Re: Digest Number 885

From: James Casey <waferthinninja_at_...>
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2014 11:24:23 +0100


Its interesting to see the differences and similarities in the way people approach this game.

I tend to take a "mercantile" approach - I guess I would be an Issaries cultist in Glorantha :)

I don't have a strict schedule, but early on I search my tula to find some special trade goods. Then I max out crafters, and rake in as many goods as possible. I spend the goods liberally, giving gifts to most of the clans that dislike me until they like me - or at least hate other people more. I keep one enemy as a raiding target to keep my weaponthanes happy. I prefer this to be someone in the Praxian direction, as I tend not to explore that way, and I prefer my explorers to not have to cross hostile land every time they go out (though I don't know if it actually makes any difference).

Once I have friendly neighbours I spend goods sacrificing for mysteries and building some shrines. Issaries is an obvious choice for a main shrine, with whatever blessings I know; I really have no clue which is best anyway, and they all help trade. And I try to set up trade routes to keep the flow of goods up. If things are going badly I will have to trade goods for food or cattle, if they are going well I will try to trade for treasures.

My main issue tends to be that the strategy involves a lot of travelling, which can leave you with too much to do in the first half of the year and not much to do once the weather turns. I tend to save non-travelling things like reorganizing the clan ring or sacrificing for mysteries for storm/dark season.

I'm pretty cowardly when it comes to HeroQuests - the idea of doing one in the second year seems nigh on suicidal to me, though I guess its dangerous any time so perhaps why not? I'll usually wait until I am pretty well established and will spend a year getting everything ready (goods to sacrifice, favours, holy season magic etc).

On Fri, Aug 8, 2014 at 10:05 AM, <KingOfDragonPass_at_yahoogroups.com> wrote:

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> 3 Messages
> Digest #885
> 1a
> Early game procedure <#147b4dd808b26e3f_1a> by peter_knutsen
> 1b
> Re: Early game procedure <#147b4dd808b26e3f_1b> by "Meredith Dixon"
> hebeti
> 1c
> Re: Early game procedure <#147b4dd808b26e3f_1c> by "Bryan Thexton"
> bethexton
>
> Messages
> 1a Early game procedure
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/KingOfDragonPass/conversations/topics/3692;_ylc=X3oDMTJwZm1xN2w0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzM5OTU5OQRncnBzcElkAzE3MDUzMzQ3NjAEbXNnSWQDMzY5MgRzZWMDZG1zZwRzbGsDdm1zZwRzdGltZQMxNDA3NDg4NzE5>
> Thu Aug 7, 2014 3:44 am (PDT) . Posted by: peter_knutsen
> <list_at_sagatafl.org?subject=Re%3A%20Early%20game%20procedure>
> I'm trying to wrap my head around how best to play the first few years
> of the game. Obviously it's situational, but here are some of my general
> thoughts on how to use sparse 10 yearly actions I get:
>
>
> 1. season:
> Re-organize Ring
> Re-organize farming (increase Farmland by about +15 units, keep pastures
> at 45-55)
>
>
> 2. season
> Recruit maximum Weaponthanes (I can usually go from 10 to 14 or 15)
> Built Watch Tower (the cheapest fortification, but based on the
> description it's very useful)
>
>
> 3. season
> Send Emissarry to Clan that owes me favour, ask for Magic, customary
> amount (gives +3 if they have it)
> Sacrifice for desirable Mystery-Blessing
>
>
>
> 4. season
> Build/enlarge Temple if possible (Humakt, Vinga Chalana or Uralda, or
> Issaries)
> Explore tula
>
>
> 5. season
> Sacrifice for desirable Mystery-Blessing
>
> Explore tula
>
>
> Desirable Blessings:
> Truesword (Humakt) - Weaponthanes are double strength (yay!). It's
> problematic that he has 4 Blessings and a HQ to randomly pick, so only 20%
> chance of getting this one, but I think it's worth the pursuit.
> Pathfinder (Vinga) - better explorers
> Fyrdwomen (Vinga) - I've come to like this one (usually I have this one on
> perma, and sacrifice for a temp. Pathfinder a little less often than once
> per year)
> Calf Blessing (Uralda) - cows reproduce more/are healthier. Very high
> priority
> Market (Issaries) - more profit from Clan's Market, which is constantly
> useful
> Trading (Issaries) and Silvertongue (Issaries) - also desirable but a bit
> less so than Market, since early game I don't send Traders and Emis much.
> Tracking (Odalaya) - also helps explorers, but less than Pathfinder, so
> lower priority
> Curing & Healing (Chalana Arroy) - two useful effects, very nice to have
> but not urgent.
> Protection from Spirits (Ancestors) - nice to have, but not urgent
> Sense Chaos (Urox) - also not urgent, but useful
> Shield (Elmal) - reduce battle casualties
>
>
> In the end, all Blessings are useful for some things, but the above are
> the ones I think matter most for early game, perhaps especially Truesword
> regardless of whether Clan Type is Peace, Balanced or War. Having twice the
> warrior-strength is always good. Later in the game I'd like to have a maxed
> Issaries temple (the Spare Grain blessing doesn't strike me as useful, but
> the other 3 are nice) and if possible also a maxed Lankor Mhy temple (all
> his 3 blessings are useful, but in terms of priority I'd choose Issaries
> first, no contest), but having 2 Great Temples seems to only be possible
> with a larger-than-usual population or if one is in a Tribe.
>
>
> 2nd year
> 1. season
>
> Send Emisarry to ask for Magic (+3 if successful)
> Send Trader to trade to get more Cows (trade away Food, or if Horses
> captures from Horse-Spawn then trade away Horses, or if low on Food then
> trade Cows for Goods, needing the Goods to unlock more Blessings)
>
>
> 2. season
> Sacrifice for desirable Mystery-Blessing
> Raid someone. Might as well get it over with (send big plunder-raid group
> to pink/red Clan, preferably a nearby one - long-term they'll be my
> punching bag)
>
>
> 3. season
> Recruit more farmers (based on having 1 step more land than needed - with
> a larger population it's possible to have more temples and thus more
> perma-blessings, although it seems as if once I go Tribe I can have as many
> temples as I desire)
> If possible, send Emissary to Gift a lot of Food (I tend to give for 101
> units) to a clan, preferably not one that too near the red (as they're
> likely to decline, thus the action is wasted)
>
>
> 4. season
> Sacrifice for desirable Mystery-Blessing
> Sacrifice for desirable Mystery-Blessing (yeah, always a lot of those!)
>
>
>
> 5. season
> Explore tula
> If extra Farmers have arrived, adjust Farmland/Pasture. Otherwise explore
> tula.
>
>
> 3rd year
> 1.
>
> Send explorers to Kero Fin (in my experience, this usually causes
> something nice to happen)
> Send Emisarry to ask for Magic (usually you get +3 units)
>
>
> 2.
> Send Trader to sell off something, usually Horses for Cows or Goods
> (usually a Large caravan means you sell off about 16 horses)
> Sacrifice for desirable Mystery-Blessing
>
>
>
> 3.
> Sacrifice for desirable Mystery-Blessing
>
> Explore tula (expert explorer ought to be back from Kero Fin by now)
>
>
> 4.
> Look into Clan/Population/Farming, probably adjust number of Hunters
> down. Or if Farmers from last year only recently arrived, adjust
> Farmland/Pasture now.
> Explore tula
>
>
>
> 5.
> Explore tula
> Explore tula (by this stage at least 3 of the 5 crafter-buffing resources
> have hopefully been found, ideally 4 or even all 5, so that I'll get more
> Goods)
>
>
>
> 4th year it's probably useful to try to sacrifice to learn a HQ Mystery.
> I've had lots of success with Orlanth (the Storm Tribe thing), and a bit
> with Chalana Arrory, but failed miserably the two times I tried Uralda.
> With an Orlanth tribe the Storm Tribe HQ is fairly apt so done in 5th year
> (I opt to boost my leader, and in addition it also seems to give about +12
> Magic, which is very sweet). Also must remember to do one more raid, to
> keep Clan Magic good (in 2nd season, Fire Season). Otherwise, just explore,
> maybe do Kero Fin once more, and keep trying to unlock Blessings and build
> shrines and temples.
>
>
> How does the above look, as a vague plan?
>
>
> I know I'm not making good use of the 3 "travel-friendly" seasons; that I
> probably ought to do more Trader and Emisarry tasks, but early game I just
> don't have much to offer the other Clans. If I manage to slay a bunch of
> Horse-Spawn then yes I'll have 3 Large Caravans to trade Horses for Cows or
> Goods, but if not I have little to give away save a modest amount of food
> some of the time. I don't want to give away Cows at all, and I need my
> Goods so that I can sacrifice to the various gods and unlock Blessings so I
> can built temples and get them permanently.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Also, what's a good benchmark for how many Horses I must have? I figure my
> Ring is under 20 people, I usually have 15-25 weaponthanes, and a bunch of
> Noble who are none of the above, but I'd like to have a better sense for
> how free I am to trade away Horses for Cows or Goods (or Food in an
> emergency), but I don't want to cripple my ability to recruit more
> weaponthanes. All I know is that if I manage to butcher a Horse-Spawn I'll
> get 45-55 Horses and that's the equivalent of 3 Large Caravan-fulls, plus
> they probably have some opportunity to breed before that since I don't send
> off 3 caravans in parallel, but spread it over most of a year.
>
>
> Secondly, which gods likes Cows as sacrifices? I know it's better to
> sacrifice Goods, but in the early game I have a metric buttload of
> Blessings I'd like to unlock and very few Goods to spare, so taking 42 or
> 63 mooing ones from the herd to unlock 2 or 3 Blessings might be
> worthwhile. The sooner I unlock my favourite Blessings, the better.
>
>
> --
> Peter Knutsen
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> 1b Re: Early game procedure
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> Thu Aug 7, 2014 9:04 am (PDT) . Posted by: "Meredith Dixon" hebeti
> <dixonm_at_...?subject=Re%3A%20Early%20game%20procedure>
> Personally, I put max initial magic into Mysteries and Health. My first
> action is always to reorganize my ring. Then I readjust the amount planted
> until the amount to be harvested stops going up, even though that makes the
> farmers complain that they're being overworked. After that I build a
> watch tower and hire max weaponthanes (even if I'm a Peace Clan). Then I
> readjust crafting to give me a surplus of goods (for sacrificing for
> mysteries) and send out as many hunters as my land will support (I always
> begin with Huge Tracts, Much More Than Needed, so that's a lot).
>
> After that I start learning mysteries. My first one is always Pathfinder.
> My second is one of Uralda's blessings; I prefer Calf Blessing but I'll
> take Milk Blessing. I can learn about three mysteries a year as long as I
> put full magic into it at Sacred Time, so I do that. Once I have
> Pathfinder, I alternate sacrificing for mysteries and exploring, but I
> never send out my Bargainers; I know they're the best explorers but they're
> also the most valuable ring members I have. I send out the elderly and
> those with lower skills.
>
> --
> Meredith Dixon <dixonm_at_...>
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> 1c Re: Early game procedure
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> Thu Aug 7, 2014 2:01 pm (PDT) . Posted by: "Bryan Thexton" bethexton
> <bethexton_at_...?subject=Re%3A%20Early%20game%20procedure>
> My procedure varied somewhat with my major god and peace or
> balanced (for whatever reason, despite the very many clans I created, I’ve
> never done war). First few seasons are
> pretty much fixed, however.
>
> First action is to adjust field/pasture sizes and crop mix, and
> save while still on that screen. That is
> a small exploit (at least on the windows version) that keeps it from
> consuming
> an action. In the first year I’m willing
> to bend the spirit of the game a little bit to get things going faster.
> Then I build a watch-tower, then recruit max
> weaponthanes. (all of that in Sea Season).
>
> In fire season I’ll generally sacrifice to Odayla (I’m
> aiming for Sureshot, but will take tracking), and either max out my hunters
> (for population/available forest) or mount a cattle raid, or re-organize
> the
> ring (depending on expected harvest, military strength, quality of current
> war
> leader…).
>
> In earth I send a
> reasonably strong exploration team to the Dragon newt wilds, and add
> hunters or
> reorganize the ring, if I haven’t done those yet. Assuming the
> exploration team finds the
> dragon newt statue I send them back with the leader who has high animals,
> with
> the best mix of combat and magic, along with 3 warriors and 3 farmers (this
> might be superstition, but that balanced team seems to me to succeed more
> often, I think animals helps when dealing with dragon newts, magic may, and
> combat helps if they have to fight their way out). I like the treasure
> that helps in many small
> ways.
>
> In Dark I explore the tula with a few warriors and max
> farmers. If my old enemy is winter I’ll
> cattle raid for the (hopefully) point of magic you get for doing that. If
> that isn’t my ancient enemy I’ll fix up my
> crafters.
>
> Storm in the first year is the catch-up season. Fixing the ring,
> recruiting more weapon-thanes
> or farmers, building a shrine to Odayla, occasionally another attempt at a
> blessing…
>
> Second year is key, because that is when I try to do my
> first heroquest! (assuming a plausible
> quester of my main god—by far easiest for Ernalda). Yep, that early, so
> assign magic
> appropriately. In sea season send a
> party to explore Kero Finn. Assuming the
> usual result of finding the wind spirits, tell a nearby clan that I want
> to get
> along with, and they’ll reward us with quite a bit of magic.
>
> In fire usually make sure patrols are strong, and sacrifice
> to my main god. Learning a new blessing
> is good, but mostly I always sacrifice to them before questing. In earth
> explore in the Quivin mountains,
> where they will find a mighty Wyrm.
> Attack it, or send trickster to get its treasure (depending if I’m
> hostile of friendly to dragons). This
> one is so key, really changing how the early game flows—if successful you
> get a
> pile of goods, allowing a couple of fortification builds in the next
> couple of
> years and easing the pressure on getting Issaries blessings and trade
> routes
> up. Also get some magic.
>
> In Dark season do a cattle raid if enemy of winter, else
> explore the tula. Then heroquest
> time. Odds are by far the best if
> Ernalda is our main god, but it is possible with a good quester on the
> others. Also Ernalda is the best early game quest to
> complete, as the general effect increases food and cattle for a few years,
> and
> usually I go for cattle fertility as the specific benefit (occasionally
> crops
> if food is looking grim). Succeeding at
> this generally helps the early game economy, since after a couple of years
> I
> can typically start trading food for goods and cattle, and gives a big
> boost to
> magic that makes everything easier for a while.
> For Elmal will look for help when we are attacked, for Orlanth to either
> strengthen the quester or strengthen our warriors.
>
> After that, priorities are to
> - build up fortifications (reduces disasters),
> - get Odayla’s Sureshot and Orlanth’s Thunderstone
> blessings up, after which focussing on skirmishing/kill as many as possible
> will let us win the war of attrition with anyone we are feuding with.
> - Which makes getting Earthblood up a good idea,
> too.
> - Generally building up the magical part of our
> military (quests to strengthen leaders or warriors, getting a humakt
> blessing
> or two up, etc)
> - If I can get the Ernalda quest (if I didn’t
> start with it) and have a good quester for it, I’ll aim to run it every 3-4
> years, circumstances permitting, to keep crops and cattle fertility high
> and
> keep up our magic. Can use to make the farmers
> happy, really boost cattle fertility, makes the elves happy (they give you
> some
> goods in response, at least in my experience), so it really does help
> address a
> lot of possible early game problems.
> - Learn blessings.
> Curing and healing, Protection, Issaries, LM, Sense Chaos, and Uralda’s
> cow blessing are generally my priorities (beyond a baseline of war and crop
> magic).
> - Get Market locked in with a shrine, and get the extra trade routes up
> and running. More trade is even better, but that is the top priority.
> - Learn heroquests! Look for opportunities to do them :)
> Especially learn Making the Storm Tribe, which
> is another relatively easy one with a decent quester. Use it to
> strengthen Leadership, and to help
> relationships with neighbors, and again to help magic. As I have more
> variety, aim to do one every years,
> ideally.
> - Choose my preferred tribe mates, and put on a
> charm offensive. Send gifts, propose
> alliances, build trade routes, do things I think they’ll like (build a
> temple
> to their god, for instance).
> - Each year explore the tula once and explore a
> new space once.
> - Typically around the time that tribe making is
> getting close, I try to seize lands from the feuding clan that I’ve been
> picking away at. It may take a while to
> make it stick, so I start before the land situation is too dire.
> - Also around that time, I may build a great temple (an extra magic
> point each year, and impresses people)
>
> It has been a while since I've played, so I may have forgotten something
>
> ________________________________
> From: "Meredith Dixon dixonm_at_... [KingOfDragonPass]" <
> KingOfDragonPass_at_yahoogroups.com>
> To: KingOfDragonPass_at_yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, August 7, 2014 12:04:24 PM
> Subject: Re: Early game procedure
>
>
>
> Personally, I put max initial magic into Mysteries and Health. My first
> action is always to reorganize my ring. Then I readjust the amount planted
> until the amount to be harvested stops going up, even though that makes the
> farmers complain that they're being overworked. After that I build a
> watch tower and hire max weaponthanes (even if I'm a Peace Clan). Then I
> readjust crafting to give me a surplus of goods (for sacrificing for
> mysteries) and send out as many hunters as my land will support (I always
> begin with Huge Tracts, Much More Than Needed, so that's a lot).
>
> After that I start learning mysteries. My first one is always
> Pathfinder. My second is one of Uralda's blessings; I prefer Calf Blessing
> but I'll take Milk Blessing. I can learn about three mysteries a year as
> long as I put full magic into it at Sacred Time, so I do that. Once I have
> Pathfinder, I alternate sacrificing for mysteries and exploring, but I
> never send out my Bargainers; I know they're the best explorers but they're
> also the most valuable ring members I have. I send out the elderly and
> those with lower skills.
>
> --
> Meredith Dixon <dixonm_at_...>
> Reply to sender
> <bethexton_at_...?subject=Re%3A%20Early%20game%20procedure> . Reply
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