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

[Sveta08]

Good morning.
After sleeping on this, I have had a thought. One I unfortunately will need to write in long form, as I've not seen others discuss the idea of it.
But fortunately, it will take a while.

For now, Biedde's action!
-[BIEDDE] There is something in Canterlot that you simply must find. Look for it.

 

[spiderhellian]

Hmm... Used Claude to build a quick combat simulator, and I'm seeing ~60% odds of success if we fight Biedde with 3 HP and a Max Edge Influence (i.e. we have Personal Combat 69 vs. his 80).

Does anyone remember how AotL Edge works for combat? From the Shining-Comet fight, I'm seeing it give +20 (double the application bonus) on the first two rolls? Does that sound right? Or did Comet have two AotLs active?

(If it applies on one round, we have a 70% chance. If it applies on two, we have 77%.)

 

[angelsadvocate666]

Does anyone remember how AotL Edge works for combat? From the Shining-Comet fight, I'm seeing it give +20 (double the application bonus) on the first two rolls? Does that sound right? Or did Comet have two AotLs active?

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He had two IIRC. It only works for one roll I believe.

 

[Greymere]

He had two IIRC. It only works for one roll I believe.

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It's only stated that he invokes it once, so I'd be inclined to think it works on one "round" of combat (i.e. two rolls).

 

[Xoden]

The two of you are currently in the underground of the Lunar Bureau... ...And this place, that Shining told you is their "Hangar"... ...This place is huge, even though it is carved from under the mountain itself... ...With several flying chariots being placed in plain sight,

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So the Bureau HQ is a fantasy XCOM base. With horse-drawn Skyrangers. I wonder when we'll get our Base Defence mission and against whom.

and they will feel a lot more useful if they perform dedicated actions that reflect their abilities.

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So we have our private expedition to the secret Canterlot tunnel system and our public underground base. It could be a sensible action to send the constables to map and secure the tunnels after our own expedition concludes. It's likely that there could be a previously unknown connection between the old tunnels and the new base. Could also be used to controllably feed some mystery clues to the Bureau.

mh.. maybe we should ask Shining Armor OR Biedde to train us for one of their action. We might be able to get a combat trait.

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This could work as a Commissioner action, after restoring the lame leg. The Bureau has to have some manner of routine training setup for its operatives, ranging from personal physical exercises to small unit drills. The commissioner joining them is a pretty natural action.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

It's only stated that he invokes it once, so I'd be inclined to think it works on one "round" of combat (i.e. two rolls).

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Huh, that's a good point. I honestly forgot combat rounds got rolled twice.

On another note, I have to say that the coolest thing about Biedde is, putting aside crits or crit fails, as long as he has an Influence and started with five health, Marinette would theoretically be utterly incapable of beating him. Even at her best and his worst, once he's down to one health their rolls would be 141 vs 140, Biedde vs. Marinette.

Of course, that just means we would have to stop her from running…

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

While doing the Forge's redemption will be nice we should not forget their is a Heart Ritual that add to your health pool Next turn I want to task Jade with it development, of just ask Baldomare, or Mareinette
to give it to us.

Marinette would theoretically be utterly incapable of beating him. Even at her best and his worst, once he's down to one health their rolls would be 141 vs 140, Biedde vs. Marinette.

Of course, that just means we would have to stop her from running…

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Specific bonus supersedes general bonus, so Biedde rolls +50 for combat, not counting an influence. If Marinette is not Edge 5 or 6 I would be shocked, Biedde is the kind of people Marinette regularly ate for being stupid enough to fight her. Always remember the Names are basically in Jobber mode for what they will/can do when bound. Basically only doing the things they personally enjoy, and not putting any actual effort into it, just being hard carried by their raw ability.

 

[Greymere]

While doing the Forge's redemption will be nice we should not forget their is a Heart Ritual that add to your health pool Next turn I want to task Jade with it development, of just ask Baldomare, or Mareinette
to give it to us.
Specific bonus supersededs general bonus, to Biedde rolls +50 for combat, no counting an influence. If if Marinette is not Edge 5 I would be shocked, Biedde is the kind of people Marinette requallry ate for being stupid enough to fight her.

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No there isn't? The only ritual that interacts w/ health in canon CS is Forge's Redemption.

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

No there isn't? The only ritual that interacts w/ health in canon CS is Forge's Redemption.

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And? we have GM confirmed we can get a ritual to boost health. We are not limited to game mechanics.

 

[Rafuki22]

[X] [BIEDDE] Ask for an Influence of Edge.

 

[Greymere]

And? we have GM confirmed we can get a ritual to boost health. We are not limited to game mechanics.

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Citation needed.

 

[spiderhellian]

Specific bonus supersededs general bonus, to Biedde rolls +50 for combat, no counting an influence. If if Marinette is not Edge 5 I would be shocked, Biedde is the kind of people Marinette requallry ate for being stupid enough to fight her.

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Wait, so what is Biedde's personal combat?

I was thinking 30+60 (Edge 6) = 90. I can see why that's wrong.

Is it just 50? Or 50+60 = 110? Or something else entirely?

 

[Bakkasama]

[x][BIEDDE] There is something in Canterlot that you simply must find. Look for it.

I think I might be missing sonething about Biedde's sacrament. I know that we are expected to go into it with AotL and a max influence from Biedde, but does it say anywhere that he can't call an Influence on himself as well?

As for walking up to Comet with a max edge influence... Well, it won't affect us mechanically but narrative wise, both Comet and us would one worthy kill away from getting an Edge sacrament and we would walk up to him kitted for a fight to the death. Even after that misunderstanding is cleared, it would be obvious that we went in prepared to fight Comet if necessary, so any concessions we get would probably be due to threats.

Edit:

Wait, so what is Biedde's personal combat?

I was thinking 30+60 (Edge 6) = 90. I can see why that's wrong.

Is it just 50? Or 50+60 = 110? Or something else entirely?

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50 general combat bonus + 30 Edge aplication bonus = 80 without an influence

 

[Greymere]

Wait, so what is Biedde's personal combat?

I was thinking 30+60 (Edge 6) = 90. I can see why that's wrong.

Is it just 50? Or 50+60 = 110? Or something else entirely?

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It's 50 (Specialty Bonus) + 30 (Edge 6) = +80. With Influence that goes up to +120, and up to +140 with his wound passive thing.

 

[Iustus Vitea]

We can also ask for a stay of execution from heart summons but that's only applicable after we run out of health.

Also I thought Application bonus would apply to combat? So Biedde would be rolling +50 from the combat bonus and +30 from his Lore levels

Edit: -ninja'd

 

[angelsadvocate666]

Specific bonus supersedes general bonus, so Biedde rolls +50 for combat, not counting an influence. If if Marinette is not Edge 5 or 6 I would be shocked, Biedde is the kind of people Marinette regularly ate for being stupid enough to fight her. Always remember the Names are basically in Jobber mode for what they will/can do when bound. Basically only doing the things they personally enjoy, and not putting any actual effort into it, just being hard carried by their raw ability.

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…huh? Did you forget that Biedde also gets a +30 from his Edge 6? And then an extra +5 from each wound. His base combat bonus is +80 total.

Now I'll grant that if Marinette felt truly threatened she might decide to pop an Edge score that isn't on her character sheet because she stopped holding back, but Biedde is holding back too and could respond in kind.

Citation needed.

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Uh, I can't recall exactly where, but I do remember Bird saying there was ways other than healing our wound or ascending to gain more health. I don't believe he specified what those ways were though.

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

Citation needed.

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That been established for years at this point.

Wait, so what is Biedde's personal combat?

I was thinking 30+60 (Edge 6) = 90. I can see why that's wrong.

Is it just 50? Or 50+60 = 110? Or something else entirely?

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It 50 right on his sheet, He can up it to 90 with with a max influence 50+40=90. Plus additional stuff from taking wounds, and his rerolls. But again the Names won't put actually putting real effort into the stuff we ask them to do. Biedde's real number is much much higher, but that not something we will ever get to see unless he try's to kill us, on orders form the Corneal.

 

[Greymere]

That been established for years at this point.

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"Trust me bro" is not a source. I am asking you to show me where Bird confirmed that, specifically, there is a Heart ritual that can give us health. Which is what you were claiming. Not "there are ways to get more health" in a general sense.

It 50 right on his sheet, He can up it to 90 with with a max influence 50+40=90. Plus additional stuff from taking wounds, and his rerolls. But again the Names won't put actually putting real effort into the stuff we ask them to do.

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You're forgetting to add +30 from his Edge 6. His Lores are separate from his general/specialty bonus.

 

[Iustus Vitea]

Uh, I can't recall exactly where, but I do remember Bird saying there was ways other than healing our wound or ascending to gain more health. I don't believe he specified what those ways were though.

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In CS that would exercise, you gain more health by becoming healthier. No clue about this ritual to gain health thing.

Also, on the Marinette Vs Biedde talk; Marinette would go all out in a scenario where she wants to survive but she is also the kind of Monster the Colonel hunts, I wouldn't be surprised if Biedde would stop holding back from the start. That said Marinette has the advantage of both being fully in the Wake and further hidden traits.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

To be fair I'm also not counting that Biedde… could probably also throw infinite AotLs if he really wanted to. It would be weird if the Names couldn't, when they can call Influences at will.

But yes, this was a pure numbers exercise. An actual fight to the death would probably be a lot more complicated than just a generic roll off.

 

[DelightedOne]

Could also be used to controllably feed some mystery clues to the Bureau.

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Just clues? I think we could put anything lore-related we don't want in there, like the Knock 2 artifact and that book that we found in part 1, what we find in part 2 and know we don't need... That would be the perfect beginner occult vault.

While doing the Forge's redemption will be nice we should not forget their is a Heart Ritual that add to your health pool Next turn I want to task Jade with it development, of just ask Baldomare, or Mareinette
to give it to us.

Click to shrink...

If you want Jade to create a ritual she needs to do A Memory of Light first(QM said it), so it will take two turns to start on it at least.

 

[spiderhellian]

It's 50 (Specialty Bonus) + 30 (Edge 6) = +80. With Influence that goes up to +120, and up to +140 with his wound passive thing.

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Thank you!

Then yeah, 77% chance of success on the Sacrament (65% with 0 wounds, 11% with 1 wound) using a max Edge influence and an Edge AotL (assuming we have 3 HP).

If we grab a second Edge AotL, that goes up to 86% (74% 0 wounds, 12% 1 wound).

So pretty decent odds, though not guaranteed.

 

[Iustus Vitea]

We might not even have to roll it if the Wrong Key counts for the purpose of the Sacrament.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

On the one hand, a Wrong Key feels a little like an ambush, but on the other if people wanted to grab an artifact it's not that much different. Preparing well for a fight is pretty Edgey.

 

[Greymere]

Thank you!

Then yeah, 77% chance of success on the Sacrament (65% with 0 wounds, 11% with 1 wound) using a max Edge influence and an Edge AotL (assuming we have 3 HP).

If we grab a second Edge AotL, that goes up to 86% (74% 0 wounds, 12% 1 wound).

So pretty decent odds, though not guaranteed.

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Just as a reminder for your math, Biedde gets the Edge reroll too, in case you hadn't accounted for that.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

On the one hand, a Wrong Key feels a little like an ambush, but on the other if people wanted to grab an artifact it's not that much different. Preparing well for a fight is pretty Edgey.

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It is also very cunning, as only the very old are.

Though this means that if the QM answers yes, then @Iustus Vitea counts as old as far as Edge is concerned.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

On the other other hand, it's also explicitly about "testing her actual martial skill". So..

 

[spiderhellian]

Just as a reminder for your math, Biedde gets the Edge reroll, in case you haven't accounted for that.

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Oh, Names get a reroll too?

I guess that makes sense. Does make the fight considerably harder.

66% chance with 1 AotL, 78% with 2.

 

[Greymere]

On the other other hand, it's also explicitly about "testing her actual martial skill". So..

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This is the main difference between using a Wrong Key vs. using an artifact weapon, imo. Even with an artifact boosting our combat rolls, we'd still have to actually fight him. While using a Wrong Key is essentially cheesing the fight as though he's a video game boss.

 

[Iustus Vitea]

I mean if it were just a matter of testing skill and knowledge then going in with a special/Edge weapon would also disqualify us. The only thing that could matter is that it's the Work of another Name and so outside the terms.

While using a Wrong Key is essentially cheesing the fight as though he's a video game boss.

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I really don't think that's how it'll work, the way I imagine it going is that the Wrong Key will guarantee we get the wound in the first round but we still have to use it, as in Biedde gets the chance to interrupt/land a hit too so our best bet would be going in with an AotL and the Wrong Key if it's allowed.

Though this means that if the QM answers yes, then @Iustus Vitea counts as old as far as Edge is concerned.

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Nah that (and the Baldo on Twilight thing) was just Moth unreason talking.