tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post3190586909419201152..comments2024-02-24T03:34:18.060-05:00Comments on Stealing Commas: Long Live the Queen: A silly tangentchris the cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872875475212333027noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-58795009153600460612014-03-10T12:10:40.088-04:002014-03-10T12:10:40.088-04:00Sooo... I did actually read the whole thing finall...<i>Sooo... I did actually read the whole thing finally.</i><br /><br />Yay!<br /><br />-<br /><br /><i>not that much...</i><br /><br />Aww... I thought I kept it so you'd be able to tell follow, sure there might be names thrown around you didn't know but:<br /><br />"Civil War (with only landlocked provinces in rebellion; leader of one is Briony's mother) lose the war --> run away --> nomadic seafaring society" is the core of it and I thought that came through.chris the cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06872875475212333027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-16265873075044188262014-03-10T08:43:22.194-04:002014-03-10T08:43:22.194-04:00Sooo... I did actually read the whole thing finall...Sooo... I did actually read the whole thing finally.<br /><br />As far as I understand what the hell is going on (not that much...) I really like it. Nomadic societies are groovy, sea or spacefaring ones doubly so, and constructed islands are also great.<br /><br />I am also reminded of "Plan B is to get captured." "What's Plan A?" "Doesn't matter, Plan A never works out."<br /><br />(Not to mention the lovely Briony/Elodie vibes. Which don't need to be actual text or even subtext, since super-loyal risk-taking friendship is also awesome, but are nonetheless lovely...)Lonesparkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16278753827545905559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-46513390188447302562014-02-18T07:09:45.404-05:002014-02-18T07:09:45.404-05:00More on what the game mechanics behind this would ...More on what the game mechanics behind this would be:<br /><br />I figure ordering your troops to [fight until there's no one left] would end up getting you shot in the back by "friendly" fire where [surrender] would be the same as the game.<br /><br />Likewise [give up] while holding Briony hostage would be the game route, where [bluff] would be a second chance but require composure at 100 or above (with an outfit you can boost it to 110) since composure is described as being used in bluffing, presence at something respectable, and slightly less cruelty than the original presence+cruelty*10 check.<br /><br />Because it would be:<br />"We don't think you'd kill your friend."<br />"Wouldn't I?" And then the guards step into "action"<br /><br />I figure with Briony playing along (not possible in game) you can shave off one point of cruelty so Presence + Cruelty*10 ≥ 140 instead of 150 for the first check.<br /><br />The problem is that you can't just say "Shave off another point of cruelty via bluffing." Because you don't know what the cruelty was. It's a combined check. Maybe it would be Composure maxed out AND Presence + Cruelty*10 ≥ 130 because you still need a respectable presence and you'd still need some cruelty to make it believable. That would work because the continued bluff should only work if you nearly pulled it off the first time. But I haven't worked it all out.<br /><br />How many people evacuate onto the seagoing vessels (as well as into the southern duchies and Sudbury) depends on Elodie's commoner approval which was assumed to be quite high for this version.<br /><br />-<br /><br />For the epilogue you'd only know where to order the fleet to go with foreign affairs of 90 or more. Otherwise maybe a bit of Battlestar Galactica, Rag Tag Fleet Looking for a Home.<br /><br />Briony finding her pirate treasure would be contingent on you letting her look for it and affect the grandeur of the New Nova Capital. Without that influx of funds it's not going to be a Wonder of the World.<br /><br />Briony successfully breaking Elodie out without sparking off a (short lived) war between rebel held Nova and the Novan fugitive fleet would require hiring the Musician as a spy. Because otherwise she wouldn't have a good enough story to be fully trusted, thus the break out would be more noticeable, and they'd be able to be followed to their ship and from it to their location. (We finally bought/built some war ships, what do we do? Attack those bastards!)<br /><br />That would in turn allow rebel Nova to bargain with Togmai by giving him the location of the queen in exile causing him to show up much earlier (and possibly irreparably harming relations with Malini.)<br /><br />"True Nova" and "New Nova" having good relations depends very much on how you've treated the southern provinces (Brin and Banion.)<br /><br />I didn't say what happened with Togami because it's not playable in this version, so the player can decide whether it's killing him or successfully singing to him.<br /><br />I also didn't describe Lumen relations but I'm guessing they'd have to go up. First off Julianna and Selene would be using their powers to help the fleet (Selene has an affinity for salt water and can track things with it. How many times do you think it would have to be "We're all gonna starve! Wait, no. That Lumen is back with enough food for all of us," before the opinion of Lumen went up?) and because it's generally true (though not always) that it's harder to hold a prejudice against someone that you know. Stuck on a ship with them for any length of time and you're going to get to know them.chris the cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06872875475212333027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-11761422205553682562014-02-18T07:04:17.154-05:002014-02-18T07:04:17.154-05:00I forgot that you can't have one person rule (...I forgot that you can't have one person rule (i.e. be ruler of one and regent of the other) neighboring duchies. That was the problem with Arisse's request to be regent for Adair in the first place. I put him with Hellas because as one of the southern duchies his would be spared the war so he doesn't need to flee and because Banion seems likely to try to manipulate the boy while Brin seems more likely to look out for his interests. (She might eventually marry him for heirs and politics, but she's definitely not going to try to seduce him.)<br /><br />I think I'm going to leave it as is. Your uncle was probably in a hurry and not thinking about regent etiquette when he bravely ran away.<br /><br />[break for character limit]chris the cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06872875475212333027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-1676787429261596422014-02-18T06:55:24.426-05:002014-02-18T06:55:24.426-05:00"Can I look for pirate treasure?"
[Playe..."Can I look for pirate treasure?"<br />[Player failed due to not having maxed out cruelty]<br />"Yes."Firedrakenoreply@blogger.com