Choice of Rebels: Stormwright (XoR2 WIP)

You can start by teaching everyone to practice Theurgy, starting from the cradle. What could possibly go wrong? :smiling_imp:

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If what we know about how magic works, babies will make the strongest Theurges.

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“I am a makew of chaaaaange!”

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So basically this episode of Bewitched

but make it bloody.

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It probably wouldn’t work that way as using theurgy requires some specific knowledge and sufficiently developed mind. I guess toddlers might have problems with becoming the makers of change.

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My toddlers upended my life. But yes.

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@Havenstone What is the general style of the weapons and armor? The Hegemony is a cosmopolitan empire and the inspirations of each region have been explained, but it’s unclear what kinds of equipment its soldiers generally use. There’s many varieties of swords and shields, of course. Also, does the Hegemony have a general military doctrine and strategy which its army acts under or does each region have its own style? Has this affected the types of weapons utilized by non-Theurgic troops?

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Alas, our nascent AI overlord has missed the fact that ping-pong isn’t a cuisine (or to be a little fairer, that eating together was just one of the many relationship-building things going on in that visit, and not the most significant one) and its illustration of kimchi diplomacy was between two nations where kimchi is a commonplace dish (and would really better be described as “food aid” than “cultural diplomacy”). There was also a whole lot more going on with Gorbachev’s diplomatic efforts than sushi could come anywhere close to explaining. I don’t question that it’s good for tourism promotion, but that’s not the kind of “powerful tool” you’ll need in the wake of an imperial collapse.

The Rim alone is bigger than either Switzerland or the Vatican – more like Norway-sized. Rim-plus-Southriding would be a good sized country, not much smaller than Turkey in our world. Because the territory traverses the language gap, with by far the bigger population in the southern half, I don’t think you’d necessarily get away with naming it a “-lund”. I’d give the reader the chance to name it, with some suggestions, so you could go with Coruscant if you liked. :slight_smile:

Thanks to her, I’ve read a fair amount of anthropology in the past year, which shaped how I wrote the folk of the Xaos-lands in various ways. I’d already written the plant-stuff into the world before she properly started down this career path. But more plant medicine may find its way in based on the resources she now owns.

There’s never been a canonical printed version. It’s a bit like JEDP theory or the Q hypothesis, where there’s surely something to it – there were texts originally written in an old Shayarin dialect, that were edited in the process of getting to the final canonical Codex – but starting from the Codex as we have it, it’s impossible to get a non-coerced consensus about which bits were in which source.

Yes, with heavy reliance on the right allies… who will themselves have ideas on right doctrine. If your ideas are different from theirs, better specialize in CHA.

I’m going to continue to hold off on explaining this for a while. A lot of my reading over the past year (since I got access to academic libraries and research papers through my wife’s study) has been boosting my grasp of real-world military history and technology, the better to think through how Theurgy might have disrupted and shaped military strategy. Grateful for all of your patience and eventual feedback when I’m ready to put some provisional ideas out there.

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Lawful religions cannot preach or condone caste systems or slavery and must be at least tolerant of gay people or they are not, in fact, lawful religions.
Well that would be my mc’s view of it. Exactly how they are gonna reconcile that with their vaunted codex is of no direct concern for him, just that they do. In fact the more different interpretations on how to do that the more the monolithic nightmare religion might schism…which is exactly what my mc would like to see. And it will of course have to compete for followers against other lawful religions too. No more state sponsorship and monopoly rights. Long live the free market…of faith!!!:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I was thinking about the Unquiet Dead, and kind of stumbled across a question I’ve been thinking slightly about. What do they use for the source of their theurgic power? Like, there is the question of whether they can still self-sacrifice blood or something equivalent to gain aether, but either way, they’re still probably going to need more juice than that.

Like, even if they tend to be savants with theurgy, with centuries of experience and all that, I feel like the Hegemony would try to roll over them one way or another without a pretty strong counterweight. Free land untouched by Xaos storms seems useful, even if it’s cold there. I wonder if they like maintain a living population to practice more traditional means of aether harvesting, or if they have some more esoteric and mystical source of power.

I think there was mention of them wheeling away people in bone cages. Even that legend has a kernel of truth to it, I doubt there are a lot of people wandering in. So if they do have living people as a source of aether, they are probably “cultivating” it. Which could be a rather dark thing, but it could also be the funnier outcome of it just being a little nation grown and hidden away, having a relatively standard life under their undead overlords.

Or they could get aether from some hidden magical discovery and process, and I’m entirely wrong, or that the entire issue a non-existent for unrelated reasons. No idea lol.

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Is it possible to use intelligece stats to get all 3 faction to support MC ( instead of charm), I mean they are diplomat for a reason. Bringing down hegemony should be there top priority as they kind of hate them, for one reason or another. A smart MC can bring them around through logic ( there diplomat, and possibly some of the best emotions can take a back seat)

MC didn’t have to convert them just help him to weaken hegemony and if MC can’t his companions with high charm can have the option.

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Ya know I wonder, if the magic upgrades have their own path do the charisma and martial paths have their own as well? Dosent seem like it but never hurts to ask

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I’m afraid that’s not how I see diplomacy or persuasion more generally working. Intellect is more often the tool of the passions than their master. If one group hates another group, they’ll use their intellects to rationalize that hatred; convincing them to reverse intellectual direction is often beyond what reasoned discourse alone can achieve.

Even when two groups have a greater common enemy, that doesn’t ensure that they can be logicked into unity. Maybe Group One could be intellectually convinced that on grounds of numbers/strength/assets alone there’s no possibility of beating the enemy unless they unite with the despited Group Two-ers – though that’s a tall order, especially when those aren’t the only two groups in a society and a coalition of other allies is imaginable. But there’s no logic (in the real world, rather than the sealed-off thought experiments of game theory) that proves Group Two can actually be relied upon to do their part. Trust between formerly antagonistic groups is always a decision, not a logical output.

Charisma carries us past the impasses that intellect alone would leave us stuck in – in many domains of life, not just diplomacy. Charismatic leaders make new coalitions and solutions to social dilemmas believable, in ways that (if successful) eventually harden into tradition and commonsense and institutions. I think it’s reasonable to say that high-CHA MCs will be better at bringing former enemies into provisional unity than either high-INT or high-COM ones.

But charisma has its limits. Not even the most charismatic leaders on earth have ever united every social faction in their realms behind them. Getting to a winning coalition is hard enough without aspiring to consensus. As I’ve suggested elsewhere on the forum (and in some bits of the game text) as your CHA increases, it will make some people hate and fear you more. The most charismatic US presidents of my lifetime, like Reagan and Obama, have also been some of the most abhorred by their opponents.

Some of the religion and nationalism paths will be limited to high-CHA characters, and Game 5 battlefield victories against overwhelming odds will be limited to high-COM characters. There will also be plot nuggets in each sequel that only high-stat MCs can reach.

A great question, and alas one which won’t be fully answered until Game 5. But betting on “rather dark things” always has reasonable odds in this gameworld. :slight_smile:

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Out of curiosity, what will then be limited to high-INT characters? Will it just be their ability to bring increasing amounts of Theurgy to the table, or will they also be better at finding unconventional solutions?

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Had no idea this thread existed until now! I have many fond memories of playing the first instalment so I’m very glad to see the series return! :heart:

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Jesus Christ, but also awesome

Excited to see how that all goes!

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Never tell me the odds, I’m betting they run on sunshine and rainbows until proven otherwise.

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MC need hight cha to get all 3 faction to support MC, but can player get cordial relationship with them all through bet( I forgot the name) throw her chasima . And there is options for different government in the first game for MC having all say at the cost of competent leaders.

MC can have a high chasima leader work with him to get the job done but have to contend with only having positive as first among equal.

MC can be in overall command but still have to contest with different leader demands and how he handles them ( it can play into the type of government structure MC choose in first game, it pro and con).

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That’s what Breden is for, but Breden is problematic enough that my mc disposes of them now with the “accident”. In the first game that does pay off by letting the final battle go much more smoothly as Breden tries to demoralize the band from making a stand when necessary there.

There may be other more charismatic followers whose views better align with my mc later on although I think for mc’s who do not have charisma as their primary attribute it is necessary to keep a closer eye on our followers. In general most autocrats, even the charismatic ones, tend to have their underlings compete with each other for favour (this aspect being on stunning display in the Kremlin right now) and occasionally purge some of them. Of course this tends to come with a rise in corruption and a decrease in efficiency but most of them accept it as a tradeoff for retaining greater personal control over the overall direction of the regime and keeping their own authority paramount.

Incidentally the Bulwark of all places has a decent series on how (would-be) autocrats can corrupt with Lindsey Graham as an example.

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MC is fighting a very powerful enemy ( not to mention incredible cruel and deeply inbedied into the social system ).

MC have to use all means necessary even if it means risking his position as leader. MC is a rebellion leader fighting state with limited or without outside support. Player is only open rebellion which have survived over a year and proven a serious threat ( yes there is politics but it’s more like war time politics and even then it’s about survival first and foremost, like Ya even if there are 5000 rebel how many adults, train, and properly equip to fight on a even fighting to a whole army of a state)

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