Choice of Rebels: Stormwright (XoR2 WIP)

[apple]

@Havenstone

Edit: in the next update of XoR 2, expect the line to read “Corlune has some buildings that look as worn-down as these.” Hopefully that’ll be less misleading.

This does get your intent across more clearly, thanks for the clarification. Guess I’m gonna have to strike some evidence off of the “XoR is post-apocalyptic” theory bucket.

[idonotlikeusernames]

@apple

This does get your intent across more clearly, thanks for the clarification. Guess I’m gonna have to strike some evidence off of the “XoR is post-apocalyptic” theory bucket.

Yeah, I guess Havie has to cut some potential branches to keep the whole thing manageable, as cool and intriguing as I too personally found the whole, XoR might be a post-apocalyptic setting theory. The other branch Havie cut is helot mc having an older aristo half-brother by dear old dad and an aristo woman who seems to have used dear old dad as a fling back when he was still young and handsome interesting though that might have been.

[FutbolDude21586]

I just replayed this last week over my vacation, and if I remember right (and I could be 100,000% wrong), a previous build we could learn the Abhumans magic. Is that a path still in the game or was that wiped out?

[Sowe]

@idonotlikeusernames

The other branch Havie cut is helot mc having an older aristo half-brother by dear old dad and an aristo woman who seems to have used dear old dad as a fling back when he was still young and handsome interesting though that might have been.

What? That was supposed to be a thing? Never heard of it.

Edit: I might have fallen for the joke

[Azthyme]

@Sowe

What? That was supposed to be a thing? Never heard of it.

It’s an ancient idea of @idonotlikeusernames’s from before Chapter 4 released based on the Father confrontation at the end of Chapter 3. Here, branch-cutting doesn’t mean something implemented that was removed, but rather a more wild theory not panning out to instead have a simpler but more reasonable solution.

Context (Quotes)

@idonotlikeusernames

There is also the fact that the helot mc apparently has a half-brother (or sister if the mc is female) out there somewhere and if dear old dad somehow couldn’t keep that child the mother was likely either a married helot or, more disturbingly yet more likely, a free woman. Which makes it likely that our half-brother is either a yeoman a merchant or even a dirty rotten “noble”, though my mc would likely find it hard to imagine dear old dad not only in the role of Dann but “getting away with it” without being harrowed too.
In any case dear old dad may provide a source of drama for the next couple of games too.

@Havenstone

To clear up a couple of things about your half-brother: the aristo MC doesn’t have one, and the helot MC will shortly have confirmation from Joana that theirs died in infancy.

Sorry to waste an opportunity for family drama, but my plan is for this to remain an aspect of your dad’s story, not yours (directly, anyway).

---

Updated thoughts on Sojourn are back to the Old Brauracha having built the City. This matches with M’kyar’s dating (“This place has been here since Braurach of old”), and still places it as a foil to Vigil: both Storm-source and Stormhaven (Vigil is the eye of the storm, and “Nothing from a Storm touches it, and nothing and no one moves in it—not that I’ve ever seen”; while the City shelters us and sends us back to the ‘civilised’ world, where the storms will follow; and Sojourn is becoming a beacon of rebellion against both Xaos and, given the upcoming firebombing campaign, Hegemony).

@apple

the “XoR is post-apocalyptic” theory bucket.

The heart of these “XoR post-apocalyptic” ideas, I think, is the parallel between the end of the world when the Hegemony falls to the legends of a wild age of wisards and monsters (and implicitly political fragmentation), which we find in the legends of the Knights of the Gryphon. Notably, the world a thousand years ago doesn’t actually need to have had its own apocalypse for that to stand. Since the beginning, the story can be read as a legend about the end of the world:

One day, the legend of your rebellion against the all-powerful Thaumatarch of the Karagond Hegemony will be retold in countless versions.

This is also the inverse of the Xaos-lands: the present day is the stuff of legends, full of magic and monsters and struggle, while a more stable and comparatively peaceful time is left to the nearly-forgotten histories. All of this is to pose questions to the reader about what their world will look like at the end of the road.

[Banshees]

You’re still able to if you’re a 2 int character that specializes their theurgy under M’ykar.

If you’re learning theurgy from her you don’t get the option to specialize.

[FutbolDude21586]

Awesome, thank you!

[Ferry]

I think I need to ask will there be ways to decrease the anarchy we had made earlier in any stage before building our new order? Or if you make high anarchy once it will outgrow your desire on its own will?

[antwaun_henry]

@Azthyme

All of this is to pose questions to the reader about what their world will look like at the end of the road.

In my opinion its a future where the story is romanticised beyond return!.

[Ackolyde]

I hope it’s the latter. One of the best things about the first game is how easy it is for you to alienate your most loyal supporters if they catch you flipping on your standards once and how hard it’ll be to steer them away from what they were initially inspired by.

For example, murdering Horion when you previously established yourself as at least honorable, if not pacifistic, gets Simon/Suzanne to defect immediately.
Or letting them on their merry way after previously establishing yourself as someone who will punish the aristocracy and Hegemony at large wherever you find them gets Kalt/Kala to openly disobey you.

[Ferry]

@Ackolyde

One of the best things about the first game is how easy it is for you to alienate your most loyal supporters if they catch you flipping on your standards once and how hard it’ll be to steer them away from what they were initially inspired by

That’s exactly why I think if at first you are a high anarchy and a lot of helots join because of that and you choose to change later and lower the anarchy you had made perviously so you can invite nobles and merchants to rebellion is as good as making anarchy outgrowing what you intended from beginning.
Also..
@Havenstone will the notoriety stat become visible any time? So we know how it will increase? And would some of our doing decrease it too?

[Kevrj]

“You’ve protected your City from the Halassurq creed, ${addressc}, and for that you can be proud. But don’t let kurios Erjan’s departure be the end of what we’ve begun. You’ve a message to spread, the necessary foundation of a new
*if sojfaithact < 15
Angelic
order in these lands.” Even if Herne won’t see it, you almost add aloud. “Don’t forget what
*if sojfaithact = 13
I’ve shared with you.”
*if sojfaithact = 13
we’ve learned together."

These two *if sojfaithact = 13 checks in chaos2.txt look like they need to be tweaked. Right now a kenon or inner voice MC ends up with a quote that cuts off, here’s how it appears in-game:

I think the first *if sojfaithact = 13 is working as intended for an Eclect MC. If that’s the case, I think the code should be something like:

*if sojfaithact = 13
I’ve shared with you."
*if sojfaithact > 13
we’ve learned together."

[Havenstone]

Thanks for the catch, fixed this in my working copy.

[Havenstone]

Sorry for disappearing for a few weeks, folks. We were coming to the end of my wife’s PhD fieldwork and (relatedly) my last term of home-schooling our kids, so the last few weeks in Rukum have been pretty full.

But after 20 hours on the road, I’m now back in Kathmandu, no longer a teacher, and ready to put a lot more time into getting this thing finished!

Plus some in responding to questions.

@Ferry

will there be ways to decrease the anarchy we had made earlier in any stage before building our new order? Or if you make high anarchy once it will outgrow your desire on its own will?

Decreasing anarchy will be possible, but costly, probably involving active repression of the anarchy-friendly segments of your following. Bringing in nobles and merchants without losing the helotry should be pretty challenging.

@Ferry

will the notoriety stat become visible any time? So we know how it will increase? And would some of our doing decrease it too?

My gut instinct is to keep it hidden and periodically give the reader a sense of it through the story.

[roodcross]

@Havenstone

My gut instinct is to keep it hidden and periodically give the reader a sense of it through the story.

That seems a lot more realistic to me in an age without anything remotely resembling polling.

[apple]

@Havenstone

But after 20 hours on the road, I’m now back in Kathmandu, no longer a teacher, and ready to put a lot more time into getting this thing finished!

Congrats! Hopefully the monkeys didn’t terrorize you too badly, glad to see you back around.

[Ferry]

@Havenstone

My gut instinct is to keep it hidden and periodically give the reader a sense of it through the story.

And what about it being able to decrease?

Also saw this mistake about Ciels being woman and my wife? :

Also why cha 2 singing couldn’t get us join hawks phyle? But int2 singing can? And when we are talking to the spy first pages of being back in shayard if we don’t have int 2 they will get suspicious anyway and it doesn’t matter your stats.
In All I got the perspective that any stats of 1 isn’t any different from that stat being 0. Because you can’t pass anything like fighting xaos beasts or joining phyle or achieving anything in sojourn or passing the spy questions.
And that int2 is the most checked and useful stat and it has most special scenes like in sojourn
@Havenstone

Edit: also could we save the irduin order and convert them to rebellion and our rule in the same time? Or for getting them behind rebellion we need to break their ordered peace?

[apple]

@Ferry

Also why cha 2 singing couldn’t get us join hawks phyle? But int2 singing can? And when we are talking to the spy first pages of being back in shayard if we don’t have int 2 they will get suspicious anyway and it doesn’t matter your stats.

Skill issue sadly. Cha 2 can join via tale-telling just as easily as Int 2 can, and the fugitive-hunter depends on what alibi you choose.

[Ferry]

@apple

and the fugitive-hunter depends on what alibi you choose

It is that case if only you have int 2. But if you don’t it doesn’t matter what alibi you go for. You will fail cause you can’t bluf the name or information for questions he asks even with cha2, you can’t convince without giving substance. In reality a cha2 should talk like he knows everything even if they don’t have any int and others will believe them cause cha2. And if you have int 1 you still can’t come with any info to convince the hunter. Or with cha2 int 1 you can’t story tell good enough too. Or com 1 can’t beat anyone. There really isn’t middle stat, you win perfectly or lose. No hard win or half wins
@Havenstone

[antwaun_henry]

Are there any Fanmade Flags for Shayard, im planning to do something it.