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So you may or may not have noticed my old Zlata threads (Part 1 | Part 2). Currently she's got a request to murder an important member of a royal court and will update soon, but some other things have changed in the background. Zlata's thread is part of a bunch of CYOAs that are all running in the same place at the same time, so if you stumble across people trying to draw and quarter her, try not to cheat! There're a bunch of threads that are out and about, where NPCs in one thread are actually players in another. I need to get cracking on her and get the story moved along before we are all too geriatric to post anymore, and some out in the world PCs have been demoted to NPC, and some NPCs are going to be promoted and some will stay the same. So I need to spool up some more threads and here's:  Like find them / kill them, this thread'll start off with you picking your character. I couldn't find any decent pics for what I wanted, so instead I'm tacking on a little bit of a soundtrack and biography for the character. Maybe I'll be able to mspaint a good enough version after you guys decide who to be. Feel free to ask questions about w/e --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LahoQoZXwB8 Lasma: kobold knight, currently finishing a patrol. Immediate goal is to report in, and after that, well, if she works hard she might be granted a barony! Probably it will take less than 30 years with how good things have been going! Lasma's (technically) a minor noble in the far west, and she's (technically) got some small holdings. If she can prove herself she can (technically) get a full-on fief. Zlata she is not. She's got solid fighting equipment, and knows how to use it well. She also knows a thing or two about etiquette. Kobolds are small and Lasma's got a dog instead of a horse, but this isn't always a bad thing. Pros: respected, has an orc squire, and a small nest egg (money, not a kid on the way). Cons: not one of those filthy rich knights. No magic. Expected to train her squire up to being his own honorable knight. --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIbLO93fAj8 Steve: elf scout, currently in a life or death battle with wild animals. Immediate goal is to live, and then deliver a package, and maybe one day find out what happened to his brother. Other than this package thing he's doesn't have much going on. He has good, practical equipment, and some good, practical skills. Steve is perhaps the most nondescript choice. This may well prove to be his best asset: just too boring to be noticed by the wrong people. Pros: a simple commoner with no other responsibilities. Knows a little magic. Ok on his own in the wild or in towns. Cons: real salt of the earth type. Momma wasn't the sharpest lamp on the tree. --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXuDUwfwhgI Blue: gnoll cleric, currently trekking through the wilderness Immediate goal is to find Pravina, a priestess of Zuen. This assignment is a punishment, maybe if it goes well you can redeem yourself. Blue is a competent in a fight and serves the godess of justice. She can reliably call on supernatural aid, and has a good education, but is going to have to put in a lot of work to earn back what she's lost. Pros: Has a sidekick, a soldier. Doesn't need to worry about food, because gnolls can eat anything. Cons: Sworn oaths for personal conduct. The last pilgrimage she lead was a catastrophe. --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emmyInY5NZ4 Gatwo the Wanderer: troll sorcerer. currently ??? Gatwo's goals are ??? Gatwo is maybe making a comeback from Zlata's thread, where he worked as a morally flexible hireling. He summoned a demon one time it wasn't real good tbh. He's also a big fuckin' troll and can't ride a horse or fit into small places. Might have been killed by a giant crab? Pros: Magically powerful, physically robust. Always seems to know a shortcut to somewhere. Cons: Widely despised, especially by other trolls and mages -- and both are more likely to recognize him. Almost certain he's been expelled from the guild of mages. He might have multiple active bounties on his head instead of just one or two. --- If you pick Gatwo it could be more difficult than the other choices, but if someone's going to play him I figured goons deserve the first crack. Other than that everyone has an equal shot at success. After you guys pick the next update will be the real "update 0" to get a grip on who and where you are and what you need to do in detail.
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Aug 3, 2021 09:31
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Going with Gatwo even though the others are interesting (aside from Steve)!
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Aug 4, 2021 03:49
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Gatwo
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Aug 4, 2021 04:50
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Steve doesn't seem very interesting, Lasma is a little better character-wise but it doesn't seem like she'll be able to do much. Blue and Gatwo are both good choices, but Gatwo is the most compelling because he's more enigmatic and more powerful, I really want to know what his whole deal is.
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Aug 4, 2021 05:52
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full disclosure: Steve is in a fight for his life atm -- literal mortal combat -- and has better chances than Gatwo. That is, Gatwo is much closer to game over right out of the gate, and could potentially stay one wrong vote away from game over for a while. It would be stupid to have a thread where one of the first choices is a trap, or any choice is a trap, but Gatwo is for sure the kind of guy who's been on borrowed time for a while and is gonna have to make the right plays to keep going. Gatwo is straight up going to be harder to play and survive on a day to day basis. He starts off pretty hosed. If you wanna go hardcore rogue wizard go Gatwo. I have a bad habit of writing lovely OPs sometimes. In the Zlata threads and others a lot has been going on behind the scenes and maybe that's not showing up here. Lasma has a lot going on, but because she's never ever been mentioned in any other SA thread it might seem like she's super basic. Steve has been mentioned before, but was never a major player, he also is more than he seems. Blue's shown up more than once as a side character and is in kinda deep poo poo with her cult, but she's not in peril atm. Feel free to pick Gatwo, I don't want to discourage anybody, but all the choices are good ones with a lot of poo poo going on, like how in find them / kill them the other henches had their own full deals. You could make the argument that Lasma / Steve / Blue are the "good" versions of Zlata / Howard / Clara, but they're not symmetrical beyond the most basic surface level. Now that I look back at it it's weird that it turned out "lizardy kinda fightin' chick" / "regularish dude who knows magic" / "beast kinda chick who has a lot of magic" and that wasn't really intended. There's a bunch of other characters that need spooled up into threads that I can't put on SA because they're probably instantly going to slam into each other in a way that makes it too weird -- Nobody out of Lasma/Steve/Blue/Gatwo is going to be directly showing up right next to Zlata straight off the bat, but some of these other characters might, and imo it's kind of self defeating to run these odd semi-adversarial threads right next to each other with the same people voting for both threads. But I do need to get some of these guys off the ground so I can get all the wheels turning again and get this story goin' and to some kind of resolution.
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Aug 4, 2021 06:37
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I say Blue!!
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Aug 4, 2021 06:53
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Gatwo, if only because I don't think we've had a CYOA game over on page one yet. Sniper, is there a 'Sniper's CYOAs Wiki' or something? They might be harder to keep track of than Beaten Lands.
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Aug 4, 2021 12:29
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Nope and that's probably good. If everyone read everyone else's threads it'd be like "where'd all these psychics come from?" But go ahead & ask if you wanna know something
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Aug 4, 2021 16:24
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Texu6MitqA8 You still remember your training. quote:The first order of worlds is the Limitless Light, governed by one law, which is the Truth. ... were. You were in the physical world. quote:Below our physical world, which is related to our physical body, we find what we call the Infradimensions of Nature. These are nine Infradimensions; the first is controlled by 96 laws. These 96 laws are not related with the physical plane, but that plane that people call Limbo or Orco. You are Gatwo the Wanderer, you've avoided bodily death by dodging in one of the other directions, and you're not in a good position to get back to what most people consider the living world. A large man with ruined armor strides by. He doesn't see you and doesn't seem to realize he's dead. That's... his name is Mack. He's not dead yet but the quality of his reflection here means it's inevitable and you'd better get moving if you don't want to bump into a psychopomp. You've got to remember not to forget you're still alive. Looking around it seems like the ghostly reflections of... Zlata... yes Zlata and her retinue should be fine. Erhan and the others will survive. You avoid looking at the demonic eidolon, and avoid calling its attention to yourself. With the way things are going you're confident it will be dealt with, but in the physical world there will be troublesome clerics and priests who are going to have a lot of pointed questions and weapons. You wouldn't want to touch that silver sword and even here it gleams so brightly it's painful to look at. You walk away. You keep walking and avoid trouble with the locals and images of the physical world. But all entities in this region are subject to laws and you feel one begin to tug at you, just as if someone were pulling at your sleeve. You are being conjured. Enough time has passed in the "real" world that someone, some necromancer or sorcerer has discovered you and is attempting to draw you back for their own purpose. You act quickly to: A: accept the aid of the conjurer. Because of the laws you will be subject to the demands of this person, unless you can outwit them. With luck they'll just have tedious questions. If you're unlucky it will be unwholesome indeed. But it's not safe to stay in the lower orders of reality for too long. B: There are often loopholes to the law. You don't want to be tied up in obligations and you can sidestep this if you want to take the risk of travelling deeper. Proceed to Thaqil, Region of Distress, the Antechamber of Hell, in which dwell men with the mouth of a dog, the ears of a goat and the cloven hoof of an ox. It will be even more difficult to return to the physical world if you do this.
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Aug 4, 2021 18:45
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A this'll go GREAT
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Aug 4, 2021 21:23
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A getting ourselves back into a healthy state can be part of us fulfilling our duties
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Aug 4, 2021 22:47
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A. One of the best ways to stay alive is to not be already dead.
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Aug 5, 2021 00:55
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A
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Aug 5, 2021 02:15
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A, maybe they just want a friend.
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Aug 5, 2021 23:28
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You haven't been on this side of the process before, it's strange being pulled through barrier after barrier until finally everything's been opened up before you. "𒊕𒁀" "𒊕𒁀𒀀" You've been returned to the physical world, yes, but this magician is no novice. Precautions have been taken. The circle is sound. You're bound like any specter would have been. You're in some subterranean vault, and can't quite make out the ceiling or walls. You can barely see the floor. This space is vast and the lights are few and weak, but it's only when the craven warlock throws himself to the ground that you realize you may have made a serious mistake. "Master! It is done!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSl4w6PXVbY You've never taken an apprentice and he isn't talking to you, of course. You turn to see what the warlock is prostrating himself to and find yourself in the presence of Ondreadan, Prince of Fear  "Welcome back, wanderer." If traveling deeper instead of allowing yourself to be conjured could be like leaping out of the frying pan and into the fire, you instead find yourself on the plate of a profoundly evil human being. Supernatural Ethics posted:There are good and bad things, of course, saving someone's life is an obviously good thing. Murdering them instead is obviously bad, everyone knows and understands this. But there's evil beyond mere murder. Righteousness and goodness are not the same thing, and neither are mundane evils in the same category as true sins. Ondreadan is just such a man. But if anything he's at least obtained power. The king of the north has many bounties and promises riches and titles simply for information about this man, but you don't believe they'll ever pay out. Ondredan is no simple killer. He's not a bandit on the king's road. They say he eats souls (which you greatly doubt). They say he crucifies whole villages and drags their bones to his hall under the earth (which you readily believe). They say his perversion of natural law allows him to live forever. They say all sorts of ridiculous things, but there's a few you know for certain: He's going to want you to do something. It's not gonna be some holy action, it's not gonna be picking up his groceries, it's not gonna be good. You're already in deep poo poo with important people because of what you did during the fight. You can guess that you're probably substantially further north than where you were when you "stepped out," so to speak. You have no idea where you are with any precision. More than a few days have passed since the fight by the river. Can't tell exactly how much time has gone by. A significant amount. Ondreadan is absolutely entirely capable of wrecking your poo poo. He doesn't seem to be in a fighting mood (as much as you could say he "seems" anything). He isn't the one who conjured you. It was his... guy. Whatever. The groveling man. That might be your way out. He's a strong magician though. "It's good to be back." You inhale deeply and theatrically, trying to buy some time to think of what to do. A: Listen to what they have to say. You'll probably have to do what they want, and there's no use stretching this out. Maybe it'll at least be relatively simple. B: Try to trick the warlock. Part of his cloak may have crossed over the circle when he threw himself on the ground, which means you can touch him, help him to his feet. Or otherwise offer him some trinket, or something. If he accepts your aid before imposing specific conditions then you'll have done your part of the bargain and will be released (i.e. you'd be free to run for your life).
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Aug 6, 2021 07:43
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B
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Aug 6, 2021 07:58
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A. If it was only the warlock, we could take our chances. But Ondreadan will see our attempt for what it is and make us suffer for it.
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Aug 6, 2021 08:17
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HBar posted:A. If it was only the warlock, we could take our chances. But Ondreadan will see our attempt for what it is and make us suffer for it. This, let's play along for now. So we're not bound to Ondreadan, just the Warlock? I think we should enthusiastically play along, make the Warlock think we're his boss' buddy and use that to trick him. Also, is this a situation we can actually do some geni trick bullshit and get out of this by rules lawyering? Like play exceptionally stupid so he has to repeat himself and eventually yells 'do you understand now?!' and we say yes, that's answering a question and therefore a service?
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Aug 6, 2021 14:17
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Yeah it can work, if you're lucky
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Aug 6, 2021 19:21
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A
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Aug 7, 2021 03:30
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"Don't imagine you are home quite yet, wizard. I have need of your services. South of here, in the cursed forest, there is a blockage that must be remedied. Go south until you leave these lands, then find and release the ancient spirit Etunaz from its prison. After this, you may do as you will." The warlock begins to get to his feet, and you open your mouth to begin to speak, but are just too slow. "Yes! Do as my master commands! Now Begone!" With a wrenching vertigo you suddenly find yourself on the surface of the land instead of somewhere within it.  It's early in the day, and in every direction stretches an endless steppe. Barbarian lands. You can't see the Cursed Mountain so you must be somewhere far northeast. You won't know how far until night, assuming there are few enough clouds to see the stars. You inspect your stuff. Your clothes are good, you have a few of you magical tools, enough food for one day, a little water. Somewhere west or southwest of here is the Cursed Mountain which is within view of the capital of the North. To the east and southeast is the sea, and Xoma the City of Saints. There may be many old shrines and barbarian encampments or even small villages, but until you can figure out where you are you won't know in what direction to go to get to any of them. It could take months traveling due south to leave the steppe. You may find yourself in mountains or the desert between Xoma and Frigg, or with luck at the edge of the forest, although you will find roads before you find serious trees. "poo poo." From here to the horizon you don't see anything that strikes you as edible or potable. Well, you decide to: A: Wait until nightfall, read the stars, and decide what to do then. B: Begin heading south. C: Southeast. You might find a road or at least a track. Hopefully. D: EAST-Southeast. The furthest easterly heading you can take that is still technically southwards. E: Southwest. A road? A trail or village? F: WEST-Southwest. Eventually you should come into view of the mountain or else leave the steppe, although you have no idea how far west the plains actually go if you are north of the mountain. (i rolled vs the warlock, but no dice. Gatwo was too slow to try and stall for more time or trick his way out.)
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Aug 8, 2021 08:22
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B, then check the stars at night. We may as well make some progress today, and hopefully they were smart enough to place us somewhere that we can follow their instructions exactly without starving or dehydrating.
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Aug 8, 2021 16:00
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B, until night then check the stars
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Aug 8, 2021 19:19
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Toughy posted:B, until night then check the stars This. Also 'release from prison' can mean all sorts of bullshit. Prison of the mind? Prison of hatred? Prison of life? Would it be possible to find a friendlier warlock to kill us and break this geas, then have him resummon us with the much easier quest to fetch him a roast chicken from the shop down the road?
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Aug 8, 2021 20:41
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Outrail posted:Would it be possible to find a friendlier warlock to kill us and break this geas, then have him resummon us with the much easier quest to fetch him a roast chicken from the shop down the road? You know it would be preferable to avoid getting killed. You haven't died before but it seems traumatic and probably would be counterproductive. You ended up here while trying to stay alive in the first place, after all. Usually when something dies an appropriate psychopomp will appear and guide the dead being towards their next... situation, you could say. Disrupting this process is not easy and is generally considered a bad idea.
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Aug 8, 2021 21:21
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Right. Call that plan B then.
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Aug 8, 2021 22:09
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B, hope for a cloudless night
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Aug 9, 2021 21:35
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The Wandering Mage posted:B, hope for a cloudless night  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3URbQSw3jEw You start the long march south. Maybe you shouldn't be surprised but the area you find yourself is a desolate wasteland in every direction for miles. It could be worse, there could have been monsters. But you find no trace of food or any animal at all. The weather's calm. Towards dusk you enter a rocky region. You sit down, pick a likely cynosure, and concentrate.  If you're reading things right, and you're fairly sure you are, you're further north and further east than you'd like. No maps or charts on you so you'll have to play it a little fast and loose. At least no inauspicious signs tonight. You haven't been to this part of the world yet, but if you continue due south you should eventually exit the steppe and enter a slightly wetter, warmer region east of the mountain chain and north of the desert that separates Xoma from Frigg. The haunted forest "Etunaz" "lives" in would be somewhere west of those mountains, and even further south. You eat a tiny morsel of food and a drink a little water, and scrawl a lovely "map" in the stony ground while you consider what to do next. You should be around the circle. The X to the east is Xoma. The X to the east is Frigg.  Dotted lines are trade roads and the solid line near Frigg is the river. Xoma's near the sea. The forest you're looking for is somewhere around the ? You resolve to: A: Go southeast. You'll probably hit the coast before civilization. Could be some fishing village north of Xoma? B: East-southeast. You'll absolutely hit the coast before civilization. You aren't exactly sure how far east the steppe extends. C: Go southwest. You might be able to hit some mining town in the foothills if you're lucky. If you're unlucky you could be forced to find some dangerous pass to the west. D: West-southwest. You'll probably be able to skip the mountains, but the land to the west of them is more populated. Could attract undue attention. E: Keep south. You'd hit the trade road that travels northwest and connects Xoma to the last few towns before the steppe is given over to barbarians. There are no permanent towns along this road, at least between the mountains and the ocean.
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Aug 10, 2021 08:07
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D looks like the fastest route. We can sneak around the most densely populated areas, and it should be easier to find food, water, and supplies west of the mountains.
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Aug 10, 2021 18:01
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C Could give us more options, if we're lucky enough to meet a fork in the road there may be signs of some form of meager civilization nearby that we could hit up before continuing on our way.
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Aug 10, 2021 21:20
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A fishing village sounds like a low-key place to rest up
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Aug 10, 2021 21:27
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Well, one thing to remember is summoning evil demons is generally frowned upon. Torches and pitchforks frowned upon. Large enough towns and cities will have Mages' Guildhalls that will have some idea of what you did and you've probably been expelled already. Xoma is far enough away that maybe you don't have an established bad reputation, but if you end up there it would still be best to keep a low profile. Small villages, especially isolated ones, tend to have their own ideas about what constitutes bad use of magic. That could go either way -- there's plenty of stories about the most heroic wizards and most vile sorcerers coming from shithole bog hollers or no-name wide wide spots in the road. Or getting accepted in one, or chased out of one. Real cities will have plenty of opportunities to get actual supplies. Real maps. The wilderness is safest as long as you don't stumble across a monster or starve. The food situation is pretty dire.
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Aug 11, 2021 04:48
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A, small town fishing village sounds good. We can maybe steal a boat
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Aug 11, 2021 14:11
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For three grueling days you head southeast, hoping to reach the sea or somewhere more amenable. For three days you find not a scrap of food or a drop of water. For three days you ration what little supplies you have and force yourself to suffer mercilessly. It's a fate better than death, now is not the time and this is not the place to have no water whatsoever. At the end of the third day you look towards the setting sun and something is different.  Horses, you think. They only cross the horizon when you're not looking, and quickly cross back out of view when you turn to see the setting sun -- they're only ever noticeable for a moment. You decide to: A: Disregard them. Sleep and continue on like normal, keep trying to find food or water along the way. B: Try to devise a way to lure one closer. Horseflesh is good eating, even if they're too small to ride. C: Stay on guard. It may be some evil magic brought up from the land. Try to limit your sleep. D: Don't stop here. Keep heading southeast.
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Aug 13, 2021 08:18
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B
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Aug 13, 2021 08:22
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B
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Aug 13, 2021 15:07
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B, but only for a short time. What are our skills and abilities?
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Aug 13, 2021 16:21
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B
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Aug 13, 2021 16:57
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Outrail posted:What are our skills and abilities?  quote:"Here is the world, empty and round, it dances around the sun, trembles and roars, gives and destroys; Gatwo has seen a glimpse behind the veil and has started along the dangerous road to truth. He knows many before him have gotten this far and no further. He knows a little astrology, a little about the death process and the mechanism of the soul, the infradimensions and structure of the world, and the laws which govern them. He's not a conjurer per se, but can do it. He knows how to do a lot of things, change the forms of the land and energy, bring out fire or lightning, how to travel without moving to some extent. quote:In the astral world an instructor invoked the chief of Geburah. He appeared riding a majestic white horse, wearing a white robe with a white mantle from head to foot. But it was Moloch, disguised. The instructor didn't conjure him, because he thought he was the Master of the White Lodge. Moloch asked: "Why have you invoked me?" --- You roll over and pretend to sleep. The horses come closer, but not close enough, so you close your eyes. They come closer, but not close enough. Horses are canny and can sense some kinds of deception, so you let yourself sleep. Sleep has layers like the waking world, and as long as you stay close to the edge you can wake yourself up. There is something like a sensation... but you wait. It happens again... now!  Of course it would be insane to imagine this evil land could support wholesome creatures. How could horses live where the grass itself is dead? The monsters strike with hooves as hard as iron, they tear your clothes and flesh with their teeth, but luckily for you one's exposed and you thrust your dagger up into its heart. The stench of its heart's blood strikes fear into the others and they flee. You're wounded. You're stained by bad blood. You've obtained a monstrous corpse. Whatever they were, they're weren't animate corpses. The creature spasms and dies a real death. The body is still warm. You: A: Food is food. Butcher the corpse, save what may be useful, and eat. B: Surely this thing is a true work of evil. Destroy its carcass. Although you're covered with its blood... C: Leave the body and walk away now. It's never wise to rest near the dead. D: There's no water, but if you strip naked you may be able to scrub yourself with the dust of this place.
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Aug 17, 2021 09:27
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E: Can we do some grim blood magic since we've already covered ourselves with it? Do some blood magic to make it rain, and make something of the corpse.
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Aug 17, 2021 14:52
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