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>>44506562
You and your men had made camp at the river ford south of Trembin following the raid on the Taouran army. Besides some minor harassment by some of Volante’s forces, which you’d had Malaine’s flying knights take care of, there had been no pursuit. With Volante hunkering down at Trembin, that left Vitria relatively safe. At least safe enough that you could look elsewhere. Sadly, Vitrian politics called and you were now waiting for Count Argyle and Lord Tabeth to make their way to your camp.

Forewarned is forearmed, so when Sarah had let you know via sending that the nobles were coming via horseless carriage, you had modified the camp set-up. Your command tent lay atop a ridge south of the ford and on the path to it you had the Vitrians encamp. The horseless carriage of the nobles rolled up the ridge. It was bestrut with elaborate gold and silver ornamentation and could hardly be missed by the commoner soldiers it passed.

The military was your key to power in Vitria and you would make damned certain that Tabeth and Argyle wouldn’t cause you much trouble. The fact that they hadn’t marched north with their own troops after you set off made it clear they had no intention of fighting. The more the Vitrians saw them as fops, the less likely they were to cause you grief as you ascended to power.

Inside the command tent was just you and Gnome, as you wanted to avoid a scene. Tabeth and Argyle were joined by Sarah, who had switched from her resplendent mage robes to something more suitable for travel. Argyle had done similar and looked as if he at least understood this was a potential battlefield. By contrast, Aaron Tabeth wore his youth even more openly than you did and his lack of common sense was obvious in his intricate doublet. You wondered if his military service in the Knights of Black Stone was just a fad, as he had likely not been near a battlefield in his life.

>continued

First for Wingless Gryphon mount

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>>44506572
“I see you’re returning to Vitria empty-handed,” Tabeth says. “For all the nonsense I’ve heard about your military prowess being the key to securing our nation it seems you’re rather short on your delivery.”

Resisting the urge to simply stare at Tabeth in shock, you glance at the other two. Argyle looks as though he’s swallowed a frog. Sarah holds one hand to her forehead in exasperation. At least they knew how much of a fool Tabeth was. If only he wasn’t a fool that had inherited one of the noble houses of Vitria and could stymie your efforts to assimilate it into your empire. You…

>1. Respond to him politely, despite his attack. You might still be able to convince him not to oppose you.
>2. Keep your tone neutral but abrupt. To your knowledge, this was the first action that could be considered a victory for Vitria since the war started.
>3. Hit back, making it clear that you don’t see Tabeth doing much to stop the Taourans.
>4. Custom

Also feel free to add any particular comments you would like to make in the situation. XP spending will come after this brief scene.

>>44506594
>3. Hit back, making it clear that you don’t see Tabeth doing much to stop the Taourans.

>>44506594
>2. Keep your tone neutral but abrupt. To your knowledge, this was the first action that could be considered a victory for Vitria since the war started.

>>44506594
>>2. Keep your tone neutral but abrupt. To your knowledge, this was the first action that could be considered a victory for Vitria since the war started.

>>44506594
>>2. Keep your tone neutral but abrupt. To your knowledge, this was the first action that could be considered a victory for Vitria since the war started.

>>44506594
>1. Respond to him politely, despite his attack. You might still be able to convince him not to oppose you.

>>44506594
>1. Respond to him politely, despite his attack. You might still be able to convince him not to oppose you.

>>44506594
>>4. Custom
"Whatever, fucboi."

>>44506594
>4 Alright, wait, did you seriously just say that to me, wearing your gaudy, frilly dress, after I beat back a centuries old cheat of a vampire that was ready to march on Vitria?

>>44506791
Seconding

>>44506594
>>3. Hit back, making it clear that you don’t see Tabeth doing much to stop the Taourans.

So, gents, what should we do moving forward? We checked Volante's advance for the moment, but we need to finish the job. This next operation will probably be a setpiece battle, which we probably want to avoid.

Speaking of which, we discovered Volante's potential weakness. It's the Magic Blitz. As such, when we raise stats I highly suggest upgrading Explosive Thrust and/or our Magic skill, in addition to swordsmanship.

>>44506594
>1. Respond to him politely, despite his attack. You might still be able to convince him not to oppose you.

>>44506842
>tfw almost time for sperging

>>44506594
>2. Keep your tone neutral but abrupt. To your knowledge, this was the first action that could be considered a victory for Vitria since the war started.

>>44506842
Might as well bring it up now since it's relevant to your point and Asp said to do so, though he might have meant much later than now.
https://ask.fm/AspirationalQM/answers/134469931786
>>The thread's dead but I think posting's down anyway. I'm going to suggest something like soaring slices or something less horribly named again, that makes "cutting at a distance" possible. I guess distance would increase with level, and maybe damage as well, but I'm mostly thinking [cont]
>>Question cont: About its potential in direct combat, like for example Volante not being able to just backstab to completely avoid Saul's attack, though I assume the damage might be lower like this. If the damage is higher though then it could also be used at point blank, so that's a plus. You get what I mean

>Answer: This is something that's entirely possible and would actually be a Blade Art. The Knight was actually going to get a magic sword or greatsword rune upgrade (depending on weapon choice) that would do something similar.
>There's a few different implementations for it with different effects and advantages (e.g. the wind slices idea, something similar to Volante's energy blade or else just a cut attack that can strike at a distance). It could potentially be used to boost melee attacks, though it would probably be less damaging than Explosive thrust. But yes, very possible overall and worth bringing up later - I'll make a note of it myself.

>>44506842
Let's turn this around. What do we want to spec Saul for? Melee combat? Ranged? AOE or single target?

>>44506937
Offense monster

>>44506842
Exploding thrust is one of the few ways we have right now to self buff now that aspi decided that regular magical self buffing is inherent in your stats. So I agree we want to upgrade it and get other creative self buffs.

Maybe even some abilities to weaken, confuse and misdirect our opponents.

>>44506937
Everything
Melee combat with spells that can work at long range and for utility as well, with a side helping of AoE
>>44506842
>>44506961
Reading >>44506917 I think while Explosive thrust is stronger it leaves us more disadvantaged, and [slicing tech] fits more with our speed dependent and fluid sword style.

>>44506937
Whatever we do, we will need a higher magic stat.

Magic is fucking amazing.

>>44507012
>and [slicing tech] fits more with our speed dependent and fluid sword style.

>tfw thousand cuts with extended range slicing attacks

>tfw all you can think about is Symphony of the Night's Crissaegrim animation

>>44506937
I want him to be a glass cannon to the max. Minimum defense for absolutely insane offense. Mostly melee combat, but having a bit of range (as we do in our lances) is always good for general utility.

As for whether or not to spec for single combat or mass combat... I'd like to see Saul chopping apart armies singlehandedly.

>>44507039
I'm thinking Sunao's general attacks and her ultimate technique.
Will post a page or two in a bit.

>>44506594
>1. Respond to him politely, despite his attack. You might still be able to convince him not to oppose you.

When the politicians come to the front, you smile for the camera so they don't make coming home for you a problem.


>>44506937
We should focus on anything but melee combat. BDR is an incredible ace up our sleeve for when enemies think they can take us close up, revealing it to Volante before we could surprise him decisively was a questionable decision. Regardless if we focus on melee I think word is going to get around and eventually the weaknesses of it will become apparent.

>>44506917
Should get a Fūjin like ability.


>It is a specialized offensive trigger that can sprout up to 11 ribbon-like "blades" of wavy light (in addition to the main blade) and attack opponents with them. The ribbons are not solid blades that can be used when swinging Fūjin but act as indicators of how many ranged slashes are left to be used. The blades transmit a slash attack that travel along the surface of objects (including walls, floors, and ceilings) and emerge to strike anywhere that the user can see. Once all eleven are used, the user has to "recharge" them before using them again, which could give opponents an opening to attack the user.

Though there is no real reason to make it a special sword and limit ourself to eleven attacks instead of just making it a spell or sword art that costs mana.

>>44507114
I still really dislike that idea as it seems way too gimmicky.

>>44507129
>tfw it can't hit flying enemies

>>44507099
But than he thinks we are a fuccboi and does even more stupid shit

>>44507129
Gimmicks have a special charm and place in my heart.


How much exp would a stand be Aspi?

>>44507099
Volante is a very prideful enemy, he isn't going to maneuver out of fighting us at our strongest.

>>44506594

Respond with:

Seems you aren't a fan of tanning. Volante's camp is over that ridge, and I'm sure that you would enjoy the shade as much as he does.

Then ignore him the rest of the meeting. Snubbing him politically robs him of his power base.

The old structure has shifted, and he's gonna lose a shitton of allies insulting the largest power in the region.

Oh good, I didn't miss the exp vote.

Why aren't we taking one of his hands for him being such a stupid shit?

>>44507264
He is a head of a noble house and we made the choice to work with the noble houses instead of just burning them all to the ground.

>>44507264
He's a stupid shit with a noble house and some troops behind him. Let's not do anything drastic until we secured our hold over Vitria.

>>44507264
Because we actually need him alive and in once piece. For now.

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>2.

You leave your face in a neutral expression, letting your annoyance and surprise slide away. “Volante’s army is still stationary in Trembin. My forces cut down half of his elites. Even the vampire himself was stymied in the raid. I’d call that a success.

“Or at least, more of a success than we’ve seen so far in the Vitrian war against Taour,” you finish.

Tabeth’s face warps into a scowl. “Yet the north of the country is still held by the vampires and they still threaten the capital. I’ve heard of this nonsense idea to give you power over the city, predicated on this idea that you’re some military genius. It will never happen.”

The tent falls silent as everybody waits for your response. The natural reaction is to fire back – Tabeth was a fool to think he could stop you. That wouldn’t help you, however. You kept is simple.

“The north of Vitria isn’t held. Yet,” you admit, speaking slowly for effect. “Without my armies, without me, it never will be held by anybody save vampires.”

Before Tabeth can blast off another retort Sarah steps in, saying, “You should save your breath, Aaron. Mother and Saul have already convinced the other noble houses – between House Hawkins and Rorek, this is already decided.”

“You need a three-quarters majority among the ruling houses to make such a decision. Without House Oaln, you will need my support,” Tabeth says with a smirk. “I’m not seeing much here to support.”

At this point you don’t particularly care much for his opinion, given he seems to have made up his mind. Still, you…

>1. Try to win him over, at least to some extent. As a former knight, surely he understands the danger Vitria is in and the need for a stronger army?
>2. Leave this to Sarah. She wouldn’t have intervened if there wasn’t some way around his vote.
>3. Dismiss Tabeth. You’ve wasted enough time on him already if he’s made his mind up.
>4. Custom

>>44507340
>>2. Leave this to Sarah. She wouldn’t have intervened if there wasn’t some way around his vote.

Wasn't there another aspiring emp quest? I could swear there were more than 8 threads.

I only ask because I want to know what I should catch up on before playing.

>>44507340
>>4. Custom
>"Help save your country, or leave, it makes no difference to me."

>>44507367
This is a reboot, you don't need to read the original to play.

>>44507295
We could offer him a chance to participate in the next battle, to show us how to do war, and accidentally get him killed in battle.
>>44507340
>>4. Ask him what else is he thinking of that deserves his support more. No, seriously.

>>44507340
>>2. Leave this to Sarah. She wouldn’t have intervened if there wasn’t some way around his vote.
Man I forgot how faggy nobles can be.

>>44507340
Can you explains little more about what option 3 does?

>>44507340
>2. Leave this to Sarah. She wouldn’t have intervened if there wasn’t some way around his vote.

>>44507340
>2. Leave this to Sarah. She wouldn’t have intervened if there wasn’t some way around his vote.

Little shit thinks his opinion matters. I have a hunch that he's just as impotent politically as he is militarily, so maybe Sarah can take him down a peg.

>>44507422
You tell him to leave our fucking tent.

>>44507340
Are there any other Tabeths out there that we can use as a puppet after this guy has an unfortunate accident?

>>44507340
>>2. Leave this to Sarah. She wouldn’t have intervened if there wasn’t some way around his vote.
Probably by promoting Argyle. He's got the strength to be the third house.

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>>44507452
No, he's the only heir. His father was a bit of a loony and died in the invasion of Vitria. Once he's dead there'll only be two ruling houses (for now).

>>44507422
Basically tells him to fuck off.

In which case when this is resolved we'll probably have to deal with political instability to get backing.

Or we get involved in house politics (read: we kill him and use his heir as a puppet).
Not the best solution really, considering how much backlash that could cause.

>>44507340
>3. Dismiss Tabeth. You’ve wasted enough time on him already if he’s made his mind up.

Like to think Saul has disdain for selfish idiots like this

>>44507487
So he gets vamped "accidentally", we murder him and then we have the support of 100% of the ruling houses

>>44507340
>>2. Leave this to Sarah. She wouldn’t have intervened if there wasn’t some way around his vote.

>>44507390
Is the original still going? I see the last thread was on dec 21st.

>>44507340

2.) Leave this to sarah

Mixed with

4.) custom

fire off a sending to one of your most trusted generals. have him convince the Troops of House Tabeth to fight the Vampires in the north under your command, and maybe that of Olans too.

You might need support of the ruling houses, but ruling houses always need the support of troops to stay ruling houses.

Try to make them "ruling houses" in all but name.

Straight up, why is anyone voting for 3? It's absolutely the worst option. Not only do we not have his support, but we also SNUB him. That's not a good idea. Politics is kinda important.

>>44507517
Nope

>>44507340
4
Kill him and seize his estate, it'll give us wealth, a vote in the city administration, and will give us the 3/4 we need

>>44507517
Original is done and done. we don't want any word of it. the hot smutbins of the original still exist though.

>>44507563
Great plan.

Right up till the city revolts because we flushed any loyalty down the shitter.

These guys are going to be our first nobles of any stripe. We need them, as much as its a pain in the ass. We can remove the little shit quietly later. Right now is to soldier through and get shit done.

so how did talon deal with this ass?

>>44507538
Politics are for people with power, or influence, who prove they have a stable head on their shoulders.

He's a petulant child. He should, in no way, be involved in politics.

>>44507340
>>2. Leave this to Sarah. She wouldn’t have intervened if there wasn’t some way around his vote.

>>44507601
But the problem is that he IS involved in politics. And so are we. So we HAVE to deal with him in a way that furthers our goals rather than burning down bridges for no gain.

>>44507601
That's nobles for you. All that matters is he is a first born child

>>44507597
He was smarter in the original. 80% of our problems so far come from being an unknown. Talon didn't have to put up with this shit because everyone knew better than to put him through it.

>>44507601
He has power and influence until we can remove them from him. We should be patient until then.

>>44507563
Vitria is a merchant state, taking wealth from people is a bad idea. Remember that nobody will want to invest in the city from outside if they know we'll just seize it all and use it to conquer them. This is why you embargo hostile states.

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>>44507631
>Talon didn't have to put up with this shit

every new thread I sit in my chair and think what would talon do. i miss him

>>44507648
Good point, Vitria would lose its significance if it was co trolled by Kim Jong Un

>>44507696
#WWTD
Get over it, Talon would fuck everybody, diplomacy horribly, than fix his fuckups through mindrape

>>44507696
Well quit it. Talon's dead, m8. It's time to move on.

>>44507696
Could you just lurk, then? Broken records tend to be annoying.

>>44507696
>tfw Talon would fix all our problems by being tall
sadpepe.manlet

>>44507769
The short shall inherit the earth

>>44507769
>tfw I want to bro it up with fellow manlet, Ser Lynn.
>tfw manlets will be the best generals on Gauron
Feels good, man.

>>44507832
>>44507769
>manlet
shimpy, not manlet.

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>2.

You’re fortunate you don’t have much of a temper – clearly constantly drawing on Lyria’s inhumanly great rage has allowed you to achieve a zen-like state where normal anger hardly even registers. Or frustration, even. Keeping your face expressionless, you glance back at Sarah, waiting for her to continue.

She catches your look and clears her throat. “That’s true and Mother expected as much. Hence why Lord Waise would be the replacement for House Oaln and then granted the additional power to defend and lead Vitria in this time. Unless he wishes to vote against himself.

It sounds like Sarah has practised this, or maybe she was given more lessons than you’d expected given her passion for being a mage. Count Argyle looks surprised at her declaration, while Tabeth goes as red as a tomato.

“That’s… that’s without precedent!” he roars. “You can’t just give some foreign commoner the power of a ruling house, let alone one with such a common name.”

“He’s right about that,” Argyle says quietly, or perhaps at a normal volume. Your ears were still adjusting from Tabeth’s shouting. “There are limits on the speed at which those without some form of noble title can ascend the ranks of the houses. Short of the three-quarters majority of the ruling houses, those are enshrined in the city-state’s charter.”

That made sense, you think. It would be all too easy for one of the ruling houses to simply elevate their supporters and grant them more political power in the city than they should have. Of course, noble title wasn’t really a huge problem.

After some more bluster, Tabeth and Argyle make their way towards the exit of the tent. Sarah frowns at them, unhappy that her mother’s plan had been blown off so easily. Or so they thought.

>continued

>>44507879
Kill yourself

>>44507924
Rude

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>>44507903
“You do have a choice, Lord Tabeth,” you say to him as they leave. “You can support your nation’s future or futilely fight to keep it weak.”

He doesn’t so much as turn towards you before he exits the tent. Maloric slips in seconds later, giving you a nod.

“Sounds like fun politics,” he says. “Though I’m sure there’s a way around it.”

“It’s called his support,” Sarah says. “Ruling houses rely on their wealth and the support of the lower houses. If he acts like this then they’ll remove his house from power and elect another in its place. If you have a moment, Archmagister, could we discuss what I’ll be doing in your tower?”

Maloric and Sarah step off to a corner. Gnome seems a tad distracted, making you think that she went into a meditative trance during the meeting.

With a tiny snap of magic you summon an old ring from storage. The polish on the silver had long since faded. It holds a stylised ‘R’ among a pattern, raised from the base of the ring. Your father’s old ring, that of the Rorsgrov family and the only thing outside the Guard itself that proved your past. It could prove useful now, if you cared to expose yourself.

“Interesting ring you have there,” says Lucas from above you. You glance up at him, popping the ring back into storage with magic. “No need to worry about it – I’d guessed you were from up north, and if I’m not mistaken that ring probably would prove it. Given your talent, I’m guessing you’ve done some training with the Guard?”

You err at this point, unsure as to how to proceed…

>1. Acknowledge the truth, mentioning briefly about your training to Grandmaster Lucas.
>2. Don’t explore this too much further. No need to call attention to your past when you might not draw on it to help with Vitria.
>3. Push the topic aside. You’d kept your history as history for the last eleven years, you weren’t going to dredge it up again now for short-term gain.
>4. Custom

>>44507940
>2. Don’t explore this too much further. No need to call attention to your past when you might not draw on it to help with Vitria.

>>44507940
>>1. Acknowledge the truth, mentioning briefly about your training to Grandmaster Lucas.

>>44507940
>1. Acknowledge the truth, mentioning briefly about your training to Grandmaster Lucas.

>>44507940
>>3. Push the topic aside. You’d kept your history as history for the last eleven years, you weren’t going to dredge it up again now for short-term gain

>>44507940
>1. Acknowledge the truth, mentioning briefly about your training to Grandmaster Lucas.
If you have a good idea of the truth anyways... Just don't be spreading this around. Anywhere.

>>44507940
>1. Acknowledge the truth, mentioning briefly about your training to Grandmaster Lucas.
>on the topic of training, would you mind help train me in bladework? I could barely hold myself against Volante.

>>44507940
>>2. Don’t explore this too much further. No need to call attention to your past when you might not draw on it to help with Vitria.

>>44507940
>1. Acknowledge the truth, mentioning briefly about your training to Grandmaster Lucas.
I would like to know wtf is going on here

>>44508052
Changing to
2. Don’t explore this too much further. No need to call attention to your past when you might not draw on it to help with Vitria.

>>44507940
>>1. Acknowledge the truth, mentioning briefly about your training to Grandmaster Lucas.

>>44507940
>>2. Don’t explore this too much further. No need to call attention to your past when you might not draw on it to help with Vitria.
>>3. Push the topic aside. You’d kept your history as history for the last eleven years, you weren’t going to dredge it up again now for short-term gain.
Whichever of these is more polite, I can't really get the difference between them.

>>44507940
>>1. Acknowledge the truth, mentioning briefly about your training to Grandmaster Lucas.

>>44507959
>>44507973
>>44507997
>>44508001
>>44508024
>>44508052
>>44508084
>>44508103
Why? He's not even one of our older, more trusted subordinates.

>>44508134
He's already guessed the truth, so we might as well tell him the bare minimum neccessary as well as telling him not to spread it around.

>>44507879
Fuck off

>>44507940
>>2. Don’t explore this too much further. No need to call attention to your past when you might not draw on it to help with Vitria.

>>44508146
He hasn't guessed that we're from the Rorsgrov royal family.

>>44508134
He's seen the ring. no use hiding it. If anything else, he can also guess Saul's origins via looking at how he trains and how he fights.

>>44508146
Pretty much. That and if he looks into it on his own it could cause problems. Or he thinks that there are secrets in his past that are probably worse than what has actually happened (multiple murders or treason for example.)

>>44508134
Because he already saw it and I would like to know Saul's past. This seems like a good opportunity.

>>44508162
I don't think we're revealing that. I'm imagining we're saying that we are indeed up there and did get some training up there.

>>44508154
How do you do that on mobile?

>>44508162
Wait, what?

>>44508209
Disable mobile view

>>44508206
>acknowledge the truth
2 is the option that doesn't reveal more than is already obvious

>>44508227
It's true that we received training up there. We're hardly giving him our entire life story.

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>1.

“Inquisitor training,” you say, feeling as if you’ve been caught red-handed. You didn’t care much for your time in the Guard but if it proved useful at some point then denying it would only come back to bite you. “Five years of being taught to mistrust and oppose everything that didn’t fit the Guard’s view of the world.”

“Five years,” Lucas repeats with a frown. “You were picked up at twelve? The old grandmaster had indicated that they started with inquisitors early but that’s terrifying to think of.”

“Nine, actually,” you say, shrugging. “I was told that I had too much sorcerous potential to waste on being a knight. No affinity as a Warden. Too sharp to run me through the mage towers. An inquisitor was also upwardly mobile. I didn’t take to the discipline and left, however.”

“With all the training those older than you would have,” he says, looking thoughtful. “That explains your ability despite your youth – better than some of the alternatives.”

“What were the alternatives?”

“That you were lying or were not entirely human,” Lucas says, patting your shoulder reassuringly. “You don’t seem the type but it was possible. Even Kushan himself needed training. In any case, I won’t speak more of it – you planning on using the ring.”

>continued

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>>44508387
“Perhaps, perhaps not,” you say. “I’m surprised nobility means that much in Vitria of all places.”

With a bark of laugh, Lucas replies, “True that. My father was a commoner from Farun who became a knight. The issues he faced in a city-state said to be run on wealth rather than birth was amazing. A future that judges those on merit more than their father’s name would be better – despite your past, you surely understand that?”

You do, you think as Lucas steps over to speak to Maloric and Sarah. Without the family name you’d experienced the same problems. You weren’t a larger-than-life mercenary general who could bulldoze his way through all the prejudice in the RSK and even the League had looked down on you due to your lack of formal mage qualifications. The world was an absurd place sometimes.

>XP spending next

Also, happy for people to think of empire names and banners. Part of the plan this thread is to try to iron some of that out – you kind of need to start solidifying your empire if you want to control Vitria.

There'll also be some stuff on royalty vs non-royalty after XP spending that will be delivered IC but you can discuss that now, too.

>>44507903
>You’re fortunate you don’t have much of a temper – clearly constantly drawing on Lyria’s inhumanly great rage has allowed you to achieve a zen-like state where normal anger hardly even registers. Or frustration, even.
Wow. Saul has transcended the need for salt. He gives zero fucks.

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XP spending time. Not much has changed since last time, as you didn't advance many of the major schools. This will mostly be setting up for future improvements.

You have:
>17 Stat xp
>24 Mundane xp
>13 Magical xp

STAT INCREASES
Note that your stats also govern other attributes, such as lifting weight, HP, stamina, mana etc.

Strength to [4], 12xp
Endurance to [4], 16xp
Speed to [6], 18xp
Magic to [5], 15xp
Willpower to [4], 12xp

SKILL INCREASES
Note that the top level skill (a ‘school’) affects both the DC and the subskills available. Subskills only affect their specific ability and nothing else (e.g. increasing a subskill won’t affect the DC of using it in combat). This also applies to magical abilities.

MUNDANE SKILL SCHOOLS
Swordsmanship Lv3/5, 15xp
>Grants access to a new subskill

Leadership Lv2/5, 12xp
>Grants access to a new subskill

Archery Lv1/5, 5xp

MUNDANE SUBSKILLS

Leadership, Inspire Mages, 4xp
>mages feel invigorated fighting under you. The first failed roll attributed to mages automatically succeeds instead per battle.

MAGIC ABILITY SCHOOLS

Blade Arts Lv2/5, 12xp
>grants two additional subskill slots; allows further upgrading of existing subskills

Combat Evocation Lv2/5, 12xp
>grants two additional subskill slots; allows further upgrading of existing subskills

Flow Reading Lv2/2, 30xp (expensive due to lack of time spent training it)
>grants additional subskill slot

MAGICAL SUBSKILLS

Combat Evocation, Snap Barriers Lv1/3, 3xp
>you may form a magical barrier over your body and armour that is effective against most physical and magical attacks. Costs 1 mana per minutes equal to your Willpower.

>Discussion
Talk about which options you want, why etc. I'll tie together some package votes after that.

>>44508435
Let's advance Swordmanship tree first and then wait to see what that unlocks before we decide to purchase Inspire Mages.

I guess we can get Endurance or Magic to level 5 now.

Blades Arts or Combat Evocation for the Magic Abilities, whichever one seems more useful against Volante

>>44508435
>stats
End to 4
>skills
Swordsmanship, save the rest archery isnt needed when we have magic
>magic
Combat evocation ability school

>>44508406
Shame i cant recoment the last name again. York was an easy ring for an empire, and waise is a false name so it'd not really fit.

What is our continent called again? Might as well think of our location to use as a clarifyer to the name.

>>44508387
Here I was hoping we'd have our own Inquisitiors this time

>>44508435
Blade Arts

>>44508435

+Magic [We were runnign low on mana when we got to the boss.]
+Leadership [Dice shit on us last thread.]
+ Combat Evocation [Only Choice?]

Remaining:
>2 Stat xp
>12 Mundane xp
>10 Magical xp

>>44508435
I'd say a magic up, swordsmanship and see what that unlocks, and then a Blade arts. Combat evocation is cool as well.

Remember, we can get quite a big bang for our buck with the magic tree, and Volante doesn't really have recourse to our magical abilities.

>>44508435
Magic or Strength for the stat for sure, most immediately useful and especially against Volante, since we can't afford Speed.
Swordsmanship 3, Archery 1, and Inspire Mages, since we can't afford anything else.
I'd say save the Magic XP, maybe just get Snap Barriers since they're cheap and offer some protection for little mana.

>>44508488
We were trained, we could do that later. Let the nobility survive long enough to be troublesome to justify it.

>>44508512
Why would we want Archery when our Magical Lances are superior in every way? We don't even use a bow.

>>44508488
Probably best to guise it under internal security spy network, and just have the army get called in to help solve shit once everything is explained, as opposed to invidituals with autonomous millitary mite to catch and burn.

>>44508435
Snap Barrier Sounds very appealing as a defensive measure against Volante. I'll buy that and bank the rest of the magic xp.

>>44508435
Magic, Swordsmanship, and Blade arts.

Stat wise I'd go Endurance and call it a day.
Mundane Skills I prefer Swordsmanship, because it wokrs well with our Thousand Cuts and I think we make up enough of our combat strength that Leadership has lesser payoffs.
Unsure about Inspire though.

Magic Ability, I think we want more options and I like Blade Arts way more than Evocations.
Part of that is also that we're more likely to get off Blade Arts when Volante decides to YOLO us again and he's the primary 1v1 threat.

Snap barriers seems like a waste, as does Archery.

>>44508534
We could start using a bow.
And it might come in handy, might lead to some nice magic tricks.
>>44508507
Blade arts is also available, actually, and we will only have 1 Magical XP left if we buy either that or Combat Evocation.

>>44508487
Gauron's the continent, but I'm not a fan of using it. I'm a fan of the Phoenix or Dragon motif.

Magic or Endurance?

Which one is more preferable now? What are the arguments for and against?

My banner vote is Phoenix on red. Dont have any idea for an empire name. We should embrace our royal lineage. It would help cement our position as emporer.

>>44508556
Think of snap barriers as a way of boosting endurance with magic xp.

>>44508556
Snap barriers offer real protection, anon, even if not the best one, and it's super cheap.
Also reminder that Thousand Cuts doesn't work in 1on1 battles.

>>44508435
swordsmanship up Magic up, Inspire Mages, Blade arts level 2

>>44508507
What about snap barrier? effective against most physical and magical attacks. It's good for nullifying any heavy hits if we were to go up against Volante.

>>44508534
with AA's bows, it might be a unique skill set for this character since hes all about channeling magic through his weapon.

>>44508566
Skipped over the first magic section, only saw the ability.

>>44508435
>Magic
>Swordsmanship
>Combat evocation

>>44508574
Magic lets us be straight up more powerful in combat. More MP, stronger spells, etc. Further, it is the magic that we have that will carry the day against Volante. Getting bogged down will only get us killed. Thus, our current priority should be Magic.

>>44508566
Archery seems like a trap option since blades and leadership will be useful 100% time versus a highly situation skill which is interchangeable with our magic.

Archery seems like an exp sink we should avoid. Magic already fills the ranged void.

>>44508435
>>44508435
>swordsmanship
>blade arts

>see what sub skills become available and vote on those after this

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>royalty vs non-royalty
I for one welcome the change this time around and wish to be royalty

Who wants to fight me I got 30 more free minutes

>>44508612
It's not highly situational, really.

What did I fucking miss? Since when was Saul confirmed royalty? Did I miss a post or something?

>>44508627
I say we should except our blood and come out as royal

>>44508620
>AA arrows

>>44508534
we can use our lances as impromptu arrows. We could spend time in the backline pelting arrow lances at the enemy disguised as archery before going out to sortie.

>>44508627
No, I would like to do a royalty thing. Makes things interesting and gives us opera house cred.

>People are starting to hype snap barrier even though it doesn't do shit again
Kill me now.
There's a reason it costs only 3 XP.
Said reason is that it's kind of shit.

We already have shadow blades, don't bother wit the barriers.

>>44508640
>Your father’s old ring, that of the Rorsgrov family and the only thing outside the Guard itself that proved your past

>>44508572
Dragon will get jumped on heavily, not a good idea. Phoenix could work.
Ide rather have another snub name though, another "everyone is welcome" kind of theme.

The East Phoenix Empire maybe? Amended to The Phoenix Empire if we spread across the continent.

>>44508627
Come out as a royalty to shut down that little shit? I approve, batman.

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>>44508640
Saul isn't royalty (yet) but he is nobility.

>>44508534
Arrows don't cost mana, and can be used to get our spells through magical defenses better.
Also shortbow with our speed could let us effectively use a bow at mid to long range.

>>44508640
Literally this thread dude

>>44508666
I agree with Satan. Snap barriers prevents us from getting one of the two magical schools, which will be much more powerful.

>>44508668
That means we're nobility. I don't think the guard has royalty, Sylvian rules that place.

>>44508671
We could adobt a phoenix in the same kind of spread eagle style as the old german/holy roman empire.

>>44508671
Pointless fearmongering! Just what we needed.
Noone gives a shit what's on your heraldry.
And our most powerful combat unit are the Black Dragons.
Noone will jump anything just because we pcika dragon.

>>44508683
But Archery does cost exp. And archery would be put into an area we already have covered through ranged magic.

>>44508722
Why don't we just do crossed swords?

We were a mercenary, have a banner befitting of that origin.

I'd rather just add us being royalty to the list of rumours we want to spread about ourself. No reason to confirm it.

As for our banner I like minimalism so a simplified white sun on a black background or so would do.

>>44508722
Anon plz. Dragons are cool but over used as shit in 90% of settings. Phoenix's are also used a lot but not nearly as much.

>>44508671
>Dragon will get jumped on heavily
Why?

OKAY, SO

I think most people can agree on upping our Magic stat.

For Mundane skills I say get one Swordsmanship level, then see what that unlocks to decide whether to bank the remaining xp or spend it on leadership/inspiremages.

For Magical, I think Snap barriers would be the best idea, because we can't actually buy any of the new skills that buying one of the schools would unlock, but if not, then go for Blade Arts probably.

We don't got enough experience to be jack of all trades, maybe we can get archery when we got points to spare much later.

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For stats I'm seeing Strength, Endurance and Magic floated as options.

For magic it's basically between Blade Arts, Combat Evocation and Snap Barriers.

For mundane skills I'll first do a vote of Swordsmanship Lv3 vs not getting it, because it will unlock a choice of 1 of 3 subskills and is mutually exclusive with Leadership Lv2.

>>44508756
>because we can't actually buy any of the new skills that buying one of the schools would unlock
As stated in the blurb, improving a school lowers DCs when using your abilities in that school.

>>44508743
>>44508747
I don't mind not using a dragon.
I do mind pointless fearmongering about how we're going to be jumped if we do.

>>44508756
Oh I actually fucked up the mundane math, so it's buy Swordsmanship, see if it unlocks anything good, if not, buy Inspire mages.

>>44508722
Its not pointless, dragon themed empires, in the previous run, attracted negative attention. I forget why, just remember that fact.

If the setting has hardly changed apart from bits and peices then slapping a dragon logo on the empires face is probably not going to sit well, especially when we have a nice reaosnable phoenix we could use.

And it shouldnt count as meta, since this should be common knowledge. If im wrong then fair enough.
Either way, you kind of suck for picking a fight pre-emptively there.

>>44508780
Can people who want one of the schools come to a decision on which one they want to support? Because otherwise Snap Barriers is going to cockblock both.

Why not have our flag be a big black R on a dark blue background? Tribute to our family that the guard (presumably) took us from.
The Eastern Regency

I like getting a phoenix as our symbol because it's brilliant misdirection. Our opponents will expect us to die hard and Regen or something when bam we suddenly breath fire on their face.

I like getting a dragon more though because dragons are pretty cool.

>>44508406
>There'll also be some stuff on royalty vs non-royalty after XP spending that will be delivered IC but you can discuss that now, too.
Okay. My thoughts:
Royal vs Non-Royal: ehh, whatever.
When it comes to the structure of our empire, I think the following:
Regional Governors like in AEQ. It worked well, why knock it? We likely won't be able to get away with not holding court, so we should ensure that knightly orders and towers get a lot of representation compared to the more normal nobility, and word our definition of knightly order or tower broadly enough that most nonhuman organizations qualify and we can add them in later with the nobility being unable to stop us if we want to.

>>44508834
Do we even like our family?

>>44508818
We haven't had problems with Combat Evocation DCs, and we use Blade Arts more often in melee, so if we have to choose one I'd choose the latter.
Though I'd prefer to get Snap Barriers and save the xp.
>>44508780
Can we advance 2 levels at once if we have the xp for it, by the way?

>>44508834
Isent a recency where a child's realm is ruled in his stead until he comes of age?

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STAT VOTE
>1. Strength to 4 (leaves you with 5xp)
>2. Endurance to 4 (leaves you with 1xp)
>3. Magic to 5 (leaves you with 2xp)
>4. Custom

MUNDANE SKILLS VOTE
>1. Swordsmanship to Lv3 (9xp left)
>2. Something else (e.g. Leadership Lv2)
If you don't want Swordsmanship there'll be a follow-up vote for other options. If you do, then there'll be more about how to spend the remaining 9xp.

MAGICAL ABILITIES VOTE
>1. Buy a school
>1.1 Blade Arts to Lv2 (1xp left)
>1.2 Combat Evocation to Lv2 (1xp left)
>2. Get Snap Barriers Lv1 (10xp left)
>3. Custom

Note that I'm going to assume those voting for a school don't mind getting the other school if it beats them. If you would prefer to get Snap Barriers over the other school, indicate that in your vote.

What exactly can inqusitors do?
I've been picturing the divide between knights and mages as primarily an internal/external one now that martial aren't arbitrarily gimped
(Knights reinforce their bodies and use magic to increase their direct combat ability, increased strength, speed, durability, regen, simple evocation type stuff; mages affect the world at large as well as more subtle magic and applying effects to items via enchantment, as well as the more theoretical magical research stuff)

Are inquisitors like...mages with a combat focus and weapons training with the research stuff thrown out?

>>44508856
>>44508834
Does this world even have a letter for the R sound?

>>44508848
Dude, what the fuck?

Nearly every banner is symbolic or just there to look cool.

People don't choose to put something on their flag because they do something it does. Jesus, anon.

>>44508877
>3
>1
>1 / 1.1

>>44508865
If you want to save XP why get anything at all?
Barriers don't do anything Shadow Blades can't already accomplish.

>>44508877
>3. Magic to 5 (leaves you with 2xp)
>1. Swordsmanship to Lv3 (9xp left)
>1.1 Blade Arts to Lv2 (1xp left)

>>44508877
>2. Endurance to 4 (leaves you with 1xp)
>1. Swordsmanship to Lv3 (9xp left)
>1.2 Combat Evocation to Lv2 (1xp left)

>>44508877
>3. Magic to 5 (leaves you with 2xp)
>1. Swordsmanship to Lv3 (9xp left)
>1.1 Blade Arts to Lv2 (1xp left)

>>44508877
>>3. Magic to 5 (leaves you with 2xp)

>>1. Swordsmanship to Lv3 (9xp left)

>>2. Get Snap Barriers Lv1 (10xp left)
If we must get a school, then get Blade Arts.

>>44508877
>>2. Endurance to 4 (leaves you with 1xp)
>1. Swordsmanship to Lv3 (9xp left)
>1.1 Blade Arts to Lv2 (1xp left)

>>44508877
>3
>1
>1.1

>>44508877
>3
>1
>1.1

>>44508852
Yay or ney on having a small/privy council?

Having dedicated positions could be useful for concentrating power in court to a few easy to manage people. On the flip its also putting allot of power into a few hands.

>>44508877
STAT VOTE:
>3.
MUNDANE:
>1.
MAGICAL ABILITIES:
>2.
>Buy a School.

>>44508877
>2. Endurance to 4 (leaves you with 1xp)

MUNDANE SKILLS VOTE
>1. Swordsmanship to Lv3 (9xp left)

MAGICAL ABILITIES VOTE
>1. Buy a school
>1.1 Blade Arts to Lv2 (1xp left)

>>44508896
You mean the flag of Wales isn't because they have a secret giant dragon in their army?

>>44508877
>1
>1
>1.1

>>44508955
Actually they do, but you didn't hear it from me.

>>44508901
They do, actually, shadow blades needs us to be fast enough to be able to make a wall with our sword, snap barriers are presumably a split second thing we can summon anywhere on our body where we would be getting hit.
Shadow Blade is less likely to get hit.
Snap Barrier is high defense if we do get hit.
I think
>>44508877
please clarify

>>44508877
>1.1 Blade Arts to Lv2 (1xp left)
This is all I really care about
>Magic
>Sword

>>44508877
>2. Endurance to 4 (leaves you with 1xp)
>1. Swordsmanship to Lv3 (9xp left)
>1.2 Combat Evocation to Lv2 (1xp left)

>>44508877
1
1
1.1

>>44508942
I can mostly agree to that, so long as the regions also have their representation, not on the privy council. Imagine the UK with far more power in the hands of the monarchy.

>>44508943
>MAGICAL ABILITIES:
>>2.
>>Buy a School.
what?
That's contradictory, anon

>>44508955
And the flag of england is the cross of st george, who killed a dragon.

>>44508750
Not that guy (don't agree) but his reasoning is probably along the lines of
>other races fear dragons/the return of the dragons
>resurgence of a dragon kingdom has been prevented because of this fear + long time for dragons to mature
>young dragons are in hiding because they get slaughtered before they mature
>if we seem like a fledgling dragon empire (which we might declare with a dragon standard) then it could be like painting a giant beacon on our backs

That said, like other anons have pointed out, it seems like dragon iconography is pretty popular (ie our dragon heavies) so I doubt people would really make that connection til we start making real waves in the world anyways

>>44508877
>3. Magic to 5 (leaves you with 2xp)
>1. Swordsmanship to Lv3 (9xp left)
>1.2 Combat Evocation to Lv2 (1xp left)

>>44508877
L A N D S L I D E
A
N
D
S
L
I
D
E

>>44508877
>3
>1
>1.2

>>44508979
He already did?

>>>44298176
>>Barrier
>Honestly, I'm not sure what the huge interest in barriers is. Are people hoping to be able to make big army-defending barriers eventually? Because in terms of personal protection the increased defense is relatively marginal given you can already use Shadow Blade to defend against ranged attacks. I'm not sure where people really want to take barriers.

They're not completely identical, but there's a notable overlap and I wouldn't expect much of anything from a Lv 1 spell in any case.
The only point of taking snap barrier over the others is to save up, so you should just save up properly if that's what you want.

>>44508877
Magic
Swordsmanship
Blade Arts

>>44508877
>3. Magic to 5 (leaves you with 2xp)
>1. Swordsmanship to Lv3 (9xp left)
>1.2 Combat Evocation to Lv2 (1xp left)

>>44508999
Sounds decent. We need a court anyway. Having reps of normal folk means we can releive some of the tension from nobles fucking up without resorting to revolutions.

The problem your faced with is how to organize it. Think we'll have to leave that until we sit down after ousting the immediate vampire problem.

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Vote is clearly 1, 3, 1.1

As Swordsmanship was voted up, here are the new mundane options.

You have 9xp.

MUNDANE SKILL SCHOOLS

Leadership Lv2/5, 12xp
>Grants access to a new subskill

Archery Lv1/5, 5xp

MUNDANE SUBSKILLS

>Note that only one subskill can be chosen at this level.

Swordsmanship, Battlefield Control Lv1, 8xp
>increase your melee stat by one if this subskill is greater than your opponent’s. Does not stack with Flow Manipulation subskill ‘Reading the Battlefield’

Swordsmanship, Hold Your Ground, 5xp
>in single combat against a foe equally skilled or worse but with a higher melee stat, you may reduce their melee stat to equal yours at the cost of being unable to strike back

Swordsmanship, Controlled Stances Lv1, 10xp
>you may force a battle to use the melee stat that grants you the greatest advantage. This only applies to opponents of equal or lower skill. Affects a number of opponents equal to the level of the subskill. Cheaper to upgrade than purchase.

Leadership, Inspire Mages, 4xp
>mages feel invigorated fighting under you. The first failed roll attributed to mages automatically succeeds instead per battle.

Quick discussion, then the last vote on xp spending.

>>44509050
Marginal protection is still protection, with our low END

>>44509187
>at the cost of being unable to strike back
What?

>>44509187
>at the cost of being unable to strike back

What's the point then?

>>44509214
>>44509220

Basically it lets us focus on being defensive.
Sounds shit, until you have something absalutely absurd trying to crush you with titan level strength, and you can tie it up with just you, while everyone else wails on it.

>>44509214
It's the "tie up a supercombatant while others do DPS/kill the enemy army/charge up a super move/use a ritual" skill.
Would come in very handy if we need another delaying action against Volante.

>>44509187
>Leadership, Inspire Mages, 4xp

And then save

>>44509187
Save for Controlled Stances next time.

>>44509187
Controlled stances is objectively the best because it allows us to destroy special snowflakes who only focused on one stat and allows us to spend our stat exp on all our stats which will probably be cheaper.

Also, you claimed that this skill is what made that guy last thread so powerful against our BDR.

>>44509187
>at the cost of being unable to strike back
Against a monster like Volante? The ability to tank that incoming hit to a manageable is worth not being able to fight back.

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>>44509187
Also, to clarify, single combat means 'fighting one opponent' not '1v1 only'.

Also, Controlled Stances is Volante's ability (but his is Lv3). The wording is hard to get right but it basically means that you can force a fight with somebody to be Speed vs Speed if that's more beneficial than Strength vs Strength. Other people are unaffected and DCs against them resolve normally using whatever stats are otherwise applicable. Also, you can't prevent somebody from using Magic if they're using a magical ability.

>>44509267
You can't afford Leadership right now.

>>44509214
>>44509220
You're fighting a dragon. He will crush you - you have a DC98 roll. You use this, it becomes DC80 but you can't hurt him. It's cheap for a reason.

>>44509187
>Swordsmanship, Battlefield Control Lv1, 8xp
I don't think Volante has this.
>Swordsmanship, Hold Your Ground, 5xp
I think Volante has higher Swordsmanship than us.
>Swordsmanship, Controlled Stances Lv1, 10xp
He definitely has this, but we can't buy it right now anyway.
Go for Battlefield Control, it lets us be at 0 stat disadvantage against Volante if we have BDR active.

>>44509214
>>44509220
We can hold their attention without dying while someone else snipes them from afar, maybe?

Alternatively, we just use it to engage an opponent who actually far outclasses us (like Volante last battle) and hold him in one place without dying while our army pulls shenanigans because the enemy hero unit is distracted

>>44509187
Save it.

Sadly new years fucked up my sleep schedule enough for this weekend and I have work on monday.
Now off to bed.

>>44509256
>>44509291
Volante has higher swordsmanship skill than us, doesn't he? This would be useless against him.

I suggest that we just get inspire mages, so we can get controlled stance next time

>>44509302
>You can't afford Leadership right now.

Why can't we afford Inspire Mages? That's only 4 exp to our 9.

>>44509302
>>44509310
>Also, to clarify, single combat means 'fighting one opponent' not '1v1 only'.

Oh shit that's not bad. We go up against Volante, we're tank, Gnome and Lynn are dps

>>44509187
>>44509283
Also, can't we just go and grind some crabs or something to get that 1exp we need?

>>44509346
Volante has the better version of this, so it wouldn't occur on him.

>>44509267
>>44509279
>>44509283
>>44509321
Guys, please, Battlefield Control would let us have equal stats to Volante during BDR, and in general not be too disadvantaged. It's worth it.

>>44509187
Inspire mages.

>>44509366
that's Controlled Stances, not Battlefield Control.

>>44509323
He has three, we just pulled even.
The bad news is that without either someone with 4+ to train us or at least someone who also has 3 to train against, Swordsmanship 4 is going to cost twice as much as it usually would.
If we do however manage to get it to four somehow before the rematch, Volante can't use Controlled Stances against us anymore.
We just need to scratch together some 25ish XP, a ridiculously good swordsman and some training time to do so.

>>44509366
He has controlled stances, not hold your ground

>>44509372
Only if its greater than his. Can you guarantee ours is higher at lvl 1? Also it doesnt work with one of our other abilities.

>>44509404
>a ridiculously good swordsman

Read that as a ridiculously good looking swordsman for a second

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>>44509303
>>44509323
Volante has Swordsmanship Lv3. Saul is reasonably confident he's a fair match for him now, if less experienced. Lv4/5 is for genuine masters of a style.

With that said, Controlled Stances goes to the person who has the higher level skill of it (so this won't work against Volante, but will work against other foes).

>>44509339
Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying you were going to buy both Leadership Lv2 and Inspire Mages.

MUNDANE SKILL VOTE
>1. Buy Battlefield Control (leaves 1xp)
>2. Buy Hold Your Ground (leaves 4xp)
>3. Save for Controlled Stances (you'll buy this automatically when you get the extra 1xp)
>4. Buy Inspire Mages (leaves 5xp)

>>44509439
If he had even one level of it, then we would1ve effectively been fighting against someone with Strength 7 during the fight with Volante.
I think you will agree that this wasn't the case.

>>44509450
>3. Save for Controlled Stances (you'll buy this automatically when you get the extra 1xp)

>>44509450
4

>>44509450
>2. Buy Hold Your Ground and Inspire Mages 0xp left.

>>44509450
>4. Buy Inspire Mages (leaves 5xp)
This is just too useful. This could effect the entire battlefield.

>>44509450
Volante doesn't have Battlefield Control, or at least we have no reason to think he does, right? Since if he did he would've basically had 7 Strength during our fight.
>1. Buy Battlefield Control (leaves 1xp)
Best to get right now.

>>44509450
>4. Buy Inspire Mages (leaves 5xp)
>2. Buy Hold Your Ground (leaves 4xp)
why not both? it's exact change.

>>44509450
3

>>44509450
>2
>4
WhyNotBoth?.png

>>44509440
>fighting Volante again
>"you've improved, youth, but not enough to overcome me!"
>send in our trump card
>reveal ridiculously good looking swordsman
>Volante swoons
>"H-how did you know my weakness is ridiculously good looking swordsmen?"
>shank that bitch in the ass

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>>44509520
>>44509518
I wasn't sure if people would want both, especially given you can only pick one of these three subskills (until you get SwordLv4). But yes, you can vote for both.

>>44509450
>4. Buy Inspire Mages (leaves 5xp)
Wait so if we come out as Royalty it means we have even more reason to be as disgusting
Fabulous as the op image?

Neat

>>44509450
>2
>4

>>44509450
Don't buy Hold your ground, either do 3 or 4

>>44509584
Aspir just said we weren't royalty though

>>44509484
>>44509518
>>44509520
>>44509587
Getting 2 will mean we won't be able to get Controlled Stance for a long time.

>filled with irrational dislike and mistrust for mages due to childhood MG training
>mutter "scum" under breath
>"S-senpai talked to us! Kyaa! We have to try even harder now team!"
>mages are now inspired

It's just like my Chinese cartoons

>>44509607
I meant nobility brain just typed royalty

>>44509450
Anything but Hold Your Ground

>>44509607
Not got an empire yet.

So far we have harrowmount (1 kingdom), currently fighting over vitra (2nd kingdom), the third is darlesia. Taour is a city state origonally so dosent count. Need a fair chunk of land to call yourself an empire.

>>44509450
2 and 4

Deleting>>44509538

>>44509660
Can you please explain why you'd want to get 2 and lock us out of 3 or 1 for a long while?

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Alright, let's resolve the subskill situation.

Inspiring Mages is the overwhelming winner. You can then afford Hold Your Ground but that prevents you from buying any of the other Sword subskills for a long time.

LAST XP VOTE (REALLY)
>1. Buy Hold Your Ground
>2. Wait to buy one of the other Sword subskills (this will remove HYG from future subskill votes to prevent this from being revisited)

>>44509712
>2

>>44509712
>1. Buy Hold Your Ground

>>44509712
>2. Wait to buy one of the other Sword subskills (this will remove HYG from future subskill votes to prevent this from being revisited)

>>44509712
>>2. Wait to buy one of the other Sword subskills (this will remove HYG from future subskill votes to prevent this from being revisited)

>>44509683
Muh spending all our exp right now. It is stupid, the exp won't disappear and we can always buy 4 later. 2 is just a waste of a sub skill.

>>44509712
>>2. Wait to buy one of the other Sword subskills (this will remove HYG from future subskill votes to prevent this from being revisited)

>>44509712
2

>>44509729
>>44509732
>>44509741
>>44509744
>inb4 Saul gets one-shotted outside of BDR.

>>44509683
Because fa/tg/uys cannot exercise restraint and save xp across threads for theoretically shinier toys when they have toys in front of them that they don't have to wait for

You know this, anon

>>44509712
>Inspiring Mages is the overwhelming winner.
Can we combo this with a high dc, high effect action at the start of combat, or is that too meta a strategy.

>>44509773
Snap barriers~

>>44509773
Good riddance to that. At least we stayed loyal to our principles.

>>44509712
1

>>44509683
Battlefield control doesn't work with Flow, which we are already pretty set on and Controlled Stances will only become really hilarious once we have either Swordsmanship 4 or enough Stances to overpower anyone else with the skill stances.
I plan on getting leadership soonish and then saving for swording 4, so I don't see us having the XP to upgrade stances.

>>44509788
I think that's just the right amount of meta

>>44509793
Are shit~

>>44509788
>Okay mages, just run straight at Volante and stab him to death

>>44509712
>1. Buy Hold Your Ground

>>44509793
but we didn't buy that skill~ We still gonna get one-shotted~

>>44509836
Small things can save lives~
>>44509850
I'm just saying I told you~

>>44509878
Snap your neck

>>44509878
I was one of the anons that wanted snap barriers. but no~, they said snap barriers was shit.

>>44509878
>Small things can save lives~

LIKE A PENIS!

OR SAUL!

BUT NOT SAUL'S PENIS!

snap barriers seem like they would've been very useful on a close combat specialist like saul
o well

>>44509839
More like
>Mal, dispel Alyce's nonsense
>"That's impossible."
>"I believe in you"

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>>44509839
It has to be a genuine mage vote. Otherwise I'm fine with allowing high risk mage actions to start with (given you know you're good with mages), but you'll always run the risk of them involving 2 or more DCs.

Anyway, that's a 2. I'll update the Char sheet a bit later.

>Resuming

It’s Gnome that walks up to you this time. She places a hand on your head and ruffles your hair. It seems to have become a habit for her. You’re kind of glad it was Lucas and not her that approached you. She had been loyal so far and had already judged you but you still worried that she wouldn’t like your background.

“So, have you thought up a name yet?” Gnome asks you.

“A name for what?”

“The empire you want to form, Saul,” she says, giving you a reproving look. “The same goes for the other question – who comes after you. It will be the first thing many people ask when considering an empire ruling them.”

Almost instinctively you answered, “Who comes after me? A child, of…” Trailing off you realise the problem. “Right, there’s an archmage who doesn’t exactly like hereditary rule. I still don’t quite understand that – she hasn’t exactly done anything about all the hereditary nobles that hold power. Mage rule is almost entirely hereditary given most towers accept nobles in overwhelming numbers.”

“Whether you understand it or not, it’s reality,” Gnome says. “There are potentially benefits to taking on a royal rule – it makes things appear relatively stable. Not everybody will agree that you will last on the throne for long enough that it won’t fall apart. A solid path for heirs will avoid the issue of the empire falling to squabbling between your greatest generals should you perish.”

>continued

>>44509909
>"No Saul, its impossible, Alyce is the nonsense"
>Insert women joke here.

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>>44509910
Of course, declaring yourself to be a new royal line would create many enemies. It would also alienate those that prefer a path that appears decided by merit. Though it’s not like you need to make everything else hereditary. On the plus side, this wasn’t likely to be a decision you needed to make now – just soon. By the time Taour was beneath your feet, beneath your rule, you would need to know your path.

>discussion on names, banner (including colours) and royalty.

I have to duck off and grab lunch. I won’t necessarily force a vote on names this thread but I would like to be able to pick a banner to resolve all of this. The royalty one is one worth discussing as although the final decision is alter, there will be coming IC discussions where it will come up.

If we bind an elemental fo Mal, can we not cuckold him this time around?

>>44509928
Saul's a one lizard man

>>44509927
A black dragon on a red standard
cliched as fuck but we're a black dragon rage-fueled berserker that tends to end up covered in blood more often than not

Proclaiming ourselves as royalty seems to make things easier in the long run, but does our house have sneaky, old, unknown enemies? that seems pretty likely as well.

>>44509952
Good thing elementals aren't lizards.
>>44509927
Can't we solve the "who comes after" by not being a hereditary emperor but still just declaring our son as our successor?

>>44509927
What color was our family's ring/crest/flag/whatever?

>>44509983
>Future Emperor declared by current Emperor, regardless of origin of future Emperor

Well, interesting, but fuckin' weird.

>>44509927
I say we go for the pesudo constitutional monarchy with high monarch authority.
Dont really care on the line of succession, maybe elective out of our heirs? Make them prove themselves.

Golden Phoenix in spread eagle style (think Holy roman empire) on a red and black background.

>>44509983
How is declaring our son as our successor not passing power hereditarily?

>>44510023
We don't do it at his birth.
And the succession of power isn't defined as hereditary, it just is in this case.

>>44506572
I say we do something like
>Prince > King then take on the title emperor

Principality until we Get Farun then Kingdom and Emperor when we finally take Taour out and a chunk out of any of the other factions

>>44510023
Because its possible to declair anyone else instead. Its not an auto succeed the throne by being born to it.

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>>44510045
+1

Let's do Ultimogeniture for shits and giggles.

Also, flag.

Can't we just be immortal again?

>>44510080
no anon. We did that last game, it was too easy.

>>44510023
It ostensibly goes to that who we believe is the most prepared. However, if we groom our son for the job, then obviously he's probably one of, if not THE, most prepared.

>>44510080
Seeing as we will probably live for centuries.

Why?

So what the hell should we call ourselves? The Eastern Kingdom of the Phoenix?

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Flag inspiration maybe?

Gnome doesn't know about Lyria, does she? Is it mean of us to lead her on with the headpats?

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Black for black dragon, circle for the source/harrowmont/PoP, nonobvious dragon for Lyria, blue for our family's color(if I understood it correctly.

So let's say we DO have nominative succession. Who do we nominate for now?

>>44510135
What

What do phoenixes have to do with us at all?

>>44510152
Steve

>>44510122
Waisland
>>44510152
Our Dragon Waifu.

>>44510152
Bill

Golden Phoenix on Red background. Im all for taking our noble name and using it to rule. Still undecided about hereditary rule.

>>44510167
Well, Talon died, yet harrowmount has still rose from the metaphorical ashes to fuck shit up.

>>44510167
It doesn't have to have shit to do with anyone.

Jesus fuck, anon.

We could have a fucking Ö as our banner and it would still be valid despite having no fucking meaning to us.

Shit, mang.