In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

The scion with the crab is going to give us one hell of a bad personality/appearance(?)...

Remember:

As usual, if stats dip below 3 we'll try to have a very obvious effect on the character.

It's 2 charisma.

-1 from the crab and -2 from the background.

 

[Esquilax]

The scion with the crab is going to give us one hell of a bad personality/appearance(?)...

Remember:

As usual, if stats dip below 3 we'll try to have a very obvious effect on the character.

It's 2 charisma.

-1 from the crab and -2 from the background.

Definitely. While stat crunching is mostly something I'd like to avoid in an LP like this, the one hard rule I would prefer to stick to is "No stats lower than 3". When I think of someone with a CHA of 2, it means someone who is so detestable on first meeting that nobody wants to be around them, or a total autist that can't function at all in social situations, and I get enough of the latter by being myself in real life.

 

[Kipeci]

Realized I didn’t actually vote! Scholar’s Scion with Astra of Mesa (The Ram).

Smart (so we don’t have to be as badly) with a lot of potential masteries of interest in fields like traps, alchemy and so on. Also reasonable at the new Astra stuff as well. Weaknesses present in constitution and personality but not especially glaring. I like it.

 

[Nevill]

Ambassador's Child
(Wisdom +1, Intelligence + 1, Charisma +2, Strength -1, Constitution -1)

I want a character with a decent WIS stat for proper Astra handling and for noticing bullshit inherent to Codexian plans.
And a good CHA for getting away with bullshit when WIS alone doesn't cut it.

The most of stats.

That said, I am not a minmaxer, it's just they fit what I look for in this LP.

The sign, the sign... Lion or the Twins, I suppose.

Astra of Mithuna (The Twins)
(Strength -1, Dexterity +1, Intelligence +1, Charisma +1)

 

[Egosphere]

Here's some non combat oriented builds without any crippling weaknesses ( apart from 1 merchant's heir build). Each row gives the final effect on each stat, so you can ignore the row that precedes each line. Apologies if mistakes present

Edit: Actually, I meant to include Merchant's Heir + Lion instead of Fish. +1 STR, +2 INT, +4 CHA, -1 everything else

 

[Baltika9]

==Votes by archetype with sign==

Ambassador/Twins = 3

Hunter/Fish = 1
Hunter/Archer = 1

Merchant/Twins = 3

Slumrat/Crab = 2
Slumrat/Fish = 1

Scholar/Ram = 2
Scholar/Virgin = 1
Scholar/Archer = 1
Scholar/Twins = 1
Scholar/Crab = 1

==Raw votes==

Ambassador = 3
Hunter = 2
Merchant = 3
Slumrat = 3
Scholar = 6
---
Twins = 5
Fish = 2
Archer = 2
Crab = 2
Virgin = 1
Ram = 2

Spoiler

Baltika9 - Ambassador/->Slumrat/-
Nevill - Ambassador/Twins
Smashing Axe - Ambassador/Twins

Esquilax - Hunter/Fish
baud - Hunter/Archer>Ambassador/Twins

Azira - Merchant/Twins>Merchant/->Scholar/-
ERYFKRAD - Merchant/-
Egosphere - Merchant/Twins

Tigranes - Slumrat/Fish
Nahel - Slumrat/Crab
Absinthe = Slumrat/Fish>Hunter/Archer>Merchant/Fish

asxetos - Scholar/Archer
lightbane - Scholar/Virgin
Lambchop - Scholar/Ram
Kipeci - Scholar/Ram
hello friend - Scholar/Twins>Slumrat/Fish
Kz3r0 - Scholar/Crab

 

[Egosphere]

I'll vote for Merchant/Twins.

Charismatic, quite bright, will have +1 dexterity so can learn some other skill to a high enough standard

 

[Azira]

Yeah, I'll amend my vote to Merchant of the Twins as well. That would side-step the constitution dump. Don't really wanna dip too low, and I was going for max cha anyways.

Merch/Twins>any Merch>Any Scholar.

 

[hello friend]

Scholar/Mithuna, for an Air mutability Astra > Slumrat/Mina, for a Water mutability astric that can beat people up with quick hands and feet. Take a punch, too. No real weaknesses, few strengths. Edit: >Ambassador/Virgin

 

[Absinthe]

I'm interested in pursuing more all-rounder type builds. It seems fun to make a character that can do a bit of everything. Half the fun with Jing in Legend was that we were able to be a sneaky type, a fighter, a talker, and a somewhat clever man all at once. Having options makes everything more interesting imo, so let's try to minimize penalties.

Here are a few options I'm considering:

• Hunter+Dhanusa/Archer: +0 str, +1 dex, +1 con, +1 wis, +1 int, +0 cha (Fire mutability)
• Merchant+Mina/Fish: -1 str, +0 dex, +0 con, +1 wis, +2 int, +2 cha (Water mutability)
• Merchant+Kanya/Virgin: +0 str, +0 dex, +0 con, +0 wis, +1 int, +3 cha (Earth fixation)
• Scholar+Tula/Balance: +0 str, +2 dex, +0 con, +0 wis, +3 int, -1 cha (Air dynamism)
• Scholar+Kumbha/Water-bearer: +1 str, +0 dex, +1 con, +1 wis, +2 int, -1 cha (Air fixation, despite being called water-bearer)
• Slumrat+Mina/Fish: +0 str, +2 dex, +1 con, +1 wis, +0 int, +0 cha (Water mutability)
• Slumrat+Karka/Crab: +0 str, +3 dex, +1 con, +0 wis, +0 int, +0 cha (Water dynamism)

Hunter+Archer and Slumrat+Fish are the all-rounders. Merchant+Virgin is the most charismatic without any stat penalties. Slumrat+Crab most dextrous without any stat penalties. Merchant has the best mentals. Scholar+Water-bearer makes for an unusual scholar with more martial stats.

I think water mutability sounds fun, so going Slumrat+Fish=Hunter+Archer>Merchant+Fish I think.

 

[lightbane]

Dynamism: the Astra is of a type that emits its power externally. A sword firing sword beams, or a hoe that carves an entire furrow with a single swing, or manipulation of external objects ala telekinesis, among others.
Fixation: the Astra enhances the target. A sword that makes the user faster, a hoe gives the user more stamina, or targetable abilities such as enhancing the natural regeneration of a patient.
Mutability: the Astra's power is based in transformation and conjuration. A cloak that can change to act as active camouflage, bracelets which enable the user to transform into a wolf, or the conjuration of objects out of thin air.

Standard animu magic then. Say, would the NetTally program work for RPGCodex? IF so, you could have votes be done by using brackets (as in: [x] "Do Stuff"). This way, counting votes is way faster, and it lets you read past the inane +1 SWORDS! discussions way more easily.

 

[treave]

Yo treave where are you taking the zodiac spellings from? Hindi or Sanskrit?

Uh... Google.

Some tower of god influence?

I've heard of that Korean webtoon but I've never read it myself so I'm not sure what similarities are there.

it lets you read past the inane +1 SWORDS! discussions way more easily.

But that's part of the fun!

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Uh... Google

Well that explains it.

 

[Egosphere]

If anyone wants to have another look at the 'balanced' builds, I've compiled all the raw stats for builds that don't have crippling penalties of -2 or greater:

Spoiler

Slum/crab - a build which, when he sees the tower, can climb it!

Funnily enough, you cannot bump strength to +3 without taking at least one crippling penalty in something else

 

[Tigranes]

As others noted, I don't think we want to stat splurge too much for something like this - it's not a combat heavy CRPG or something. The key seems to be getting to a consensus/majority on what kind of personality type we want to play.

Which seems to be more or less leaning to smooth-talking con man, with Slumrat minority.

That said, I am tempted by Absinthe's point that maybe we can go with a more all-rounder this time, rather than a minmax dude who can talk his way out of anything but then handsies his way into every trouble. Slumrat Fish is my current vote, as I also think slumrat is a good background for an all-rounder - someone who's picked things up here and there, a dash of Han Solo in there if we work hard at it.

I'm interested in pursuing more all-rounder type builds. It seems fun to make a character that can do a bit of everything. Half the fun with Jing in Legend was that we were able to be a sneaky type, a fighter, a talker, and a somewhat clever man all at once. Having options makes everything more interesting imo, so let's try to minimize penalties.

Here are a few options I'm considering:

• Hunter+Dhanusa/Archer: +0 str, +1 dex, +1 con, +1 wis, +1 int, +0 cha (Fire mutability)
• Merchantina/Fish: -1 str, +0 dex, +0 con, +1 wis, +2 int, +2 cha (Water mutability)
• Merchant+Kanya/Virgin: +0 str, +0 dex, +0 con, +0 wis, +1 int, +3 cha (Earth fixation)
• Scholar+Tula/Balance: +0 str, +2 dex, +0 con, +0 wis, +3 int, -1 cha (Air dynamism)
• Scholar+Kumbha/Water-bearer: +1 str, +0 dex, +1 con, +1 wis, +2 int, -1 cha (Air fixation, despite being called water-bearer)
• Slumratina/Fish: +0 str, +2 dex, +1 con, +1 wis, +0 int, +0 cha (Water mutability)
• Slumrat+Karka/Crab: +0 str, +3 dex, +1 con, +0 wis, +0 int, +0 cha (Water dynamism)

Hunter+Archer and Slumrat+Fish are the all-rounders. Merchant+Virgin is the most charismatic without any stat penalties. Slumrat+Crab most dextrous without any stat penalties. Merchant has the best mentals. Scholar+Water-bearer makes for an unusual scholar with more martial stats.

I think water mutability sounds fun, so going Slumrat+Fish>Merchant+Fish>Hunter+Archer I think.

 

[Egosphere]

As others noted, I don't think we want to stat splurge too much for something like this - it's not a combat heavy CRPG or something.

Sure, it's just a reference for others so that they don't have to do the arithmetic if there's something specific they're looking for. I changed the build I wanted when I compiled that list and saw the options.

 

[Baltika9]

Which seems to be more or less leaning to smooth-talking con man, with Slumrat minority.

Actually, the Scholar leads by raw votes, while the Merchant is winning by having a unified vote. Academics versus businessmen, go figure.
It's kind of difficult to determine what exactly I want our character to be in this world when we know so little about it. Plus, we're starting as a baby, so our origins and astra choices will influence not only our starting stats and skills, but also what kind of learning opportunities we'll get as we're growing up.

As others noted, I don't think we want to stat splurge too much for something like this - it's not a combat heavy CRPG or something.

I'll also state that these are just our starting stats. treave said that we're starting as a baby, so there are bound to be customization options in the introduction. I am in favor of picking a middle-of-the-road stats character myself. However, I'm not that into the 'smooth-talking conman, 'I want to make a character who is something other than 'good and strong fighter guy' and 'NEEEEERD!'

Come on, guys, this is the start of the 20th century! The Belle Epoque is in full swing, the sun will soon set on the British Empire. The old feudal systems will soon be swept away, social upheavals are about to rock the world, and we're stuck in a mysterious tower that will have its own status quo disrupted. The ambassador just seems like such a fun background to play as in this period and situation: we can be a politician and advance our patrons's standing within the tower, while sabotaging our rivals and be fully plugged in to the time period, or organize scientific expeditions for their benefit. And our stat spreads are a bit above the average, but none of them are all that high.

Yeah, 'the Codex sucks at playing smart characters,' but I think it would be interesting to try, nevertheless.

 

[Absinthe]

Actually Slumrat+Fish is tied for unified votes right now. Me and Tigranes both went Slumrat+Fish. Hello Friend's ranked choice vote also goes to Slumrat+Fish. That puts Slumrat+Fish at 3 atm.

I think we should use unified votes to determine winners here because a we are voting for specific stat-line outcomes.

 

[Esquilax]

Actually Slumrat+Fish is tied for unified votes right now. Me and Tigranes both went Slumrat+Fish. Hello Friend's ranked choice vote also goes to Slumrat+Fish. That puts Slumrat+Fish at 3 atm.

I think we should use unified votes to determine winners here because a we are voting for specific stat-line outcomes.

Well, I think first we should settle on background, then on the star sign after that's been settled. Otherwise things become way too fractured, especially when you factor in how many permutations of Background + Sign there are.

We went through this with Legend as well, and as Baltika9 mentioned earlier, I think it makes more sense to nail down a background first.

That being said, if Legend is anything to go by, a different sign for a character of the same background leads to a very different personality for that character, so I get why you'd prefer to settle it all at once. Nevertheless, given how many combinations there are, I think that doing things this way is more organized, leads to less butthurt (that is, the unfun kind of butthurt) and allows us to get this show on the road quicker.

Doesn't matter what I think though, it's up to treave.

 

[baud]

For my vote I'll go

Hunter+Archer>Ambassador/Twins

A balanced character and a more charisma/intelligence char

 

[Kz3r0]

Astra of Karka (The Crab)
The Scholar’s Scion

Gimme a creepy and perverted combat astrologer that is a bit of a drunkard.

 

[Baltika9]

That being said, if Legend is anything to go by, a different sign for a character of the same background leads to a very different personality for that character, so I get why you'd prefer to settle it all at once.

No, actually:

treave, will our choices of Astra influence our character like the zodiac signs did in Legend?

No, you will define your personality through the prologue's choices.

You're starting as a kid, by the way.

Actually Slumrat+Fish is tied for unified votes right now. Me and Tigranes both went Slumrat+Fish. Hello Friend's ranked choice vote also goes to Slumrat+Fish. That puts Slumrat+Fish at 3 atm.

I think we should use unified votes to determine winners here because a we are voting for specific stat-line outcomes.

I disagree with this approach. I am focused on selecting a character I would enjoy playing story-wise, and min-maxing them for their purpose after we determine what that purpose is. In other words, background first, stats second.

 

[Nevill]

I get it why the combination of background + sign is important; the playstyles within a single background could be very different based on one's strengths and weaknesses.

But then people who are voting for less popular backgrounds deserve to have a say in how the story goes if their choice doesn't win, so it makes sense to do in incrementally too. That way we can find what most people would be content with.

 

[Absinthe]

I'm of the opinion that we should vote on specific combinations because it drastically changes the kind of character we are, and those who disagree should just explain a way to interpret their own voting priorities for background and sign. Because I can tell you right now that while I like Hunter+Archer, I do not like Hunter+Fish (which is dumping charisma hard). Voting on background and sign separately would make my votes generally painful since I am attempting to avoid having lopsided stats (particularly lopsided stats which are dumping specific stats hard) because that pigeonholes us into specific playstyles. Expect lots of absurd vote changes depending on which combination is winning at the moment if we go down that road.

And just because we are voting for specific combinations does not mean we are suddenly devoid of preferences on background and sign.

 

[Baltika9]

And just because we are voting for specific combinations does not mean we are suddenly devoid of preferences on background and sign.

You bring up an interesting point: no matter how we vote, someone will have to suck it up. With that being said, I think that selecting our background before our sign is a better way to go about this precisely because it narrows down our range of choices to something more manageable, without disappointing a disunited majority. This will prevent an unpopular minority choice from claiming victory, while the rest of the voters are fighting over the colour of our character's jacket.

For instance, Scholars lead by a large majority with 6 votes total, but are losing to the united Merchant block in combination voting. The remaining six voters haven't expressed interest in either path. Under this system, the 80% of the electorate will have to go along with an option that only 20% of the electorate even wanted. Which is, obviously, not great.

But if we decide our background first, then we will be able to battle in a much smaller arena for the outcome we desire the most.

I'm of the opinion that we should vote on specific combinations because it drastically changes the kind of character we are,

Not quite. The only thing that drastically affects our character's character is his background. His zodiac sign will only affect his stats, but not his personality. We will mold that personality (and more stats and skills, I assume) as we grow over the course of the introduction.