Long Game 43: Under the Banner of Adonalsium

[Stick.]

1 hour ago, shanerockes said:

 I shall be known to everyone as Philepe De Pedro Von Leiderhuch Johnson III, not to get mixed up with my father, Philepe De Pedro Von Leiderhuch Johnson II. 

And Philepe De Pedro Von Leiderhuch Johnson III yet again uses a pronoun to address Philepe De Pedro Von Leiderhuch Johnson III.

[DeTess]

Pyromancer is obviously Arraenae pretending to be Meta pretending to be Young Bard pretending to be Alvron. Did you guys learn nothing from AG4?

[Droughtbringer]

12 hours ago, TheYoungPyromancer said:

   I SO GOT YOU GUYS! I'm not  Alv. Oh, and please don't mention this message to anyone else.

I will neither confirm nor deny that I have anything to confirm or deny.

What message are we not mentioning to anyone else? I wasn't completely sure

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

What order do players lose lives in? Say a player has their original life, one life for being Survival's vessel, one life for using Survival's investment ability, and one life from the Scadrial default ability. If they then get attacked twice, which two lives would they lose?

On 3/8/2018 at 3:14 AM, Seonid said:

 

17th Shard - With the dangerous machinations of the madman who once led you taken care of, you are free to study the power of the shards however you like. And if you keep their power to yourselves, who could blame you? It’s not everyday you get offered a chance at Shardic power. You win the game if all members of the Standard of Harmony and Adonalsium’s Chosen are killed and all Shards are in containment.

 

Sudden Death Win Condition - If Hoid and Khrissala are killed and all 11 Shards are in containment, the 17th Shard wins the game.

 

Since the 17th Shard's sudden death win condition is a strictly easier version of their normal win condition, does this mean that the normal win condition is not applicable? If so, does this mean that the 17th Shard can win the game along with either Adonalsium's Chosen or the Standard of Harmony?

[The Young Pyromancer]

DROUGHT!  *Grumbles*

The white text.

[Seonid]

18 hours ago, Elbereth said:

There's already one Shard out of containment at the beginning of the game, I believe.

This is true. If it's not in the rules, it needs to be. But either way, it will be announced at the start of the game.

19 hours ago, TheYoungPyromancer said:

What about Silverlight? Will it not have a doc?

Silverlight will not have a doc. All conversation there is done under the watchful eye of the whole thread.

2 hours ago, Devotary of Spontaneity said:

What order do players lose lives in? Say a player has their original life, one life for being Survival's vessel, one life for using Survival's investment ability, and one life from the Scadrial default ability. If they then get attacked twice, which two lives would they lose?

Since the 17th Shard's sudden death win condition is a strictly easier version of their normal win condition, does this mean that the normal win condition is not applicable? If so, does this mean that the 17th Shard can win the game along with either Adonalsium's Chosen or the Standard of Harmony?

Ooh - another really important clarification that I just read through and found out isn't in the rules. I'll bold it, so it stands out for people reading the thread. Extra lives do not stack with each other. You can only have one per cycle.

None of the factions can win together, although some of the Shards can have cooperative victories with the factions. I'll get back to you on the sudden death vs. regular win condition bit - it slipped past me as part of a set of last-minute balance changes. I might edit it slightly before the game starts to be more in line with the other two factions.

[The Young Pyromancer]

Yeah, the Shard being released from containment is not in the rules.

Do you want to see my Patrick Rothfuss parody?  It is my first roleplay ever, so I hope you like it.  Should I post it now, or wait for the game to start?

Edited March 13, 2018 by TheYoungPyromancer

[Magestar]

1 hour ago, Seonid said:

Ooh - another really important clarification that I just read through and found out isn't in the rules. I'll bold it, so it stands out for people reading the thread. Extra lives do not stack with each other. You can only have one per cycle.

Wait - so you can only have one extra life, tops?  Including the "Vessel" extra life?  What's the maximum amount of lives you could have at once?

[Droughtbringer]

35 minutes ago, Magestar said:

Wait - so you can only have one extra life, tops?  Including the "Vessel" extra life?  What's the maximum amount of lives you could have at once?

I'm assuming a maximum of 2 lives at once, as last game there was a plot that involved a lot of extra lives on a lot of people. Had those (blessed) Eliminators not acted when they did, Survival would have been practically guaranteed a victory, just due to extra lives.  (I'm not biased to the eliminators that game, at all)

[MonsterMetroid]

20 hours ago, Elbereth said:

While this is partly true, it's dangerous as a) Shard-passing groups are both difficult without PMs, make the chance of it coming into an elim's hands highly likely (and particularly of the rest of that group getting killed off), and c) people will be tempted to be converted by shards. Also, keep in mind that in order to win the 17th Shard needs every Shard back in containment. The more Shards that are uncontained, the harder that will be. 

Also, in the beginning, the eliminators won't have enough numbers to pull out Shards - if the villager were to abstain from taking any charges for a few cycles, that'd be a perfectly valid stratgety (though not one likely to occur). 

Is the eliminators you are referencing Hoid and Khriss's groups or who are the elims?

[Magestar]

13 minutes ago, MonsterMetroid said:

Is the eliminators you are referencing Hoid and Khriss's groups or who are the elims?

They're both kinda Elims, from a technical standpoint.  They're the ones with docs, and a conversion, and a typical Elim goal.

19 minutes ago, Droughtbringer said:

I'm assuming a maximum of 2 lives at once, as last game there was a plot that involved a lot of extra lives on a lot of people. Had those (blessed) Eliminators not acted when they did, Survival would have been practically guaranteed a victory, just due to extra lives.  (I'm not biased to the eliminators that game, at all)

Aww.  Extra lives are fun tho.  

Which game was this?  The last shard game?

[The Young Pyromancer]

Should I post my rp now or wait for the game to start?

[Elenion]

50 minutes ago, Magestar said:

They're both kinda Elims, from a technical standpoint.  They're the ones with docs, and a conversion, and a typical Elim goal.

Aww.  Extra lives are fun tho.  

Which game was this?  The last shard game?

I think he's referring to the Autonomy faction the last shard game. I was Cultivation, and I had the ability to refill abilities with a specified number of uses. I had a protect ability and Doc had a protect ability, so I spammed my Shardic power and the whole faction got a basically unlimited number of protections. The elims converted me midway through, and I played to that win con, which was probably the only thing that kept the Autonomy team from breaking the game.

[Hemalurgic Headshot]

Dressed in what to the untrained, uncouth eye as a jumble of fashions taken from diverse cultures across the Cosmere, but was actually a precise assortment of fashions taken from diverse cultures across the Cosmere, our hero and color connoisseur, Jiamo, walked down the lit corridor. His apparel consisted of a bright vermilion headscarf from Lightside Taldain, a traditional Terris cloak from Scadrial, dyed a pine green hue, lime trousers, and on his right arm he wore a wristwatch, adorned with a variety of gemstones. He had chosen to neglect footwear, after the manner of the Purelakers. To some, it was an eyesore, yet to others more trained in the art of fashion, Jiamo's wardrobe was brimming with symbolism and purpose.

To begin, it was only fit that the whole Cosmere be represented in a place where all of the learning of the Cosmere was located. He was rather excited to be in Silverlight, hence the vermilion, yet he wanted to maintain an air of authority, so he selected the Terris cloak. The trousers were there as a blending element, to visually tie the headscarf and the cloak with an intermediate color.

The floor tiles were rather cool, but Jiamo didn't mind. Internally, he was brimming with excitement. He turned the corner to see a hectic group of researchers chase a chicken (an actual chicken, not the Rosharan kind) down the hall, leaving a trail of shed feathers behind them. Jiamo glanced back to see them disappear around a corner and shrugged. That's just how it is a Silverlight Labs, he thought.

[Seonid]

1 hour ago, Magestar said:

Wait - so you can only have one extra life, tops?  Including the "Vessel" extra life?  What's the maximum amount of lives you could have at once?

Probably need to walk back that statement slightly. The "Vessel" protection is treated mechanically as an extra life, but it isn't actually an extra life. The Vessel's protection against attacks (not the lynch, and not Odium or Ruin) will stack with an extra life gained from another source.

So basically, there are a number of ways to get access to extra lives (Survival's ability, Preservation's Investiture, the Shardworld ability for Scadrial, etc.). All of these extra lives are temporary and do not stack with each other.

I missed one source of extra lives when I wrote that, so here's the real clarification.

• The following extra lives do not stack with themselves or each other: The extra life granted by burning Preservation's Investiture, the extra life gained by using the Shardworld ability for Scadrial, the extra life gained by Survival's ability, and the extra life gained by holding a Shattered Shard that does not have an investment ability. If you hold more than one Shattered Shards that grant extra lives, the extra lives do not stack, but if you survive an attack that consumes the extra life on one Shard, the extra lives on the other Shattered Shard or Shards still protect you
• The extra life gained by becoming a Dakhor Monk will stack with any other extra life the player has access to.

Now, for worked examples.

Example 1:

Assume Wilson - currently on Scadrial - holds the Shattered Shard of Autonomy and is the Vessel of Preservation, and also has one charge of Preservation's investiture and one charge of Odium's investiture (acquired earlier in the game). If she is attacked by a Dakhor Monk she survives the attack - consuming the extra life gained from the Shattered Shard of Autonomy. She could have used the Shardworld ability for Scadrial to burn the charge of Odium's investiture to gain an extra life, or she could have burned Preservation's investiture for the same effect. However, since neither of those stack with the extra life gained from being a Shattered Shard, it would have had no effect.

However, the next night, Wilson can either burn Preservation's investiture to gain another extra life, or burn Odium's investiture for Scadrial's ability to the same effect. Since she no longer has an extra life from the Shattered Shard of Autonomy, this extra life will now protect her. But using both abilities will still have no effect.

If, on either night, Wilson is attacked twice (unless one of the attacks is by Odium or Ruin, which bypasses a Vessel's protection), she will still survive because the protection due to being a Vessel stacks with extra lives gained from other sources.

Example 2:

Assume Alvron holds the Shattered Shards of both Ambition and Odium. Since neither of the Shattered Shards can invest in other players, each of them gives the holder an extra life. If Alvron is attacked once during the Night, the extra life from one of his Shattered Shards (chosen at random) is consumed. The next night, he would still have an extra life, because the second Shattered Shard still offers an extra life.

However, if Alvron is attacked twice during the Night, he dies, because the extra lives from Shattered Shards do not stack with each other.

Example 3:

Gamma Fiend has been invested in by the Shard of Dominion, and is thus a Dakhor Monk. He has 2 charges of Preservation's investiture, the Shattered Shard of Survival, and a charge of Cultivation's investiture, and is currently on Scadrial. He has an extra life from the Shattered Shard of Survival, and a second extra life from being a Dakhor Monk, and can thus survive 2 attacks against him during the Night Cycle. However, burning Preservation's Investiture or using Scadrial's Shardworld ability will have no additional effect, because they do not stack with the extra life from the Shattered Shard.

If anybody is still confused, let me know, and I'll try to clarify further. All of the clarifications given so far will be put into the second post of this thread for reference after I get home from work tonight.

[Arinian]

Wait! No extra lifes abuse?! You ruined my plan on getting Survival again... now I'm not interested in it.

[Magestar]

1 hour ago, Elenion said:

I think he's referring to the Autonomy faction the last shard game. I was Cultivation, and I had the ability to refill abilities with a specified number of uses. I had a protect ability and Doc had a protect ability, so I spammed my Shardic power and the whole faction got a basically unlimited number of protections. The elims converted me midway through, and I played to that win con, which was probably the only thing that kept the Autonomy team from breaking the game.

Oh yes.

I remember this now.  

1 hour ago, Seonid said:

Probably need to walk back that statement slightly. The "Vessel" protection is treated mechanically as an extra life, but it isn't actually an extra life. The Vessel's protection against attacks (not the lynch, and not Odium or Ruin) will stack with an extra life gained from another source.

(Lots of other Rule Clarifying stuff that would make this quote way too huge)

Ah, I see.  That actually cleans everything up quite nicely.  I probably should have gotten that bit about the "Vessel" Protection.

[Fifth Scholar]

From his sales booth, Darrel spotted Jiamo walking down the street with his absurd fashion, the colors and designs clashing horribly. Many would dismiss such a man, but Darrel knew a customer when he saw one. The hideous pink gloves he had invested with Odium were still sitting in the corner of his booth, just waiting to be sold. He was honestly baffled that nobody bought things from him. Wasn’t a clock with Devotion’s own Investiture worth at least five thousand clips? At least, to someone who had Scadrian currency. But the gloves demanded payment in emerald broams, since Odium was influencing Roshar, or something like that. But even so, Darrel was scandalized. His last customer had only paid him eighteen thousand clips for the amulet with Preservation’s Investiture. Did these people realize that would only pay for six years’ worth of bribes to the research center where the Shards were contained? Heartless and cruel, these people were. He’d have to start eating five meals a day at this rate. He’d starve! No, he needed those broams from Jaimo. Or else, in twenty years, he’d run out of his bribe and eating money, and be unable to steal more Investiture. So he couldn’t make his precious Invested objects, and the cash flow would stop! No fancy house. No retirement at fifty. It would be truly terrible. 

Darrel breathed deeply to calm himself and stave off his panic attack. He called across the street to Jaimo. “Hey! You with the yellow-green turban! Want these gloves?” He waved the pink Odium gloves in front of him. “They’re Invested with Odium’s own...well, Investiture I suppose! Probably be really nifty in a combat situation, to be fair. Normally, I’d demand twenty emerald broams for such a commodity, but with your wardrobe I’m sure it would fit perfectly, so I’m gonna give you a discount! How about eighteen for these?” Idiot, he berated himself. Why’d you lower the price so quickly?

Filled with anxiety and excitement, he waited for the man’s response, but also noticed a woman walking nearby, another researcher from the Silverlight labs. Elaria, her name was? She looked a bit too smart to want to buy from him, but he could always try. 

@Hemalurgic Headshot @Elbereth

[Hemalurgic Headshot]

Jiamo was hailed from across the plaza. The man from whence the sound had come was seated behind a rack of horrendously assorted merchandise. There was neither rhyme nor reason to the organization of the booth, and every item demanded an exorbitant sum, my colors! But none of this bothered Jiamo more than the salesman's erroneous identification of the color of his headscarf.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Jiamo hollered across to the man. He began to gesture wildly at his head. "This is not 'yellow-green', my good fellow. No sir, if your eyes actually could see, this piece of exotic fabric, acquired in Taldain only after quite a bout of haggling, is VERMILION!"

EXAMPLE.

Jiamo whipped out a crimson scarf from his pocket and tied it around his waist, to signify his immense anger. He decided to get closer to the salesman, that perhaps he could see that he was in the wrong and that it was a brilliant color. However, upon approaching, he noticed the particular item the man had been advertising.

"What... is... that..." Jiamo pointed at the pair of gloves, as horrendously pink as a rash. They matched nothing in his wardrobe. He could not think of a single combination that would complement them. And the style was appalling as well. Besides the terrible color, the leather gloves had a mesh veil over the palm and a string of beads on the back, yet the mesh had dyed differently than the leather, so it was two shades a different color! And the beads were highly impractical. Though Jiamo could see their appeal, they served no use on this item. Dross.

The salesman looked expectantly up at Jiamo. He scoffed and turned away. There was nothing useful at that vendor at all.

All eyes were on him as he strode off, and it took him a second to notice. Quite a spectacle he had made. Jiamo felt the blood rush to his face and mentally scolded himself for making such a scene. Though it was necessary to educate the unenlightened, everyone must now think him a buffoon! He sulked away.

[Fifth Scholar]

I think I mixed up your scarf color with your trouser color. Sorry. I do know what color vermilion is. But I do appreciate the scene you made.

I’ll get some RP in later when I have time to respond to your myriad of accusations.

 

 

[DrakeMarshall]

Everen waited patiently behind the doors of Silverlight Labs, resting his hand on the access panel, imprinting the unsealed metalmind with his identity. After a short duration, an emerald fixed at the top of the panel lit up briefly. The entrance unbolted, and the door slid open. For an ostensibly peaceful organization, the 17th shard maintained an improbably strict security protocol.

Light streamed in from the doorway, but Everen's shadow naturally fell towards the light. He exited the building. Cynthia chirped happily and took off from his collar, flying in circles overhead. The aviar was partial to the outdoors, and apparently the exterior of Silverlight qualified. Everen hummed a tune absentmindedly, strolling through the streets of Silverlight. For the next hour, he had nowhere in particular to be.

He overheard a merchant, making a bid for a sale. "Normally, I’d demand twenty emerald broams for such a commodity, but with your wardrobe I’m sure it would fit perfectly, so I’m gonna give you a discount! How about eighteen for these?"

The pitch was going to Jiam, from Silverlight Labs. As for the one making the pitch... He scanned the part of his memory dedicated to personal acquaintances. This would be Darrel, purveyor of miscellanious invested goods.

"EXCUSE ME?!"

He heard Jiamo cry indignantly at Darrel.

"This is not 'yellow-green', my good fellow. No sir, if your eyes actually could see, this piece of exotic fabric, acquired in Taldain only after quite a bout of haggling, is VERMILION!"

Everen winced. Jiamo did not take it kindly when somebody misrepresented his choice clothing.

Everen watched from across the street as the situation unfolded, not sure what to do. Jiamo finished berating the merchant and stormed off, his face turning a shade that went nicely with the vermilion headscarf.

 

Hmm.

Everen sauntered up towards Darrel's booth. "Rough time of it?" he asked innocently. "Nalthian ettiquette for selling clothing is... Complex. Truth is, it can be difficult for a foreigner to make sense of the subtleties of it. Which is a singularly unfortunate fact for a worldhopping salesperson." he paused. "Incidentally, I might be able to help you in that department. You would have to find another to sell you connection to Nalthis, but... I can still grant you the memories and experience of a Nalthian."

Yes I did just made a sales pitch to a salesperson. 

Edited March 14, 2018 by Drake Marshall
changed line break for clarity

[The Young Pyromancer]

Patrick Rothfuss parody RP: (I am roleplaying as Kelsier)

 It was night again.  Silverlight lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.

The most obvious part was a hollow, echoing quiet, made by things that were lacking.  If there had been a Shard it would have coursed through the streets, set the great Investiture collectors creaking, and brushed the silence down the road like trailing Cognitive Shadows.  If there had been a crowd, even a handful of people inside one of the laboratories, they would have filled the silence with conversation and laughter, the clatter and clamor one expects from a research facility late at night.  If there had been music . . . but no, of course there was no music.  In fact there were none of these things, and so the silence remained.

Inside the Shard-Facility™ a pair of men huddled at one corner of the viewing-chamber.  They studied with quiet determination, avoiding serious discussion of troubling news.  In doing this they added a small, sullen silence to the larger, hollow one.  It made an alloy of sorts, a counterpoint.

The third silence was not an easy thing to notice.  If you listened for an hour, you might begin to feel it in the roof tiles underfoot and in the rough, splintering barrels behind the building.  It was in the weight of the black stone chimney that held the heat of a long dead fire.  It was in the slow back and forth of a white linen cloth across the shape of a metalmind.  And it was in the nimble hands of the man who stood there, polishing a stretch of chromium that already gleamed in the moonlight.

The man had scarred arms, scarred as a well-ploughed field.  His one un-spiked eye was dark and distant, and he moved with the subtle certainty that comes from knowing many things.

The laboratory was his, just as the third silence was his.  This was appropriate, as it was the greatest silence of the three, wrapping the others inside itself.  It was deep and wide as autumn’s ending.  It was heavy as a great river-smooth stone.  It was the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who refused to die.

[Fifth Scholar]

Darrel winced at the outburst from Jaimo. With the distance between the two of them, he had mixed his trouser color with his strange turban. Well, he wouldn’t be making that mistake again. As the man yelled at him, Darrel gained more and more of a desire to slink under his booth and vanish for a few seconds. But as Jaimo continued to vent, he noticed the man’s eyes drifting towards the gloves he held, and the expression on his face changed. Whether that was good or bad, Darrel didn’t know. But the man finally left, and Everen, a man who had turned down his Devotion clock a few days earlier, approached him. 

"Nalthian ettiquette for selling clothing is... Complex. Truth is, it can be difficult for a foreigner to make sense of the subtleties of it. Which is a singularly unfortunate fact for a worldhopping salesperson." he paused. "Incidentally, I might be able to help you in that department. You would have to find another to sell you connection to Nalthis, but... I can still grant you the memories and experience of a Nalthian."

Darrel frowned at the man’s generous offer. Nobody helped someone for free. Or for an unspecified cost, which was basically the same thing. Just didn’t happen. Everen wanted something, so Darrel took the offer warily despite his interest. “Hmm,” Darrel mused, in reality gathering his thoughts. “Now that does seem very intriguing, and frankly, anything that’ll help me get some new customers would be appreciated. Do you know any of these people you mentioned who could give me this connection? I’m sure we could make a bargain, but I’d need to get to know them first, and I’m not sure that’s an expense I’m willing to stomach. But being a Nalthian in spirit does sound interesting. Gives me an opportunity to get more ins with those lab workers, too.” Haggling really is the best way to go when accepting a deal, Darrel thought to himself. Accepting outright just drives the price up.

Wait...haggling...didn’t Jaimo say he haggled for the *vermilion* turban? And he was looking at my gloves strangely...

He must really want a deal, just at a lower price. Well, he’ll get it. 

Ignoring the startled jump of Everen, Darrel sprang up from his half-crouched position and began to weave through the crowd looking for Jaimo. “Watch my booth, I’ll pay you for it later!” he hollered back at Everen, searching for Jaimo among the scattered crowd, gloves clutched expectantly in his hand. He ran through the crowd, knocking aside passerby in a desperate attempt to get to his customer. Darrel eventually found him near the entrance to the labs, and out of breath, fell on the ground from exertion. Jaimo regarded him strangely, and Darrel used the opportunity to make his second pitch. ”Researcher, I’m truly sorry for misrepresenting your...orange turban during my initial request. But I think your indignant reaction to my pitch was a bluff to get me to lower my price.” He looked up expectantly, and despite a brief splutter the man made no response. Taking that as a good sign, Darrel continued. “However, considering the insult I previously made about your clothing, I’ll lower the price of these gloves down to a manageable fifteen broams! They’re still as high quality as before, and they’re invested by Odium himself! Really, think of the vast potential of these gloves, when you consider that they have a small bit of Hate, and possibly Passion, inside of them. Truly I am offering you a great deal, sir! I implore you to forget our previous interaction, and judge this objectively. I think you’ll find that these gloves are well worth the deal I’m offering. And for only a few ruby broams, I can even change the pink color if it doesn’t match your preferences. What say you?” He looked up at Jaimo, hope shining in his eyes.

@Hemalurgic Headshot @Drake Marshall (Feel free to abandon my pithy booth)

A sales pitch to a salesman is a great way to get into a haggling debate and/or economics discussion, Drake

[Hemalurgic Headshot]

Jiamo had nearly returned to his dorm when behind him came the merchant, running with great enthusiasm. Obviously having exerted himself, the salesman collapsed on the ground, panting. Perhaps he needed to exercise more... but the private affairs of others weren't his concern. 

"--but I think you indignant reaction to my pitch was a bluff to get me to lower my price," the merchant was saying. Jiamo sputtered. A bluff? Those gloves were horrendous enough to burn the eyes as red as a shade's. The merchant was still talking, spewing tidbits about how the gloves contained bits of Odium...

"I can even change the pink color if it doesn't match your preferences."

Jiamo's eyes widened. Change that thrice-cursed color? Now the item was even within the realm of possibility. But before Jiamo replied, another thought crossed his mind. The merchant had the ability to change the color the entire time? Yet had chosen not to? Certainly, thought Jiamo, this man was colorblind. However, he was tempted. And the man was certainly desperate, all but grovelling at his feet to make the deal. He considered his options...

"I shall let your transgression slide," Jiamo declared. "Yet... you must be joking. Fifteen broams? Certainly you don't know the value of clothing. Sure, you might have been able to fool a layman with your ploy, to convince him that the gloves were merely tools to use. Nonsense! Its appearance has importance too. Had they been of better make, quality fabric," --here Jiamo gagged-- "and a better color, I would have been more than willing to pay full price. But fifteen for this? and an extra sum for recoloring?! You ask too much. That is all."

He paused, allowing the merchant to pull another argument out of his pants.

[Stick.]

7 hours ago, Elenion said:

I think he's referring to the Autonomy faction the last shard game. I was Cultivation, and I had the ability to refill abilities with a specified number of uses. I had a protect ability and Doc had a protect ability, so I spammed my Shardic power and the whole faction got a basically unlimited number of protections. The elims converted me midway through, and I played to that win con, which was probably the only thing that kept the Autonomy team from breaking the game.

That was nice.

Spoiler