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

[angelsadvocate666]

Hmmm, a thought i just had. I wonder what someone could do with the Blood of the Wolf. There is only a small oceans worth of the stuff pouring into the remains of the Woods. Ritually this would be more pertinent if we were someone like Windy. A caustic blood grenade? Only a small chance of possession. May cause bouts of paranoia or suicidal ideations.

Imagine if there was a site underneath all that blood. You'd have to invent some kind of fully contained diving suit or a bell sphere just to get there. In a lake that actively hates you.

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I mean, a River of Wolf Blood sounds like the exact kind of thing that would form a Mansus location. Like the Painted River but spicier.

 

[Pittauro]

…Ah. I'm seeing the mistake you're making. You're assuming she just needs the Lores. This is incorrect.

All 5 have to be done.

Either way, I will reiterate, the lessons do not resolve until the end of the turn. That should mean that whatever turn we give the All-4 on, it still shouldn't be usable until the turn after.

Also, I'll admit, I've been assuming the All-4 lesson doesn't actually use a Selene action, just a Velvet one.

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I think only the diligent extra training is done at the end of the turn.

As for all 4, I think it takes BOTH Selene and Velvet's action. Then again, maybe I read it wrong

 

[angelsadvocate666]

I think only the diligent extra training is done at the end of the turn.

As for all 4, I think it takes BOTH Selene and Velvet's action. Then again, maybe I read it wrong

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I... really don't see why it would only apply to the Diligent. They're all just actions she's taking that turn. @OurLadyOfWires can you confirm?

 

[DelightedOne]

I think only the diligent extra training is done at the end of the turn.

As for all 4, I think it takes BOTH Selene and Velvet's action. Then again, maybe I read it wrong

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It wouldn't matter anyway since All-4 needs all of the five training actions to be done before we can teach Selene, if we told her to focus entirely on her training for the next two turns we could do it on turn 21.

Nope, it just needs 1 Velvet action.

 

[Greymere]

"Nay".

Using items from the gift baskets for rituals is fine. Using parts of the gift as alchemical components is stretching it a bit, but Velvet's Forge is focused on that kind of thing.

But somehow transforming it into items needed for an expedition is just too much. Can't turn a perfume into a climbing hook.

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Ah, alright. I kind of thought that DoA would take the gift and sell it off to get resources for the expedition, but if we can only use the gifts as they come, that makes sense.

@OurLadyOfWires What's the verdict on transportation costs. Waived for everyone, or just Velvet?

 

[Bakkasama]

Ok, so... we had 16 bits, earn 160 from our job and 55 from Rarity. That is 231 bits.

Summoning DoA costs 0
An expedition under the royal castle, if we send 2 confidantes, can cost up to 140 bits.
Scrying for a key that only opens, if we don't use reagents, is 30 bits and Baldomare does it.
That leaves 61 bits. 131 if people are willing to risk sending only one pony on the expedition.

I think that, if it is allowed, I would like to use the free forge action to craft a Reagent using the gift from Pride and save the Knock2/Edge1 reagent we already have for Biedde. It consumes the free forge action, but the other options are a reagent for using RotT to scry for the manuscripts (which I think can wait) and for summoning an Influence on Velvet.

Velvet has 4 actions. If she summons Axe it is 3. If her confidantes cover her bases then it is 4 again. What do we want her to do and how much can we offload to our confidantes? I am ok with offloading Comet's FO to Mareinette or her trying to befriend somepony. So that is Mareinette, Baldomare, Fluttershy and servants accounted for. DoA we were planing to use on an expedition and we could maybe send Luna too (though there is some Lore overlap).

 

[Greymere]

I don't expect it to work that way.

For the turn we do the commission, we don't get the passive income because Rarity "fails" the roll (narratively doesn't work on Needle Contract, but only on the Commission).

Turn after, Rarity goes back to her Needle work, and if we give her a focus on it she autosucceeds, so all goes well and we get the usual range of bits.

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I don't understand what you're quibbling over here? The income for this turn is from last turn's roll. If we have her do the commission on T19, she fails the T19 roll and we get no (or at least fewer) bits on T20. If we do it on T20, then on top of the commission money, we also have the bits from Rarity's career roll on T19. Doing the commission next turn is objectively better if we're not going into the negatives this turn, from a "how many bits will be available to summon Biedde and get Frangiclave on T20" perspective.

A level 4 reagent costs 80 bits.

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Where are you getting that from?

 

[Shaper47]

Also, Selene can't (mechanically) use dream shenanigans to harass interact with your opponents yet. She will be able to, eventually, but this is not a thing right now.

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Narratively? She can do dream stuff. Mechanically, not yet. Let's dip our toes into what Selene can do one hoof at a time.

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I wonder if our Sons could help her with such actions when she is able to mechanically do dream stuff?

 

[angelsadvocate666]

Hmm. Completely random thought I had, but have we ever sacrificed an Artifact for rituals? Because some people were talking about doing that, and it occurs to me that we might get a Forge scrap for the first time in the same way we got a Winter scrap the first time we sacrificed a being.

 

[Greymere]

A thought I had @OurLadyOfWires

Iirc, you said b4 that DoA wouldn't be willing to guard, because it would take too much of her time she wants to spend searching for Frangiclave. If we tell her Baldomare will be scrying it for her this turn (assuming that a plan w/ the Frangiclave scry wins), would she be willing to stay and guard our house?

 

[Iustus Vitea]

Do we want to summon Biedde now?! Because in that case we'll want to also make Reagents and Biedde summons part of THIS vote, I think.

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I think that if we can get an at least 80% chance of summoning for Biedde NOW, AND it doesn't compromise the Frangiclave and Canterlot Expeditions, then we should go for it.

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I feel like a broken record having to say this over and over gain but we can't afford it. Either in bits or AP. We would need to take the commission and only do the two RotT, CoI and make a T2 SH reagents for it at which point what was the point of even doing the CoI in the first place?

Fluttershy: probably sacrifice for extra AP

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Selene: Training

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We need someone guarding us, either Selene or Comet and seeing as you want the extra action it'll have to be Selene.

and yeah, guard is a bit risky... but even if they're not dedicated we have Mareinette, Axe, Selene, Velvey and Baldomare (more for noticing than for combat) around, and potentially Biedde too. Surely at least ONE of them will happen to be around? Or is there zero chance they'll help

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The rules of guard were that we need someone dedicated to the task for them to show up to the fight. Only Velvet will count as always being there and we need someone.

Where are you getting that from?

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It's in one of our informationals.

Right busy rn so I'll do the bits math later but I want to point out that unless we want to go illegal Marinette doing a money making action is wasteful

 

[Bakkasama]

I feel like a broken record having to say this over and over gain but we can't afford it. Either in bits or AP. We would need to take the commission and only do the two RotT, CoI and make a T2 SH reagents for it at which point what was the point of even doing the CoI in the first place?

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I am kind of lost. Is the second RotT to look for a book or to look for th manuscripts? I have heard both versions.

 

[spiderhellian]

Where are you getting that from?

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While most cultists study the Manaus, the true adepts study triply nested spoilers in our character sheets (Inventory>Artefacts)

Your Forge realization allows you to produce "reagents". Disposable, single-use items that can be used to boost rituals, or in very specific narrative circumstances. They possess the following characteristics:
-Reagents may be safely stored away, indefinitely.
-Reagents may have "mixed" Lores. Mixed and matched to your heart's content.
-The "total level" of your a reagent you wish to craft (the added sum of all its Lores) is capped at your Forge level.
-The individual level of each Lore you wish to infuse a reagent with is capped at each individual Lore level you possess

For example, If your levels were Forge 3, Grail 2 and Edge 2, you would be able to craft a "Grail 2, Edge 1" reagent. But NOT a "Grail 3" reagent (because your Grail level is insufficient), and NOT a "Grail 2, Edge 2" reagent (because your Forge level is insufficient)

Crafting ONE reagent is a free action, THREE reagents costs one action, FIVE reagents costs two actions, etc.

Reagent's cost in bits is: 5 -> 20 -> 45 -> 80, etc.

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And I too hunt for the deep lore… does anyone remember how book reading DCs work? I'm not sure how hard it will or won't be to read the Forge books, basically.

 

[Crystal Violet]

...

How did so many words accumulate in the short period of time...? That took a rather long time to read...

Well, nothing for it, I suppose. Looks like we have more things clarified and a patch update, so that's nice. More data on mechanics is always useful, after all! ^-^

Looks like we do have a lot of things on the table, though. Follower actions, rituals to perform, other narrative actions... Again, we have the Celestia situation at the back of our minds, and of course, an entire planning session we're in to address all of that.

Anyways, it seems as if we're worrying over money allocation for a whole bunch of stuff we'd like to do, and looking over our backs for the consequences of our actions, of course, as usual...

Hm... I'm quite curious as to whether we have or can gain other 'traits' relating to the Lores similar to Selene. Then again... alicorn. Of course, the Sacraments might give us something similar, and we definitely already do a lot with what we have in the Lores at this point. I might also have missed something, which, fair. It's just never enough, though, for what we want to do... Then again, trying to reach Glory and with our hands in who knows how many pies, we're stretched a bit thin, to put it lightly. Not to mention being on a clock, and our deadline is rather fuzzy. Still, more preparation to do!

Honestly, with how many things we need to do I feel as if focusing down on our priorities is rather important here, since we have a limited pool of both action points and bits, and far too many places to spend them. Probably doesn't need saying, but I'll just lay it out here.

I would say that we should gather up materials and resources at this point, to make sure we don't need to scramble for parts in regards to our important plans, but that point is probably already moot by now. We definitely do need more resources, but it's unlikely that focusing solely on that will work, not with all the other things going on that require our attention. That ship sailed long ago, as we have too many things to do for us to just spend an entire turn on pure preparation... of course, unless we'd like to still do that. It's probably still an option, if unlikely to be an optimal one in terms of our current priorities.

To be fair, this turn does seem like it'll be more preparation and resource gathering. While the places we can use our resources are important, it is also true that at this current point, there is a lower chance of something going wrong than in the next few turns, meaning we have more risk tolerance relative to the future if we decide to put some things off for the moment. That doesn't mean the risk is non-existent, though, as in my opinion being paranoid might be over the top sometimes, but it does work. The problem is that if we want to have enough to prepare for stuff later on, then now is probably one of the best times to build up stuff that we can use later on, given we just finished a whole series of major events.

So... Yep. That's my opinion on our current situation. The entire state of affairs looks rather complicated in hindsight... Nature of a planning discussion, I suppose? Risk and reward in equal proportion.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Well if a commission now means no Rarity Job Income next turn then I suppose we'll have Rarity do something else instead. Something like, say, fetching us a dead body for a Torn Risen that can both guard us this turn and get sacrificed for Biedde next turn.

 

[spiderhellian]

I'm quite curious as to whether we have or can gain other 'traits' relating to the Lores similar to Selene. Then again... alicorn

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We did! The realizations are basically this, I think. And Sacraments will be even more so, agreed.

Well if a commission now means no Rarity Job Income next turn then I suppose we'll have Rarity do something else instead. Something like, say, fetching us a dead body for a Torn Risen that can both guard us this turn and get sacrificed for Biedde next turn

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Rarity: EW EW EW EW EW

1 Health and 25 combat isn't much of a guard, though it is nice for sacrifice. I really do prefer Comet guard and a Luna action on covering our bases.

Plus the narrative of Luna covering our bases would be fun!

 

[angelsadvocate666]

While most cultists study the Manaus, the true adepts study triply nested spoilers in our character sheets

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You know, this isn't directly related, but the way you worded this reminded me of that one meme.

In which Copper seeks help against a hidden foe:

Velvet: "While you followed the Master's orders, I climbed the Mansus. While you were committing atrocities, I mastered the Lores. While you wasted your time on frivolous power plays, I cultivated Eldritch Might, And now, when your Woods are on fire and the Wolves are at the gates, you have the audacity to come to me for help?"

Because really, do you think Copper would assume Velvet actually killed the Master and everything in the woods? (Personally I think she would believe Velvet might choose to, but refuses to think she actually had the power.)

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

We did! The realizations are basically this, I think. And Sacraments will be even more so, agreed.

Rarity: EW EW EW EW EW

1 Health and 25 combat isn't much of a guard, though it is nice for sacrifice. I really do prefer Comet guard and a Luna action on covering our bases.

Plus the narrative of Luna covering our bases would be fun!

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Rarity would still do it though. The wonders of Friendship right there.

Using Luna to cover our bases is an absolute waste given her current and end stage abilities. Especially since she has more health and a similar combat bonus to Comet Feet. Fluttershy is a far better candidate for base covering.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

Rarity would still do it though. The wonders of Friendship right there.

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> glances at Minion status

Riiiiight. Friendship. Let's go with that.

1 Health and 25 combat isn't much of a guard, though it is nice for sacrifice. I really do prefer Comet guard and a Luna action on covering our bases.

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…When the hell did they become one health. I could have sworn it was two…

Like, I checked and you're right, but damn I remember it being different.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

A thought I had @OurLadyOfWires

Iirc, you said b4 that DoA wouldn't be willing to guard, because it would take too much of her time she wants to spend searching for Frangiclave. If we tell her Baldomare will be scrying it for her this turn (assuming that a plan w/ the Frangiclave scry wins), would she be willing to stay and guard our house?

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I don't recall saying that. But I might have.

Still, if she couldn't guard, I don't remember the reason for that. And if the reason was purely narrative, I just thought of another narrative reason as to why she could guard now.

So, for all intents and purposes, DoA can guard your house.

Well if a commission now means no Rarity Job Income next turn then I suppose we'll have Rarity do something else instead.

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I don't know where talk about this came from, but let me clarify it regardless.

Rarity rolls every turn to "keep her career". And her results are based on, well, "fashion seasons". Which is to say that I look at her results for the last three turns.

So, succeeding her career roll on a turn (or even auto-suceeding with the "focus on your career" option) will not "make" her career. And failing on it (even with an auto-failure) won't "break" it either.

Just don't let her fail three times in a row, and she should be able to crawl her way back.

The amount of bits she might be able to give you will wax and wane depending on those numbers, but she won't give you zero bits on the next turn if you have her take a commission this turn.

Using Luna to cover our bases is an absolute waste given her current and end stage abilities.

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And that's exactly why I'll be the one distributing ponies for general actions.

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

Reminder Silky always take the Guard the House every turn.

Rarity should focus on her work, more income
Mareinette, Social Filthy Rich
Servants, and Fluttershy Cover Base
Luna should train with both actions, the sooner she gets that full + 30 the sooner her efforts to help Celestia get results.
Ax to do the Second Canterlot expedition. And plant lore stuff I guess
Jade --[] Search for a place that is old in its History. Where the influence of the Mansus is but an echo, but that can still be heard in the wind. (Search for an intermediary expedition)

We badly need more expeditions locations, we need artifacts badly, and others are going to be going for them now, we need to get them first.

 

[jelloloaf]

Reminder Silky always take the Guard the House every turn.

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Our still-a-child daughter?

Edit: Wait, there could be something here. Now I'm imagining Silky doing a giant Home Alone style series of traps and misunderstood rituals to accidentally stop an assault.

 

[spiderhellian]

Just don't let her fail three times in a row, and she should be able to crawl her way back.

The amount of bits she might be able to give you will wax and wane depending on those numbers, but she won't give you zero bits on the next turn if you have her take a commission this turn.

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Oh excellent. Then I really do want to take a commission action and go full send on summoning Biedde this turn…

Also, this means we shouldn't need Mareinette to go bit hunting. It feels like a waste that we haven't used the Name who is absurdly powerful at social things on a social action yet!

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Reminder Silky always take the Guard the House every turn.

Rarity should focus on her work, more income
Mareinette, Social Filthy Rich
Servants, and Fluttershy Cover Base
Luna should train with both actions, the sooner she gets that full + 30 the sooner her efforts to help Celestia get results.
Ax to do the Second Canterlot expedition. And plant lore stuff I guess
Jade --[] Search for a place that is old in its History. Where the influence of the Mansus is but an echo, but that can still be heard in the wind. (Search for an intermediary expedition)

We badly need more expeditions locations, we need artifacts badly, and others are going to be going for them now, we need to get them first.

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Did you mean Soft Sweeps? She's just a mundane pony for most purposes. Not really a great combatant.

 

[Iustus Vitea]

Right time for our favourite thing in the world, budgeting:

We have 16 bits from last turn, 55 from Rarity and 160 from our job giving us a total of 231 bits.

AotLs are free so no worries there and the two RotTs cost us a combined 60, the CoI another 30 and to make that action worth it we'll need a T3 SH Reagent meaning another 45 bits leaving us with 96.

The Canterlot expedition will cost us, being conservative 60 bits meaning we have 36 left over going into turn 20.

In turn 20 we'll have our previous 36, 160 from the job and a cautious 35 from Rarity meaning we get 231 bits at the start of turn 20.

Biedde will cost us 145 bits if we go the Risen route and presently we have no plans for any rituals that turn so that's 86 bits for the expedition and I don't know about you but I don't think it's gonna be enough so we'll need to take the Rarity commission then.

I'd we're lucky and get it done quickly it'll cost say 120 bits. If we aren't lucky we could blow our whole budget on that.

So taking the being lucky option we'll have 66 bits left for the rest of turn 20 (which i hope will be spent to send Marinette to scout Copper), not enough for a T5 book, not enough to send Baldomare off to party.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

> glances at Minion status

Riiiiight. Friendship. Let's go with that.

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That's just advanced friendship!

Right time for our favourite thing in the world, budgeting:

We have 16 bits from last turn, 55 from Rarity and 160 from our job giving us a total of 231 bits.

AotLs are free so no worries there and the two RotTs cost us a combined 60, the CoI another 30 and to make that action worth it we'll need a T3 SH Reagent meaning another 45 bits leaving us with 96.

The Canterlot expedition will cost us, being conservative 60 bits meaning we have 36 left over going into turn 20.

In turn 20 we'll have our previous 36, 160 from the job and a cautious 35 from Rarity meaning we get 231 bits at the start of turn 20.

Biedde will cost us 145 bits if we go the Risen route and presently we have no plans for any rituals that turn so that's 86 bits for the expedition and I don't know about you but I don't think it's gonna be enough so we'll need to take the Rarity commission then.

I'd we're lucky and get it done quickly it'll cost say 120 bits. If we aren't lucky we could blow our whole budget on that.

So taking the being lucky option we'll have 66 bits left for the rest of turn 20 (which i hope will be spent to send Marinette to scout Copper), not enough for a T5 book, not enough to send Baldomare off to party.

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What if have Rarity do a Commission for another 100 Bits? Is 166 enough for a T5 book?

 

[jelloloaf]

You know, this isn't directly related, but the way you worded this reminded me of that one meme.

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View: https://i.imgur.com/jB1RUWh.png

Would have liked to embed directly, but apparently we don't do that here.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

I see it. The wording's a little stiff—mine was too, admittedly—but still cool.

 

[Bakkasama]

Oh excellent. Then I really do want to take a commission action and go full send on summoning Biedde this turn…

Also, this means we shouldn't need Mareinette to go bit hunting. It feels like a waste that we haven't used the Name who is absurdly powerful at social things on a social action yet!

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Why do you want Biedde this turn? Is there anything urgent we want him on or is it only security? Because if it is that we might as well summon MitL instead. Is it expeditions? Summoning two names on top of other rituals would leave us little money for them. Is it fear that Copper might summon him if we dont? That would assume that Copper already got past the church and that seems unlikely.

Edit: Come to think about it, what are the odds of Velvet summoning a MitL without reagents?

 

[jelloloaf]

I see it. The wording's a little stiff—mine was too, admittedly—but still cool.

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Couldn't have done it without you, many thanks for the inspiration.