci]

Tally, with all the flops counted for expedience. All of the usual suspects seem to have voted, treave.

A - 2
Azira
Tigranes

B - 7
ERYFKRAD
Baltika9
hello friend
BlizzardStockholmeSyndrome
ItsChon
Non-Edgy Gamer
Nicebrain

C - 1
Orbit

D - 1
Nahel

E - 6
Kipeci
Kalarion
ChumBucket
Non-Edgy Gamer
grimgravy
Absinthe

Hold up there, I need time to make a few more accounts before B goes and wins on us

 

[Kalarion]

Tally, with all the flops counted for expedience. All of the usual suspects seem to have voted, treave.

A - 2
Azira
Tigranes

B - 7
ERYFKRAD
Baltika9
hello friend
BlizzardStockholmeSyndrome
ItsChon
Non-Edgy Gamer
Nicebrain

C - 1
Orbit

D - 1
Nahel

E - 6
Kipeci
Kalarion
ChumBucket
Non-Edgy Gamer
grimgravy
Absinthe

Non-Edgy Gamer is currently D, I think. So it should be:
A - 2
B - 6
C - 1
D - 2
E - 5

Flop back LC! You know you want to, think of the butthurt!

 

[Absinthe]

Tally, with all the flops counted for expedience. All of the usual suspects seem to have voted, treave.

Not quite. Nevill has not yet voted.

Also, flopping to C>E, out of respect for ItsChon. Anyone interested in being a proper smooth talker for once? Clearly we should try to make like Miltiades from Age of Decadence.