Summer Updates - 006

[Welf von Ehrwald]

Black powder is overrated in fantasy. It took hundreds of years to make it as efficient as we know it. And most of it's uses can be substituted by magic. We have seen Sizemore work with chemicals as weapons, and the air defences made already a big fire.

[gameboy1234]

But Parson could give this to every single troop. Not just one or two caster units. Every. Single. Troop. I'm sure that's what's going through Parson's head right now. I half expect the entire series to end with Wanda's decrypted stormtroopers armed with MP-40's and potato-mashers.

Also, in a fantasy world, gunpowder works however the creators want it to. Just sayin'....

[DarkNewton]

After watching Dirtamancy tricks in the BFGK I'd think it's not a big leap to generate some black powder for Parson.

The real question is when we get to see Sizemore's Rock Golem-firing cannon.

[BarGamer]

After watching Dirtamancy tricks in the BFGK I'd think it's not a big leap to generate some black powder for Parson.

The real question is when we get to see Sizemore's Rock Golem-firing cannon.

Heck, put some Titanium Golems in a catapult, and you'll have the Siege of Azure City all over again. Ooh, that would make Redcloak as Parson, Xykon as Stanley, Shadow-Thing as Bogroll, and Tsukiko as Wanda....

Ok, I'm stretching.

[Arkenputtyknife]

Heck, put some Titanium Golems in a catapult, and you'll have the Siege of Azure City all over again. Ooh, that would make Redcloak as Parson, Xykon as Stanley, Shadow-Thing as Bogroll, and Tsukiko as Wanda....

Ok, I'm stretching.

Funny, though.

Hmm… I know I shouldn't ask this, but… who would She Who Must Not Be Named be?

[BarGamer]

Hmm… I know I shouldn't ask this, but… who would She Who Must Not Be Named be?

*Scratches head...* Who?

[SteveMB]

Wanda's lack of Loyalty spell is an oddity. Maybe Stanley never captured her, but allowed her to become a barbarian caster. Her then hired her as a mercenary ally like Jillian with the RCC. Like Jillian, she would then be a free agent who can break alliance at will. If this is true she still operates as an allied unit rather than a GK unit.

My guess is that Wanda played on (and perhaps put into his head in the first place) Stanley's view of himself as specially favored by the Titans, and convinced him that she was turning to his side because his side was Fated to be the winning one. Stanley would probably consider that superior to a mere loyalty spell, and in fact insisting on a loyalty spell would be to express doubt about his Titanically mandated destiny.

Then again, he doesn't seem so self-assured on that point since the chokepoint ambush....

[Sintar07]

What will parson build?(after a folding chair of course) and the true question is if he builds something can he use it in battle. Everything that is used in battle up to now was popped at one time.... I mean he has found loop holes in the rules before but that seems like it is one of the foundation rules of this world. everything pops and cost smuckers to do so

So was "boop", and we saw what happened there.

Actually, I think that point is more important to another one. Sizemore and Maggie said that Parson would be unable to throw a brick at (i.e. attack) Stanley because Stanley is his Overlord. Wouldn't this apply to Wanda too? So I think the theories about Wanda ambushing Stanley are out now, because it sounds like she has to change her loyalty outright to fight him. However, as mentioned above, the rules don't always apply to Parson, so he might be able to attack Stanley without being completely obvious that he was about to first. This could have interesting ramifications if units can be loyal to warlords in particular (as opposed to a general loyalty to overlords) as the troops decorated in Wanda's motif suggest. I suppose it normally wouldn't matter in Erfworld, as the warlords are loyal to their respective overlords or royalty, but again, the rules don't always apply to Parson.

[Binty]

Casters are Commanders, and we haven't seen any evidence that non-chief Warlords are anything other than Commanders with a Leadership bonus.

Warlord and commanders appear to be different classes (Klog #4). This maybe just sematics, but in Erfworld names normally follow mechanics.

Casters have leadership, but only give a bonus when commanding units they create (or can create). Warlords give a bonus to all unit types in the stack. Chief warlords and give a bonus to all unit types under his command in his hex (p113). If a caster were made chief warlord they might only give bonus to the specific magical constructs they create. This would make them a very poor choice.

Basically I get the impression that Warlords who are royal normally get to be heirs. Naming non-royals warlords heir is poorly thought of by many. Naming casters as heir may never have happened in Erfworld history.

[Arkenputtyknife]

Hmm… I know I shouldn't ask this, but… who would She Who Must Not Be Named be?

*Scratches head...* Who?

Sorry, I cannot and must not name her. But you know, That One. The Source of a Thousand Flamewars. The dead of whom O-Chul would not speak ill. She whose name is a four letter word, in every meaning of the phrase, the mere utterance of which will cause the utterer to be hauled down into the infernal regions for an eternity of unspeakable torment. You know, M… aieeeeeeeee!

“… too late—​cannot help self—​black paws materialize—​am dragged away toward the cellar…​.”
—The Diary of Alonzo Typer, H. P. Lovecraft and William Lumley

[Cmdr I. Heartly Noah]

Commander I. Heartly Noah here.

If there is one thing that I Noah, it's Commanders.

Commanders are units that can lead troops in battle. You need one to give orders in battle; otherwise units will automatically attack when in contact with non-allied units. Note: not enemy units, non-allied. And they don't only fight blindly, they HAVE to fight. If you want to sit and chat or have tea with some non-allied units, both sides had better have a Commander present. If you have any tactics or strategies to implement in battle, you need a Commander on the ground.

Warlords are Commanders that have the Leadership natural ability. This is expressed as a bonus modifier that is imbued on all units that are stacked with them. All stacked units get a bonus up to 8 per stack, but a Warlord's Leadership applies to every unit in a stack, even if that stack is hundreds large. Warlords are who you want leading your units into battle, and almost always are the ones to do so, which is why some people think that Warlord and Commander are the same thing. But that's wrong. Every Warlord is a Commander, but not every Commander is a Warlord. Because...

Casters are Commanders too. A Caster doesn't have a Leadership bonus, but instead gets to cast spells. Casters are also generally weak and are rare and valuable, and can be more easily turned after capture than a Warlord. For these reasons, they almost never lead troops in battle. But, as noted above, if you don't have any Warlords, a Caster can still guide your battle. And some Casters have special bonuses leading certain troop types. So in rare circumstances you might have a Caster lead a stack, but you wouldn't want to be in any of those circumstances.

Finally, for the sake of completeness, the Chief Warlord. Any Warlord can be named (and presumably unnamed) Chief Warlord. It is unknown if you can make a Caster a Chief Warlord; it wouldn't help anyway. The Chief Warlord provides a Leadership bonus to every unit in the hex, and an additional bonus to the units in his stack. It is unclear whether the hex bonus or the stack bonus is his normal Leadership modifier.

[moose o death]

i know the topic subdued a little but when they mention the fireworks starting i actually immediately thought ansom and tool.

probably along the lines of ansom expressing his like of parson and somehow insulting the tool in the process, resulting in the dragons flaring up for the tools anti royals rant. either way i'm sure these speculation threads only steer the writers of webcomics in totally different directions to what they would have taken.

[teratorn]

i know the topic subdued a little but when they mention the fireworks starting i actually immediately thought ansom and tool.

probably along the lines of ansom expressing his like of parson and somehow insulting the tool in the process, resulting in the dragons flaring up for the tools anti royals rant. either way i'm sure these speculation threads only steer the writers of webcomics in totally different directions to what they would have taken.

It could be, if Ansom told something to the effect of Parson being the one chosen by the titans to conquer all of Erfworld. But don't worry about speculations, I think Rob and Jamie have book 2 already sketched, and nothing we say here matter much, unless we find some sort of huge plothole.

[BarGamer]

Sorry, I cannot and must not name her. But you know, That One. The Source of a Thousand Flamewars. The dead of whom O-Chul would not speak ill. She whose name is a four letter word, in every meaning of the phrase, the mere utterance of which will cause the utterer to be hauled down into the infernal regions for an eternity of unspeakable torment. You know, M… aieeeeeeeee!

Oh, HER! Um... If we're allowed to cross genders, Ansom, if he had the Charisma of a dried turd, and so therefore, was not a Leader of Men, so much as a Men Leave 'er. And seriously, Ansom's really not all that bad of a guy. How much of this was due to him getting "Treasure Type O", and how much of this was his Natural Leadership, I dunno.

[raphfrk]

Hmm.... Sizemore?

Yeah, that's true. He would have to give up popping some crap golems.

[Binty]

It seems likely this page is foreshadowing Parson 'inventing' something. It will have something to do with missiles. We also have a fireworks reference...

Sizemore seems to be able to generated infamable liquids. Its possible/probable that he could generate explosives too; after all piss was collected for gunpower production in the real world. Working together, Parson and Sizemore might be able to construct petards fairly quickly.

One of the main issues of effective use of gunpowder was the metallurgy of cannon construction. Sizemore could probably fashion a functional cannon barrel using his magic. Constructing simple mortars wouldn't be to beyond plausibility. It's possible Erfworlders can be trained in the use of these things like the realworlders (tm). They never would get the Archery special, but they would be able to point, load and fire the Parson-Sizemore mortars.

[BarGamer]

Hmm.... Sizemore?

Yeah, that's true. He would have to give up popping some crap golems.

Not necessarily. Could you imagine the NSFW crap golem filled with black powder?

[LordDarksea]

Just to go back slightly to something said earlier in this thread about inventing being new/how would it function/everything being popped previously. Anyway, it got me thinking about the pigeon (and walnut) pie that Bogroll made in early turns of book 1. (Or indeed/possibly the armour). Would that (they) count as invented items rather than popped? might be a promising precedent perhaps?

T

so what happens when you uncroak spent black-powder...?

[raphfrk]

It seems likely this page is foreshadowing Parson 'inventing' something. It will have something to do with missiles. We also have a fireworks reference...

True, fireworks normally use some kind of explosives, and gun powder can be used, so maybe they already know about gun powder. Ofc, the fireworks been referred to may not be actual fireworks.

[teratorn]

True, fireworks normally use some kind of explosives, and gun powder can be used, so maybe they already know about gun powder. Ofc, the fireworks been referred to may not be actual fireworks.

I was thinking about some display from the uncrypted archons.