Esquestria: The House of the Sun - A pony cultist experience

[Greymere]

This is @Greymere 's plan, but it gets 2 summonings off and doesnt have no plan in place for the summon's AP this turn, and it gets a Commission because of it alongside the extra risen and MITL. It doesn't do anything with cover your bases we haven't done for the last 2 turns in a row.

It ends with 2 Risen and 2 MITLs plus the Servants doing CYB, while Comet graverobs, and +6 Smiles progress from Selene. If one of the summonings fails(89% chance each of success) then Selene loses a Smiles action to compensate for the failure. This is exactly the same as we've done with graverobs the past several turns and it's very straightforward.

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Why bother having Rarity on commission? We don't need the bits this turn. Like, at all. It would be better to have her doing Smiles progress if you aren't going to have her Covering Our Bases and, even better, it should be Rarity's AP getting dropped in case of failure, not Selene's.

Edit: Also, at least in the past with Name summonings, we only got to pick their actions once we saw their full character sheet and what they are and aren't capable of. I see no reason why that wouldn't be the case here too, we have no idea what the MitLs actually do beyond "can eat a Fascination".

 

[ses]

Why bother having Rarity on commission? We don't need the bits this turn. Like, at all. It would be better to have her doing Smiles progress if you aren't going to have her Covering Our Bases and, even better, it should be Rarity's AP getting dropped in case of failure, not Selene's.

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I wasnt sure QM would let us drop Rarity's action if a summon failed, since it's an exclusive action and not generic.

Also, we dont need the bits right this moment but you know what would be really nice? Not getting accidentally painted into a corner later because we didn't take the preparation now when it was very cheap. If we have to rush Smiles next turn we can. And 2 Smiles progress just isn't worth 100+ bits outside of an emergency. Even if we dont need those bits right this moment. Rarity can do smiles progress next turn instead if she really really needs to.

There's every chance that we find out that Long expedition hurdles have completely reasonable CDs and we were being silly over-investing as much as we have and want to do a bunch of Expeditions next turn! There's every chance we get yet another opportunity to spend a boat of bits to make a problem go away! Having bits in the bank now when it's basically no cost means fewer hard choices in the future if something goes wrong!

Edit: Also, at least in the past with Name summonings, we only got to pick their actions once we saw their full character sheet and what they are and aren't capable of. I see no reason why that wouldn't be the case here too, we have no idea what the MitLs actually do beyond "can eat a Fascination".

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Risen can do cover your bases. There is no chance that MITLs cant.

 

[Greymere]

I wasnt sure QM would let us drop Rarity's action if a summon failed, since it's an exclusive action and not generic.

Also, we dont need the bits right this moment but you know what would be really nice? Not getting accidentally painted into a corner later because we didn't take the preparation now when it was very cheap. If we have to rush Smiles next turn we can. And 2 Smiles progress just isn't worth 100+ bits outside of an emergency. Even if we dont need those bits right this moment. Rarity can do smiles progress next turn instead if she really really needs to.

There's every chance that we find out that Long expedition hurdles have completely reasonable CDs and we were being silly over-investing as much as we have and want to do a bunch of Expeditions next turn! There's every chance we get yet another opportunity to spend a boat of bits to make a problem go away! Having bits in the bank now when it's basically no cost means fewer hard choices in the future if something goes wrong!

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I already said this before, but I suppose it bears saying again. Unless we have something that we know we're going to spend it on before the end of Turn 24, there is no reason to take extra bits this turn (or at all really, if we can get away with it). Expeditions only matter if Selene extends our deadline at the end of this turn, which means that Rarity's AP would be free to do a commission regardless next turn, so again, no reason to take the commission action this turn.

Even if something comes up next turn that could use bits, so what? We get Rarity's commission bits at the start of the turn, not the end of it, so there's still no issue with doing it next turn and not this one, when we have a better judge of just how much we need to lock in. And if for some Hours forsaken reason something comes up this turn that costs more than 200 bits, then unless the alternative is "Daybreaker explosion", we shouldn't be spending that many bits on anything this close to All In, commission or no commission.

 

[DelightedOne]

[X] Plan: A Song of Light


[X] Plan: A Song of Bright Snow

 

[Greymere]

Anyway, I guess since we're assuming that MitLs can backfill...

[X] Plan: A Song of Light

[] Plan: A Song of Light, Revised Invalid plan, has been removed

 

[ses]

The idea that I'm out of line for wanting to make sure we press the very special exclusive button we used a Wedding pick for as often as possible before something comes up, but it's not crazy to commit our Mortal followers to CYB before summoning perfectly good minions that wont be able to CYB if the follower's phase is already over? What exactly do you plan on doing with the MITL when their status sheet comes out to be a fairly bland and vanilla Lantern generic summon? The only thing that would be left to do for them at that point is taxi Names to Manehattan expeditions! There's nothing else useful they could do besides +1 Smiles progress each while our mortal followers that could have given +2 are already committed to CYB!

 

[Greymere]

The idea that I'm out of line for wanting to make sure we press the very special exclusive button we used a Wedding pick for as often as possible before something comes up, but it's not crazy to commit our Mortal followers to CYB before summoning perfectly good minions that wont be able to CYB if the follower's phase is already over? What exactly do you plan on doing with the MITL when their status sheet comes out to be a fairly bland and vanilla Lantern generic summon? The only thing that would be left to do for them at that point is taxi Names to Manehattan expeditions! There's nothing else useful they could do besides +1 Smiles progress each while our mortal followers that could have given +2 are already committed to CYB!

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Then it can dig up another corpse, and we're then only 1 spare follower AP away next turn from another -5/+2 Cover Your Bases between the two MitLs and two Risen (it would be Smiles. Sorry Smiles). I am not willing to drop any of Selene's +6 for bits we do not need this turn except in baseless hypothetical "but what if!" situations, and that if we need next turn are still perfectly accessible.

Edit: We can't plan this turn under the assumption that Selene will extend or defuse the timer. We have to plan under the worst case assumption, which is EoT24 All In, and a T24 spent doing nothing but preparing for it. And quite frankly, even if Selene delays by another turn on T24... well we're already going to have spent the whole turn prepping for All In anyway. The only situations I can see where we don't go for All In at the end of T24 are A) Selene successfully delays or defuses on T23 Soothe the Night, or B) Selene defuses (not delays) on T24.

Edit 2: Which, in case it bears pointing out, even if all we do with that extra AP is Smiles progress, MitL + T24 Risen + Smiles on top of the "default" MitL + T23 Risen exchanges an effective +2 for a +5. Unintelligent creatures like Risen can't contribute to the progress bar, and neither can Smiles beyond his passive +1/turn.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

[X] Plan: A Song of Light, Revised
-[X] (Detectives) Search for foreign threats
-[X] (Constables) Expedition: The Quarry of Yuxtabai
-[X] (Commissioner) Get your hooves dirty
-[X] (Director) Heart
-[X] (Mareinette) Honored Guest: Mayor Mare
-[X] (Baldomare) Lantern lesson
-[X] (DoA) Consult
-[X] (Smiles-Free) Lead an expedition: Is It Free Real Estate?
-[X] (Cherenkolt) Consult
--[X] Recalibrate: Grail
-[X] (Selene) Soothe the night
-[X] (Selene) Help Smiles (x2)
-[X] (Jade) Study Moth 3 artifact
-[X] Summon a Mare-in-the-Light (x2)
--[X] Sacrifice a Wrong Key if Smiles
--[X] In a barn on our estate
-[X] Cover your bases (-5 Follower AP, +2 Velvet AP)

[X] Plan: A Song of Light, Optimized
-[X] [DETECTIVES] The dangers in the dark come from outside of Ponykind as well. Listen to the rumors. Study the myths. Look for the threats from without. (Search for Expedition Sites for your later consideration. Additionally, keep an ear on the ground for other "foreign" threats)
-[X] [CONSTABLES] Plan and execute a raid. Within Equestria, or anywhere else that is needed. (Quarry)
-[X] [COMMISSIONER] Get your hoofs dirty. (Participate in the "Investigators" and "Constables" actions.)
-[X] [DIRECTOR] Introduce another Lore to the Lunar Bureau. (Heart)
-[X] [RARITY] Take a commission. (Gain at least 100 bits immediately, will "fail" her career roll)
-[X] [JADE] Research an artifact (Moth 3)
-[X] [BALDOMARE] Ask for a lesson on the Lores. (Lantern)
-[X] [MAREINETTE] Honored Guest: Mayor Mare
-[X] [AXE] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] "Recalibrating." (Grail)
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [SMILES] (TROUBLEMAKER) Tell him you need something broken. (Is It Free Real Estate?) (FREE ACTION)
-[X] [SELENE] Soothe the night. (Her Winter realization. Unknown effects, if any.)
-[X] Needs must. Ask somepony to procure you a dead body from the local cemetery.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light, sacrificing a Wrong Key)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] Cover your bases (-5 Follower AP, +2 Velvet AP)
-[X] If summoning rituals or graverob fails, lose Smiles actions to compensate

Not sure how I feel about dropping Smile's Expedition if a graverob or summoning fails. Might change my mind on optimized later.

 

[Shaper47]

Egh, not spending our Commissioner action and Mareinette action on Cadance is such a bad idea.

That's the equivalent of 2 Velvet ap so 10 progess on Smiles Befriending or other such valuable actions.

 

[Wise Wolf]

Guess there's not much appetite for ignoring Mayor Mare. Kind of expected that about a named character, TBH. Oh well. I'd probably fight harder if we didn't have the free AP for befriending Mareienette, because then we'd have trouble getting to 4 Cadence actions.

[X] Plan: A Song of Light, Optimized
-[X] [DETECTIVES] The dangers in the dark come from outside of Ponykind as well. Listen to the rumors. Study the myths. Look for the threats from without. (Search for Expedition Sites for your later consideration. Additionally, keep an ear on the ground for other "foreign" threats)
-[X] [CONSTABLES] Plan and execute a raid. Within Equestria, or anywhere else that is needed. (Quarry)
-[X] [COMMISSIONER] Get your hoofs dirty. (Participate in the "Investigators" and "Constables" actions.)
-[X] [DIRECTOR] Introduce another Lore to the Lunar Bureau. (Heart)
-[X] [RARITY] Take a commission. (Gain at least 100 bits immediately, will "fail" her career roll)
-[X] [JADE] Research an artifact (Moth 3)
-[X] [BALDOMARE] Ask for a lesson on the Lores. (Lantern)
-[X] [MAREINETTE] Honored Guest: Mayor Mare
-[X] [AXE] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] "Recalibrating." (Grail)
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [SMILES] (TROUBLEMAKER) Tell him you need something broken. (Is It Free Real Estate?) (FREE ACTION)
-[X] [SELENE] Soothe the night. (Her Winter realization. Unknown effects, if any.)
-[X] Needs must. Ask somepony to procure you a dead body from the local cemetery.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light, sacrificing a Wrong Key)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] Cover your bases (-5 Follower AP, +2 Velvet AP)
-[X] If summoning rituals or graverob fails, lose Smiles actions to compensate

 

[spiderhellian]

Generally fine with everything, but I really think we ought to use the Bureau on more useful things. Even if that use is long-tail benefit.

[X] Plan: A Song of Light, Bureau Doing Its Job
-[X] [DETECTIVES] Investigate Dodge City
-[X] [CONSTABLES] Plan and execute a raid. Within Equestria, or anywhere else that is needed. (Quarry)
-[X] [COMMISSIONER] Get your hoofs dirty. (Participate in the "Investigators" and "Constables" actions.)
-[X] [DIRECTOR] Introduce another Lore to the Lunar Bureau. (Heart)
-[X] [RARITY] Take a commission. (Gain at least 100 bits immediately, will "fail" her career roll)
-[X] [JADE] Research an artifact (Moth 3)
-[X] [BALDOMARE] Ask for a lesson on the Lores. (Lantern)
-[X] [MAREINETTE] Honored Guest: Mayor Mare
-[X] [AXE] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] "Recalibrating." (Grail)
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [SMILES] (TROUBLEMAKER) Tell him you need something broken. (Is It Free Real Estate?) (FREE ACTION)
-[X] [SELENE] Soothe the night. (Her Winter realization. Unknown effects, if any.)
-[X] Needs must. Ask somepony to procure you a dead body from the local cemetery.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light, sacrificing a Wrong Key)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] Cover your bases (-5 Follower AP, +2 Velvet AP)
-[X] If summoning rituals or graverob fails, lose Smiles actions to compensate

[X] Plan: A Song of Light, Bureau Going Cold
-[X] [DETECTIVES] Investigate Windy Flakes
-[X] [CONSTABLES] Plan and execute a raid. Within Equestria, or anywhere else that is needed. (Quarry)
-[X] [COMMISSIONER] Get your hoofs dirty. (Participate in the "Investigators" and "Constables" actions.)
-[X] [DIRECTOR] Introduce another Lore to the Lunar Bureau. (Heart)
-[X] [RARITY] Take a commission. (Gain at least 100 bits immediately, will "fail" her career roll)
-[X] [JADE] Research an artifact (Moth 3)
-[X] [BALDOMARE] Ask for a lesson on the Lores. (Lantern)
-[X] [MAREINETTE] Honored Guest: Mayor Mare
-[X] [AXE] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] "Recalibrating." (Grail)
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [SMILES] (TROUBLEMAKER) Tell him you need something broken. (Is It Free Real Estate?) (FREE ACTION)
-[X] [SELENE] Soothe the night. (Her Winter realization. Unknown effects, if any.)
-[X] Needs must. Ask somepony to procure you a dead body from the local cemetery.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light, sacrificing a Wrong Key)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] Cover your bases (-5 Follower AP, +2 Velvet AP)
-[X] If summoning rituals or graverob fails, lose Smiles actions to compensate

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

What is there to investigate in Tall Tale? It's not even a voting option.

 

[Greymere]

Not sure how I feel about dropping Smile's Expedition if a graverob or summoning fails. Might change my mind on optimized later.

Click to shrink...

It doesn't drop Smiles's expedition, that's a free action. It drops one of Selene's actions to help Smiles.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

It doesn't drop Smiles's expedition, that's a free action. It drops one of Selene's actions to help Smiles.

Click to shrink...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Thanks for explaining that.

Question: Why are we studying the Moth 3 Artifact instead of the Knock 2 Artifact? The Knock Artifact would help out any summoners other than Axe, Selene, and Velvet, after all. Well, I guess it could make some of our Names stealthier, but eh.

 

[spiderhellian]

What is there to investigate in Tall Tale? It's not even a voting option.

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Oops, typo for Dodge City, my bad!

And eh Moth is one of the Lores were weakest on (no one has it except Velvet), seems worth boosting.

 

[Shaper47]

I'm just hoping that Pittauro comes up with a good plan at this point.

So long as a plan has Mareinette and Commissioner action on Cadance I can deal with it.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

Scheduled vote count started by OurLadyOfWires on Jan 22, 2026 at 5:36 PM, finished with 1 posts and 0 votes.

No votes were able to be tallied!

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Well, this was weird.

Anyways, moving on.

I have a lot of pings to answer, and I have not yet caught up to thread from before the update (and I am aware of at least two great omakes I need to threadmark). But this post isn't about any of that.

I just wanted to talk about stuff.

Spoiler: So, what would the other Edge Sacraments be anyways?

We really have crossed the point where there is no way to ever get another Edge Sacrament. So, unlike things like Cult Infrastructure that may yet be seen in other contexts, I wanted to talk about what other skills you could have acquired if you had gone another way, Edge-wise.

Because, exceptionally, the Edge Sacrament had four different routes we could have picked from: one for each Edge patron, and one for Velvet's "independent" path (achieved through a worthy opponent).

Now, there's nuance to this. If you had picked a worthy opponent, I may have let you select from some of the options, depending on the narrative involved. Something about picking whether you "dedicate" the victory to yourself, or to one of the Edge Hours.
But that doesn't really matter right now. On to the Sacraments themselves.

The thing to keep in mind is that Sacraments need to have a cool theme, while also giving a useful skill that goes with said theme.

And for Edge, given how many possible patrons there were, I had three things in mind while designing them options:
-How is this related to the patron?
-How does this change Velvet's fighting style?
-How do you kill her?


The Wolf option:
[Neverending Rage]: Whenever Velvet Covers rolls a combat dice, she gains a "+1 (Hate)" bonus to her personal combat. This bonus has no stacking limit, and lasts until the end of combat. Any character who is the "main combatant" against Velvet Covers may not retreat from combat.
I really like how this one turned out. The bonus could have been "+2", but I was never sure. Still, the idea of this Sacrament was that Velvet hates you. She hates you, and she will fight like a mad dog until you die. And her hate (much like the Wolf's Wound) never stops growing.
So, if you pick a fight with her, she WILL eventually accumulate enough bonuses to murder you. And it is quite literally impossible to escape her. Mechanically, her target is forbidden from attempting to retreat. And narratively, a character may try to run, but she will chase.
Of course, it would be possible to retreat if there were more than one combatant fighting Velvet. Only the "main fighter" (the character tanking the fight) is prohibited from fleeing. So, it is possible for a character to roll to "outmaneuver" Velvet (to switch from main combatant to a side combatant) and then retreat. Narratively, that is the literal equivalent of throwing a friend on her to distract her, and running to the hills.
And how do you kill her? Like you would kill a monster. Bring a lot of friends, do not fight alone, and overwhelm her before she has the chance to get too strong.


The Lionsmith option:
You already know this one, silly.

But the idea is obvious. Velvet fights like something that just won't go down, even if she has a blade sticking out of her back. Killing her is a bit more straightforward, since she doesn't really gain combat bonuses.
But this Sacrament makes her at home in a larger fight with allies, as you would see during a rebellion. She is meant to take the brunt of the damage, help other characters kill her opponents, and (mechanically) brush off her wounds as she rushes to help another front. The untiring hero (or monster) that everyone who retreats will swear (correctly) they saw pushing against their several different lines.


The Colonel option:
[The Long Game]: Whenever Velvet Covers wounds a character, she gains a "+5 (Understanding)" bonus against that character (and that character only). This bonus has no stacking limit, and never fades. Wounds caused by Velvet Covers may not be healed for a full month/turn, and after that month they are "twice" as hard/expensive to heal. Once per month/turn, Velvet Covers may choose to auto-succeed in safely retreating from any combat.

Inspired by the Colonel, this Sacrament focuses on the long game. Quite literally on planning an assassination over a period of time that is much longer than "a single combat".
Granted, if Velvet gains an advantage then she will be able to press that advantage on that same combat.
But this Sacrament really shines against stronger enemies with large health pools and larger combat status (like Celestia, or Mareinette, or other monstrous creatures). And the idea is that Velvet plans an attack, assaults her target, wounds it once and then safely retreats through a pre-planned route.
Rinse and repeat, and soon enough you have stacked "+20" against that target. While that target suffers the hard-to-heal wounds Velvet gave them.
And how do you kill this Velvet? Well, the same way you would kill the Colonel. You are forced to play her game. You will need to (1) not make mistakes (don't get wounded) or fight via proxies (characters she can wound without accruing bonus against you), and (2) you have to outplan her, because you must assault Velvet twice on the same turn, or she will just use her guaranteed retreat to escape.


The "self" option:
[Stance of the White Cat]: Velvet Covers is immune to "outnumbered" maluses, when facing up to five enemies. Whenever Velvet Covers fights an enemy, she gains a "+2 (Skilled)" bonus for each enemy she faces, up to a total of "+10".

This one is unapologetically inspired by several personal stories I wrote growing up, and by this:

Spoiler: A video

View: https://youtu.be/HMsbMK9Odoc?t=58

It is no secret (or maybe it is just a very poorly-kept secret) that personal Sacraments are "evolutions" of your Realizations. So, your personal Sacrament would be the full understanding and incorporation of your "sixth sense" to your combat style.
And when you know where everyone is, what they are doing, and where they intend to strike you, facing several enemies at the same time turns to an advantage rather than a problem.
Narratively, this Velvet Covers would be at home facing several adversaries at once. Dancing around them, parrying them with each other's blows, and using every small movement from her to strike at them where they least expect it, especially when you think you have the advantage because she has her back turned to you.
And mechanically, it is easy to see that when fighting five opponents at the same time, rather than having a "-20 (Outnumbered)" she would be capping her bonus with a "+10 (Skilled)." On top of that, it never happened in the quest (and this is not a hard rule) but I am very amenable to the D&D rules that one character model can only be "surrounded" by up to eight models (in dungeons & dragons, a character is a "square", and can only be surrounded by eight other squares of the same size). Now, I firmly believe that if you get in a fight where you are totally surrounded you did something wrong. But here, mechanically, Velvet's "Skilled" bonus only gets nullified if she is surrounded by seven enemy characters, and she only receives a disadvantage if she is surrounded by the max of eight.
And the theme of this Sacrament would be precisely that. It's only a fair fight (and you only have a chance to kill her) if you are absolutely dogpiling her.

"Are these numbers final?"

Not really. These are my drafts, and I just wanted to share them.

"But won't this create salt over people wishing we had gone for another Sacrament?"

Nah, it won't. We are all here to have fun.



Anyways, hope you are all doing well, and I'll be back later.

Cheers

 

[dcoconeo]

[X] Plan: A Song of Light

I refuse to have Rarity get Bits when we don't actually need them now?

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

Also, I am very tired right now, so I won't comment on any plans at this point.

But there is one thing I wanted to mention, and I'll use my QM privileges to double-post so I have this on a separate post.



We are getting very close to an Ending, and there is every chance that some of the behind-the-scenes rolls this turn will create an emergency that will demand an "All in" at the end of this turn.

So, although I am usually amenable to conditionals, and narrative "quick reactions," I'll put a stop on those given how delicate the situation is. Because I don't want to twist the narrative into a pretzel if I start the turn, perform some actions, get a bad roll on something important and suddenly I have to decide (or open a new, long vote) to see what actions will be ditched, or what will be changed.

So, please keep this in mind as you make your plans:
-No conditional actions (so no plans with "do X if Y succeeds")
-No actions counting on resources you do not possess (so no plans with "summon a creature, and creature will do X")
-The ONLY exception is if you dig up a dead body, and summon a Risen (because digging a body is quick and easy, and making one Risen is free action)

Again, this is because there is a chance we start the turn, I start processing the actions and writing, and in the middle of the turn Selene comes crying to you again with another "mom, I fucked up." So I want to minimize everyone's expectations (and frankly, my workload) when it comes to storyboarding and moving this turn along.

Especially because of the nuclear reactor meltdown.



Thank you for your understanding, and have a wonderful day! I will go rest now.

 

[spiderhellian]

I just wanted to talk about stuff.

Click to shrink...

Wow, very rare to get a glimpse at the Wasn'ts, and what a delight.

I really like how distinct they feel, and how not-too-complicated mechanical effects really speak to very different combat styles.

Thanks for sharing. Now that we are at the point of making some awfully definitive decisions, it's fun to get these alternate glimpses.

 

[ses]

Our Moth is 50(Axe)+25(Velvet post-Sacrament)=+75 with a reroll

Our Knock is 50(Axe)+25(Velvet)+30(Axe)=+105 with two rerolls, and Axe is far more willing to invoke a +40 influence now that she's befriended

Getting +15 moth to our team is clearly more important than +10 knock for Long expeditions.

The Lionsmith option:
You already know this one, silly.

But the idea is obvious. Velvet fights like something that just won't go down, even if she has a blade sticking out of her back. Killing her is a bit more straightforward, since she doesn't really gain combat bonuses.
But this Sacrament makes her at home in a larger fight with allies, as you would see during a rebellion. She is meant to take the brunt of the damage, help other characters kill her opponents, and (mechanically) brush off her wounds as she rushes to help another front. The untiring hero (or monster) that everyone who retreats will swear (correctly) they saw pushing against their several different lines.

Click to shrink...

I like how our Lionsmith sacrament makes us far more willing to go out and get into Trouble

The Colonel option:
[The Long Game]: Whenever Velvet Covers wounds a character, she gains a "+5 (Understanding)" bonus against that character (and that character only). This bonus has no stacking limit, and never fades. Wounds caused by Velvet Covers may not be healed for a full month/turn, and after that month they are "twice" as hard/expensive to heal. Once per month/turn, Velvet Covers may choose to auto-succeed in safely retreating from any combat.

Inspired by the Colonel, this Sacrament focuses on the long game. Quite literally on planning an assassination over a period of time that is much longer than "a single combat".
Granted, if Velvet gains an advantage then she will be able to press that advantage on that same combat.
But this Sacrament really shines against stronger enemies with large health pools and larger combat status (like Celestia, or Mareinette, or other monstrous creatures). And the idea is that Velvet plans an attack, assaults her target, wounds it once and then safely retreats through a pre-planned route.
Rinse and repeat, and soon enough you have stacked "+20" against that target. While that target suffers the hard-to-heal wounds Velvet gave them.
And how do you kill this Velvet? Well, the same way you would kill the Colonel. You are forced to play her game. You will need to (1) not make mistakes (don't get wounded) or fight via proxies (characters she can wound without accruing bonus against you), and (2) you have to outplan her, because you must assault Velvet twice on the same turn, or she will just use her guaranteed retreat to escape.

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Considering our fillies, and the fact that we get an automatic Game Over if an arrest warrant is ever signed with her name on it, I dont think this Sacrament would have ever let us pull off the "Assassinate giga-monsters like Celestia or Mareinette over the course of three turns". It's not like Velvet can ever retreat from an attack against her home anyway, so the autosuccess can't function.

It is no secret (or maybe it is just a very poorly-kept secret) that personal Sacraments are "evolutions" of your Realizations. So, your personal Sacrament would be the full understanding and incorporation of your "sixth sense" to your combat style.
And when you know where everyone is, what they are doing, and where they intend to strike you, facing several enemies at the same time turns to an advantage rather than a problem.
Narratively, this Velvet Covers would be at home facing several adversaries at once. Dancing around them, parrying them with each other's blows, and using every small movement from her to strike at them where they least expect it, especially when you think you have the advantage because she has her back turned to you.
And mechanically, it is easy to see that when fighting five opponents at the same time, rather than having a "-20 (Outnumbered)" she would be capping her bonus with a "+10 (Skilled)." On top of that, it never happened in the quest (and this is not a hard rule) but I am very amenable to the D&D rules that one character model can only be "surrounded" by up to eight models (in dungeons & dragons, a character is a "square", and can only be surrounded by eight other squares of the same size). Now, I firmly believe that if you get in a fight where you are totally surrounded you did something wrong. But here, mechanically, Velvet's "Skilled" bonus only gets nullified if she is surrounded by seven enemy characters, and she only receives a disadvantage if she is surrounded by the max of eight.
And the theme of this Sacrament would be precisely that. It's only a fair fight (and you only have a chance to kill her) if you are absolutely dogpiling her.

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Or just send a Windigo at her, lol. Wolf-sacrament and Colonel-sacrament are the only 2 sacraments that really help Velvet 1v1 a Windigo.

It's kind of ironic that the Lionsmith one is probably the one that best combos with the Bureau and the Name Hotel. Either because of fighting with allies besides you or because Velvet came to the fight with a bazooka equipped (+40 edge influence) and really wants to not go down to a lucky shot.

It's also funny that the sacrament we got was the one that most balms the scars of Turn 19 Closing and our dance with death. I think Lionsmith sacrament ended up being the best option for if we ever get home invaded again. It doesn't help us outfight a windigo but at least it heals us out of Dancing With Death after we finish wrong keying it to death as well as healing us from wounds taken from any Influence-buffed thugs.

 

[dcoconeo]

Again, this is because there is a chance we start the turn, I start processing the actions and writing, and in the middle of the turn Selene comes crying to you again with another "mom, I fucked up." So I want to minimize everyone's expectations (and frankly, my workload) when it comes to storyboarding and moving this turn along.

Especially because of the nuclear reactor meltdown.

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While this post was needed, it is also an extremely reassuring post?

 

[Greymere]

So, please keep this in mind as you make your plans:
-No conditional actions (so no plans with "do X if Y succeeds")
-No actions counting on resources you do not possess (so no plans with "summon a creature, and creature will do X")
-The ONLY exception is if you dig up a dead body, and summon a Risen (because digging a body is quick and easy, and making one Risen is free action)

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Alright so, the original Song of Light is still valid, Revised is not.

I have removed it from my post accordingly.

 

[ses]

Alright so, the original Song of Light is still valid, Revised is not.

I have removed it from my post accordingly.

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It still really really needs to be digging a body. We just got confirmation that getting a body is quick and easy, we need a Risen to help with CYB.

 

[Greymere]

It still really really needs to be digging a body. We just got confirmation that getting a body is quick and easy, we need a Risen to help with CYB.

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Fine, fine, I'll add it in.

Edit: Wait I can't, I wasn't the one who did the first vote.

Edit 2: @Talon Tiger Dino even though your vote doesn't count for it right now, you were the first one to write in the whole block and it's still picking up the information. Can you add "Acquire a dead body" into Song of Light?

 

[spiderhellian]

Hmmmm, so how useful is a Mare in the Light?

We can't use it for Cover Your Bases. We could toss it at a Short Expedition with Axe and maybe another Name? We've got 2 spare Manehattan-sourced expeditions available.

Anything else?

 

[ses]

Hmmmm, so how useful is a Mare in the Light?

We can't use it for Cover Your Bases. We could toss it at a Short Expedition with Axe and maybe another Name? We've got 2 spare Manehattan-sourced expeditions available.

Anything else?

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I think we can have it do a 2nd graverob and get a corpse for next turn so that we wont need to spend a follower action then. Other than that doing extra Manehattan expeditions is really it for this turn. We should still absolutely be summoning 2 of them and it's not a question. It gets us more minions for All In (+5 lantern levels each lmao) as well as more CYB next turn allowing for more Smiles progress.

 

[ses]

[X] Plan: Soothing and Befriending
-[X] [DETECTIVES] The dangers in the dark come from outside of Ponykind as well. Listen to the rumors. Study the myths. Look for the threats from without. (Search for Expedition Sites for your later consideration. Additionally, keep an ear on the ground for other "foreign" threats)
-[X] [CONSTABLES] Plan and execute a raid. Within Equestria, or anywhere else that is needed. (Quarry)
-[X] [COMMISSIONER] Get your hoofs dirty. (Participate in the "Investigators" and "Constables" actions.)
-[X] [DIRECTOR] Introduce another Lore to the Lunar Bureau. (Heart)
-[X] [RARITY] Take a commission. (Gain at least 100 bits immediately, will "fail" her career roll)
-[X] [JADE] Research an artifact (Moth 3)
-[X] [BALDOMARE] Ask for a lesson on the Lores. (Lantern)
-[X] [MAREINETTE] [FLEETING OPPORTUNITY] Have her aid Cadance.
-[X] [AXE] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] "Recalibrating." (Grail)
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [SMILES] (TROUBLEMAKER) Tell him you need something broken. (Is It Free Real Estate?) (FREE ACTION)
-[X] [SELENE] Soothe the night. (Her Winter realization. Unknown effects, if any.)
-[X] Needs must. Ask somepony to procure you a dead body from the local cemetery.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light, sacrificing a Wrong Key)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] One extra Velvet action! (Costs 2 follower actions)


[X] Plan: Soothing and Befriending and Investigating
-[X] [DETECTIVES] Nudge them in the… "correct" direction. Put them on the trail of one of your Opponents. (Windy Flakes)
-[X] [CONSTABLES] Plan and execute a raid. Within Equestria, or anywhere else that is needed. (Quarry)
-[X] [COMMISSIONER] Get your hoofs dirty. (Participate in the "Investigators" and "Constables" actions.)
-[X] [DIRECTOR] Introduce another Lore to the Lunar Bureau. (Heart)
-[X] [RARITY] Take a commission. (Gain at least 100 bits immediately, will "fail" her career roll)
-[X] [JADE] Research an artifact (Moth 3)
-[X] [BALDOMARE] Ask for a lesson on the Lores. (Lantern)
-[X] [MAREINETTE] [FLEETING OPPORTUNITY] Have her aid Cadance.
-[X] [AXE] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] "Recalibrating." (Grail)
-[X] [CHERENKOLT] Consult to the Lunar Bureau
-[X] [SMILES] (TROUBLEMAKER) Tell him you need something broken. (Is It Free Real Estate?) (FREE ACTION)
-[X] [SELENE] Soothe the night. (Her Winter realization. Unknown effects, if any.)
-[X] Needs must. Ask somepony to procure you a dead body from the local cemetery.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] You need somepony to perform this ritual… (Summon a Mare-in-the-Light, sacrificing a Wrong Key)
--[X] To be performed... somewhere, where you hope nopony will catch wind of it.
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] (NEW OPTION) Smiles needs help with something, please go do what he asks... within reason of course. (Aid Smiles' Progression Bar. QM will decide who is optimal, unless you write-in the characters)
-[X] One extra Velvet action! (Costs 2 follower actions)

 

[Shaper47]

[Neverending Rage]: Whenever Velvet Covers rolls a combat dice, she gains a "+1 (Hate)" bonus to her personal combat. This bonus has no stacking limit, and lasts until the end of combat.

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And it is quite literally impossible to escape her. Mechanically, her target is forbidden from attempting to retreat. And narratively, a character may try to run, but she will chase.

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If we had more health this would be the best Sacrament.

A pity we never really investigated the ways to get more health. I.e. SH ritual, personal forge Sacrament project, heart artifact, potential heart Sacrament, Wolf gift, eating an hours corpse after getting Mareinette's Grail Sacrament.

Wonder how this would play out against someone with the Colonels Sacrament?

I'm guessing they try to pull their escape trick only to fail.

The untiring hero (or monster) that everyone who retreats will swear (correctly) they saw pushing against their several different lines.

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I actually really like this Sacrament due to how it makes large numbers of opponents easy to handle.

It doesn't matter if Velvet takes a wound killing someone when they immediately heal back after killing them.

Suddenly an army of Changelings is easy prey.

[The Long Game]: Whenever Velvet Covers wounds a character, she gains a "+5 (Understanding)" bonus against that character (and that character only). This bonus has no stacking limit, and never fades.

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Once per month/turn, Velvet Covers may choose to auto-succeed in safely retreating from any combat.

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But this Sacrament really shines against stronger enemies with large health pools and larger combat status (like Celestia, or Mareinette, or other monstrous creatures).

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Was just musing on how a Edge Mastery level Velvet could have fought Celestia. 10 + 60 (Edge 6 + Aotl) + 40 (influence) = 110 vs 80 (Alicorn) + 30 (No limits) = 110.

Weaken Celestia beforehand with Biedde when going for the kill.

[Stance of the White Cat]: Velvet Covers is immune to "outnumbered" maluses, when facing up to five enemies. Whenever Velvet Covers fights an enemy, she gains a "+2 (Skilled)" bonus for each enemy she faces, up to a total of "+10".

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The immunity to outnumbered is pretty nice but I have to say I prefer the other Sacraments.

Edge brand would have been pretty cool though.

 

[Solace2117]

[X] Plan: A Song of Light

This is fine for now.