Exalted 3E, West Direction

[kinglugia]

Wandering the world and depending on whether I change my backstory or not, gathering stuff for the artifact that initiated him to sorcery.
And maybe becoming a sellsword against undead armies, because why not?

 

[Yzarc]

Well, my char is searching for a Tyrant Lizard to feed to his Lunar friend. So he probably came to the port city to hear about the bounties so that he can both fulfill his obligation as well as earn some money from it. That and gather and sell supplies and see if he can find something about his missing wife.

He could have met your Mercenary char and convinced her to help him in return for some of the bounty money Winged One . Same for you kinglugia .Though that depends on if your char is moved by the plight of the villages being terrorized or blinded by the bling being offered. I have more than enough Social Charms to pull that off.

I can also see Alphaleph 's char also joining in, both to escape the city/town and to get a cut of the money/Bounty.

 

[Alphaleph]

/me ponders about charms

 

[Yzarc]

/me ponders about charms

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Want any help?

 

[Alphaleph]

Want any help?

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure whether to do the charm first or spent some bp to increase attributes and abilities first actually.

 

[Yzarc]

I'm not sure whether to do the charm first or spent some bp to increase attributes and abilities first actually.

Click to shrink...

What do you feel is more important? Charms or Dice?

If it is charms, them max out the Ability and pick the charms you want from that ability. If it is dice, max the attributes and abilities and pick the charm you qualify for.

 

[Alphaleph]

What do you feel is more important? Charms or Dice?

If it is charms, them max out the Ability and pick the charms you want from that ability. If it is dice, max the attributes and abilities and pick the charm you qualify for.

Click to shrink...

My gut says the latter, but my brain says not to trust the dices at all.

 

[Yzarc]

My gut says the latter, but my brain says not to trust the dices at all.

Click to shrink...

3E is a LOT more Dice based than 2E. There are no 2nd Excellencies so having more dice is the way to go. Or at least that was my experience in the other 2 games that I played.

Another thing is that the majority of the Charms are also behind high abilities aka 5 Dot. This is not helped at all by the fact that buying abilities to 5 is the most xp efficient way to use BPs. The text in the book says this too.

That being said, difficulties have been lowered too. So to do most things would be difficulty 1. Only truly difficult stuff or doing things while being attacked or in a tense situation would be 5.

Social wise? Max out your Primary social ability. While we won't be meeting Resolve 6 or Guile 6 people that often, the average is around 4 for most quick characters. So having a high dice pool there would help you.

 

[Alphaleph]

Let's see, discounting the head part of the sheet (name, caste and anima):

Spoiler: WIP sheet

Name: Moon Scribe of the Iron Wood (Li)
Caste: Eclipse
Anima: A mossy green horse with a fishtail
Supernal Ability: Socialize
Appearance:

Concept: Disgraced Noble Conman
Limit Condition: Accepting responsibilities for his cons.

Attributes
Strength •
Dexterity ••••
Stamina ••

Charisma •••
Manipulation •••••
Appearance •••

Perception •••
Intelligence •••
Wits •••••


Abilities

Caste
Bureaucracy ••• (Forgery)
Larceny ••••• (Disguise)
Linguistics •
Presence ••• (Lies)
Socialize ••••• (Dishonesty)

Favored
Integrity •
Investigation •
Awareness •••
Thrown •••
Sail •••

Non-Favored, Non-Caste
Archery
Athletics •••
Brawl
Craft
Dodge •••
Martial Arts
Medicine
Melee
Lore
Occult
Performance
Resistance
Ride
Stealth
Survival
War

Merits
Ambidextrous
Direction Sense
Eidetic Memory
Fleet of Foot
Languages (Seatongue and High Realm) + Low Realm

Charms
Bureaucracy:
Frugal Merchant Method
Insightful Buyer Technique
Deft Official's Way
Enlightened Discourse Method

Larceny:
Seasoned Criminal Method
Spurious Presence
Flawlessly Impenetrable Disguise

Socialize:
Mastery of Small Manners
Motive Discerning Technique
Quicksilver Falcon's Eye
Shadow Over Day
Intent Tracing Stare

Sail:
Salty Dog Method
Perfect Reckoning Technique

Dodge:
Reed In the Wind

Intimacies

Debt must be paid, sooner or later (Defining Principle)

Money(Greed) (Major principle)

(Parents and Siblings) Familial Love (Defining tie)

(Those guys) Enemy/Debtor (Major tie)

(Bounty Hunters) Bounty (Minor tie)

Bonus Points

2 for Larceny to 5
2 for Socialize to 5
1 for Merit: Low Realm language
4 for INT
4 for WIT
1 for investigation
1 for Bureaucracy

Bio:
Born to a Noble Merchant family from the City of Steel Lotus, Li was raised in preparation to captain his own ship and conduct business in his family's name. He was unable to do so as misfortune befall his family. Their fleet started to disappear or sink in rapid succession, a fact that was blamed on the weather or supernatural hands despite suspicion of other families' handiwork. Their suspicion was further enforced as their rivals encroached on their business and contracts. Li's family was helpless unable to content with the circling sharks due to the recent loss of their finances on top of the newly spread rumor that their family was cursed. Soon after, they were holding massive debts and were unable to pay them as the rumor caused them to be unable to set sail on board of any ship as every other sailors and merchants refused to take them along. As such, the children were forced to take other mean of earning money that did not involve sailing or remaining in the Steel Lotus while their parents .

The siblings took up various jobs with Li started to work as a Book Keeper. However, letters from home suggest that they were not paying enough and Li had to start to embezzle and bribe to gather money. He issued permits (fake or otherwise), convince people to sponsor a non-existing caravan, and plain overcharging for services. The practice continued until he was discovered and had to escape but with an important realization, crime was his best bet of seeing the debts paid. Reaching a new city, Li started his crime career as a conman.

One day, Li started a Ponzi scheme and it went smoothly until a Dragonblooded join and threatened to end his scheme by actually asking to participate in the non-existing expedition. Li had to improvise and prepared something to sate the Dynast while he prepared to vanish. To his wildest expectation, the makeshift plan worked and he was paid with an Exaltation. Worried about his life, Li decided to make scarce and returned home for a bit before making his way West, far from the Realm's limited Navy presence.

Misc stats:

• Essence:
  • Personal: 13/13
  • Peripheral: 33/33
• Willpower: 5/5
• Join Battle: 8
• Parry: 2
• Evasion: 4
• Soak: 2
• Hardness:
• Com. Mov: 7 + 1
• Rush: 7 + 1
• Resist: 2
• Senses: 6
• Resolve: 3
• Guile: 6

 

[horngeek]

Chiyoko's going to be travelling with Emerald Blossom, doing...

Either just travelling, or something Emerald wants to do. Depends.

 

[Nekraa]

Chiyoko's going to be travelling with Emerald Blossom, doing Emerald Blossom...

Either just travelling, or something Emerald wants to do. Depends.

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Well, Emerald Blossom is... she's looking for adventure, laws to break, excitement, meeting new people.

 

[horngeek]

Well, Emerald Blossom is... she's looking for adventure, laws to break, excitement, meeting new people.

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Hehehehe

Well, there's certainly some of that going on as well.

Chiyoko would probably try to direct Emerald Blossom's law-breaking attention to unjust laws in particular, I think.

 

[horngeek]

I'm going to dot-point Chiyoko's history for now, and I'll expand it later.

Spoiler: Chiyoko's History

• Born in Shimazu, to two members of the Merchant Caste- her father often went out on expeditions
• Very early in life, her parents died- Father died on expedition, mother died of sickness. Adopted into the Prietesses of Shimazu, like a lot of orphans were.
• Primarily raised by Izumi, one of the older priestesses. Learnt how to deal with spirits, how to be inspiring, how to relate to people. Izumi also taught her many of her core values to this day.
• Also made friendships, not only with the other acolytes, but also with children of the noble castes of Shimazu- one in particular, a child of the Samurai named Natsuko Mizushima, she developed first a close friendship with, then a passionate relationship emerged- one that continued until Chiyoko's Exaltation.
• Other relationships: Daisuke Hayashi, Chiyoko's uncle on her father's side. Merchant patron. Chiyoko actually has shares in his business that she inherited from her parents, and has her own rather sizable income from them
• Exaltation: Chiyoko was sent to help deal with some spirits that were acting hostile on one of the subislands under Shimazu's control- a rather vital island, in fact, since one of the larger iron mines of the city was located there. While there, she encountered Hadren Dosso, who was officially just there to visit (the same island did have spots that were rather beautiful, after all), but Chiyoko was suspicious of him. Also, he was... an utter asshole.
• The spirits definitely seemed to be provoked by... something. Chiyoko Exalted in the process of calming them down- as she sang, the Unconquered Sun appeared, and granted her Exaltation. Hadren saw her Exaltation, and very quickly made his farewells- again, too quickly. She's still suspicious of him, but has no solid proof.
• In the wake of her Exaltation, she left Shimazu for now- she'd love to stay, but Wu Jian and the Realm are far too close for comfort, and she didn't want to bring a Wyld Hunt down on her home.
• Now travelling- met Emerald not too long ago, and the pair have since began a relationship.

 

[kinglugia]

Right, had an idea for my Dawn caste (not!rehash )
Basically, he'd be the crew for a DB mercenary ship (Threshold Outcaste DB?), who Exalted while the DB is fighting against some kind of enemy. They never bought into the Anathema stuff, and can see that he's still himself, so here we go.

Also, going defensive counterattack style kind of build, so meaning War Lion Stance, Dipping Swallow Defense and Solar Counterattack.
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theweepingman, can Howling Lotus Strike the Evocation, be used in tandem with Solar Counterattack?

Also, Winged One, which build are you dipping into in the Melee charms? From what I can see, you seem to be a more offensive-oriented build instead of a defensive-ish build. And with your War charms and all, I guess you'll be able to be a decent trainer if you ever wish to go Tiger Warrior Training Technique?

Yzarc, are you going to dip into the Lore and Occult tree? There're some really good charms in there - specifically Wyld Shaping Technique tree and the capstone Occult charm that allows you to create familiars. Was thinking on combining our strengths together to create a wonder like no other.

Nekraa, since your sorcery is gained through bargains with Mara, should I assume you to be the premier demon summoner, or what? Just curious, due to the Infernal Nobility merit.

 

[Nekraa]

Nekraa, since your sorcery is gained through bargains with Mara, should I assume you to be the premier demon summoner, or what? Just curious, due to the Infernal Nobility merit.

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Maybe? Does anyone else have demon summoning?

And yeah, EB's Occult + Intelligence isn't the best dice pool (6 dice), but with Occult Excellency it should do. And even if it fails, Infernal Nobility still means that they'll have a Minor Tie of terrified awe towards her which will help in negotiations.

 

[kinglugia]

Does anyone else have demon summoning?

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Nah, I'm not going to take it.

 

[Yzarc]

Yzarc, are you going to dip into the Lore and Occult tree? There're some really good charms in there - specifically Wyld Shaping Technique tree and the capstone Occult charm that allows you to create familiars. Was thinking on combining our strengths together to create a wonder like no other.

Click to shrink...

Wyld Shaping is a bullshit Charm in 3E. It is a XP sink bigger than the Infinite Craft ability.

You have to spend XP each time you activate it and you to activate it multiple times, as in minimum of 4 turns to craft an artifact.For most things, it resets to 1 so you have to go 1 to 4 turns them back to 1 then to 6-7 if you want to make land/army/wealth etc using that charm. So around 10 turns or so minimum. So 10x2 20xp for the really powerful things.

Maybe if theweepingman is feeling generous he may allow me to use Solar Xp for the cost. If not, you are wasting 20xp on an a thing that you could have just built in (7-E) Months for a 5 Dot+ artifact and (7-E) weeks for 4 Dots and below, with the right craft charms.

That "Charm" is not even a single charm. It has been split up into multiple charms, that you have to buy if you want to actually do something with it. So Not only do you throw away xp on the rolls, you also throw away xp on charms that you will not use all that often.

Fail the roll and you loose ALL the xp you put into it and it. If you are lucky, you fail the first roll and just loose 2xp. If you aren't? 20xp down the drain which also puts you 20xp behind every one else in raising essence. Even if you succeed it STILL does not count towards your Essence Spending.

And rolls themselves? FAR too many encounter rolls, but you have to encounter something to get the Combat mote regen, otherwise? You run out of motes making 3-4 Rolls max. The Charm is instant so it is used immediately one after the other.

Making artifacts with that charm? Buy another charm which also costs 8xp to use. So 8 xp up front and another 8xp each time you use it and you can only use it at turn 4 for 4dots, 5-6 turns for 5 dots+. So that is (4/5/6x2)xp +8xp for the second charm. So anywhere from 16xp, 18xp to 20xp for an artifact, which you can make in months or weeks with the right craft charms.

The upgrade charms that make Wyld Shaping usable? They only give Essence bonus.

The only way I can see it being useful is if I take that craft charm that lets you spend Craft Xp in the place of that. Even then that craft charm is behind FAR too many speedbump/useless/booring charms that I am not sure that I will take it.

As for the Occult charm? No, not even spirit cutting and possibly not even spirit detection. Once I am done with crafting charms, I'll go Bureaucracy and Socialize/Presence/Larceny.

Maybe? Does anyone else have demon summoning?

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Not me. I am summoning Elementals as they are more "In theme" for my character.

 

[Yzarc]

To expand on using Crafting XP in the place of Wyld shaping xp. you use 5 White Xp for 1 normal xp.

Problem is, you can only get white xp from making artifacts. Sure you can convert silver xp into gold and gold into white but that still leaves you at 4Sxp=1Wxp.

So (4x5) = 20Sxp per 1 regular xp.

So if you spend 20xp on that charm? you need to convert 400Silver xp into white xp or Craft a ton of artifacts to get the white xp or a huge number of major projects to get the gold xp. This is assuming you are investing heavily in craft charms, which include at the minimum 10 purchases to do this. So 80xp in largely useless and Highly situational charms, and this is without buying any Lore charms.

So not only do you need to buy a lot of craft charms, you also have to buy a lot of lore charms. Even better? you can't Supernal both and many of those charms are High Essence.

Wyld shaping is a High essence charms that Harshly punishes the player for using it and is Completely useless at low essence, even if lore was your supernal. At E5 with all the craft charms? Usefull and good enough but again largely useless at that point anyway if you have the craft charms or are a high Essence Solar.

Basically? Here is what Wyld Shaping is.....

 

[UrsaTempest]

Right, had an idea for my Dawn caste (not!rehash )
Basically, he'd be the crew for a DB mercenary ship (Threshold Outcaste DB?), who Exalted while the DB is fighting against some kind of enemy. They never bought into the Anathema stuff, and can see that he's still himself, so here we go.

Also, going defensive counterattack style kind of build, so meaning War Lion Stance, Dipping Swallow Defense and Solar Counterattack.
.
.
.
theweepingman, can Howling Lotus Strike the Evocation, be used in tandem with Solar Counterattack?

Also, Winged One, which build are you dipping into in the Melee charms? From what I can see, you seem to be a more offensive-oriented build instead of a defensive-ish build. And with your War charms and all, I guess you'll be able to be a decent trainer if you ever wish to go Tiger Warrior Training Technique?

Yzarc, are you going to dip into the Lore and Occult tree? There're some really good charms in there - specifically Wyld Shaping Technique tree and the capstone Occult charm that allows you to create familiars. Was thinking on combining our strengths together to create a wonder like no other.

Nekraa, since your sorcery is gained through bargains with Mara, should I assume you to be the premier demon summoner, or what? Just curious, due to the Infernal Nobility merit.

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It's Supplemental, kinglugia. So no. Unless you, as Solar, counter-attack without using active Essence.

I'll also caution starting as DB Mercenary, because... tbf, they seem a little too powerful. Of course, it depends on how you write your history.

Maybe? Does anyone else have demon summoning?

And yeah, EB's Occult + Intelligence isn't the best dice pool (6 dice), but with Occult Excellency it should do. And even if it fails, Infernal Nobility still means that they'll have a Minor Tie of terrified awe towards her which will help in negotiations.

Click to shrink...

Do remember you can just negotiate with the demon instead of overwhelming them, and considering your social stat...

Wyld Shaping is a bullshit Charm in 3E. It is a XP sink bigger than the Infinite Craft ability.

You have to spend XP each time you activate it and you to activate it multiple times, as in minimum of 4 turns to craft an artifact.For most things, it resets to 1 so you have to go 1 to 4 turns them back to 1 then to 6-7 if you want to make land/army/wealth etc using that charm. So around 10 turns or so minimum. So 10x2 20xp for the really powerful things.

Maybe if theweepingman is feeling generous he may allow me to use Solar Xp for the cost. If not, you are wasting 20xp on an a thing that you could have just built in (7-E) Months for a 5 Dot+ artifact and (7-E) weeks for 4 Dots and below, with the right craft charms.

That "Charm" is not even a single charm. It has been split up into multiple charms, that you have to buy if you want to actually do something with it. So Not only do you throw away xp on the rolls, you also throw away xp on charms that you will not use all that often.

Fail the roll and you loose ALL the xp you put into it and it. If you are lucky, you fail the first roll and just loose 2xp. If you aren't? 20xp down the drain which also puts you 20xp behind every one else in raising essence. Even if you succeed it STILL does not count towards your Essence Spending.

And rolls themselves? FAR too many encounter rolls, but you have to encounter something to get the Combat mote regen, otherwise? You run out of motes making 3-4 Rolls max. The Charm is instant so it is used immediately one after the other.

Making artifacts with that charm? Buy another charm which also costs 8xp to use. So 8 xp up front and another 8xp each time you use it and you can only use it at turn 4 for 4dots, 5-6 turns for 5 dots+. So that is (4/5/6x2)xp +8xp for the second charm. So anywhere from 16xp, 18xp to 20xp for an artifact, which you can make in months or weeks with the right craft charms.

The upgrade charms that make Wyld Shaping usable? They only give Essence bonus.

The only way I can see it being useful is if I take that craft charm that lets you spend Craft Xp in the place of that. Even then that craft charm is behind FAR too many speedbump/useless/booring charms that I am not sure that I will take it.

As for the Occult charm? No, not even spirit cutting and possibly not even spirit detection. Once I am done with crafting charms, I'll go Bureaucracy and Socialize/Presence/Larceny.


Not me. I am summoning Elementals as they are more "In theme" for my character.

Click to shrink...

I'm hesitant to add fix to a problem that might not be a problem at all, so I'll hold off from ruling this. Hypothetically, if it's a problem, I may only required paying the EXP if you succeed.

 

[Winged One]

Right, had an idea for my Dawn caste (not!rehash )

Click to shrink...

*hisses territorially*

Also, Winged One, which build are you dipping into in the Melee charms? From what I can see, you seem to be a more offensive-oriented build instead of a defensive-ish build. And with your War charms and all, I guess you'll be able to be a decent trainer if you ever wish to go Tiger Warrior Training Technique?

Click to shrink...

Eh... "build" is a strong word. I'm currently more heavy into offensive charms in order to end battles more quickly (to deal with distractions), but I'm eventually going to at least want Glorious Solar Saber (it feels appropriate to transform her "never be unarmed" Principle into "I am never unarmed") and Heavenly Guardian Defense (you just know that fucking volcano is going to blow, and blocking unexpected attacks is something I see her doing too). Maybe a bit of the War Lion Stance tree eventually, if more proactive protections of her fellow sailors seem inadequate.

As for Tiger Warrior Training Technique... yeah, I see her as being a good trainer by mortal standards currently(amazing by mortal standards, if you only factor in her personal skill with melee weapons and not her skill at teaching), and I'll take TWTT eventually (It'll go well with Sea Devil Training Technique). Why do you ask?

 

[horngeek]

This is what I kinda like about 3e having so many Charms- we've got two Presence-focused characters who look rather different, and there's enough room in Melee to do similar.

 

[kinglugia]

Why do you ask?

Click to shrink...

Just wanting to coordinate our specialties - I'm thinking on going for counterattacks and defensive Melee focus, with a slapdash of Sorcery added on top. Also thinking on becoming a mote battery for the others, so that I can be a defensive-support instead of full offense.

 

[Winged One]

Just wanting to coordinate our specialties - I'm thinking on going for counterattacks and defensive Melee focus, with a slapdash of Sorcery added on top. Also thinking on becoming a mote battery for the others, so that I can be a defensive-support instead of full offense.

Click to shrink...

Ah. Yeah, as long as someone has that bodyguard tree, I'll be fine ignoring it, and while 3e sorcery looks cool, it's not exactly a necessity for my concept(though I do know what sort of magic I'd want her to have if she does initiate).

 

[Alphaleph]

Well. looks like I can focus on Social and Larceny Charms then.

 

[Yzarc]

I'm hesitant to add fix to a problem that might not be a problem at all, so I'll hold off from ruling this. Hypothetically, if it's a problem, I may only required paying the EXP if you succeed.

Click to shrink...

Don't worry, if I Ever take that charm, it won't be till WAY later till I get the Craft charms to make it practical and all of it's upgrades. So E5 if we ever reach it.

I can only use that charm if I go to the deep Wyld border and is useless anywhere else. So unless I intend to spend a lot of time in the Deep Wyld the Charm cluster will not be useful for the majority of the game which is another problem with it.

The only "Fix" I found for this is to use Celestial Circle ambition 3 Sorcery to make a Portal to the border of the Wyld for ease of access. Even then, its not like I can spam this charm because of the Xp cost.

Basically this charm cluster is the one use variety, a gimmicky charm that looks good in theory but is awful in practice. Too many harsh restrictions and failure conditions and FAR too expensive for what it does.

 

[kinglugia]

Welp, there goes my idea for making an Artifact N/A through Wyld-Shaping tree, then convert it into a familiar via Occult charms and then further enhancing it through Solar Circle workings. Ah well, I hope I can make do with Solar Circle workings with Yzarc's aid. And maybe searching for legendary demesnes in the West.

 

[Yzarc]

Welp, there goes my idea for making an Artifact N/A through Wyld-Shaping tree, then convert it into a familiar via Occult charms and then further enhancing it through Solar Circle workings. Ah well, I hope I can make do with Solar Circle workings with Yzarc's aid. And maybe searching for legendary demesnes in the West.

Click to shrink...

I can make a N/A artifact after I get few charms. Wyld Shaping only does two things, saves time and resources.

Resources is not a problem. Even rare material like frozen lightning are not that hard to get in the new system as you can make tools to store it and can negotiate with spirits to gain it. That is the beauty of the Lore "Introduce facts" ability.

Making N/A artifacts just takes (7-Essence) Months with the right Charms. Getting the Crafting Exp is also doable if you have the right charms for it. In this case, the Xp booster and by interacting with the system.

The Devs posted a list of basic projects on a blog and explained that "If you are not spamming at least 10 projects per session/Day that hits at least 2 objectives, then you are doing it wrong."

The reason craft is such a huge bloat is because it id designed to be gamed apparently. So you *Have* to do craft whenever you can and where ever possible to get the maximim benefits. The final part was that even crafting a ton of artifacts won't help you as between the attunement costs and the fact that you have to pay xp for Evocations and how mortals can't use most artifacts as they no longer have essence to use the artifacts, the random godblooded aside.

Also you DO know that having a Sorceror in the same Terrestrial/Celestial/Solar circle as you only gives you one more roll right?

 

[kinglugia]

Also you DO know that having a Sorceror in the same Terrestrial/Celestial/Solar circle as you only gives you one more roll right?

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I read the Workings, hora, though I'm not sure if one roll per Sorcerer in the same circle, or one roll despite having one or more Sorcerers initiated in the same circle as the Working.

 

[Yzarc]

I read the Workings, hora, though I'm not sure if one roll per Sorcerer in the same circle, or one roll despite having one or more Sorcerers initiated in the same circle as the Working.

Click to shrink...

One roll for all of them. They don't stack.

Cooperation: Each of these alternatives can add one roll, but
they don't stack with each other. In theory, a sorcerer
who had access to a large organization of fellow sorcerers
initiated into the Circle of the working could add
two additional rolls from this Means, but such organized
networks are few and far between in the current,
fallen era.

Click to shrink...

So unless you gain the aide of the Lords Ysir or similar, only one roll from Cooperation.

 

[UrsaTempest]

*headache*

Alright, I'll... greatly appreciated if you tell me what your end goal of making all the plans, since in my perspectives, it feels too much like you're trying to break the game. Even before it starts.