ISOT You took a wrong turn in an alley and got Isekaid

[King Arts]

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Being able to manipulate other people is one of the very best powers you could ask for, so I'd be picking between Hypnotist and Imposter. However, the hypnosis seems like it will break at crucial moments. Imposter seems to edge out here because you can acquire someone's memories.

For a hideout, I want a place that is convenient, and a place where I can hide in plain sight, where I won't be suspected. Also, being able to gather info would be nice. So that means it's between the tavern and the brothel. I guess I'd pick the tavern since it'd be a preferable place to live, and because I have a chance of actually meeting some people I might become friends with.

With mind manipulation powers, I don't really need money. I can just mind control my way to meeting a rich or influential person and have them give me money or resources I want, or I can impersonate them and do the same thing. I guess I'd take a subermisable (stealth transportation) and a prod (emergancy back up weapon I can use in case my mind manipulation fails).

I'm morally predisposed to aid a royal family and rebels. I could see myself aiding a military coup if the encumbent system is that bad, but there is no evidence for or against that reality. Pragmatically, working for the royal family or city bank will give me the most power.

I suppose I will support the royal family based on how crapsack this world is. If it's really bad, then I'll want to go back to my world, so I'll probably join the rebels, a bank, or the military coup. If the royal family is legit good, and the world isn't that bad, then I might join to support the royal family.

 

[King Arts]

Ah thank you for responding. I did not make this CYOA I saw it, and the setting reminded me of the Thief game series. But the only power I dislike is the Imposter since having to take bits and pieces of people is icky. Your options are interesting. Some seem like they could be good choices others I'm just shaking my head at. If you go with hypnotist and go with brothel you could make tons of money/influence/black mail material just by hypnotizing people with your copies and never even have to degrade yourself by actually doing anything. It reminds me of that scene in Xmen where a mind controller gives a Russian general illusions to make him think he is doing things, while she just sits on a couch looking bored. Another option is the house since you would get servants, going for tavern could be done but I don't see why you'd try to get contacts in the criminal underworld with those skills, better to move in high society instead. For your items the submarine I think is pretty useless, it needs lots of maintance that would require either the Church or the Military to do unless you know how to do it yourself you also need other people to help pilot it, honestly there are better less expensive ways of moving through the city water side unseen. The prod is a decent choice if you go brothel since you might need to defend yourself. But it might be better to get a small fortune, and noble documents so you can hire some guards, or even get friendly with the city watch since they come on their off hours, they might not want someone to shake your place down or destroy it. As for the factions I did not make it but it looks similar to Thief or Dishonored, I don't like the rebels because they sound goody two shoes a group of diverse youngsters who fight the man, it's like some Disney thing, it lacks depth. The other factions can have darksides, but also have bonuses to working with them. A military coup might help if the aristocracy is incompetent, they would be more meritocratic and efficient they may be just as brutal but who knows, also while they are able to supply weapons the class of assassin, and ranger are probably better off using the weapons, but maybe they could use a spy who can discover who would be good to bring into the plot with hypnotism. The bank owner wants to get rid of aristocracy and let Businessmen be in charge they'd probably be less corrupt at first since you would need skill to rise up the ranks, and not just be born into the right family, but corporations have a way of turning greedy and fucking over people for short term profits. As for the royal family well besides pissing off the lady who gave you powers I don't know maybe they are corrupt and selfish, or just average. But the fact that if you join them and are are on their faction the perk they give you is being above the law as long as you aren't planning sedition doesn't show them to be that good. I mean rape isn't anti government authority, neither is killing some commoner because they looked at you wrong, etc.


As for me, to emulate Garret and what I think might be the best/fastest way to the core is take the class Thief, being able to hide in shadow is pretty useful even in the modern day. Then tavern as my hideout so I can get contacts to find jobs, fences, people to buy equipment from, etc. The equipment I would take is the contraband cache so I have lockpicks and other things that will help to break into places silently which might be needed when I plan to get into the citadel. Then light crossbow since it synergizes really well with thief, take out light sources to make more shadows to make yourself invisible, then the prod to knock out guards so I don't have to worry too much. I'd join up with the dock gang, them providing an extra item is useful and since the tavern is by the docks I'm right next door I don't want to have them burn down my hideout better to be on their side. Also maybe later through my smuggling contacts I can get that sewer key, I'd hate to do it since I hated the levels with undead in Thief but that sewer key to the old city besides having magical artifacts also has the best route into the citadel and the core. If the citadel is the capital all the front entrances are heavily guarded it would be extremely difficult to get in without being caught, but no one probably knows about the entrance from the old city. It will still be tough but it seems to be the best way in, hopefully planning something like that can be done in under a year because preparing for that will be hell.

 

[Bear Ribs]

We actually have a specific thread for collecting CYOA, though it fell back a few pages so I'm not real surprised it got missed.

https://www.the-sietch.com/index.php?threads/general-cyoa-thread.2047/#post-45955

Gotta admit this specific CYOA... doesn't do it for me, it needs a bit more work. There's hints of some flavor to this world but not enough for me to get a feel for it. Is the Royal Family corrupt? Who are the movers and shakers of the organization? Couldn't I get a map of the city to have some idea what it's like? This feels like it needs another page or two to flesh out the world. I'll give it a shot anyway.

Class: Ranger
As I'm about half-blind I tend to gravitate to classes that would let me see again without lenses as thick as my wrists. Animal control is also really, really handy. My first thought was that it wasn't because this isn't taking place in some wilderness but having every pigeon, stray dog, house cat, and cockroach in the city available to spy on people for me is incredibly powerful. If the Royal Family have any Royal Pets I've already got a spy in the Citadel. The CYOA doesn't tell me how big the core is at all but if it's small I could potentially just send a big rat to fetch it back.

Base: Sewers
The house, brothel, tavern, and workshop are all things I could acquire anyway with some funds so I don't want to waste the opportunity on them. That leaves either the undetectable magic treehouse or the sewers. The treehouse is tempting but I don't know if it's completely impossible to breach it's magic defenses, whereas with the sewers I also have mobility throughout the city that nobody will be able to beat. Combine with using sewer rats as spies and there's nowhere I can't have eyes.

Obviously I'm going to try to rent an apartment rather than actually try to live in the sewers though.

Artifacts: Mysterious Key, Noble Documents
These items all suck. Most of the artifacts don't work with this character concept and in fact can only possibly work with very specific builds. The Gyrocopter, f'rex, is totally illegal and also going to be obviously visible to everybody as you fly around so there's no point unless you're part of the Royal Family and thus above the law. Same with the Mech Suit. The submarine is tempting and I'd go for it if the sewers are actually large enough for it to travel through some main areas but even by the standards of absurdly spacious sewers that's a stretcher. Also on principle, I distrust any submarine that has smokestacks. The contraband tools, money, and alchemy set I can acquire normally so avoid those. The compass looks like it's more likely to get me killed than give me an advantage.

I have super aim powers so taking a magic crossbow would make sense but that's some weaksauce power it's got, same with the prod. Magic Arrows to turn lights on and off? Come on, show me something actually useful.

The Mysterious Key lets me get unspecified magic treasure as long as I brave flesh-eating ghosts. I'll head out into the woods and smuggle in a couple of grizzly bears to act as meat shields as a starter plan, which will change once I have more understanding of how flesh eating ghosts work and how to re-kill them. It's a question on my mind if ancient magical artifacts are worth a rat's ass though. This setting appears to be one with advancing magitechnology which usually means ancient artifacts are curiosities, not all-powerful relics of a golden age like they would be in settings where old magic is stronger and there's no real innovation. Ideally the mysterious woman would let me ask a question or two on that before I take the key. If these artifacts don't seem worthwhile I'll probably just take the cash despite it being a waste, because everything else is a waste too and at least money is versatile.

Noble Documents can't be replaced and it's apparent this is a setting where being an aristocrat is highly valuable. I'll go with them so that I have potential social contacts if I need them, though they aren't going to be my first choice for breaching the Citadel.

Allies: Pagans
I hate all the potential allies which is convenient since the game requires me to betray them. As they appear to be back-to-nature types they should synergize with my animal powers. Summoned spirits sounds like exactly the kind of thing that would counter flesh eating ghosts so this works well with the Mysterious Key. It's not clear if the Pagans also hate magic treasure or not. If they hate it I'll destroy some treasure in front of them to prove my piety and if the magic treasure doesn't count as a machine I'll contribute some treasure to the church to prove my piety.

Second choice would be bankers since it makes taking the cash redundant, and would almost certainly synergize well with my noble title. This would basically turn me into magical Batman who acts like a wealthy noble during the day and goes animal-themed superhero at night. Actually that might be better than Pagans depending on a lot of information on the groups I don't have.

Either way at this point I have a route into the Citadel, spies in the citadel (unless they can really eliminate every last vermin the instant it arrives, and have no pets), magic treasure of uncertain usefulness, super vision, and trustworthy animal companions. I think my odds are decent.

 

[King Arts]

We actually have a specific thread for collecting CYOA, though it fell back a few pages so I'm not real surprised it got missed.

https://www.the-sietch.com/index.php?threads/general-cyoa-thread.2047/#post-45955

Gotta admit this specific CYOA... doesn't do it for me, it needs a bit more work. There's hints of some flavor to this world but not enough for me to get a feel for it. Is the Royal Family corrupt? Who are the movers and shakers of the organization? Couldn't I get a map of the city to have some idea what it's like? This feels like it needs another page or two to flesh out the world. I'll give it a shot anyway.

Class: Ranger
As I'm about half-blind I tend to gravitate to classes that would let me see again without lenses as thick as my wrists. Animal control is also really, really handy. My first thought was that it wasn't because this isn't taking place in some wilderness but having every pigeon, stray dog, house cat, and cockroach in the city available to spy on people for me is incredibly powerful. If the Royal Family have any Royal Pets I've already got a spy in the Citadel. The CYOA doesn't tell me how big the core is at all but if it's small I could potentially just send a big rat to fetch it back.

Base: Sewers
The house, brothel, tavern, and workshop are all things I could acquire anyway with some funds so I don't want to waste the opportunity on them. That leaves either the undetectable magic treehouse or the sewers. The treehouse is tempting but I don't know if it's completely impossible to breach it's magic defenses, whereas with the sewers I also have mobility throughout the city that nobody will be able to beat. Combine with using sewer rats as spies and there's nowhere I can't have eyes.

Obviously I'm going to try to rent an apartment rather than actually try to live in the sewers though.

Artifacts: Mysterious Key, Noble Documents
These items all suck. Most of the artifacts don't work with this character concept and in fact can only possibly work with very specific builds. The Gyrocopter, f'rex, is totally illegal and also going to be obviously visible to everybody as you fly around so there's no point unless you're part of the Royal Family and thus above the law. Same with the Mech Suit. The submarine is tempting and I'd go for it if the sewers are actually large enough for it to travel through some main areas but even by the standards of absurdly spacious sewers that's a stretcher. Also on principle, I distrust any submarine that has smokestacks. The contraband tools, money, and alchemy set I can acquire normally so avoid those. The compass looks like it's more likely to get me killed than give me an advantage.

I have super aim powers so taking a magic crossbow would make sense but that's some weaksauce power it's got, same with the prod. Magic Arrows to turn lights on and off? Come on, show me something actually useful.

The Mysterious Key lets me get unspecified magic treasure as long as I brave flesh-eating ghosts. I'll head out into the woods and smuggle in a couple of grizzly bears to act as meat shields as a starter plan, which will change once I have more understanding of how flesh eating ghosts work and how to re-kill them. It's a question on my mind if ancient magical artifacts are worth a rat's ass though. This setting appears to be one with advancing magitechnology which usually means ancient artifacts are curiosities, not all-powerful relics of a golden age like they would be in settings where old magic is stronger and there's no real innovation. Ideally the mysterious woman would let me ask a question or two on that before I take the key. If these artifacts don't seem worthwhile I'll probably just take the cash despite it being a waste, because everything else is a waste too and at least money is versatile.

Noble Documents can't be replaced and it's apparent this is a setting where being an aristocrat is highly valuable. I'll go with them so that I have potential social contacts if I need them, though they aren't going to be my first choice for breaching the Citadel.

Allies: Pagans
I hate all the potential allies which is convenient since the game requires me to betray them. As they appear to be back-to-nature types they should synergize with my animal powers. Summoned spirits sounds like exactly the kind of thing that would counter flesh eating ghosts so this works well with the Mysterious Key. It's not clear if the Pagans also hate magic treasure or not. If they hate it I'll destroy some treasure in front of them to prove my piety and if the magic treasure doesn't count as a machine I'll contribute some treasure to the church to prove my piety.

Second choice would be bankers since it makes taking the cash redundant, and would almost certainly synergize well with my noble title. This would basically turn me into magical Batman who acts like a wealthy noble during the day and goes animal-themed superhero at night. Actually that might be better than Pagans depending on a lot of information on the groups I don't have.

Either way at this point I have a route into the Citadel, spies in the citadel (unless they can really eliminate every last vermin the instant it arrives, and have no pets), magic treasure of uncertain usefulness, super vision, and trustworthy animal companions. I think my odds are decent.

Hey thanks for responding. I do agree with you that the author should have done more on this CYOA, it is only a short one pager. Anyway talking to animals means cockroaches and other insects probably won't count they aren't animals. Birds, rats, are all usually seen as animals. I don't really think of insects as animals. Fish are an edge case though.

As for the equipment I will agree with you on the gyrocoptor and for the mech suit most of the time. But if you could somehow smuggle it into the Citadel without people knowing about it, once a coup or attack happens then it could be useful. Of course you couldn't use it often otherwise it wouldn't be a surprise but, maybe? As for the crossbow it's actually great you can use it as a regular crossbow to shoot people, and the turning off light sources works with Thief very well as I said, but even if you aren't a thief you can still use it as a non lethal weapon by using it to make lights. Again assuming this is like the Thief series then the light isn't a little flash light, it's a blinding flash bomb that will blind people for a few seconds, that can be useful to get the drop on people or get away. As for the undead in the Thief missions undead were immune to most forms of violence if you shot the zombie with arrows, or hacked it with your sword it would "die" and lie down and if you got close to it, it would rise back up and attack you, the best way to kill them is holy water, then explosives will also work, extreme blinding light with flashbombs also work. Those things were expensive and you wanted to save your water arrows to put out torches not mix with holy water to use as ammunition to kill undead.

 

[PsihoKekec]

So I become a freelance thief, with a house in a good part of the city, proof of nobility and cache of tools of trade. Respectable member of society by day, Garret by night, doing missions either for myself or a faction with the coin, until I can figure the way to the Core.

 

[Bear Ribs]

Hey thanks for responding. I do agree with you that the author should have done more on this CYOA, it is only a short one pager. Anyway talking to animals means cockroaches and other insects probably won't count they aren't animals. Birds, rats, are all usually seen as animals. I don't really think of insects as animals. Fish are an edge case though.

I'll have to consult an expert here.



Looks like they count. Huh, flies count to, I didn't think of them.