Book 2 – Text Updates 013

[balder]

New One is up.

[regisminae]

my favorite part: "Mastermind"

It's a bit disappointing to hear that Maggie is only adept-class, but she still seems quite competent, and really, GK's other Casters are all Master-class, right (at least, Wanda and Jack are... SIzemore may or may not be), so it's probably in interest of semblance of fairness.

Also, Maggie chooses her words diplomatically.

Good update.

[Hefesto]

My first post, I love this comic.

Maggie is right not telling Stanley that Ansom's not in battlespace. His first order would be "ANSOM! GO TO THE BATTLESPACE IMMEDIATLY" And Jillian would go crazy. I can't foresee what Wanda's planning to do with Jillian, but I'm sure that she wouldn't turn (alive) to GK's side.

[fjolnir]

There seems to be an... Irregularity is probably the current understatement of the series....

[Spungi]

One of the most interesting tidbits to come out of this text update is that Charlescomm is either not in the battlespace, or is allied with someone who goes after Gobwin Knob.

My money is heavily on the latter...

[regisminae]

also regarding Charlescomm:

the ability for any unit to contact Charlie by concentrating may be granted by the Arkendish, but it's just an augmentation of units' (implied) normal ability to contact a Thinkamancer of their Side (can that be extended WLOG to allied Thinkamancers?)

[Lord Kasavin]

Thats odd. I could have sworn that Tri-mancer links required a "master-class" thinkamancer. Of cource, "Adept" means highly skilled or advanced, so both "mastermind" and "adept" could be "master-class."

Other than that, an OK update to what's going on. I suspect this incident will help persuade Stanley that Wanda is not to be left alone on the front, regardless of what else happens.

[regisminae]

Thats odd. I could have sworn that Tri-mancer links required a "master-class" thinkamancer. Of cource, "Adept" means highly skilled or advanced, so both "mastermind" and "adept" could be "master-class."

Perhaps you're thinking of Janis' request for Mastermancers to unravel the trimancer link near the end of Book One?

http://www.erfworld.com/wiki/index.php/TBFGK_140

I don't recall it saying anywhere that a Thinkamancer had to be of a certain ability to form a link. Had to be a Thinkamancer, yes, but ability wasn't mentioned.

[Rosa Vernal]

Hoo boy.

Also, I was waiting and waiting for this text update. I've really liked them.

[MonteCristo]

Y'know this does bring up the question of how casters might gain more levels...
I mean, Sizemore gives the impression that he has not been part of battle himself, but i would think that was higher than lv 1... so i have to ask how he might have gained levels...
Cause i'm wondering why Maggie is only an adept and hasn't been working her way up to masterclass... i mean i'd imagine that a caster might get experience everytime they use their abilities or something as that would allow them to level up without going into combat... but if that were the case, maggie would probably be doing some real good leveling if she's using all of her juice each day.

[Diodri]

That is an interesting point.

We can assume that it involves conflict of some sort. After the battle for Gobwin Knob, Sizemore reportedly went up two levels. He killed many units during the battle, and then he remarked, "I never want to level like that again."

To me this implies that you can gain 'exp' by killing, but there are probably other ways to do it.

[Lord Kasavin]

Y'know this does bring up the question of how casters might gain more levels...
I mean, Sizemore gives the impression that he has not been part of battle himself, but i would think that was higher than lv 1... so i have to ask how he might have gained levels...
Cause i'm wondering why Maggie is only an adept and hasn't been working her way up to masterclass... i mean i'd imagine that a caster might get experience everytime they use their abilities or something as that would allow them to level up without going into combat... but if that were the case, maggie would probably be doing some real good leveling if she's using all of her juice each day.

This assumes "adept" and "mastermind" caster class designations are tied to unit level. Thats a very plausible hypothesis, but not a confirmed one. I would not be surprised if "caster class" is distinct from level. The former can be improved by not only casting and forging, but training and natural proficiency as well. Its a very poor game system that forces you to use a unit outside its proficiency to get better at its proficiency.

[splintermute]

Balder seems to be going out of his way to resolve some forum disputes:

I think caster class may be tied to level - she said "she was still only an Adept class" instead of "she was only an Adept class", suggesting she might eventually become a Mastermind.

The parley is definitely taking place in the city, not on the hex border.

If Charlie has units in the battlespace, they're allied with Faq.

Archons can do amazing things, but their thinkamancy is "primitive."

Stanley doesn't like it when you disparage his toys.

[gameboy1234]

my favorite part: "Mastermind"

Mine too. Have I ever mentioned that my Level 50 in City of Heroes is a Mastermind? Yup? Nope? It is!

Also, Maggie is only an adept and has to be really concerned about "juice." I think this explains why Wanda frequently has such a long leash. With only limited juice, Stanley can't always be issuing direct orders to Wanda. He has to go through Maggie to do so, and Maggie can only do so much.

[Haragorn]

Perhaps leveling for casters is the same as for normal units, with experience gained by killing things. However, rank might be gained by casting spells. Increases in rank could take a very long time. Theoretically, while maintaining the tri-mancer linkup, Maggie was not casting any new spells, so she would not have increased in rank. All the other casters were using spells, so they would have gone on to higher ranks.

[gameboy1234]

Also--

"a brief discussion between Stanley and Parson about the color scheme of the tactical figurines had ended snappishly."

lmao!

[CelebrenIthil]

What I find interesting is the part about her Duty and how she'd rather not mislead Parson....any more than necessary. :3

[Dancing Cthulhu]

Excellent, detail into the working of a caster. And I have to say it sounds tiring being a Thinkamancer - maybe that is why Maggie looks older. So at anyone time Maggie could be scanning thousands of troops, and just doing that takes juice. And it sounds like a passive ability to, something that is always on unless she chooses not to actively use it.

And Maggie is only an adapt? Hmmm, I wonder what that implies? Is it a level thing? What does being a Mastermind offer, besides extra juice presumably and maybe greater control of this abilities (making the constant flow of information a bit easier to deal with)?

And it is interesting - Maggie's "oh dear" put her in the position where she had to choose between saving juice/etc and misleading Parson. Interesting. And the Thinkamancer recognizes it is entirely too odd for Ansom to be out of the battle.

Also - detail on turn order. So there is a natural roster that dicates who goes first for certain, and GK is in one of the first places, with Charlescomm and TV ahead of them. I wonder if that is ominous detail - either Charlie doesn't have units there, or they are allied. Or maybe a sufficiently powerful Turnamancer might be able to move your turn further back in the order... (probably not, but )

And GK has scouts hundreds of hexes away... I wonder what types of units they are using for that?

I mean, Sizemore gives the impression that he has not been part of battle himself, but i would think that was higher than lv 1... so i have to ask how he might have gained levels...

Maybe it involves training or using their skills? Or maybe the ruler who has them has to buy higher titles for them, kind of upgrading them from Adept to whatever with Shmuckers.

And I wonder if Mastermind Thinkamancers are the equivalent to masterclass Croakamancer or Foolamancers - as in are masterclass and mastermind in the same rating system, or do they refer to different things. Because Mastermind fits Thinkamancers, while masterclass is fairly generic.

but if that were the case, maggie would probably be doing some real good leveling if she's using all of her juice each day.

Maybe it depends on the type/difficult of the spells/magic being used? Maggie's monitoring of GK forces sounds like fairly basic stuff for a Thinkamancer, so it might not add up to much, ranking or lving wise.

[Dancing Cthulhu]

What I find interesting is the part about her Duty and how she'd rather not mislead Parson....any more than necessary. :3

That was good. It is possible her duty knows what we do, and Maggie probably does - that keeping Parson in the dark is never a good thing for GK.

Perhaps leveling for casters is the same as for normal units, with experience gained by killing things. However, rank might be gained by casting spells. Increases in rank could take a very long time. Theoretically, while maintaining the tri-mancer linkup, Maggie was not casting any new spells, so she would not have increased in rank. All the other casters were using spells, so they would have gone on to higher ranks.

I think that makes a great deal of sense.

And Jack and Wanda at least have a history from before GK. Jack certainly had a lot of use at Faq, and high level use as well, while Wanda's function for GK certainly had her casting lots of spells.

[Zeku]

I'm not convinced the caster level or rank is really important. It sounds more like flavor to me.

We're accustomed to games that reward experience based on kills or proximity to battle, but that is simply a limitation of computer-based games. In the old rpgs, you didn't gain a 'level' until you actually spent time training with an instructor, and you could gain the prerequisite 'experience' by doing almost anything related to your character.