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

[Shaper47]

where was the renewable source of scraps hinted?

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Generally in the wording and hinted in interactions.

Generally speaking my impression was that revisiting a location could give anything from influences to scraps to nothing.

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Well there was that area which auto gives renewable SH scraps up to level 5.

I'd rather continue exploring new places for as long as we can. We also need to do that to keep Restlessness at bay anyway.

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We've got our free mansus action for that and really it's just one Velvet AP to test it out.

If it turns out how I expect then it's definitely worth it so it's worth trying out.

Look, being able to get Moth Mastery next turn would be extreamly useful.

I was right on the should have gotten Master's Moth Sacrament and healing our scar earlier stuff wasn't I. Testing this is something I suspect is something similar.

true, but there's plenty of ways to dismiss that as gossip.

It would be step 1 on the evidence escalation, basically. It won't be immediate ruin.

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Wags hoof, depends on the rolls I guess.

If we had some befriended Names who care and are able to intervene we'd probably be safe but well, we don't.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Oh yeah, I gotta say that with the reveal that the Bureau can do Long Expeditions for us for free, I am really glad that we didn't take the Celestia option that would tie up the Bureau. We didn't know it at the time of our choice, but I feel like we lucked out on that.

 

[Pittauro]

Well there was that area which auto gives renewable SH scraps up to level 5.

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not sure if they're renewable. my impression was that we get it just once, but as the first time we were at cap we somehow... left it there for later.

Look, being able to get Moth Mastery next turn would be extreamly useful.

I was right on the should have gotten Master's Moth Sacrament and healing our scar earlier stuff wasn't I. Testing this is something I suspect is something similar.

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Completely different things in my opinion. I just don't find Moth Mastery really viable at this point.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

In which Love starts to understand

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This was delightful! Thank you for sharing it with us.

Really, it was in-character, sweet and a nice bridge that wouldn't be out of place as an update. Awesome stuff!

If we happen to reach a SH Sacrament, and we have the opportunity to teach Cadance the Lores, I wouldn't mind making this her first lesson.

@OurLadyOfWires We can scry everything that's not the House of the Sun right? So technically stuff in Ash or the dreamlands are valid targets to scry. So could we scry for the remains of the Hour Velvet?

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The Wood grows around the walls of the Mansus. As any student of Histories knows, the Mansus has no walls.

~ Christopher Illopoly, Travelling at Night

The Ashen Wastes are part of the Mansus, and there is nothing worth scrying in the Dreamlands.

The Velvet

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The atmosphere in this was great! And the final blurb was nicely designed. I think I would have buffed her a little more, but that's just me.

Thank you for sharing this with us!

Though that gives me a thought @OurLadyOfWires considering we got our Sacrament from Smiles, does that mean he also Heals Without Scars?

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If he was fully in the Wake, probably. But for the sake of game mechanics, he can't.

It just wouldn't do for Names to be too overpowered.

@OurLadyOfWires Can we target our detectives at Neighnea?

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Good question.

Let's go with "yes." Your orders wouldn't be "Go find a Name that is also a painting," but you would direct the Bureau in a way that sent them in that direction.

So sure.

Hmm. Your choice of wording saying "Whenever Velvet Covers rolls a combat dice" isn't what I would have expected if it was just a per-turn thing. Does that mean that if she gets fought by 3 enemies at once her Hate grows three times as fast? This is basically Lung's power from Worm after all, so it wouldn't be out of the question.

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A lot of people mentioned it, and I agree. +1 would probably be too little, given how quick battles can go (although I try to balance them around two combatants of similar competency that roll 50s against each other every time), so it would probably be +2.

Still, the way that would work would be that every time Velvet rolls a combat dice, she gets a bonus. Including re-rolls.

So, in a combat turn where Velvet Re-rolls, she would gain a total of +6 (two dice rolled on one clash, one dice rolled on the second).
But if she is fighting several enemies, her enemies would roll several dice, and she would still only roll one (or two, if rerolling) dice per clash.

It feels "in line" with what I have in mind for each combat turn (two clashes, with potentially three dice rolls) to give Velvet around +4 or +6 combat bonus.

But this is definitely not a Lung-like skill where more enemies would make her get stronger faster. It would still be beneficial for her to have allies to soak other combatants, until she can get strong enough to pick them off with massive bonuses.

@OurLadyOfWires Since we had an Quest anniversary pass during the migration over here, do you mind holding one now, so we can have some final hints on stuff to note?

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I could, but those take a lot of energy to write

But we are close to an Ending, so I wouldn't mind answering some things like I did with the Edge Sacraments.

All Maps point Home

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For you are Velvet Covers
And on your flank is a book of all history
And for as long as it is
It's incredibly short




Glory shines
And all basks in its splendor
Palest reflections

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This was certainly an experience. Your writing always makes me feel like I am remembering a dream I had forgotten.

And I mean this in a good way. Thank you for sharing this!

And I agree with another poster. This last part certainly made me think about certain things.




Righty-o.

I will go look at the current plans, but before I get to that I want to make something clear:

@OurLadyOfWires not to spam you with pings, lol, but I just wanted to clear with you how you want to handle the Follower's phase vote if our plan involves summoning two MITLs via Name AP, and wanting to make sure our Cover Your Bases actions and Graverob action fall on our summoned/unintelligent followers so that Servants and Fluttershy can provide +2 Smiles each. Also do we need to be concerned about Suspicion if we volunteer our servants to Smiles?

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Re: the MitLs, I had a thought, so let's put a pause on that for a moment. @OurLadyOfWires if we summon something, we get access to its AP on the same turn it is summoned, yes? Can we 'backfill' Cover Your Bases with a MitL, if we successfully summon at least one, and drop e.g. Jade's action if we don't, like what we did before with the Risen?

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@OurLadyOfWires , can we have Mareinette use Honored Guest to raise Spoiled to Confidante for our Moth Sacrament this Turn, or does it have to be the Leash? So far it looks like she just autosucceeds at the befriending process, but I could be wrong.

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For this turn (and the next turn, if we have one) we are going back to early quest rules.

Make plans for the resources you have RIGHT NOW. No backfilling, no conditionals. Assume that any action you order/perform will take the entire turn to prepare, and will only yield results at the end of the turn. That means that even if you summon creatures, they will be counted as summoned "at the end of Turn 23, to fade at the end of Turn 26."

That means that whenever I check a Plan, the first thing I will do is count if there are fourteen servant actions being used.
The two exceptions for this are:
-If you "dig up a dead body" you can consider that you summoned an extra Risen at the beginning of Turn 23, and you may include it in your plans (but that's basically using one servant action to dig, in order to gain a servant action from the Risen).
-If you use your Leash on a Close Friend right now, you can count on the extra follower action from a Confidante (but your only options for that are Cheerilee, or Filthy Rich, and picking either would disallow you from using it on Spoiled RIch).

And no need to worry about Servant suspicion on Smiles.



I hope you are all doing well. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

 

[ses]

Okay Neighnia is just obviously the best pick for our Detectives I think, if we dont want Windy-Detectives. We should really try and get our plan edited to allow for that.

 

[DelightedOne]

If we happen to reach a SH Sacrament, and we have the opportunity to teach Cadance the Lores, I wouldn't mind making this her first lesson.

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Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt...

I was that on point with this? That was just for fun and half built after I left the original draft alone for 7 months.

and there is nothing worth scrying in the Dreamlands.

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Me thinks this has a hidden meaning.

 

[Shaper47]

Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

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@OurLadyOfWires Could you clarify on getting our hooves dirty rules for the Bureau in regards to expeditions?

I.e. Can Velvet join long expeditions with only that one Velvet Commissioner action.

The Ashen Wastes are part of the Mansus, and there is nothing worth scrying in the Dreamlands.

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So basically if we want to find the corpse of Hour Velvet we need to manually search the Roots.

Well I suppose if we finish exploring unexplored areas we could go looking.

Time it for when we have a SH influence and we'd be searching with a +90 SH bonus which might just make it possible.

Kinda sad we probably won't have time.

The atmosphere in this was great! And the final blurb was nicely designed. I think I would have buffed her a little more, but that's just me.

Thank you for sharing this with us!

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Thanks .

The idea was she could improve her Edge and Winter lore the hard way. I.e. Get some Sacraments and study to Mastery.

But yeah getting killed and then reborn got her nerfed a bunch.

Still pretty powerful though and new player on the board.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

@OurLadyOfWires Could you clarify on getting our hooves dirty rules for the Bureau in regards to expeditions?

I.e. Can Velvet join long expeditions for only that one Velvet Commissioner action.

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Sure.

So, what I am thinking is this. If Velvet does absolutely nothing but dedicate herself to personal actions, she has 8 personal actions to work with. (I'm pretty sure that's how far we could go back then, when you were still under your father's thumb).

Leading the Bureau cost you a permanent "loss" of 4 personal action points. But for the sake of your "Tall" build and game balancing, we reached a nice compromise that "Cover your Bases" can give you more time to get stuff done, under the narrative explanation that your followers can prepare stuff ahead of time, and you only need to "finalize it" by using less of your personal time.

Still, that means your time at the Bureau is still worth around 4 personal action points. And going to a Long expedition costs up to 3 personal action points. So, it is narratively possible, and mechanically acceptable, for your "Get your hooves dirty" decision to let you go to a Long expedition.



In short, here is the practical answer:
If you pick "Get your hooves dirty" while the Bureau is going on a long expedition, you will be offered a vote option later in the turn.
You can either "go" on the Long expedition, and decrease the amount of time you will have to help the rest of the Bureau (since long expeditions will take most of your Commissioner time). Or you can "not go" on the long expedition, and fully dedicate yourself to helping your Investigators and other parts of the Bureau.
Still, getting your hooves dirty is the best way to join a Bureau expedition and optimize whatever free time you have as Commissioner.

 

[Arrkhon]

Me thinks this has a hidden meaning.

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The single most important thing to see there can be found by merely looking up