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 And with that, we're done with Ox's route – though it's funny how it was hard to tell whose route it was at the start, huh? Honestly, looking back at the LP so far, I think this actually might've ended up being one of the best orders we could've gotten for the routes. Unlike a lot of VNs, there's no actual “recommended” order, just because of how diverse the routes are, and because of how good of a job Themis did with seeding information, no matter what order you do them in, you'll end up getting information that recontextualizes stuff in later routes. That said, Themis has mentioned they feel Ox's route might be one of, if not the weakest routes just for how short it is – and the fact that Ox himself isn't around for most of it. Personally, I think it's an interesting set-up, and the fact we hit it so late means while we have a lot of context for stuff already, seeing these connections defined this late in the game also recontextualizes stuff we learned in the previous routes. Themis says that their main issue with the route is that, out of the whole cast, Ox is the least capable of being a proper antagonist, which is why this one's more about him investigating the traitor identities. This route was also an experiment to try and create a set-up where you have limited investigation attempts, and based on what you found out (or didn't find out), you could end up solving all, some, or none of the mystery. And, as I said a few updates ago, the other endings you can get on this route are directly tied to what combination of investigation flags you do or don't get. However, before we see any of those endings, there's actually two investigation paths we didn't see in the route proper, as neither of them trigger any investigation flags and end up being a complete waste of time (as well as locking out the best outcome by default). To that end, we'll now see what both of those conversations end up covering... [Talk to Snake.] [BGM: Silence]   Let's go and try and find Snake. I mean, Ox was poisoned, right? Then it might have something to do with Snake. That makes sense. And I always thought that dude was shady. When we woke up in the same room, he didn't panic. Like, at all. He could totally sentence another person to death without batting an eye. I don't know about that... but regardless, we should go find him.And just like that, we had our interrogation target. [BGM: Dance of the Snakes]  It didn't take long to find Snake. He was in a classroom on the second floor. He was in the same room as Rooster. Snake, would you mind if we talk with you for a minute? Ah, Mouse. What a nice surprise for you to join me in Ms. McNamara's classroom. You may absolutely talk with me, but whatever about? Hold on a minute, where the hell's Tiger? Her? I believe she's examining one of the neighboring rooms. You mean you're not all together during the search? We had a system, assholes, you guys have gotta follow it.  Please, no need to get dramatic. I'm making sure that no one in our group goes too far from the others. However, allowing a bit of a spread improves our searching prowess by quite a bit. Tch. Well I don't like it. Then you have my apologies. Now, you had something to ask me? Right, yes. Ox has been poisoned. ...Uh, that is, not literally, but in the game. Someone has used some sort of Trinket on him, and if he doesn't figure out who did it in time, he'll die. Do you know anything about this? Ah yes, Ox's predicament. Funny, he actually already approached me about this. I suppose since it's a 'poison', I'm to be suspected. Ox truly has become a modern day Damocles, hasn't he? Damocles? Who's that? Damocles was a man who wished to sit on Dionysus' throne. Dionysus granted that wish. However, due to a rather bizarre leap of logic, Dionysus had previously set up his throne so that a giant sword hung directly above it, held up by only a single horse hair. It was to represent the weight and danger of being king, supposedly. After a short period, Damocles begged Dionysus to let him off the throne, having learned the burden of being a leader. However, the 'sword of Damocles' more generally refers to an inevitable seeming, impending doom. It, metaphorically, functions much in the way that the pendulum does in Poe's 'The Pit and the Pendulum'. Okay, I get it. I asked for an explanation, not a drat English lecture. I was simply providing you an appropriate amount of context. I feel knowing the full story may let you further appreciate just how apt my comparison was. I don't give a poo poo about how 'apt' the comparison is, I care what you know about Ox being poisoned. Now start giving me useful info before I start breaking things. Ah, well, I'm afraid you will have to start breaking things. Unfortunately, I know nothing about this poison ability you speak of. I don't know what I can do to help. I don't believe you! Well then, I don't know what to tell you. Snake, are you sure? There's nothing you know about it? You haven't heard of Kavka's Toxin anywhere? Kavka's Toxin, you say? Uh, yes, that's apparently what flows through Ox's veins according to the announcement on his tablet. Why, do you recognize it? I recognize the phrase. That's a very interesting name for Brian to have given the ability. Why? It references a very famous question proposed by philosopher Gregory S. Kavka in 1983. Oh great, is this another diatribe? He proposed the following puzzle: An eccentric billionaire places before you a vial of toxin that, if you drink it, will make you painfully ill for a day, but will not threaten your life or have any lasting effects. The billionaire will pay you one million dollars tomorrow morning if, at midnight tonight, you intend to drink the toxin tomorrow afternoon. To be clear, you need not drink the toxin to receive the money. In fact, the money will already be in your bank account hours before the time for drinking it arrives, if you succeed. All you have to do is intend at midnight tonight to drink the stuff tomorrow afternoon.  Naturally, you would prefer to not drink the toxin. However, if it's for a million dollars, you are willing to deal with the pain for a day. Quite the interesting puzzle, is it not? Puzzle? Where's the puzzle? So you know what to do in this situation? Ain't it obvious? Just convince the dude you're gonna drink the poison, then once you get the money, don't. Ah, but this billionaire is incredibly perceptive, and will know whether or not you truly intend to drink the toxin. No one can say that with guaranteed certainty. This man can. As simple as it might seem, some people actually argue it is impossible to get the money, even if you would drink the toxin for it. What? Kavka claims that since drinking the poison is never to your advantage, regardless of whether you are paid, no rational person could truly intend to drink the toxin once the money was received. Thus, your only options are to drink the poison without payment, or refuse to drink the poison without payment. That's bullshit! Many would agree with you. In contrast, philosopher David Gauthier argues once a person intends on drinking the poison, one cannot entertain ideas of not drinking it. To him, there are three options: drink the poison with payment, drink the poison without payment, or refuse to drink the poison without payment. Still, others have argued against this. Even if you fully intended to drink the poison, there's no way that resolve wouldn't collapse once the poison has been drank. Wow. This is pretty interesting stuff. But, um... does this mean you don't have any actual, uh, useful information for us? Oh no, we've clearly got some useful information out of this. We now know that Snake's trying to waste as much of our time as possible by going off about random bullshit! It wounds me that you dismiss all I say as 'random bullshit.' There is no way that the poison was called 'Kavka's Toxin' without reason. It is a phrase simply too charged with meaning. I am confident that, in some way, understanding the name's origin should provide you some sort of clue. Uh huh. Whatever you say. Come on Mouse, we're done here.Dragon, just done with Snake in general, left the room without another word. Uh, thanks for trying to help. Don't mention it.With that, I followed her back to the classroom we started in. And now, let's go talk to the other person we skipped... [Talk to Sheep.] [BGM: Silence]  How about we try talking with Sheep? Sheep? What on earth is the use of talking to someone like her? Sheep seems very honest, so I don't think she'll try and hide anything. And she was also Amadeus Bowen's secretary, right? If there was shady business going on with him, she'd probably be the first one to know. I think it's a decent place to try and poke around. Well, you're the one apparently calling the shots. Fine. We'll talk with Sheep. Great! Thanks.And with that decided, the two of us began our search for Sheep. It didn't take long. [BGM: Wool Over The Eyes]  We quickly found her searching a classroom on the first floor with Horse and Monkey.  Mouse, Dragon! What are you two doing here? Hi Sheep. Horse, Monkey. Hello there. I echo Sheep's question. What are you two doing here? Watch it with the attitude, will ya? You're lecturing me about attitude? Would the two of you knock it off? Dragon and I are just here to ask some questions. Ask whatever you would like. First of all, do any of you know anything about Kavka's Toxin?The three blank looks immediately told me I was barking up the wrong tree. You know what, forget it. Wait, I want to know what you're talking about! Trust me, you don't. ...How about this, do any of you know anything about corruption involving Amadeus Bowen or the trial of Mr. Morris?This question actually provoked some interesting reactions.  Corruption? I must apologize, I do not personally know any thing regarding that matter.  However, speaking as Brian's therapist, I can say he certainly believed things were not right regarding the trial of his father. ...I suppose this is breaking patient-client confidentiality. But these circumstances warrant this, I would imagine. Indeed they do. Brian would often go on about how things weren't right with his father's arrest and execution. He was convinced there was something more to it. I will admit, things seemingly happened more speedily than they would normally. However, there's no evidence to suggest this was a result of any malice. The evidence of his father's guilt was plain as day. Brian just was never able to accept this. I feel his pain. Many boys idolize their father. A father's words can be deeply ingrained in a young boy's psyche, permeating their conscience. If Brian's father earnestly told Brian that he was innocent, it's likely Brian would believe it, no matter what. What an irresponsible father, leaving his son in that state. It must have been rough for Brian to go through so much at a young age. When a family member dies when you're young, it... i-it can definitely affect how you live your life. Alright, what about you, Sheep? M-m-me? I don't – What do you know about corruption? Corruption? O-oh, right, yes, corruption. Well, I know I shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but Mr. Bowen wasn't exactly, um... ...there were a lot of bad rumors about him. Some of which may have been true. He was a very powerful man with many famous connections. But some say he got those connections through... a creative use of leverage? So blackmail. I can't say anything to that n-nature. But, er, nothing I learned from my position would exactly refute those allegations. He definitely had a lot of enemies. Oh, but that's not to say that Morris isn't the killer! Morris had a deep amount of resentment for Bowen and the way he ran things. The two would often get in arguments. And it's clear from the case that Morris had to be the killer. I mean, I was there the whole time, and Morris was the only one who met with Bowen during the time of death. I don't think the trial was in any way corrupt, if that's what you're asking. I... can't speak much to any of this. I was only a minor witness in all of this. I have very little involvement with either man. Okay then. Well, this was all very useful to hear. Thanks for sharing. No problem! You still haven't told us why you came to ask these questions. And why are you not with Ox? … Okay, see you guys later!Like that, I grabbed Dragon's wrist and walked away. Despite Dragon's protests, I didn't stop walking until we got back to the classroom we came from. While there's definitely some more broader-scale information we get confirmed here... not only is it information we already could've at least theorized about beforehand, it also doesn't directly help us in any way with Ox's predicament, which is why both of these options are red herring investigation paths that lock you out of the best outcome.  Now, it's time to see what the other endings you can get for Ox's route entail! To start, we're going to see the ending if Mouse doesn't get the investigation flag for either Bunny or Dog. [Fail to get information from both Dog and Bunny.] The point where the endings branch off, based on how your investigation went, is when Ox pulls a gun on the group in the cafeteria. [BGM: Steadfast Gallop]  Ox, hold on a minute. Do you know who poisoned you? Admittedly, I am not yet clear on the culprit's identity. However, that won't stop me from trying to save myself. What does that mean? It means I will have to take some guesses. Hold on, is he just going to start k-k-killing people willy nilly? You maniac. Ox, Ox, hey, buddy, you can't just do something like that. Ox, you're not seriously going to just start killing people at random, are you? Mouse, surely you'd understand. I'm not going to simply guess at random. There are many basic deductive practices I can use to narrow suspects down. For instance, Horse, being as strong as he is, has no need to resort to such technical tricks. Sheep has been scared, and consequently has spent most of her time in the presence of someone else, limiting the time she could have found the Trinket. Dog lacks strong convictions, so he wouldn't grip to life so desperately. Combining all the factors, the most likely candidate for the poisoner, and the first I will kill...Ox aimed the gun towards Bunny. ...is you, Bunny. Ox! You can't be serious about this, can you? Logically speaking, you're the most likely suspect. You can't just say that! I apologize for this, Bunny.[BGM: Silence]  In an instant, Bunny's face hardened.  I'm not going to let you just kill me like this.He pulled a knife out of his back pocket and dodged to the left. *bang!* Ox fired, but Bunny had already gotten out of the way. I turned around and realized Bunny had moved behind me, using me as something of a shield. Then he rushed at me! No, not me. The person behind me. Which would be– *bang!* The thing about being shot in the head is that the moment you start to wonder where a sound came from, you stop wondering about it. It's almost peaceful.  [Ending – 3 of Clubs]  Finding the poisoner will be a difficult task. Correctly interpreting the Jade Emperor's hints, even harder. If completely devoid of hints, Ox will try to take his best guess. This will... not be a particularly effective tactic. But interrogating the right people may lead to a more fruitful outcome.The next outcome requires you to talk to Bunny (and ask what classrooms they investigated in to get the flag), but not get the flag from Dog. [Get information from Bunny, but not Dog.] [BGM: Steadfast Gallop] Ox, hold on a minute. Do you know who poisoned you? Admittedly, I am not yet clear on the culprit's identity. Well then, there's no need for you to worry. I've already solved who poisoned you. Really? Go on then, please, tell me. Bunny, Pig, you two told me where your group had searched. Would you agree that those searches were fairly comprehensive? Mostly, yeah, I'd like to say we did a fair job at that. Then I assume you stumbled across the locked safe in the Spanish classroom, then? Locked safe? Oh, that locked safe! Yeah, well, we tried to crack it, but we just had no clues on how to open it. Ultimately, we just dismissed it as a red herring. No you didn't. There's no way you thought a locked safe was a red herring. You know what I think? What? I think you already opened that safe. I think you found Snake's Major Trinket, and it let you poison other participants. I thnk you re-locked that safe, and you poisoned Ox. What? That's ridiculous, Mouse. We searched that room as a group. If I did something like that, surely Pig and Dog would've seen it. Oh, but they did. That's why you're keeping Pig at arm's reach at all times, right? Because you're threatening her to keep quiet, or else you'll stab her with a knife. Ridiculous! You're the victorious personality, right? That type can win with two other people. That's what you promised Pig and Dog if they cooperated, right? Such wild theories. Pig, Ox has a gun right now. If Bunny tries anything, he'll be shot. Tell us, is he threatening you?  … He is! He totally is! Bunny has a traitorous personality and he poisoned Ox and he told me that if I said a word about it he'd stab me with his knife and I was so scared but he prom- Okay, we get the gist. Well, what do you have to say to that, Bunny? Grr... So you did it, Bunny? I knew it!Ox angrily stormed closer towards him. As soon as I heard 'corrupt tool' I knew it had to be you! What are you talking about? Brian said I'd be undone by 'a tool of corruption', someone who 'participated in a malicious coverup'. I should've known you were just as dirty a cop as that whole drat precinct. What did you do? This is ridiculous! I don't know anything about a coverup! No, you definitely do! Just come clean now, before I beat it out of you. I'd love to see you try! I just made the arrest based on the evidence I found. If Brian should be blaming anyone for his dad's death, it should be you. After all, didn't you push for the death penalty? That's–[BGM: Silence]  In the instant Ox's gaze wavered, Bunny rushed in. No! I moved towards Bunny, to try and stop him. But before I could do anything, he plunged a knife he had been hiding in his back pocket into Ox's chest. Ox's eyes widened in surprise, and he dropped the gun. With his non-stabbing hand, Bunny grabbed the gun midair. Then he turned towards me, the person moving to stop him. And he held the gun up to my eyes. Oh, no. This can't be right. I'm not dying here. He surely wasn't going to– *bang!*  [Ending – 3 of Diamonds] Mouse should be able to find the poisoner's identity if she tries. However, correctly interpreting the Jade Emperor's hints is an even harder task. Done wrong, this could lead to confusion which will aggravate Ox. Aggravated people are sloppy. Bunny preys on sloppiness. Only a perfect investigation wi ll prevent a tragedy.The final outcome you can get happens when you both talk to Tiger (which is all you have to do to get her flag) and win the gamble against Dog (thus getting his flag), but fail to get Bunny's flag. [Get information from Tiger and Dog, but not Bunny.] [BGM: Steadfast Gallop] Ox, hold on a minute. Do you know who poisoned you? Admittedly, I am not yet clear on the culprit's identity. Well, uh, I think I have something. I'm not sure how helpful it will be, but just... hear me out. Go for it. So, I tried to investigate who could've poisoned you. Ahem. Er, Dragon and I tried. In particular, I tried looking into what Brian meant when he was talking about 'a tool of corruption'. He said your death would come about by 'the one who helped a malicious cover-up'. And he called it ironic, which I thought was a particularly strange word choice. How could something like that be ironic? And there was a lot of distancing words involved there... 'Your death will be caused by the one.' Why not 'You'll be killed by'? What are you getting at, Mouse? As I investigated, I found out many interesting things. For one, I heard that the Chief of Police, Chief Bowen, wanted to close the case quickly, without incident, no matter what. That he did. I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty fishy to me. I also heard that the Chief of Police and the Chief Prosecutor are very close. Close to a point where they'd cover for each other. I am not supposed to lend credence to such rumors. ...However, I cannot deny the rumors, per se. Anyways, that's when it clicked with me. I realized why Brian called the person a 'tool of corruption'. Because they weren't the ringleader. They were just someone used in a larger scheme. They were you, Ox. What? In the grand scheme of things, you're fairly young for a prosecutor, Ox. And this case happened a few years ago. So how did such a fresh faced prosecutor land the lead prosecuting role in a fairly high profile murder trial? Well, I showed a lot of promise from a very young age. I was top of m- Ego talking. No one in the real world gives a poo poo about all of that. How would you know, you're still a student! Ox, I hate to tell you like this, but you were chosen because you were easily controlled. You were naive, and inexperienced enough that the Chief Prosecutor was easily able to rig the trial in your favor without you even noticing. What?! There's no way that's true! Why would the trial even need rigging? Everything pointed towards Morris! Exactly! I haven't heard of a single case which reached trial with a plea bargain that was such an open-and-shut case. To fight something like this, it's always because the defense sees weakness in the prosecution's case. And my father was not a dumb defense attorney. So how was everything smoothed over so well? I don't know, but that doesn't mean I did anything wrong! Ox, I can't claim to know what's really going on with that trial. However, there was something fishy about it. And, like it or not, you helped cover it up. That can't be!Ox's face was flushed with anguish. I felt bad, but it was the truth. But wait, you said Brian said that the poisoner was this tool of corruption. And now you're saying it's Ox? That doesn't make much sense. Hold on, I didn't say exac– Brian could've been speaking metaphorically. Could be. Say, do we even know that Ox was 'poisoned'? What?  I'm just saying, no one else saw this announcement on your tablet.Bunny began to approach Ox. What if this whole thing was just a ploy, to camouflage your real intention of killing us all, one by one, until it was too late? That's not true! Really? Then what was your plan if Mouse didn't have this big explanation? I don't see how that's a relevant question. I'd call it a supremely relevant question. The two were really in each other's faces now. Then, I heard a snickering. I turned around to see Dog holding back laughter. What was he doing? What did he know? What did h– *bang!* A force came from behind. ...Not a force, but a bullet. Oh. I was dead now? How strange.  [Ending – 3 of Hearts] The Jade Emperor's hints are very informative if correctly interpreted. However, they aren't actually that helpful. If Mouse doesn't actually know who the poisoner is, they may do more to mislead the group than unify it.Next update, we start on a different path towards a different route.
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Apr 7, 2023 23:20
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Wow, we're approaching the finish, huh? Just Dragon's (and the truth path, if it exists) to go! I wonder what Dragon will do on her route, seeing how she can be a teensy bit unstable when angry... 
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Apr 8, 2023 00:04
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Mix. posted:
"Difficult task" The poisoner is literally the most obvious person, and Ox guesses correctly 100% of the time! I think the Ox route itself is okay, but those alternate endings add absolutely nothing. Same confrontation, against the same culprit, but with small conversation changes. And it feels pretty arbitrary how they result in different outcomes. Confuse Ox by convincing him that he's the 'tool of corruption' responsible for his own death... and somehow that makes him much more trigger happy?
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Apr 8, 2023 01:24
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Sketchie posted:Wow, we're approaching the finish, huh? Just Dragon's (and the truth path, if it exists) to go! She doesn't go traitor. She just spends the entire time shouting traitor roles and panic prone members into submission.
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Apr 8, 2023 01:29
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Yeah, this route is really not very good. I want Dragon's to end with a bang. Multiple explosions, even.
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Apr 8, 2023 08:11
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The premise of the route is fine (Mouse and Dragon team up! Multiple investigation options!), but the payoff is short and uninteresting. Also funny that this is the first time in LP we've really seen Sheep and Monkey do anything in like.. uh, ages. They weren't present in the Tiger route, and were off-screened in the Mouse route. Sheep did have a role in Horse's route but other than that the last time Monkey really had a role in a route in the LP was her own route, four routes ago.
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Apr 8, 2023 08:37
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It's also kind of weird doing it this late because we know about the "poison" so it comes off as kind of weird that chekov's gun is still sitting there on the mantle, never fired.
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Apr 8, 2023 14:05
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 It's time to get started on another route. In Round Two, Mouse goes to explore with Ox, and the duo end up exploring around the school library. While Ox finds a strange black disc in the library, it doesn't seem to be connected to anything, so their search ends up being a waste of time. Towards the end, they split up to vote; Mouse runs, as usual, and then returns to the cafeteria. The results are posted – everyone ran– and then everyone splits up once more. For Round Three, Mouse decides to go explore with Bunny and Dog, and the three end up in a forum-style classroom, where they solve a true/false puzzle and find a Major Trinket. With that, they split up to input their votes and return to the cafeteria, where the results show that once again, the group as a whole have all ran – only for the group to witness the additional rules given after Round Three ends: VICTORIOUS can only win if they finish first with no more than two other people, and DEFEATED wants to finish last, which will result in only the two of them surviving. Like before, the Jade Emperor gives everyone 15 extra minutes to process this new information. Tiger tries to get the people with victorious and defeated to speak up, but nobody comes forward. Ox attempts to get the group to resume searching for trinkets, but several members express doubt at how safe that would be. Dragon proposes they explore in groups of three rather than pairs, to make it easier for the group to stay safer as a whole. She also proposes that Tiger, Horse, Bunny, and herself each be in one of the groups, as all four are good enough at fighting that they can prevent any altercation that might be attempted. No one voicing any complaints, Dragon then follows this up by proposing that the four fighters in turn pick a teammate – her choice being Ox, who she is suspicious of. Horse chooses Sheep, Bunny chooses Dog, and Tiger chooses Snake. Monkey and Rooster each pick a pair to join, which pushes Mouse to decide fast which of the two pairs left she wants to search with. She decides on Ox and Dragon, because she's already searched with Ox before and knows she can trust him. Before the groups set out to explore, however... [BGM: Stampede of Truth]  Uh, actually, I have another suggestion. What is it, Mouse? I'm worried about the possibility that someone might have both traitors in their group. Oh come on, what are the chances of that? Or, or, what if the traitor is someone like Horse or Tiger? No one in those groups can stand against them. She's not wrong. Nope. For that reason, I think we should, as a collective, pledge to all look in the same general area. Obviously not in the same specific places, that defeats the purpose of spreading out, but the same area of the floor. That way, if something goes wrong, we can call out to each other. I like that idea a lot! Me too. There is strength in numbers. The suggestion makes sense. Alright, okay. We'll go with that.[BGM: Silence]  If this is the plan, then what section of the school should we look through first? How about the second floor? You know what they say, first is the worst, second is the best. Sure, let's just do it already. I'm sick of talking about this.Dragon's curt remark cut the conversation off. We were all sick of just talking. We were antsy and nervous and sick. What would make us feel better? Looking for the dang Trinkets. So everyone started searching throughout the same general portion of the second floor. We decided it would be best if we checked out the second-floor restrooms. After all, no one had seemingly bothered to look there yet. It was a little bit awkward to enter the men's restroom, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I don't think anyone really would have minded. The good thing about searching through restrooms is that there isn't a lot of area to cover. We were able to completely search through the men's restroom in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, that search didn't wind up with any leads. We then decided to search through the other restroom. For a while, it looked like it would be the same thing... [BGM: See No Evil]  However, just as we were going to leave, Ox stopped us.  Hey, look at this.Right behind the door, a safe lay on the floor. Due to the way the two-door entrance was set up, it was located in a place very easy to overlook. However, once Ox pointed it out, it was obvious. Great! This probably hides a trinket. Good, so we weren't completely wasting our time. Let's not start celebrating until we actually see what this is. We need a combination to open this safe. And there don't appear to be any hints written on the safe. Then the combination has to be hidden in the restroom. But we didn't find anything. We were looking for objects. If we start looking for numbers, we might find something! Well, we can try it. Fine. I don't have a better idea than this, so sure. Great! So we went back to looking for any hint as to what the safe's combination could be. Eventually, I rolled out a roll of toilet paper. Completely unfurling it revealed a four digit combination written on the final piece. I've got it! You do? Great. Let's try and preserve some semblance of dignity and open the safe outside the restroom. Works for me.We exited the restroom and brought the safe with us. Once outside, we input the code. Sure enough, the safe opened to reveal a whistle and a sheet of paper. Huh? It must be a Major Trinket. Gimme that. Dragon leaned in and grabbed the whistle. Ox, on the other hand, grabbed the paper. All this commotion brought some of the other searching parties to us.  Hey, what's going on? Did you guys find a Trinket? Yeah, but we're not sure what it does yet. Well then, I suppose I'll read the explanation. *ahem*[BGM: Silence]  “This is the Grouping Whistle. Once activated, the 12 participants will be divided into their four packs. The packs each consist of three animals that move directly after one another. That is to say, Mouse, Ox, and Tiger would be one pack. Bunny, Dragon, and Snake would be another. Once packed, the participants cannot be unpacked. Participants in a pack will all move together. If Mouse chooses to move one space, then on Mouse's turn, Mouse, Ox, and Tiger will all be moved forward one space. The three members of a pack will share their fate. Every member of a pack will possess the personalities of their other pack members. Additionally, if one member of a pack is executed... all in the pack will be executed.” ...and that's all it says. Wait, I don't get it. What's the point of this? I think it's actually a pretty useful item. Like, um, if I was in a group with Horse and Monkey, I'd have an opportunity to move forward with my action, with Horse's action, and with Monkey's action, right? That effectively triples how far we can move. Oh, right. So, we should activate it? No, the Trinket has a very fatal side-effect. Members of a pack share personalities, right? It then stands to reason that the victorious personality and the defeated personality will “spread” to fellow group members. It increases the number of people with disadvantageous personalities. Oh, right.Just then, Dragon confidently entered the restroom. Um, Dragon? Where are you going? This isn't the time to take a poo poo!! ...Rooster, come on. What?[BGM: The Undying]  Just then, a highly pitched whistle played on all our tablets, and then an announcement.  Congratulations! You have successfully been grouped. Your pack members are: Ox and Tiger. Your life now depends on the survival of your pack. Don't forget that! What... what the hell? Hey, what's this? I thought we just explained why this was a bad idea! You should've said it a little louder to the person with the whistle. Dragon! Why would she do this?As if cued by our complaints, she exited the restroom.  Dragon! What the hell is this about?! You got a problem with it? Oh no, no no, just curious as to your decision making is all. Coward. … Coward? It's an apt title for those without the cajones to stand up to evil. That's what you are! Evil! You saying I'm evil? You? You're talking to me? You're calling me evil to my face? Um, yeah. That's what I just did. Apparently you're evil and you have poor listening comprehension. Imagine being 0 for 2 in such important categories. I weep for your offspring. Heh. I respect the balls on this guy. I'm afraid you may be misinterpreting his behavior. Forget that, Dragon, what's the deal with grouping us like that? Weren't you listening to what Monkey said? Oh, I was. And I realized that this whistle represented a way to settle all of this fairly. Fairly? Before this, we had two secret traitors. By their silence, they weren't willing to give up their lives for us. That means they were just waiting for their opportunity to try and kill us all. Seems like a real lovely situation. My guess? It was just gonna lead to backhanded trickery, mystery murders, and a whole breakdown of this group culminating in a bunch of complicated logic stuff. No part of that sounds appealing to me. But with this, six people now have 'defeated' or 'victorious' personalities. Know what this means? Oh! Heh. So I'm not the only person paying attention. If the 'defeated' personality is in last place when someone crosses the finish line, everyone with a 'defeated' or 'victorious' personality survives. Originally, this just referred to two people, but now– It refers to six. So the defeated personalities and victorious personalities should work together. Essentially, we now got a good ol' fashioned gang war. Six versus six! Perfectly fair. Fair? You just made sure half of us would die! And I made sure six would survive. Instead of a confusing, backstabbing game of tricks and smart people poo poo, this is a way fairer way of settling things. An earnest brawl between two teams. B-b-brawl?! Oh, you don't think this is gonna be settled by just using the race mechanics, do ya? This is now a turf fight. Work with your team and win. Survival of the fittest. Straightforward, and fair. The best way to determine who gets to survive. I understand your point Dragon, but I can't agree with your way of thinking. Well, too bad, because I already made the decision for us, and you can't undo it. So come on, Bunny and Snake, follow me to the third floor. My pack needs a strategy meeting.Without another word, Dragon started walking away. Uh, sorry guys, but this is how it is now. Good luck? I guess? I, for one, can't help but see this as an extremely crude method of settling things. I doubt that woman and I can see eye to eye on anything. However, I will, as they say, go with the flow on this one.Bunny and Snake followed Dragon as she walked away. What on earth is she talking about?! How is a gang war fair? It's not fair to people like me! People who can't fight at all. Oh god, I really am going to die here, aren't I? gently caress. poo poo. Take a chill pill, would ya? Chill pill? My team is you and Rooster! How am I supposed to feel calm about this? You just said why – I'm on your team. Have no fear. I never lose anything. ...Well, I guess I've lost one thing. … I'm talking about my virg– Okay, that's enough of that.Pig anxiously started walking away from the group down the hallway, muttering furiously under her breath. Hey, where are you going? Get back here! You're on my side! This should be fun.Dog and Rooster followed after her.  Tch. People are all splitting up like nothing? What is Dragon talking about when she says this is like a turf war? I get it. Honestly, I'm surprised she'd make the game like this, knowing that I'm here. You believe she would be intimidated by your overwhelming physical presence? No, that's not what I mean. Oh? For now, Dragon's right. No offense, Mouse, Ox, Tiger, but you're not in my pack. I think it would be best if I had a private discussion with Sheep and Monkey. Well, we're in no position to stop you, so go right on ahead.Horse nodded, and confidently walked to the nearby staircase. Wordlessly, Sheep and Monkey followed him. It was clear who the leader of that pack was. ...And just like that, I was alone with Ox and Tiger. My pack.
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Apr 8, 2023 17:10
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i was gonna do another update last weekend and forgot, so you get the bonus update this week instead. this one's a short one anyway so its fine.
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Apr 8, 2023 17:11
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Should be pretty interesting to see how this plays out. It doesn't say if each person in the pack can use their ability all at once each turn or if there's a limit.
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Apr 8, 2023 17:54
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Goddammit, Rooster.
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Apr 8, 2023 17:55
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So it’s: (Normal) Mouse Ox Tiger (Victorious) Bunny Dragon Snake (Normal) Horse Sheep Monkey (Defeated) Rooster Dog Pig Activating this trinket seems like a terrible idea, but Dragon preferring gang wars sort of makes sense for her character. Interpreting the rules a bit: Executions eliminate the whole pack. But murders shouldn’t. “Share Fate” presumably means that they win or lose as a pack, rather than it being based on their own positioning. In this instance it doesn’t really make a difference because each pack is starting on the same space and they’re now forced to move together until the game ends. But if you had a scenario where say Bunny was 5 tiles ahead, then the whistle was blown, then presumably Dragon and Snake sharing the victorious personality would also win if Bunny crosses the finish line first. Unclear what would happen if both traitors were in the same pack. And thinking about the groupings: 1) Horse and Tiger are the strongest fighters, and neither got traitor personalities. 2) Grouping people together disables Snake’s ability and weakens Bunny’s ability and they’re Dragons’ immediate teammates. 3) Defeated personality got MUCH stronger with the grouping whistle. Firstly there’s now only 6 non-traitors in the game so a 9-way winning tie to overpower Defeated is much less viable. Secondly each group getting to move 3 times in one round makes it much easier for teams to pull ahead, or deliberately fall behind. Thirdly, the traitors don’t really have to hide any more so can immediately start trying to lose the race. Fourthly Rooster got grouped with Defeated, so using his ability is to force a straggler forward no longer applies and Monkey can’t copy his ability if he never uses it.
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Apr 8, 2023 18:25
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Not only that but since it is obvious who the defeated pack are, that means the victorious pack now knows too. On the face of it, this seems like a loving terrible decision for Dragon, since now it's Horse and Tiger vs the rest, and it's not like they found the weapon cache in this route, so Snake, Dog and Bunny won't have guns to fight the two powerhouses, but welp it's Dragon's route, so I'm sure she'll end up having something up her sleeves.
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Apr 8, 2023 18:40
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Sketchie posted:Should be pretty interesting to see how this plays out. Sheep used her Sweet Sleep ability multiple times per turn on an earlier route (Pig’s I think), when they needed to rush out before the round 12 limit. So there’s no per round limit on using an ability, it’s just a question if the grouping whistle also shares abilities. If they can use each other’s abilities then Horse Pack could win in 2 rounds. 3x Sweet Sleep => 9x Gallop = 27 tiles possible movement. And the full course is 24 tiles. If the next person in their pack got the Sweet Sleep bonus moves (rather than the same person next round) then Horse Pack could even win next round. Horse - Sweet Sleep Sheep - 3x Sweet Sleep Monkey - 7x Gallop = 21 tiles movement and they already on tile 3.
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Apr 8, 2023 18:43
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Marluxia posted:Not only that but since it is obvious who the defeated pack are, that means the victorious pack now knows too. Not really, Bunny and Dog didn't figure each other out immediately, they basically worked it out over their respective routes or signalled to each other. Anyway, this is an interesting set-up. I think we're all just lucky Monkey didn't get the traitor route, we know how deadly she can be.  Rooster/Dog/Pig is probably the weakest group, but Dog's also arguably one of the smartest people in the group and without the fatal ego of Snake.Elite posted:If they can use each other’s abilities then Horse Pack could win in 2 rounds. They share personalities, but not abilities. There are some very powerful possible groupings here. Mouse/Ox/Tiger have very big movement options. Mouse and Ox are contingent on the rest of the race, but the grouping whistle also means that Sneaky Ride has a much bigger chance of a big success, especially since Horse is very likely to just Gallop every round now. Ox can also pull his entire team forward if someone like Pig rushes their group forward. Tiger also gives her group an immediate headstart with Dive, and once she passes the 12th space she can pull the group ahead another 4 spaces. I'm actually not sure what happens if Mouse Sneaky Rides someone who then also gets boosted by Rooster in the same round. Does Sneaky Ride activate twice? Bunny/Dragon/Snake is probably the most dangerous in terms of actual members; Bunny and Dragon can both fight, and Snake's clever. But in terms of the race they're pretty weak. Dragon Breath can only do so much and Serpentine is near useless. Bunny Hop could do some tricks but it doesn't help the Victorious group win. Horse/Sheep/Monkey... I dunno. Consistent movement at least and Monkey could do some real tricks. But it feels like they need time to be a threat in the race, which is a luxury I'm not sure they have. Rooster/Dog/Pig have big upswing potential, but they're so dependent on the rest of the racers. And they want to finish last anyway, so their abilities don't actually matter too much here other than Encouraging Crow.
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Apr 8, 2023 21:32
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Mouse posted:and brought the safe with us Excuse me? So the Ox route would've been impossible if Bunny, Pig, and Dog had just moved the safe to a different room? (or lied about which rooms they had searched) -------------------- Dragon's 6v6 solution is in-character, and it's awesome for her gang (assuming pure race mechanics). Mouse/Ox/Tiger: They are the only ones who can compete for a victory. Bunny/Dragon/Snake: Extremely likely to Run/Bounce/Trinket and follow up with a Dragon's Breath to screw over the other two groups. Knowing that they are Victorious means they literally do not care about allowing Defeated to win, so this is always a good move. Horse/Sheep/Monkey: They can't win since they'll be locked in place. To have a chance of stopping Victorious, they have to Monkey copy the Dragon's Breath move and guess the row. Very tough. May accidentally screw over the Mouse/Ox/Tiger group. Rooster/Dog/Pig: Automatic victory since they'll be stuck. They can Rooster boost Bunny/Dragon/Snake. Unclear how the minor trinket interaction works when frozen, but they should be able to significantly drive Victorious to victory.
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Apr 8, 2023 22:39
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NeoRonTheNeuron posted:Excuse me? So the Ox route would've been impossible if Bunny, Pig, and Dog had just moved the safe to a different room? (or lied about which rooms they had searched) I mean, also if they'd just closed and relocked the safe, probably. That being a normal functionality of a safe and the chance of Mouse&Dragon feeling like they had the time to do the puzzle to open it would be low(ish). OTOH, I stand by the argument that a gap you don't notice during the story is not a plot hole.
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Apr 8, 2023 22:49
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The safe WAS locked, check the update. Mouse just assumed that they must have opened it, based on Pig's reaction, which would make no sense if they failed to open the safe.
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Apr 8, 2023 23:12
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Tylana posted:I mean, also if they'd just closed and relocked the safe, probably. That being a normal functionality of a safe and the chance of Mouse&Dragon feeling like they had the time to do the puzzle to open it would be low(ish). OTOH, I stand by the argument that a gap you don't notice during the story is not a plot hole. The safe was relocked when Mouse and Dragon found it. It was already suspect because Pig blurted out that (totally didn't) go there to search.
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Apr 8, 2023 23:13
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Ah, my bad. I suppose either way it is quite suspicious. I guess I assumed it was left open because that'd probably be how it'd appear in a TV show these days. Just to make it super clear to the audience.
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Apr 8, 2023 23:41
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NeoRonTheNeuron posted:Horse/Sheep/Monkey: They can't win since they'll be locked in place. To have a chance of stopping Victorious, they have to Monkey copy the Dragon's Breath move and guess the row. Very tough. May accidentally screw over the Mouse/Ox/Tiger group. Dragon’s Breath doesn’t work if you shoot where animals are, only if you shoot it where they end up. Hence why Pig could confess past the fire during Pig’s route. And the Horse/Sheep/Monkey team has hugely variable movement options whilst TeamDragon has particularly limited movement options, so it’ll be easier for TeamHorse to shoot TeamDragon than the other way around. Also, do we know if the burn effect stops animals from *moving* or stops animals from taking *any actions*? It seems like that distinction might matter a lot with say Sweet Sleep. Also even if TeamHorse did end up miles behind they could copy Stampede or SneakyRide from TeamMouse, since it’ll be in the interests of non traitor teams to work together. NeoRonTheNeuron posted:Dragon's 6v6 solution is in-character, and it's awesome for her gang (assuming pure race mechanics). The main reason it might help Dragon win the race is that she happened to get partnered with Victorious and the grouping mechanic happens to massively benefit Defeated. She didn’t know it would work out like that. She did however know that she’d get partnered with Bunny and Snake... neither of whom she likes, and they’re both sneaky treacherous people that her gang war idea is supposed to shut down. Dragon is more of a brawler than a race strategist and people’s routes always show off their strengths so presumably there’s going to be more fighting than race stuff anyway. But the combined movement rule would be completely pointless to explain if there’s no race strategy this route. There’s always a few weapons lying around even when the weapon cache isn’t found.
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Apr 9, 2023 00:16
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Elite posted:Also, do we know if the burn effect stops animals from *moving* or stops animals from taking *any actions*? it only prevents movement, so actions that don't move or require moving can still happen
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Apr 9, 2023 00:20
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Elite posted:So it’s: Interestingly, Brian chooses the groups, near as I can tell. This particular group puts Snake/Dragon together, and we know they share a pair of traitor personalities. We (presumably) don't know if the groups would have been different if the traitors would have been different. Also I think if both traitors were in the same group then everyone else is screwed because if that group either wins or loses, everyone else dies. Also worth noting that if one non-traitor group can sprint to the end, then they will die because Dog's group will win. Hell, Dog's group has Rooster, and can just artificially bump other people ahead if necessary.
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Apr 9, 2023 00:24
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Dirk the Average posted:Interestingly, Brian chooses the groups, near as I can tell. This particular group puts Snake/Dragon together, and we know they share a pair of traitor personalities. We (presumably) don't know if the groups would have been different if the traitors would have been different. Also I think if both traitors were in the same group then everyone else is screwed because if that group either wins or loses, everyone else dies. Actually, that's just the traditional order of the Chinese Zodiac split easily into 4. Pretty sure that's also the order from top to bottom that the tokens are for the race.
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Apr 9, 2023 00:31
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If it is possible to combine this with Sheep's Clothing, that's 9 who can win because presumably the personality copy spreads to the group. Simply have a Normal group copy Defeated. But yeah, a way out presents itself with Grouping Whistle + Sheep's Clothing + a hypothetical third Major Trinket that does personality fuckery or makes the target immune to the execution rule. But who knows what it's going for. Given that every route has a way for Mouse to survive, I would think they have to either use Sheep's Clothing, find that hypothetical third Trinket, or they kill a bunch of people. I doubt the last is going to happen, so I'd bet on 1 or 2. Tallgeese fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Apr 9, 2023 |
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Apr 9, 2023 01:29
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Elite posted:Dragon’s Breath doesn’t work if you shoot where animals are, only if you shoot it where they end up. Ah yes, forgot about that. That puts the Horse Sheep Monkey group back into the race. Given that the Defeated group can sandbag their way to last place (Rooster Boost, Rabid Leap, Run is 1 space a turn), there's a dilemma for the other 3 groups. Non-Victorious requires a 9-way tie to survive, so they have to arrive at the end on the same turn as the Victorious group. Victorious must make it to the end, but they cannot do so with any other group. If the jury play the race out, they'll need to outwit each other to survive, which ironically is NOT what Dragon was hoping for.
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Apr 9, 2023 06:22
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I think it’s fantastic that Dragon straight up said “We’re not playing Danganronpa, we’re playing GTA. Cope.”
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Apr 9, 2023 07:07
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NeoRonTheNeuron posted:Ah yes, forgot about that. That puts the Horse Sheep Monkey group back into the race. Victorious can also win if they ensure Defeated stays in last place, they don't have to care about making it to the end. As long as one group gets to the end with Defeated in last place, Victorious wins. In fact, if it looks like it'll be a 9-way tie, Victorious can just opt to Confess nothing to prevent the tie for the end. Tallgeese posted:If it is possible to combine this with Sheep's Clothing, that's 9 who can win because presumably the personality copy spreads to the group. Simply have a Normal group copy Defeated. Sheep's Clothing isn't found on this route (only Second Caw), and while that doesn't stop a group from finding it this route, I'm assuming we're not exploring that option this route. Incidentally, have we matched up the Major Trinkets to the zodiacs? Some take a bit of guesswork, but here's where I'm thinking: Grouping Whistle - Dog? Kavka's Poison - Snake Sheep's Clothing - Sheep Second Caw - Rooster Draconic Prayer Statue - Dragon Taming Whip - Ox? Horse? Butcher's Knife - Pig? ApplesandOranges fucked around with this message at 07:53 on Apr 9, 2023 |
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Apr 9, 2023 07:48
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ApplesandOranges posted:Victorious can also win if they ensure Defeated stays in last place, they don't have to care about making it to the end. As long as one group gets to the end with Defeated in last place, Victorious wins. In fact, if it looks like it'll be a 9-way tie, Victorious can just opt to Confess nothing to prevent the tie for the end. I can see your reading of the rules, but I interpreted differently. Victorious has to finish with at most 3, AND they aren't executed if Defeated ended up last. Normal: Survives if first place and either Defeated isn't last or Defeated is last with 9 or more animals tied for first. Victorious: Survives if first place with at most 3 animals. Defeated: Survives if last place and those who finished are 8 animals or fewer ----------- I agree with those guesses for major trinkets. I wonder why we haven't seen more Major trinkets though.
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Apr 9, 2023 08:30
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ApplesandOranges posted:Grouping Whistle - Dog? I couldn’t remember what Second Caw does, but going back and checking it can copy the previously used trinket. I don’t think we’ve seen it used in any route. If a trinket activates a mechanic (Grouping Whistle, Draconic Prayer Statue) then presumably Second Caw does nothing. But Second Caw copying Sheep’s Clothing is (so far) the only way that all players could survive. And yeah it’s a bit weird that we’re on the 2nd last route of the game, and there’s still 5 Major Trinkets unaccounted for. Presumably Themis had ideas for trinkets but couldn’t come up with routes around them so some of them got quietly dropped.
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Apr 9, 2023 10:53
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Mix. posted:“This is the Grouping Whistle. Once activated, the 12 participants will be divided into their four packs. The packs each consist of three animals that move directly after one another. That is to say, Mouse, Ox, and Tiger would be one pack. Bunny, Dragon, and Snake would be another. Once packed, the participants cannot be unpacked. Participants in a pack will all move together. If Mouse chooses to move one space, then on Mouse's turn, Mouse, Ox, and Tiger will all be moved forward one space. Huh I just realized, but the instructions referred to Mouse as 'Mouse', and not 'Rat' like how Brian has been referring to the animal during race results. The rat is the original animal in the fable so I'm not sure if this is a editor slip-up or if there's something else going on.
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Apr 9, 2023 12:10
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Last time this happened it was an actual plot point, in that it hinted the instructions were not legit. But this time around, Brian announced the change, so that can't be the case.
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Apr 9, 2023 13:35
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I think it's probably just Ox replacing the name since he's reading it aloud. 
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Apr 9, 2023 13:47
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Tallgeese posted:If it is possible to combine this with Sheep's Clothing, that's 9 who can win because presumably the personality copy spreads to the group. Simply have a Normal group copy Defeated. The third trinket would be the Second Caw which copies the last item used, so you use it after the Sheep's Clothing. whitehelm fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Apr 9, 2023 |
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Apr 9, 2023 15:50
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whitehelm posted:The third trinket would be the Second Caw which copies the last item used, so you use it after the Sheep's Clothing. I completely forgot about that one. So yeah, Brian wasn't lying when he said there was a way for everyone to survive. Seems too luck based to be fair on his part though.
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Apr 9, 2023 17:11
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Unless this is all a simulation/relies on the not-morphogenic field or something. But the second would actually be lame given there's 0 indication of that (at least there are hints to the simulation in the endings)
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Apr 9, 2023 17:17
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NeoRonTheNeuron posted:I can see your reading of the rules, but I interpreted differently. JEB posted:If no animals are able to get to the finish line at the end of the 12th round, all of you will be executed. Every round will last 45 minutes. All participants must take an action within those 45 minutes. If a participant does not take an action during a round, they will be executed There's seemingly no requirement to 'finish' the race to survive under the 'Defeated' rules, just a requirement that someone finishes to avoid everyone losing. As long as there's no 9-way tie and the Defeated is last when the finish line is crossed, everyone except Defeated and Victorious is executed. If both of these rules are meant to apply, it'd be patently unfair. Kangra fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Apr 10, 2023 |
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Apr 10, 2023 18:43
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"Patently unfair" isn't the most inaccurate way to describe this setup though?
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Apr 10, 2023 22:54
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Sure it is! First it'd be a copyright and second that only applies to the direct printing of the manual, the rules themselves don't get any creator protections under American law.
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Apr 10, 2023 22:58
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 [BGM: Hear No Evil]  Wow. That was... a lot. You're telling me. So... what's the plan? I don't think we have a plan. Dragon just came in, found a completely disruptive Major Trinket, and unearthed everything. I guess we've no choice but to join in on this absurd 'gang war' of hers. Uh, I was hoping for a better plan than that. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly in peak fighting shape. And no offense, but your years as a prosecutor haven't seemed to toughen you up either. Ouch. I said no offense! Oh, in that case I'm not offended.  You don't have to worry so much Mouse. After all, you have me on your side! Well, thank God for small miracles, I guess. Gosh, things have really gone bad, haven't they? I don't get what Dragon was saying at all. She was afraid of the possibility that with two hidden traitors things would be surprisingly violent, in a complex way. Her argument is that this 'fairer', out-in-the-open violence is somehow preferable to the prior type. I can see what she's getting at... if you assume that things would deteriorate without this change. Do you agree that it would? It's hard to say. I don't think it's a leap in logic to say that the people with the 'defeated' and 'victorious' personality types probably planned to sacrifice us. If they didn't, they probably would've confessed when we asked them to out themselves. But that's not enough to say that they definitely would've been more deadly than this. The idea that it's going to be a clean, '6 people live, 6 people die' situation is a fallacy. There's real potential for only 3 people to survive, or even none. I don't like the idea of this turning into a bloody battle. Can we stop that from happening? I... doubt it. Then, like it or not, it's happening.No one knew what to say to that. It was a cold, uncomforting truth. But it was the truth. Uh, the Round's almost over. Should we input our moves? Yes, let's. I would think it obvious, but if either of you have a special personality, might as well tell us now before we check for ourselves. I don't have one. Me neither! Okay then. In that case, we should try to move as far as possible. Don't we need to cross the line at the same time as the other group without a special personality? We can worry about that later. It's not like anyone's crossing the line this round. Unless... So what should our actions be? ...Who has a Minor Trinket? I don't have one on me, but I remember the code that was on one. I've got a Trinket too! I remember the code on the Trinket Dog had. Let's try and use these three Trinkets. If we're lucky, all three of us will be able to use ours. In that case, we're moving a minimum of nine spaces, and that movement will grow exponentially if other groups use theirs. ...Well, even in the best case we won't be able to finish this round, but we can try to get within striking distance of the finish line. Got it! Sounds like a plan. Alright. I'll use this restroom to put in my action. You two can use the nearby classrooms. Right. This should take almost no time, so let's just do that and meet back here. And with that, we briefly split up to input our actions. I was a little worried on whether or not my code would be accepted, or if someone else who saw the code could have entered it first. Luckily, it seemed to go through fine. I left the restroom, and a couple moments later Ox and Tiger returned. Did everything go well? It did for me. Same here. Great. We should go down to the cafeteria and monitor the results of this round. It may provide us with a very useful clue. Uh, not to be a Nervous Nelly or anything, but don't you think the others will also try and check the results? They might, but so what? They might try to attack us! They might try to attack us here. Conflict is inevitable. We can't be scared away from information just because we might be attacked. I guess. Yeah, you're right. I was just being cowardly for a second. Don't worry about it! Everyone has doubts. The important thing is that you overcame them! I wouldn't– Onwards!Tiger boldly led the charge down to the cafeteria. So long as I followed her, I felt a little safe. Horse was probably the strongest person here, but Tiger had the second place title. She could protect us, at least for now. We got to the cafeteria without incident, and when we arrived there wasn't anyone there.  Phew. Well this is a relief. Don't drop your guard. Just because there's no one here now, doesn't mean that there won't be anyone coming. The round isn't over yet.We waited around for a bit longer, until the TV started to show the round results. Round 4 has ended. Now, let us see how the race has progressed.[BGM: Silence]  The Rat has used a Minor Trinket, and moved three spaces. Since Ox and Tiger are in the same pack, so do they! The Ox has used a Minor Trinket, and moved three spaces. Since Mouse and Tiger are in the same pack, so do they! The Tiger has used a Minor Trinket, and moved three spaces. Since Mouse and Ox are in the same pack, so do they! The Bunny has RUN one space. Since Dragon and Snake are in the same pack, so do they! The Dragon has RUN one space. Since Bunny and Snake are in the same pack, so do they! The Snake has RUN one space. Since Bunny and Dragon are in the same pack, so do they! The Horse has used STEADY GALLOP and moved three spaces. Since Sheep and Monkey are in the same pack, so do they! The Sheep has RUN one space. Since Horse and Monkey are in the same pack, so do they! The Monkey has RUN one space. Since Horse and Sheep are in the same pack, so do they! The Rooster has used ENCOURAGING CROW on Sheep. Sheep moves four spaces. Since Horse and Monkey are in the same pack, so do they! The Dog has RUN one space. Since Rooster and Pig are in the same pack, so do they! The Pig has RUN one space. Since Rooster and Dog are in the same pack, so do they!... Now, Round 5 has begun. Do your best, and choose wisely. That round was certainly more eventful. To be expected. It's a free-for-all at this point. But hey, we're in the lead! ...Sort of! We're close to tying with Horse, Sheep, and Monkey. They were able to keep up thanks to Rooster's 'Encouraging Crow' thing. Why'd he boost that group? Couldn't he have used it on one of his partners? The fact that he forgoed crowing one of his partners means one thing. That group must have the 'defeated' personality. This theory is especially likely when you consider that Pig didn't use her ability, which would've singlehandedly moved her group 9 spaces. They don't want to come first, they want to come last. That makes sense, but–[BGM: Dance of the Snakes]  Just then, I saw that someone had entered the back of the cafeteria. They'd actually been in the back of the room for a while. Bunny, what are you doing here? Sorry, sorry, I don't want to fight! I just wanted to check how this round went. Dragon sent me to scout here. Good thing too, now I know who my allies are. Allies? Well, it has to be you guys. Why would you say that? Okay, so Dragon, Snake, and I don't have either the 'defeated' or the 'victorious' personalities. Our first order of business was to find which pack also didn't have either personality. Judging by these results, I'd say that Dog's pack has the defeated personality. And since they decided to boost Sheep's pack, that group probably has the victorious personality type. Hold on, you're making some assumptions with your logic there. Just because Sheep's pack was boosted doesn't mean they have a victorious personality type. Yeah, maybe those packs made contact and are working together now, or maybe Rooster doesn't care which other pack wins. That's true, but I also eavesdropped on some of your conversation. To me, it didn't sound like you have the victorious personality. Well your assessment is right! We're on your side. That's great to hear! ...is what I wish I could say. Honestly, this is a bit of a disappointment. Oh? And why is that? Why do you think? I wanted our pack to be aligned with the pack Horse is in. If their win conditions are contrary to ours, that means we'll have to go up against him. Unless... Unless... Actually, okay, this might work. What might work? Tiger, are you willing to help fight? Of course! Great, great, the plan will work better like this. What plan? So currently, there's a room on the second floor that Dragon is hiding out in. It's likely that once Horse decides to move, he's going to try and defeat the other packs physically. The idea was that I should scout out this round's results to figure out whether or not Horse might be on our side. She said that it'd be obvious who had the 'defeated' personality, and from there I'd be able to figure out who had the 'victorious' personality. If it turned out that Horse was on our side, great. I'd go and try to recruit him. But if we were against each other, I was to act as bait, find Horse, and lure him to the room Dragon's in. Then Dragon would leap out of her hiding spot and ambush him, then the two of us would try to kill him using some makeshift weapons we'd found. Sounds like a dumb plan. Yeah! There's no honor in a sneak attack! Who cares about honor? That's not what I'm talking about. Even with the element of surprise and weapons, I don't know if you two could beat him. I don't know either, but we have to if Horse is against us. However, this'll work even better if you three help. Help? Instead of me being the bait, you three could. It even sort of makes more sense that way, right? You could get him to chase you into the room, then Dragon and I leap at him, and the five of us take him down. ...Ox, Mouse, no offense, but I don't know how much you'd help. But if Dragon, Tiger and I all went up against him together, we'd have a real chance. Hell yeah we could! Mouse, Ox, let's do it! Hold on, hold on. Why should we work with your group? Seems like a bit of a leap of faith on our part. After all, Dragon was the one who got us into this mess in the first place. I'm not exactly eager to help her at the moment. Okay, Ox, buddy, I totally get you, I hear you, you're not wrong. Dragon made a real mistake the way she handled things, and you're not the only one annoyed at her. But have you seen Horse? Speaking as someone with experience dealing with fighters, Horse isn't someone we can let run amok. If we don't deal with him early, as a group, efficiently, he's liable to pick us off one by one until we're all dead. So if you want your pack to live, working with us is really the best option. … Ox, I think we should do it. I get the feeling Bunny's right. We have to handle Horse. I suppose you are correct. Fine. Show us to the ambush room.And like that, Bunny's pack and ours had reached an uneasy alliance. It was hard to full-on trust anyone under these circumstances, but Horse was a larger problem. He had to be stopped, no matter what.
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Apr 11, 2023 01:32
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