Post by Peter Pettigrew on May 17, 2022 20:41:59 GMT 10
![](https://i.imgur.com/bVJYJlt.png)
Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody Barty Crouch Jr Corban Yaxley Dedalus Diggle Fleur Delacour Lily Potter Lucius Malfoy Oliver Wood Regulus Black
Well done to all of you for surviving the last round! But now we move onward, from two separated Sides to just one... or is it actually nine?
That exact uncertainty will be tested today, in a safely simulated Wizarding War. This format has been lifted from Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, a fanfiction novel in which the Hogwarts Defense Professor insists that real life battles are never fought honourably nor one-on-one. Thus the best way to practice combat skills is not in a series of artificially formal Wizarding Duels, but in an actual free-for-all battle between multiple Armies, in which every soldier is perfectly capable of spycraft, disobedience and defection. Sound familiar?
When you join the Member Group 'Chaos Sunshine Dragon' you will gain access to an inventory of specialty spells (each represented by an image) along with an explanation of what each spell does. Some spells will simply cause a certain amount of damage to their target; others will yield bonus effects or function differently depending on how/when they are used.
You may only use each spell image in the inventory once throughout the entire battle, which will run for 20 rounds of spells, but taking 15 minutes at most.
To use a spell, post the spell image in your private Challenge thread along with the name of a player from the Final Nine - whoever you wish to target with that spell. You may only post one spell at a time, so you'll need to cast 20 spells in 20 separate posts. Note that you may never target the same player with two consecutive spells.
If 15 minutes elapse after you join the Member Group, no more of your posts/spells will count - because true War does not always wait for you to get your bearings. Essentially this means that you'll have up to read through the details in the spell inventory, determine a strategy for your spell order and targets, then make your 20 posts with the spell images very speedily.
If at any point you get stuck and are unable to post an unused spell image in time, there is an extremely weak fallback spell which can be used as many times as you wish, using text only: simply post the word 'Mahasu' to cast the Simple Sumerian Stike Hex against your target, removing 5 HP (which for the purpose of this Challenge will stand for 'Hit Points'). Note that we will only count spells if the image is posted correctly and the target is clearly named. So if you accidentally post an image which does not show due to a broken image tag, or forget to include a target, that post will not count as a use of the intended spell.
Once all of you have completed the Challenge and posted your 20 targeted spells, the Ministers will play through the War one post at a time from each player, adjusting everyone's HP after every round of spells. (So everybody's first spell posted will be round 1, everybody's second spell round 2, and so on - your post time stamps will not matter, only the sequence.)
Everyone will begin with 500 HP, and if/when each player reaches 0 HP they will be considered
The player with the most HP remaining after all 20 rounds of spells will win Individual Immunity for both themselves and their Immunity Pairing partner, if they have one. Should no player be left standing after 20 rounds, the last player to be immobilised will be the winner. If multiple players tie for a win we will count back and give the win to the player with more HP after 19 rounds of spell, or 18 if necessary, etc.
For a brief example of these mechanics open the spoiler tags below:
In this example, there are just three spell rounds and three players competing, each beginning with 100 HP.
The inventory contains these spells:
Incendio - Fire Charm. Removes 25 HP from the targeted player.
Petrificus Totalus - Full Body Bind. Removes 10 HP from the targeted player. Also nullifies the targeted player's spell for the following spell round.
Sectumsempra - Dark Magic. Removes 50 HP from the targeted player, but also removes 15 HP from the player casting it.
Sumerian Strike Hex - 'Mahasu'. Removes 5 HP from the targeted player. No image required. Can be reused.
(Your real spell inventory will have images to post for each spell, but for simplicity we're only using text in this example.)
Minerva posts:
Incendio Snape
Sectumsempra Snape
Petrificus Totalus Snape
Dolores posts:
Petrificus Totalus Snape
Mahasu Minerva
Sectumsempra Minerva
Snape posts:
Sectumsempra Dolores
Incendio Minerva
Petrificus Totalus Dolores
When the Battle gets played out minute by minute, the results would be as follows:
After the first minute:
Minerva - 75 HP (hit by one Incendio)
Dolores - 50 HP (hit by one Sectumsempra)
Snape - 50 HP (hit by one Petrificus Totalus, hit by one Incendio, uses Sectumsempra)
After the second minute:
Minerva - 70 HP (hit by one Sumerian Strike Hex)
Dolores - 50 HP (not hit)
Snape - 0 HP (hit by one Sectumsempra; own use of Incendio is nullified due to Petrificus Totalus)
From this point on Snape is immobilised so his future spells have no effect.
After the third minute:
Minerva - 45 HP (hit by one Incendio)
Dolores - 50 HP (not hit)
Snape - 0 HP (still immobilised, Petrificus Totalus against him has no effect)
Meaning that Dolores would win the Battle. Of course, this result could have been different had Minerva's final attack not been wasted on an already immobilised player.
Another point worth noting is that the spells will never have any additional effects beyond those described in the inventory. So even if two players had used the Petrificus Totalus spell against the same target in the same round, the target would still only have their very next spell nullified - there would be no stacking effect.
Feel free to ask questions here, but don't expect us to give away anything that would be revealed in the inventory once the Challenge begins.
Finally, note that this is a Challenge which cannot be scored properly until all players have completed it. We've moved the deadline back slightly... but would still be grateful if you all tried to get this one done as soon as you can rather than waiting for the last moments.
You must complete this Challenge by 8:00pm AEST tomorrow. Earlier than usual.
Do not discuss ANY aspect of the Challenge.
Do not discuss ANY aspect of the Challenge.
Questions? Here.