Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Nevill]

Fangshi, what is Ceannard's opinion on this? The man is not a mage, but he is in charge of the operation. He is the one sending his own people in there. If we blow up the compound while they are inside, I bet he won't be terribly happy.

I'll also add D) Dispell them after the Arrows secure the building but before you go inside.

Though I am not voting yet.

 

[Jester]

1. B)
2. A)
3. B)

i. Thaïs

ii. Lyssa

iii. Biliku

v. Ceannard
4. B 4/4/4 - Split them evenly.

5. B)

6.B)

7.
Heal for both.

8 C - distraction and if its that soul catcher thing is used to reanimate troops luring them to fight before drooping spell could be beneficial.
9. B

 

[Fangshi]

Fangshi, what is Ceannard's opinion on this? The man is not a mage, but he is in charge of the operation. He is the one sending his own people in there. If we blow up the compound while they are inside, I bet he won't be terribly happy.

Well you are not being 100% honest with him in C. You, or rather Thaïs, will tell him that for you to dispel the spells his men should distract the enemy which is not a complete lie but certainly is not the full truth either.

As for his inclinations, he would prefer you minimize the risk they are exposed to but at the end of the day he is perfectly fine with losing a few people to complete a contract. He is a mercenary captain, he knows the risks.

I'll also add D) Dispell them after the Arrows secure the building but before you go inside.

Added. But it will only work if you go with the second wave naturally.

Current Tally

Nevill:
1.B 2.A 3.B)i,ii,v 4.B 4/4/4 5.B 6.B 7.Derryth: Heal Thaïs: Greater Energy Bolt 8.C 9.B

Smashing Axe:
1.B 2.A 3.B)i,ii,iii,iv,v 4.B 4/4/4 5.B 6.B 7.Derryth: Heal Thaïs: Heal 8.C 9.B

Zero Credibility:
1.B 2.A 3.B)i,ii,v 4.B 4/4/4 5.B 6.B 7.Derryth: Heal Thaïs: Heal 8.A>C 9.C>A

Kz3r0:
1.A 2.- 3.B)i,ii,iii,iv,v 4.B 4/4/4 5.A 6.B 7.Derryth: Heal Thaïs: Heal 8.C 9.A

asxetos:
1.B 2.A 3.B)i,ii,iii,iv,v 4.B 4/4/4 5.B 6.B 7.Derryth: Heal Thaïs: Heal 8.A 9.x

Jester:
1.B 2.A 3.B)i,ii,iii,v 4.B 4/4/4 5.B 6.B 7.Derryth: Heal Thaïs: Heal 8.C 9.x

Grimgravy:
1.A 2.A 3.B)i,ii,iii,iv,v 4.B 6/4/2 5.B 6.B 7.Derryth: Heal Thaïs: Heal 8.A 9.B

1.
A) 2 votes
B) 5 votes

2.
A) 6 votes
B)

3.
A)
B) 7 votes:
i. 7 votes
ii. 7 votes
iii. 5 vote
iv. 4 vote
v. 7 votes

4.
A)
B) 7 votes (6 votes to split them evenly 4/4/4, 1 vote 6 to Derryth, 4 to Thaïs, and 2 to Lyssa 6/4/2 )

5.
A) 1 vote
B) 6 votes

6.
A)
B) 7 votes

7.
Derryth:
Heal 7 votes
Thaïs:
Heal 6 votes
Greater Energy Bolt 1 vote

8.
A) 2 votes
B)
C) 5 votes

9.
A) 2 votes
B) 3 votes

 

[Nevill]

As for his inclinations, he would prefer you minimize the risk they are exposed to but at the end of the day he is perfectly fine with losing a few people to complete a contract. He is a mercenary captain, he knows the risks.

All right, so what does he count as a risk? I don't like being dishonest with a man we are counting on to protect our lives once we go inside.

From what we know of him, will he find D acceptable if we tell him what we are going to do?

This is actually an important question. What does he think is more risky - to enter the enchanted compound, or to have us work on dispelling it with his people inside?

8C - The mages will act to curb us otherwise. We need a distraction in the meantime.

Why not remove the mages out of the picture entirely by sending the Arrows first, then having them take control over the building, and then dispelling the enchantments on the compound in a relative safety?

 

[Fangshi]

All right, so what does he count as risk? I don't like being dishonest with a man we are counting on to protect our lives once we go inside.

1. Blowing up the compound with his men in it.

2. Knowingly throwing them in the line of danger when it can be avoided.

3. Withholding information from him that could help him succeed.

That sort of thing. But at the end of the day you hired these guys to be your meatshields.

How much do you want to worry over their safety is the question I guess.

From what we know of him, will he find D acceptable if we tell him what we are going to do?

Well if you go with D you will essentially be showing him that you are worried enough about this not to go inside while the spells are up but that you are also willing to send his men in 'unprotected'. He is not terribly likely to like that.

If there are area effect spells active in there you would be exposing more of his men for longer to its effects as well since you will be waiting until the compound is secure. The trade off is that if they can succeed you will have a much easier time dispelling the spells since the enemy mages will likely be dead or incapacitated.

 

[Nevill]

Fine! What is the vote that allows us to warn him and lets him decide on how to proceed?

This is his operation, after all. We give him the details, and he can choose what to do with them himself.

How can throwing his men in danger be avoided without exposing us to danger? That is not what you want to do with a paying client, right?

 

[Fangshi]

Fine! What is the vote that allows us to warn him and lets him decide on how to proceed?

Well he knows the spells are there now. You, Lyssa and Thaïs are having this conversation like a metre from the guy after all.

He is willing to defer to your judgement since he is not a mage and you are the experts here on magic. In A you tell him to hold his men back until you have dealt with the spells. They will be safest but you will probably also face resistance from the enemy mages once they realize what you are doing. In B you just go ahead anyway and sort it all out later. In C you tell him to launch the attack as cover while you unravel their spells. The Arrows face greater danger but you will likely meet less resistance. In D you let the Arrows take the majority of the risk then unravel the spells before you enter.

He does not know what the right course of action is so it is down to Derryth's impeccable judgement.

How can throwing his men in danger be avoided without exposing us to danger?

Give up and go home?

That is not what you want to do with a paying client, right?

Oh, he is perfectly willing to do this without your help in which case you will be completely safe (in theory). If you do not want to take part you can just wait for them to finish. He is accepting your input because he knows you are all competent and he believes you can take care of yourselves. If you were some clueless noblewoman from Muirthemne he would not have even taken you on the job.

 

[Kz3r0]

I must say that D is the worst option, it exposes the Arrows to danger while leaving the spells in place, and we don't know that they do.
C is a calculated risk an the best option strategy wise.
A seems as the safest option, unravel the spells an then attack, the problem is that will make us the defenders, not a good strategy IMHO.

 

[Zero Credibility]

I wish we still had our anti-magic grenade, that would take care of the spells just nicely. Anyway, I too think that we shouldn't go in until we have taken out the spells protecting the place. Yes, we might have the element of surprise right now. Or not. But something tells me those spells are really bad news.

I'm voting A > C on that one. Everyone stays in cover until we have taken out the spells. Yes, this will tip them off. If they try attacking us in the open they'll just get slaughterer by the Arrows, so they'll try to dig in instead. But with the help of some illusion spells (both to hide our men and to create decoys for them to attack) and our own spells to take control of some of the defenders, I'm pretty sure we can breach whatever defence they can come up with. Hopefully. In any case, I'd prefer that to charging into a building with a potentially very powerful and dangerous spell on it.

edit:
8) C > A

 

[Kz3r0]

I wish we still had our anti-magic grenade, that would take care of the spells just nicely. Anyway, I too think that we shouldn't go in until we have taken out the spells protecting the place. Yes, we might have the element of surprise right now. Or not. But something tells me those spells are really bad news.

I'm voting A > C on that one. Everyone stays in cover until we have taken out the spells. Yes, this will tip them off. If they try attacking us in the open they'll just get slaughterer by the Arrows, so they'll try to dig in instead. But with the help of some illusion spells (both to hide our men and to create decoys for them to attack) and our own spells to take control of some of the defenders, I'm pretty sure we can breach whatever defence they can come up with. Hopefully. In any case, I'd prefer that to charging into a building with a potentially very powerful and dangerous spell on it.

This seems the most sensible strategy, anyone else agree to use it?

 

[Fangshi]

I wish we still had our anti-magic grenade, that would take care of the spells just nicely.

Actually you do have your last heaven stone. If you think an antimagic grenade could be useful you could use it up. I can add the option if you would like.

This seems the most sensible strategy, anyone else agree to use it?

Is that a vote for A>C?

 

[Kz3r0]

I wish we still had our anti-magic grenade, that would take care of the spells just nicely.

Actually you do have your last heaven stone. If you think an antimagic grenade could be useful you could use it up. I can add the option if you would like.

This seems the most sensible strategy, anyone else agree to use it?

Is that a vote for A>C?

Yes, but if we can use an anti-magic grenade I would like to propose first we launch the grenade then the Arrows attack while we unravel the remaining spells, after that we enter the compund to help the Arrows.

 

[Fangshi]

Yes, but if we can use an anti-magic grenade I would like to propose first we launch the grenade then the Arrows attack while we unravel the remaining spells, after that we enter the compound to help the Arrows.

Hmmm... okay, the way I will do that is to split that up into two questions. I will add a question 9 about whether or not you want to use up your last heaven stone (remember that once destabilized you can not turn it back and it is gone forever when you use it).

9.Anti-magic grenade: You will be going up against a group of mages and their spells, an anti-magic grenade could come in handy but it will use up your last heaven stone. You will throw the grenade at the beginning of the assault to take out as many of the spells in place as possible, you will then proceed as in 8. Do you make one?

A)Yes

B)No

So the plan you suggested would be 8.C and 9.A

 

[Kz3r0]

Hmmm... okay, the way I will do that is to split that up into two questions. I will add a question 9 about whether or not you want to use up your last heaven stone (remember that once destabilized you can not turn it back and it is gone forever when you use it).

9.Anti-magic grenade: You will be going up against a group of mages and their spells, an anti-magic grenade could come in handy but it will use up your last heaven stone. You will throw the grenade at the beginning of the assault to take out as many of the spells in place as possible, you will then proceed as in 8. Do you make one?

A)Yes

B)No

So the plan you suggested would be 8.C and 9.A

Updated my vote accordingly.

 

[Grimgravy]

1A
2A
3Everybody
4B Thais 4, Lyssa 2, Derryth the rest
5B
6B
7Derryth Heal, Thais, heal
8A
9B

 

[Nevill]

This seems the most sensible strategy, anyone else agree to use it?

No. The counter-attack will most likely be happening in our minds, and I am not testing the strengths of 3 mages against the whole compound.

Send the Arrows in, like Ceannard originally intended to anyway, and work on dispelling the enchantments from there. What's up with trying to do everything the most risky way?

Until this choice popped up, we specifically voted to let the Arrows take the most risk, and we were fairly sure they would eventually secure the building anyway, since this is what the second vote is about. What happened to that confidence?

8C 9B

I am not using one of our artefacts to get rid of some mages in what essetially is a glorified sidequest. If we destroy an item each time we cross paths with a semi-powerful adversary, we'll soon be walking naked.

 

[Baltika9]

Here's my plan: set fire to the whole compound with torches, arrows and magic and wait for the strongest members to show themselves. Then capture them.

 

[Nevill]

Would have worked, if the compound was wooden and not made of bricks.

 

[Baltika9]

Amateurs. Use oil and magic.

 

[Smashing Axe]

9B - Never.

 

[Zero Credibility]

This seems the most sensible strategy, anyone else agree to use it?

No. The counter-attack will most likely be happening in our minds, and I am not testing the strengths of 3 mages against the whole compound.

I don't think they can do it that way. There are no scrying spells here, so if they wish to attack us, they have to get in line of sight. And if we are in cover and invisible (if possible), that's going to be a bit tricky for them. Especially without ending up like arrow pincushions while looking for us. I think they'll dig in and wait to blast the first person that walks in there.

As for the grenade, put me down as yes, though nobody else is going to vote for it. Convert our last stone to one and go in SWAT style. Get to the building, throw in the grenade, follow up with a nice aoe stun spell and move in (first wave should preferably be invisible and with illusion decoys in front of them).

 

[Nevill]

Well, I am just reminded about this quote on the potential of using the Gate spell as a WMD.

Second, this is a two way Gate. If you want to dump energy through to the other side it is entirely possible for a skilled archmage or group of mages to push it back through to your side and blow you up instead. If you tried to get cute and use this on Balor back when he was up and about he would probably let you open the gate, wrest control of it from you and then collapse it in on you so there is that to consider. If the Fetch had been paying closer attention or there had been a high priestess nearby it would have been a lot more difficult to close the Gate the way you did and it would become a battle of wills.

I don't know what unraveling spells in the center of the compound - and we don't have a visual on it, either, BTW - will look like, but I am assuming it might turn into the battle of wills, too. Fangshi can probably tell us more on how this works.

And if we are in cover and invisible (if possible), that's going to be a bit tricky for them.

How does the invisibility spell work? It's not like a Greater Invisibility in D&D, right?

I'd expect any action, including casting, to break it, but I don't know for sure.

 

[Fangshi]

You are both right, sort of.

They can not hit you with a spell that requires line of sight without exposing themselves to the Arrows. They may of course try and you will take every reasonable precaution to avoid getting hit. So it will be quite difficult to directly target your bodies or minds.

They will however be able to feel your attempts at unraveling the spells.

This is possible since both your mages and theirs will be within range of the spells you are trying to influence. You will be standing just outside of them while they will be within them. Now you do not know exactly what will happen since you have not really tried this before but Derryth thinks that they will attempt to shore up the spells as your group tries to tear them down. They might be able to attack you through the spells or they may only be able to defend. You are not sure really as that will have a lot to do with just what kind of spells you are dealing with here.

There are a lot of unknowns here that make it difficult to know what will happen before you begin.

The main issue will arise when you find out exactly what you are dealing with.

If the spells are being actively maintained (through a ritual for example) then you may meet direct resistance from the minds behind them which will likely take the form of a battle of wills.

If the spells are being artificially powered however then you will only have to worry about the defenses within the spells themselves and any attempts by the enemy mages to repair and reinforce them.

The resistance you meet will also have a lot to do with which option wins in question 8. The more the enemy mages have to deal with the less they will have left to deal with you.

It is also possible that you will meet next to no resistance when you start. If the spells you are sensing are of little immediate or practical use to the defenders they may simply abandon them for more physical means of resistance. But again you can't really know that till you try.

If you want more specifics or clarification just let me know.

 

[Zero Credibility]

All right, so basically we don't know what we will be facing or if these spells are even that important. And we won't know until we make our move. But fuck it, I'd still rather not go in here with those spells active. I'm amending my tactics vote to C > A. That way if they try actively defending those spells they would have to divide their attention between us and the Arrows.

 

[Nevill]

There are a lot of unknowns here that make it difficult to know what will happen before you begin.

I am not risking our necks on a mission we've paid money for the Arrows to do. If we do it, we do it together with them.

The resistance you meet will also have a lot to do with which option wins in question 8. The more the enemy mages have to deal with the less they will have left to deal with you.

The Arrows should be thankful that we've noticed it at all. I'd say let them take the heat off us while we try to help them... if it helps them, that is. We still have no idea of what we are trying to do here.