[LP CYOA] 傳

[Ganymede]

So we're Apollo to his Rocky then, cool. Time to press the AAAwesome button.

 

[treave]

Yes, you will become better at executing your techniques. When two of the same techniques clash, which stats and skills are important depends on the technique. Some techniques benefit more from greater strength, some from greater speed. Then there is the neigong to take into account.

For example, let's say you currently have a base agility of 8, fighting an opponent with a total agility of 8. Then, you use your qinggong in combat, raising it to 9. Then, you use your neigong, pushing it further to 10. You'll hit him long before he hits you. Your speed will make it extremely hard for him to follow your technique, even if it is the exact same one that he has mastered. He would have to rely on his experience and skill to counter you. But then you also have your neigong's special ability to turn your attacks erratic, making it even harder for him to predict on top of dealing with your speed. Now, even if your stats were the same, this unpredictable nature makes your technique hard to read in the first place which may be a double-edged sword in itself, so ultimately it isn't merely stats and skill level that decides, but a combination of all the factors you are putting into your moves.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Well there's speculation and there's baseless speculation.

I'm basing my speculation on the fact that Guo has hurt us. That is all that matters to a nutcase with a god complex like Zhang. He would demand that we hurt him at least as much back to prove that we are more powerful than him.

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

A It is about time we see what we can do.

I might be willing to change, though. I am afraid of us losing ourselves and killing Guo Fu. That would be awful.

I don't know if we necessarily can know this, but would Jing be able to tell if he was about to kill the guy? Like would he step off in the last moment?

 

[Azira]

[metagaming]Guo Fu is one of the possible playable characters. I doubt we'll be killing him off so early in the CYOA.[/metagaming]

 

[TOME]

Why I'm voting A over B and C: We

-give the crowd and the sect masters a good show and thus improve our reputation and standing among them
-get the chance to test our skills in a environment where we don't have to hold back or fear killing someone accidentally
-possible beat Guo Fu and end the rumours around him and cross him over from ZJ's list
-have a shot to win and obtain Shaolin technique
-improve our fighting skills

Only thing I'm afraid is possible stat decreases due to injury.

Awesome updates btw!

 

[Kipeci]

Well, I've said all along that I'm for the maximum possible unarmed and hopefully sword stat, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm voting A. These opportunities are rare and worth taking.

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

The devil's advocate in me is wary of treave actually showing us that we will gain points from choosing A. It is like he is baiting us.

But then again, he baits us with lulz pretty frequently, and those have payed back in some way or another.

 

[Baltika9]

Bros, we just can't give our techniques away like this. treave would not have offered a +1 Unarmed, +1 Sword skill boost if it didn't put our entire Art of War at risk of being exposed to the very people we need to hide it from. We need to think long-term, and in the long-term not revealing all of our skills will pay off far more than this skill boost will. We'll face a lot of challenges over the next year in which we issue our challenges, so we'll have more than enough opportunity to improve our skills between the fights and our investigations into Shun's mission. Don't treat this as the last skill boost you'll ever see, because it isn't.

Hey man, I understand this and, like I said before, it's the advantage of B over A. I'm just thinkin', if we put out some of our old stuff and issue a challenge (at this point, I'm not even going for the all-on-one, because that would be suicidal with what we know of our opponents; i.e.: nothing), they'll start preparing for it. In the meanwhile, we learn new stuff and update our old stuff, and take them by surprise. In fact, we can be luring them into traps by giving them deliberate openings from our old stuff and then pulling some "the fish in the water is closer than it looks" tricks.
About Jiutian: the Frathouse Bros want to see his ass beaten down, we could just ask for advice on his style and get something. I doubt they'll give a fuck if it's fair or not.

 

[Kipeci]

We wouldn't be in this dilemma if we'd insisted on Zhang Jue tearing off our arm.

 

[Jester]

Hey man, I understand this and, like I said before, it's the advantage of B over A. I'm just thinkin', if we put out some of our old stuff and issue a challenge (at this point, I'm not even going for the all-on-one, because that would be suicidal with what we know of our opponents; i.e.: nothing), they'll start preparing for it. In the meanwhile, we learn new stuff and update our old stuff, and take them by surprise. In fact, we can be luring them into traps by giving them deliberate openings from our old stuff and then pulling some "the fish in the water is closer than it looks" tricks.
About Jiutian: the Frathouse Bros want to see his ass beaten down, we could just ask for advice on his style and get something. I doubt they'll give a fuck if it's fair or not.

Was thinking about something similar by showing our hand with sword art and using our improved skills and advantage of ten sword to surprise people. Think that it could work to beat the former champ. After all our sword tech works better that way.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Kipeci You have transcended all levels of positive thinking.

 

[Jester]

We wouldn't be in this dilemma if we'd insisted on Zhang Jue tearing off our arm.

Yes we would become black knight, after all it was just a flesh wound.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Also, gentlemen, given our proficiency at modifying and forming techniques on the fly, in the middle of a fight, perhaps we worry overmuch about the element of surprise we possess?

 

[asxetos]

There must be a catch for option A. treave wouldnt just hand away skill points.
I just hope it is nothing severe.

Anyway, i am baited. A

Flipping to B.

 

[m4davis]

A

 

[Jester]

There must be a catch for option A. treave wouldnt just hand away skill points.
I just hope it is nothing severe.

Anyway, i am baited. A

Simple its will be equal to getting through meat grinder for Jing. Farmer can hit hard.

 

[Esquilax]

I'm just thinkin', if we put out some of our old stuff and issue a challenge (at this point, I'm not even going for the all-on-one, because that would be suicidal with what we know of our opponents; i.e.: nothing), they'll start preparing for it. In the meanwhile, we learn new stuff and update our old stuff, and take them by surprise. In fact, we can be luring them into traps by giving them deliberate openings from our old stuff and then pulling some "the fish in the water is closer than it looks" tricks.

I thought of this as well, but I think that this still puts us at a disadvantage because the techniques that we have learned are all either very rare or unique. The Xianglong Eighteen Palms or the Shaolin grappling technique we'll get if we win the tournament are things that people have seen before, but our modified Yinglang Step, our neigong, and the Chuzhan fist are unique. Zhang's Shouwang Claws are also extremely rare too. So we'd be revealing unknown techniques while learning known techniques. I'm not saying that refining our techniques or learning new ones won't help us - of course it will - but revealing our unique, bread-and-butter stuff for more well-known techniques that we haven't developed as much is not a great trade-off.

Also, we should still consider losing in the finals. We don't need to beat Nameless, and if she inadvertently discovers our resistance to pressure point strikes, I say we should drop the fight. Fuck the technique manual, we're in good with the Masters anyways.

Also, gentlemen, given our proficiency at modifying and forming techniques on the fly, in the middle of a fight, perhaps we worry overmuch about the element of surprise we possess?

Jing doesn't have the INT/PER to start modifying and forming techniques on the fly like that. What we did with say, Yiling, is that we watched her in action with Cao'er prior to the fight, then we used the Abbess' tip to develop a counter. So we had to use a lot of prior experience and some pointers from Cao'er to make it work. It wasn't quite on-the-fly.

According to treave, if we want to start forging techniques on-the-fly in the way that you're envisioning, we'd need a skill of 8 in Sword/Unarmed to do so. Even with the boost here, we're still a long way from that.

I might be willing to change, though. I am afraid of us losing ourselves and killing Guo Fu. That would be awful.

Big Fu can take whatever we throw at him, I'm sure of that. If you're voting A, don't worry about hurting Fu, he is a physical freak of nature that can take a beating, even if we aren't holding back. In fact, part of the appeal with A is that a tough fight with Fu would make us better friends - he certainly seems to be enjoying himself.

Well, I've said all along that I'm for the maximum possible unarmed and hopefully sword stat, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm voting A. These opportunities are rare and worth taking.

I don't know if they're really rare for us. We'll have lots of opportunities to improve our skills by being in situations that test us and push our limits. Over the course of our challenges against the Eight Sects and our investigations of the WiB, I'm sure that we'll have the opportunity for lots of improvement, so we shouldn't get hung up on one individual chance to gain more skill when we'll be in lots of challenging situations in the coming year.

 

[Kipeci]

Who exactly are you afraid of revealing our techniques to, Esquilax? If you're afraid about showing the Persians, well, you're already saying that you want to drop the final match, so it can't be to surprise Nameless. Against the orthodox sects, we'd be making the challenge as Zhang Jue's apprentice so his moves wouldn't be a surprise, and the mob of students we'd be sent against would probably reveal some trick of ours sooner or later. I really don't see why revealing our techniques is a problem in your book.

 

[Tigranes]

....Everyone? I mean, that's what we've been careful about for like the last 50 pages. What?

 

[Baltika9]

Who exactly are you afraid of revealing our techniques to, Esquilax? If you're afraid about showing the Persians, well, you're already saying that you want to drop the final match, so it can't be to surprise Nameless. Against the orthodox sects, we'd be making the challenge as Zhang Jue's apprentice so his moves wouldn't be a surprise, and the mob of students we'd be sent against would probably reveal some trick of ours sooner or later. I really don't see why revealing our techniques is a problem in your book.

Oh, it's a problem because they'll see us coming and be ready with counter-moves. Think of of the Russians first introducing tanks to trench warfare: at first, the enemy was scared shitless and didn't know what to do. After a couple engagements, "oh wait, we can lay down explosives an' shit. Come at us, bros." Same principle applies here. Still, even if Jiutian thinks up a counter, doesn't mean he'll be able to employ it successfully, or even think up the right counter. Not to mention our psychological shit-talking advantage, pro-wrestling style. It's a rather complicated situation we'll be putting ourselves in.

Also, we should still consider losing in the finals. We don't need to beat Nameless, and if she inadvertently discovers our resistance to pressure point strikes, I say we should drop the fight. Fuck the technique manual, we're in good with the Masters anyways.

You kidding me? After this fight, the Frathouse Bros (and Miecao) will place massive bets on us vs the Persian, we're in deep now. And I think they can give us some pointers on how to knock the snot out of the pompous windbags of Mount HUEshan.

I might be willing to change, though. I am afraid of us losing ourselves and killing Guo Fu. That would be awful.

Injure Ivan Drago Guo Fu. Right.

 

[Esquilax]

Who exactly are you afraid of revealing our techniques to, Esquilax? If you're afraid about showing the Persians, well, you're already saying that you want to drop the final match, so it can't be to surprise Nameless. Against the orthodox sects, we'd be making the challenge as Zhang Jue's apprentice so his moves wouldn't be a surprise, and the mob of students we'd be sent against would probably reveal some trick of ours sooner or later. I really don't see why revealing our techniques is a problem in your book.

Bai Jiutian is watching our fight. The fights run consecutively from the quarter-finals onward, so other rivals like Su Liajoing of Kunlun who we'll have to fight later are watching our match against Guo Fu as well. Other rivals who are probably viewing the fight, but who have dropped out from the competition would likely be the Wudang Brothers and the three Shaolin monks that we'll have to face. Everybody who we'll be fighting in the future is watching us right now, so it has nothing to do with the Persians.

I'm reposting the brackets as they are right now:

Spoiler

Still, even if Jiutian thinks up a counter, doesn't mean he'll be able to employ it successfully, or even think up the right counter. Not to mention our psychological shit-talking advantage, pro-wrestling style. It's a rather complicated situation we'll be putting ourselves in.

As far as armchair psychology goes, Bai Jiutian strikes me as a narcissist. After we stripped Nie Mudan, he was up there working the crowd - he wasn't there to look out for her (if he wanted to look out for her, he would have shouted for her to keep on fighting and ignore the trick we played on her) he was up there to soak up the crowd's adulation. If the crowd loves us more than they love him, it will really piss him off, I think.

You kidding me? After this fight, the Frathouse Bros (and Miecao) will place massive bets on us vs the Persian, we're in deep now. And I think they can give us some pointers on how to knock the snot out of the pompous windbags of Mount HUEshan.

Judging by how much the Frathouse Bros love their drink and gambling, this actually seems really plausible. "I've used the entire Shaolin Temple as collateral for this bet, don't fuck this up, Xu Jing!"

But we should consider it. I don't know how much of our technique that we'll reveal, but unlike Guo Fu, Nameless is not and will never be part of Zhang's challenge, so we gain nothing from beating her other than the Shaolin technique manual, which in the end might not be worth it.

If the public already knows that we're Zhang's apprentice by the time the finals roll around, we can still claim credit for the victories we've achieved and issue our challenges, no? Yes, it's more powerful if we beat Nameless, but the Frathouse crew already seems aware that we want to challenge them anyways.

 

[Kipeci]

....Everyone? I mean, that's what we've been careful about for like the last 50 pages. What?

We've been careful about revealing moves for a variety of reasons. Earlier, we were mostly hoping to avoid revealing techniques so that we could reveal them with surprise when we showed up to fight the sects later on and act with relatively little fear of counters. This has mostly abated due to information that treave later revealed. For the time after that, it was more keeping our skills hidden from later competitors. By this point in the tournament, the only foes we are likely to go up against from here on are Yifang (who knows all of our moves anyway) and Nameless (who we wouldn't be fighting if Esquilax had his way, as he wants to bow out for that time.) Given that our skills are inevitably going to leak out to the various sects as we go about challenging them (and we've used many of our techniques in one way or another by now regardless) I don't know why Esquilax is worried about keeping techniques hidden.

 

[Baltika9]

As far as armchair psychology goes, Bai Jiutian strikes me as a narcissist. After we stripped Nie Mudan, he was up there working the crowd - he wasn't there to look out for her (if he wanted to look out for her, he would have shouted for her to keep on fighting and ignore the trick we played on her) he was up there to soak up the crowd's adulation. If the crowd loves us more than they love him, it will really piss him off, I think.

Good catch and I think you're right, I really haven't considered it from that angle.

....Everyone? I mean, that's what we've been careful about for like the last 50 pages. What?

Man, after this:

“We might need you to reveal your identity during the tournament, if things get to the point where we feel they may begin rounding up people for an assault on your master. We will vouch for you if necessary,” says Wang abruptly.

“Are you sure that is okay?” you ask.

“Oh, I am sure you can think up a suitably theatrical way to do so.” His eyes twinkle with amusement. “You’ve brought the most fun to the tournament in years. I am glad I decided to visit this time around. Usually we don’t bother. Too many years of that insufferably uptight Huashan prig winning. I swear, he and his master are cut from the same cloth.”

They're pretty much telling us to go ahead and start building up suspense and make a dramatic reveal, because that will only help us and them. They're literally encouraging this shit.

Judging by how much the Frathouse Bros love their drink and gambling, this actually seems really plausible. "I've use the entire Shaolin Temple as collateral for this bet, don't fuck this up, Xu Jing!"

And then Wang "The Boner" Zhengchong will come down from his mountain specifically to place bets on us.

 

[Nevill]

Hey, our friend didn't calculate his strength, almost broke our arm, and is unaware of what happened. Stopping the tournament so that this could not escalate further would be pussying out and unbro. Let's unleash our lethal techniques on him instead, and hope nothing bad happens, because what else are friends for?

Best case for A seems to be that we enter the finals relatively unharmed, having shown off our tricks. Worse case is that (1) we seriously hurt Guo Fu (and he's less able to protect his wife), (2) Jing hurts himself, and/or (3) Jing reveals his techniques to the entire pugilistic world.

A only guarantees skill ups, but at a potential physical cost to Guo, or ourselves (or both). Doesn't guarantee the win.
B guarantees a win, but could be seen to be dishonourable/out of character, though also correct by the rules.
C guarantees a loss, Guo will probably thank us though.

The worst that could happen, Kayerts, is not that you seriously hurt Guo Fu. The worst that could happen is that you kill the guy on the spot, because that is what your techniques do. That is what they were designed for. Up to this point, you have held yourself back and avoided casualties, but you will no longer do so. You are going all out, without any restraint or consideration for your opponent, because you think the guy can take it. But it is not his godlike Endurance or brutish Strength that makes him resist your blows. The man is not a golem, and neither he is an alien that transcends human physiology. It is his technique, Jinzhongzhao, that allows him to do so, and he can not maintain it constantly. You have already noticed that it requires a certain amount of preparation for him to prepare to your most destructive blows. All it would take for a blow to get through is for the speed of your attacks to exceed his preparation time, and since you won't hold anything back, both Kuanglang Step and Yuanshi Hundun will see the light of the day, bringing your Agility to the human peak levels. You will get through, this is inevitable. Your movements will be erratic due to the use of Primordial Chaos, you can not predict where your Shouwang Mad Claws would land, and you can easily end up striking him at a trachea, or a throat, or the eyes, or any other vital organ. All it takes for you to kill a man is one unfortunately misplaced (or a well-placed) blow, as the bandits that assaulted Yifang have proven.

Why could it not happen if you do not maintain strict control over your moves, and the update explicitly states that you wouldn't?

I can not care less if Jing hurts himself, or if Guo, unaware of his own Strenght (since we never warned him off) sends us in a coma for a month or two. Maybe this would help Jin to get rid of his YOLO attitude. But subjecting our friend to the risk of death out of some misguided and horribly twisted concept of honor sickens me to the core.

I mean, the argument against B is that it is dishonorable? The guy breaks the rules and our arm with them, he is clearly at fault, and will himself admit as much if you only let him know what he did, yet you would be the one that acts without honor if you stop this madness? If it were someone else, you would have chosen B without a second thought. The rules of the tournament are, among others: do not leave the ring, do not get knocked out, and do not harm the opponent, else you lose. Why is one more important than the other? Forcing your opponent to break either leads to your victory, yet apparently you shy away from it. Why? Because it was unintentional? If you had thrown him out of the ring, do you think it would be what he intended? One of the principles behind the tournament is that one should know his own strength - this is paramount to a pugilist. The guy have already lost when he broke the said principle, yet you want to cover for him... instead wanting to make him lose a second time, possibly killing him for good in the process.

What does this fucked up logic has to do with honor?

I am not afraid of showing off our techniques. With the exception of Bai Jiutan, and maybe a masked fighter, no one else here poses a threat to us. I am absolutely positive that we can roll over Yiling and Yandi under normal circumstances, and I have little doubt that we can take Guo Fu out, should we desire so, although not without consequences. We no longer have to hide from the Masters, and, seriously, I don't give a fuck about Huashan Sect and their ilk. If we ever need to take down these insufferable pricks, we can walk to the the other sects and ask our newfound bros on how they would beat them. They'd only be glad to help, since they can't stand them themselves. Qi Liuwu would personally sneak out at night to teach you the rest of the moves of Xianglong Eighteen Palms, just so he could safely bet all the alms his fellow beggars brought him on you. How is that for a flow of information?

I understand going 'Ooh! Shiny!' at a sight of skill increases. However, you need to think, what are the drawbacks of A?

Nothing comes for free. Every choice has its price.

Is it the fact that we lose to Guo Fu and drop out from the tournament? Is it the fact that we win at a cost to ourselves, and lose the subsequent match with Yiling or Nameless?

No, this is what C is for.

Is it because we get to show our hand to everyone present?

No, the Masters of the most famous sects are on your side, and they will give you poiners on how to beat their own disciples just to make them work harder at improving themselves.

What is it, then? I am afraid that Kayerts 1 is the only possible answer, only with a darker twist.

As for B, the merits of moderation were already mentioned. I would also add, that neither Guo Fu would hate us (why? wasn't he the one who hurt us? if anything, he would feel bad for us), nor it would place him in any more danger than he is. He will be cleared of suspicion of being ZJ's disciple when you reveal yourself tomorrow, he will prove himself stronger than you and thus will assure his future in a sect of his choice, and until the next day comes he can spend the night in your apartment, under the watch of everyone on your team. The reason he didn't do so yesterday was his upcoming fight with you, and now it would be out of the way. And by inviting him in, you will show him that you hold no grudge over what happened today. Really, I can't see the choice that would be more beneficial to our growing friendship with the guy.

On that note, B.