Choice of Rebels Part 1 WIP thread

Too much raid means too much havoc and havoc is anarchy. You have raided all that is not chained. That raiding affects nobles and commerce make hegemony angry and made rumours flowing in the wings of victims tongues. You just don’t raid so much and commerce and raid peaceful the temple. It is easy really at least for me but i play different to the rest of players.

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Well… everything that belongs to the Hegemony, yes.

I can only wish that the raiding would affect nobles, but as my MC’s helots are always reminding the MC, a MC that targets only the Hegemony does not hurt the nobles (even the nobles that so richly deserve it :imp:).

As for commerce, commerce is thriving under my MC’s rebellion because my MC is playing a vital role in promoting tariff-free trade :innocent: by facilitating such trade directly… and by reducing the numbers of tariff collectors :smirk:.

I would say what anarchy my rebellion has caused is the price of a rebellion that up till now is successful. Simon certainly did not mind targeting Hector’s veneurs after what they did to the caravan. If a rebellion that is both successful to date and picky about targeting does not appeal to Simon, then I suppose against the Hegemony there is no shortage of targets fully deserving Kala’s wrath…

The alastor raid in particular raised anarchy quickly before the new chapter and now you keep getting the same anarchy added for repeating a raid. I’ve gotten it up to like 40 or so before losing in chapter 2 so far. It will need to be addressed again I think for balance.

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In the old Chapter 2 (the one before we went whole winter survival mode), it was possible to do some raiding, but as long as you didn’t massacre everyone.

Even then, I think I had Anarchy of 17 and go Suzanne de Firiac (above that caused Kala to show up) Of course, she also showed up if you slaughtered the de Merre nobles. You could raid them, but as long as showed them mercy, you could still get de Firiac.

Unfortunately, with what was Ch. 2 after the change, I just grew frustrated trying to pass it, and so didn’t bother figuring out values, etc.

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Agreed - perhaps some law-and-order activities could be done to lower the anarchy score.

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I’m not sure the rebellion is in any position to do that at the moment. The only thing I could see would be to have trial for any captured alastors or hegemony agents like at the harrowing, which gameplaywise would mitigate some of the anarchy increase.

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I just wonder if I am the only with zero or one anarchy? And the one with only 43 men. Because if it’s so @Havenstone maybe just should skip that path. Don’t get me wrong i love it . But make the effort of doing a path only for one person it is not worthwhile. why is people so violent in this game?

I plan on doing such a play through when the story goes live but I am not testing it because you are. If you are doing such with a natural inclination to do so, others will be wanting to as well.

In America, Jesse James and other outlaw gangs were originally rebels in the 1800’s … so please continue testing it.

There are things like simple acts of kindness done strategically that can be done to lower anarchy - things that made Robin Hood’s legend originally.

I’m not sure that would reduce “anarchy” as it is intended in game terms. Anarchy I think means the breakdown of legitimate government control on existing aspects of hegemonic life. The rebels giving out social welfare would actually contribute that that.

In the new version, luck plays a vastly reduced role in mule acquisition. There is also much less roasting of the sick.

This will certainly happen sooner or later, but I’m not sure whether there will be room for it in Game 1.

Good point. I’ve now written in a choice (for the helot) of dad, Joana, or Gillian. Only took a few minutes.

I’m looking at the Kalt/Simon anarchy threshold in light of the new Ch 2 gameplay; can’t promise it will be easy to get Simon, but I’ll try to make it reasonable. And compassion and anarchy are distinct; it’s possible to be a rebel with a reputation for compassion and still create quite a lot of anarchy, which is what repels Simon.

Of whom 178 are under the age of fourteen.

No, you’re not the only one. :slight_smile: But he/she has a vocal hater contingent, and it’s not hard to see why.

You won’t be the only person to take that path; and it’s definitely staying in. :slight_smile:

Edit: and my jump upthread reminded me that @fairygodfeather was a key influence on my attempt to rework Ch 2 to be more like what it had been when FG first played it. I hasten to add that I am solely to blame for the balance problems, bugs, and overambition in how I tried to implement that advice…

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Hey, don’t under estimate the power of teenage angst :stuck_out_tongue:

No, it’s not, but that’s also what makes s/he more realistic to me. S/he had dreams, ambitions, but was reasonably scared when it mattered the most. Not saying that the MC feels any less realistic because he acted when it mattered most, because it doesn’t, it just means the MC wanted it more. Breden also made a fatal mistake, but how deep that mistake runs remains unseen (to me; shh, I want to find out for myself).

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When I send Breden away . why I couldn’t l shooting her a rock on her face or blind her because I KNOW SHE WOULD RETURN AS THE SPY SHE IS …I WANNA HER DEATH IN A STAKE IN FIRE AFTER BEHEADED HER KILLED BY A POISON And even that way she could return like a Emma ghost to shout at me her helot crazy stuff.

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And this is why I keep you on my good side, Mara. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Thank you so much!

Well, @idonotlikeusernames raised what I thought were some good points about the timing of that discussion.

If Breden were not someone my MC might be interested in as a RO, then my MC would wait. A rupture in the rebellion’s inner circle (such that most of the rebels probably would agree with Breden on that point) would be undesirable. For a RO, my MC might take that chance trusting that they would still get along well enough if a break-up occurs not to undermine the rebellion.

Thank you! I’m looking forward to trying out the helot MC again.

That sounds good.

I also liked Breden otherwise I would not care about my MC discussing important things with Breden. My MC would prefer to work things out with Breden but that sadly may not be possible. My MC admires Breden’s bravery (even if it did fail when needed most), likes Breden’s looks (the game said so), and enjoys Breden’s eloquence.

However, being brave on a raid with the advantage of numbers and surprise is not as meaningful as being brave when the odds are bad. My MC also was grateful for what was hopefully the honest answer of being afraid during the Harrowing. While such a plausible answer is nothing to be proud of, my MC appreciates what is hopefully honesty.

My skeptical and pragmatic MC detests Breden’s religious beliefs and having to get Breden to invoke religion to calm raiders does not sit well with my MC. However, trust was not an issue in the most recent version of chapter 2 because the band would have starved without Breden leading the begging for food almost every week so the fact that the band was alive and healthy was due in large part to Breden. As far as my MC was concerned, a traitorous Breden could have simply let everyone starve without lifting a finger. We are told that Kryptasts play the long game, but to my MC it seems unlikely that the Hegemony would let the rebellion do what my MC’s rebellion has done if the Hegemony could prevent it. My MC feels that by waiting to snuff out the rebellion, whatever the Hegemony might gain in the long run is already outweighed by the damage the Hegemony has suffered.

If Breden as a RO does turn out to be a Kryptast, then I suspect my MC will lose a LOT of compassion points dealing with Breden.

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It is possible that the branch of the Hegemony Breden works for as a Kryptast have their own agenda for the mc’s “rebellion”, maybe they want us to dispose of some of the more powerful current nobles of Shayard, without them being seen to get their hands dirty. Or maybe Breden has his/her own agenda where they either see the potential of the mc’s rebellion and hope to subvert it for themselves and their cause at the appropriate moment, or maybe they’ve playing a risky internal “agency war” where they gamble on both being able to still stop the mc’s rebellion once it has become a serious threat to the Hegemony and receiving one heck of a promotion for it. Even if Breden is a Kryptast they were saddled with a seemingly very risky and undesirable job, having to live (and work) like a Helot for who knows how long.
So I’m guessing that Breden’s hidden agenda if they are a Kryptast hinges on using the rebellion one way or another, either his/her bosses give them everything they want, or they might gamble that the Rebellion will deliver the same for them. In both cases they likely trust in their ability to either direct or eliminate the mc, whenever it best suits their purpose.

I’ve also been thinking about Simon’s possible hidden agenda, seeing as how he apparently escapes the ambush on Linos and Horion, if you choose to go that route (and if that was even a real ambush in the first place, instead of an elaborate part of Horion’s vanishing act). He could still be a Hegemony plant, just from a different branch/agency then Breden, or and this is my best guess at the moment, he is a plant, but not from the Hegemony, instead I believe he’s the Laconnier mole.

Frankly I’d be very surprised if Breden didn’t turn out to be a/the Kryptast. :wink: :innocent:

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I WILL TREAT HER AS ONE even if she is not. Run Breden run your mind magic would never work again…

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Whatever happened to your peaceful Ghandi-esque revolutionary, Mara?

And, while we’re on the topic, I think that having a skeptic MC discussing religion with Breden would probably fit better in the second game. I just don’t think that there’s good space in the first to properly approach and develop it, considering the MC is having a hard time leading the rebellion as it is.

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I like Breden but she/he tries to be too much in the first installment - give me time to learn about my unwilling lieutenant and give me time to accept her/him as my Wellington or my Brutus.

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I actually don’t mind Breden, and wouldn’t mind seeing more of them. it’s just that I think that the establishing of the MC’s allies would be better in the sequel. I think this is mostly because I think that surviving the winter and whatever chapter 4 has in store work well enough as an emotional climax to the story. So I guess we’re in the same page.

Were there other characters that sticked out with you?

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Depending on my chosen actions and the results thereof - the masked zoro type during the jailbreak is a character I want to explore more when I first meet them but because the story progresses as it does the character gets forgotten…

But in general @Havenstone rights characters that are deep and I enjoy interacting with them all. I just think there is an over-arching focus on Breden which is borderline obsessive and that just seems off to me.

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