Inactive [LP CYOA] Overlord

[archaen]

ACB3

 

[Quetzacoatl]

ACC3

 

[Tigranes]

ABD3

I've only skimmed the arguments so sorry for mostly blindvoting. My reasoning:

1) We are evil overlord, not Jing Mach II. We aren't taking in orphans, we're taking in people who can face death.
2) We are also lecherous, of course.
3) I don't think Gigadyne would make us a terrible nonhuman whatever, but given that our hopes of killing all suspects just decreased to nearly zero, I think we don't want to reveal too much - whether our nonhumanness, or our incredible powerfulness, or what in the Seven Kingdoms is recognisable at least as our signature move. I want us to keep a low profile as long as possible while still managing to do things. I think D3, and other similar variants, can be enough to subdue these guys based on what we saw in the previous encounter.

 

[Kipeci]

I just have reservations about the combination D3. D goes for a tactical strike against commanders and mages, but option 3 just swarms the place with electric wolves. In the last attack the electric wolves did a really bad job against the mages so that we'll need to summon a lot of them to specifically take down those guys, and I'm pretty sure we were told that we lose control as more wolves are summoned so that as we get more and more wolves to drown them we get a lot less control over the operation. That doesn't seem to play in well with our strategy.

Since we're already revealed as powerful with the capacity to turn men to stone with a touch, I don't see a reason not to go with a low-power homing missile Gigadyne to take out the mages and commanders as surgically possible. It's a strong spell and probably not one that they've seen before, but it's clear that magic has evolved down a seperate path here and we've already marked ourselves as odd and powerful with the petrification one. I'm not sure how summoning hundreds of electric wolves is more subtle than a homing strike that works at a fraction of Gigadyne's full power.

Basically, I see a real benefit to minimizing unneeded losses here, and i don't see one to again hide our techniques because... I don't know, we think Kyle is here too or something and he might march here to beat us up? What's the main fear here?

 

[Nevill]

I just have reservations about the combination D3. D goes for a tactical strike against commanders and mages, but option 3 just swarms the place with electric wolves. In the last attack the electric wolves did a really bad job against the mages so that we'll need to summon a lot of them to specifically take down those guys, and I'm pretty sure we were told that we lose control as more wolves are summoned so that as we get more and more wolves to drown them we get a lot less control over the operation. That doesn't seem to play in well with our strategy.

That seems like a fair assessment to me. However, people pointed out that they wanted to use Rin to dispose of them.

Wolves and mass status effect spells are means of crowd control, and officers are hardly a crowd. I do not see these methods mesh well together, but maybe that's why there aren't many takers for this combination.

Indeed, to me it seems that D strategy would work best in combination with Gigadyne.

Basically, I see a real benefit to minimizing unneeded losses here

The only unneeded losses here are the prince and the twins. Maybe the villagers, too, if we are going for the best impression.

The prince should be a priority in any of the choices (it is only a question of whether we manage to do enough for him to survive), and specialized spells/quick combat resolution or drawing the enemy out of the village should take care of the villagers. That we aren't together with the prince in the heat of things and are choosing to stay away and blast them from afar/let Rin go at it should hopefully take care of the twins.

What's the main fear here?

I don't think it is fear, per se, but we seem to be unwilling to divulge information about us, what with us being a non-human and all. Even if the prince is on the level, there might be people wanting to harm us. Why help them? The less they know, the more they will sweat before trying to cross us.

I'd understand if the battle here were a matter of life and death for us, or if we wanted to achieve a very specific outcome (like destroying Barzam forces to the last man), but I believe that either of the proposed solutions can work towards our stated goals.

 

[Esquilax]

Since we're already revealed as powerful with the capacity to turn men to stone with a touch, I don't see a reason not to go with a low-power homing missile Gigadyne to take out the mages and commanders as surgically possible. It's a strong spell and probably not one that they've seen before, but it's clear that magic has evolved down a seperate path here and we've already marked ourselves as odd and powerful with the petrification one. I'm not sure how summoning hundreds of electric wolves is more subtle than a homing strike that works at a fraction of Gigadyne's full power.

Basically, I see a real benefit to minimizing unneeded losses here, and i don't see one to again hide our techniques because... I don't know, we think Kyle is here too or something and he might march here to beat us up? What's the main fear here?

To play devil's advocate; the danger isn't in signalling to our allies that we are an odd and powerful mage, it is signalling to the Barzamites that we are an odd and powerful mage. We aren't going to kill every single Barzamite here, a few of them will escape. It's better if they think we're just some strong mage that managed to take them out, versus if they think we're some VERY strong mage with magic nobody has ever seen before. It'll draw more attention on us than if we go with a less conspicuous route, that's for sure.

 

[lightbane]

If we don't wish to attract too much attention, I believe that "just" killing the leaders and mages to force the enemy to retreat should be enough to win the battle, regardless of the methods employed. However, Gygadine would be the best to do so with absolute precision, but AoE attacks can work in a pinch.

For this reason once again I updated my voting post, since it seems I miswrote my desired choices, changing the voting results more than what I desired. Speaking of which, what's the current tally now?

 

[Esquilax]

If we don't wish to attract too much attention, I believe that "just" killing the leaders and mages to force the enemy to retreat should be enough to win the battle, regardless of the methods employed. However, Gygadine would be the best to do so with absolute precision, but AoE attacks can work in a pinch.

Gigadyne will attract attention, regardless of how precise it is:

If you use the minimal power necessary, it can be very precise. See: stripping Rin of her armor. You can create a homing bolt which you control like a remote missile. Of course, that doesn't make it any less flashy. Decapitating the enemy's leadership with a single spell will make you stand out.

For the record, I am still voting for it for now. I still don't know what the purpose behind secrecy would be.

 

[GreyViper]

ABB3

 

[Nevill]

What I think will happen with B3 - aside from the broad strokes of how I think this should ideally work - is exactly the same thing that would have happened if we encountered a powerful mage posing trouble for our mooks. We will probably attract the attention of one of the leaders, and their elites will switch targets to us. We'll probably have to face an encounter with one of the mages as the very next choice, and do so alone since Rin would be having a great time slaughtering the sleeping fodder and thus unavailable.

That's unless it takes us straight to the victory screen and the choice of rewards.

Speaking of which, what's the current tally now?

I usually maintain the tally - or at least try to. You can find the latest one in this post.

Speaking of which, it would be nice if people pointed out what options they flop to if/when they do.

 

[treave]

It's better if they think we're just some strong mage that managed to take them out, versus if they think we're some VERY strong mage with magic nobody has ever seen before.

Ah, but what if Electric Wolves and Mass Sleep spells are magic they have never seen before? After all, what appears to be routine spells like weapon enhancement to them are spells you have never seen before.

Votes close in 12 hours or so.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Yes, and from our perspective, we are comparing shooting a machine gun to dropping a nuke. However, from the prince's, perspective, he's not being given that choice. He's only going to know whichever one he sees. If he sees the nuke, he'll react to that. If he sees the machine gun, he'll react to that. He's not going to put it on a scale like we are doing and say, "Yeah, lightning wolves are scary, but imagine if he had transformed all the inanimate matter in the area into a giant lightning bolt.". Instead he'll just be saying, "WTF?! 200 LIGHTNING WOLVES FUUUUUUUU--!".

 

[Baltika9]

Flopping to ACD6.
Since we got into this to win hearts and minds, and make friends, let's do it right. Kill the leadership and mages, the rank and file should be taken care of easily enough.
Our Gigadyne can be made precise, so I'm not too worried about collateral damage.

 

[treave]

Alright, calling it for ACB3.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Well, I suppose our bromance with the prince was unavoidable once Nevill saw the glint in his big blue eyes. Say hello to our new allies. There is no stopping the hugbox train of friendship now. Also, I disprove of everyone who voted 2C over 2B, wtf.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Well, I suppose our bromance with the prince was unavoidable once Nevill saw the glint in his big blue eyes. Say hello to our new allies. There is no stopping the hugbox train of friendship now. Also, I disprove of everyone who voted 2C over 2B, wtf.

Don't blame me bro, I voted 2A.

 

[Nevill]

Somehow I get the impression we aren't getting the best outcome.

Maybe we manage to fail spectacularly and kill the fledging romance in the bud along with our newfound passion.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

lol. doubtful. maybe had we chosen to zergrush the biggest group of enemies we could find before pulling this wolves and sleep spells schtick, but there's no way we are anywhere but hugbox land now.

Honestly, nothing can possibly go wrong between us and the prince at this point. I'm racking my brain thinking of a way, but I can't.

 

[Nevill]

You jelly, bro? You can join, too, you know?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

No thanks. Seriously, playing the hero in these LPs is rather frustrating with all you guys hamstringing me with your homo SJW BS.

One of these days I'm going to break off from the herd, become the villain heroic alpha and steal all the female love interests for myself while you are all busy planning alliances with blue-eyed princes.

 

[asxetos]

I think the homo path has been safely avoided? despite what Rin might be thinking.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

sure, you can believe that if you want

 

[Nevill]

I think the homo path has been safely avoided? despite what Rin might be thinking.

What I got out of the interlude is that Rin is at the age when girls dream about their princes.

One should wonder why she suddenly became so concerned with our love life.

 

[lightbane]

No thanks. Seriously, playing the hero in these LPs is rather frustrating with all you guys hamstringing me with your homo SJW BS.

One of these days I'm going to break off from the herd, become the villain heroic alpha and steal all the female love interests for myself while you are all busy planning alliances with blue-eyed princes.

What is stopping us from doing both? Now seriously, I just vote for the homoerotic totally MANLY options for the lulz, nothing serious. And about the prince, we don't even know what will truly happen after the battle. In my case, assuming he doesn't pull out a slave collar, clamps it on our neck and demands us to call him 'master' from now on, I was asking for books/visiting the library to get more information about the land, the different kingdoms, what happened lately, learn more magic and the like, then never contact him again unless absolutely necessary. At the very least, it should help us make up a reason why are we here and where does Erd come from.

 

[Nevill]

pull out a slave collar, clamps it on our neck and demands us to call him 'master' from now on

...

I was asking for books/visiting the library to get more information about the land, the different kingdoms, what happened lately

I think this can be covered with a conversattion, rather than a library visit.

I'd like to see if his family tree isn't in need of trimming down and if we can't make him King to gain a permanent foothold on the continent. That, however, would require more involvement, which might not be everyone's cup of tea.

Failing that, just grab his adjutant and have her drill the kids.