Bad Company General Report Sixteen

Right lads, listen up - important stuff this time round. We have a very large problem - us! Heh, heh. The number of Brothers just exploded to at least 20, and shows absolutely no sign of slowing up. These aren't Prospects, they are Brothers! There are even more Prospects. Contrary to MIAB 14, there is no limit to how many Brothers we can have in Bad Company.

Which means that I can no longer keep in regular contact with you all. This will be the real test for Bad Company. We are now forced to put Units into operation. It is up to the Troop/Section concerned to decide whether or not they want to use Support. Note that Units have been revised as a result of us exceeding the assumed limit of 15 Brothers. See later for details. All Units have been disbanded as from now. The reason for this is that so many promotions have been/will be made, it's simply destroyed Units. When all promotions have been made I'll reallocate Brothers to Units over the next few weeks. If you have any preferences about who you want with you, let me know as soon as possible.

It would be easy for us to let things deteriorate. Don't let it happen. If you are a Unit Commander, make sure all Brothers in your Unit are active and participating. That is your responsibility - don't expect anyone else to do it for you. The buck stops with you. Of course, you can only do your best. If a Brother consistently refuses to participate in Unit Missions, or other activities like Rebuilding - let me know. I can't organize 20+ Brothers by myself! All UCs are responsible for their Unit's success. Essentially, all UCs will need to do what I've been doing, but on a much smaller scale. Each UC will only have 2 Brothers to organize (a Warrior has none - easy life!), but will have to take into account what his UC wants to do. If all Brothers/Units put 100% effort into large Missions like Rebuilding, etc, and get these finished as soon as possible, then you'll have a lot of free time. Rebuilding a Temple, for example should take no longer than 2 turns.

Here's a list of who's what (note that some promotions have been made - see later). For all you new Brothers, this will give you an idea of where to go and who to ask for what you want.

General T Groan, The Soothsayer: I deal with information. Any information. This ranges from the sightings of Aliens to the latest Blurbs.

Captain Smegly, The Scribe & Senator: Our legal Brother. He writes Contracts up after they've been decided. The Scribe should be able to tell you our current policy (if we have one) on a particular Alien Group. He also does The Log, and entries for Deeds, etc, should be sent to him, not me. Send him the dates you got your Stars if you haven't already.

Sergeant Howling Mad Gav II, The Champion: In the event that only a single Brother is called on to defend our honour, it's The Champion.

Sergeant Ugolino, The Keeper: He keeps a list of what Brothers have got. If you can't get something you want, write to him and see who's got it!

Sergeant Flax, HMC I: I haven't heard from him in a while, so until he gets in touch I'll organize The Temple's Rebuilding (see later).

Sergeant Midg, Senator: Senators think and talk about our future, then advise me. If you have any ideas about what we should do, talk to your Troop/Section Commander (see later) to organize it. Other ideas should be run through The Senate. Don't send ideas directly to me unless they're blatant genius - they'll still have to go through The Senate.

Sergeant Baddu-Bac, The Speaker & Senator: This Brother deals with Alien Groups. All negotiations, etc, take place through The Speaker. He is our interface with the rest of The Island.

A BCB13 should be included with this update.

Troops, Sections and Ranks have been revised. It became clear that we were eventually going to wind up with rather a lot of Captains. So the Rank of Colonel has been introduced.

The way Bad Company now works is this: A Unit of 2 Warriors and their Sergeant is a Squad, which the Sergeant leads. A Unit of 2 Sergeants and their Captain is a Section, which the Captain leads. A Unit of 2 Captains and their Colonel is a Platoon, which the Colonel leads. A Unit of 2 (or more) Colonels with their General is a Company, which the General leads. Which ties in rather nicely with us being called Bad Company.

We need 2 more Sergeants. From the 7 Sergeants we'll need 2 Captains. From the 3 Captains we'll need 1 Colonel. The method behind promotion will also work slightly differently this time. Instead of allocating Ranks, I'll state which promotions are available. Then it's up to you to go for them. Occasionally we get a situation where a Brother (say a Sergeant) is happy where he is, and with his Warriors, and thus doesn't want to be promoted. If all positions for Sergeant are full, then this creates a blockage. In the event that this happens, a Warrior can leapfrog to Captain. Remember this! If you put yourself forward for Sergeant, you may be required to become a Captain. And if you don't (or hesitate to) put yourself forward, you may be overtaken by another Brother!

Don't go for a promotion unless you're prepared to put a fair bit of effort into organizing your Unit. Organizing doesn't mean ordering! Organizing means finding out what your Brothers want to do, and taking this into account when you design your Missions. You will be required to discuss it with them. Of course, the final decision is the Unit Commanders. Cooperation is the key to this. You can't expect other Brothers to compromise if you don't.

The following is a guide to what should happen in the next 10 turns.

The Ceremony Of Strength should have been succesfully performed by the time you read this. We are Official! There are a few new rules to bear in mind now. Don't take stuff out of a Cache unless you've been told you can. I'll put out a list of Caches that exist in the next BCGn. A typical example is the Cache that will exist next to each Temple. This is for Ghosts only - don't take the stuff. When a dead Brother gets to a Temple, he isn't going to want to hang around getting equipment - it should all be there for him. Good idea Sergeant Midg! Don't Initiate a Monster unless he can produce a letter from myself or a Colonel proving that he is a Brother. When you Initiate a Brother you must return as many of his possessions as you are able - no one likes being ripped off. Drop the stuff in a Cache on an order following the Initiate order, so he can pick the stuff up straight away.

The next thing on the agenda is The Temple. Most Brothers (myself included) have better things to do than stand around Rebuilding Temple Ruins. We'll want this done as fast as possible. We can easily do the whole thing in 2 turns flat. Immediately after The Ceremony Of Strength has been held (17th May), put 100 APs a turn into The Temple. Follow this at the end of a turn with a W order in case you've tried to Rebuild a Temple that already exists. This should take 200 APs each from the 11 Brothers here. The first Brother to get the Sanctify Order should send it off immediately, and write to me. I know most Brothers Cycles, so I can get a Brother with an earlier Cycle than yours to Sanctify it. If this fails then you've Sanctified it which wraps it up. Don't leave until you know it's been Sanctified.

The succeeding 8 turns will be free. You can do whatever you have to during this time. Some Brothers will be ready to Sacrifice Creatures in order to become Disciples. Some will want to get Creatures Killed and Monsters Battled up to scratch. Or get themselves decent Armour, a Mount, or whatever. After this 8 turns, another Structure will go up. Ad infinitum. We'll be working along the lines of 2 turns Rebuilding followed by 8 turns rest (10-turn cycles). A Fort might be next, although I'd advise having at least 3 Temples first. Towers are out of the question until I've managed to figure out where to get the knowledge to Rebuild the last 500 Aps.

During the first 8 turns rest we'll sort the Units out, and the best way to Initiate Brothers who are not here. Some will want to travel here to use The Temples and the Fort. Others won't. It will be up to the Brother concerned and his Unit Commander to get him Initiated. I for one will be able to give you a very good idea of where I'll be, when. You'll be able to intercept me. Sergeant Ugolino is another likely candidate to rendevouz with you. But if you are a new Brother who has not yet been Initiated - the onus is on you to get here (near The Dark Eagle's Nest). I'll be able to tell you the way.

This brings me onto another point. We are so large now that it is impossible for me to keep track of who's doing what, where. The expense (and time) involved in printing individual letters is tremendous. This is why Units are so important. It keeps us organized, when a similar group of our size would simply not be able to coordinate itself. I'll try to get information and Reports out to you all as fast as I can, but you'll have to rely primarily on your Unit Commander for knowledge about what is going on. Use your UC - that's what he's there for.

In another few months it is highly likely that we will have around 30 Brothers. This is 2 Platoons. Colonels will be in charge of Rebuilding. But since there will be 2 Platoons, when a Platoon finishes its Temple (or Fort (or Tower?)) it will be able to visit the other Platoon's Temple during its rest, in effect doubling the chance at Spells for the amount of effort you put in. We'll then be in a situation where we have 2 Temples going up every 10 turns. The bigger we get, the more we can achieve - as long as we all cooperate/participate!

And things are looking good! I think all invited Brothers attended The Ceremony Of Strength (can't be sure though).

If we can keep this up The Temple will exist in 2 turns! Our efficiency will pay off! You think about how you're going to complete Fuvah's Quest For Greatness in order to become a Priest. This means killing lots of Aliens, and Rebuilding lots of Temples. With our resources we won't find the Rebuilding a problem. And with between 20 and 30+ Brothers (some Disciples) involved in future Slugfests, the result will be a foregone conclusion.

Another thing. Think of a name for your Unit. When you write to me, state your Rank, Post and Unit's name. This makes it much easier to remember what's going on. The Unit Commander gets the final say in what name his Unit uses, but you should give him your ideas. Use the format "something" "Unit". I've heard some really good names, one of which was The Tomb Raiders (from Warrior Tarrasque). But this is not self-explanatory, and presents the same problem as before. Good names will be something like The Tomb Platoon, The Goon Squad or Bad Company!

Don't worry if you haven't got BCC6. I'll be working with The Senate to bring out BCC7 soon (surprise, surprise, Senators!). Heh, heh.

And before I forget, there is something you all need to know about Deeds. A Deed is a thing which proves you've stuck your neck on the line. They are precisely defined in The Code, but what isn't in The Code is this: Any Health gain during The Deed will be penalized. What happens is your Damage Caused is reduced by Health Gained x Weapon Level. Your Damage Taken is reduced by d, where t is Health Gained. That almost exactly compensates for any Health Gain, so it's neither here or there if you have a quick snack (except in rare cases, I might add!).

What is important is a deliberate Health Gain. The Deed is reduced by one Level (not Order). There are no calculations for this, it's just reduced. Thus a Heroic Deed with a crafty swig of White Lotus Elixir will become a Worthy Deed. Even a J Order counts! An LV, LV, LV, J n, LV, LV, LV, would become 2 attempts, or lose a Level. This still applies on a J 1 Order with no Health Gained...

If you want Health, always get it before or after an attempt. If you've got White Lotus Elixir, maximize your Health and bury the rest in a Cache, attempt The Deed, then recover The Elixir. It can be annoying swigging the stuff (under 50% Health) when you're really getting down. You won't die if you go under 25%, you'll just flee. And even if you do you'll be the first Brother to get The Company Colours!

GROUP MAPPING

To facilitate map swapping amongst a Group, you can now recenter your map on a fellow Group member's map origin. Issue the ORIGIN ON MONSTER order: O (Monster No). No Action Points are used.

To take full advantage of the BCMNns issue the O 1867 order.

I hope I've made it clear that in order to keep Bad Company running as we're used to, we're all going to have to put effort in. Brothers aren't going to like pulling other Brothers behind them! When you're allocated your UC treat him in the same fashion you do me - he's just as essential to the organization of Bad Company. And UCs, keep your Units informed! I'll continue to circulate Reports, but their frequency will be reduced. If you want something urgently then send me an SAE.

Now we've got the crap out ot the way, let's get down! The Big Map is coming on very nicely. It does have shift error(s) in it which means that no copies will be circulated until these are resolved. This should be quite soon. I've lost count of how many Far Inns/Forges we have now, but here are some locations that are near us;

Far Posts: ? (178,-27); Selluks (174,23).

Far Inns: The Black Swan (187,24); The Blazing Arrowhead (179,-20).

Far Forges: The Polished Rod (178,32).

Which should give you enough to go for after we've got The Temple up. Don't forget to get the prerequisites first. Otherwise you'll not get Riding Lessons, Further Stealth Training or Advanced Plant Plucking Tips.

Awww, go on then. I'll count 'em. Just for the record, Far Inns we've located are The Odd Terapus, The Speckled Pheasant, Ribald's Arms, The Spotted Beak, The Illuminated Torch, The Grackle Grouse & Grail, The Broken Shield, The Black Swan, Drokorn's Stead, The Dark Eagle's Nest, The Blazing Arrowhead, The Claw & Tooth, The Cracked Skull, The Spear & Club, The Jolly Ogre, Grimley's Fiendish Spot, The Happy Junglemon, The Twisted Tablar, The Lion's Fill, The Blushing Lady, The Dragon's Tale, Bottom Hill, The Crooked Nose and The Cocked Spyglass.

Far Forges we've located are Korn's Hammer, The Polished Rod, Borstead's, The Dark Anvil and Silver Hook's (I think). Some of the old timers will remember trying to predict where the next Far Inn would be? As we found more and more of them, it became very apparent that while they were all some distance from each other, their exact location was more than a tad random. That is not the case with Far Forges. You can predict where they'll be with a very high degree of accuracy. They exist around 174 to 180 East (my Coordinates - don't forget to O 1867), and each is 50 South of the last.

We have The Polished Rod. There is another Far Forge about 50 South of that - very near The Blazing Arrowhead. I don't know exactly where it is, but it won't take long to find it. It's very close to (177,-17). There is a Brother...Warrior Hafnor I think, who's near The Jolly Ogre at about (188,-80). Warrior Bosworth, hit that Inn to help link the maps rather than the Far Post. Warrior Hafnor's map will cross yours. We will then be able to locate the shift error assuming yours and Cpt Smegly's maps are correct relative to one another. Warrior Hafnor, can you send me the precise location of that Far Forge? I'll get your map back to you as soon as I've solved this shift error.

Anyway, there should be a Far Forge about 10 squares Northwest of The Jolly Ogre. One of these Far Forges is Silver Hook's. There are only 6 Far Forges in the first Rank, and we'll be the first group in the history of The Island to locate 'em all! Ain't we good.

So that's 24 far Inns and 6 Far Forges. Not bad considering. Most of you will have gotten a copy of BCG15 when I had a few new bits of information come my way. I think this put us on something like 400 (just under?) Blurbs. I would have sent you a List with BCG15. We've now got a stonking great 461 Blurbs! That's right, 461...

including the ones we've all been waiting for! Without further ado, here they are:

DISCIPLE OF FUVAH

Fuvah has granted you the ability to learn and Cast Magic Spells. To learn new Spells, Kowtow at a Fuvah Temple for 83 Action Points. Fuvah will give you permanent knowledge of up to nine new Spells. To learn more Spells, travel to another Fuvah Temple and Kowtow again for 83 Action Points. This only works once at each Temple - meaning you have to visit more Temples to learn lots of Spells. You're also to lead the Rebuilding of Temple Ruins. Fuvah will Sanctify Rebuilt Temples that are at least 25 squares from an existing Temple of His.

SACRIFICING TO FUVAH

Fuvah wants you to progress to the Rank of Disciple. He recognizes the problem of getting a Follower of another God to stay in one place long enough to kill him. Therefore, as an alternative to killing a Follower of another God, Fuvah informs you that by Sacrificing three different Creatures inside the Inner Sanctum of a Temple of His, you can participate in the Disciple Rite. A Creature Sacrifice at a Temple is accomplished by bringing the Captured Creature to the square having the Temple and issuing the TEMPLE SACRIFICE order: TS. It takes 8 Action Points.

FUVAH'S QUEST FOR GREATNESS

To be elevated to the glorious Rank of Fuvite Priest, a Fuvah Disciple must first gain Spells from five Fuvah Temples, bestow any seventeen religious Talismans to Fuvah Temple Treasure Rooms, kill four Acolytes of the Major Gods (i.e. Shroud, Kabuki), and eradicate a Disciple of any Demigod. Upon accomplishing this, arrive at a Fuvah Temple Equipped with a Fuvite Weapon and Kowtow for 103 Action Points.

Didn't I tell you we'd have to kill Followers of other Gods, eh? No simple Kowtow at The Temple is sufficient. I've really been doing my homework on Fuvah. Try these:

Item 322: WOODEN FUVAH STATUE

This finely crafted hand-carved Statuette exudes a warm feeling when it's in your hands (if you're a Fuvite). The carver captured Fuvah's likeness in a very glorious and illustrious manner. What a treasure! The Statue is made from a large block of klinwood and is polished or lacquered in some way that its surface is both very hard and somewhat shiny, giving it a slight radiant glow. Such a Statue has one proper place: a Fuvah Temple Treasure Room. In fact, it's very important for a Fuvah Temple to have one of these Statues. You can carry 1.

I believe they come in Silver and even Gold (very valuble) versions. But that ain't the point, this is:

GUARDIAN STATUE OF A TEMPLE

"If a certain Statue is placed in the proper Temple, it becomes a Guardian Statue. This Statue becomes a permanent fixture of the The Treasure Room and keeps an eye on those who enter. The Statue will use its magical powers to attack thieves who attempt to plunder The Treasure Room. The Guardian Statue also has a special telepathic connection to the Guardian Monster of the Temple."

Can't leave you on the edge of your seats so:

TEMPLE GUARDIAN STATUS

"Temple Guardian Status is conferred by a God upon a Follower of his who first places a Guardian Statue in a Temple of His that does not already have one. A Temple may have only one Guardian Monster. The Guardian Monster and his Group Members receive special attention when Kowtowing at The Guardian's Temple. A Guardian has a special order only he can issue at a square having a Temple - the GUARD TEMPLE order: GT. It can be done both during a Turn (20 Action Point cost) and as the very last order of a Turn (0 Action Point cost). The special advantages and abilities gained by doing this are a closely guarded secret. [Special note: A Monster may have only one Special Religious Status.]"

You see why Temples are so important? Make no bones about it. No slacking on this one, eh? This is what we're aiming for:

FUVAH TEMPLE

Fuvites Rebuilt the Temple Ruins that were at this site. Fuvah, the Omniscient, granted Sanctification of the Temple in a powerful Ceremony invoked by these Fuvites. Composed of stone and bamboo, this solid Structure is marked on all sides with the Symbol of Fuvah. Followers of Fuvah will enter the Temple by Kowtowing here. The entrance, a burly-looking door, can only be opened by Fuvites. Acolytes of Fuvah who have brought glory to Fuvah by killing a Follower of another God can perform the Disciple Rite. Be worthy! A Kowtow for 63 Action Points attempts this Rite.

Well said. It doesn't sound like we're neutral either. I did come across something else too:

Item 318: SHADOW SWORD

This dark-colored, well-balanced Fuvite Long Sword is difficult to see, enabling it to hit home with great damage. Normally it is a Damage Class 4 Edged Weapon, but when wielded against Monsters and Creatures who are favored by a God other than Fuvah, its damage is doubled. It can only be Equipped by a Fuvite whose Muscle is at least 110. You can carry 1.

There is a horde of stuff I've learned about recently. I've got the Blurbs for Ghosts, and all the Blurbs for the structures we know of: Sunken Graveyard, Tombs Of Mumundus, Stone Crypts, Tainted Hollows, Loggerhead Camps and Koma Dens. What's even more important is that I've found out how to do some of these things effectively. Some need special techniques. And the far Forge Blurbs, some of which sell - wait for it...Iron Shovels! Just when we were so pleased to find a Tuvian Plant.

I still don't know the exact hits (APs) needed to reach higher Weapon Levels, but I can approximate. It's looking like we're going to have to think about Capturing a Tusker - things are not as simple as they seem. How about Digging a Deep Pit to Capture it? Let me know what happens if you try this. There are other Mounts - some of which might not be indicated by the Blurb.

So if you are/want to be a Unit Commander, I'll allocate Brothers to your Unit as soon as all promotions have been made. After this, promotions won't disrupt Units as we'll be well into the second Platoon. All new Brothers not here, try and get here as soon as possible - we need the Monsterpower. If you have any Fuvian friends - tell 'em about Bad Company - The Fuvian Group. In fact, The Group. If you need Reports, information, advice, or whatever, you'll have to wait unless you send an SAE. Urgent things like locating new Brothers I'll try to deal with immediately. Let's see some Disciples and Iron Crosses, Brothers!

...............General T Groan, The Soothsayer.