Kasimir
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Everything posted by Kasimir
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Put it this way: I gave a range for a reason, that being of balance. 24 is therefore the bare minimum required for a fair distribution between 4 factions. That being said, for other considerations of balance, I might still go with a 3-faction set-up. Ideally at this point, I'd like 1-2 more players before saying for certain that it will be 4-faction. (And of course, more are always welcome )
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Just a few gentle reminders: 1. I'd like to remind those who haven't yet PMed me the Google Account they will be using for this game to do so. I will always reply to acknowledge receipt, so if you haven't received a reply, please prod me again. I might've missed that PM, for one reason or another. Without the account, you will not be able to access your Faction doc, so this is of middling importance. 2. Thank you and welcome to those who have signed up! This announcement is especially for those who haven't played MR1 before. I'd recommend taking a careful look at the rules, because this game is a reboot of MR1. As a result, it diverges from traditional Sanderson Elimination rules at some points, including a less informative write-up and the fact that the only votes I will be counting are those sent to me (like actions) in the role PM. 3. Note that while my first preference is for rule clarifications to be posed to me via PM rather than in-doc or in-thread, I will also post the anonymised questions and answer on the thread itself, for everyone to check up on. 4. Having said that, I've been asked in a PM what my threshold for a 4-faction game is. At anywhere between 24-28 players, I will run a 4-faction game instead of the current 3-faction set-up. So any lurkers who are still trying to decide, you may want to take that into consideration
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Just for amusement. Remember when I said the Lovers had a code? No code is complete without a help-sheet
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"Do not waste a day of delight in regret, Hafiz / Do not expect anything from this fleeting world."
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I'd hate to have to end up lynching myself because someone voted for Wyrm
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First, noted. I've changed the bit about the Bureaucrat Essence Mark to reflect that. Thank you for catching it Second, no, the Arbiter does not. Once the Arbiter's role reverts, the incorruptibility now applies to his new Faction. Edit: Major announcement! I've reconsidered the docs issue after some discussion with Wilson and Wyrm. Here's how things are now going to work. (I will update the rules post in a bit to reflect this.) 1. All players need to privately PM me the email address attached to the Google Account they wish to use to play this game. While I've been trying to avoid the original Google Account set-up of MR1, I think this cannot be helped. (This would get rid of the issue with link-sharing, too.) Upon my honour, I promise that I will not do anything untoward with the email addresses, such as sacrificing them to Babaji for some vashikaran ritual If you are uncomfortable giving me a personal email address, then please create a throwaway Google Account that you will be using to play this game. 2. You will still be getting a new Faction doc every cycle. And the rules about not copying and pasting content from past cycle docs to another doc are still in force. (Except in the noted exception of the Discovery Faction.) 3. Since access is now locked via Google Docs, I will be leaving the Faction docs of previous cycles up, and set to 'View only.' Thank you, and I apologise for the change. I'd hoped to make things work without Google Accounts, but alas, it is not to be.
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1. From a strictly RP-perspective, you can treat it as not knowing what level of diplomatic access to the movers and shakers you have: the Jindoeese level, or the Svordish level. They're treating you very well, but after all, there's always another secret... 2. Someone wanted me to say it explicitly, eh? Yes. Exactly
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Turnabout is fair play, eh? 1. On the Arbiter: I can neither confirm nor deny exactly how many Arbiters there will be However, the 'five Arbiter' number came from canon, so it's a reference to canon and I'm not going to be bound by it. (Five incorruptible Arbiters is also a bit much, don't you think? ) The Arbiter can change one lynch vote and one transfer vote each cycle, yes. 2. On the Resealer: Yes. When I say that a role can save another from death, I mean it can save from any cause of death, be it the lynch or the kill. 3. On the Striker: Yes. As indicated by the Order of Actions/the Stack, both role-blocks and protective actions may prevent a kill-with-me from succeeding. (Note, however, that if the kill-with-me was role-blocked, then it's not considered to have been used at all, and so a Rememberer stamping someone with the Striker's role will then confer the kill-with-me onto the target.) 4. On the Forger: All role-blocks come before voting, and therefore block the vote as well. 5. You're correct about how this would work. Tim would only have access to the remaining Essence Marks, and he would be notified of which he can use. 6. Y'know, I wrote a long explanation on why I was not going to allow access to faction docs from previous cycles, and Wyrm asked me to get rid of it because it was long-winded, but I told him I needed the reasons in place... In making this decision, the strongest principle I am appealing to is to avoid having a sort of ‘objective’ public record of discussions that’s technically GM-confirmed. We try to prevent this with regard to PMs by disallowing copy-and-pasting, in order to make players rely on human testimony and all its attendant fallibilities. I felt that the same principle should be extended to the docs. The thread itself is the place for this sort of objective discussion. When it comes to the docs, what I am against is providing an easy way [as easy as combing through x number of pages is…] to check if someone is being truthful. For that reason, I have chosen to make the previous cycle faction docs inaccessible, to encourage this dependency on testimonial reports of players.
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Kaleva thought he recognised the patron who had sat himself down at his table. Ableah Edr--not one of the notables at court, but with influence enough to whisper some words into the right ears. "Unfortunately," he said, "Protection is not mine to arrange, should you choose to continue your current path." His eyes swept across the room, lingering on a tiny man with wild hair and a frothing beard, who perched precariously on a bamboo stool, clay teacup balanced in his hands. It was true that with Yazad as the Emperor, he had come to an unparalled measure of power within the Rose Empire. But, thought Kaleva, all things ended. He, too, drank the last of the tea--drained his cup down to the dregs--and set it back on the table and nodded to Wenshon. "The time of the Reform Faction, I fear," he continued, more quietly, "Is drawing to an end. And with that, I can now only do so much. My influence is waning. You might," he added mildly, "Remember that." He stood up, and left the teahouse, stepping out into the storm. As the rain beat down on him, soaking the elegant robes he wore, Kaleva thought he saw--out of the corner of his eye--another old dog; another familiar face who'd survived decades of scheming at the court, watching him. Ah, Cang Lu, old friend, he thought, in amusement. It was a fine dance, but all dances had to come to an end, eventually. It was the way of all things, as the each day brought another of the eighty suns to reign over the empire in splendour. All in all, it had been a day for such thoughts of transience. Kaleva whistled a soft folk tune to himself as he took the long, slow walk back to the vastness of the Rose Palace.
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Thanks for the tip-off Must've confused it with this paper I was referencing... >> Fixed!
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Player List: 1. Ableah Edr (Haelbarde) - Influential cousin of refugees displaced by the Desolation of Smaug Elantris 2. Bortholemew the Blind (Bort) - Midget with mad, white hair sticking out in all directions, and a beard that is capable of anything 3. Cang Lu (Wyrmhero) - Old face at court, tasseomancer [苍鹭] 4. Baatar Zaofu (Adamir) - Slayer of the fourth wall 5. Jain (Jain) - An ordinary panda, nothing to see here, also known as Xiao Xiong [小熊] 6. Seixa (phattemer) - Shu-Korath Elantrian who re-enacted Prison Break 7. Wai ZhierSen (little wilson) - Description pending [智鹅] 8. Cation Vinid (Shallan) - Chronic optimist, killed everyone on a train but it's the train's fault. 9. Sir Edonar (Paranoid King) - Badchull ex-bodyguard 10. Hreo (Herowannabe) - The most interesting Pirate on Sel. 11. Waimin (Mailliw73) - A low-level bureaucrat who just blew his life savings on a half-bred Gurish horse, struggling with a mid-life crisis. 12. Tia (Tulir) - A skilled wanderer, a refugee from Kae 13. Locke (OrlokTsubodai) - Description pending 14. Sei Nis (Seonid) - A researcher of wormhole physics and worldhopping currently slacking off 15. Arandar (Araris Valerian) - An elderly fellow who never died and got better 16. Dow (dowanx) - Description pending 17. The Green Xienbei (Emerald101) - A northern Nomad with an obsession for green camouflage paint 18. Kartesh (Zephrer) - A former soldier who has taken up dueling due to boredom 19. Jeno (The Only Joe) - A bargeman from Arelon who came to the Empire after a pirate incident 20. Eo (spooky Eowyn) - In it for the food 21. Neo (neodymium) - Young blacksmith's apprentice under suspicion for blacksmith's disappearance 22. Pixie (Pixie) - Description pending 23. Ishtar (zas678) - A mysterious courtier with a dubious past. 24. Asterion (Alvron) - Wagon driver making deliveries of grindstone; chills out at the palace. 25. Ynla Ka (Clanky) - Crippled old man using a sword as a cane; has issues with Forgers 26. Slave (Bridge Boy) - Former runaway bridge boy suffering from Sartrean bad faith. 27. Kip Sturm (Kipper) - Description pending 28. Ashim (Aonar Faileas) - Chess-playing minor functionary Edit: Bolded names are those whose PMs I have not yet received. Please do so at least one day before the game is to start! Thank you
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Rule Clarifications: -Will each Faction have 5 Arbiters? PAFO. -Can an Arbiter change one lynch vote and one transfer vote per cycle? Or is it one lynch vote or one transfer vote? The Arbiter can change one lynch vote and one transfer vote per cycle. -Can the Resealer save someone from the lynch? Yes. -Can the Striker Captain's 'kill-with-me' be blocked by a role-block? Yes. It can also be blocked by a protection. However, note that if a Striker Captain's 'kill-with-me' is roleblocked, then the ability is considered to have never been used. As a result, a Rememberer bestowing that role upon a target also confers the 'kill-with-me' ability onto the target. -Can the Forger's Bureaucrat Essence Mark also block votes? Yes. It blocks both votes and actions, like all role-blocks in this game. -From a RP perspective, how does the Diplomat not knowing their nationality work? From a RP perspective, think of it as the Diplomat not knowing what level of access they have to the movers and shakers in the Factions. They could have Jindoeese-level access or Svordish-level access. I hope that helps -If a Rememberer changes an Arbiter's role, does that mean the Arbiter can be swapped that cycle? Yes. Exactly. Furthermore, if a Forged Arbiter (i.e. one targeted by a Forgery) ends up swapping Factions, then when the Arbiter's abilities return on the cycle after, they now apply to their new Faction. So, the Arbiter now cannot be bribed from their new Faction.
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It was said that a man could not turn a corner in the Imperial Seat without stumbling upon a teahouse. There were many such teahouses; scattered throughout the districts of the capital. Some were little more than squat shops in which a labourer could grab a cup of hot tea at the end of the day, listen to the gossip that was the lifeblood of the Imperial Seat, and dice away his coin. Others were elegant affairs: towering edifices with arched roofs, where the artists and bureaucrats gathered to comment on paintings or exchange poetry. The Frozen Moon teahouse was neither. An establishment respected for its age, the teahouse was built next to an open courtyard, with blossoming peach trees overlooking a clear, still pond. Here, in the teahouse, the Imperial Seat’s underworld diced, fought, and otherwise mixed freely with the highest-ranked bureaucrats of the Empire. It was a typical midsummer’s night, when the whispers of the Emperor’s impending death trickled from the corridors of the Rose Palace to the crowded tables of the Frozen Moon. Storytellers, perhaps, would later make much out of the fact that a storm was rolling in over the far horizon. Looking back, Wenshon would’ve said it had been a perfectly ordinary day. Business was good, as it had always been, and with the exception of a brawl between a stocky MaiPon woman and a few small-time local thugs that had turned ugly, there was nothing to set this day apart from the others: nothing to mark the fact that the Empire’s future now dangled on a knife-edge. Storms, after all, were common in midsummer. Wenshon went from crowded table to table, copper kettle in hand, refilling cups of tea. Steam rose from the fired-clay cups, mingling with the sweet fragrance of the herbs. He picked up coins, swabbed tables and carried out plates of small dumplings to the customers. There was a nervous energy to the clientele of the Frozen Moon that night, and even a long-time proprietor could tell that change was in the air. “…heard from one of the servants…” someone was saying. “…going to die, it’s only a matter of time…” “…gone, then, and it’ll start another faction war, and don’t tell me you think that’s good, that’s the last thing any of us wants.” Wenshon refilled the cup of that last speaker, keeping his expression carefully neutral. He recognised the man. Of course he did. This, he thought, was the most senior arbiter of the Reform Faction, and one of the most powerful men in the Rose Empire: the Arbiter Kaleva. Kaleva thanked him, a trifle absently, and turned the warmed clay over in his hands. Wenshon recognised the woman he was speaking to: the ruthless Arbiter Frava of the Heritage Faction. He refilled her cup as well, steeping the tea anew. She barely gave him a second glance. Frava said, her voice sharp and nasal, “It is past time, Kaleva. Even you must realise that your faction is on its way out and has been, for a very long time.” Kaleva murmured—oh, but that sly fox, his voice was pitched to cut through the ambient din of the teahouse—“We shall see about that, shan’t we?” His pale eyes met Wenshon’s, waiting, expectant. The clamour of the teahouse, the murmur of several conversations had died down, now, and in the lull, Wenshon knew what Kaleva was angling for. “What news?” he asked, feigning confusion. “The Emperor Yazad is gravely ill,” Kaleva said, sipping tea placidly from his cup. He gestured his appreciation and continued. “Expect a new Emperor to be elevated soon.” In the ensuing silence, Wenshon heard the rumble of distant thunder, the soft crackling of the fire, the muffled sound of the pouring rain beating against the smooth stones of the courtyard. It was broken, at last, only by the sharp crack of breaking pottery; he realised the help had accidentally knocked a tray of clean cups off the counter. It was one thing to know, he thought, and another to hear it from the mouth of Arbiter Kaleva himself. “What then?” someone asked. A low-level bureaucrat, from the looks of her. Possibly hoping for advancement, and realising the succession could dash those hopes…or reward them. “Hope,” advised Kaleva placidly, “For a smooth succession.” This time, his steady gaze met that of Arbiter Frava. She snorted, downed the last of the tea, and left, beckoning to the servants and guards who waited near the entrance. One of them opened an oiled-paper umbrella and stepped out into the storm first, spreading the umbrella to shelter the Arbiter. Kaleva watched her leave, his eyes thoughtful. He said nothing. Wenshon set down the kettle and went about locating the broom to sweep up the shards of broken clay. Emperors died, he found himself thinking, and succession crises loomed, but at the end of it all, life in the Rose Empire beneath the eighty splendid suns continued for everyone else, day after day. MR7: Eighty Splendid Suns The current Emperor of Eighty Suns, Yazad, grows weaker each day from his disease. While the resealers are working hard to stave off his impending death, it has become clear that the time has come for a new candidate to sit the Rose Throne. Already, the factions are plotting and moving against each other. Here, in the very heart of the Rose Empire, thickets of intrigue thrive and flourish; plots are executed with coin and connections, just as much as they are with crossbow bolts and knives. The factions are growing restless. Arbiters, all of them, begin meeting in secret to discuss favoured candidates, making and breaking faction alliances. A time of great change is on the horizon. Only one faction will emerge triumphant from this struggle. And the winner will shape the future of the Rose Empire. Misc Housekeeping: -This game will begin on Tuesday, 30th June, at 11PM SGT [=GMT+8]. Cycles will end at 11PM SGT as well, and expect to see the write-up soon after. -Spec doc is available upon request. Just drop me a PM. -My policy on clarificatory questions is as follows: I will do my best to address these in a timely fashion. I would prefer questions that are asked in-thread or in-doc be bolded or set off in some clear way. Ultimately, for a 90-100% chance that I’ll see it and answer it in time, please ask me your questions in the role PM. Those are my first priority to check up on and answer. *Terms and conditions apply. -As this is not Nalthis, please keep in mind that people do not Return from death. In other words, please refrain from posting in the main thread if you are dead, whatever the reason. -I would especially like to thank Gamma, Wilson, and last but definitely not least, Wyrm for their help in debugging the game. Any remaining flaws are entirely my fault. -I will confirm if this will be a 3-faction or 4-faction game (based on player numbers), so be sure to check the rules post for updates as the rules will reflect this! Edit: This game will be a 4-faction game. -I’d like to gently remind all players to take a look at the Etiquette Policy and the Fair Play rules and to remember to keep to them In addition, please explicitly follow this game’s rules. Where in doubt, check with me or the impartial mod (who will be Gamma); preferably both of us. Thank you, and have fun! Quick Links:
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Your move, Kas
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So, I was posting in the bad day thread about how my uni admin kind of messed up the graduating courseload I had to take and was shoving me towards classes in a very specialist field that: A. I wasn't trained to deal with, B. I didn't need to graduate. I was trying to look up module codes in order to re-submit my graduation plan for the final year, and I noticed we had this new, cool class called "Life, the Universe and Everything." I got pretty excited. Checked the websites: wow, new class and there's nothing on it! So, I dropped the prof teaching it an email asking about it. ...Turns out I was asking him about taking the freshman introductory class, which now has a cool new name. Yep, definitely embarrassed now
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Sorry, nope. Okay, I give up. It probably wasn't the best idea, but I really like that film. It's a German children's film called Keinohrhase und Zweiohrküken [Earless Rabbit and Two-Eared Chick, literally] It's about two misfits with different dreams The rabbit just wants to be accepted and have a friend, and the chick just wants to be able to fly. And there's a semi-antagonist, the fox, who keeps getting pressured by his dad to be a proper fox >> Anyway, okay, here's something that might be better: A teenager becomes a god to protect his family, while his schoolmate hopes senpai will finally notice her, and another god gets punished for breaking regulations. Drama ensues.
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We volunteered to take part in a science experiment on extended cognition that went terribly right That's pretty much it.
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Thanks for the advice At this rate, I think I'll do so, then!
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Having a Bad Day? Stop here for a Good Rant!
Kasimir replied to traceria's topic in General Discussion
...Guess whose graduation plans just got utterly derailed by the uni admin? Oh, admin. Can we please not replace every single one of the classes I need to have cleared to graduate with classes in Chinese philosophy? I'm not trained for that and I don't need that to graduate! I needed those classes! *headdesking* so hard right now. -
I want to preface this with the clarification that I'm a player who plays to have fun, not to win. As such, not winning this game doesn't bother me. (As you can tell from having chosen in the interests of Arelon instead of Lover!Kas back when making my decision, although that had really more to do with the Stack.) At least for me, the point was less about whether or not there could still be lurking Cultists but rather, what sort of useful roles we could have to block those. At least if the call of who to save had been mine to make (in a nearby possible world where Seonid had been around for the opening, perhaps?), I would've preferred to save two Elantrians as compared to the Priest. My personal reading was that the Priest's usefulness diminishes: A. once the Gyorn and Odiv are dead, B. once the Village or at least the people making the call had decided to let off subtlety at the nearest bus stop and just fireball anyone who wasn't confirmed. Once you flip the switch to go nuclear, there's no going back. As I saw it, if there was indeed more Cultists, who else would they be? Probably Wyrm, Clanky and Dow, right? Well, fireball them as well. We're already not hesitated to massacre most of the soft-confirmed, why suddenly require a Priest to scan the others when scanning with a fireball does just as well, if a little more permanent? There is, at least, no more principled reason to prefer a Priest scan. If there had been a remaining Cultist, numbers dictated it would have to be one more. At least, that's the way I read it. Again, I don't care about winning. It's just that I think when you flip the button and decide to break up with subtlety, then you really should prefer to save two of the big guns (Elantrians) as compared to the Priest.
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Yep! I'm really enjoying it at the moment, though this being my first playthrough, I'm still taking some time to get used to the training wheels. I enjoyed it enough to take advantage of the sale to get Shadowrun Returns as well, so I guess I won't be playing them in order (I've heard they're separate games though, so it shouldn't be an issue.)
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Nope, sorry. The other main character just wants to learn how to fly, and the son with dad-problems is a fox.
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Apologies. I meant to say it's a children's movie, yes To just help things along a bit more, I will add that it is not an English (as in, language!) film.
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Worth a shot, I'll give you that The first character simply wants to have a friend.
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And Lord Ruler help you if you suggest anything along the lines of "Uh, guys, maybe we could discuss our differences in a civilised manner like rational beings...?" before more shouting of silencing and privilege come along. Again, they're not wrong about discourse being controlled, but it's [=these concepts are] meant to call attention to how minority anger is generally swept under the carpet and how terms of discourse are very good at silencing minority expression, not as a blank cheque to be as much of a cremhead as you like to all sorts of passers-by... Unfortunately, to their detriment, a number of people make that conflation... Edit: Also, Slowswift--I'd say that at least IMO, the key is to just be circumspect about how you use Tumblr and to not take these things too personally if such a Tumblr pile-up does occur on you. Which is awfully hard because it can feel like they're all hating you and gathering to rip your guts out with your teeth, but that's what supportive communities like 17S are for Disengaging is hard but it's a necessary thing to be able to do nowadays, and increasingly so. There are good points to Tumblr--exactly as you pointed out. And sometimes, it's just about finding the right community of people. Over-aggressive cremheads are all over the place, but there are great people there too, as Lark has pointed out. Some of my fellow fans from a different forum frequent Tumblr too and they're generally rather chill people. tldr; If you're interested in the medium, go for it. Just be cautious about how you use it.
