Summer Updates - 049

[Akkristor]

If anything, i'm guessing that Turnamancers, in addition to their personal upkeep, require a hefty Schmucker cost to speed a unit pop.

Less than perhaps taking the full amount of turns though. If popping units costs schmuckers per turn that is.

Even if popping units doesn't cost per turn, remember that most actions taken are at a net loss for the 'player', or in this case, ruler. The 'norm' can be considered a state of equilibrium, for example, takes 3 turns to pop unit X, and unit X has 150/turn upkeep. Using something like a turnamancer to gain Tempo normally costs you more than you'd expect, a double edged sword. So, a Turnamancer speeding that up to 1 turn to pop unit X, well, now by turn 3 you've had to pay an extra 2 upkeeps, but that's just to balance the value of the unit. You also have to compensate for the gain in tempo by getting the unit early, so most of those effects also cost a significant amount. In Erf terms, it may be a function of the unit's upkeep (for example, a 3-turn popper with 150 upkeep sped to 1 turn might require an extra 300 schmuckers to speed it)

[Thydron]

Did it seem like a Turnamancer also had some control over "Turning" units to your side? As well as making production faster? That's two uses of the world "turn" to do very different things. I find that odd.

Wanda is a croakamancer & she managed to turn Jillian (well....) - maybe Vanna just bought some thinkamancy scrolls from the Magic Kingdom.

Also noticed: baseball players being rumored to be on "juice", Dunking Scone the warlord from starbucks - and of course they didn't go to white castle- but i'm sure a couple of her new warlords will be named harold / kumar...

[tetradyne]

It's going to be very, very interesting to see what'll happen when the Air-raid of Charlie/Jillian flies into GK and finds that....

"Oh dear god there are dwagons EVERYWHERE!"

Seeing as any attempts to breach GK airspace have probably been unsuccessful, I doubt Charlie knows the extent to which the GK dwagon count has been replenished. Wonder what parson will do when backed into a corner and forced to fight again

[Akkristor]

Perhaps Faq hasn't received any new caster's within their first few turns because it's not really a "new" side but regarded by natural thinkamancy or the titans or the powers that be a renewal of the old Faq?

It may very well be a form of natural thinkamancy that the warlords and casters popped by a side depend on the side's ruler's personality, but then I wonder about GK.

Stanley isn't the type for deep strategy, but the only caster we know he didn't pop is Jack. We don't know how Stanley came to acquire Sizemore or Maggie. I'm guessing when the old leader of GK died, who was it, Saline IV, Stanley inherited them too.

[atteSmythe]

Thinking that Charlie pulled another natural-alliance-turning trick on the Gobwins, and made them natural allies of Jetstone? That would be fun.

As marbits wouldn't associate with a side that had gobwins, hobgobwins, witches, demons, etc., as allies, I'm guessing that gobwins would not ally to a side that associates with elves.

Good update. Great use of the Turnamancer. Looking forward to having some giants on our side.

Akkristor: Sizemore popped under Saline IV

[Akkristor]

It's going to be very, very interesting to see what'll happen when the Air-raid of Charlie/Jillian flies into GK and finds that....

"Oh dear god there are dwagons EVERYWHERE!"

Seeing as any attempts to breach GK airspace have probably been unsuccessful, I doubt Charlie knows the extent to which the GK dwagon count has been replenished. Wonder what parson will do when backed into a corner and forced to fight again

Oh i doubt very very much that Charlie has any idea that they're getting 1~3 Dwagons per turn.

Thats a fairly powerful force, especially being led by the wielder of the Arkenhammer (Assuming the Hammer gives Dwagon's a boost similar to the one the Pliers give Uncroaked and Decrypted)

[sheepfly]

To briefly try to sum up the key points and interesting tidbits, some of which others have already pointed out:

So:
- confirmation that Jillian and Vinny have more than just a "thing" going, they have a THING
- introduction of the new type of natural ally, Western Giants, which will likely play a key role in future developments
- explanation of how casters pop
- further exploration of what a turnamancer can do (is torture/loyalty alteration a caster specialty?)
- some dovetailing of the casters-for-hire from Unaroyal and Charlie's revealed habit of contracting services from MK casters
- some foreshadowing of Charlie's plot against GK
- a direct lead-in to FAQ taking bold military action, possibly against GK, possibly aiding the RCC2

...but:
- no direct explanation of the marbit/gobwin oddity
- no direct word on how/when/whether Ansom is attacking Jetstone
- no indication of whether FAQ and Charlescomm are hindering Stanley's dwagon farming
- no indication of which casters/types of casters Charlie might currently have contracted to work for him directly

I love how Rob can work this stuff in, even at the last minute, without any of it reading like forced exposition.

Side note: wouldn't it be weird/inappropriate for a ruler to ask one of her own units to torture her, for fun? Alas, there's really no way to replace Wanda.

[Telva]

It's going to be very, very interesting to see what'll happen when the Air-raid of Charlie/Jillian flies into GK and finds that....

"Oh dear god there are dwagons EVERYWHERE!"

Seeing as any attempts to breach GK airspace have probably been unsuccessful, I doubt Charlie knows the extent to which the GK dwagon count has been replenished. Wonder what parson will do when backed into a corner and forced to fight again

Mission: Croak Stanly the Tool (Jillian said she'd do that for free), and then to repay Charlie: capture Parson

[Akkristor]

Mission: Croak Stanly the Tool (Jillian said she'd do that for free), and then to repay Charlie: capture Parson

We know Charlie will settle for just Parson's Mathamancy tool, but this means that Charlie is assuming it will work for anyone. It's Earth tech, not Erf tech. No guarantee there.

[DivineDragoonKain]

I'm also forced to comment on the fact that there's no Book 2 page up, but I suppose that had something to do with the unexpected downtime today.

[Gez]

"Terms as arranged," she said.

The Giant nodded. "Agreed, Highness."

The Jitterati warlord looked up with sudden panic as his stack broke without his order. To his credit, he understood immediately, said nothing, and bolted for the tower entrance.

When Vinny finally caught her eye, his expression was priceless. Wonder, admiration, amusement, bafflement. She knew at that moment...in his eyes, she was good enough to be Queen. It felt brilliant.

On the trip home, he was burning to know how she had done it. She refused to say, and he kept asking, until they had another huge fight about it.

He could sulk as long as he wanted, though. There was no way she was ever going to tell him this was Charlie's idea.

So... Charlie knows how to turn a natural ally against their side. The process on how to do so is not well-known: Vinny has no idea how she did so. The Turnamancer is not enough to explain, because he does know she has one.

I think we have finally found the culprit for Saline's death. Charlie probably didn't know Stanley had been promoted to Heir designate. He expected Stanley would disband and leave the Arkenhammer ripe for the taking. Now everything makes sense.

[Dancing Cthulhu]

Very nice. Jillain and Faq are going great guns - thanks in no small part to Charlie and TV.

I still wonder what the Don's game is though, he seems to be putting a lot of eggs in Faq's basket.

And Vanna the Turnamancer makes her appearance (lol at Jillian's dungeon talk) - a very useful type of caster to have it seems, and prisoners can definitly be turned. I guess TV might have 200 more units now after retaking Chockula. I also like finding out about acquiring casters as well - a side can't choose what casters pop, but their nature might influence it, or their needs (which would explain Sizemore popping when Saline needed someone to help mine).

And new units - Western Giants. They sound pretty impressive. Plus another side apparently staying out of the GK/RCCII conflict - the Jitterati. Royal I guess. And what process breaks a natural alliance? Purely schumckers? But am I the only one struck by the similarity of this to another event in the past? A side is betrayed by their natural allies? King Saline and his Gobwins?

Could Charlie have been involved... perhaps that is the origin his and Stanley's mutual dislike? (Heh, ninja'd) Well, maybe not, but it seems regardless of the face Charlie is putting on with Parson he is doing very well in helping Faq - but like the Don I wonder why it is deemed so important (other then the fact Jillian is the only one of the RCCII working with him).

And am I reading it right? Are Vinnie and Jillian now officially an item? If so - Awwwwww. Although Vinnie, hooking up with you dead friend's girl?

Good idea, my take on that was that the Vanna didn't turn Scone, exactly. Rather, that Scone (or any unit) takes a certain amount of ... persuasion ... to turn, a-la Dungeon Keeper. That persuasion needs some time to apply. Since Turnamancers reduce the time cost of actions ...

Yes, that is what I thought too, or a varieation at least. I thought if you had a prisoner for a certain number of turns, plus some extra effort, you might turn them to your side. A Turnamancer would reduce the time and effort perhaps.

I love just imagining Jillian with a figure similar to the princess from shrek clad in battle armor lopping off enemy heads whilst riding a megalogwiff

I don't know why but I imagine her like the characters in various Asian martial arts films - the princess or whatever disguised as a samurai or similar warrior. But I imagine she would cut an imposing figure, not many sides rulers seem to personally go onto the field - a real warrior queen it seems, by nature, and not just out of necessity.

Faq will be dangerous. I guess they're turning on GK- ok, Tool- side now.

Haven't they always? Jillian hates Stanley with a Passion (capital P), and Faq has been in the RCCII since it's re-founding.

Thanks for staying up so late to get out the update Rob. And thank you Harknell on all our behalves for doing great work.

Here here.

[BLANDCorporatio]

I think we have finally found the culprit for Saline's death. Charlie probably didn't know Stanley had been promoted to Heir designate. He expected Stanley would disband and leave the Arkenhammer ripe for the taking. Now everything makes sense.

...

Awesome.

[Dancing Cthulhu]

As marbits wouldn't associate with a side that had gobwins, hobgobwins, witches, demons, etc., as allies, I'm guessing that gobwins would not ally to a side that associates with elves.

And it seems like they definitely go up in power. Daemons sound like a powerful unit, witches might be some sort pseudo-caster like race etc, but these Western Giants seem like the strongest natural allies we have seen yet (compared to Elves, Marbits, Gobwins and Hobgobwins).

I wonder if their are Southern or Northern Giants that will only naturally ally with sides that use Gobwins etc.

So... Charlie knows how to turn a natural ally against their side. The process on how to do so is not well-known: Vinny has no idea how she did so. The Turnamancer is not enough to explain, because he does know she has one.

I'm thinking possible feature of the Arkendish?

Stanley isn't the type for deep strategy, but the only caster we know he didn't pop is Jack. We don't know how Stanley came to acquire Sizemore or Maggie. I'm guessing when the old leader of GK died, who was it, Saline IV, Stanley inherited them too.

And Wanda.

And yes, Sizemore defiantly popped during Saline's reign.

Oh i doubt very very much that Charlie has any idea that they're getting 1~3 Dwagons per turn.

I don't know about that. We are aware that other sides know about GK's flyer relay for transport, which would imply a lot of dwagons have been acquired. And we don't know how much info Charlie can get out of GK - he might very well be influencing natural allies in the region.

Plus he isn't an idiot. At the least he knows GK has a number of Archons and dwagons, he probably wouldn't rush in without some idea of the flyers defending GK.

[Pointyleaf]

It's going to be very, very interesting to see what'll happen when the Air-raid of Charlie/Jillian flies into GK and finds that....

"Oh dear god there are dwagons EVERYWHERE!"

Seeing as any attempts to breach GK airspace have probably been unsuccessful, I doubt Charlie knows the extent to which the GK dwagon count has been replenished. Wonder what parson will do when backed into a corner and forced to fight again

Huh. I wonder what happens if a ruler gets captured. Or, I wonder what Stanley will do when he realizes Faq has been rebuilt. Last, I wonder what trap Charlie is laying for Stanley after Stanley realizes Faq has been rebuilt..

[Dark Arbiter]

I think we have finally found the culprit for Saline's death. Charlie probably didn't know Stanley had been promoted to Heir designate. He expected Stanley would disband and leave the Arkenhammer ripe for the taking. Now everything makes sense.

Did NOT think of this. I'm impressed you did.

I'm under the impression that Charlie is sort of the "Bad Guy" in the long run, so this sort of conspiracy theory just makes me more confident in that idea.

[Akkristor]

Charlie's rules.

(Charlie's Rule #3: We are in the business of solving problems for our clients. Corollary: Creating problems for our clients creates business.)

[Dancing Cthulhu]

Heh, looking at Vinnie and Jillian's relationship, it is the first one that seems to include real world situations like arguments, silences (presumably cold shoulders and everything) and apologies. I wonder what degree of it comes from Vinnie's feelings for her, and his duty to TV (considering all the resources that are going into Faq, secrets about what Jillian is doing must be difficult to accept)...

It will be interesting to see what Charlie's "other" plan is. I don't think it is a strike at GK itself, perhaps they are going after Wanda? It seems at the moment it is just Charlie and Jillian against the world... well them, and Jillian's armada. Hmmm. Air units and warlords.

Maybe they are planning a flying guerrilla war, go after some of GK's captured cities...

[spectralphoenix]

I don't think Charlie has some kind of special "turn natural allies" ability, just old-fashioned bribery (with negotiations aided by the Arkendish.)

[Gez]

And yes, Sizemore defiantly popped during Saline's reign.

I have trouble imagining Sizemore doing anything in a defiant way.