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[Man of Paper]

Welcome to House Flavius!

Core Thread

For generations we've used golden coin and silver tongue to climb our way up the social and political ladders of Rome. With an explosion of popularity in blood sports we thought it only smart to get in on business early. Unfortunately those Magnus apes have also decided to try their hand at the Gladiatorial arts. While they should by no means pose a threat right now, we should see about snuffing them out regardless.

We have a small yard for training as well as some very basic quarters in the Ludus, and now we need to get ourselves a Gladiator! The easiest way to go about getting one is at the Forum, where slave traders can be found in abundance. It takes some time to find quality stock, but eventually you come across the following options:

Germanic Tribesman
Traits: Germanic, Farmer
-Vitality: 6
-Agility: 5
-Technique: 2 (+1 if Technique ())
-Style: 1
Equipment: Rags

Roman Fugitive
Traits: Roman, Merciless
-Vitality: 2
-Agility: 6
-Technique: 3 (+1 if Technique ())
-Style: 4
Equipment: Rags

Carthaginian Spy
Traits: Carthaginian, Paranoid, Quick
-Vitality: 3
-Agility: 3
-Technique: 5 (+1 if Technique ())
-Style: 6
Equipment: Rags

Once you choose who to take with you (and remember to name them all too!) you can also decide to book them for a fight for later this month. We will have time to take them to the Ludus and provide training, so there's no need to worry about immediately losing our investment. The only possibilities we know of are as follows:

Back Alley Pit
1. Gladiator v.s. Unbooked
2. Unbooked v.s. Unbooked

Gambling Den Requires Token to Enter
1. Gladiator v.s. Unbooked - Reward: 1 Fortune Token
2. Gladiator v.s. Unbooked - Reward: 2 Fortune Tokens, 1 Fame Token

Forum Arena
1. Gladiator (V4/A4/T4/S2) v.s. Unbooked - Standard 1v1
2. Gladiator (V9/A6/T9/S1) v.s. Unbooked and Unbooked - 1v2


Once you decide on which Gladiators to choose, as well as what to sign them up for, we can move on to the Action Phase, where you can bombard me with questions until we figure out the limits of this game together! Also do note this is the only turn where you will purchase a gladiator (or Gladiators) in the Planning Phase.

Spoiler: Properties (click to show/hide)

Basic Familial Household: Has all the basic needs required to support a large family, even if some of that "family" are Gladiators. Provides 3 Food.
Basic Ludus: A courtyard and Gladiator housing that many might consider worse than prison. Has a Standard Trainer (provides No Bonus) and a single Wooden Training Post (provides No Bonus).

Spoiler: Equipment (click to show/hide)

Armor
Rags: Do Nothing.

Spoiler: Traits (click to show/hide)

Flavian Training: +1S/-1A, can exceed 6.

Spoiler: Resources (click to show/hide)

Food: 3 (0/3 Used)

Tokens:
Fortune x2
Favor x2
Fame x1

[Powder Miner]

My plan:

Purchase the Carthaginian Spy via our Fortune token, name him "Fabulosa", which is an alias because the man is mysterious, unknowable, and because I cannot be fucked to try and detailedly hunt down the meanings of Punic names
Purchase the Roman Refugee via our first Favor token, name him Ferreus Secundius Alternis

Then: Enroll the Carthaginian Spy in Fight 1 of the Forum Arena
Enroll the Roman Refugee via our Fame Token into the first fight of the Gambling Den

I will then want to purchase equipment for the spy via our remaining fortune and favor tokens

[NUKE9.13]

Alright, I can get behind that plan, mostly. I'd prefer to give the roman a weapon rather than send him to fight bare-handed, but we can discuss that in the next phase.

[Powder Miner]

on reflection that'd be a much better thing to do, yes lol
we can always buy the second piece of equipment i want for the spy (stylish clothing) later

[Failbird105]

Hmm, yes I feel like this is a good plan.

Fabulousness (1): Failbird

[NUKE9.13]

Fabulousness (2): Failbird, NUKE9.13

[KitRougard]

I like the spy, but I feel like we should snag the Tribesman too - That Farmer trait could help us support more men down the line, and I'm sure that we can whip up some kind of Training to improve that Style. His fortitude is not to be overlooked...

GM? Is it possible to put a "hold" on a slave, like "I'll be back and looking for this one, try not to sell him."

[NUKE9.13]

The tribesman has the worst stats of the three, and we can't really afford to buy them all. As for the utility of the Farmer trait, yeah, it may serve as some sort of food output-boosting thing, but we can probably rope in a latifunda or two to provide more food fairly easily, should we need it. Also, farmers ought to be pretty common, so we can probably pick one up later if we want.

As regards putting a slave on hold, it's worth asking, I suppose. The German's stats aren't bad- in fact, they're perfectly average-, so we may want to buy him next turn.

[KitRougard]

Fabulousness (3): Failbird, NUKE9.13, KitRougard

And if possible, put a reservation on the Germanic Tribesman.

[Rockeater]

Fabulousness (4): Failbird, NUKE9.13, KitRougard, Rockeater

I would like to suggest trying to establish trade with people from the south/east of the empire, giving us the most exotic people and equipment.

[Man of Paper]

Planning I

The Slave Trader was barking loudly over the rumbling crowd as he was approached by the Flavian representative.

"Strong backs, strong hands! Great for mining, farming, fuc-" the Slave Trader stopped when he noticed he had an actual potential customer, "What can I do for you?"

The representative eventually wound up negotiating a fair price for the Carthaginian, went back to the Flavian waiting in the crowd, and came back with a pouch of gold and some words.

"My master, a most successful businessman," he showed the Slave Trader the mark of House Flavian burned into his flesh, "Has a proposal: these men are to be used in some upcoming Games. The business of flesh and blood can be very profitable, and those who aid the family in their endeavors, loyal partners of business, will always see their own investment returned with interest. We will pay that gold," he pointed to the purse now in the trader's palm - the only one he had, "And sing your praises to all we meet, of your highest quality slaves, your low, low prices, while we prove their worth in the arena. Surely you will need guards to keep the hordes of buyers at bay! And all we ask is for those two slaves there."

The Trader thought for a moment, scrunched his face, and exhaled slowly.

"I am a businessman, not a fool. And I know a good opportunity when I see one. We have a deal. Name is Auroros."

The potential Gladiators are examined and named Ferreus Secundius Alternis and Fabulosa, and some interesting facts are noted:

Roman - +1 Technique (Gladius) Training. Can exceed 6.
Merciless - 50% chance of killing opponent, more likely to quickly finish off opponent.
Carthaginian - +1 to Technique (Mounted) Training. Can exceed 6.
Paranoid - Loyalty losses are more severe.
Quick - +1 to Agility Training. Cannot exceed 6.

Both are fairly unhappy, though no more so than any other slave.

After examining your new acquisitions it is ultimately decided to sign Ferreus Secundis Alternis up for the first fight of the Gambling Den, using your good name to get entry. Fabulosa is signed up to fight in the first bout in the Forum Arena.


The potential Gladiators are brought back to the Ludus to train. It is now the Action Phase where you will dump tokens into an infinite number of tasks. Notably, you can attempt to "design" equipment to acquire for your Gladiators. This is also the phase you can upgrade or purchase new property in.

You can create as many Family Members as you'd like. Constructing an actual family tree and hierarchy and fleshed out characters might see things just...go your way. Same thing with creating the brand used to mark your property.

IT IS NOW THE ACTION PHASE.

Spoiler: Properties (click to show/hide)

Basic Familial Household: Has all the basic needs required to support a large family, even if some of that "family" are Gladiators. Provides 3 Food.
Basic Ludus: A courtyard and Gladiator housing that many might consider worse than prison. Has a Standard Trainer (provides No Bonus) and a single Wooden Training Post (provides No Bonus).

Spoiler: Gladiators (click to show/hide)

Ferreus Secundius Alternis, Roman Fugitive - V2/A6/T3(+1 if Gladius)/S4; Roman, Merciless
-Body: Rags

Fabulosa, Carthaginian Spy - V3/A3/T5(+1 if Mounted)/S6; Carthaginian, Paranoid, Quick
-Body: Rags

Spoiler: Equipment (click to show/hide)

Armor
Rags: Body "armor". Does Nothing.

Spoiler: Traits (click to show/hide)

Flavian Training: +1S/-1A, can exceed 6.
Roman - +1 Technique (Gladius) Training. Can exceed 6.
Merciless - 50% chance of killing opponent, more likely to quickly finish off opponent.
Carthaginian - +1 to Technique (Mounted) Training. Can exceed 6.
Paranoid - Loyalty losses are more severe.
Quick - +1 to Agility Training. Cannot exceed 6.

Spoiler: Relationships (click to show/hide)

Auroros, Soldier turned Slave Trader (Status: Neutral, Owed Favor)
[spoiler=Resources]Food: 3 (0/3 Used)

Tokens:
Fortune x1
Favor x1

[KitRougard]

Family Members? You mean...
Roleplay Personas?
(A wild Kitsugare appeared!)
"I'll drink to that, my friends!"
Kitsugare: The Party Master to End All Parties.
Generous when sober. Writes you into his will when drunk.

[Detoxicated]

Spears and Nets IS what we need.

[Madman198237]

Cracks knuckles
It's intrigue time.

So I can't help but notice that we accidentally signed a Merciless guy up for an arena in which death is more likely to happen. This is probably good, the crowds at the nastier places probably appreciate a little blood spilled.

The fact that he's good with a Gladius is definitely a good thing for us, it'd be quite easy to equip him to be effective with one as a gladiator. Or as a straight-out murderer as things seem to be headed for our Merciless friend.

Since the Carthaginian is quick we should probably equip him as one of the "fast" types of gladiators, at least to start with. I'm assuming that historical gladiatorial equipment should be very easy to acquire as it's very common, so we should be able to start him as a retiarius (trident-and-net guy) or slinger or archer type quite easily. I'll need to review some gladiator stuff here before really getting into serious suggestions.

[Powder Miner]

The plan I'd had so far was to make the Carthaginian our "elite" gladiator by pumping 3 dice of training and make Secundus (hence his name lmao) a secondary gladiator by giving him 1.

To achieve this goal, and get him silly high style so we can see just what it does, my plan has been to give him Agility, Technique for whatever weapon we give him so he can actually use the damn thing effectively, and Style. I kind of figured maybe we should give him a defensive weapon-set, so retiarus would work on that front, but for a bit more of a flair archer could work too.

For Secundus, I figured we'd give him Vitality so he holds up a bit better, his Vit isn't presently fantastic at all.

So this turn, for our shit to actually purchase, from your choices that would make gladius and either trident, net, or bow and arrow depending on how we go for Fabulosa.