[LP CYOA] 傳

[treave]

Possibly. If by folded presents you mean meticulously designed origami dioramas depicting martial arts moves that teach you how to kill a man with a paper crane.

 

[Azira]

That's simply too awesome! Who wouldn't want such a Maniac uncle living close by?

 

[Kipeci]

B3AB

If we're sending a hobo to contact Shun, it won't waste our tme. Sending them to maniac island will ensure that they either survive to become a sort of Varangian guard-type group or else die horribly to further our master's rep, both of which are perfectly fine in my book.

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

A 3 A C

 

[Kipeci]

By the way, would our skill at using the sword in any way translate over to being marginally competent with the saber despite not really having used one?

 

[Elfberserker]

By the way, would our skill at using the sword in any way translate over to being marginally competent with the saber despite not really having used one?

I think so at least with this sabre, but it seems that we would get most benefit if we had saber skills. I think if we ever have good chance to train sabre skills, we should train at laest a bit

You find that the balance of the masterwork blade is impeccable for both stabbing and slashing; it is balanced enough that you could handle it as if it were a regular sword

 

[Baltika9]

Zhang might decide that he wants another apprentice, after all.

I don't think that will be an issue in B3. When the Minamoto tell Master Zhang of our condition, he will immediately set off from his island to find us and tell us to pick up our vagina off the gorund and man the fuck up. Waaah, I have a shattered arm.
He'll probably just rip it off so we don't have an issue with it ever again.

 

[XenomorphII]

B3BC

 

[Esquilax]

It just occurred to me that if we take the Shadow Body skill that we'll also get a boost to our overall qinggong skill. It really does seem like a better bet in the short-term while we're still really wounded; being able to disappear into the shadows is going to be crucial with our infamous reputation and it could save our life if we end up running into the wrong person. However, I still really like the benefits that a calmer mindset would give Jing and it definitely seems to have more long-term payoff since it'll allow us to approach things in a different way than the balls-to-the-wall approach that we've been exclusively devoted to. It's a tough choice.

Edit: A good plan here could be to use the Shadow Body boost to help us avoid confrontation so that we recover fully by the time the Fire Cult challenges the Eight Sects. I definitely don't want us doing any sort of fighting until then.

 

[Baltika9]

Edit: A good plan here could be to use the Shadow Body boost to help us avoid confrontation so that we recover fully by the time the Fire Cult challenges the Eight Sects. I definitely don't want us doing any sort of fighting until then.

I dunno about that, both of them would be useful for avoiding fights, ninja stealth to hide from trouble and increased perception to spot trouble before it happens. In fact, the PER part is probably more useful: if we're confronted in broad daylight on the streets, where are we going to hide with our 5 AGI and awesome ninja stealth if there are no shadows around?

Avoiding all the fights isn't going to happen, I think, because sometimes shit just happens or we stumble across some random encounter. Been a while since we met up with our bandit friends, for instance, although I think helping the Minamoto increased our standing with them by 25 points. Which is nice.

Quitting our "balls to the wall" thing? Seems implausible, that's just how Jing does his stuff.* To that end, once we learn how to use it in combat, an increazed PER score and a clear mind will help us more than ninja stealth, since a better PER means we spot more threats, which in turn means we have more chances to use our bullshit 10 AGI to dodge them. That, and meditation may lead us to explore the boundless Chaos within us, discovering new things to do with it.
The second big problem here was that Jing lost control of the fight as he was getting swarmed and had to react and rely on instinct, instead of strategy. Meditation and increased focus in combat will definitely help with that.

In terms of short term, we're capped ar 5 AGI and 5 stealth for now due to our injuries, so it's useless until we recover. Once we do, however, our super stealth will allow us to pull some nasty tricks on the sects and the cult before their big fight night. So we can swoop in and steal their victory at the last moment and all.

*And I honestly love it, this fight scene is one of the best treave has written, if you ask me. Taking on one hundred dudes and putting our neiggong against three Masters at once, and winning? Yeah, Jing is hardcore.

 

[Nevill]

Ouch. This scene was painful just to read, what with the tendon ripping action. I hope we didn't cripple most of them for life. Still, this is wuxia - Yao healed us from worse, so they will probably be alright. treave, will we learn what the death toll was?

About the current choice, there is not much to say. Zhang care seem to be winning, and I find the idea hilarious enough not to protest, especially with the crown prince dropping by to pay Yorimitsu a visit. I only regret that we won't be there to see Zhang's immediate reaction to the news. I hope that we at least will get a glimpse at the letter Jing is going to write him, telling him matter-of-factly that there will be over 200 people squatting on his island from now on.

As for the technique, my preference goes to Reikan, simply because we were gunning for a high PER & INT char to mix and match the techniques for a while now. We have a unique opportunity to learn from several orthodox Greats at once, it would be a shame not to develop the ultimate style of our own. The calm state of mind it requires is just a bonus. We certainly need some meditation practice to keep our cool in a fight.

Besides, we might finally get to use our Pressure Point skill if we manage to adapt this technique for combat purposes:

You can freeze someone if they happen to be still long enough for you to strike the required pressure points. Not doable in combat, even with your high agility, because your perception is not that amazing.

For the last vote, it is a toss up between Artistic Skill and Scholarly Knowledge. I guess I'll go for the former. Jing is already a dashing and a charming fellow, a bit of refinement and daintyness would make him even more attractive to people. Besides, knowledge is impassionate - it does not matter who wields it, as long as it serves our purposes - so while Yu is with us, we can simply ask him about the matters that concern us, and it will be as good as if we did the research ourselves. Artistry, on the other hand, is very personal by nature - you can't have someone else express your feelings, and if you need to be explained what the artist meant rather than just feel it, you will end up grasping only a portion of the meaning behind his work. It is much better to understand what the combat manuals says, rather than being told by someone who does.

In other words, scholars are interchangeable, artists are not. So it makes sense to learn a skill that would do you most good if you had mastered it yourself, and leave the wisdom of the books to Yu, who will be glad to provide his expertise whenever the need arises.

B3AB

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

If this was a CRPG, Jing would've just gonne up a few levels. *single mainly tear*
That was some magnific tendon-ripping action, Treave!
Let's see Bai Jiutian do better!

Voting
A3AB

I don't see why to send them to Maniac island, I'm not sure Zhang would like a bunch of pirates milling around him. I'm afraid Zhang's amusement runs out and he challenges Ninja Uncle to the death or something.

 

[Esquilax]

I dunno about that, both of them would be useful for avoiding fights, ninja stealth to hide from trouble and increased perception to spot trouble before it happens. In fact, the PER part is probably more useful: if we're confronted in broad daylight on the streets, where are we going to hide with our 5 AGI and awesome ninja stealth if there are no shadows around?

This is a good question: treave, how proficient in sneaking will the Kagemi technique allow us to be? Could we, for example, disappear in front of an enemy, or melt into the shadows like a Keeper from Thief?

Avoiding all the fights isn't going to happen, I think, because sometimes shit just happens or we stumble across some random encounter. Been a while since we met up with our bandit friends, for instance, although I think helping the Minamoto increased our standing with them by 25 points. Which is nice.

No, there was no change in our rep with the Bandit Kingdom. However, once this reaches their ears, we could have an in with them. This little stunt of ours pissed off the Imperial Court quite a bit, which could help us out considering the bandits are strongly at odds with them:

“If you’re lucky, the fall will kill you. There are wolves in this area. You don’t want to be alive when they find you.”

You scream a muffled curse at the man.

“Curse the misfortune of your birth, dog of the Court.” His voice is a low and lethal whisper, spoken for your ears only. Then, he gives you a shove.

Given our current rep as an outlaw and overall bad motherfucker, in addition to being Zhang Jue's disciple, I'd say that we have a lot of potential to really infiltrate the worst of the worst in the pugilistic world. Our achievements thus far should give us a degree of respect and trust among the likes of the Bandit Kingdom and the Black Dragon Society once we eventually meet them. They know we're legit and that we're dangerous, so I doubt that they'll ask for us to prove ourselves - if anything, they might even be a little scared of us.

Quitting our "balls to the wall" thing? Seems implausible, that's just how Jing does his stuff.* To that end, once we learn how to use it in combat, an increazed PER score and a clear mind will help us more than ninja stealth, since a better PER means we spot more threats, which in turn means we have more chances to use our bullshit 10 AGI to dodge them. That, and meditation may lead us to explore the boundless Chaos within us, discovering new things to do with it.
The second big problem here was that Jing lost control of the fight as he was getting swarmed and had to react and rely on instinct, instead of strategy. Meditation and increased focus in combat will definitely help with that.

I hadn't meant that we should quit our yolo approach to life, but rather that a calmer, more meditative approach would round us out a bit better; not every problem is best solved with the balls-to-the-wall approach, so meditation would do Jing some good.

In terms of short term, we're capped ar 5 AGI and 5 stealth for now due to our injuries, so it's useless until we recover. Once we do, however, our super stealth will allow us to pull some nasty tricks on the sects and the cult before their big fight night. So we can swoop in and steal their victory at the last moment and all.

*And I honestly love it, this fight scene is one of the best treave has written, if you ask me. Taking on one hundred dudes and putting our neiggong against three Masters at once, and winning? Yeah, Jing is hardcore.

I'm not sure about that: treave, will the Kagemi technique allow us to go above our skill cap? It was mentioned earlier that there are ways to break the skill cap in certain places. Considering we're learning some moves from a man who moves like a ghost, it wouldn't surprise me if his techniques allow us to break the cap.

Taking on the three Masters was pretty cool and it gave us a boost to our neigong, but I think that those guys weren't really that good. Guo Fu and Nameless are probably tougher competition than they are.

In hindsight, we probably should have kept the medicinal leaves that BJ gave us, though of course that would have caused problems of its own. Maybe we can get a lead on where we could find some and hopefully steal it (in which case, Kagemi is the way to go). In any case, we have to make sure that we're at 100% by the time the big challenge occurs.

 

[Bloodshifter]

3BAA

 

[treave]

Regarding the death toll, you might hear about it in the future. You could hide in plain sight depending on the environment and use of trickery as distraction. Kagemi is a technique that allows you to surpass the cap, yes.

 

[Tigranes]

B3BC.

We risked everything and mark my words, we lost a lot in payment for a cool fight scene. So, now we've done it, let's go all the way and maximise our benefit from having Yoshimitsu et al in our debt. If Jing believes ZJ won't simply kill them all, then having an entire community in our debt will surely be useful for larger scale conflicts in the future. It's also a nice way to reestablish contact with Shun.

As for skills, I'm fine with either 3A or 3B, but for the last - artistic skill, sleight of hand, etc. are specific skills useful for specific endeavours. Scholarly Knowledge is a general bonus to loredump that will help us in many different situations, especially since we're still in the dark about so many thins.

 

[kazgar]

Scholarly Knowledge will possibly help if/when we go back to the Manor, which is useful as the Manor's being unpredictable as ever.

 

[Nevill]

So will Artistic Skill. They appreciate artists and scholars equally.

 

[Baltika9]

I dunno, man. Battle meditation with increased awareness of the battlefield+Sun Tzu+our bullshit stats seems like a great combination. We can also study old Taoist tomes and figure out our neiggong further. And our dear anarcho-communistic Scholarbro won't be there all the time, given his opposition the the government, so we can't rely on just his smarts all the time.
But the a master of stealth able to blend in with shadows and habit of throwing around gory, slaughter-related haiku in the middle of combat is pretty nice too.

Still, going for Tactician Jing: B3AC. The 2 extra PER points should also be useful for spotting Shun in his disguise, allowing for a heartwarming reunion between two lovers. Who knows, our boy may be able to hook us up with some sweet Innana drugs legit golden fox leaves.

 

[Nevill]

And our dear anarcho-communistic Scholarbro won't be there all the time, given his opposition the the government, so we can't rely on just his smarts all the time.

Hey, the government won't be there all the time either.

The politics are transcient. Only the Bro is eternal.

 

[Baltika9]

Heresy of the highest order. No one may deny the Ascendant His Throne. We, his foremost confidante and best BRO for life will make sure he receives the most stable realm before we depart to do our thing. Poetry and paintings are cool and all, but Scholarly Knowledge also gives us access to techniques and I think that we can use the knowledge to our advantage. Studying tactics and applying them in combat with a calmer mindset and increased PER; applying our knowledge of natural sciences to herbalism for poisons, anti-poisons and poultices; studying explosives (you can never have enough of those. Never); researching our chaotic neiggong (studying mythology and ancient history for the whereabouts of Hundun's corpse and how to meld with it for ultimate power, for instance ).

But a haiku-rhyming ninja psychopath is pretty cool too.

 

[Nevill]

Poetry and paintings are cool and all, but Scholarly Knowledge also gives us access to techniques and I think that we can use the knowledge to our advantage.

I am pretty sure poetry is the most common way to share the knowledge of a technique as of this time period:

From your limited understanding, many martial arts manuals were usually well-illustrated and written poetically - you needed to comprehend the meaning of the couplets to fully unlock the potential in the moves of the technique.

So Artistic Skill is still better if techniques are your angle. The other points still stand, though.

 

[Baltika9]

treave, does the Ninja MAster know what directions we can take his Reikan? Could extended mental meditation increase our INT while using it as we level up, or is this a purely PER technique?

 

[Kipeci]

Why would it? INT is apparently a function of hitting the books and studying, so unless we're contemplating some mighty interesting philosophical questions (Jing will not, at least not right now) for a nice long while (like the Wudang master's years spent on a mountaintop), it's highly unlikely to provide us with any sort of revelation.

 

[Baltika9]

Why would it? INT is apparently a function of hitting the books and studying, so unless we're contemplating some mighty interesting philosophical questions (Jing will not, at least not right now) for a nice long while (like the Wudang master's years spent on a mountaintop), it's highly unlikely to provide us with any sort of revelation.

I figured that if spiritual meditation on one's neiggong can increase his reserves indefinitely, then mental meditation should be able to sharpen all aspects of one's mind, including intelligence. I'm not a hundred percent sure, so that's why I asked.