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Yea, I'm sure we'll have opportunities to fail without going out of our way for them yet.
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# ? Nov 3, 2017 13:56 |
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# ? Jun 9, 2024 08:45 |
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Oh good, not only are we working for an enterprising small business owner(tm), but he's in a "condition" his wife is worrying about. That surely won't come up later. Go ahead and show him the "loyalty" he's due and give a Not so rousing speech before we actually do our job.
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# ? Nov 3, 2017 15:08 |
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When you have the ability to create magical hammers with your mind, the world looks like a nail.
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# ? Nov 3, 2017 16:29 |
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Thanks, voters. As stated before, I'll make our possible success canon while playing out failures. I will leave the options to fail on the table for future decisions, moving ahead when I feel I should. Failure consequences will not be revealed until after each bad situation is over. I may put required conditions to succeed or fail under spoilers, but this will be subject to my time and memory. If at any time you think I am wrong about a check amount and we can pass it, let me know. If enough people and my own tests agree, I will go with your suggestion. Renata's Stats will be updated once per page, checked via the game. Please note that some options need equipment to unlock. You can't shoot a Bow if you don't have one, and you can't stab anything without a Dagger or Sword. That said, let's do what we can for 'Master' Jett's sheep. When all else fails, try Magic... posted:Master Jett looks at you and the other guards after he finishes his first night's camp inspection. I played out the reasons for possible failures based on my own memories above. I've had them all with various characters. Note that we don't actually need a Spellbook to cast spells, but the game uses that as an excuse sometimes if you lack the Magic Skill. It is not possible to pass the game's first Magic test without a Spellbook- Sir Grady's mustache needs 20 Magic to burn, not 10- that was a mistake, and only a Spellbook will give enough. Other failures will direct you on the Magic path, per my further testing of the game. A fail here would have only cost us 50 Sheep Health. The game is forgiving this early. Sheep Health will remain at 5000, at least for now. It is presumed our help only contributes a little, even if it is continued each successive night. Now, the results of what we did. Helping the sheep posted:The first night goes ok. Some foxholes were missed, Mary was bored, and both Bobby and Ted fell asleep during their watches, but nothing untoward happened. Your Magic wards must have picked up the slack. The last option will move the plot ahead. All previous options are free to take, but I will only have Renata do them if there are votes in favor. Any option with at least two votes gets approval, multiple votes ok. A vote in disfavor is also ok here if you want to counter an action. Changed votes permitted until next update, via edit or new reply. I'll play out the results of these actions in mini-updates tonight as votes come in. Please reference previous discussions of Romance if you want to take Romantic actions towards Theo. The next main plot advancing update will come after we make the decision to move forward from here. I'm not setting a time for that update just yet. It will present a big plot decision I'll need to prepare for- Will we Summon Demons or not this run? The second run here, if there is one, will show off the opposite decision of our first choice. Stats posted:Stats
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# ? Nov 3, 2017 22:52 |
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Start charming Theo, but don't try too hard. Get to know him, then let him know we are interested by getting him some flowers!
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# ? Nov 3, 2017 23:10 |
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Avalerion posted:Start charming Theo, but don't try too hard. Get to know him, then let him know we are interested by getting him some flowers! This.
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# ? Nov 3, 2017 23:37 |
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Getting to Know Theo posted:One night you sit by the fire chatting with Theo. Neither of you has watch that night, and no one else is paying attention. The Geography bonus above actually comes from a hidden test. We need 30 Geography to pass here (I think). Studying Geography at some point before this is necessary for the bonus. Fail the check, you don't recall Harmond's Geography lessons, so no bonus. You get the Theo Relations boost either way. Edit- Daria History Notes- I'm not sure if Theo's Norgan People are the same Barbarians who feature in Life of a Wizard. If so, they are not united in a single large tribe in Lost Heir as they are in LoaW. They also have been conquered and made subject to the Kingdom of Daria, assuming this game comes after LoaW. There are some other differences too. But the general flavor is the same. Give Theo flowers posted:Friends are good, you reflect, but more than that is better. I'd like Theo to be more than a friend. Our Romance flag for Theo is now on, not that it means anything. We'll need to pass this quest before he can return any interest we show in him. No spoilers for what happens later if he does. There are still a few significant Relations factors ahead. If we give him flowers again later, after a Romance is possible, assuming one's in progress, he will appreciate them. Note that this is the first time we've seen an opportunity to flip on a Romance flag. We chose to make the previous available partners our non-attracted gender, so we didn't get any options there. You can flip on Gill/Gale or Peter/Petra's flag as early as childhood (touch their hand shyly or kiss them), then confirm it later when you meet them again (this requires a hug and maybe a further kiss, then rejecting Theo through various options if you're Romancing him at the time or rejecting Theo at some point prior). Karl/a's flag has to be flipped on when you first meet them through holding hands or a kiss, then you must stay true. Theo/Thea can be harder to Romance than previously available partners. Their Relations start out lower and the character's a bit more subtle. Jace/Jess, if we had the chance to Romance them, can be even worse difficulty. Same for the LH2 and 3 Romance Partners. I'll address them at the proper time. Current Remaining Options posted:1. Put a hand on Theo's muscular leg beside the fire. I'll try to make the Summon Demons Choice update before I sleep tonight. Can't say when that will be right now. But it will be sometime after 0100 CST. If you want us to take any remaining free actions before then, please vote. achtungnight fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Nov 4, 2017 |
# ? Nov 4, 2017 02:49 |
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That's enough for today. No stealing, to bed
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 04:21 |
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Added Space posted:That's enough for today.
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 05:31 |
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Added Space posted:That's enough for today.
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 05:59 |
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Added Space posted:No stealing, to bed This.
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 07:52 |
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No theft? Free money and Stealth, no long-term consequences besides 3 Evil points... ok, unanimous, never mind.After previous decisions... posted:You stop your special actions for the remainder of the first week of your journey with Master Jett's sheep. You are mostly satisfied with the results. The journey continues uneventfully for a while longer. On the eighth day, Master Jett makes a new statement. Ok, that's the fanfic stuff for this update. Back to canon. Big Decision posted:The moment you find yourself alone, you take out your new Runebag that Sister Geri had given you. The four Demon Stones in the bag are about the size of small radishes and covered with runes. Three of them are glowing with mystical light, but the one that Zusak stole from the royal treasury isn't. Your parents were against Demon Summoning, but were unable to stop the practice entirely, although they were able to restrict the practice to those licensed by the Academy. Those who became licensed quickly banded together, becoming the Consortium of Planewalkers. I have discussed Demon Summoning quite a bit in this LP before now. Catch up on previous updates if you need to- here's the biggest-Harmond's lecture, which I have edited since original posting. A few further words on what Demon Summoning does to the game. Open spoilers, beware. - This is the only chance to flip on the flag that we are or are not going to practice Demon Summoning. If we flip the flag here, we can't back out later and it stays on even if we actually never Summon a Demon. If we don't flip the flag here, we can't Summon or control Demons until it becomes plot mandatory in LH3. And even then, we will never be anything but a bumbler at Demon Summoning. Even if we start doing it here, we will not be skilled for some time. Demon Summoner and Demon Master are special character Classes that are only unlocked if you choose to Summon Demons. And they are only different in flavor from other game Classes. You can easily dabble in Demon Summoning while your main class is something else. Even if you don't pick the special Demon Summoning Classes, you can still do a few nice amateur tricks with Demon Summoning. If you choose to specialize in Demon Summoning, true Master Summoners like Zusak will always be better. -There are six plot-related Demons we can Summon, we have three already. Only characters who specialize in Demon Summoning can access more Demons than the plot gives you (there are four others possible, I think). And the effects of all these Demons, along with the plot Demons, can be duplicated with appropriate Skill Checks or other success/failure options. Only one plot Demon is particularly special. The rest are just entertainment. The special Demon, Tyborr, adds to the story, but I'll fill in the blanks via fanfic if we don't get the chance to Summon him. Or you can override me if you think Summoning and meeting Tyborr would make more sense. You have to pick Summoning for that now though. - Demon Summoners have extra options to handle various situations, but they also have a justly bad reputation. Various characters in the game will not like it if we practice Demon Summoning. Our parents would have been appalled. The general public of Daria will be frightened. Our party members will be okay with helping us learn the art, but always a bit nervous around it. And our Mentor... well, they will deny us one of LH1's 8 mystic Artifacts if we become a Demon Summoner. They'll still help us learn the art, but as mentioned before, they consider it a dangerous crutch. Only the Consortium of Planewalkers and the bad guys in LH1 are really okay with Demon Summoning. Our character can do it, but it comes with a price. - Short term, it means missing the artifact awarded for choosing not to do it (1 of 8 artifacts in LH1, we currently have a chance at 6, Achievement for 4). Long term, it means arousing a lot of suspicion and fear in exchange for extra options in various choices. Tyborr's story details (which you can get despite the high Willpower it takes to control him if you make the right decisions, only if you make those decisions, and I'm not sure enough Willpower to control Tyborr is even possible, even via cheating, the game has a lock in place for that if you recall), extra choice options, and a better grasp of some story moments in LH3 are the only long-term rewards. - The main price is not just public fear. It's danger. Remember, the ability to control Demons is governed by our Willpower. That stat is not easy to build in the game, never mind that it's only used for Summoning Demons. Only specialized Demon Summoners can get it above a certain level (55). There are two optional choices to increase Willpower outside Class level, one of which we've already failed to take. If our Willlpower is too low for a particular Demon, it might possess our character if we Summon it and bad things will happen in the game if it does. That could include loss of Health, loss of Gold, loss of Sheep while we're on our current quest, and other losses besides. You have to know what you're doing when you Summon Demons, and I won't help with every possible situation. I've played these games a lot and I love them, but there are some things I have not done and will not do. - Keeping all the above in mind, I will allow us to Summon Demons in this LP if readers vote for that in the majority. This is our one and only chance to decide to do it outside the mandated plot events. I would be remiss if I mandated either course ironclad. I also think Demon Summoning was well done in this game, so I would not mind showing it off. Whatever decision readers make here is fine with me. I will only mandate that if there is a second game run here, we'll need to show off the opposite decision. One more thing. The game prevents this next bit unless you choose to Summon Demons, but I find the knowledge harmless, so... What Demons do we have? posted:You examine your Demon Stones closely before making your final decision to attempt using them. You have never had the chance to look at them closely before now. Even when you had the Stones, looking closely at them was not your immediate concern. Ok, that's the last teaser. This decision is up to you now. It will be made at the next update and it will be permanent either way. Good luck. This is a big decision many have been waiting to make. I'll give it until around 1700 CST this afternoon, possibly updating sooner if we have a high majority. achtungnight fucked around with this message at 11:52 on Nov 4, 2017 |
# ? Nov 4, 2017 10:40 |
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No demon summoning.
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 11:43 |
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No summoning, our stats are already wonky enough without adding Willpower training.
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 12:11 |
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Avalerion posted:No demon summoning. Sounds like its required later and will have fummy and acceptable failures.
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 14:13 |
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Our parents were against it, our parents wouldn't like it, and our parents are dead. Why should we deny ourselves a useful tool, merely because it reminds us of our mortality? Take what is ours, summon them demons.
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 15:57 |
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Ok, Tally is 3-1 against Demon Summoning. I'm still waiting a bit longer to move forward. I'm posting this essay now, however, so that you can be aware of something else important in the game. It doesn't have much to do with Demon Summoning, but it does with another important game concern that will impact our future decisions. Read it or not if you wish. Changed and new votes on Demon Summoning are still being collected until the next update. While you're thinking, meditate on this- Morality in the Lost Heir I've talked about game Morality before, but never exclusively or at length. This is a good time. Let's start with a homage. Wheel of Morality, turn turn turn! Tell us the lesson that we should learn! If you remember the cartoon referenced above, congratulations. You've seen some great entertainment, never mind the lessons. If you haven't seen Animaniacs, check it out. I usually like Morality in video games, when it's done well. It can be good to learn lessons and observe profitable results from acting in accordance with morality, just like in real life. It can also be fun to act outside morality in a relatively safe and free environment, doing things that in real life would be both stupid and insane. For example of the latter, take a Grand Theft Auto style game where you can steal cars, beat up random strangers, and as you progress massacre hundreds of police. Naturally, I usually have infinite ammo and invincibility cheat codes on for maximum carnage potential when playing GTA. Morality in video games, when done well, can add significantly to the experience. It keeps ratings appropriate for various audiences, improves storytelling, and makes things more fun. Morality in video games is always a crap shoot for a player to experience, though. If it's done poorly, you will be unsatisfied. You may find you have to be Good for the story to progress in the best way, and then roll your eyes as you pick every option to aid others, be nice, and keep from screaming your head off in frustration. Or you may decide to be Evil all the time because no one ever thanks you properly when you act Good and the game is overly encouraging you to be bad. Then you get disgusted by your character's cartoon villainy and wonder if you have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. At the worst extremes, you are forced to pick a particular path (Good or Evil) and you are denied many great rewards if you don't pick a path. I'm sure you can all think of examples, I won't mention any. But for an excellent online essay that does, check here. You don't want to force morality on game players, is my point. What do you need to do for a well-played Morality system? In my opinion, you have to make it a largely optional feature of the game. It's there, but it's not mandatory. You can complete the game without it. If you choose to exercise the Morality system, there are various rewards, but ideally they are pretty much the same except for flavor and other things that fit the style of being Good or Evil. Being Neutral, ideally, should also have rewards. Morality is a feature of many Choice of Games titles. You earn certain rewards for acting in various ways. Most titles pretty much feature the same general system as Lost Heir. Good characters are nice, kind, just, and frequently aid others without expected reward. Evil characters are mean, selfish, petty, and frequently use violence and power to punish others. Good people help others. Evil people steal from and murder others. Good people are reviled by Evil people, and even if willing to forgive them, can punish them righteously. Evil people mock and deride Good people, laughing manically while they bombard their victims with lightning, sword thrusts, etc. Pick one or the other extreme, and the game rewards change based on how you act. Does Lost Heir address Morality well? Honestly, I think Lucid's previous title Life of a Wizard did it better. In that game, being 100%+ Good means you get other people's respect and eventually the powers of an Angel. Being 100%+ Evil means you get other people's fear and the powers of a Demon. Outside flavor, pretty much the same. If you're Neutral, you're teased by the rewards of being otherwise, but there's still the path of the Druid to interest you. It gives some nice flavors of ultimate power too. My only character who ever achieved ultimate peace in LoaW was a Druid. Lost Heir doesn't do the same stuff with Morality, unfortunately. You can still complete the game if you ignore it. However, it is difficult because not finding an extreme denies you various rewards. And what rewards exist are IMHO mostly unsatisfying. The best Good rewards can sometimes give you stat penalties if you grab them. Our next decision is an example. Also, even if you are Evil, party members and other characters can be corrupted and learn to fear your Evil, but they themselves remain largely Good or Neutral even if you try to motivate them otherwise. Then there are character Classes such as Paladin and Dark Knight, along with Good/Evil Priest/ess, that force Morality on you to keep their power rewards. You will get frustrated or disappointed that you can't go to the opposite extreme and keep such a class. I have felt that way many times. It's not always simple to put Good or Evil aside and act the other way. The fact that you can amass Good or Evil over 100% is only minor satisfaction. Yeah, my Paladin who's been kind all through LH1 and 2 can lose his cool in LH3 and throw someone in the dungeons, but seeing the Evil points after you've been Good thus far still hurts. Same for my totally Evil scary Vampire Lord who suddenly meets a poor orphan and is moved to adopt them. Yeah, I can tell myself I'm raising the orphan to one day be an Evil person like me, but then the game awards me Good points for the adoption and has the orphan turn out Good in the game regardless. And if I try to hurt the orphan in anger, they run away and I never see them again. Foul! Worse than that- you need Evil or Good to do some of the coolest things in LH. You can imagine how satisfying it is to, say, be a good Priest who suddenly wants to dabble in Necromancy only to be told "your Alignment won't stomach that". Or to be a worshipper of the Evil Goddess Shadi and have a Priest of your same Goddess attack you. I get that an Evil Goddess should reward the strong, but come on! The worst part, if anything, some of the rewards are skewed towards Evil. Evil characters will make more money and amass greater power more easily and quickly than Good characters. It's easier to use Fear than Persuasion to get what you want. At the worst extreme, there is a way in LH3 to bring back a dead friend as an ally. But you have to put up with serious Evil to do it. There is no Good path to do the same thing I have yet to find that does not involve serious sacrifice. Veteran players will know what I'm talking about. I will not spoil it for others. You'll know what I'm talking about if you stay with this LP long enough. Red X Don't get me wrong, there are some Good rewards too. But they're not as easy to get as the Evil ones. And it's pretty clear what the Evil ones are. That was the author's intention, as I'll say below. Before I talk about that, I should note that the Neutral rewards are gone. It's very hard to stay Neutral the way the game is presented. There's almost no motivation. You don't need Neutrality to be a Druid. Evil Druids can grab the Druid of Decay Prestige Class, while Good Druids have no similar Prestige Class of their own. Druid of Decay's still on my to-play list, so I can't say how cool it is. Other Evil classes, like Dark Knight and Necromancer, are pretty cool. Paladin is largely same as Dark Knight, opposite flavor, that's fine. Same for Good/Evil Priest. There is no reward for other traditionally Neutral characters. A Monk, for example, can't really stay Neutral and be rewarded. At least, not in any way that I've found. Prince Bill tried, but he screwed up and had to Martyr himself at the end of LH3, then went to Hell. I've had no other serious Monk characters. Maybe Renata will be different. Lucid has expressed some opinions regarding LH Morality on the Choice of Games forums. He basically felt that it would be interesting to make Good characters work harder and see if they enjoyed it. Evil characters, meanwhile, would have fear and personal power to help them. It's not easy to be Neutral, or waver between Good and Evil, when you're a future or current ruler of an entire fantasy realm. I don't entirely agree with all that. But the game forces me to put up with my issues when I play. I had a different opinion of LH Morality earlier, but after further testing of the game, it's changed. Am I still satisfied? Yes. But any game will grate on you after enough play. Don't worry, I'm going to finish this LP of LH's first run and maybe even a second and third. I'm fine with that. This is the only play by post LP of LH I've found online, and thus far it is making me proud. I want to maintain that with readers' help. Ok, personal stuff over. Now what does Morality do in the Lost Heir games? Well, as stated before, it motivates you to be selfish or kind at various points. Most Morality choices are obvious. The first few don't really matter because they only award a few Good or Evil points either way unless you hit a great extreme. Starting in LH2, you will have other stats that being Good or Evil aid and thus you will want to keep being one or the other Morality. It doesn't matter how much you might want to waver. If you do, you risk screwing something up. The stats in question are called Citizen Reputation and Citizen Fear, and they do carry over to LH3. Think of a high level of the first stat as ruling your kingdom with popularity and inspiring Daria's patriots, like US Presidents Washington or FDR. The other extreme stat makes you Josef Stalin or Ivan the Terrible. Everyone will be so afraid of you they'll do what you want if you merely remind them what might happen to them if they don't do as you wish. If you don't know what real life historical personages I'm talking about, google those names. I have yet to do a successful Machiavelli run that's high on both Reputation and Fear. I imagine that would be very hard. Our character Renata is skewed towards Evil right now, but not much. A 46-54 split is only one point short of LoaW Neutrality. It's not a big deal. We can atone easily and do better. Or we can fall down the slippery slope. We're about to make a major decision towards that once we finish this quest. Yeah, it's still easy to screw up being Good and lose the long-term reward for such, and vice versa, but the choice to rob Master Jett or not at the end of this quest is still a big deal. It is one of the best serious long-term rewards/consequences Morality decisions I have ever seen in a game, and I do not give that statement lightly. Thus we are at the point in the LP where game Morality has to be addressed in depth. There are many reasons why a particular Prince/ss would want to rob Jett or not. Maybe they were an Evil person in the first place. Maybe they were motivated by the Greater Good as they imagined it, and either kept going to extremes in support of that or realized they were wrong and turned Good with time but still had the great sin hanging over them later on. Maybe they didn't like Jett hoarding money for himself and acting like a real life pointy-haired boss (that's largely my imagination, but the game does help me portray him that way). Or if they didn't rob Jett, the Prince/ss in question was naive and didn't really know what they were doing (the long term reward for sparing Jett isn't a sure thing, as we'll see if we spare him). Or they were Good people and stayed that way, not tempted by money. Or they were inspired to be Good by their parents and friends. I need to expand on the last statement. A lot of ally characters in this game are Good in alignment, others are at best Neutral. I'll use the Dungeons & Dragons Alignment system to describe them. Click here if not familiar. Basically it's two sets of axes. The first is Lawful-Neutral-Chaotic and measures how predictable and fanatical you are. The second is Good-Neutral-Evil and measures your selfishness or lack thereof. In Lost Heir, our Prince/ss's parents are a Lawful Good king and queen. Our Mentor is also Good of some type- Lawful for Sir Grady, Neutral for Lady Emaline & Sister Geri, Chaotic for Amos. Most people in LH we'll meet who aren't villains are Good. Even the Bandits we can encounter in LH2 and 3 are crooks just trying to get by, as you'll discover if you spare their lives. Most of our potential companions are Neutral Neutral or Chaotic Neutral. We can skew them towards Good or Evil based on our actions. This is true of Theo/Thea, Gill/Gale, Karl/a, and the other two potentials we'll meet in LH3. All these characters keep their general personalities no matter your level of Good or Evil, but you can imagine them changing a bit towards each extreme in response to your actions. Jace/Jess is largely the same, they're skewed Evil when you meet them, but it's easy to imagine them becoming Good or way more Evil if you befriend and influence them the right way. Peter/Petra and Brinn/Bran, who we'll meet in LH2, are the big exceptions. Both are Lawful Good. Petra can be corrupted to Romance an Evil character, but she remains a Good deity's Cleric. I like to imagine her sinning alongside the Evil characters I've had Romance her, then flaying herself every night. I have yet to do an Evil Romance with Bran- competence is required for that. There's also your adopted child party member you might pick up in LH2 and watch grow to maturity in LH3. Their character is extreme Chaotic Good and will remain so even if raised by an Evil despot like Prince Barry the Black Knight or Princess Nadia, Vampire Queen and Grand Mistress of the Demon Army. It's unsettling. But I'm getting far ahead. One currently relevant thing. Demon Summoning in LH usually does not influence Morality directly. It scares people, yes, but you don't get Good or Evil points for it. At least, not according to my memory. I won't say much right now about why that might be. Yeah, a Demon possesses you and makes you do something terrible, you may or may not be responsible. But if you Summoned the Demon in the first place... Never mind. Necromancy and Soulburning are Forbidden Magics in the LH games. Supporting them requires putting up with Evil at certain levels, even if you're of a good heart and honestly want to help your husband Jace like my character Princess/Dame Leah the Knight Champion, almost-Paladin. I'm not sure why Demon Summoning is feared yet spared the Evil points if you do it while still helping you amass Citizen Fear. Let's not discuss that in depth right now. A better time will come in LH2. The Morality decision that will come next update- if Demon Summoning doesn't happen first, it still might- is an easy one. So is sparing or killing Jett, when you first approach the decision. Maintaining your path afterwards is difficult. I welcome players who pursue either challenge, or who choose to forsake Morality in the name of just having fun. I hope that by this essay's end and our next decision you are properly motivated to decide what you will do. Now let me close by spinning the Wheel of Morality. [AN does so] Trip to Tahiti! Excellent! I'll be back here in a few minutes after visiting Tahiti in my imagination. See you then. Keep voting please.
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 22:10 |
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Final Demon Summoning Tally 3-1 against. Ok, that's it for the voting on Demon Summoning. The idea is nixed for this run. No problem. On our second run here, if there is one (I'm not deciding till the first run's over, no matter how long that takes), I will mandate the opposite decision and help voters choose our path as much as I can and am willing to do- just as I am this run. I agree our Stats may not be in favor of doing Demon Summoning well this run. It's not been my favorite specialty the times I've done it. The story's been good, even without my imaginary additions, but... well, which do you prefer? Summoning a big ugly Demon to tear apart a bad guy or doing it yourself with a well-trained Sword or Magic attack? You tell me. Never mind the risk of not having the Willpower to control the Demon in question, I just like being badass. Ok, let's make this permanent in game terms- Let's do Zusak some damage posted:You make your decision, hoping it is correct. I'll give you three guesses what's going to happen at the end of Lost Heir 2. On the upside, we just effectively killed Brahl, Xi'atta, and Zon'ch. They won't be seen again in this run of the LH games. Here's Zon'ch's intended picture, for the curious- I recognize this vote may disappoint some of you. In a second run of LH on SA, we will be Summoning Demons both to show it off and to alleviate the disappointment of those opposed to the way this choice went. The same will be true of other decisions, such as robbing or sparing Master Jett. It will take some time to get there, but it will probably come. If you can't wait or you're too afraid I won't do a second run- I'll admit, I am not going to decide for sure until this run is over- you can always buy the LH games and find out for yourself what happens if you do something other than what we do in this run. Check the LP's opening post for available versions of the game. Anyway, let's move forward with the story. As you may have guessed from the last update, we'll soon have to deal with a big monster. It will be our first real combat since childhood, and our first game boss. But there is one decision left and a little more bonding to do, in the calm before that storm. Back to Camp posted:You put the now-useless Demon Stones back into your Runebag and bury it safely in your backpack once more. It's enough to know that the Stones are important to Zusak without actually using them. This is a straight up Morality decision. It's not major, there's no plot impact, and only one choice has any stat impact. That one's pretty obvious (#3). But we need to make this decision to progress. If you are unsure how to vote, I posted a Morality essay earlier this afternoon and I have talked about it previously. I'll tally and move forward past this tomorrow afternoon. Next update- One Big Monster. One Bad Day.
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 22:41 |
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Give her a sheep blanket. I kind of see Renata as more of a pragmatic/amoral one rather than dedicated to evil or just a dick at this point (though depending on how voting goes that might change!).
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# ? Nov 4, 2017 23:04 |
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Running back seems really impractical, just give her a sheep blanket
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# ? Nov 5, 2017 03:01 |
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Give her a blanket. Not because she needs it, but because our employer is a dick and we should spite him.
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# ? Nov 5, 2017 03:46 |
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Early update, thanks for the quick decision.Give the girl a blanket! posted:You nod at Leigh Anne and take her to the wagon where the blankets are stored. Documenting them each day has been a chore for you the past week and a half, you've never really paid it much thought. But now you see what good can be done with the blankets besides preserving wool. We are now 49/51 Good/Evil. Not significant. Telling the girl to stop whining would have awarded 3 Evil. Getting her cloak back would have awarded 15 Good at the cost of some Strength, Endurance, and Agility for catching a terrible cold while running back to the previous camp. That is the kind of decision you don't make again once you know it's there. It is perfectly possible to amass 100+ Good through small actions like this throughout the game. You don't need to do anything drastic like the exhausting option or big charity donations- not as long as you're avoiding Evil anyway. And Evil can go up pretty drastically if you do serious Evil acts. We'll get an opportunity to see that at the end of this quest. The Next Morning... posted:At breakfast the next morning, Master Jett approaches you. We will meet a big monster and our four young generic adventurer pals will be in danger of getting killed. The sheep will be in danger too. Let's see what we can do about that. Big Monster posted:It is not much surprise that later that afternoon, a monster indeed appears. There's a hidden Perception check here. If we lack 30 Perception, we will lose 100 Sheep Health because we don't spot this monster before it attacks the herd. Monk training helped again! But I think there really should be a Perception bonus awarded if we pass the check. Guess I found a bug. quote:Theo gasps when he sees the monster. He grabs his hammer and yells at the other guards. Daria Trolls are pretty much the same as Dungeons & Dragons trolls. They're large ugly beasts known for their brute strength and the ability to regenerate wounds. There is but one method to counter the latter ability. Renata has access to that method. I'm going to show off every round of this encounter. It's a bit risky for five first level adventurers, never mind numbers and the presence of a mid-level Barbarian ally (Theo). Failing Skill Checks throughout the encounter can kill all the redshirts, thus hurting the sheep, and we can take Health damage too if we attack the Troll and our Skill can't meet or surpass what is needed. If we can kill the beast without being knocked unconscious, there are rewards. If you know anything about D&D trolls, it should be already clear how this Troll's going to die. Troll Attack, Round 1! posted:
You can look under the spoilers above or make an easy guess what Renata needs to do to wound the Troll. I'll proceed with the majority vote this afternoon. This fight will last 2-4 rounds, by the way. Remember that failure each round might cost us redshirts, Sheep, and Health. achtungnight fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Nov 5, 2017 |
# ? Nov 5, 2017 16:10 |
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Blast of fire, the trolls traditional weakness!
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# ? Nov 5, 2017 17:06 |
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Avalerion posted:Blast of fire, the trolls traditional weakness!
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# ? Nov 5, 2017 17:26 |
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Do magey stuff, that's what we're here for.
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# ? Nov 5, 2017 17:53 |
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Burn, baby, burn i.e go Mage on it's rear end.
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# ? Nov 5, 2017 21:43 |
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Blasting Troll with Fire! posted:You recall the perfect spell from your Spellbook. You say the incantation and raise your hand, causing a small burst of flame to erupt from your palm. It strikes the Troll in the shoulder, causing it to scream from the pain. Ok, we wounded the Troll, but it's going to take more than one burst of fire to kill it. We also get an Arcana bonus for using fire here. Troll Attack, Round 2 posted:
Ok, a few words on the above options, open spoilers. Helping kill the Troll will lose us 100 Sheep, plus an additional 100 for every redshirt that gets killed if we don't or can't attack it for maximum damage. If we get knocked out and Theo is injured killing the Troll by himself afterwards, that loses an additional 200 Sheep (I think). The game says you're ignoring Theo's orders if you attempt to immobilize the Troll yourself, implying poor Relations will result. That's actually not true- he's cool with witnessing bravery as stated earlier in his original advice to us young guards. Attempting to immobilize the Troll without the appropriate Skill level will get us knocked out and lead to maximum Sheep loss after this fight is over. Building or conjuring up a fire will get at least one redshirt killed while you do it, two if somebody has to break off from the fight to help you because your Skill is lacking. It takes less Skill to accomplish than immobilizing the Troll and is less risky, but you will get people killed doing it. If you do build a fire, you can push the Troll into it (needs 40 Strength), throw a flaming brand at the Troll and kill it that way (needs 40 Agility), or sneak around the Troll and trip it into the fire (needs 20 Stealth). This will do 50 damage to the Troll and then Theo makes up the slack, while redshirts die. If you can't damage the Troll with a fire you build or conjure yourself (like us, we lack all relevant Skill levels), Theo can push the troll into the fire and that will kill it. However, redshirts will die while he does that. The same is true if you don't damage the Troll on the first round and Theo has to help you burn it in Round 3 or 4 (immobilizing it in Round 2 does 75 damage, but Theo will need to knock off the additional 25 if you didn't already). Having a lit Lantern ready here means you can smash it onto the ground to make a quick fire (saving 1 of 2 possible redshirts, but more will die if you require Theo's help after the fire is created). You can also throw the Lantern at the Troll and kill it that way, hitting with 40 Agility and saving all redshirts (only 100 Sheep loss). But doing either destroys the Lantern and you'll need it or 20 Magic to get an optional reward in a later encounter on this quest. So that's not the best strategy even though it works when you lack other Skills. After the Troll is killed, we will automatically help Master Jett gather the sheep as best we can. Without the redshirts around to pitch in, we will find we sustained increased Sheep loss. But we can prevent any Sheep loss if we run help Jett on round 2 instead of engaging the Troll. It just means all the redshirts will die and Theo loses 5 Relations towards us because we ran. Later, we still get bonus money from Jett and the plot ensures Theo will stay our friend, just with lowered Relations. So our strategies to finish this without getting knocked out are... Round 2 Options posted:1. Break off and help contain the escaping sheep. (no Sheep losses after the fight, but redshirts will die and -5 Theo Relations) What do you want to do? Quick good majority, and I can finish this fight before I leave for work at 1730 CST. Otherwise, next update will be tomorrow morning. achtungnight fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Nov 5, 2017 |
# ? Nov 5, 2017 22:21 |
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Screw Jett, be a hero and immobilize that troll.
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# ? Nov 5, 2017 22:38 |
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kill it with fire. Our boss sucks and should be left to rot. No sense in letting our jerk coworkers die if it just hurts us.
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# ? Nov 5, 2017 22:41 |
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I concur. And none of our co-workers are jerks, really. They just aren't willing to be our friends- but they will be after we save their lives. Who knows, they might even end up in Queen Renata's army in LH 2 and 3. Jett's fate is yet to be determined.Troll Attack Conclusion posted:You know that to save your fellow guards, you must battle the Troll yourself. Any losses of Sheep that would result would be acceptable. It is the honorable thing to do, and would be supported by every hero whom you have ever known. Congratulations, that's our first combat kill! I won't have the ability to show off and spoil future fights like I did this one. They get harder, and I haven't mapped them out as much. But I think the regulars here watching Renata's Skills should be able to help. Troll Battle Aftermath. posted:After the battle, the Troll lies dead on the ground. Theo pokes at the burned remains with his hammer while Master Jett and the shepherds gather what they can find of the flock and begin to herd them into one location. You and the other guards help look for the missing sheep. Seems the Troll was carrying some plot. Renata will tell Theo more about the Som'Reth next update. In the meantime, do you think we have the Skills necessary to open the Box?
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# ? Nov 5, 2017 23:21 |
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Nope, we don't. posted:You poke at and tinker with the Box, but without a decent set of Lockpicks, you realize that you'll never get it open. Opening the Som'Reth Welcome Box takes Lockpicks and 30 Devices Skill. Inside are a Som'Reth Map and Key, plus LH1's first available Mystic Artifact- the Gloves of Archery (Archery +20). That artifact isn't worth much to our current build, so it's fine that we're not getting it this run. Gale can open the Box later and give it to another party member who would make better use of it. Filling Theo in posted:You sigh after failing to open the box and hand it back to Theo. We've faced one serious plot-mandated danger already this trip. The above situation is optional to deal with (-100 Sheep Health if we ignore it), but it has an optional reward. There are 8 magical Artifacts available in Lost Heir 1. Each provides special bonuses. Getting 4 of them results in an Achievement- Artificer. We've already missed the first Artifact, the Gloves of Archery that were inside the Som'Reth Welcome Box. Gale will be retrieving those when she opens the Box later and after that she'll give them to Karla. But we can get the second Artifact here if you want to try for it. Theo can also help us get it. Please vote for above option per your preference. We're going to need to fight some smart monsters. One thing I forgot to mention earlier- if redshirts do die when you fight the Troll, they are unceremoniously buried in an unmarked grave before you continue. A Priest character can pick up free Religion Points by performing a funeral service, with appropriate flavor text for Evil or Good Priests about the service's exact effects. It's a nice touch. Next update- tomorrow morning around 0900 CST if good majority of votes. achtungnight fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Nov 6, 2017 |
# ? Nov 5, 2017 23:58 |
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Out of idle curiosity, is there any way to get through this with 0 sheep killed? Bonus given when they're delivered mentions something about 4950 needed alive for the next level of bonus, but I've never gotten through this journey without a minimum of 100 killed there - though admittedly I've not gotten around to trying every option and class.
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# ? Nov 6, 2017 00:11 |
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Get Theo to help.
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# ? Nov 6, 2017 00:32 |
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His box? Jerk. Go it alone
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# ? Nov 6, 2017 00:47 |
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Lord Koth- I’m not sure we can get through with zero Sheep killed. Helping the flock at the beginning saves 50, having 30 Perception when you meet the Troll saves 100, running from the Troll and leaving Theo and the redshirts to handle it on Round 2 of the Troll Attack saves at least 100 at the cost of 5 Theo Relations, not Summoning Brahl saves some more, and not ignoring our current optional side quest saves 100, so finishing this with full Sheep Health is probably possible. I just have yet to play a character able and willing to do all those things. We can bring Theo along on this quest if we want his help, original & canon interactions, and maybe a Relations opportunity. We do have the Skills to go it alone though if we’re smart. What do you want to do? I’ll proceed with the majority opinion next update. There’s no way to get the Som’Reth Box from Theo and do that quest alone. He’s necessary for it per plot, along with two other companions we’ll pick up in Ludd- Jess & Gale. achtungnight fucked around with this message at 01:12 on Nov 6, 2017 |
# ? Nov 6, 2017 00:58 |
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Yeah, doing some brief checking it's helping gather sheep in Round 2 that gives you full marks, assuming you can pass all the other checks. Just find that one a bit counterintuitive. Oh well.
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# ? Nov 6, 2017 01:48 |
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Call Theo. I find the gloves of archery hard to make use off anyway. Other than a pretty high devices you also need to already have some skill with bows for the bonus to make a difference, but thieves are generally more blade focused. Avalerion fucked around with this message at 07:50 on Nov 6, 2017 |
# ? Nov 6, 2017 07:44 |
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Lord Koth- I personally prefer killing the Troll, saving the redshirt guards, and earning a heroic Skill bonus to saving the maximum Sheep. It’s the one thing that stops me most of the time. But I suppose it’s good that the Troll encounter can be handled various ways depending on your preference and build. Avalerion- I first got the Gloves of Archery using my Bow wielding Bard character Princess Alicia. She made good use of them. I was building up her Devices per a walkthrough that let me get all 8 artifacts in LH 1 with a Bard. Later I found this ruined me in LH3 when I got the Bard side quest to write an awesome song of the ages and my Devices was good but not good enough (no sweet instrument solos for Alicia’s song, ). My Religion, History and other relevant stats were also lacking even though Alicia later got the best game ending. One day I will try again. It is actually impossible to get the Gloves for some classes. Squire for example. I recently heard that there’s an archery tournament quest Squires can do in LH2 where they make you remove the Gloves if you have them on even though Squires can’t get the Gloves normally (the only way to get 30 Devices by then is to both pick Lockpicks as prized possession and train in Devices with Mentor if you’re not Assassin or Thief, and if you train in Devices with Sir Grady, possible Relations fall below 55 and no Squire class for you)- no cheating in the tournament. Tally is 2-1 in favor of Bringing Theo. I’ll proceed that way in the morning unless votes swing otherwise between then and now. I’ve been thinking a bit tonight about how this quest and the following big game plot decisions (rob or spare Master Jett, help finance Theo’s Som’Reth expedition or not) should proceed in my original take. The plans are... interesting given the possibility of Renata & Theo doing a Romance after both events.
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# ? Nov 6, 2017 10:24 |
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bring theo
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# ? Nov 6, 2017 14:03 |
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# ? Jun 9, 2024 08:45 |
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Ok, we're bringing Theo. As mentioned earlier, I've decided to play this event and subsequent events out a certain way for how he and our heroine will be developing their possible Romance later on. Hope readers like how it turns out. I try to think about similar events for all my LH characters, aided by the games.Getting Theo's Attention posted:Before you decide how to respond to the sudden mysterious disappearance of the two sheep, you recall the events of the past few days. It has not been completely uneventful. This is another bug. You need to pass a hidden 30 Devices or 30 Perception test here to avoid falling into the pit trap and taking 40 Health damage. But you get no bonus to either stat for passing. Nor any Theo Relations for spotting the trap and saving Theo. You can get Relations points if you fall in, however, if I recall correctly. If Theo is with you when you fall in, he lands unconscious and impales his leg on the pit's spikes. You then have to bandage his wounds as best you can before you can continue. A Priest can heal Theo and get him back up, earning Relations and Religion. You can get free Religion anyway if you try to heal him with divine Magic and realize only Priests can do that. Also, if you don't mind Evil points, you can search the unconscious Theo and steal 75 GP from him before healing or bandaging him, and he'll never find out ("your coins were lost in the fall"). The game frames that decision by saying you're hoping to steal the Som'Reth Welcome Box Theo took from the Troll. He doesn't have it on him, naturally. The plot will then have Theo hire you or take you on as an adventuring partner to help him explore the Ruins after you reach Ludd. The latter course is a lot better for earned treasure and Relations. We'll deal further with the decision when it comes. If you leave this quest before its full completion, the game describes it as though you are forsaking Theo if you leave him behind unconscious. He also disappears from the text at a certain point even if you brought him with you to begin with. I'm fixing the plot holes as best I can. It's a good bonding activity for the Relations Theo and Renata will later earn. Here and Now posted:Theo stands on the edge of the pit trap and looks down. In the canon game, our Sheep Health is now preserved at 4900/5000 until we reach Ludd, meaning we'll get the best bonus for this quest possible if we killed the Troll. This is a good thing. I'll cover whether we might want to rob Jett instead after we finish this optional bit. For now, rest assured that original flavor text will fill in the blanks to preserve numbers if we decide to leave this quest before completion. This quest will require several decisions to keep going forward, and we have to pick the right option each time. First, we have two options to get down into the Pit and search it since we didn't fall in. Which should we take? I'll check in around 1700 CST.
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# ? Nov 6, 2017 16:21 |