Erfworld thread IV: In memory of King Saline

[Bird]

And it's no more broken than the "taming" of a quakken.

Sure. The double eagle thing doesn't seem very fair--but who ever said Erfworld was fair? (Erm, maybe someone did, but it's clearly not. Erfworld rewards imbalance & exploit.)

It would be amusing if the "bad luck" around games of chance was actually much worse than bad draws--like, if characters were giving themselves papercuts on their eyes with the cards & things of that sort.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Given my dating history, I'm pretty sure I could have the bird full up in an afternoon.

[ryuplaneswalker]

Yep, but it remains a trick with a tamed beast, and you need an important character to do the thing. I doubt you can afford it on so many ships.
And it's no more broken than the "taming" of a quakken.

I do believe that the rules of Erfworld, are made to reward those able to think outside the usual schemes.

The "taming of a quakken would be a straight up Exploit in Game Mechanic terms, you are getting a feral beast on your side, without actively paying its upkeep which I imagine is more than the value of a few loaves of bread a turn, Charging up Luckamancy with card games speaks to me as the same sort of exploit, you could have two units in a hex..their own stack playing a card game while the eagle tweaks all sorts of rolls.

That is Attuned Arkentool Levels of powerful IMO.

[Kornaki]

That is Attuned Arkentool Levels of powerful IMO.

Yeah, it kind of is. Anchorbar had a whole army of quakken, that corresponds well with what the hammer and pliers have been doing. But so what? Maybe the point is that the arkentools, while powerful, are not really that great. They are a way for sides that are stupid to compete with sides that are smart, and that's all they exist for. The fact that there are no smart sides (or very few), makes the arkentools seem like worldbeaters, but that's the Erfworlders' fault.

[-D-]

To be honest having Parson + Arkentool is game-breaking. That said, the Duke is getting a bit predictable! I want to go back to Parson and his plans to reanimate the tower into a Transformer

[TechnoWarforged]

..........

[-D-]

..........

No one guaranteed a happy ending.

[Narkis]

Guess taming sea monsters isn't quite as exploitable as people thought. ;)

[HalfTangible]

DAMMIT PEOPLE SPOILERS

A simple 'new comic' would've sufficed, for cryin' out loud...

[Yana]

I'm at a bit of a loss as to how those particular comments are considered spoilers. They don't explicitly reveal what happens, which is what I always thought a spoiler was supposed to be.

[Bird]

I'd have also appreciated the spoiler tags, thanks.

Spoilers aren't just specific plot twists--they can also spoil the tone of what's about to happen, which has an impact on potential surprises.

Anyway,

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There are still a variety of endings possible, though things do look awfully bad for Forecastle. He may not have croaked, and could get saved by the quakken or the eagle--possibly being captured afterwards.

[Legato Endless]

Guess taming sea monsters isn't quite as exploitable as people thought. ;)

Spoiler: Disagree...

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Forecastle asked the Bird to curse his luck.

Well...he got what he wanted. Come next update, there's now a good chance the Eagle's reserve will have finally risen.

[-D-]

Spoiler: Disagree...

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Forecastle asked the Bird to curse his luck.

Well...he got what he wanted. Come next update, there's now a good chance the Eagle's reserve will have finally risen.

Spoiler: HILARIOUS

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Would be funny if Eagle had 5/30 Luckamancy capacity after ship got owned.

[Lentrax]

Spoiler: Another possibility

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Is that the eagle was using the luckamancy as soon as it got it to save various crew members from the Eagle getting 'sploded.

[Kornaki]

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Take all my good rolls for yourself

Is this just a sloppily given order, or does Forecastle not understand the implication of how broad it is?

[EnragedFilia]

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I find it somewhat more likely (and have from the beginning) that the "luck drain" portion of the power can't be directed in the first place but simply activates randomly upon any roll being made in the same hex (or some other convenient radius), while the "luck boost" portion activates (whether randomly or consistently) solely to the benefit of the eagle and possibly its master. In that case, ordering the eagle to drain luck would probably have no effect whatsoever.

Incidentally, the other day (that is, prior to the most recent update and thus not covered by the spoiler policy) I was thinking about just how useful this sort of luckamancy reserve capability would really be in the hands of an actual mid- or high-level luckamancer. Perhaps in the form of a temporary enchantment that causes the target unit to randomly penalize rolls made by any other unit in its vicinity while randomly boosting its own rolls. Depending on the juice cost and the level requirement, that wouldn't seem to be much more powerful than the capabilities already demonstrated by Rusty the luckamancer to influence a target unit's rolls directly... at least until a munchkin like Parson gets hold of it and realizes that a sufficient volume of inconsequential rolls made nearby could keep the reserve constantly charged to capacity and render the enchanted unit literally incapable of making a less than perfect roll, which depending on the exact mechanics of the combat system could be tantamount to invincibility. In other words, perfectly in keeping with all the other aspects of Erfworld magic that Parson has taken advantage of already.

[Killer Angel]

I'm at a bit of a loss as to how those particular comments are considered spoilers. They don't explicitly reveal what happens, which is what I always thought a spoiler was supposed to be.

Well, the meaning behind some comments was pretty clear. Something very bad happened to Forecastle.

Well, I suppose it's the kind of thing that can happen, if your attention is pointed at play dices during a combat...

[Killer Angel]

Forecastle's update!

Spoiler: undefined

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still alive and kicking.
Sadly, the firepower of the enemy vessels is still unmatched, and if they start to concentrate the beams, the eagle cannot stop 'em all. But yeah, in close combat now Forecastle's got the edge.

[Yana]

Fawksull Update:

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I admit, I'm impressed with how Rob can keep this battle from feeling inevitable. The last update had me thinking that the HMS Double Eagle was doomed, but now that Forecastle has a greater understanding of how the Eaaaaaaagul works...

Still a coin toss as to who'll win this one. One that Forecastle will cause to go against his side, but still find a way to win despite the odds.

[Landis963]

Fawksull Update:

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I admit, I'm impressed with how Rob can keep this battle from feeling inevitable. The last update had me thinking that the HMS Double Eagle was doomed, but now that Forecastle has a greater understanding of how the Eaaaaaaagul works...

Still a coin toss as to who'll win this one. One that Forecastle will cause to go against his side, but still find a way to win despite the odds.

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My guess is that they'll win and limp into an allied port. Once there, Forecastle will storm into the garrison demanding pen, ink, paper, and a hat, and give a very detailed accounting of his experiences.

[Kornaki]

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My guess is that they'll win and limp into an allied port. Once there, Forecastle will storm into the garrison demanding pen, ink, paper, and a hat, and give a very detailed accounting of his experiences.

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My guess is they can't feed all their new quakken friends and they can devoured by the ducks on the next turn. Everybody dies, nobody survives to tell the story. Parson spends the rest of the night wondering how the hell this book got written.

[Radar]

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My guess is they can't feed all their new quakken friends and they can devoured by the ducks on the next turn. Everybody dies, nobody survives to tell the story. Parson spends the rest of the night wondering how the hell this book got written.

Or the ducks start fighting for the bread. There might be a reason for having only one duck per ship. At any rate I still hope for Anchorbar fleet going down just so the Double Eagle shenanigans won't be forgotten in Erfworld.

[Fjolnir]

Spoiler: new page

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there appears to be some sort of timeskip in place or some sort of fantasy because I thought Cat Harping died in the last page...Aaaand I am mistaken, it was Carrack that died.

[Spojaz]

Spoiler: new page

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there appears to be some sort of timeskip in place or some sort of fantasy because I thought Cat Harping died in the last page...

Cat was incapacitated below-decks, not dead.

I love this bittersweet ending. I think this might be my favorite Erfworld story.

[Bird]

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I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to watch the rest of the battle, though I can appreciate that if everything went according to plan, it wasn't strictly necessary to show it.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the plotline and the look into seafaring culture in Erfworld, even if Forecastle wasn't the most memorable character to me.

It seems to be over, but will "epilogue 1" be followed by "epilogue 2"?

[Porthos]

That was... unexpected. Good, but unexpected.

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My instinct is to feel for Fawcastle, since even if one lives in the lap of luxury and power, it can't do one's mental health much good to be the butt of never ending jokes and ridicule. For the very nation you saved, no less. And yet, he does show that he's able to parry and thrust with the best of them, so there's that.

But, yes, the bits with Cat (before her reveal) were just painful to read. Glad to see that this is going somewhere, though.

[Lentrax]

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I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to watch the rest of the battle, though I can appreciate that if everything went according to plan, it wasn't strictly necessary to show it.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the plotline and the look into seafaring culture in Erfworld, even if Forecastle wasn't the most memorable character to me.

It seems to be over, but will "epilogue 1" be followed by "epilogue 2"?

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Double Eagle, Double Epilogue.

[Bird]

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The Cat stuff was painful, but being a colony governor isn't exactly a bad end for Forecastle, despite him having to demean himself. Overall, he's probably happier as a semi-autonomous agent than he would be as an admiral or something, constantly answering to the Queen.

[Lizard Lord]

So what happened to the double eagle (the bird)? It may have been a double-edged sword but they would not have won the Battle of the Storm Hex without it (once Forecastle figured out how to properly use it, that is).

[Lethologica]

Spoiler: update

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I totally read the exchange between Cat and Forecastle over dinner the way Cat interpreted it--as Forecastle knowingly playing along--and was therefore surprised by the angst about Cat lying. But it makes sense in retrospect.