If this does not convince anyone that Jing needs a solid foundation in martial arts before he goes wandering around looking for that psycho Woman-in-Black in the non-orthodox side of the wuxia world.... I don't know what will. Jing needs to be able to at least defend himself or come to defense of someone weaker well enough if he's coming up against higher level foes. Don't go saving people if you can't even kick your foes' ass properly. One cannot walk without crawling first.
Well, that's the thing, we
can find a master and learn foundations on our own. It's not the easiest route, as was stated over and over, but definitely the most rewarding, for several reasons. One, we really get to pick our own arsenal, because all these sects have some weaknesses that we can avoid by ourselves (some are too focused on fighting in close range and won't be able to take down ranged enemies, there's only so far one can leap even with cheesefest acrobatics); plus, tracking down our own masters andtechniques and convincing them to teach us is half the fun, too. Imagine, using our natural charms and scholarly knowledge to track down rumours, decypher ancient manuscripts and chase down leads on men of ability. Wuxia Indiana-frickin'-Jones, if you will. Two, we get to freeform this shit from the beginning, and I think a guy like Tigerbro
Tiger Adjutant
Powerful, quick, smart and sociable, the Tiger Adjutant is a naturally impulsive character whose hot-headedness has been somewhat tempered by his upbringing so that he won’t mistake his own boundless courage for actual invincibility. He will at least look before he leaps. His strong, confident outlook on life has allowed him to forge ahead despite his horrible luck.
is naturally predisposed to doing things this way. Then, I really don't want to spend a couple of years in a monastery and get even more out-of-touch with the world (we'll be stuck with the same group of people in an enclosed space for
years, jockeying and competing for our Master's favor, dealing with their attempts to one-up us. I've been to boot camp, that life sucks ass), which we will
E. You will not join any of the recommended major sects - the woman who participated in the attack was likely from the darker side of the pugilistic world. Exploring on your own could yield better results than seeking out the orthodox sects. You will wander the roads yourself, enjoy your freedom, and see what you can find out on your adventures. It would be more interesting than begging or being stuck on a mountain with stupid rules for a couple of years anyway.
Why do that, when we can go explore the world, meet interesting people (who knows, maybe the Rogue and Farmer are somewhere out there?), make contacts, friends and gain experiences that people from orthodox backgrounds will be lacking, maybe forever. We have this wonderful setting and a character capable of striking out on his own, yet we're sending him off from one master to another. I guess this kinda reminds me of the older Elder Scrolls games in that sense, completely freeform exploration, why trade that away?
We also get the chance to explore the biggest threats to the Prince from the inside, the sects he's sending us to don't have beef with the Palace, in fact their relationship is somewhat cordial; the real enemies will be on the unorthodox side. It'll be much easier to smoke them out from the inside. For that matter, I'm sure this will be the quickest route to gain intel on the assassins (if you're a sect of unorthodox assassins, would you
really tell the other doo-gooder sects about yourself?) and the story behind our curse.
By the way,
treave, how the hell did Jung actually recover from that woman's strikes? Do we have some Dio-level willpower or was it just our ridiculous STR score?
You'll find out why in the coming updates. Perhaps earlier, perhaps later, depending on where you go. It's nothing to do with willpower or strength, but more to do with your terrible luck.
I must admit, I'm very curious about that, why did the Emperor get his son a servant cursed with terrible luck?
If this does not convince anyone that Jing needs a solid foundation in martial arts before he goes wandering around looking for that psycho Woman-in-Black in the non-orthodox side of the wuxia world.... I don't know what will. Jing needs to be able to at least defend himself or come to defense of someone weaker well enough if he's coming up against higher level foes. Don't go saving people if you can't even kick your foes' ass properly. One cannot walk without crawling first.
Dude, we're not a pushover as it is, we have awesome stats, a stealth skill with huge potential (which treave said can be used for stalking game in the wilds, so we won't die of starvation), sword and fighting skills. By no means a pushover, even if he's young. If we run into bad sorts, we can just hightail it and lose them in the forests, we have Mongoloid stealth skills and they don't.
Our shit luck? Tigerbro is the type of guy that hits the dirt, eats shit, grins and soldiers on. Besides,
I think shitty luck will be a factor everywhere, if we let it. Practice an unorthodox technique near the monastery? A rival apprentice spots you and rats you out. Get fitted for a weapon? Get the shittiest one (better yet, a cursed sword
). Practicing meditation on a post? Turns out it's rotten and falls.
It's impossible to plan for luck and you are absolutely right that we should make it play as little a role as possible. Thing is, we can do that in E too. Rotten luck will be omnipresent, going to a monastery isn't a sham shield against it.
Yeah, I'm arguing for E for the sake of a more entertaining game. It's the first time we don't have to worry about a bunch of pricks from another dimension fucking shit up if we don't dance to their tune. We don't have to really worry about legendary plotters (Except Shulgi, of course. He
is everywhere, after all) for a while now and the Palace is cutting us loose. Bros, our leash is off, why hurry to put a new one on? We can always get in good with the orthodox sects through contacts and repentance, real or not. I'm completely with Esquilax on this one
I think that the pro-orthodox and the anti- side are both a little bit guilty of wishful thinking.
I won't feel bad at all if B wins, but going to unorthodox from orthodox will actually be much harder than the other way around. If you start out unorthodox, you are distrusted until you undertake the arduous task of proving otherwise, but if you betray your sect to go train with a bunch of bandits out in the slums, you're traitorous scum and I don't think they'll ever let that shit slide. We might be able to go to another sect in the future
if we pay our dues for a decade and leave on really good terms, but
Tigranes is off on this point.
treave pretty much confirmed that
Due to your background (your loyalty is ultimately to the Prince), you can opt to leave a sect after picking up their techniques - a farmer, on the other hand, might not be as free. But be warned that this could reduce your reputation with the faction severely, depending on how much you learnt and what relationship you have with their leadership. They usually don't like it if people pop in just to learn their techniques and then scurry off after a year. Could mean you get labelled a technique thief and get a bounty put on your head.
You could also piss them off so much that they expel you, though usually in those circumstances they may attempt to cripple your inner strength as a punishment before throwing you out, so that your martial arts capability will be limited. But the punishment varies depending on just how pissed they are, and how much you've learnt.
There are ways to leave cordially, but usually people don't get to do that before they've spent a good ten or twenty years of their life repaying the master of the sect for taking them in and imparting his skills.(Seriously, fuck that!)
edit: As for the last choice, to wander, it doesn't mean you won't pick up masters and martial arts along the way, but it does mean that your training will be highly unorthodox from the start, and so will your reputation. You will still get as much opportunities to improve yourself as with a major sect, except in a different direction. It would be harder, though, that much I can't deny.
It will be worth it guys, go E.
