Book 2 – Page 52

[Syal]

And suddenly I'm struck with the idea that Parson's going to wind up running into several Charlescomm-hired casters.

[fractal]

And suddenly I'm struck with the idea that Parson's going to wind up running into several Charlescomm-hired casters.

Will they be there because Charlie has cracked Maggie's code?

[danhaas]

You know, every time I read about Parson coming over to fight in Jetstone, I can't help but wonder about the moral effect. Seriously, usually, a leader who leads from the rear will never get anywhere near the front unless they believe they will win, and the troops know this. So a leader retreating from battle hurts moral, but a leader stepping into the thick of it, from the rear usually gives moral a huge boost. Likewise, it should hurt Jetstone moral once they realize that the enemy warlord left safety to lead this battle personally.

1. Is there a moral boost?
I think there is.
2. I speculate that the moral boost is usually = to the leadership bonus. But, this might create a special situation that creates a multiplier of Parson's usual +2.

--

Haven't seen Transylvito's reaction yet. They must be rather distraught.

IIRC, a morale boost would increase Loyalty, which isn't much necessary if your army is decrypted. Actually only the casters and hobgobwins would benefit.

Parson will increase GK's stats a bit by being the CWL and being in the same hex, but I think his magical items will be more important than that. His secret allies in MK might be of help too, but I think the real kick will be plot-wise, ie., Fate.

Now that I'm putting all of it together, this would be a nice moment for Parson to find out he is a caster (a Signamancer I hope). He is meeting a powerful Hippiemancer AND a Predictamancer, just before going into the front.

[Infidel]

@Infidel... Sounds a lot like the "give their stack their full bonus, stacks in the same hex half their bonus, and stacks on their side a small portion of their bonus" rule.

Oh gawd no. I'm not into technicalities, It is the big picture that intrests me. If one of the discussions posts isn't a wall-of-text, then I'll read it, and maybe learn something, but when they start bogging down in details, I tend to skip the post entirely.

So, how will Parson's leadership of 2 translate to reality? I'm guessing Fud will get really fired up,

I maybe there is a bit of moral in the Leadership stat, but I think it is more just a reflection of competency in group combat rendered a-la game. Sorta a percentage reflecting how often that commander's on-the-fly combat directions have been correct and timely. Higher leadership = faster response time, historically better command decisions, and the underling's reaction to that record. Parson hasn't played much in-your-face combat, so his leadership hasn't been increasing due to a hole in world mechanics.

but then Parson will ruin it with a battlecry like "Learn by doing!"

[/quote][/quote]

I never saw that as a battlecry.

[Infidel]

IIRC, a morale boost would increase Loyalty, which isn't much necessary if your army is decrypted. Actually only the casters and hobgobwins would benefit.

So you're discounting a primary benefit because you don't see much use in the secondary benefit? It's like how people are always advertising that learning Karate teaches kids discipline and self-confidence. So some kid refuses to learn karate because he is already disciplined and confident.

Now that I'm putting all of it together, this would be a nice moment for Parson to find out he is a caster (a Signamancer I hope). He is meeting a powerful Hippiemancer AND a Predictamancer, just before going into the front.

We already know Parson is a hippiemancer.

[SteveMB]

We already know Parson is a hippiemancer.

We know that Janis said he was a Hippiemancer. She may have been lying to protect him and/or to convince the other casters to defer to her in handling the situation (presumably because of Parson's importance in the plan that remains only partly known to us).

[Infidel]

We already know Parson is a hippiemancer.

We know that Janis said he was a Hippiemancer. She may have been lying to protect him and/or to convince the other casters to defer to her in handling the situation (presumably because of Parson's importance in the plan that remains only partly known to us).

Yea, I remember the discussion. But with WOG that Parson's cast school has already been stated. Then the whole text update saying the world needs a hippiemancer warlord. I'm pretty sure it's cast in stone here. Yes it's a false dawn, but we know the sun is comming.

[danhaas]

It may not be so set in stone. As outlandish as Parson is, his way of doing magic can be just as outlandish.

I doubt he will shoot rays out of his fingers, he will just start to trust the Fate related cues he see.

For example, a warlord named Adam Antium? Send him to lead the attack head on, he will be fine. Ace sends in some Fiery Construct, which is winged and looks like a demon? Pierce it through with Glamdring, it will one-shot it.

I won't even mention battle cries, Parson already does that beautifully.

[Menlo Marseilles]

But with WOG that Parson's cast school has already been stated.

I think I missed this. Do you have a link handy?

[Oberon]

I never saw that ["Learn by doing"] as a battlecry.

Me, either. I always visualized (audiolized?) that scene as more of a Charlie Brown type "Good grief."

Yea, I remember the discussion. But with WOG that Parson's cast school has already been stated.

I must have missed that WOG on Parson's casting school. Can you point me at it. please?

[Decorus]

http://www.erfworld.com/page/6/

The entire point of the Perfect Warlord spell was to create the one thing Janis needed, but was impossible to get a Hippiemancer Warlord.

[ftl]

It's not as definitive as we'd like though. It's quite possible for it to be more metaphorical - as in, a warlord who works for hippiemancy, or a warlord who would be sympathetic to hippiemancer goals, or a warlord who is like a hippiemancer in some respects. Doesn't necessarily mean that Parson is a Hippiemancer in the same sense that all the other hippiemancers are hippiemancers (i.e. can cast hippiemancy spells).

The actual quote is

"What Hippiemancy neeeeds, Jonnis my true friend, is da one thin it con't evah have. A warlord. A souljah!"

Not that definitive as to what Parson actually is. He's the Warlord that hippiemancy needs... but that doesn't prove that he himself is a hippiemancer.

While I agree that it's pretty good evidence that Parson is a hippiemancer, it's not really WOG that he is. Personally, I'll believe it when I see him actually cast spells...

WOG would be Rob saying "Parson is a hippiemancer". Not a character in the story saying it, who may or may not be right and who may or may not be speaking figuratively.

[effataigus]

Mention of Word of the Titans got me to reread through that section on the wiki. I found some stuff in there that I had missed before. With the exception of the first bit, these are unrelated to the discussion at hand, but I remember these issues being points of uncertainty for some of us (read: me) in the past.

Anyway... a bit from that:

When it is not your turn, and someone moves into the space you're on (meaning hex or city zone), then you can engage them.

...

There is a natural turn order. When sides ally, their next turn is shared at the latest slot in the day of any of the allied sides.

...

In Erfworld 39Erf-b1-p038 Jillian heals at dawn, while Erfworld 52/Parson's Klog 6Erf-b1-p046a states that Ansom's forces heal at noon.

Ah, that one's not a blooper. Jillian is captured at that point and shares "turns" with her captors' side. Eats prison meals that pop on Gobwin Knob's expense, etc.

Heh, looks like Ansom is going to stuck with that shiner a little longer after all.

Oh gawd no. I'm not into technicalities, It is the big picture that intrests me. If one of the discussions posts isn't a wall-of-text, then I'll read it, and maybe learn something, but when they start bogging down in details, I tend to skip the post entirely.

Ah, got it! Yeah, I like Erfworld for the plot, the game design theory, and the minigame of trying to figure out the Erfworld rules just from what we've seen in comic (and WoT where applicable)... but mostly the plot!

[Infidel]

But with WOG that Parson's cast school has already been stated.

I think I missed this. Do you have a link handy?

WOG would be Rob saying "Parson is a hippiemancer". Not a character in the story saying it, who may or may not be right and who may or may not be speaking figuratively.

While Rob didn't say outright, "Parson is a hippiemancer." WOG it was more to the effect, "Parson's caster class has already been stated. A week or so after the whole revelation from Janis the first time. Right now, I can't remember if it was one of his livecasts or text. But I'll spend my lunch break looking.

[the_tick_rules]

Or he did that as a ruse? It would be funny.

[Althernai]

Now that I'm putting all of it together, this would be a nice moment for Parson to find out he is a caster (a Signamancer I hope). He is meeting a powerful Hippiemancer AND a Predictamancer, just before going into the front.

We already know Parson is a hippiemancer.

But he doesn't and we don't know what kind of Hippiemancer he is (Hippiemancy is Flower Power, Signamancy and Date-a-mancy when aligned with Erf, Fate and Numbers respectively). Signamancer is by far the most likely, but it hasn't been confirmed yet.

[ftl]

While Rob didn't say outright, "Parson is a hippiemancer." WOG it was more to the effect, "Parson's caster class has already been stated. A week or so after the whole revelation from Janis the first time. Right now, I can't remember if it was one of his livecasts or text. But I'll spend my lunch break looking.

Oh, ok. I thought you meant that the text update itself was WOT that Parson was a hippiemancer, and I just didn't see that. If there's that additional statement from Rob, that makes it a heck of a lot more definitive.

Now that you mention it, maybe I *do* remember something like that... or maybe I'm making it up, I can't find it in the wiki anywhere.

[joosy]

Folks, Parson's caster class has indeed been stated by at least two people.

Parson is a potato-mancer. End of story.

[sleepymancer]

Folks, Parson's caster class has indeed been stated by at least two people.

Parson is a potato-mancer. End of story.

NO!!!!!


He is a Behind-the-Potato-Mancer

[Infidel]

Or he did that as a ruse? It would be funny.

Lol...

meh, I'd be disapointed if it was in chat, especially since I've changed computers twice, so any chat logs are not recoverable. Ahh well, I now know it will take more than a lunch break to find.

Checking the wiki really threw me off though. A lot of speculation has been thrown on Parson's page. Wierd stuff. Paragraphs of text concerning Parson being a natural caster, when the simpler explanation hasn't been denied yet. When Wanda and Sizemore linked Maggie said to think about their very first spell, because the first spell a caster casts is always from their native school. The most likely explanation is not Parson being a natural caster, but Parson has simply not tried to cast a spell from the correct school yet. Or he might need to achieve level 3 before he gets his first spell since he's a hybrid character.

But yea, Let's make Parson an Adept ala Shadowrun and give him death touch. Much funner.