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[Maximum Spin]

I'm not seeing why you think the choice biome matters to being a nomad. I see no obvious reason to think that the distribution of resources on tiles is any different.

[A_Curious_Cat]

You're already exploiting everything on the tile you're on. That'll carry over if you settle that tile while living there.

This means that a transition now is easier than it ever will be in the future.

How so?  Why (specifically) would settling down later be more difficult?

[Quarque]

I'm not seeing why you think the choice biome matters to being a nomad. I see no obvious reason to think that the distribution of resources on tiles is any different.

Basic commodities like a variety of plants, animals to hunt and trees are everywhere above ground. That was true even in the last game, which took place in a savannah. We typically had a list of various food sources and often some wood on every tile. In the caves we had a single source of food on both tiles so far and no wood at all.

Which is not a complaint about the game, it makes perfect sense.

How so?  Why (specifically) would settling down later be more difficult?

Right now it is obvious that the resources in our current tile are more than sufficient for our needs after the transition.
But once our society grows and consumes more, that may not be clear at all, because the one disadvantage of settling down is increased consumption.

Looking at it from the other side: what is the advantage of remaining Nomads? It slows down progress, complicates resource management and introduces a risk of losing resources permanently.

[Maximum Spin]

Basic commodities like a variety of plants, animals to hunt and trees are everywhere above ground. That was true even in the last game, which took place in a savannah. We typically had a list of various food sources and often some wood on every tile. In the caves we had a single source of food on both tiles so far and no wood at all.

Which is not a complaint about the game, it makes perfect sense.

Okay, but we can see what the starting resources for all the other biomes would have been, and, in the absence of any possible proof of what would have been, it looks to me like this is more of a balance change. I mean, sure, we don't have wood, we have more stone and textiles instead (we could even have had other things like whalebone, depending), but all the resource lists are roughly comparable. So, to be sure, the resources are going to be different, but it's not at all obvious to me, just based on THIS game, that the abundances are any different. Although we should definitely learn to start digging as soon as possible.

In fact, my intuition would be that, in general, in caves, where resource availability is likely to be limited in any particular spot and useful resources (like ore veins, for example) may be widely spread, being a nomad would be more useful. Just to take the current state as an example, if one tile has textiles and a different tile has clay, you'd want to move between the two, making enough of what you can make at each place to last for the time you will be away.

[NUKE9.13]

I'd say that I can see where Quarque is coming from, but that to immediately settle down seems too hasty. Next turn would be the earliest I would contemplate doing so.

I think our priority should be to expand our reach, and I think Rockbreakers or something like it would help with that. Since MoP hasn't indicated it is invalid, I'm going to vote for it.
(Perhaps include wording about it being used to make existing passages easier to traverse, by getting rid of obstacles, widening gaps, and carving hand/foot-holds in steep sections)

Fireside Community: (1) A_Curious_Cat
Settle Down: (1) Quarque
Improved Cave Homes: (1) Powder Miner
Rockbreakers: (1) NUKE9.13

[Crystalizedmire]

Fireside Community: (1) A_Curious_Cat
Settle Down: (1) Quarque
Improved Cave Homes: (2) Powder Miner, Crystalizedmire
Rockbreakers: (1) NUKE9.13,

Right now I think improved Cave homes is a better idea than my bandages idea.

[Quarque]

Prioritizing range first is very reasonable. If you modify the Rockbreaker proposal a little to emphasize easier passage I will vote for it.

[A_Curious_Cat]

Prioritizing range first is very reasonable. If you modify the Rockbreaker proposal a little to emphasize easier passage I will vote for it.

I’ll probably do the same.  Otherwise, I’ll probably vote for Improved Cave Homes.


Unvoting

Fireside Community: (0)
Settle Down: (1) Quarque
Improved Cave Homes: (2) Powder Miner, Crystalizedmire
Rockbreakers: (1) NUKE9.13,

[Maximum Spin]

I can't say that I really understand why that would make or break your willingness to vote for it. It's already clearly about "go[ing] where [we] choose and not just follow[ing] the routes nature carved". It seems to me that any further detail is unnecessary.

That said, would you accept something like...
Rockbreakers
You learn a lot about rocks, living in the caverns. Each type of rock has its own individual color, texture, even taste. One thing you might notice, if you pay attention, is that some rocks are harder than others. Take one of those harder rocks, give it a bit of a point, and hammer it against a softer one, and the softer rock breaks. Do that for long enough against the places where the cave walls themselves are softer, and you get a hole. Thus, a new skilled trade is born. Though their work can be dangerous and is certainly exhausting, the Rockbreakers, considered by some the new specialized elite of our society, are the first of our kind since we delved into the dark to be able to go where they choose and not just follow the routes nature has carved — provided the mineral veins cooperate. With hard stones in hand, they set to work throughout our tunnels, not only opening wholly new paths, but also smoothing the way, carving ramps into stairs, widening tight spots, and generally doing what they can to make travel easier for the rest of us.

[Quarque]

Fireside Community: (0)
Settle Down: (0)
Improved Cave Homes: (2) Powder Miner, Crystalizedmire
Rockbreakers: (2) NUKE9.13, Quarque

[Maximum Spin]

Fireside Community: (0)
Settle Down: (0)
Improved Cave Homes: (2) Powder Miner, Crystalizedmire
Rockbreakers: (3) NUKE9.13, Quarque, Maximum Spin

Of course.

[A_Curious_Cat]

Looks good to me.

Fireside Community: (0)
Settle Down: (0)
Improved Cave Homes: (2) Powder Miner, Crystalizedmire
Rockbreakers: (4) NUKE9.13, Quarque, Maximum Spin, A_Curious_Cat

[chubby2man]

Fireside Community: (0)
Settle Down: (0)
Improved Cave Homes: (2) Powder Miner, Crystalizedmire
Rockbreakers: (5) NUKE9.13, Quarque, Maximum Spin, A_Curious_Cat, C2M

[Man of Paper]

Expansion I: Rock And Stone (Roll: 9)

The tribe's descent into the underground had held them at the absolute mercy of geological events that had unfolded well before the first human came about. One of the Founding Families sought to change that (Maximum Spin +1I). Being surrounded by stone afforded the tribe ample opportunity to examine, manipulate, and identify differences in the materials making up the caves for everyone. Even if they didn't want to study the stones as intensely as some of the more passionate individuals, it was impossible for anyone to outright avoid learning something useful. Members of the tribe were encouraged to focus on specific aspects of "stonebreaking", resulting in highly specialized individuals spread out among a variety of crafts. Some took to carving paths through the stone, forcing softer materials to bend to their whims, while others saw the beauty of delicate work, slowly chipping away at and smoothing out the surfaced their tribe would be forced to interact with on a regular basis. Commonly used and known safe routes quickly became easily identifiable by the smooth floors and walls and stepped slopes. The markings used previously didn't get entirely discarded, with the system expanded to identify what kind of area the path led to (foraging, burial, etc.) and then a repeating pattern of the appropriate shape carved into the walls at about waist level. Excess stone removed from excavations is dumped down caverns and crevasses to prevent buildup or obstruction of the tribe's tunnels.

Improving the available natural "infrastructure" has immense benefit for everyone stuck in the dark underearth, granting any member of the tribe the ability to travel with relative ease and a certainty in their location and destination that was entirely absent before. It has also provided the tribe with greater access to stone-based resources, increasing the threshold before a Technology goes from requiring access to requiring upkeep. Additionally, your people have discovered a new type of "stone" in their home territory: Native Silver, which they largely ignore as it is too soft to be useful.

RESOURCE IDENTIFIED
16-M
Native Silver Vein (Stone?)


NEW DISCOVERIES
Stonebreakers: Your tribe is intimately familiar with various properties of stone, and have a chance to identify an additional stone (or "stone") based resource when exploring or settling a new area. The digging out, smoothing, and marking of tunnels for regular usage also makes all forms of travel easier. Scouts also benefit from the ability to dig around/through obstacles. Exploration Range +1. Exploitation Range extends +1 beyond borders. Only applicable to underground actions.


Your people have spent a good few years barely subsisting within the cave network, and the first fully-caveborn individuals are starting to mature. While, biologically speaking, there have been no changes to their bodies to facilitate an improved life in the darkness underground, they still find themselves better able to navigate the only environment they've ever known.


TECHNOLOGY MODIFIED
Cave Adaptation->Advanced Cave Adaptation

Advanced Cave Adaptation: A slowly growing percentage of the population has never seen the surface - or the sky. The tribe has greatly heightened senses, although sensitive eyes make the surface less than desirable during the day, and the lack of a ceiling overhead might be extremely unsettling at any time of day.


It is now the Exploitation Phase. Remember that you can choose a resource to begin exploiting in a neighboring area, or propose a development that would facilitate or build upon your ability to gather, identify, or otherwise interact with the resources of the world around you.

Spoiler: Technology And Knowledge (click to show/hide)

Advanced Cave Adaptation: A slowly growing percentage of the population has never seen the surface - or the sky. The tribe has greatly heightened senses, although sensitive eyes make the surface less than desirable during the day, and the lack of a ceiling overhead might be extremely unsettling at any time of day.
Subterranean Migrations: Your people can find underground routes through any Land tile.

Stone Tools: Provides basic tools for basic tasks. Requires access to Stone.
Stonebreakers: Your tribe is intimately familiar with various properties of stone, and have a chance to identify an additional stone (or "stone") based resource when exploring or settling a new area. The digging out, smoothing, and marking of tunnels for regular usage also makes all forms of travel easier. Scouts also benefit from the ability to dig around/through obstacles. Exploration Range +1. Exploitation Range extends +1 beyond borders. Only applicable to underground actions.

Early Firemaking: A base tech vital for survival.

Primitive Ropemaking: Provides ropes useful for a wide variety of tasks. Requires access to Textiles.

Cave Homes: The most basic form of housing - caves carved out by nature ages ago.

Spoiler: Available Resources (click to show/hide)

Key: Resource: Available/Total
Food: 2/2
Stone: 3/3
Textile: 1/1
Mourning Dew: 3/3

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Known And Explored Regions (click to show/hide)

15-L: Rocky Wasteland, Mountain Range, Hilly Grassland
15-M: Rocky Wasteland, Mountain Range
15-N: Rocky Wasteland, Mountain Range, Hilly Grassland
16-L: Rocky Wasteland, Mountain Range
16-M: TRIBAL CAVERN, Rocky Wasteland (Explored)
16-N: Rocky Wasteland, Mountain Range
17-L: Rocky Wasteland, Mountain Range
17-M: Rocky Wasteland, Mountain Range, Underground Lake (Explored)
17-N: Rocky Wasteland, Mountain Range, Hilly Grassland

Spoiler: Resources By Region (click to show/hide)

Key: Identified, Identified but Inaccessible or Useless, Exploited
16-M: Food x2 (Hairy Lichen Walls, Cave Crayfish), Stone x3 (Granite Stalactites, Granite Stalagmites, Native Silver Vein), Textile x1 (Hairy Lichen Walls), Mourning Dew x3 (The Depths)
17-M: Food x2 (Hearty Anasazi Bean Poles), Clay x1 (Clay Soil Deposits), Mourning Dew x5 (The Whispering Lake), ?? (Mud-caked Wasp Nests), ?? (Gray Bat Swarm)

Spoiler: Families (click to show/hide)

Maximum Spin - 2I/0P
NUKE9.14 - 1I/0P
m1895 - -/-
Powder Miner - 0I/0P
The Canadian kitten - 0I/0P
Quarque - 0I/0P
A_Curious_Cat - 0I/0P
chubby2man - 0I/0P
Crystalizedmire - 0I/0P

TURNTURNTURN

[Quarque]

ok I will propose the obvious: exploit the Hearty Anasazi Bean Poles from 17-M for a more varied diet.