Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Zero Credibility]

Now I wish we have Gareth with us. Or more men. Or that we have given the sword to Biliku. It's either an ambush or heading back for the fort for me I guess. I don't like the "hopefully" in Ai, a straight up fight against the undead does not interest me (especially since we have no idea if the necromancer is really hidden somewhere) and apart from our scout we don't really have any stealth skills. So the idea of sneaking around the village and collecting supplies with unknown number of undead and a possible necromancer around does not appeal to me.

Bii for me.

The numbers (that we see) are not very bad against us, we do have an element of surprise and we could lead most of the undead into an ambush. High explosives, the great equaliser. The only thing that worries me is that the necromancer probably is there. What if we spring our trap, but leave our mortar hidden until he shows up, and then push the awesome button on him?

Also, did we remember to do some shopping for healing roots? Those things are very useful indeed.

edit: added conditional votes

B ii > B iv > B v

 

[Nevill]

Twenty undead, ghasts and thralls at that? Normally a single dwarf should be able to take them out, provided how slow they are.

Does Derryth know enough not to engage in melee with ghasts, though?

Bi, I guess. If their master is around or if there are more of them, it is best to destroy them now, rather than try something fancy and get flanked in the process.

What if we spring our trap, but leave our mortar hidden until he shows up, and then push the awesome button on him?

Or that.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Biii>Bii

I don't want Derryth to be some bleeding heart who feels compelled to save every peasant with a mild undead problem. But if we must fight, it's best to fight the undead by abusing the AI.

Also... How similar are dwarves to the Myth games, Fangshi? Do they engage in friendly fire as regularly?

Edit: However, I wouldn't mind looting a necromancer if we get the chance. A few animation spells as a trump card for if/when shit hits the fan would be nice to have handy.

 

[Zero Credibility]

I doubt we would be able to avoid combat by sneaking in. The undead we have seen aside, we definitely have a necromancer and probably his escort to deal with, and we don't even know where they are. We also don't know where the supplies are, so we would have to search the village, then load up the supplies and get out. We are not a very stealthy group, so I just don't think it is at all likely we can pull that off. And if there's going to be a fight, better it be on a ground and terms we prepare rather then in the middle of the village surrounded by the undead. Less chance of friendly fire that way as well.

And a big no to necromancy from me. Again. Didn't we barely dodge having to kill party members the last time? Aren't there other magical paths to power available to us, that won't cause everyone around us to want to kill us? We have mental control. We have the unknown dream to find and who knows what that leads to. We have instant transportation. We have the fucking nuke. Fuck necromancy.

 

[Kz3r0]

B) Stay

i. You will attack the undead straight on. You should be able to handle twenty undead.

Apropos, don't we learnt how to unbind Stygian Knights?
Would it be possible to cast undo undead on all of them or at least the most dangerous ones?

 

[Zero Credibility]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Can we use that at distance or do we have to get in close? Also, does our mental control affect the undead?

 

[GreyViper]

B iv. Ambush and send out Bari to spot or if opportunity arises assassinate/back stab necromancer.

 

[Kipeci]

B2

 

[Nevill]

I smell a castle siege, a Baron, and a boatload of Stygian Knights in the next few updates.

Spoiler

Mission 3: Down a Broken Path
Mission 4: Into the Breach
Mission 5: The Baron

 

[Jester]

B iv
Order Telling and Thais to stay behind hidden preferably quite far with good sight on village. Telling with order to kill Necromancer with mortar if he will show himself, or act as fire support on our signal. Thais is to use mind magic to assist him in hiding. Send Bari to try and localise Necromancer and eliminate him with heaven stone. Rest of our forces will try ambush. Roads and buildings should make some choke points with will force undeads to stay in group so, Felling and Gilling will stay near one of such places. If there are some sort of attic entrance in homes they could hide there protected from most assailants, if not road level is ok too. 4 rest people will act as bait, quick assault of Biliku and Track followed by their withdraw, Uttu will shot to. When our wariors start to retreat Uttu and if necessary Derryth will cover them to make sure no one will intercept Biliku and Track. If undeads will get baited retreat to Granadiers trap zone.

Derryth and Thai can switch places, if Derryth was relay retarded enough to not resupply and Cubes and Roots before leaving city... especially after buying her friend a coach and band of mercenary. We really have to order her to resupply even basic things when she have like 30 gold chests?

 

[Smashing Axe]

Biv risks Bari too much. Sure he might frag the necromancer, but then the guy's troops, especially the ghols, will be on him in a second. If Bari dies this whole expedition has been a wasted effort.

As for necromancy? Sure, we might have to kill a few of our friends if they find out, but then they'll get right back up again. Friends forever!

And there's nothing to say they will find out. We don't have to practice necromancy, just keep the knowledge handy for a rainy day. That day being when we find ourselves with an abundance of corpses, very few companions and a bunch of folk that want to kill us.

 

[Jester]

Biv risks Bari too much. Sure he might frag the necromancer, but then the guy's troops, especially the ghols, will be on him in a second. If Bari dies this whole expedition has been a wasted effort.

As for necromancy? Sure, we might have to kill a few of our friends if they find out, but then they'll get right back up again. Friends forever!

And there's nothing to say they will find out. We don't have to practice necromancy, just keep the knowledge handy for a rainy day. That day being when we find ourselves with an abundance of corpses, very few companions and a bunch of folk that want to kill us.

He can be part of bait or ambush group too. I thought that he will go in stealth and see if there is chance to frag him. If its to dangerous he stay away, if we will drop Necromancer attacking forces he would need to send his bodyguards to attack us giving Bari chance to kill him. Course mortar is first plan, but if he is smart/paranoid/lucky enough to be in place hard to bombard or well hidden we got Bari. Our main objective isnt to kill Necromancer, but to force him to withdraw so we can restock.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Maybe we could capitalise on our surprise advantage better? Start some kind of not obviously hostile diversion (like create fire on one of the houses?) and when they group around it or (preferably) if the guy in charge shows up to see what's up hit them with the mortar for maximum effect. Then when they charge the mortar break them apart with explosives while our fighters deal with those that manage to close.

 

[Nevill]

Maybe we could capitalise on our surprise advantage better? Start some kind of not obviously hostile diversion (like create fire on one of the houses?)

Where do you think the smoke comes from?

We are too concentrated on their 'leader'. If he needs to be actually present for his minions to do anything useful, then he is a small fry and can be disposed of easily. If he is a serious threat, then it is likely this is just one of his many squads and he is not around, because why would a semi-competent mage need to be around to attack a village in the middle of nowhere?

If there is anything we need to concern ourselves with, it's the reinforcements. And those don't drop to a single mortar shot.

I still think we need to hit them hard and fast with everything we've got - we have the firepower to bring down a group of enemies 5 times larger.

 

[Jester]

Maybe we could capitalise on our surprise advantage better? Start some kind of not obviously hostile diversion (like create fire on one of the houses?) and when they group around it or (preferably) if the guy in charge shows up to see what's up hit them with the mortar for maximum effect. Then when they charge the mortar break them apart with explosives while our fighters deal with those that manage to close.

Emm why would bunch of animated corpses check the fire when they have some fresh flesh and blood in one house?
We could try to mass suggest to lure them, although not sure if brain magic will work on death controled targets.

If by Necromancer order i would expect he would send one or two max so the villagers cant leg it. Not sure if Myth zombies are usual bloodthirsty zombies or smart ones, still i doubt they are intelligent.

We are too concentrated on their 'leader'. If he needs to be actually present for his minions to do anything useful, then he is a small fry and can be disposed of easily. If he is a serious threat, then it is likely this is just one of his many squads and he is not around, because why would a semi-competent mage need to be around to attack a village in the middle of nowhere?

Yeah, but for example if he lost his horde on Alric Legion and is restocking he might be high level mage in tight spot. Fangshi written that Legion had removed undead from premises.

 

[Nevill]

Mass suggest? To undead? Do mind spells even work on them? To my knowledge, they do not.

And a big no to necromancy from me. Again. Didn't we barely dodge having to kill party members the last time? Aren't there other magical paths to power available to us, that won't cause everyone around us to want to kill us? We have mental control. We have the unknown dream to find and who knows what that leads to. We have instant transportation. We have the fucking nuke. Fuck necromancy.

It would be so funny if it turns out to be the Dream of Undeath.

 

[Jester]

Mass suggest? To undead? Do mind spells even work on them? To my knowledge, they do not.

"although not sure if brain magic will work on death controled targets."
Depends on game system i would say. In some they work only on specific type of undeads, in some they dont work.

And a big no to necromancy from me. Again. Didn't we barely dodge having to kill party members the last time? Aren't there other magical paths to power available to us, that won't cause everyone around us to want to kill us? We have mental control. We have the unknown dream to find and who knows what that leads to. We have instant transportation. We have the fucking nuke. Fuck necromancy.

It would be so funny if it turns out to be the Dream of Undeath.

It would be ironical and quite hilarious.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Oh right, they've already set the place on fire. Still, someone with some intelligence has to be around, I doubt the mindless undead would take prisoners otherwise. I would prefer an ambush to a direct charge - draw them out somehow and catch them by surprise. If the guy in charge makes an appearance he becomes the primary target for our mortar. That sounds like a reasonably simple plan that should keep us out of melee as much as possible. Something more elaborate might be better, but without info on what exactly we are facing beyond the obvious it would just fall apart anyway.

I doubt the dream we have the map for is the Dream of Undeath though. It might be ironical, but it is also not likely. There's supposed to be a lot of dreams (50?), and the Dream of Undeath was already found once. I don't think we are in danger of finding something already discovered.

 

[Nevill]

"although not sure if brain magic will work on death controled targets."
Depends on game system i would say. In some they work only on specific type of undeads, in some they dont work.

Well, The Deceiver was the master of mind control, and his 'brain magic' only worked on the living in the games, so there is a bit of meta information in that regard.

Still, someone with some intelligence has to be around, I doubt the mindless undead would take prisoners otherwise.

They would, if given the specific command. I think.
And why would they need prisoners, and not more corpses to produce even more undead?

 

[Zero Credibility]

Dammit, why did we vote for mental domination if the main antagonists in the entire settings are immune to it? Why not illusion instead?

Anyway, from the fact that they are keeping the prisoners we can assume that either the necromancer (or someone in control) is in there somewhere or is on the way to pick up the prisoners. Bari seems to think that as well. In either case I would prefer drawing them into an ambush over direct assault. We would be playing on their mindless weakness instead of their melee strength that way and if the necromancer is in there he would have to come out to stop them from running into our trap, making him vulnerable to dwarven death from above.

 

[Nevill]

Who ever said that the main antagonists are undead?

Myrkridia (those were the bulk of the Soulblighter's army in the last war), trows, ghols, mauls, fetches, warlocks, several of the Fallen Lords - a lot of the armies of the Dark are not undead. Not to mention that now, when the Light have won, you need to search high and low to find a decent necromancer that can qualify for an antagonist. And he might not be an undead himself, too.

Hell, undead were probably not even a part of the setting until The Watcher played with a Dream a bit. You want a real antagonist, look at the Dark Gods. These guys were out there before the rise of man, and they will be there after his fall. They are integral to the setting, and they are all - almost without exclusions - alien, hostile and powerful.

We still have direct damage spells to deal with the threats that are immune to mind control.

Anyway, from the fact that they are keeping the prisoners

They do? Why did you assume that? All Bari says is that there is "a bunch of peasants in a makeshift pen in the middle of town." They may have very well barricaded themselves from the onslaught. There is nothing pointing to the intent of the zombie squad.

 

[Zero Credibility]

A makeshift pen doesn't really sound like barricades to me. To me it sounds like they were herded in there. But I suppose we can just ask our scout what he meant by that.

 

[Fangshi]

Also, did we remember to do some shopping for healing roots? Those things are very useful indeed.

We really have to order her to resupply even basic things when she have like 30 gold chests?

You restocked. You currently have six mandrake roots (a bit meta but that is the quantity Journeymen usually start with) and five Energon Cubes so you do have resources. Also Felling has some more mundane supplies as well. They are party supplies so I did not list them on the character sheet but since you are the only one that can use the roots and you and Thaïs are the only ones that can use the cubes they are essentially Derryth's property.

Does Derryth know enough not to engage in melee with ghasts, though?

She is a mage, and not a combat one. Her instincts tell her not to melee anything. Also Bari and the mercs have fought undead before so there is that.

Also... How similar are dwarves to the Myth games, Fangshi? Do they engage in friendly fire as regularly?

If you stand in front of them expect a short and painful life. They will try not to kill allies but accidents happen. There are good reasons why Gareth was careful about how he deployed them.

Apropos, don't we learnt how to unbind Stygian Knights?
Would it be possible to cast undo undead on all of them or at least the most dangerous ones?

You did to a degree. But you have a number of things working against you here. One the Stygians are bound by different sorts of necromancy spells. Two you would need to get within melee range. And Three it would only work on one at a time so not really ideal.

Also, does our mental control affect the undead?

Not directly no.

Low level undead are essentially given a few instructions by their creator when they are sent out. After that they will carry out the task they have been given until the necromancer comes along and gives them a new order. What this means is that in theory you should be able to use command to alter their "programming" a little but you will never have actual control over them. Suggestion is simply too subtle to work on them. False Memory would do nothing as they are simply too stupid and damaged for it to have any impact. Assault also would not work on them. Since you are essentially pummeling their minds and their minds are more or less non existent it would not actually cause them any harm or pain. They might freeze up if you really scramble their brains but that is about it, as soon as you stop targeting them they will start moving again. The more powerful spells like Dominate also won't do much of anything as they are too stupid to control that way.

Also if an actual necromancer is around they would be able to easily countermand your orders. You won't win that sort of battle of wills without some knowledge of actual necromancy spells unless you are a much stronger mage capable of simply forcing the issue.

More often than not you would be better off hitting the necromancer and destroying the ability of the undead to actually work together. Now on high level (and high intelligence) undead some of the spells might work better. Anything with a proper mind should be open to mental attack.

Also before anyone asks, Nine does not know anything about necromancy. As a mentalist she does not much care for the undead, she finds them to be much less elegant and far less useful than a properly enslaved living minion. Also "they are gross"...

A makeshift pen doesn't really sound like barricades to me. To me it sounds like they were herded in there. But I suppose we can just ask our scout what he meant by that.

The undead do not seem to be attacking the pen. They seem content to keep the humans trapped within. You don't know if they are officially "prisoners" or not though.

Current Tally:

Baltika9 Biii
Azira Bii
Zero Credibility Bii
Nevill Bi
Smashing Axe Biii>Bii
Kz3r0 Bi
GreyViper Biv
Kipeci Bii
Jester Biv
Cassidy Bv
Grimgravy Bvi

A)
i.
ii.
iii.

B)
i. 2 vote
ii. 3 vote
iii. 2 vote
iv. 2 vote
v. 1 vote
vi. 1 vote

 

[Nevill]

She is a mage, and not a combat one. Her instincts tell her not to melee anything. Also Bari and the mercs have fought undead before so there is that.

Well, of course she is a ranged unit. I mean as a commander, does she understand enough not to send Biliku and Trakk after them, except maybe as a clean-up crew? Because those two are melee fighters.

 

[Fangshi]

Well, of course she is a ranged unit. I mean as a commander, does she understand enough not to send Biliku and Trakk after them, except maybe as a clean-up crew? Because those two are melee fighters.

She is not Gareth, she has no military training but she would not do something like that. She would probably expect them to be able to deal with a couple undead if needed but she will be relying on ranged firepower for this unless something goes horribly wrong. Derryth understands that with one mortar, two grenadiers, an archer and two mages her strength lies in ranged combat not melee. Also Bari and the mercs both have a lot of experience fighting the Dark so she will of course ask them for advice as well.