Posts from ⚔️Serberia Auto-translated

Finally, someone praised the OS system...

I'll be happy with any ending in a single sentence, even "the survivors were executed"; as long as I don't have to deal with blue balls of incompleteness at the game's conclusion.

I'll write the ending anyway if I decide to stop, it's just that for the first time in all the games I've played, I'm being tormented by, let's say, inner turmoil (although again, maybe it's just real life affecting me). I don't want that kind of ending, and even if I do close it, I would prefer a more joyful ending, without corpses, but at the same time, it goes against the PRINCIPLES, and I just can't imagine how option 3 wouldn't turn the rest of the game into a circus or a mock shootout.

In short, input is welcome (Ples just gave me a lot of arguments in favor of a traditional ending... So it's still not just anything), but I should have listened to Anders.

Added 23 minutes ago

Okay, I'll think about what to do until tomorrow.

Okay, I've thought about it. I propose this PG-13 option:
- In this game, characters cannot be permanently killed in battle; instead, they will receive permanent injuries (so that the sense of danger is not too diminished); the fate of the characters can still be determined by the winners in case the entire team is defeated.
- Fragment, Locken, and Alex can decide for themselves whether they want to get up or not.
- The resolution of this specific situation (the mine, capturing prisoners, killing Tyros) will be decided through role-playing.

In general, I'm going to sleep and waiting for opinions.

Can I ask what the third point regarding role-playing means? I don't quite understand how to do it and what it implies.

No, it's just a reminder that approaching the Count and saying, "we killed the Inquisitors, took some prisoners, and, by the way, mutilated and executed your son," might not end well. The option of defending to the death, of course, only applies to the pupils of Gungnir.

I wanted to write a lot about this quest, the essence of which was kindly explained to me, but the nuclear fusion has already cooled down. I was happy all evening that we had heroically cleared the most difficult red quest like pros, but it turned out that we wiped again on a simple secondary task. And the quest doesn't affect anything, and these "violators" are not violators again, and in general, the meaning of the patrol is for everyone to peacefully go their separate ways, and Tyros is a trap, and I still don't understand the count's character, and your "proofs" are not proofs, in short, I don't know how I'm still playing so badly in these expansions, it's embarrassing...

As for deaths and principles, I don't care about that at all. Regardless of the decision, I leave permadeath for my characters. I started playing on hardcore, and I will finish on it. After all the nerves spent on battles, it just sounds like a slap in the face, I'm sorry.

#sometimesyouhavetobendtherules, rewrite and continue/bend the rules, rewrite and close for a more pleasant ending

I won't thank you for this, and those who weren't given such a chance back then probably won't either...

Okay, I thought. I suggest this PG-13 version:1

...but GM arbitrariness has always existed and will continue to exist in expansions; that's normal. It's just strange to see it directly contributing to the players' interests, almost as strange as it would be if it were directly detrimental.
I don't want to change horses midstream, but if everyone decides to rise from the dead and continue the game, I'll probably join. Personally, I'll still have a lingering unpleasant aftertaste, but I can live with it. The question is, how much longer do we have left to play, and is it worth messing everything up for a few more days of gameplay.

And yes, just to avoid being overly negative: I really enjoyed this game, and these two months brought more fun than the entire year, or even two years. It's rare for me to have any reason to look forward to coming home to an empty house, waiting for something interesting to happen. And I really enjoyed following the storyline and would like to play more. Perhaps, in terms of interest and engagement, this is one of the top games for me.
But if the host isn't having fun, the players won't either; and vice versa. Therefore, it's important to be honest with yourself and others; otherwise, what's the point of it all, right?

As Doug once rightly said, people die foolishly, like sheep. This can be applied to Rohey, who fell into a pit, as well as to Vessered and Alessia, who provoked their own execution. I don't see much point in trying to reinterpret these events and turn everything into a fairy tale.

Live wickedly, die comically.

Okay, I've thought about it. I propose this PG-13 option:
- In this game, characters cannot be knocked out of the battle; instead, they will suffer permanent injuries (so that the sense of danger is not diminished); the fate of the characters can still be determined by the winners in case the entire team is defeated.
- Fragment, Locken, and Alex can decide for themselves whether they want to get up or not.
- The resolution of this specific situation (the mine, capturing prisoners, killing Tyros) will be decided through role-playing.

In general, I'm going to sleep and wait for your opinions.

Funny, but I actually thought this was a good option. Permanent injuries or wounds, depending on what is randomized, can still range from "very painful" to "just terrible, the character is useless," but the player continues to be a player and doesn't leave us with their absence, as could happen in many other cases. It seems to me that throughout the game, this last factor has too strongly influenced our role-playing and made us take fewer risks even where risk seemed necessary.

And even if this isn't implemented, I would at least bring back the death system from RI3 in this and future games. When the probability of a medic healing was always 100%, and you didn't have to worry about it. Specifically for the situation in the mine, this is, of course, not important, but in other cases, it's just a slow 100% death, when the guys repeatedly suffer -10% HP after a battle, and it seems like "oh well, it's okay, the chances of healing are high." With a large number of well-balanced battles, in which someone loses consciousness... Well, it's just not great.

Although, in the case of a trauma system, it probably wouldn't be necessary to have automatic healing by a medic.

It's up to you, guys. I won't strongly encourage anyone to get up from the grave. Maybe it would be even more logical in this situation for the GM to make another concession and allow new characters to be created (fortunately, as we can see from Akate Ilminif, this possibility was implied from the very beginning). But I personally would support the GM's proposed option; it doesn't seem like too much of a concession to me, or a lack of respect for previous victims, etc. The amount of pain and suffering could even be greater (aha, you wanted to lie in a warm grave, peacefully and relax? No way, now you'll live as an invalid!). In general, why not?

The option of protection from death, of course, applies only to the pupils of Gungnir.

I would like to comment separately, for me this point is not obvious. If we are simply changing the laws of this world, then in my opinion they should be universal: unprofessional medical care => a person survives, but gets an injury. And it doesn't matter if it's an NPC or a player. Maybe it's a little strange considering the skill in the game that allows you to hit with the blunt side of a blade, but in my opinion, logic and consistency are also important (and the hit, if necessary, can be given other bonuses, and the injury to the lungs/jaw, after which your prisoners will not be able to tell you anything, has not been canceled).

I also wanted to write something similar, but Ment got ahead of me. Regardless of this particular experience, in games of this kind, where there is a strong emphasis on player characters and their development, I believe a more forgiving death system is essential, possibly even without injuries. Unless these injuries completely negate the character's usefulness and are not too difficult to get rid of. This is because deaths are immediately associated with a number of problems: the loss of a party member has both role-playing and gameplay consequences. The player can create a replacement character, but it's not always desirable to create someone new after losing a character you've become attached to. It's not always easy to seamlessly integrate this new character. And, most importantly, in such a system, new characters, with rare exceptions, are dead weight, lagging behind their companions in terms of stats and skills. They are just cannon fodder, with a high chance of dying before their allies, as opponents usually target the most vulnerable. Meanwhile, the death of each "old" character reduces the party's effectiveness and increases the chances that someone else will die, in a snowball effect. As a result, players either learn to flee at the first sign of danger, avoiding challenging quests, or they stop becoming attached to characters and start treating them as expendable. They're going to die anyway, sooner or later, and you'll have to create a new one. Perhaps someone will disagree with me, but this is my personal opinion.

Regarding non-lethal attacks, I still agree with Ment: this option should be available in the game by default, and not require a special skill that costs a precious event point. In fact, this is how things are in many other game systems, where characters do not need special skills to perform such actions. Sometimes there are abilities that facilitate this (for example, removing restrictions on the types of weapons that can be used to inflict non-lethal damage or removing penalties to accuracy/damage), but that's a slightly different matter.

In games of this kind, where there is a strong emphasis on player characters and their development, I believe a more forgiving death system is essential, possibly even without injuries. Unless these injuries completely negate the character's usefulness and are difficult to get rid of. This is because deaths are associated with a number of problems at once – the loss of a party member has both role-playing and gameplay consequences.

That's true. The question is, either something exists in the game, or it doesn't. It shouldn't be reworked towards the end of the game, regardless of whether it's the GM's whim or the players' desire. Moreover, this immediately devalues the main conviction – and players should, in theory, choose the main conviction in more than half of the cases. It also devalues the skill of the medic, and with it, the need to somehow establish team interaction, and who knows what else will fall apart in the structure if we remove a supporting beam. Any game is a sequence of choices. The choice makes it interesting primarily because of the risk that some of the options entail. I am, of course, a well-known fan of making idiotic, risky, and strange decisions in expeditions (and not only), and encouraging others to do the same, but this is not done out of a lack of understanding of the risk, as it may seem, but precisely because of the desire to take a risk and see a less safe, but more fun option, and, accordingly, see how we will get out of a difficult situation. But if there is no risk, then what? Are all options correct? This means that, in general, they are the same. If they are the same, then why choose and why play?

This further devalues the main conviction – and players should, in theory, choose the main conviction in more than half of the cases. It also devalues the medic skill, and consequently, the need to somehow establish team interaction.

In fact, this has never happened (if we're talking about injuries). If you get too complacent, don't choose the main conviction, and don't use medics, then after a couple of battles, we're guaranteed to have a party of disabled characters that won't be able to participate in any quest without a complete wipe. Just look at Rutger and Virgil, who, although alive, didn't calculate the risks at the time...
Easing this restriction would be quite conditional from this point of view.
Moreover, a false sense of security will most likely lead to us taking more risks. And the warnings from the GM (which, in this expedition, were, in any case, more frequent than in the past, even if we forget about the cat mechanic) will probably become less frequent, and we probably won't encounter characters like Yukino with trade-off offers for healing anymore...

I agree with Ples and Ment. We haven't mastered so much content, simply being too afraid to delve into it, and when the thought arose that maybe we were being overly cautious, completely random, everyday encounters, like a trip to the black market, showed that we're not exactly gods in this game, even though individual encounters, like the fool from Tamfana or Renold in the arena, gave a false impression that we had leveled up. Accordingly, this dissatisfaction is what led us to seek out battles in easy quests, where it wasn't even necessary. As for our last character, I essentially had no choice, because when I joined, everyone was already on edge, despite the GM's desperate attempts to resolve the issue, but it also happened that I was able to easily roleplay the attack, and I was also tired of being scared, plus I was tired of the game. Can I roleplay a recovery and continue playing? Absolutely, just as I can accept my death. It's a complete 50/50, and I'm not leaning towards either option; both have their own arguments (yes, I'm aware that this is a very useful type of opinion). I don't have a hard-core fetish; I would quite like to roleplay Gerda's retirement and the solemn removal of my leadership insignia – only if we manage to defeat Rehey, but with the same desire, I would like to break my character's survival streak, because some people get embarrassed by it from time to time, and retire with dignity. One thing I've realized, and I'll summarize it, is: don't win the Tournaments in the prologue, or you'll be a target for combat humiliation from the GM throughout the game

Philosophically, from the perspective of the game concept, I agree with Alex. The main reason I haven't considered an alternative option until now is precisely because it would devalue the importance of decisions and create a risk of making many in-game situations quite bland. And if players already make rash decisions and fight even in situations where I didn't intend them to, then it would probably be complete chaos. I'll immediately add that, yes, there may be problems with balance or with the ideas of certain encounters, but you can't always achieve perfection. I simply didn't anticipate that this game, like Heroes of Might and Magic III, wouldn't be very viable in terms of plot if characters died.

December 31st of the year 779 He had once told one of his pupils that although he was gnawed by guilt over many of the deeds he had committed in the past, if time were to turn back, he would act exactly the same way every single time as he did the first, because regardless of the outcome, there was nothing in his motives for which he could be ashamed before himself or Arteria. But that was a lie — ever since he returned home from Reginleif at the start of this year, he had not been certain until the very end about the rightness of the path he had chosen. Yua, who at first gifted the residents of his city with beautiful dreams and then endeared herself to them all, was a homunculus created by Filia Idolatrize and nurtured by the power of Kayano Sayaka's stigma with but a single purpose — to oppose Queen Sofia's plans. His old commander planned to unleash a great Visterian war and repeat Aganzo's "Blood Tax," only now with the aid of modern technology. The "Steel Ring of Serberia," once its true function was activated, was meant to ignite aggressive emotions in the hearts of the kingdom's inhabitants, increasingly motivating them to support the war while more easily harvesting the life energy of the fallen; afterward, the railway would also be extended into annexed territories, further amplifying the scale of this sinister plan and the tragedy bound up with it. Whether the queen wished to heal Albert and attain eternal life alongside him was hard to say, but Gungnir, like the head of the Church, agreed that this future must be prevented by any means necessary. Yua, being in essence an avatar of the tree element of Visteria, was supposed to neutralize the "Steel Ring" and thereby put an end to the artificial valkyrie, but she needed time to unlock her potential and a genuine desire to protect those dear to her at any cost — precisely why Filia tasked Gungnir with creating conditions suitable for cultivating such emotions. As a father, Filia Idolatrize's scheme was repugnant to his very nature, but as a man of faith and a ruler responsible for the lives of many people, he found no strength within himself to resist his fate.  Sending his pupils to roam across the lands of the kingdom, Gungnir von Brekkendorf pursued three goals:  - Preparing them for the inevitable war on an unprecedented scale so they might not lose their composure amid the chaos awaiting them in the future. - Following Filia's ideas, exposing them to danger so that the poor girl would feel the real risk of losing her brothers and sisters and, on the appointed day, be ready to sacrifice herself for their safety. - Though he never admitted it to himself, somewhere deep in his soul the old warrior harbored hope that his pupils, having gained experience during their travels, would manage to stop him and find another way out of this situation... But that was not destined to happen. On the fateful day, December 31st, Gungnir and Yua descended into an ancient, moss-covered structure west of the city, known among Baldr's residents besides himself only to Veserod. It was in this sacred place that the girl, upon whose shoulders hung the fate of millions, was to sacrifice herself and halt the mad plans of the iron queen. - Grandpa Gungnir... - Yua's small hands wrapped around the old man's calloused palm. - I understand everything... So please, don't be upset! "Oh, Goddess, why do you test me so..." Gungnir knew that Arteria had long possessed neither will nor even consciousness of her own, merely responding to the prayers and desires of Visteria's inhabitants — hence the major shifts in the distribution of her power, the church schism, and many other things troubling our era's theologians. And yet, at this moment he could not help feeling his soul torn in two, with regrets accumulated over the past year threatening to burst forth. Even now, when she faced accepting a fate imposed upon her by others, Yua worried about his state of mind, which she managed to discern through his grim, seemingly emotionless face. He knelt down beside her on one knee and embraced her tightly. - Grandpa? - Forgive me, little one... Forgive this fool for everything... In the end, the old baron decided that this could not be what Arteria would have wanted and, moreover, was not what he himself desired. Gungnir von Brekkendorf found no strength within himself to carry out Filia Idolatrize's commission, and he and Yua returned to Baldr. Several days later, feeling as though the lion's share of a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders, Gungnir von Brekkendorf leaves this world.