With the final boss defeated, the story has come to an end.

Now, it’s time to discuss the result of the round. However, please remember that the round result contain spoiler of the ending. So, please don’t read the analysis until you finished reading the boss battle scene. (Below is the link for anyone who need it)

EBG Round 20 Final Boss Battle

You may only proceed once you’re done reading the battle scene.

Anything beyond this point contain spoiler!!

EBG round 20 begin on May 14, and after two months of gaming, we’re finally here.

Since long ago, many have awaited an EBG round with political theme. Though the round isn’t exactly like what we planned months ago, it still turned out to be an amazing experience, and I enjoyed thoroughly every single moments on the whole round.

First, let’s break down the round from the start to the end!

This is the discussion that gave birth to the concept of this round.

At that time, there’s many discussion on whether the round should be steampunk or cyberpunk. A steampunk round benefits magical characters and more original setting that we never tried before, meanwhile cyberpunk round means more realism but also allows more technological advantage. In the end, we use both of them.

Westermarck is not exactly steampunk or cyberpunk, but it took inspiration from both of them. Westermarck is more like 20th century Europe with Victorian style, but the plot is actually a reference to the real WW2 which is where the Nazi is basically the villain.

The steampunk element comes from the application of a realistic “hard magic” system called kinesis (latin term for movement) which is in nutshell; a psychic power. This connected to the clockwork technology which worked in harmony with many other technologies, such as steam, electricity, coal, and any other energy generator.

This power implement many popular kinetic power in fictional stories tropes, such as psychokinesis, pyrokinesis, and such superpowers that are accessible on the round. So the round is not entirely realistic, but still need to make sense and not completely nonsense, because there’s rules established, related to many scientific studies, especially psychology (about the psychic) and physic (about energy conversion) which then combined together in order for the technology and the peoples to work together.

That’s the basic of Westermarck. Now just add politic and military here. The plot is all about three global superpowers of Westermarck, namely Albion, Libertia, and Reichenstadt. Throughout the story, the Reich is universally accepted as the bad guys, though the characters are not as simple as black-and-white chess pawns. Because the realism and involvement in politic, the story is a rather grimdark at some certain parts, talking about tragedy, the horror and cruelty of war, about selfish and greedy peoples who abuse their powers. The round meant to be a dystopia, after all.

However, the round also talk about a change for better future, about revolution and rebellion, about the reform of law and attempt to end the war with diplomacy, to achieve peace. This round really go that far to talk about justice, about human right, about things that matter for us, for what matters for the actual people, not just the fictional characters.

The round allows everyone to choose their side, to freely walk in their own path, to shape the course of history, in a world where there’s a consequence to everything.

…And this… This is important to determine the winner…

Remember this note on the final boss battle?

REMINDER: The choice of every players in this round brought us to this ending. There’s many more possible ending, but the flow of the story is shaped by the players of the round.

This is how the victory will be determined: “History is written by the victor.”

That’s right. It’s as simple as that.

An EBG round result usually have a complex method on determining the round winner where we calculate and analyze many things, but not for this one. For this round, win or lose is matter of FACT!! The result is a cold truth, regardless if it’s sweet or bitter.

And remember, each EBG rounds has their own unique mechanism to calculate the points for the winners, so the round result will never be predictable even by our veterans. This time, the points are not given based on how much they contributed to the battle, but how much they contributed to the story. Why? Because we told everyone that they’re allowed to shape the plot of the round to their liking, and that’s exactly why.

There’s so many factions in the game and who would win… Are not in my decision. Even if the players choose to play as the bad guys, they could have won the round. But of course they cannot win the game alone, which is why we have our allies here.

The majority of our players are in the chaotic alignment which mean they would likely sided with the rebellion than the governments. This gives natural advantage to the Black Eagles faction more so than anyone else, and greatly contributed to their constant success. Though the lawful side has their own perks too, especially with some members of the Black Eagles choose to help some of the world leaders, which affect the ending too.

Another factor are choice of the players on the fate of the NPC of the round. The most important is the epilogue of chapter 2, where we made this vote;

The first options means saving Wernher, and the second option means letting him die. Thanks to the vote, Wernher who meant to be one of the big villain, one of the mini boss, saved and turned better, especially thanks to his relationship with Edwin.

Without a doubt, Edwin is the key component to this factor. This is the very first time in EBG, to have a player submit a character based on the setting of the round. Edwin is an original character, native to the world of Westermarck. This allows us to implement his backstory to the plot of the round, connecting him to the characters there.

The relationship of Edwin and Wernher completely turned my expectation upside down, redeeming one of the villain and makes him one of our ally. Thanks to those who voted for saving Wernher, we got our amazing clockwork weapons, that are;

Fulminis for Alita Custos
Cruciatus for Sylvia Ross
Arcticus for Layla Hoshi
Solis Ventus for Edwin B. Valero
Artificium for Dorian Grey

Originally, Edwin are NOT meant to be given a clockwork weapon because he already get buffed by kinesis power on the same chapter. However, the clockwork wings are granted as a reward for both the players and the character himself. Edwin saved Wernher and is someone close to him, and Wernher owe his life to him. Meanwhile, the player himself gives me a really good idea, and I welcomed the idea of clockwork wings.

This gave Edwin extra buff in compared to everyone else with kinesis power. There’s only three players who accepted the psychic awakening, which are;

Geokinesis for Freddy Lichtenstein
Aerokinesis for Edwin B. Valero
Ferrokinesis for Warder Sparre

Everyone else are either incompatible or they didn’t want a buff.

This makes these three to be ahead of their colleague. Freddy actually got the most powerful buff and he already have a clockwork gauntlets from the start of the round. He could have steamrolled the competition easily, but the inactivity of the player kicked him down from the champion candidate, though he’s still an important character anyway.

So with that, we can see why Edwin is leading the rooster, because how cooperative and creative is the player, also because their character is so connected to the story.

If only no one get psychic awakening and got no clockwork weapons, Song and Sylvia would be our top tier. Unfortunately, those two are also rather inactive. MistickMage get special thanks on helping the diplomacy, but Song himself does not involved with the diplomacy, so unfortunately, her contribution did not gave point to her character. Meanwhile, Sylvia refuse to help the rebellion even if they’re the winning side.

Sylvia and Song still get a honorable mention because they helped us a lot. Song receive the highest honor because the player did the most amazing contribution. She tossed worldbuilding ideas and even write a special scene for Song and Wernher!

Meanwhile, Freddy get demoted to a “honorable mention” even below Sylvia because of the inactivity, despite him being an important fighter in the boss battle.

Combat is not really that important on this round. There’s many ways to win this. Even evil characters might actually win the round. Dorian Grey is a perfect example for that. Jay seems to be the only one who took advantage of my “you can do anything” rule and I enjoyed our little scheming because we’re been plotting about Dorian’s betrayals ever since the start of the round. Dorian is a player (other than Edwin) that implement his existence to the plot of the round, which gained him a lot of advantage here.

Dorian Grey might be evil, definitely not a hero, but does not meant he cannot win the round. In fact, this round welcomes deception and trickery. Through intricate scheme, Dorian act as the mastermind that pulled the string of the events, plotting the downfall of many empire at once, and not just the Reich. He’s the biggest contribution to the death of the Fuhrer himself, while also helping the players AND the true final boss at the same time.

The Eye of Providence, The Observers, are powerful and hold almost an absolute power in perspective of politic and business. The only reason why we can beat them are because we have amazing characters on the round, and because their own leader forsaken them. Moriarty have no desire to preserve his Illuminati members because for him, there’s no point in preserving lives if everyone will be gone anyway.

Moriarty will rule not only the world, but also time and space. He’s extremely powerful for the power level, and there’s no way we could win this without a teamwork. The problem is that, even if we beat him, his “Deus ex Machina” is nigh-indestructible in this power level. Thankfully, we have our NPC such as Victoria and Falcon to help us.

In the end, the defeat of Moriarty in the hand of a single person, by one man, might seems to be something forced. Did Edwin got the plot armor or something? No, definitely not. We do not accept slapping plot armor to EBG, unless if it’s for the boss characters.

Edwin win not only because of his clockwork wings and his abilities, but also because of his equipment. Many might forgot that Edwin is unaffected by psychokinesis, sealing his mind from psychic influence. According to EBG power level guideline, to break through an immunity or an absolute defense of a character, you need to be a whole power level higher than them. Moriarty is superior than Edwin (or any other players here) because he’s the boss, but Edwin still could resist, even though Edwin will 100% going to get beaten to pulp if he challenged Moriarty alone. Even he AND Warder cannot hurt Deus ex Machina.

Then why can he beat Deus ex Machina AND Aeon combined? Because the combination is imperfect and unstable. I explained this on his character form;

Once he obtained Aeon, during the unification process, then he’ll be losing his mind and will destroy everything, even the cities of the surface. Not only because he’s already so close on becoming the overlord of the world, but also because he’s at his most vulnerable point, so his action is primarily driven by sense of self perseverance, to keep everyone away until the unification is finished.

So, this is actually like that video game moment when the boss shows their weak spot! This is the chance for them to strike the boss and to deal a massive damage!

The problem? Aeon will rip open the surface of the world, blowing away everything into the sky. And in case you forgot, Edwin has an aerokinesis which is mastery of air, about the wind, about the storm. This, added with his anti-psychic defense, allow him to survive long enough, especially because his wings are designed to function even in harsh weather.

So… Can he win this? No, the difference of power level is still huge.

…But he win because he’s not alone. Wernher might have died by his consciousness remain there, possessing his wings and granting him immense power. Remember, Wernher is the mini boss of the round, and he’s stronger than most of the players. The combination of his energy absorption with Edwin is a teamwork made in heaven.

And we reached this ending thanks to the contribution of everyone that spared the life of Wernher on chapter 2… Which kind of makes a touching moral message. This is not just about friendship, but to say that, mercy and kindness can truly change the world.

So yeah, Edwin is totally winning this. I think everyone agree with this one.

Oh my… This is the only time ever in history of EBG to have the voting poll dominated by one character, as if everyone agree on who should win the round.

With that, the winner of the round is obvious. Look at the names with orange bars. Those are the champs that I voted, and out of a coincidence, the amount of voting is accurate, on telling which are the first, the second, and the third winner of the game.

Do I need to explain my votes? Yes, and that’s the tradition of every EBG round result… But I already explained everything on the previous section anyway.

So let’s cut the chase and let me just say…

Congratulation for the winners!!

Champions of the Round!

1st Champion: Edwin B. Valero by @Maverick48

Congratulation for being our top champion of the round! Honestly, I didn’t expect Edwin to be such a big player, but your creative ideas, your great strategies, and the relationship of your character with the NPC makes it all possible. May Westermarck be a better place under his guidance, to guide them to a better future for mankind.