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[LP CYOA] 傳

Elfberserker

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
1,540
I find your lack of faith disturbing.

We have the basics covered by both Yu and the guys at Luoying Manor. Jing will never be a politician, a man of intrigue; we might want to concentrate on what Jing knows best - the martial arts. And Artistic Skill is crucial for that, because the intricately written manuals is how the knowledge is passed from generation to generation these days. What use are they if we can read them, but can't understand them properly?

Yeah, with the way we've been going, we aren't going to be pardoned anytime soon. Even if Shun ascends to the throne tomorrow, a move like that would earn him a lot of enemies in Court, even with his overall brilliance and political savvy. Sure, we might do something in the future that might change their opinion of us, but right now it looks like wishful thinking. We are in a much better position to help the Prince by infiltrating and gaining respect amongst the worst of the worst in the pugilistic world, like the Black Dragon Society. We'll use our bad rep to help our bro and be the hero that China deserves. Because we can take it

Out of your post, I disagree with this. For one, Shun has the "gifted as fuck" trait and he has also been preparing himself for the throne, so I doubt our asskicker Jing would do a better job of advising him.

Well I am pretty torn between scholaristic skills and artistic skills. Artistic skills definitely helps us as martial artist, but scholar skills in this case focuses on history and classics. Scholar skills may allow gave us more information during decisions where Scholarbro may simply have time to explain things. Remember people that Scholarbro is not most staunch support of empire with good reasons, so he could withdrawn information depending situation.

Then again with us going unorthodox as fuck and prince being gifted as as fuck we don't need scholarship skills unless we are in situation where we do not access either to shu or scholarbro. ( I had actually forgotten that prince is gifted as fuck and didn't even thought that we likely remain out of court due our reputation, not to mention I thought our artistic skills was 1 instead 2 like it appears at character sheet.)

A3AB . meh, flopping again since I didn't hink things trough
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Esquilax said:
And yes, despite Zhang's brutality, he is still a fellow at Luoying Manor, and likely a well-read guy who is pretty intelligent.
I wonder what kind of books the Maniac reads.

Maybe he is secretly a romance novel fan.
Tsundere-bishonen romance mangas and Harlequin novels. Our silky black-white hair and rugged scars are the only reason we survived on his island so far.
:troll:
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
And we just got him a whole bunch of mangakas who idolize us, and they are at his mercy.

Man, this is going to be embarassing when we end up a hero in one of these books.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
A. Reikan. (霊勘, Spiritual Instinct) A technique that involves the use of qi in such a way that it augments the five senses of the practitioner. It is analogous to multiple similar techniques known by martial arts practitioners in the Central Plains. It requires a calm inner state to be used effectively, with the greatest effects being seen during meditation. (+2 Perception)
treave, could you expand on the "meditation" part of it? What exactly are we meditating on here, our mental or our neiggong state? I'm not quite sure how we're using our qi that was stated earlier as impossible to control, to augment our senses.
Can we learn better meditation techniques to help us focus, as Yifang did in our match, right before we decided tot roll her?
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Still, I'm hoping SK will lead to a minor loredump too. Have to keep the lorefags happy or they'll want to waste our precious mansion questions on chinese history again.
That's a rather silly reason, and it seems like a waste of an opportunity if all you're getting is a minor loredump in return.
That was a joke. I just think it will give us more knowledge and understanding of the world and will push Jing more toward critical thought than art will.
I'd say that we're in a great position to visit and gather a few books that we might actually make use of with Art 4 skill. Perhaps we can find something to refine the Perception technique further, or something else.
Not seeing a lot of solid stuff in your reasoning. Might and maybe is traditionally stuff that never happens in these LP because we never know what is going to happen next. Remember certain posters talking about how we were going to build a bro-team out of everyone gathered in that room a while back?
In any case, investing in Artistic Skill seems like a great chance to take advantage of our improved rep with Luoying and our status as a fellow.
So would SK. Both are at the same level.


edit: Ah, I missed that treave quote. Thanks, Nevill! Ok. Flopping to art!
 
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Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Heh, I was about to write something up, but I'll just post this small one over here:
treave, we had the page for an entire night and we saw the Songfeng style play out for most of the day. Did we manage to at least commit the page to memory?

Yes, it's done.

Since we're talking about manuals, you will find many manuals that are actually written in poetry with few illustrations to speak of - usually the students learn by watching the physical movements of the master and relating them to the poetry in the manual in order to understand the true essence of the technique. Only by getting into the proper mindset as described in the poems can your body execute the moves perfectly. Of course, if you don't know the physical actions of the moves in the first place it would be difficult to learn the technique, but talented martial artists can derive their own movements from the principles described in the manuals and achieve a similar effect to a conventional/orthodox practitioner.
Artistic Skill is definitely the way to go for "MOAR TECHNIQUES!", while Scholarly Knowledge is the way to go for "MOAR TACTICS AND KNOWLEDGE!"

And I see the benefits for both: with our new sword that is actually a saber, we can learn techniques from both skill categories and Artistic Skill will definitely help us make up for not being able to practice a whole lot. What with the whole "broken body" thing.
On the other hand, I love Scholarly Knowledge because it will let us do "more with less:" with Jing's interest in warfare, he's most definitely going to be studying Sun Tzu's work first and memorizing his stratagems. Art of War plus combat meditation via Reikan is so damn promising because we absolutely do have the brawn and speed to pull off almost anything, and INT+PER+SK will let us make up for our slightly above average endurance with tactical cunning. I guess it's a "quality vs. quantity" thing.
 
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
1,853,653
Location
Belém do Pará, Império do Brasil
Changed my vote, let's get some inner peace.

EDIT: I really prefer the PE technique to the Kunglang enhacement. More PE allow us to:
1. Perceive more details.
2. Recognize familiar things (people, patterns, tricks, techniques) with more ease
3. Be more aware of our surroundings and situation.
4. Discover trouble sooner and faster, giving us a better response
5. Plan better for combat (because we will perceive more things)
6. Adapt to other techniques with more ease
7. And, last but not least, we will be able to detect other sneaky gits, which, as we saw against Blind Ninja Uncle, is going to pose a serious problem once we start fighting with real masters of stealth.

Being stealthy is cool, I like sneaky jing, but I really think we're really need a more perceptive Jing lately.
 
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treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
You're emptying your mind in meditation. Your qi isn't impossible to control, just unpredictable. You're just learning methods to redirect the flow towards your senses.

I wouldn't give a useless technique choice. That'd just be a waste of time. Focus on whether you want the perception boost or the stealth boost.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
:lol: Fair enough, I was just wondering what direction we can take this technique in. Since it is using meditation, I was thinking that advanced meditation techniques, like Yifang's tantric chants, would allow us to develop it further.

It's already been stated by you that our qi won't develop with meditation, but I didn't know we can use it to develop our mind and body.

For that matter, do either Scholarly or Artistic skills help with mental meditation? Can we enter a battle trance by chanting something like "MAIM KILL BURN!" or meditating on a stratagem? Or understand a skill manual written in poetry better by meditation?
 

Smashing Axe

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
2,835
Divinity: Original Sin
B
2
B
B>C


votin'

I'm really keen on improving our stealth technique, as someone else noted it's going to be essential now that we our combat skills have taken a big hit.

The +2 perception is alluring, but I don't really see it having as much utility in the long-run, despite it being a stat boost.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
I'm not quite sure what you mean by that.
I think there are several ways to appreciate and make use of the Art of War. Either understand how it was applied in real history (SK check), or understand the underlying themes behind the stratagems themselves (AS check), because they are very much like art pieces.

And really, the stratagems are the only thing that is attractive in SK. I doubt anyone is interested in building Jing into a badass accountant or something like that.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
I don't think we can beat Yu in that category, no point in even trying. But I disagree with both points: artistic skill won't be touching Sun Tzu's work at all, but rather poetry and drawing. And having a book-smart warrior actually sounds nice. Understanding commerce, mathematics and the law isn't useful to just nerds and accountants. Hell, we may actually start making some money that way. Making Jing more sensible guy in terms of everyday life, not just fighting, is kinda cool too.
I'm pretty sure Kipeci meant "Art of War has the word "art" in it ergo vote for artistic skill!"
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Hey, art is broader than that. It isn't about the visuals, it is about the themes.

I wound not be surprised if a true master of Artistic Skill would be able to predict plot twists based on the narrative structure of the story!

Pretty much that's what I meant, too.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
"Neiggong technique unlocked: Precognition!"
Hey, art is broader than that. It isn't about the visuals, it is about the themes.
Well, yeah, but I was saying that Scholarly Knowledge will make Jing a more sensible and versatile fellow in maters beyond martial arts, in addition to teaching him tactics and strategy (which we definitely have the brians for), in rebuttal to:
And really, the stratagems are the only thing that is attractive in SK. I doubt anyone is interested in building Jing into a badass accountant or something like that.
There's a lot a smart fella like Jing can get out of studying those things.
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
We can already support ourselves as an herbalist and will eventually start getting our payments back from Yuhua Hall, so I don't think we need to try to support ourselves as a minor government official (I think that's basically the job opportunities that a boost in Scholarly knowledge would open up.)

Better artistry is the best for improving our own personal power, and I'd really rather focus on becoming personally stronger rather than stronger as a commander.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
and I'd really rather focus on becoming personally stronger rather than stronger as a commander.
I actually hadn't thought of it like that, becoming a better commander through SK. What I originally meant by "tactician" is that we can combine our clear state of mind, increased awareness of the battlefield and high physical stats to destroy our opponents by guile and cunning stratagems taken straight out of the Book; rather than beating the seven shades of shit out of them by virtue of knowing more techniques than they do. I'm thinking "weaponmaster versus strategist." Both of them have their own unique ways of defeating an opponent and both of them work, just in a different way, but a strategist is just more flexible instead of dedicated to just one area. Which I like.

But you are right, SK will also make us a better leader and commander in general, by virtue of knowing the principles of command and strategy. Leadership is more than justbarking out orders, those orders must have thought and knowledge behind them. Granted, we don't have a lot of people to boss around right now. :lol:
Better artistry is the best for improving our own personal power,
Good. We must strive to honor our Master, and to one day surpass and succeed him as the Southern Maniac. Matters of politics, governance and organized warfare are meaningless, in this life only one thing matters: mastery over one's body and spirit through the Martial Arts. Strive to become the best there ever was, at any cost, Master Zhang would expect no less of his disciple.
 

Absinthe

Arcane
Joined
Jan 6, 2012
Messages
4,062
We can still go to Luoying Manor to raise the other skill, either way. My reason for Scholarly Knowledge is that Jing is already messing around in politics and dealing with intrigue (WiB), so we need to make sure he actually has knowledge to figure out what's going on and not get played. With the decisions we're going to be making soon, Scholarly Knowledge will be a huge help, and I don't recommend this over-reliance on Xiahou Yu.

Besides, Reikan gives us a strong improvement to learning skills as is.
 

ScubaV

Prophet
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
1,022
Both Artistic Skill and Scholarly Knowledge are wrong answers. We need Sleight of Hand to administer laxatives while we drink ceremonial tea.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Both Artistic Skill and Scholarly Knowledge are wrong answers. We need Sleight of Hand to administer laxatives while we drink ceremonial tea.
Naw, it's much better to get drunk with Scholarbro and get into a debate about the political and ideological state of the Empire, our differing interpretations of Confucius' works and the applications of Sun Tzu's principles in martial arts. And then kill one another over it.
A smart strategist knows when to take the initiative, when to wait for the enemy's move, and when to place himself as a piece on the board. There are times where you surprise the enemy with bold moves, and yet there are also times where you pretend to play to their expectations to turn the tables on them. Knowing when to feign recklessness and when to hold back are vital to camouflaging your true intentions. Mastery of tactics is desirable on the field, but without combining it with a long term strategy, a grand plan will be doomed to failure. The paucity of information is no excuse for the lack of a plan - though a good plan cannot answer for all eventualities, it should be able to offer a solution for the most crucial ones; those that dictate whether you meet victory or defeat.
I dunno, I just love the idea of mixing Jing's boundless courage and daring moves with the principles of combat that are used to this day, and not just in warfare. Sure, Jing with a lot of techniques will be a strong martial artist, but he will still remain the same Jing. If we teach him how to use his innate cunning to form greater plans and strategies, he will truly be a terrifying opponent in martial arts and beyond. That, and being in the know of the foundations that the Chinese civilization is built on seems a tad more important than learning how to cheat at dice.

Plus, it will help when we come into posetion of a realm of our own, be it an Imperial Duchy or Khanate.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Patience, bro, we gotta start off small. The name doesn't really matter, for in the end our realm will span the world anyway.

So, uh, any floppers to Scholarly Knowledge?
 

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