[LP CYOA] 傳

[Baltika9]

Ditto with the farmer, you would have had a dear little wife-to-be from the start, which is actually part of the catalyst for you setting off on your adventure besides losing your land.

Yeah, they really make an adorable pair, I wish them the best.

Which is why I also wanted to keep him away from Zhang as much as possible. I get the feeling that if it were him that went to the Madman's Island, Zhang would break him psychologically. Xing is a killer, he's come to terms with that but he also knows that it doesn't have to control him, killing is his choice. Which is why I have faith we can go through this apprenticeship without losing ourselves.

 

[Esquilax]

Baltika9 made a great point about the Sword Saint's apprentice potentially noticing our Yuchang Sword - something to watch out for, definitely. Posting the relevant background:

Murong Yandi, the disciple of the man said to be the best swordsman in the world, Shangguan Chuji.
...
“He’s looking for anyone he can get. Something about his master advising him to learn cooperation, I think. It works out for me if I can piggy-back on the stronger fighters of the competition, so I'm not complaining.”
...
Zhanlu Sword
A nigh-indestructible large sword with a blade so black that it has been likened to the all-seeing, deep eyes of Heaven. Ou Yezi considered this his greatest work; a blade that reflects benevolence. A moral, kind man would not be parted from the sword, while whoever seeks to use it for their own greed will be swiftly brought to ruin by karma. Currently in the possession of the swordsman Shangguan Chuji.

I see some psychological weaknesses in Murong Yandi - he's the wuxia version of that talented basketball player that never passes the ball. From henceforth, I dub thee Kobe. If he gave a fuck about finding good people to work with, he wouldn't have left it up to a complete stranger. I get the feeling that we'll have to deal with his ego a bit if we are to win.

The other problem with our team is that Chi Qilin can't fight for shit. There's a reason why she relies on charm and poisons, and it's because she doesn't know how to handle a straight-up fight. So if we are to compete, of course we take the Farmer along. We didn't trash his reputation, so it shouldn't hurt our standing with the monks. The guy is strong as hell, a good team player and likely has a shit-ton of END, so we want him on our side.

So overall two major weaknesses in our team - Qilin's lack of talent, and Yandi's ego.

treave, is the Sword Saint an unorthodox swordsman? Also, while we know that the monks are going to be part of a team, who else can we recognize from the list below in the team competition?

Taishan’s Seven Heroic Youths, said to be the best young fighters of the school. You do not remember their names, as they tend to be referred to as a group. Even the monks do not recall their names.

The Twin Flowers of Huashan; Nie Mudan and Nie Shuixian, who are adopted daughters of the sect leader Nie Wuxing.

Murong Yandi, the disciple of the man said to be the best swordsman in the world, Shangguan Chuji.

Su Liaojing of Kunlun, a youth that is said to have the potential to become the next head of the sect.

The Three Brothers of Wudang, Wu Jin, Wu Yin and Wu Tong, are seen as a major force in the competition.

Of Emei, they think the nun Yiling will prove to be an obstacle – she had a close run for champion the last year. When the conversation turns to Shaolin, Xuzhan says embarrassedly that he is considered one of the front-runners for his temple, along with his brothers-in-monkhood, Xuzheng and Xuzhu.

B. Making our own team won't work with all the orthodox martial artists already grouped up with their fellows. Not taking Guo Fu will fuck us pretty badly since we don't have a huge, burly BRO who knows how to set his ego aside to achieve a common goal. And I'd rather be here than in the battle royale.

 

[Baltika9]

Yeah, this Murong Yandi dude sounds like a prick with a superiority complex, at least. I'm not sure how Jing will handle him, but it will most likely involve trolling.
On the other hand, if we play to his whims and keep the team together for long enough by acting the mediator (and it's obvious with how everyone is delegating this shit to us, again, we will be the glue that holds it together), I'm pretty sure we can enter the exams rather easily. I have no doubt in my mind the dude knows his shit, even if he sounds like a prick. But we have a long history of changing hearts and minds in our LPs, so let's teach him the power of friendship since we're at it anyway.

 

[treave]

The Sword Saint is considered to be orthodox even if he does not belong to a sect by virtue of his respectable reputation and adherence to the code of honor.

As for weapons, participants will receive tournament-issue equipment. The sharp weapons would be blunted. The blunt ones are made of lighter material. You won't get to use your own weapons here. It's for kids after all.

 

[Kipeci]

What sort of injuries are considered acceptable to inflict?

 

[treave]

Bruises and light cuts are fine. No permanent damage.

 

[Kipeci]

If we were to legitimately by accident break a person's arm, crush a nose or something along those lines, would that disqualify us?

 

[treave]

Usually yes. You're supposed to know better and control your strength, this is not a street brawl. But it's not a hard rule, if for example you send someone flying and he lands wrongly and breaks his arm, it probably won't be blamed on you. He should have known how to take the fall.

 

[Kipeci]

I hope we've readjusted our style a bit since the bandit bashing... well, and I guess our opponents are supposed to be less squishy, too.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Let's make it B.

We'll be facing some better competition, but that was the plan. At least this way we have our teammates to help us. We can keep an eye on Qilin (she probably won't be testing her poisons on her own team), Yandi sounds competent enough (if not a team player) and Guo Fu is strong enough to help (and we can help him as well).

 

[Azira]

Jing has been training against Zhang, who has immense inner strength. The bandits didn't.

Maybe the opponents here have some measure of inner strength? I won't expect them to be on par with Jing though, by virtue of most of them not having been dropped into life and death situations like Jing is wont to do.

 

[Smashing Axe]

I hope we've readjusted our style a bit since the bandit bashing... well, and I guess our opponents are supposed to be less squishy, too.

I don't think we have, at least not to the extent where it's reliably safe. We really should have chosen A when we were going for the stat increase so we would have an average of 7 between perception and intelligence, which is apparently the lowest threshold needed in order to adjust techniques and make them one's own.

 

[Azira]

Guo started with inner strength. Most likely he has cultivated that by now. He'll be a tank.

 

[treave]

Shouldn't be a problem if you don't use your full strength, don't use your neiggong, and don't go punching people in the heart with all your might.

On the bright side, with the heads of Wudang, Shaolin and Emei present and watching it will be hard for anyone to frame you by breaking their own arm.

 

[kazgar]

I'm leaning towards BATTLE ROYALE! A hastily assembled team will surely be swamped by the well trained teams of the sects, regardless of individual abilities (of which we know nothing) Should just trust ourselves and make or break it under our own abilities. I'd assume if our 3 team companions are beaten, won't matter what we do.

If we want man tiger pig or whatever the fuck it is we're called to be noticed enough to have a reputation, winning the royal rumble is going to do that better then placing with a few others.

B also seems like the too nice a answer, and surely we've all been reading these long enough to know there's never a too nice a answer.

 

[Kipeci]

I'm really thinking that we shouldn't have a problem with a team fighting us, even if all of our partners somehow turn out to be totally worthless. We've been holding our own fairly well against the Castration Squad without brutally tearing apart anyone, presumably a bunch of highly experienced Emei nuns after our sword and balls were more vicious and dangerous in a fight than an assortment of sects buddies will be.

 

[Baltika9]

B also seems like the too nice a answer, and surely we've all been reading these long enough to know there's never a too nice a answer.

Well, sometimes the best sounding option just is the best option. All we have done to this point just gives us resources to put together, so it's not like this came from nowhere. It also has it's own problems: like I said earlier, Jing will be functioning as the glue of the team due to his high social skills, with help from Quiling, and keeping everyone on track. With ours and Quiling competitive natures, the Sword Student's implied douchiness and Farmer's kind and gentle nature, we'll have quite a balancing act to pull off.

If we want man tiger pig or whatever the fuck it is we're called to be noticed enough to have a reputation, winning the royal rumble is going to do that better then placing with a few others.

I think taking on the top students that will be participating in teams with such a ragtag bunch will make us much more famous than beating a bunch of nobodies in a battle royale, though.

 

[kazgar]

Kipeci, We've had multiple visits from the castration squad and had training specifically against them, we also said we only beat them the last time due to home turf, which we won't be on this time. We don't know what the heck the other teams can do. We also got beaten by the Abbess using the same technique.

A stupid analogy i'm going to use here is online team deathmatch, doesn't matter if one person makes 8 kills, if the other 3 jerks on your team die enough times, you still lose the game. Besides poisoning, what skills has quilin got? Is the farmer a glass cannon and too slow? Is the sword saints disciple gonna stab us in the back (metaphorically) as soon as he gets a chance cos he's a dick?

On the other hand, it could be the A team and we'll be Hannibal.

 

[kazgar]

The battle royale gets us to the next round anyhow where a bunch of those teams will be, and we did it solo.

 

[treave]

Ah, forgot about the team question. You're not sure yet, but you expect most of them to form teams since the Sects don't usually want their best ones to face the more unpredictable battle royale. You do know Taishan is sending four of the seven in a team, and the other three in battle royale to maximize their chances.

More importantly, victory conditions.

Ring out, giving up or knock out with a ten count. Few disciples in the past have gone for KO due to the risk of serially injuring the opponent, but this year is more competitive and may see more dangerous fights if the young ones get too excited.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Battle royale = more unpredictable = more reliant on luck. Therefore screwed Jing.

 

[Kipeci]

We've had multiple visits from the castration squad and had training specifically against them, we also said we only beat them the last time due to home turf, which we won't be on this time. We don't know what the heck the other teams can do. We also got beaten by the Abbess using the same technique.

We only had Zhang directing us the one time, he said that otherwise he wasn't going to lift a finger to help us. At any rate, they're a highly experienced crack squad of ballcrushers as opposed to a bunch of students, and this time we have some buddies with us for once. Also, why bring in the Abbess? I'm pretty sure that anyone on her level could annihilate us with only their pinky finger, a loss to such a person signifies only that we have a ways to go before we can get to that level of skill.

A stupid analogy i'm going to use here is online team deathmatch, doesn't matter if one person makes 8 kills, if the other 3 jerks on your team die enough times, you still lose the game. Besides poisoning, what skills has quilin got? Is the farmer a glass cannon and too slow? Is the sword saints disciple gonna stab us in the back (metaphorically) as soon as he gets a chance cos he's a dick?

All we have to do is have one person standing when no one else is on the other side, which is why our personal experience in fighting entire teams sent out to attack us isn't anything to scoff at even if everyone else turns out to be totally useless... which, of course, I don't think they will be. Consider that Quilin has enough skill with acupuncture to use it to change her physical appearance. What do you think that could mean in terms of her ability to stun or knock out opposing fighters, even if only for a little while? The farmer, well, we can't really make assumptions about him beyond the default stats for a farmer, which seemed robust enough I guess. END +2 certainly doesn't seem to indicate that any cannon he has going on is made out of glass, but I guess that he will remain a bit of a wildcard. As for the disciple guy, well, maybe he's a dick. We don't know that. I assume that he wouldn't be attacking his own team for the r00fles during the fight as that could endanger his position, but I guess it is possible that he's pants-on-head retarded or something.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Battle royale = more unpredictable = more reliant on luck. Therefore Jing is more likely to win, get famous and have more people chase after him.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Battle royale = more unpredictable = more reliant on luck. Therefore Jing is more likely to win, get famous and have more people chase after him.

Optimist.

 

[Baltika9]

It'd have gone the way of "Oh I didn't know he was that feared," playing off your naivety as a newbie to the pugilistic world, and having people think you're a cocky idiot. A cocky idiot that most would stay away from as they fear incurring Zhang's wrath.

Not to mention having the man himself come (speak of Cao Cao and he shall appear), approve of your balls, and adds a condition that you are to wear that mask everywhere in public, especially if you are challenging the sects. A pig is good enough to match the likes of them, he says.

Hmm, is it possible that Zhang broke his mortal boundaries and crossed over into the realm of the supernatural? Mayhaps he is a demon now, or a spirit?
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