This island was never meant for humans - Let's Play Tainted Grail

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Kobal2: Apr 29, 2019

Omobono posted:

That was abrupt.

Who do we trust more right now based on nothing, Morgaine aka Morgana le Fay or the Lady of the lake?

Also we're on a clock so it's time to boost Maggot's combat deck. Something is tracking the grail and its holder.

1) B - the wife wants nothing to do with the armor anymore and we're helping out the Round Table at the moment
2) A - Maggot
B - Ailei - see my comment about clocks. Let's see what the lady wants. I'm assuming we can also check in with Morgaine later on

3) A - He's the best option to dealing with whatever will come hunting

4) B - Maggot and A - Ailei I'd say a couple combat deck boosts for Maggot. I think we should get a practicality skill on Ailei before her combat deck.

E2: Maggot can't take down that Wyrm yet, right? It'd make a decent trophy.

Seconding this.
(also yeah that... kinda came out of nowhere, huh ? "Welp you got the grail now, chapter done !")

# ? Nov 13, 2020 16:47

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 13:15

That Italian Guy: Jul 25, 2012; We need the equivalent of the shrimp = small pastry avatar, but for ambulances and their mysteries now.

Kobal2 posted:

Seconding this.
(also yeah that... kinda came out of nowhere, huh ? "Welp you got the grail now, chapter done !")

This is because of the sandboxy nature of the game.

The Quest we were onto had 2 main paths:
- go East to Kamelot for help
- go West and figure out what has happened to the first expeditio.
- It also had a third possible solution, aka "stumble into the Grail".
We chose to go to Kamelot, but on our way there we randomly found some breadcrumbs for the other main path (figure out what happened to the first expedition). Following those, we stumbled into the Grail. We still don't know, by the way, what happened to the first expedition - aside from the fact that most of them are now dead and they somehow got their hands on the Grail.

PS: Update on the previous page!

# ? Nov 13, 2020 17:29

Hypocrisy: Oct 4, 2006; Lord of Sarcasm

1B
2A
3A
4A

Walking around with the grail and Excalibur's scabbard. Moving on up in the world fast. Guessing whatever was chasing Galahad will be after the grail holder soon enough. Nice that Ailei can still hold onto hope for her mentor.

# ? Nov 13, 2020 18:06

NeoRonTheNeuron: Oct 14, 2012

1B: I still want to go to Kamelot, so let's not take the armor for ourselves.

2A (Maggot) and 2B (Ailei), with both going through Tangleroot or Hunter's Grove. (Ailei could go through First Farmhold to reveal 140, but Full Moon's 2 purple, take harder is dangerous).

I don't remember how the guardian moves, but if it enters Hunter's Grove before our turn, I'd like to defeat it for the exp/food. We will take damage, but we're about to heal some back at Mirror Lake, and Maggot has decent armor to ward off blows.

Be careful about Mirror Lake. The Whitening will go dark soon, so Maggot could end up trapped if we need to linger in the area.

3C I want everyone to have magic since it cannot be transferred. Start the Grail with Maggot since we probably need to show the Grail to the pale lady

4B deck advancements for more power now that encounter level 3 is a thing. (But I wouldn't mind that menhir swapping power)

# ? Nov 13, 2020 18:29

Omobono: Feb 19, 2013; That's it! No more hiding in tomato crates! It's time to show that idiota Germany how a real nation fights!

For pasta~! CHARGE!

By the way, I find interesting that Galahad had cut ties with the rest of the round table.
I mean, Tainted Grail is right in the name of the game, but Galahad is the most virtuous (read: actually virtuous) of the bunch so him going AWOL says a lot.

And now I wonder who the other members of the expedition were. Nimue as Ailei's mentor maybe?

That Italian Guy posted:

The Quest we were onto had 2 main paths:
- go East to Kamelot for help
- go West and figure out what has happened to the first expeditio.
- It also had a third possible solution, aka "stumble into the Grail".

Finding the grail turns back the clock on chapter 3A, so I wonder what the other accesses to this variant are, since the text explicitly mentions having Seihai-kun*. Unless there are multiple tainted Grails around :ohdear:

.
Then again, the currently revealed quest is event 1 from chapter 3A right? The one that gets discarded if you don't actually have the Grail. False alarm, there's no metagaming evidence of multiple cups overflowing with evil around.

I'd speculate that Grail-less 3A is triggered by schmoozing Morgaine in Kamelot, while the fate of the expedition leads to 3B.
E: actually, 3B from Morgaine and Grail-less 3A from the expedition makes more sense, since you could stumble on the Grail in the latter case like we did.

*no Angra Mainyu in there because this isn't Fate/Stay Night but some rear end in a top hat absolutely stuck some evil inside that cup.

# ? Nov 13, 2020 19:35

nweismuller: Oct 11, 2012; They say that he who dies with the most Opil wins.

I am winning.

1- B Let's try and do things as much as possible to support Kamelot here, as we've been doing.
2- B I think seeing the fruits of the dealing with the unrest in the township is probably worth spending the time.
3- A Maggot is our designated Magic-user, let's let him gather Magic for now.
4- A I think getting a skill each before getting deck advancements might be worthwhile.

# ? Nov 14, 2020 02:12

malkav11: Aug 7, 2009

Both characters have a skill already.

4B - we've only done one deck advancement per deck for each character and should buy a couple more for the respective specialties at a minimum before we look at another skill...although if we get a big windfall of XP (like, 3-4+ at once) we might want to consider holding back and buying another stat/skill with it.

I'd also note that as much as we will try to prioritize using Maggot for Combat and Ailei for Diplomacy, it is not safe to assume that we can pull that off every time - upgrading the other deck is a good idea as well. We'll just want to be more sparing about it.

# ? Nov 14, 2020 07:49

NeoRonTheNeuron: Oct 14, 2012

Regarding relics, I think it was said that the limit is 1 relic equipped at a time. But can the active relic equipped be swapped out during a turn?

Maggot has the scabbard (reduces damage by 1 in exchange for trauma) as well as the tainted grail (+1 magic at start of turn). It seems that both are useful at different times, so can he effectively make use of both relics?

# ? Nov 14, 2020 11:01

That Italian Guy: Jul 25, 2012; We need the equivalent of the shrimp = small pastry avatar, but for ambulances and their mysteries now.

NeoRonTheNeuron posted:

Regarding relics, I think it was said that the limit is 1 relic equipped at a time. But can the active relic equipped be swapped out during a turn?

Maggot has the scabbard (reduces damage by 1 in exchange for trauma) as well as the tainted grail (+1 magic at start of turn). It seems that both are useful at different times, so can he effectively make use of both relics?

Well, yes and no.

You can only swap and equip items at the start of the day, so we have to pick one. But Excalibur's Scabbard works at the end of the Rest - before you decide which items to equip - and the Grail works at the start of the Day. So, IE: if on day 1 Ailei has the Grail and Maggot the Scabbard, Maggot can use the Scabbard at the end of Day, then swap the Grail with Ailei at the start of Day 2 and use it. But there is no way for the same character to move the items around again and be able to to so every day - at max every other day.

# ? Nov 14, 2020 11:43

malkav11: Aug 7, 2009

There is a skill that allows equipping two relics, but IIRC it's on an attribute that would be quite expensive for either of our characters to buy up to a skill on. And I don't know that we have quite enough relics to make that worthwhile yet, plus we have a Task to turn over the scabbard at some point, and our Quest may involve handing over the Tainted Grail. Still, something to keep in mind if we pick up more.

# ? Nov 14, 2020 16:33

That Italian Guy: Jul 25, 2012; We need the equivalent of the shrimp = small pastry avatar, but for ambulances and their mysteries now.

Mini-update recap

Votes so far posted:

Galahad's Armor: we are almost certainly going to bring his possession to the elders. (B)

Exploration: we are almost certainly going to split up, with one character going to the Mirror Lake (113) (A) and the other going to visit the Quite Burough (142) (B). Who's going where is still uncertain.

Grail Carrier: we're probably going to leave the Grail on Maggot, for now.

Future level ups: Maggot is definitely going to start investing in some Deck Advancements (B). Ailei may be saving her Exp for now (A), but there's only 1 vote difference between the options for her, so everything is still undecided.

So, it turns out that Fael the Hunter was actually Galahad in disguise. Why was he here? Why in disguise?

Lorepost - Galahad

Galahad, the Perfect Knight posted:

Taking over Gawain's mantle as the knights' knight, Galahad is the son of Lancelot, one of the three Grail-findersand all around the bestest knight. Galahad is not present in the earliest Arthurian tales, being introduced by the later French versions.

Gaul-ahad?

Separated from his father at birth, he is reunited with him when he defeats Lancelot in a duel; he is immediately recognized by him and Arthur promplty makes him a member of the Round Table. Galahad is accompanied by a mysterious older knight, who reveals that Galahad's place at the table is the empty seat that has been kept vacant for the sole person who will succeed in the quest of the Holy Grail. Everyone who has ever tried to sit on the chair so far is dead - the name of it is literally "the Danger Chair" - but Galahad survives unscathed. If it wasn't clear by now that Galahad is the author Gary Stueth, Arthur leads him to another sword in a stone; Galahad is able to remove it with ease, and Arthur swiftly proclaims him to be the greatest knight ever. Everyone stands up from the Round Table and claps.

Galahad's statue in Ottawa.

When all of the Knights of the Round Table set out to find the Grail, it is Galahad who takes the initiative to begin the search for the Grail; the rest of the knights follow him. Arthur is sorrowful that all the knights have embarked thus, for he discerns that many will never be seen again, dying in their quest. Arthur fears that it is the beginning of the end of the Round Table. Further uniquely among the Round Table, Galahad is capable of doing miracles such as banishing demons and healing the sick. For the most part he travels alone during the Grail Quest, smiting (and often sparing) his enemies, rescuing fellow knights including Percival and saving maidens in distress, until he is finally reunited with Bors and Percival. These three knights then leaves together aboard the mystical Ship of Solomon, which they use to cross the sea to an island where Galahad finds another magical sword - this time, King David's sword. Sadly, he never dual wield his set of magic swords, afaik.

The cherubs are actually following Galahad's horse, who's also a Saint. ~~I may have made this up.~~

After many adventures, Galahad is able to find Corbenic, the Castle belonging to the mystical Fisher King. Here Galahad is allowed to witness the Grail and he is able to make a demand: to choose the moment of his death. We are getting heavily into medieval times here, so of course the best thing Galahad can think of is to meet Joseph of Arimatea, and leave this mortal coil behind, ascending to Heaven with him.

Galahad is presented with the Grail by a grand wizard.

That Italian Guy fucked around with this message at 12:51 on Nov 15, 2020

# ? Nov 15, 2020 12:47

That Italian Guy: Jul 25, 2012; We need the equivalent of the shrimp = small pastry avatar, but for ambulances and their mysteries now.

Expedition Log posted:

Current Location: Whitening (107)
Tasks:
- find who tried to repair the Menhir at the First Farmhold.
- find where the hermits went.
- reach the Tomb of the Order with the Excalibur's scabbard.
- deliver Fael's final words to his wife in Whitening.
Active Menhirs: Whitening (107), 0 days left., Titans' Steps (115), 4 days left.
Guardians: Underbrush Wyrm(101) moves North!
Other effects: Maggot gains 1 Magic thanks to the Tainted Grail (current: 3).

The Menhir in Whitening will go dark tomorrow, taking everything not in range of the one in Titans's Steps with it.

Vote Results posted:

Galahad's Armor: we are going to bring his possession to the elders. (B)

Exploration: we are going to split up, Maggot is going to the Mirror Lake (113) (A) and Ailei is going to visit the Quiet Burough (142) (B).

Grail Carrier: we're going to leave the Grail on Maggot, for now. Ailei gets the Scabbard since we can't have 2 Relics equipped on the same Character.

Future level ups: Maggot is going to start investing in some Deck Advancements (B). Ailei will be saving her Exp for now (A).

Today's Event:

Exploration in progress: Whitening (107) posted:

Verse 308 (BoS):

We were exploring with both characters (since we were smelling a Party-wide reward), so each character gets 1 Wealth (current A:6, M:2). We also mark down part 1 of Restoring the Order. If we ever get 6 parts (out of 8) of this Status, we'll have to visit BoS 512 - the only other Status with a completion BoS Verse is "Fate of the Expedition".

It's time to go! Maggot spends 2

to travel to Mirror Lake (113) then immediately recovers 1 thanks to the busted Location Action (current:4).

Exploration: Mirror Lake (113) posted:

- Maggot spends 1 (current:3).
Intro:

We are going to summon the Lady and this time she should answer our plea.
Verse 1:

Verse 9:

That's a total of 8 elbows. That's a lot of elbows.
Verse 4:

Verse 257 (BoS):

We are already on Chapter 3A, so no extra Exp for us. And our busted Grail is gone We gain the Lady's Task status, though, and we alter the Event Deck.

Maggot is currently outside of the range of the Titans' Steps Menhir, so he spends 2

(current: 1) to travel to Titan's Steps (115). Then Ailei spends 3

(current: 4) to to travel to Quiet Burough (142) (current 4) and we hope to draw a Blue Encounter. We flip a dial and we get a Grail! We are doubly lucky, since we get a "Calm before the storm" Event.

Exploration: Quiet Burough (142) posted:

- Ailei spends 1 (current:3).
Intro:

Verse 1 is the same conversation we had in the Plagued Burough about the fate of the First Expedition - we discovered that only Erfyr the Blacksmith and our mentor, the priestess Neante, were still alive a week ago. Let's see what's happened in the Burough after our intervention.
Verse 3:

We have 3 marks on Helping the Knights.
Verse 4:

We are most definitely not looting or spreading the Plague, no Sirree! For our troubles, Ailei gains 1 Exp (current: 3) and 1 (current: 1).
- Ailei spends 1 (current:2).
We can now do one of two things, and we'll vote on what to do retroactively. We can Visit the Market:

Or we could try to find a way to the Dark Morass
!
Maggot can't reach us - since he only has 1 Energy left, and we may want to send him to the First Farmhold to progress our Quest tomorrow. We only have enough to do one of these things today without getting Ailei exhausted - whatever we don't pick, we'll do it tomorrow (unless the thread votes against it). We can also repeat the Market action tomorrow if we want to, it's not a 1 time thing only.

End of Day posted:

Rest:
- Ailei consumes 1 Food, recovers 1 . Energy is set to full (7)
- Maggot consumes 1 Food, recovers 1 and loses1 . Exhausted! Energy is set to 5.
Advancement:
- Ailei current Exp is 3.
- Maggot current Exp is 1.
Dream:
- No dreams in either Location!

Tomorrow's Event:

VOTE IS NOW OPEN
:siren:

Vote Options posted:

Rest of the Day: we can (A) Visit the Market or (B) Reveal and move to the Black Morass (140). This will cost us 1 Rep.

Market: if today or tomorrow we visit the Market, we're going to:

Browse through the stalls: we can repeat this, but each of this actions will cost 1 . Please specify how many attempts we should do.

Sell something: we can do this in conjunction with another Market action, and we can do this multiple times. Please specify what you want to sell!

Offer our services: we can do this in conjunction with another Market action, and we can do this multiple times. Please specify who/what should be offered!

Next Exploration: we have once again a few options. Vote all the ones you want to do, in order of preference and I'll try to make sense of the results:

Explore the Black Morass (140) to reveal the next Menhir.

Explore Broch Cruach (136). This will reveal Location 135.

Explore the First Farmhold (117) to progress our Quest.

Hunt in Tangleroot (114) to take advantage of the Beautiful Weather Event.

Other. Please specify what!

Explored Locations:
- 101
- 102
- 104
- 106
- 107
- 109
- 113
- 115
- 117
- 138
- 142

That Italian Guy fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Nov 17, 2020

# ? Nov 17, 2020 13:22

Kanthulhu: Apr 8, 2009; NO ONE SPOIL GAME OF THRONES FOR ME!

IF SOMEONE TELLS ME THAT OBERYN MARTELL AND THE MOUNTAIN DIE THIS SEASON, I'M GOING TO BE PISSED.

BUT NOT HALF AS PISSED AS I'D BE IF SOMEONE WERE TO SPOIL VARYS KILLING A LANISTER!!!

(Dany shits in a field)

Rest of the Day: Visit the Market

Market: Browse through the stalls: Ailei has 6 wealth, so I think we should spend at most 4 wealth in two attempts (one today, one tomorrow) to get two good itens. The OP decides what is a good item.

Next Exploration:
Maggot should Explore the First Farmhold first. Getting Maggot there should reveal the Black Morass location. Then Ailei moves there after shopping (by paying 1 rep) and maybe Maggot meets her there.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 14:11

malkav11: Aug 7, 2009

So yeah, the "Tainted" Grail is a fake. There is a true Grail, and now we need to find it. I think it should be fairly obvious who else we could find it for, though.

PS: There's actually one other multi-part status with a BoS verse, it's the opposite of Restoring the Order. (I think it's Fall of Chivalry? But I forget.)

# ? Nov 17, 2020 15:57

Hypocrisy: Oct 4, 2006; Lord of Sarcasm

Huh, there goes our grail. Easy come, easy go. The trackers seeking the grail must be quite terrifying.

Also, Galahad is just a Percival rip off. I'm glad he's dead.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 16:22

NeoRonTheNeuron: Oct 14, 2012

We're getting low on food again, and we got shunted to a different part of Chapter 3A. Things are getting weird.

Maggot could've fought the purple guardian encounter, and IMO, would've been able to beat it at the cost of some damage. Probably worthwhile for the loot if it takes no extra energy to enter a fight.

Maggot gets a free exploration of Titan's Steps, though I don't remember if there's anything left to find there.

1A Ailei goes to the market to seek items 2A.

We don't have enough food, so I want us to farm green encounters at Tangleroot 3D.
We could bravely go for the First Farmhold (and Black Morass), but we'll be very tight on food if we try to light the menhir right away.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 18:03

malkav11: Aug 7, 2009

Titan's Steps was all about the timed event. We did it, so there's nothing else left to do.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 18:20

Kobal2: Apr 29, 2019

Kanthulhu posted:

Rest of the Day: Visit the Market

Market: Browse through the stalls: Ailei has 6 wealth, so I think we should spend at most 4 wealth in two attempts (one today, one tomorrow) to get two good itens. The OP decides what is a good item.

Next Exploration:
Maggot should Explore the First Farmhold first. Getting Maggot there should reveal the Black Morass location. Then Ailei moves there after shopping (by paying 1 rep) and maybe Maggot meets her there.

Seems good, voting that.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 18:26

Omobono: Feb 19, 2013; That's it! No more hiding in tomato crates! It's time to show that idiota Germany how a real nation fights!

For pasta~! CHARGE!

NeoRonTheNeuron posted:

1A Ailei goes to the market to seek items 2A.

We don't have enough food, so I want us to farm green encounters at Tangleroot 3D.
We could bravely go for the First Farmhold (and Black Morass), but we'll be very tight on food if we try to light the menhir right away.

Do this.
We've got to restock on food, Maggot should hunt all day. Depending on what's in 140 Ailei might have to flee to first farmhold and it's free movement.

Omobono fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Nov 17, 2020

# ? Nov 17, 2020 18:29

That Italian Guy: Jul 25, 2012; We need the equivalent of the shrimp = small pastry avatar, but for ambulances and their mysteries now.

Mini-update recap

Votes so far posted:

Rest of the Day: we will most likely visit the Market (A).

Market: we're going to browse through the stalls (A), maybe twice but probably just once (unless we don't find anything useful the first time). Let's find out!

Next Exploration: we are probably going to split up, but we have a complete tie between exploring the Black Morass (A), the First Farmhold (C) and hunting for food in Tangleroot (C). We may be able to do both the Farmhold and to hunt with Maggot, but if you have any preferences for one or the other, now it is time to speak!

Since browsing the Market for items has a commanding lead, I'll let you guys have a peak at the first 3 items. We'll decide if we want to buy some of that and/or if we want to spend 2 Wealth more to spin the wheel again! These are the first 3 items we get without extra Energy expenditure:

VOTE IS NOW OPEN
4. Do we want to purchase any of these items (2 Wealth each)? None of these items have a keyword, so they won't conflict with our existing equipment. Vote A for yes (specify which ones) or B for no.
5. There are currently 61 items in the pool. Do we want to spend 1+

tomorrow and draw 3 extra items each time? Vote A to stop now; B to have 1 extra; C to have 2 extra attempts; or D to have X extra attempts (specify how many).
:siren:

Additional art from Quiet Burough (142)

We may need a pack mule to carry our loot, depending on your choices. Also, a pack mule is 1 of the 61 items we could get at the market!

That Italian Guy fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Nov 19, 2020

# ? Nov 19, 2020 14:59

malkav11: Aug 7, 2009

4A - Oiled Tent. It's not quite as useful when we're split up as we've been doing lately, but between that and the Adventuring Kit we can defang a bunch of negative events. Consumables like the Incense aren't really worth spending money on, IMO, and the Advisor -could- be really good but only if we get lucky on the dial tosses, which I don't especially expect. Also, Maggot can already make Magic, and Ailei can ill afford to gain 2 Terror a pop to pay for it.
5B or C - there are some other permanent effect items that would be quite good to get. Hell, even just another Kit would be worth it.

# ? Nov 19, 2020 16:13

David Corbett: Feb 6, 2008; Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world.

I don't think I can comment intelligently enough to recommend directions, but I do want to say that I am enjoying this thread and am glad you've kept it up.

# ? Nov 19, 2020 16:34

That Italian Guy: Jul 25, 2012; We need the equivalent of the shrimp = small pastry avatar, but for ambulances and their mysteries now.

David Corbett posted:

I don't think I can comment intelligently enough to recommend directions, but I do want to say that I am enjoying this thread and am glad you've kept it up.

Glad you like it and the only wrong opinion is the one not expressed, imo

# ? Nov 19, 2020 17:15

Omobono: Feb 19, 2013; That's it! No more hiding in tomato crates! It's time to show that idiota Germany how a real nation fights!

For pasta~! CHARGE!

malkav11 posted:

4A - Oiled Tent. It's not quite as useful when we're split up as we've been doing lately, but between that and the Adventuring Kit we can defang a bunch of negative events. Consumables like the Incense aren't really worth spending money on, IMO, and the Advisor -could- be really good but only if we get lucky on the dial tosses, which I don't especially expect. Also, Maggot can already make Magic, and Ailei can ill afford to gain 2 Terror a pop to pay for it.
5B or C - there are some other permanent effect items that would be quite good to get. Hell, even just another Kit would be worth it.

Agreed.
4) A - tent since we're murderhobos and thus we need some portable shelter.
5) B - Just one more ~~turn~~ pull.

# ? Nov 19, 2020 18:14

Kobal2: Apr 29, 2019

Omobono posted:

Agreed.
4) A - tent since we're murderhobos and thus we need some portable shelter.
5) B - Just one more ~~turn~~ pull.

Exactly. Don't ever maybe not pull, pulling is great and/or awful. Pulling more has never been a horrible waste to me except for every time it has.

# ? Nov 19, 2020 18:41

NeoRonTheNeuron: Oct 14, 2012

4A: Oiled Tent

Just seeing the items is interesting enough to me. 5B: One more pull...!

# ? Nov 19, 2020 20:36

habituallyred: Feb 6, 2015

malkav11 posted:

4A - Oiled Tent. It's not quite as useful when we're split up as we've been doing lately, but between that and the Adventuring Kit we can defang a bunch of negative events. Consumables like the Incense aren't really worth spending money on, IMO, and the Advisor -could- be really good but only if we get lucky on the dial tosses, which I don't especially expect. Also, Maggot can already make Magic, and Ailei can ill afford to gain 2 Terror a pop to pay for it.
5B or C - there are some other permanent effect items that would be quite good to get. Hell, even just another Kit would be worth it.

# ? Nov 19, 2020 20:54

Domus: May 7, 2007; Kidney Buddies

Nthing the tent, and then voting to go get food. So just one spin. Also enjoying the LP, thank you!

# ? Nov 19, 2020 21:33

AJ_Impy: Jun 17, 2007; SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?; Yam Slacker

It amuses me that the Quiet Borough art is a quiet burro.

# ? Nov 20, 2020 01:35

That Italian Guy: Jul 25, 2012; We need the equivalent of the shrimp = small pastry avatar, but for ambulances and their mysteries now.

End of the day

Votes so far posted:

Rest of the Day: we will visit the Market (A).

Market: we're going to browse through the stalls (A) and we will have another go at least, tomorrow.

Our first go at the Market ~~slot machine~~ has netted us these 3 items to chose from:

We have decided to pick the Oiled Tent, so Ailei pays 2 Wealth (current: 4) and gains the Item.

AJ_Impy posted:

It amuses me that the Quiet Borough art is a quiet burro.

Expedition Log posted:

Current Location: Titans' Steps (115), Quiet Burough (142)
Tasks:
- find who tried to repair the Menhir at the First Farmhold.
- find where the hermits went.
- reach the Tomb of the Order with the Excalibur's scabbard.
Active Menhirs: Titans' Steps (115), 3 days left.
Guardians: Underbrush Wyrm(101) disappears! Wyrdbear (101) disappears!

The Menhir in Whitening has ran its course, so all the Locations not currently in range of the one in the Quiet ~~Burro~~ Burough are removed from the board. This also means the nasty Guardian Wyrm is gone for now! Luckily for us, Guardian activation is after the Menhir check and location removal, so it doesn't get another chance to go out of bounds and teleport to Location 142.

Rest of the votes posted:

Market: we're going to have another go at the Market today, and maybe another after that. The advantage of asynchronous play is that, if we have leftover Energy at the end of this day, we can retroactively vote to spend it into more ~~gambling~~ investments.

Next Exploration: we are going to split up, exploring the Black Morass (A) and hunting for food in Tangleroot (C). If we have enough Energy, we'll start moving Maggot back towards the First Farmhold.

Today's Event:

Let's go hunting! We are Travelling to Location 114, Tangleroot. Maggot spends 0 Energy (current: 5) due to the Beautiful Weather Event.

He then spends 2

(current: 3) to Gather Food.

Combat - Spitslug posted:

Such a beautiful day to hunt indeed We are forced to pick the Slug, which is probably my least favorite Tier 2 Green enemy due to its "Discard 1 Item" attack. It is Defensive, so our first card played each round will deal 1 less , but at least it's Slow (meaning we draw +1 card in the first Round and at the end of each Round). The Event effect at least means we will bury the Giant Runtling at the bottom of our deck. This is our starting hand:

- We play Attack but we don't gain any due to Defensive.
- We play War Magic and gain 2 , but suffer 1 . To play this card we had to spend 1 Magic (current: 2).
- The Slug attacks and we prevent 1 damage thanks to our Improvised Armor. We suffer 1 .
- Our only advantage in this combat is Card Advantage. We draw 2 thanks to Slow and 1 more thanks to Now or Never.

- War Magic's delayed effect kicks in and we gain 2 .
- We play Risky Attack since we can prevent its negative effect with Distraction. We get lucky and we get a Grail, so we gain a total of 4 , reduced to 3 by Defensive.
- We play Distraction to be able to keep up our chain.
- We play Careful Attack and 2 more .
- We lay Defensive Posture to prepare for the massive damage to come.
- We are currently at 9 and the Slug has an unusual effect at this level: it deals 5 damage, but we also gain 2 . We are able to reduce the damage by 3 (-2 Defensive Posture, -1 Improvised Armor) and with the 2 extra markers we have 11 , winning the Combat!

That was a tough fight. Maggot is now at 5

, although since we are always running around Exhausted, this is not too bad atm. He gains 1 Exp (current: 2) and a total of 3 Food (current: 5). He spends his last effective Energy to move back to Titans' Steps since he can't have a Nightmare there; by resting, he'll be able to regain 1 Health and set his Energy for tomorrow at Full (6).

Let's see what Ailei is doing!

I can stope whenever I want posted:

Please listen to this enchanted voice before proceeding.
- Ailei spends 1 (current:6) and browses some more stalls at the Market.

Once again, some quality Items - although I would have preferred some better defensive tools. Remember that each item costs 2 Wealth (Ailei current: 4) and that each day you can only equip 1 Item with the same keyword - unless you have a Skill that says otherwise. We may retroactively have another go at the Market depending on your votes if we have any leftover Energy on Ailei.

Exploration: Quiet Burough (142) posted:

- Ailei spends 1 (current:5).
Intro:

We are going to find a way into the Dark Morass.
Verse 6:

Ailei loses 1 Rep (current: 6) and gains 1 (current: 2). Then we reveal the Dark Morass (140) and move her there.

Exploration: Dark Morass (140) posted:

- Ailei spends 1 (current:4).
Intro:

Ailei is currently at full Health, so we're going to lose 1 (current: 6). Then WHADAWWTUI (We Have A Diplomat And We Want To Use It).
Verse 3:

We draw a Blue Encounter - Curfew:

It's a Level 1 Encounter and we only need 3 to win it. Ailei easily tricks the bogmen on her 1st Round; she even gains 1 (current:5)! We don't have time to lose partying (or maybe we do, we'll see) so WHADAWWTUI to gather some info.
Verse 5:

We don't have the status, but we roll with +3 thanks to our Empathy score. We roll a 4 for a total of 7.
Verse 4:

We mark down the Status. Let's see if we can put it to good use!
- Ailei spends 1 (current:4).
Verse 1:

We have 2 Practicality and we roll a 2, for a total of 4.
Verse 10:

Verse 11:

Too bad Maggot is too tired to join us Ailei gains 2 Exp (current: 5) and 1 Magic (current: 3). We have 2 Effective left. There are a couple of things we could do with it:
- We can search the bog for herbs (costs 1-4 Energy):

- We can partake in the celebrations (costs 1 Energy and either 1 Item or 2 Wealth; this will terminate Ailei's day):

We can retroactively spend 1-2 more at the Market. We could also move somewhere else. We'll vote on this.

End of Day posted:

Rest:
- Ailei consumes 1 Food, recovers 1 . Energy is set to X based on the votes.
- Maggot consumes 1 Food, recovers 1 and loses1 . Energy is set to full (6).
Advancement:
- Ailei current Exp is 5.
- Maggot current Exp is 2.
Dream:
Maggot is in a Location that has no Dreams. Ailei Dreams in the Dark Morass (140):

Tomorrow's Event:

The first Guardian we draw is a Wyrdbear. It spawns in Whitening (107) and it would move South; since there is no Location there, it moves to the highest revealed Location instead - Quiet Burough (142).

VOTE IS NOW OPEN
:siren:

Vote Options posted:

Markets of a future past - vote which item(s), if any, we want to purchase from this batch!

Rest of Ailei's day - we can:

Explore the bog for herbs - we have 2 to spare, so we could roll with a total of +3 today.

Attend the party - please specify if you want to lose 1 item or spend 2 wealth.

Browse some more market stalls - retroactively spend 1 or 2 Energy to see some more wares.

Move to the First Farmhold and explore with Ailei to progress our Quest - we would face a Purple Encounter.

Other - please specify what.

Tomorrow's Exploration - we can (vote all the ones you are interested in, ordered by interest):

Explore First Farmhold (117) to progress our Quest.

Explore the Dark Morass (140) to look for Herbs (if we haven't done it already).

Regroup and light up the Menhir in Dark Morass.

Explore Broch Cruach (we will have to fight the Wyrdbear on our way in).

Fight the Wyrdbear in Quiet Borough.

Other - please specify what.

Maggot's level up: Maggot has reached 2 Exp, so we can purchase a Deck Advancement (Combat, this time). These are the 3 cards we have drawn; please pick one (and vote for what to remove, if you'd like to):

Explored Locations:
- 101
- 102
- 104
- 106
- 107
- 109
- 113
- 115
- 117
- 138
- 140
- 142

That Italian Guy fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Nov 21, 2020

# ? Nov 20, 2020 15:45

Kobal2: Apr 29, 2019

Wait, since when are we working for Morgaine ?!

1) Those items are all really good ! I'm torn between the sword and the book. The book would be good on Ailei as a source of accumulating magic whenever she's away from a menhir and can't lose terror anyway. The sword would be incredibly good on Maggot if we can use 2 weapons, it'd still be pretty good as his new weapon while the clansword goes to Ailei.
Let's believe in magic though, since it also helps with talkamancy. Voting book. Then all we'll need is a bell and candle.

2) A then B, party on Ailei, spending what's left of the petty cash. Don't toke the bogweed yet, it's still too damp.

3) A then C. Ailei should heal Maggot some. Then race back to Tangleroot because we'll almost be out of grub...again... (seriously, 1 food on the giant super hard to kill snail is a dick move. There's great eating on those, by my French word !)

4) Hmm, these 3 cards all seem pretty awful. I guess Powerful Blow is the least bad, but paying energy on our constantly energy starved guy isn't great.

Kobal2 fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Nov 20, 2020

# ? Nov 20, 2020 20:19

That Italian Guy: Jul 25, 2012; We need the equivalent of the shrimp = small pastry avatar, but for ambulances and their mysteries now.

A couple of notes:
- We can't use two weapons on the same character at the same time;
- The Clansword doesn't work if you can't connect Aggression, so Ailei can't really use it;
- Powerful Blow says "lose" instead of "pay" Energy ( the difference being that we can activate something that requires us to lose a resource that is already at 0, but we wouldn't be able to do the same if it requires us to pay instead).

That Italian Guy fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Nov 20, 2020

# ? Nov 20, 2020 20:29

Omobono: Feb 19, 2013; That's it! No more hiding in tomato crates! It's time to show that idiota Germany how a real nation fights!

For pasta~! CHARGE!

Kobal2 posted:

Wait, since when are we working for Morgaine ?!

De facto we've been helping out the (tainted?) round table in our decisions until now, even if officially we're on the path of helping the lady of the lake. We could always light the new Menhir and go say hi in Kamelot. The quest mentions switching allegiances.

# ? Nov 20, 2020 21:07

malkav11: Aug 7, 2009

1: Book. Possibly also Runic Sword, both for Ailei. Ailei hopefully won't be doing loads of combat though, and can't currently connect double Courage, so it's relatively limited use, whereas much of the time the Tome will be 1 Magic a day for Ailei.

4: these aren't super great but I think probably Powerful Blow is best, followed by Careful Planning. I don't like spending energy in combat but both are powerful effects, whereas Gather Strength is just kind of not doing very much for us except maybe fueling the Clansword.

# ? Nov 20, 2020 21:10

malkav11: Aug 7, 2009

Omobono posted:

De facto we've been helping out the (tainted?) round table in our decisions until now, even if officially we're on the path of helping the lady of the lake. We could always light the new Menhir and go say hi in Kamelot. The quest mentions switching allegiances.

Right, but the linked Quest card in the post is for Morgaine's Quest, which we don't have. Also, we shouldn't assume the Knights of the Round Table and Morgaine are universally aligned.

# ? Nov 20, 2020 21:11

Omobono: Feb 19, 2013; That's it! No more hiding in tomato crates! It's time to show that idiota Germany how a real nation fights!

For pasta~! CHARGE!

malkav11 posted:

Right, but the linked Quest card in the post is for Morgaine's Quest, which we don't have. Also, we shouldn't assume the Knights of the Round Table and Morgaine are universally aligned.

Oh right, I skimmed over that one. I think TIG put Chapter 3A event 3 instead of event 4 by mistake.

E: metagaming a bit:
3A event 1 was the fake grail start;
event 2 is probably the fake grail running out of juice and dissolving (and maybe skip to event 5);
event 3 is the Mograine path, event 4 is the Lady path;
special event A is probably needed to skip to event 5;
event 5 I really don't want to find out.

e2: Actual voting
1) Book - bless be the gacha. Until such time where we shall curse it instead. And yeah, it effectively gives Maggot's passive to Ailei once per day. Magic it up baby.
2) ~~420~~ A - we have an Ailei and we wish to use her.
3) D - let's see what's up north before the menhir goes lights out.

4) Careful Planning? - sucky cards, but planning feels great for long slugfest encounters. It also applies to Ailei if we ever need to tag-team some big jerk and she can use those links.

Omobono fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Nov 20, 2020

# ? Nov 20, 2020 22:20

Kobal2: Apr 29, 2019

Omobono posted:

De facto we've been helping out the (tainted?) round table in our decisions until now, even if officially we're on the path of helping the lady of the lake. We could always light the new Menhir and go say hi in Kamelot. The quest mentions switching allegiances.

Yeah but I'm confused because it's not the same card as the one we revealed when we met with the Lady (and the Lady doesn't say jack poo poo about Morgaine's belongings ?) so I was wondering if maybe TIG had published the card relative to the quest we *would* have had if we'd gone to Kamelot instead.

# ? Nov 20, 2020 22:41

Omobono: Feb 19, 2013; That's it! No more hiding in tomato crates! It's time to show that idiota Germany how a real nation fights!

For pasta~! CHARGE!

1) Actually on second thought we should buy both the book AND the sword, we have the cash for both.

# ? Nov 20, 2020 22:45

Kobal2: Apr 29, 2019

Yeah but if we buy both we can't party like it's 2000 (unless we toss something else)

# ? Nov 20, 2020 23:12

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 13:15

NeoRonTheNeuron: Oct 14, 2012

Echoing what others said about our active quest. Are we seeing the right part?

The Dark Morass Menhir is going to cost us 1 energy each, 4 food, and 2 wealth. We have 7 food and 6 wealth, so we have to be careful.

1 Moldy Tome We can't afford to buy too much, so I want the item that gives us mostly-free magic. If we do buy a 2nd item, the sword seems fine to give Ailei some better offensive options in combat.
2A Herbs are like food... right? (Do not attend the party 2B because we seem to have exhausted the potential benefits of attending.)
3A and 3C Maggot's already on the way through the First Farmhold, and the Dark Morass is adjacent. Ideally, he can do exploration in First Farmhold alone and join Ailei to light up the menhir in Dark Morass.
Powerful Blow It sucks to use energy, but sometimes you just need big damage. ~~If the enemy creature deletes cards in our chain, we may be able to take advantage of that and have powerful blow's timer effect occur multiple times in a combat.~~ (This was incorrect.)

EDIT: Ailei's final screenshot should technically be 6 rep and 2 terror after passing through the "shortcut" to Dark Morass. Your update text has this right; it's only the final image that's wrong.

NeoRonTheNeuron fucked around with this message at 08:35 on Nov 21, 2020

# ? Nov 21, 2020 00:13

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > This island was never meant for humans - Let's Play Tainted Grail

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