In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

[lightbane]

Maniac Training voting only got better because we restricted ourselves to fewer choices. I should know, I was one of the poor bastards organizing and tallying that nightmare. This is an attempt at applying the lessons we learned previously to this LP.

More reasons to use vote tally.

Hey, I wanted Hobo Rider to succeed.

I wanted to see how the armor actually fought and if we had a chance at all.

Guess we can't decide, huh.

Vote Tally says it would have solved that issue. Like so.

Nothing to see here.

 

[Nevill]

More reasons to use vote tally.

Does it actually work? As in, have you tested it?

It's open source, so it probably could be tailored to work with 'Dex, but someone would have to do it if it isn't already compatible.

Edit:
It isn't.
We need someone experienced in programming-fu to edit the source code.

 

[Baltika9]

lightbane, are you actually flopping to Ambassador's child, or are you just giving a demonstration of VoteTally?

 

[Egosphere]

How about this -

Commendable, but too complex for anyone to actually cast a vote like this. Some people haven't even chosen the sign for their own class, and the number of people willing to put a thought in their least favorite class can probably be counted on one hand of a particularly unlucky minesweeper.

If their least favourite class is winning in the polls, they won't be putting any thought into the astra sign anyways.
It would have taken less time and energy to compile this than the 2 1/2 pages of deliberation that followed

 

[Absinthe]

Out of curiosity, why is nobody else interested in Hunter? It's a new one for us. Ambassador's Child on the other hand feels a bit like a retread of Adjutant in Legend. We start off in a high position in a royal court before we end up going off on the main story.

 

[Kipeci]

Considering how there are two combat skills for melee weapons and unarmed, I'm guessing that this is not the era where guns rule supreme. Although in terms of ranged combat, Hunter is best. Personally I like the Hunter+Archer combo: +0 str, +1 dex, +1 con, +1 wis, +1 int, +0 cha, fire mutability, ranged weapon 1, stealth 1, traps 1. It's a well-rounded character with solid brains and skills.

Then again I'm also partial to Slumrat+Fish, which takes the water mutability (+0 str, +2 dex, +1 con, +1 wis, +0 int, +0 cha, water mutability, intimidate 1, sleight of hand 1, stealth 1).

They are much compressed from the various weapon skills of Legend, and it’s stated that unarmed skill is very rare; even the best builds for unarmed don’t have all that much raw potential in it, either. There’s also the matter of Astra combat capability to consider which seem to be this version’s equivalent of neigong, which man Scholar’s Scions are highly proficient in. I don’t think it would be hard for the Merchant’s Heir to drum up some solid allies to do that dirty work either, money and charm can take you quite far.

 

[lightbane]

But that's part of the fun!

Yeah no. I'm feeling too old and bitter nowadays to scroll through pages of inanity.

Edit:
It isn't.
We need someone experienced in programming-fu to edit the source code.

Shame, there goes a way to make things easier.

lightbane, are you actually flopping to Ambassador's child, or are you just giving a demonstration of VoteTally?

I thought it would have worked because RPGCodex uses Xenforo 2, the same system as SB, QQ and such, but apparently not.

So, I'll return to my previous vote.

The Scholar’s Scion

 

[Absinthe]

They are much compressed from the various weapon skills of Legend, and it’s stated that unarmed skill is very rare; even the best builds for unarmed don’t have all that much raw potential in it, either. There’s also the matter of Astra combat capability to consider which seem to be this version’s equivalent of neigong, which man Scholar’s Scions are highly proficient in. I don’t think it would be hard for the Merchant’s Heir to drum up some solid allies to do that dirty work either, money and charm can take you quite far.

Ranged weapon skills are also compressed though. But unarmed skills being rare, eh, seeing as it's a skill I'm sure we could put it to use if we try enough. At any rate, I'm a bit more partial to protagonists who can handle their problems on their own over protagonists who need to depend on others. It's a given that we'll pursue astra skills no matter what build we do, so the bigger question on that front is which element and magic type we want to have, since some of those signs will have dire combinations with certain backgrounds.

 

[Life of the Party]

This looks fun.

It's 1900. Let's play Gavrilo Princip and shoot some artichokes.

 

[Absinthe]

That's how Legend ended, but not how it began.

 

[CappenVarra]

based on important considerations (highest sum of STR+INT+CHA):

The Merchant’s Heir
+
Astra of Simha (The Lion)

 

[Life of the Party]

I'd go with The Novice Hunter.

It was my initial choice and even though it feels a bit like a waste of a monocled, cylindered, redingoted setting, I still prefer it to the three dorks and the bum.

 

[baud]

The Novice Hunter > The Ambassador’s Child

It isn't.
We need someone experienced in programming-fu to edit the source code.

Which program is it? I'm not that good at programming, but I might give it a try

The Merchant’s Heir
+
Astra of Simha (The Lion)

We're only voting on the background for now.

 

[Baltika9]

That's how Legend ended, but not how it began.

Yeah. In Legend, we started as the right hand of a noble and promptly got kicked out of the palace, after which we became a mix between a rogue and an adjutant.

I loved it, but given the setting, I really, really want to play the ambassador because he just feels so right for the time period.

This is the year 1900, for crying out loud! The peak of Pax Britannica! The Belle Epoque! Imperialism and colonialism are in full bloom, and the Great Powers are in a constant state of diplomatic, political and military struggle for prestige and spheres of influence. 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. Just little old us, trying to sate our patron's political demands while surviving in an alien society, and navigating around our counterparts from the other Great Powers.

Are we going to be the smooth-talking charmer type? A two-faced Machiavellian, who pits rival factions against one another and then devours the weakest? An avowed monarchist, not afraid to get stuck in when the fur starts flying? A supporter of the left, ready and willing to deal with emerging socialist factions?

And the best part is, the Ambassador's stats are mostly balanced, with a clear bias in favor of charisma. The possibilities open to us are endless!

This looks fun.

It's 1900. Let's play Gavrilo Princip and shoot some artichokes.

Is that a vote for Slumrat or Scholar?

three dorks and the bum.

Nevermind.

 

[Nevill]

Which program is it? I'm not that good at programming, but I might give it a try

https://github.com/Kinematics/NetTally

Right now all it gives me is an error "Value cannot be null. (Paremeter 'node')". Whatever that means.

 

[Tigranes]

Slumrat > Hunter.

If the Slumrat cannot win, I also agree with party boi - the Hunter is a bit different from what we've done in the past, and (i.e. trainwrecked) silver-tongue rich boy dorkhead really has been done to death.

I actually think that Hunter in this setting can be very interesting: someone with a more primal instinct that gives him a different set of intuitions from the decadent folks around him, and of course that doesn't actually mean we're some kind of Tarzan that couldn't even turn a door handle.

Baltika9 usually the Belle Epoque dilettante with a dash of Arcanum is my go-to in any setting, so I sympathise. But I actually think it's super interesting to enter into such situations with a more unusual character and perspective.

We can certainly prosecute Dreyfus as the learned gentleman, or advise Rockefeller in his zeppelin clad in tweed. But what about someone with a penchant for more populist demagoguery to undermine the machinations of Zola? Or someone who has an acute sense for the winds and nature and the human body who can counsel the likes of Tesla or Mesmer on the changing mysteries of the Astra?

I actually think we'll take the setting in cool and interesting ways by not being the standard Victorian dilettante. The Belle Epoque was a time when philosophers and scientists believed in spirit photography and mesmerism and sometimes took part in rabble-rousing. It was a time for unscrupulous snake oil salesmen and Catch Me If You Can hucksterism.

 

[Life of the Party]

NOOOOOOO YOU CAN'T JUST DESTROY THE WORLD WITH A SINGLE BULLET NOOOOOOOO

haha corpse printer go brrr

 

[Life of the Party]

party boi

 

[Baltika9]

@Baltika9 usually the Belle Epoque dilettante with a dash of Arcanum is my go-to in any setting, so I sympathise. But I actually think it's super interesting to enter into such situations with a more unusual character and perspective.

...

But what about someone with a penchant for more populist demagoguery to undermine the machinations of Zola? Or someone who has an acute sense for the winds and nature and the human body who can counsel the likes of Tesla or Mesmer on the changing mysteries of the Astra?
I actually think we'll take the setting in cool and interesting ways by not being the standard Victorian dilettante. The Belle Epoque was a time when philosophers and scientists believed in spirit photography and mesmerism and sometimes took part in rabble-rousing. It was a time for unscrupulous snake oil salesmen and Catch Me If You Can hucksterism.

That actually sounds more like a particularly unscrupulous scholar. And you may get your wish yet, since that is where the votes are heading while fight among ourselves. I am, however very much down with this:

We can certainly prosecute Dreyfus as the learned gentleman, or advise Rockefeller in his zeppelin clad in tweed.

It just feels...right. What I would like to play is this man:


Failing that, I want to

Spoiler

join whichever Comintern party as a lowly prole and show the effete intellegentsia how a revolution should be done.

spirit photography

I read that as spirit pornography at first, not gonna lie.

 

[Life of the Party]

someone with a more primal instinct that gives him a different set of intuitions from the decadent folks around him

someone who has an acute sense for the winds and nature and the human body

 

[Esquilax]

I'd go with The Novice Hunter.

It was my initial choice and even though it feels a bit like a waste of a monocled, cylindered, redingoted setting, I still prefer it to the three dorks and the bum.

Well, I liked the Hunter, because he's really a great foil for this sort of setting. A man who is an outsider and can see flaws in that society (and unwittingly end up in conflicts because he has no sense of etiquette in that society). Noble Savage is an angle that we've never really played.

But I'll add conditionals because playing the either the Rich Boy Merchant or Super-Autist Scholar doesn't really appeal to me. Slumrat is cool, but he doesn't have that outsider angle that I like with the Hunter.

On that note, Hunter > Ambassador's Child > Slumrat

 

[baud]

Which program is it? I'm not that good at programming, but I might give it a try

https://github.com/Kinematics/NetTally

Right now all it gives me is an error "Value cannot be null. (Paremeter 'node')". Whatever that means.

Thank you. No promises (I've never used this language, so it's not a good start)

[X] Test

Edit: found the bug, where and why it happens, but no clue on how to fix it (look like an HTML parsing bug )

 

[Absinthe]

Flopping to Hunter>Slumrat. The "outsider looking in" angle and being a hunter does seem a lot more interesting and novel than our usual character concepts.

Yeah. In Legend, we started as the right hand of a noble and promptly got kicked out of the palace, after which we became a mix between a rogue and an adjutant.

I loved it, but given the setting, I really, really want to play the ambassador because he just feels so right for the time period.

I'm not so sure we'd be an ambassador ourselves even if your option wins. We'd just be an ambassador's child. And I'm really not into the whole snobby upper crust thing you seem to be going for. Join the hunt man! You know you want to.

 

[Baltika9]

I was considering it, yes, and I'll flop to Ambassador>Slurmat>Hunter...

...but the refined elegance and traditionalism of the aristocracy is currently our best hope for defeating the effete, out-of-touch intelligentsia. We are but one vote away from being a proper gentleman.

By the way, can someone please give my tallies and vote counts a check? I don't want to mislead people. I'm piling every flop on the Ambassador because it gets the highest total to rival the Scholar if we account for preference.

==Votes after conditionals==

Ambassador- 6

Hunter - 2

Merchant -3

Slumrat - 2

Scholar - 7

==Raw votes==

Ambassador - 3
Hunter - 4
Merchant - 4
Slumrat - 3
Scholar - 6


Poll

Spoiler

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

Esquilax - Hunter>Ambassador>Slumrat
baud - Hunter>Ambassador
Life of the Party - Hunter
Absinthe - Hunter>Slumrat

Azira - Merchant>Scholar>Ambassador>Hunter>Slumrat
ERYFKRAD - Merchant
Egosphere - Merchant
CappenVarra - Merchant/Lion

Tigranes - Slumrat>Hunter
Nahel - Slumrat/Crab
hello friend - Slumrat>Ambassador>Hunter

asxetos - Scholar/Archer
Lambchop19 - Scholar/Ram
Kipeci - Scholar>Merchant
Kz3r0 - Scholar
grimgravy - Scholar>Hunter
lightbane - Scholar

 

[Esquilax]

Flopping to Hunter>Slumrat. The "outsider looking in" angle and being a hunter does seem a lot more interesting and novel than our usual character concepts.

Yeah. In Legend, we started as the right hand of a noble and promptly got kicked out of the palace, after which we became a mix between a rogue and an adjutant.

I loved it, but given the setting, I really, really want to play the ambassador because he just feels so right for the time period.

I'm not so sure we'd be an ambassador ourselves even if your option wins. We'd just be an ambassador's child. And I'm really not into the whole snobby upper crust thing you seem to be going for. Join the hunt man! You know you want to.

Well, much like all the backgrounds, it's a jump-off point. Being an ambassador's kid doesn't guarantee that our character is going to become a Klemens von Metternich-style schemer with a silver tongue (although that IS a cool angle). However, being the child of elites means that you're probably going to be in the same circles as powerful people from a very young age, and that you might have access to information that others won't.

Much in the same way, being a Hunter doesn't mean we won't get involved in the affairs of civilized men down the road ourselves (in fact, I'm sort of counting on that happening). I just like the idea of the background, combined with a high level WIS star sign to act as a foil to the decadence of "civilization" around us. I think it's a cool angle that we haven't explored in the past.

Like, a high INT/WIS bookworm or an INT/CHA talker... again? Fuck man, really?!