[LP CYOA] 傳

Yeah, going with B2.

I'm actually tempted to vote A just to see the effect this would have, but we have been working to preserve our cover for too long to just throw it away now. As for a mask, we are already wearing a much better one - no need to draw more attention to ourselves.

As for the farmer boy, I don't see a point in giving him more problems than he already has. Our cover is already solid, no need to add more confusion.

edit: though Nameless the Second is kind of funny for a name.

Edit: time for some conditional voting - sorry treave

C2 as merchant Guan > C2 as some obvious stage name - absolutely not Zhang Jue > B2 > A2

Edit2: and if C2 winning means that we get to vote for a name separately, just move B2 to the top of that order.

 

Currently most interesting bit of information is that this could be a team game at the start, so it may be in our best short term interests to stick with our new ox farmer friend (ie someone for that back to back fighting talked about previously) that leans me towards 2, but if we went with 1, he could be more use in the ring if he's feared further as the maniac? Or will he just end up being targeted and removed quicker.

Thinking that way may rule out C as well.


edit: (typo)

 

B2
We made a good impression on the farmer. Let's make friends. I wonder what his special ability is. Of course, stick to the plan. Seems like there are enough people willing to pretend to be the Maniac's apprentice already.

 

B2 I don't see a need to make the farmer's life any harder. Besides, I am still hoping to get to the last round, strike a pose, and proclaim, "I am Xu Jing, apprentice to Zhang Jue, the Southern Maniac, and your doom!" before we roundhouse kick our opponent into submission.

Does anyone else chuckle when treave makes a character mention luck?

 

A2

 

C wild pig
1
to hilarious to pass for me still B probably is best.

Although not sure if tiger pig wouldn't be better.

 

First shadow wolf and now Nameless Tiger. Someone is trolling us.

B2

 

What the hell? We vote to stay anonymous instead of using the rumours of Zhang's apprentice to our advantage, and now some of you want to announce we are Southern Maniac Junior? What the hell for?! We might as well toss dice at random if we're going to reject new plans and not stick to old ones.

We wanted to stay anonymous as long as possible and Jing has done so very well so far, even though we are now involved with snake girl.

I'm leaning towards C1/2, I think we shouldn't totally let down our guard about this man - nothing says that the Farmer might not have learned a few skills on the road of the speech/charisma side - though I am loathe to screw him over like that. And why give people a lead? Why give people a awy to connect the dots and try and relate what they saw of us outside the tournament with what they see inside? Our strategy is anonymity, why give them a personality and a series of actions to try and make sense of? Go Wild Pig!

 

Wasn't participating with a mask the plan all along? Do we use the mask in locker rooms also? I think it will make socializing much harder if we use the mask there.

 

I don't know if B means we mask up and also stay the merchant's son - since only C explicitly talks about masks and what you buy. Or does C mean we mask off later?

 

I'm willing to keep it flexible. The tournament takes place over a number of days. Now that you have a place to stay, do you keep the mask on as you return, or do you take it off somewhere in the city before going back to the inn, and repeat the same thing the next day?

This choice determines your persona during the tournament itself, not outside of it. That one defaults to the merchant's son for now. In other words, you're pretending to be a naive newbie pretending to be a masked pig.

 

I like the Farmer a lot and I'd feel bad about fucking him over, but something tells me that we might have to. Let's not forget what we're here for, as bro as the Farmer is.

I'm inclined to believe that the Farmer is exactly as he appears, just like Yifeng was. He's an honest dude just trying to get by - perhaps not the brightest, but certainly likable and probably a strong competitor. My hunch is that his special ability has something to do with his inner strength: he seems to have a lot of strength and determination, so I think his power is somewhat related to that. Heh, he reminds me a bit of Rocky Balboa, and he's already got his Adrian with him.

As for what to do, I think we should try C1, while using the alias of Zhang Jue. I think it's a good idea; people would think of our persona as some sort of mockery of the Southern Maniac rumour mill going around, while at the same time, they wouldn't be quite sure whether or not The Farmer was truly Zhang's apprentice either. It would keep people very confused - why wear a mask and use an alias of Zhang Jue, while everyone suspects the Farmer of being the real Zhang? It's just the sort of murky set of half-truths that would lead to a lot of confused speculation. Who's the real apprentice anyways, if indeed there is an apprentice?

The best part is, when we're facing our opponents, they'd have no idea what to expect - are we Zhang's apprentice? Is the Farmer? Is this all some silly joke, making fun of all the orthodox types and their fear of the Zhang bogeyman? It's all about misdirection. I think it's a good plan, but I'm open to flopping.

 

Well, why not A1, then?

 

Well, because you're spreading rumours about someone else being Zhang's apprentice while publicly registering as Zhang's apprentice. These Shaolin guys might not be the most street-smart guys around, but even they would immediately figure out that we're trying to frame Guo Fa here because it's so obvious. It's sort of like when your five year old is blaming his sibling for eating all the cookies... while his face is covered in chocolate. A2 is consistent, but I'd prefer remaining anonymous for the reasons that Tigranes suggested.

With C1, things are a lot more murky. The "Zhang Jue" alias and the pig mask implies that we think that this thing is a big fucking joke, but at the same time, we aren't exactly denying potential rumours of being Zhang's apprentice either. To make things even more confusing is the rumours surrounding the Guo Fa being Zhang's apprentice.

It might even lead to a farcical situation where you get a bunch of people coming out of the woodwork claiming to be Master Zhang's apprentice for the duration of the tournament: really, the more people trying to come in trying to claim that reputation while shouting "I AM SPARTACUS!", the more confused the situation becomes. I think that this could work in our favour. Even if someone figures out that we're actually Zhang's apprentice, at that point, so many people will have claimed that they're the Southern Maniac's apprentice that people probably won't even believe it.

I could still flop to B2, but I'm not sure why it would be better than B1? Any thoughts here, guys?

 

B2

 

C2
Tiger Pig!

 

C2
MAN TIGER PIG


This name's just so full of win, it's amazing.

 

I'm with Esquilax, C1 Zhang Jue is perfect for creating confusion and discord amongst the pugilists. No one would know who the southern maniac's apprentice is, but if we win we can still claim credit for the victory, if we so choose. It keeps our options open whilst at the same time confusing and disorientating the competition. I was originally for being in the open, but you guys are dead-set on keeping our techniques and skills hidden. Well this is the best way to do so, with uncertainty as to what our techniques and capabilities actually are we will have almost as good as an edge as we would if we didn't participate at all. This option, whilst putting heat on the farmer's son, diverts some of it to us as well so that he should be safe enough. How could we not go with it as an option?

Why are you guys, who wanted so desperately to keep our identity and techniques secret, voting for the option that doesn't benefit us at all? I realise it's not a very nice thing to do to a bro-ish farmer, but in the long-term this will do nothing to harm him, and everything to aid us. We've chosen to walk the morally shady path, this option isn't really that bad. Come on, wusses.
C1 - Zhang Jue > C2 - Zhang Jue

 

With our merchant identity we are even more 'nobody' than with the mask on. Will elaborate once I get close to keyboard.

 

The problem is that once we start participating, we won't be able to conceal our techniques and abilities. C keeps the techniques and abilities separated from our face, which is what we want. 1 creates confusion as to what our techniques and abilities actually are, and keeps attention from being entirely focused upon our masked persona, which will allow us to slip away easier back into our merchant persona. Really, it seems like the perfect combination, and I can't come up with a flaw for it beyond the morally objectionable aspect, which, honestly, isn't that bad.

Give the codex a bro-like figure, and they won't ever betray them, even if the betrayal means the bro looses his favourite spoon, or something else inconsequential. We're in this for ourselves and the prince, nothing else. Let's not be Ean.

Let's be Shulgi.

 

Well, I agree that the choice depends on whether you consider it possible to hide your techniques. If you don't, then the mask is safer. If you do, then the mask just attracts an unwanted attention to yourself and gets in the way of communication.

For the moment, I think we can do without it.

 

Guys, C2? Really? Why do we want that? I know that you guys like the Farmer and don't want to act in an unbro manner (it doesn't sit right with me either, admittedly), but C1 is the way to go. Use the Zhang Jue alias while not bothering to confirm or deny that we're Zhang's apprentice, while simultaneously spreading rumours about the Farmer. Soon enough, you'll have multiple contradictory rumours floating around, and possibly a few charlatans also trying to claim that they're Zhang Jue's apprentice too.

Yeah, exactly. I'm not saying it's a completely clean, honorable option, but I don't think that it's going to put a ton of heat on Guo Fu as much as say, B1 would. I want to try and keep things clean most of the time, but we're still an unorthodox character. Look at what trying to play things completely 100% honest back at the tournament before Luoying Manor did for us? Exactly, not a fucking thing.

I really don't like putting Guo Fu and his lady in the crosshairs, but what the fuck are we here for? We're here to figure these motherfuckers out without getting figured out. That's all there is to it.

This is true, but our goal isn't to be a "nobody"; our goal is to learn about our enemies as much as possible while simultaneously ensuring that they know as little about us as possible. Using our current cover allows us to do the latter, but it isn't much help for the former; it doesn't get us ahead in the information game. Using the Zhang Jue alias makes the whole thing mysterious and puts attention on us, while spreading a rumour that the Farmer is Zhang's apprentice creates confusion and causes people to wonder whether or not all the drama about Zhang is just completely made up.

In terms of the two-way flow of information, this is perfect. We hide our face and learn as much about our enemies as possible, while at the same time we ensure that our cover is less likely to be blown with multiple people potentially being apprentices of the Southern Maniac. The more paranoid everyone is, the better.

Attaboy, Smashing Axe. Really, we shouldn't try to make Jing into an Ean figure, and honestly, he isn't. I don't think he's a bad guy, but he's sure as fuck willing to get his hands dirty for the Prince. If the Prince asked him to kill a bunch of people who he didn't know, Jing would follow those orders without question, because that's who he is and what he does. I loved playing as Ean, I really did, but we simply cannot puss out on this one.

Nevill just seems to want to make friends, but we're not here to make friends. We're here to get shit done.

 

But how will the mask affect our dealings with others in the locker room? Without the mask we could get valuable information just by talking. And I don't like throwing the farmer under the bus.

 

You just had to mention the aspect of Jing that I wanted to get rid of since the beginning, did you?

Moreover, if Jing is willing to get his hands dirty for the prince, it doesn't mean he likes dirtying his hands to help himself.

I would probably pay much less attention to what happens to the farmer if he didn't have a wife with him. I am also would not be fine with C1 if some hothead ends up murdering him in an alley (because the boy really lacks the menacing presence to kill such an idea in a bud), seeking glory for besting Zhang's apprentice himself.

Don't worry, I'll write a proper response.

 

This is what our alter-ego as the merchant's son is for:

So we'll be fighting as our Zhang Jue alias with the pig mask (btw, this sounds almost like an insult against the man, further adding to the farcical comedy of the situation), while outside the ring we'll be maintaining contact with the Shaolin and possibly other orthodox types to get a feel for what kind of relationships they have with one another, possible internal feuds, weaknesses to exploit, etc. At the same time, having multiple people that are suspected of being Zhang's apprentice will confuse the situation - nobody will really know what to make of things.

With the mask, we get the best of both worlds. We get information on psychological weaknesses through our merchant alter-ego, but we get information on technical flaws without them actual seeing our faces through actual competition. To prevent our identity from being compromised, we spread rumours about the Farmer to confuse the situation. It'll work very well.

I know, you like the Guo Fu. Honestly, so do I. But what the fuck are we here for? We're here to figure out our enemies as much as possible while revealing as little as possible. This plan allows for that.

Look, if you don't like bending the rules, why did you vote unorthodox to begin with? I'm not saying that unorthodox = asshole, but you have to be willing to use an orthodox character's general naivete against them. They have the contacts and the big sect behind them, but we've got the "art of skulduggery" as Mike Tyson put it in his documentary. I don't understand, what is your goal here? Do you even want to complete Zhang's challenge? Or Shun's mission? Because if you don't, well, you have a completely different idea of the character than I do and a vastly different perception of things, so we'll have to agree to disagree.

Okay, when it came to murdering Song Lingshu, I could sort of understand why a lot of people were hesitant. But this is fucking peanuts compared to that. Seriously, this is up there with not wanting to cheat at all during the tournament at Quewu Square.