Quest General CYOA Thread

[Bear Ribs]

Battletech Isekai CYOA by Cimbri

You and three of your friends are stuck in the ass-end of nowhere in the Periphery in 3015. Normally this would be a short trip to ignoble poverty and death but you're lucky. So lucky that you are all Isekai protagonists! This means that fate is on your side and gently tips the odds in your favour. By using some metaphorical Fate points to adjust things in your favour! Well its not all in just your favour the more Fate is changed the more opposition to this change appears in the form of luck and abilities of others native to that Universe. So your little intrepid group of friends start with Two Fate Points and may earn more in the progress of choosing your starting position and opposition.

Spoiler: Where do you wake up?

You wake up in what appear to be Star League Cryo pods in an abandoned base. It was in the past a:


[ ] A ruined bunker. There's nothing there aside from the pods and your rides and some food. Enough for a week. Make sure you're able to pilot the mechs by then. Have fun! +0.5 points.

[ ] Listening outpost. 0 Points. It has the bare bones needed to stay hidden and resupplied with a hangar that can fit a shuttle and four mech bays. There is living space for up to a dozen people with enough MREs to last a good while. It also comes with sensors capable of passively watching almost everything that occurs in the system.

[ ] Star League Intelligence Supply depot. 1 point. The main difference is in the size of it with the hangar now being capable of welcoming a Leopard and a small craft or two. It also has twelve mech bays ready for use. The barracks can hold up to a hundred people in relative comfort with four apartments for officers or VIPs also present. The depots warehouse is sadly empty but can hold roughly ten thousand tons of cargo. Aside from that it retains every capability the Listening outpost possessed.

[ ] Outpost Castle. 2 points. It is a facility capable of holding a mech battalion with the facilities to match. Its hidden hangars holds room enough for at least three Aerodyne Dropships and six small craft bays stand ready for use. The well appointed living spaces are enough for not just the hypothetical battalion and its support personnel but also a fair amount of possible VIPs and perhaps dependants. The mech bays also comes with a well appointed workshop capable of machining almost anything under two metres in length (If someone competent is there to do the work at least). Its sensor coverage are comparable to some of the best in the Inner Sphere.

[ ] Castle Brian.No sorry not sorry.

Spoiler: What are your Cheats?

Fate would have liked to give you powers for free but sadly Fate is a bitch (Wait what?). So pick four powers for your little group. Those unpicked will go to someone else who might or might not end up as your enemy.

[ ] The "Phantom Mech Ability" You may use this in any vehicle you pilot to disappear from any and all sensors. It doesn't work on the mark one eyeball sadly. It can be used at will and will remain as long as the user is conscious and wills it so.

[ ] "Luck of Heroes" This ability simply makes its owner very lucky. It could manifest as finding great finds in antique shops and markets or your enemy stumbling just as they're about to finish you off. To explain it in nerd terms you get a plus ten on loot rolls and a reroll if you're about to bite it. Or want to stay hidden etc. Probablitity is on your side and you always win at games of chance. Of course there are times when all the luck in the world can't help you...

[ ] "Precognition" A truly terrifying ability where its wielder can see the future and all his possible actions. Luckily its restrained to one minute into the future and no further. Use it to become a discount Jedi.

[ ] "Empath" You can feel the emotions of those around you in a radius of five kilometres. An excellent way to determine friend from foe. It can even be used to predict the actions of others in a general way if its user trains it enough.

[ ] "Telekinesis" The wielder of this power can move anything below five hundred kilograms in a two hundred metres radius around themselves. Its only weakness is the ability to concentrate and lasers. Mostly lasers.

[ ] "Telepathy" You can send and receive thoughts from those around you within fifty kilometres. You cannot read minds. You need only to concentrate on who you wish to send your thoughts to and a connection is established. This power can either be used to coordinate a group of fighters or if you're evil... Drive someone mad with intrusive thoughts as they remain unaware of your power.

[ ] "Shapeshifting" You're Mystique essentially. You can turn into anyone at anytime for as long as you want. Gender is no barrier as you naturally don't suffer from dysphoria. Its a great ability for a spy since even DNA tests fail to reveal your duplicity.

[ ] "Technopathy" Well now this allows you to control any electronic system or device. As long as you are within five metres of it. Use it to make purchases or vent the atmosphere of a ship I don't care. Just be careful you aren't left on an uninhabited planet because you switched the shower to cold one too many times on your buddies.

Now for the bad part. Please roll a D20 four times to determine who gets the leftover powers. If you roll the same number several times? Then congratulations on creating a menace with up to four powers. Hope it wasn't Liao...

1. Romano Liao
2. Kyoe Akashi
3. Red Jack Ryan
4. Paula Trevaline
5. Kamea Arano
6. Natasha Kerensky
7. Joshua Wolf
8. Justin Allard
9. Ed Corbu
10. Subhash Indrahar
11. Yorinaga Kurita
12. Aldo Lestrade
13. Gray Noton
14. Therese Marik
15. Kristen Marik
16. Thomas Calderon
17. James Sandoval
18. Nondi Steiner
19. Frederick Steiner
20. Jessica Chernovskaya

Spoiler: Now what are you riding?

You have at the very least one mech each. Are they Royals though? Or were they perhaps used as deniable assets by Star League Intelligence. Lets pick how much tonnage you have to play around with and what technology level.

[ ] You have one hundred tons of mechs to tool around with. Its enough for four twenty five tonners if you're keen on being absolutely fair. 0 Points.

[ ] A hundred and fifty tons is enough to almost reach medium mechs for all of you but sadly at least one of your crew will be forced to toddle around in an Urbie or something. 0.5 point.

[ ] At two hundred tons you can all comfortably cruise around in fifty tonners. Perhaps a quartet of Enforcers? 1 point.

[ ] At two hundred and fifty tons all of you squeak into the Heavy category. Please watch where you walk okay?. 1.5 points.

[ ] Three hundred tons of heavy metal gives your crew a lot of tonnage to play around with. Seventy five tons each. At the top of the category. 2 points.

[ ] Three hundred and fifty tons. Would Sir and Madam care for a Battlemaster? Or perhaps a Stalker? 2.5 points.

[ ] Look Four hundred tons is enough to give each of you an Atlas or King Crab each. You can't ask for more than that. Super Heavies are off limits. 3 points.

Now are they Royals or not? It will cost you to have the shiniest mechs but perhaps you think its worth it.

[ ] Regular mechs are fine ma'am. 0 points.

[ ] Royals! Royals! Royaaaaaaaalsssss! 1 point.

Spoiler: On what godforsaken planet do you awaken?

You are in the Periphery and far from any exciting action as you wake up. That is not to say that the neighbourhood is very safe though...

[ ] Astrokaszy. You better be prepared for the fight of your life. Seriously its a pirate infested shithole while still being close enough to the Inner Sphere that any hint of Lostech will result in an invasion. +0.5 points.

[ ] Aquagea is home to a small population in the low millions. It holds a grudge against the Free Worlds League and is currently under threat from not only pirates but also its neighbours in Zathras. 0 points.

[ ] Gillfillan's Gold. A small population in the low millions the planet is a temperate one inhabited by stubborn descendants of the Rim Republic. They are regularly attacked by bandits. This prevents any prosperity from blooming. 0.5 points.

[ ] Detroit. Rock City! It is an excellent starting point for adventure as its both independent yet with a robust industry and large population it desperately needs defenders that might be willing to pay in things other than hard currency to get them... 1 point.

Spoiler: Pirates! Or well Assholes that will shoot at you at least.

Some weeks after your arrival your small group either notices a pirate force approaching the planet. You ride out to defend the locals. Or if you had the bad luck to land on Astrokaszy the pirates sees you and attack. How many are there and how well equipped are they?

[ ] They are terrifying with a full company of mechs. Four light mechs, four mediums, two heavies and two assaults. They are backed up by a pair of Eagle Aerospace fighters that was brought along on their Union. +1 point.

[ ] You are lucky enough that the pirates at least lack Air support but four lights, four mediums, two heavies and two assaults are terrifying enough. +0.5 points.

[ ] They are coming out of a Union with six lights, four mediums and two heavies. Can you take them? 0 points.

[ ] Well Eight light mechs and four mediums sounds doable surely? 0.5 points.

[ ] Look twelve light mechs trundling towards you isn't that threatening. 1 point.

Well there might be some local support. Or perhaps they've been crushed in a preceding raid.

[ ] Nope not a dang single militia man is available. +0.5 points.

[ ] There's a company of infantry armed with rifles. They travel on a pair of flatbed trucks and might be handy in case you're taking any prisoners. 0 points.

[ ] You're backed up by a infantry company and a pair of Scorpions so buckle up! 0.5 points.

[ ] A single infantry company backed up by a lance of Scorpions will make things nearly equal. 1 point.

Spoiler: Is there any loot to find at your home base?

Well did you find any loot looking around at your starting location? Even if the bunker is destroyed it might hold something of value...


[ ] You found negative value as one of your mech got their arm blown of by some rusting mine it managed to trigger somehow... +0.5 points.

[ ] Eh nothing really. A vintage porn magazine was all you found in the end. 0 points.

[ ] A noteputer with some standard armour schematics. Also some bars of germanium worth roughly fifty thousand C-bills. 0.5 points.

[ ] The noteputer you found held not only the information needed to make standard armour but also myomer bundles! Oh and you found Literal gold bars worth a hundred thousand C-bills. Now you just have to get them to a buyer... 1 point.

[ ] A personal computer you found held the knowledge on how to make not only armour and myomer but also the Core Tek 275 fusion engine! The Literal treasure chest filled with jewels kinda pales in comparison despite being worth two hundred thousand C-bills. 1.5 points.

[ ] You found one ST-45 shuttle. It looks fully functioning and it carried a computer with the secrets of armour, myomers, the VOX 280 and the Magna Hellstar PPC! 2 points.

I rather like that this one sets you up with just a lance rather than the ludicrous amounts of 'mechs, tanks, ASF, and even your own fleet of JumpShips the other BT Insert CYOA does. A lance and three buddies can do some stories the massive mercenary company can't.

 

[Bear Ribs]

And a BT Isekai Build...

(1.0) Start At Detroit
(1.5) Ruined Bunker (1 weeks food)

Powers
Precognition
Telepathy
Shapeshifting
Technopathy

Others:
Romano Liao
Empath

Thomas Calderon
Luck of Heroes

Nondi Steiner
Phantom Mech

Joshua Wolf
Telekinesis

(-1.0) 250 Tons of Royal 'mechs
50 PHX-HK1R Phoenix Hawk LAM
55 Screamer LAM
30 WSP-100 Wasp LAM
30 STG-A1 Stinger LAM
30 WSP-100b Wasp LAM
55 Shadow Hawk LAM

(-0.5) Pirates have Four Lights, Four Mediums, Two Heavies, Two Assaults
(0) No Militia Backup
(0)No Viable Loot


I actually wanted to take just one of each original LAM but the tonnage didn't work out that way so I would up with two Wasps. If it was more granulated than every 50 tons I would have tried to swap out a Wasp for a Munin. On the flipside this amounts to exactly the number of LAMs you can stuff in a Leopard for a nice insertion force, since these powers are better for a black ops team anyway. I would have liked to snag the shuttle but I'm not sure what an ST-45 even is, searching didn't pull one up so I'm guessing it's an obscure video game ship or something. You might wonder how on Terra they have a Screamer when only one was ever made and it crashed in the ocean, but there's a very logical reason for that.

Of note, I fudged the rolls slightly. I actually rolled Ed Corbu for the Telekinesis power but as I haven't played that part of BT and didn't want to spoil myself, I rerolled him. Romano also originally got Phantom Mech but as she never pilots a 'mech, that would have been pointless so she swapped powers with Nondi Steiner. Romano with empathy will probably either get her immediately killed or have a mental breakdown. Most of her world at this point is wrapped up in making daddy proud and realizing Max Liao doesn't care about her at all won't be good for her. I'm not sure Thomas Calderon will ever benefit from loot rolls but maybe if it's applied to his people the Vandenburg suddenly gets repaired?

Nondi Steiner and Joshua Wolf are just going to generally get more dangerous. At this point the Dragoons are working for Anton Marik in the Marik Civil War and Joshua getting the power to kill people with his mind won't likely affect those events much, since he wasn't present for the worst of it. Nondi Steiner having Phantom Mech may give enough of an edge to peel a world or two more away from the Mariks but Phantom Mech is probably the least game-changing of the powers available, it just lets you win individual 'mech fights where the other ones let you utterly wreck the upper echelons of power.

 

[Blasterbot]

do we have to pick canon variants if we go royal or can we build our own royal upgrade for a mech that don't have one?

in the middle of a build now. wolf got phantom mech. kamea got empathy. redjack got TK. Calderon got shapeshifting. I think the biggest thing there is wolf with phantom mech.

 

[Blasterbot]

[7] The "Phantom Mech Ability" You may use this in any vehicle you pilot to disappear from any and all sensors. It doesn't work on the mark one eyeball sadly. It can be used at will and will remain as long as the user is conscious and wills it so.

[SI] "Luck of Heroes" This ability simply makes its owner very lucky. It could manifest as finding great finds in antique shops and markets or your enemy stumbling just as they're about to finish you off. To explain it in nerd terms you get a plus ten on loot rolls and a reroll if you're about to bite it. Or want to stay hidden etc. Probablitity is on your side and you always win at games of chance. Of course there are times when all the luck in the world can't help you...

[L1] "Precognition" A truly terrifying ability where its wielder can see the future and all his possible actions. Luckily its restrained to one minute into the future and no further. Use it to become a discount Jedi.

[5] "Empath" You can feel the emotions of those around you in a radius of five kilometres. An excellent way to determine friend from foe. It can even be used to predict the actions of others in a general way if its user trains it enough.

[4] "Telekinesis" The wielder of this power can move anything below five hundred kilograms in a two hundred metres radius around themselves. Its only weakness is the ability to concentrate and lasers. Mostly lasers.

[L2] "Telepathy" You can send and receive thoughts from those around you within fifty kilometres. You cannot read minds. You need only to concentrate on who you wish to send your thoughts to and a connection is established. This power can either be used to coordinate a group of fighters or if you're evil... Drive someone mad with intrusive thoughts as they remain unaware of your power.

[16] "Shapeshifting" You're Mystique essentially. You can turn into anyone at anytime for as long as you want. Gender is no barrier as you naturally don't suffer from dysphoria. Its a great ability for a spy since even DNA tests fail to reveal your duplicity.

[L3] "Technopathy" Well now this allows you to control any electronic system or device. As long as you are within five metres of it. Use it to make purchases or vent the atmosphere of a ship I don't care. Just be careful you aren't left on an uninhabited planet because you switched the shower to cold one too many times on your buddies.

Wolf has Phantom mech. that is kinda terrifying. Kamea has empathy that will help her run her small state I guess. Redjack has TK depending how creative he is that can be terrifying. the head of the taurian concordant is now a shapeshifter. ok.

[ ] A ruined bunker. There's nothing there aside from the pods and your rides and some food. Enough for a week. Make sure you're able to pilot the mechs by then. Have fun! +0.5 points. 2.5

[ ] Astrokaszy. You better be prepared for the fight of your life. Seriously its a pirate infested shithole while still being close enough to the Inner Sphere that any hint of Lostech will result in an invasion. +0.5 points. 3

[ ] They are terrifying with a full company of mechs. Four light mechs, four mediums, two heavies and two assaults. They are backed up by a pair of Eagle Aerospace fighters that was brought along on their Union. +1 point. 4

[ ] Nope not a dang single militia man is available. +0.5 points. 4.5

[ ] You found one ST-45 shuttle. It looks fully functioning and it carried a computer with the secrets of armour, myomers, the VOX 280 and the Magna Hellstar PPC! 2 points. 2.5

[ ] Royals! Royals! Royaaaaaaaalsssss! -1 point. 1.5

[ ] At two hundred and fifty tons all of you squeak into the Heavy category. Please watch where you walk okay?. 1.5 points. 0

 

[King Arts]

So are our companions in the CYOA people we want from real life?

 

[Bear Ribs]

So are our companions in the CYOA people we want from real life?

I'm going on the theory that it's three people you invited over for game night (or visited them respectively) and all four of you got Isekai'd at the same time.

Wolf has Phantom mech. that is kinda terrifying. Kamea has empathy that will help her run her small state I guess. Redjack has TK depending how creative he is that can be terrifying. the head of the taurian concordant is now a shapeshifter. ok.

Redjack Ryan with TK is a nightmare scenario. The others aren't going to be that different but he's incredibly creative and malevolent.

 

[Bear Ribs]

do we have to pick canon variants if we go royal or can we build our own royal upgrade for a mech that don't have one?

in the middle of a build now. wolf got phantom mech. kamea got empathy. redjack got TK. Calderon got shapeshifting. I think the biggest thing there is wolf with phantom mech.

I went and did some checking. Not the author, but in the rules in Reunification War it indicated that Royal Units get 1 ace custom per lance, which are allowed to replace any 1 weapon or component of 5 tons or more, or individual items up to 10 tons none of which can be 5 tons or larger. The new items have to fit in the same critical spaces (or less) as the ones you took out and you can't swap engines, structure, or change the armor for these customs.

In practice, you pretty much have to fudge things because there are just so few clean swaps possible without either going illegal on tonnage or using the wrong number of crits. Everything that isn't Laser -> ER Laser or PPC -> ER PPC is most likely either going to end up with illegal tonnage or take up the wrong number of crits.

With 6 LAMs I can count them as three airlances if I want to be greedy, so three customs.

The Wasp WSP-100 with its stupid rear-facing One-Shot SRM 2 clearly needs some help. I'll uninstall both the idiot missile launcher and the actually decent Medium Laser, and replace the Medium Laser with a Medium Pulse Laser (It's a LAM, hence very fast, and the range penalty shouldn't matter) and rear facing small laser. This one's actually legal per the rules using the right number of crits and tons, the small laser's pretty pointless but the oneshot SRM-2 wasn't scaring anybody either and it's not like there's anything else I can do legally with the half ton. Well maybe a recon camera, I do like those but will a LAM benefit from being able to send a drone to spy out the land? I'm not sure.

Wait, this is the LAM that can carry up to five Arrow IV missiles and the camera is allowed to act as a spotter for them. Heck yeah, go camera drone.

The Shadow Hawk LAM has a halfway decent weapons loadout, and is actually already half a ton short of where it should be so I'm choosing to put that half-ton into armor. I'm removing the LRM 5 and ammo and replacing it with a Beagle Probe and ECM suite. Yeah, the ECM suite won't do much in 3015 on the ground but it has significant effects in space, basically every attack by an ASF on that Shadow Hawk is at +1 and so are any attacks that have to pass through the entire hex it's in, so it can protect a whole squad by itself.

I'm tempted to go back and redo things the get the shuttle, since there's no such actual shuttle I could customize it myself. Or having checked, presume it's really an ST-46 and just a typo, in which case I can basically add ten tons of weapons because... wait this is a 100 ton small craft with 74.5 tons of cargo, only 1 crew, and 6 passengers? How? Even with it having a bizarrely tiny amount of armor it still can't remotely fit that cargo bay in and also have an engine and structure. Pretty sure this design's totally illegal from the get-go as well so I can probably still go with a pure custom, and a small craft with ECM does terrible, terrible things to 3015 era fighters.

 

[Blasterbot]

I'm going on the theory that it's three people you invited over for game night (or visited them respectively) and all four of you got Isekai'd at the same time.

Redjack Ryan with TK is a nightmare scenario. The others aren't going to be that different but he's incredibly creative and malevolent.

not super deep on the BT lore unfortunately so redjack will be a pain. kamea will prolly end up being able to hold her own politically but not a big deal on the large scale. her best bet is prolly marrying into a higher end nobility for a great house.
prolly go with a royal griffin GRF-2N , royal lancelot LNC25-01sl , Royal Thunderbolt TDR-5Sb and figure out a custom royal 70 tonner. Might roll with the shootist ST-9c. can't think of a way to make the custom work out. ideally would swap the ER large to an ER PPC and trade the pulses to either regular or ER Mlasers depending on how I feel about heat. Lucky SI in the grif. future sight in the lancelot. technopath in the thud. telepath in the shootist. basically telepath+future sight can spread to the squad when combined in a hive mind. lucky griff so quickest lightest armored mech has best chance at dodging and living. technopath will be able to eject the thuds ammo easiest in an emergency and is super useful utility power in the future of the 80s. future sight is a jedi so can hopefully keep alive despite XL engine. Telepath is basically lance lynchpin so gets to stay back and be in heavy armor.

snippy 2

on the wasp rear facing is still in the same location. would argue that you could face the weapon forward.
hawk seems legit.
shuttle is meant to be a civilian craft at a guess so it not being efficient is likely. alternately it is the shuttle from star wars and you get to make the stats so long as it is reasonable for a civilian transport.

 

[Bear Ribs]

Witch Awakening CYOA

Important notice: it's not exactly NSFW but it's probably Not Safe for Spacebattles at least, having copious amounts of cleavage that will trigger some. Use discretion.

Y'know, I really don't get this. This CYOA is a hot mess, poorly edited, math's a bit fuzzy with how there's multiple rounding methods that aren't clear, it's hard to tell how to even proceed sometimes, but the worldbuilding is so intriguing it gets me anyway. I'm not even sure why I like it given I'm usually attracted to crisp maths uber alles. By the RAW it appears possible to actually gain power by taking more powers which is clearly balderdash but the RAW it works. The author's indicated they're revising it in about a month or so to fix the vast inadequacies in the math so I'll repost then if a better version surfaces. I'm not doing my usual embed because this thing is really, really long. It's over thirty pages long by itself, and references multiple other CYOAs if you take certain perks so you could easily wind up with 60-70 pages here. I'm not embedding that kind of disaster-in-motion.

But even so, despite the terrible mechanical side and sprawling nature, the worldbuilding to this one is drawing me in... it's amazingly fun to play with.

 

[King Arts]

We haven't had a thread in a while, I've been busy sadly. I found a funny(slightly inappropriate) knight CYOA.

 

[Bear Ribs]

To wash the taste of that awful thing away...

Adventures in the Orient, an Asian-Pulp style CYOA.

Spoiler

 

[Bear Ribs]

And a build... I've slightly swapped things around to, f'rex, keep all the skills in one place rather than have them scattered as they are in the CYOA.

Race:
Human/Dokkaebi Hybrid

Class:
Tribesman Monk

Attributes:
Brawn 5
Alacrity 11
Personality 6
Sagacity 6

Skills:
Survival
Trapping
Superstition

Misc: Music

Monk Skills:
Shanshou
Jianquan
Beixinquan
Tieshan

From some rural tribe, I'm a wandering mountain sage who hunts and traps his own food and sometimes trades magic charms when I have need of mere money, or to do others a good turn. Music is the traditional way to entertain yourself out in the mountains so I'll go for that.

The Dokkaebi passive of finding more gold and better loot is really nice and with hybrid I don't have to take their appearance.

As humans get increased physical and magical endurance, it seems logical to take one of the Gish options rather than specialize in only half my specail ability. It was a tough decision picking between Monk and Samurai but ultimately Monk's ability to heal was the decider. So this combo can punch with the speed and power of lightning, heal people by punching their injuries off, basically has all Ty Lee's abilities, and can

Equipment:
Armor:
Ainu Mantle

Weapons:
Bow
Fist Weapon
Endless Pouch

Magic Items:
Bear Traps
Soul Attractor
Hook and Rope
Bag of Holding

Yeah, no monk robes as I'm not Xiaolin but rather a wandering mountain sage, hence a cloak of furs is more appropriate. A bow and set of claw weapons covers ranged and melee pretty handily and I have an endless pouch of arrows.
Bear Traps are a particularly good magic item, they can be used to hunt or kill enemies at no risk, and because magic items always return to me there's no chance of losing them unlike normal traps. All around good. The Soul Attractor makes my charms better and the Hook and Rope are useful in mountain climbing. The cloak of warmth would be nice but it frankly doesn't do anything a normal cloak of furs won't accomplish so not worth wasting a magic slot on.

Boon:
Half-Breed

Drawback
Kunoichi Assassin

The Kunoichi assassin is the only drawback I can really stomach, don't want to be a rage monster or alone and I'm not sure how to handle the dark spirits.

Companions:
Mi-Seon Hwang
Soyi Song
Faliang Jiao

Mi-Seon Hwang is nice for a variety of reasons. My combat skillset is more focused on killing individual enemies or healing so having somebody who can throw down AOE magma flows is a good synergy. The fact that she's also good at mediation means she has decent non-combat utility. Soyi's morals aren't going to be an issue and having a ninja along will fill several skill holes, additionally the Hoilyu ability to control animals at range has ridiculous utility. As a grappler Faliang Jiao's superb at stopping enemies from reaching us, which means I and Mi-Seong can rain ranged attacks on enemies and count on Faliang to cover us from any that get close while Soyi takes advantage of openings we make. Faliang's potions can provide a backup to my fist of healing as well as buffs to the party.

Quests
Paekku Pilgrimage
Goes through mountains I'm familiar with and this adventuring party is well-equipped to handle mere bandits and spirits. Nets some gold and horses. Good starter mission.

The Oni Daimyo's Wife
Going into mountains anf finding stuff is, like, my thing so this is a particularly optimized job for our party. In particular as a noble she's likely to have the social skills and connections we lack, making her a great addition.

The actual prize here isn't the Oni Wife (Though another strong party member won't go amiss), it's flower of cure everything. With Paekku doubling all loot I find, I should not only find it quickly but have a chance to get two flowers out of this and can save one for an emergency. Hopefully, we can preserve it or have Faliang make it into a Megalixir for later use.

Monstergirl Island
Yet another wife is significantly lower a priority for me than making sure these monstergirls aren't the potentially world-ending threat memetic Monster Girl Encyclopedia types are. I also kinda wanna know what the heck these monstergirls are and how they're different from everybody else, given we've got an oni, half-goblin, lamia, and catgirl in the party. Maybe if we're lucky we pick up somebody who can fly, plugging one of the few holes in the party's skillsets. I'm presuming here we discover they are, in fact, not a world-ending threat as otherwise, we're going to have to figure out how to destroy the island.

Wokou Wipeout
We really didn't plan for this at all but wound up getting hit by pirates on our way back from Monstergirl Island and, well, after someone managed to accidentally fill the ship's hold with magma we pretty much had to fight or drown so we fought.

The Captured Phoenix
Look, I'm a mountaineer, not a sailor. It is not my fault we got lost with the captured pirate ship and I have no idea how we happened to sail straight into an abandoned castle full of cultists planning armageddon with their captured phoenix. But hey, a new kind of magic for all. And to whoever owns the castle, those basements were full of charred cultist skeletons buried in magma when we got there.

The Cursed Onsen
Our breather/beach episode after that mess. With my utterly massive mana reserves and spirit charms I should have no problem cleaning out the Onsen and we can get a rest. This is likely where we wind up turning the Kunoichi Assassin.

Crown of the Yellow Emperor
A tomb full of traps and enemies would seem to be more Soyi's dazzle than mine but I'm willing to play second fiddle once in a while, and apparently after saving a legendary phoenix and ending a pirate scourge we're getting a bit of a reputation. Huge magma attacks would appear to be suitable for disposing of terracotta warriors and my 1.5 gold and double-loot abilities will make us rich as kings off of the rest of the tomb.

The Emperor's New Court
Apparently, even though it's not our field, the new Emperor wants us and has way too much confidence in our party after we got him the crown. Soyi as an assassin is in a great position to handle this one, and we have an Oni Princess for the social-fu along with Mi-Seong's negotiating skills. Our monstergirl is undoubtedly a never-before-seen race who will be an exotic attraction and conversation starter. Faliang will prepare a truth serum to spike the punch bowl with ahead of time and I'll stand awkwardly in the corner with a drink wondering why I agreed to this job. As we plan to keep on adventuring, we'll put one of the other Oni princesses to rule over our newly claimed land and just use it as a base.

Journey to the West
We've been approached by Captain Jeong about a trip to a mysterious island and ha ha, #@!$ no, we're never setting foot in a boat again after what happened last time. Marco Polo's journey into the deserts and horrifying mountains is way more our speed. And in the West, the adventure continues...

 

[King Arts]

And a build... I've slightly swapped things around to, f'rex, keep all the skills in one place rather than have them scattered as they are in the CYOA.

Race:
Human/Dokkaebi Hybrid

Class:
Tribesman Monk

Attributes:
Brawn 5
Alacrity 11
Personality 6
Sagacity 6

Skills:
Survival
Trapping
Superstition

Misc: Music

Monk Skills:
Shanshou
Jianquan
Beixinquan
Tieshan

From some rural tribe, I'm a wandering mountain sage who hunts and traps his own food and sometimes trades magic charms when I have need of mere money, or to do others a good turn. Music is the traditional way to entertain yourself out in the mountains so I'll go for that.

The Dokkaebi passive of finding more gold and better loot is really nice and with hybrid I don't have to take their appearance.

As humans get increased physical and magical endurance, it seems logical to take one of the Gish options rather than specialize in only half my specail ability. It was a tough decision picking between Monk and Samurai but ultimately Monk's ability to heal was the decider. So this combo can punch with the speed and power of lightning, heal people by punching their injuries off, basically has all Ty Lee's abilities, and can

Equipment:
Armor:
Ainu Mantle

Weapons:
Bow
Fist Weapon
Endless Pouch

Magic Items:
Bear Traps
Soul Attractor
Hook and Rope
Bag of Holding

Yeah, no monk robes as I'm not Xiaolin but rather a wandering mountain sage, hence a cloak of furs is more appropriate. A bow and set of claw weapons covers ranged and melee pretty handily and I have an endless pouch of arrows.
Bear Traps are a particularly good magic item, they can be used to hunt or kill enemies at no risk, and because magic items always return to me there's no chance of losing them unlike normal traps. All around good. The Soul Attractor makes my charms better and the Hook and Rope are useful in mountain climbing. The cloak of warmth would be nice but it frankly doesn't do anything a normal cloak of furs won't accomplish so not worth wasting a magic slot on.

Boon:
Half-Breed

Drawback
Kunoichi Assassin

The Kunoichi assassin is the only drawback I can really stomach, don't want to be a rage monster or alone and I'm not sure how to handle the dark spirits.

Companions:
Mi-Seon Hwang
Soyi Song
Faliang Jiao

Mi-Seon Hwang is nice for a variety of reasons. My combat skillset is more focused on killing individual enemies or healing so having somebody who can throw down AOE magma flows is a good synergy. The fact that she's also good at mediation means she has decent non-combat utility. Soyi's morals aren't going to be an issue and having a ninja along will fill several skill holes, additionally the Hoilyu ability to control animals at range has ridiculous utility. As a grappler Faliang Jiao's superb at stopping enemies from reaching us, which means I and Mi-Seong can rain ranged attacks on enemies and count on Faliang to cover us from any that get close while Soyi takes advantage of openings we make. Faliang's potions can provide a backup to my fist of healing as well as buffs to the party.

Quests
Paekku Pilgrimage
Goes through mountains I'm familiar with and this adventuring party is well-equipped to handle mere bandits and spirits. Nets some gold and horses. Good starter mission.

The Oni Daimyo's Wife
Going into mountains anf finding stuff is, like, my thing so this is a particularly optimized job for our party. In particular as a noble she's likely to have the social skills and connections we lack, making her a great addition.

The actual prize here isn't the Oni Wife (Though another strong party member won't go amiss), it's flower of cure everything. With Paekku doubling all loot I find, I should not only find it quickly but have a chance to get two flowers out of this and can save one for an emergency. Hopefully, we can preserve it or have Faliang make it into a Megalixir for later use.

Monstergirl Island
Yet another wife is significantly lower a priority for me than making sure these monstergirls aren't the potentially world-ending threat memetic Monster Girl Encyclopedia types are. I also kinda wanna know what the heck these monstergirls are and how they're different from everybody else, given we've got an oni, half-goblin, lamia, and catgirl in the party. Maybe if we're lucky we pick up somebody who can fly, plugging one of the few holes in the party's skillsets. I'm presuming here we discover they are, in fact, not a world-ending threat as otherwise, we're going to have to figure out how to destroy the island.

Wokou Wipeout
We really didn't plan for this at all but wound up getting hit by pirates on our way back from Monstergirl Island and, well, after someone managed to accidentally fill the ship's hold with magma we pretty much had to fight or drown so we fought.

The Captured Phoenix
Look, I'm a mountaineer, not a sailor. It is not my fault we got lost with the captured pirate ship and I have no idea how we happened to sail straight into an abandoned castle full of cultists planning armageddon with their captured phoenix. But hey, a new kind of magic for all. And to whoever owns the castle, those basements were full of charred cultist skeletons buried in magma when we got there.

The Cursed Onsen
Our breather/beach episode after that mess. With my utterly massive mana reserves and spirit charms I should have no problem cleaning out the Onsen and we can get a rest. This is likely where we wind up turning the Kunoichi Assassin.

Crown of the Yellow Emperor
A tomb full of traps and enemies would seem to be more Soyi's dazzle than mine but I'm willing to play second fiddle once in a while, and apparently after saving a legendary phoenix and ending a pirate scourge we're getting a bit of a reputation. Huge magma attacks would appear to be suitable for disposing of terracotta warriors and my 1.5 gold and double-loot abilities will make us rich as kings off of the rest of the tomb.

The Emperor's New Court
Apparently, even though it's not our field, the new Emperor wants us and has way too much confidence in our party after we got him the crown. Soyi as an assassin is in a great position to handle this one, and we have an Oni Princess for the social-fu along with Mi-Seong's negotiating skills. Our monstergirl is undoubtedly a never-before-seen race who will be an exotic attraction and conversation starter. Faliang will prepare a truth serum to spike the punch bowl with ahead of time and I'll stand awkwardly in the corner with a drink wondering why I agreed to this job. As we plan to keep on adventuring, we'll put one of the other Oni princesses to rule over our newly claimed land and just use it as a base.

Journey to the West
We've been approached by Captain Jeong about a trip to a mysterious island and ha ha, #@!$ no, we're never setting foot in a boat again after what happened last time. Marco Polo's journey into the deserts and horrifying mountains is way more our speed. And in the West, the adventure continues...

Oh, I'm sorry you did not like the knight CYOA. But I really like this Oriental CYOA you got. Hey bear you haven't sold out to the CCP have you? Jk.

Alright let's see what I'll do.

Race: Gumiho shape changing Kitsune for the win, though the cat people are also a second option being able to possess animals is useful, then humans would be a third choice. Do gumiho gain a tail every 100 years like Kitsune? Does that mean they live over 900 years?

Brawn 5
Alarcity 5
Personality 8
Sagacity 7
Nobility why not be the 1%? Though Merchant ain't bad. Though in Confucian society merchants were looked down upon.

Skills: Soldiering, etiqute, and first aid.
Extra skill gambling lol I guess I may as well be tricky like the tales of kitsune.

My class will be Miko because who doesen't want to be a paladin who can smite evil yet still heal and do magic.
Though Samurai, and Ninja are interesting and so is mudang the regular mage.

Miko skills: Purification to bring damage to evil spirits, hands of healing to well heal, suppression to protect against evil spirits, and the eye of Amaterasu for the nuclear option Deus Vult!

Armor mage robes I guess, I would have wanted to wear a kimono or shrine maiden outfit I guess.

Weapons: Bow, and endless pouch for infinite arrows, and a magic focus. I'd like to get a pole arm also but not enough.


Magic items: Sentinel stakes, sweetscent, bandage satchell, book of knowledge, and infinite soap.

Boon ancestor spirit
Bane Kunoichi assassin


Companions: Roi Ha he will try to unsuccesfully flirt with every woman? Are you sure about that?
Seol Yung, the benefit is that her brother won't hit on her, I won't make any jokes.
Xuanzang. I can deal with preaching against alchol, but we need a heavy tank and the monk is it. I can to DPS and healing as a glass cannon paladin, Roi Ha also does damage as a fire bender, his sister a bard with a variety of stuff.

As for the quests it looks like we can do all of them, though the cursed onsen will be my specialty as a Miko exorcising evil spirits is like my job. The only job I don't want to do is enslaving the native one, and maybe the snow people quest unless it's at the end of my journey. But yeah monster girls are probably like 90% not a threat since it says you are able to get one to join you as a party member/extra wife. But yeah quests in order Paeku pilgramage, Ninja vs Samurai join team ninja probably, get the crown of the yellow emperor for the current emporor, Wokou wipe out, Cursed onsen, Oni Daimyo wife, Emperor's new court, Captured Phoenix, Help new Shogun, Monstergirl Island, Journey to the west, after I come back from western adventure then do the winter folk for that immortality.

 

[King Arts]

Anyway I have two more CYOA's the first one is not serious like my Knight one, but it has a soft spot in my heart because it was my first CYOA.

 

[King Arts]

The second is a serious knight CYOA.

 

[PsihoKekec]

The first one:

The only escape is through victory, be it destruction or capture of the murder ship. I bring to table my historical knowledge of tactics, middling managerial skills, unverified combat skills, Chuck Jones levels of creative sadism and rampant xenophobia.

I pick Slavislav Slavislavović to murder the xenos from distance, Toshiba to murder Xenos up close and that faggot Sven, so we can cheat as much as we can.

The goal is shipwide xenocide, the xenos shall know fear and they shall know death, but they shall not know mercy for we shall show them none.


Second one:

The order known as the Shields of Faith started as a warrior fraternity, in response to Avar incursions into territories of modern day Austria, Croatia and Slovenia. After defeat of Ljudevit Posavski, the reminder of of fraternity took up the Shields of Faith name and tasked themselves with protecting the missionaries converting the Slavs, but in reality they sought to undermine this mission and keep the old faith alive instead. Through the centuries the order kept the embers of the old religion alive, be it through subterfuge or cold steel, it's members also partaking in usual clashes amongst nobility, but the order gradually waned.

That is until the Turkish incursion began in early 15th century. With nobility and the Church leaving the commoners to the nonexistent mercy of the raiders, the order ranks swelled again, due their commitment to help the commoners defend themselves. However as the official attempts to organise defence gained steam the need for the order diminished and so did order, which became more or less fraternal club for officers and within the few decades of Battle of Sisak, there no mentions of the order anymore.

That is according to official history of course, but then, official historians never knew about the old faith, did they?

The Shield of Faith
Established in the Early Middle Ages
Fraternal order
Their purpose was Kingdom Defense (religion as well)
Structure - High Council (order elders)
Number of members - many (low hundreds at its peak)
Vovs were martial in the beginning but soon the emphasis was on Secrecy and Paganism
Officially the order went extinct, but unofficially it is still around.

 

[VicSage]

I decided to try out the Battletech CYOA.


House Nian of the Punjabi Theocracy (* Denotes an Artificial Roll)

Located above the FWL and LC
Member State of the League
More than 200 LY long from one end to the other
*500 Inhabited systems

Caches of Bioweapons and Chemical weapons are scattered throughout.
There are damaged recharge stations throughout the realm.

Government: Monarch partly limited by need to keep military command in check.

All neighbors are hostile, 2 other realms hostile
-DCombine, Marian Hegemony

*1 Mech Regiment per every 4 worlds (120 Mech Regiments)
9 Mercenary regiments, half on long term contracts.
*3 Armored Regiment per Mech, 387 Total
4 Infantry Regiments per Mech, 516 Total
Strong Foreign Intelligence, weak Domestic.

8 Battlemech Designs
-2 Heavy (Marauder, Jagermech (Missiles and LL)
-2 Medium (Griffin, Shadow Hawk)
-4 Light (Locust, Vulcan, Assassin, Commando)

1 Aerospace Design, Assault Weight, Stuka.

8 Combat Vehicle Designs
-1 Assault
-1 Heavy
-5 Medium
-1 Light

2 Dropship Classes
-Titan (it can still be built, tech wise)
-Mule.

Hindi based culture
Heavily fortified factory worlds, but major secessionist movement.

Nominally a theocracy, it is actually a monarchy with well defined rolls on how military forces can be used within the realm, in order to prevent the already present authoritarianism from becoming a full fledged dictatorship. The downside to all of this is that it has left plenty of room for secessionists to spring up throughout the realm, those who do not align with the nominal Sikh religion or those who were once members of other states make up most of these movements, predominantly those of the former Rim Worlds Republic. This has led to significant garrison forces at every world, but this does them little good to be so well armed when expeditionary or assault forces are so hindered by internal laws.

The chemical and bioweapons caches scattered throughout the realm are a constant concern for the intelligence services of the realm. Due to the sheer number and size of secessionist movements present, the fear that one would show up in a major metropolis by one that has gone too far in its ideology has kept many a Wazir awake at night.

 

[Bear Ribs]

Found another BT one, this one to build a mercenary command that's not quite so Monty-Haul as Space Heir is.

https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1601272396315.pdf

 

[PsihoKekec]

''We were never sure whether he was making friends or enemies.''

 

[Blasterbot]

rolling
3 fed sun origin
6 lostech prospector
7 average size
3 mech only
2 minimum support staff 1 med team 1 administrator
5 lyran allies
10 other enemies prolly some other merc band
10 got an extra mule drop ship
9 previous contract we had a misjump
current warchest 2,250,000 c-bills
XO SLDF mech 793 Pillager PLG-3Z 3/4
1st lance is a 10 so 2 heavies and 2 assaults from IS general tables
1 100,000 in spare parts
mech 1 H 550 Crusader CRD-3R
mech 2 H 818 Grasshopper GHR-5H
mech 3 A 581 Stalker STK-3F
mech 4 A 419 Goliath Gol-1H
Exp 4 regular 4/5
2 1 regular tech
2nd lance 4 1 light 3 mediums IS general tables
7 300,000 in spare parts
mech 1 L 502 Wasp WSP-1A
mech 2 M 857 Trebuchet TBT-5N
mech 3 M 084 Stiener Salvage 812 Griffin GRF-1S
mech 4 M Phoenix Hawk PHX-1
Exp 10 elite 2/3
9 3 regular techs 1 veteran tech
3rd lance 1 3 light 1 medium Fed Sun tables
8 500,000 in spare parts
mech 1 L 563 Urban mech UM-R60
mech 2 L 431 Locust LCT-1V
mech 3 L 419 Locust LCT-1V
mech 4 M 117 Shadow Hawk SHD-2d
exp 2 green with vet VO 5/6 3/4
2 1 regular tech
2 quirks
5 tech quirk
6 In the corner of the cargo bay is a busted-up light vehicle of indeterminate origin, Bonaparte, that the techs will riot over if anyone messes with it
10 weird quirk
9 Somebody's running a still, but a good one. As long as nobody investigates, a case of high-quality liquor shows up on each officer's bunk each month.

for the tables rolled used Faction Assignment & Rarity Tables will think of a bit of a back story for these guys each pilot needs a backstory and they clearly got badly mauled recently considering the 3rd lance is mostly garbage cheap mechs and green as hell, and the spare parts for the heavy and assault mechs is low. on the plus side the snagged and extra drop ship and that pillager needs to be protected since replacement parts do not exist but a 4-4-2-3 force distribution is crazy good. there is also the hilarity that is a 2/3 wasp pilot. like what the hell.

on dropship the rule is cheapest option that can haul your forces plus I got a mule. I have to get something bigger than a union but unfortunately it seems most things either go for 36 mechs or are a meant for combined arms transport so despite being larger have less mech space to make room for a larger force of tanks and infantry. I think we go with a modified Triumph to allow for deploying 4 lances or so. otherwise I need to take a dictator and have it like 2/3rds empty.

the urban mech just doesn't fit so I think that for what ever reason they ended up buying whatever 3 mechs they could get their hands on for this next mission. it is a priority to replace or stick with some trooper mediums in the near future depending on how the cards go for this group.

probably keep him on body guard duty for the pillager and send the grasshopper with the medium lance while we shift either the wasp or the phoenix hawk to the light lance. not ideal but about what I can hope for as far as making the best of a bad situation.