[LP CYOA] 傳

[Nevill]

1C seems kinda dumb, in that we don't have an especially great fallback plan if the Emperor ever wakes from his coma, and are in fact pretty fucked if he does.

Who is ever going to believe a random crazy dude that claims to be the former Emperor? Especially when there is one effectively in place?

Hm, looking at the discussion thus far, were you guys assuming that Operation Immortal had to be a solo gig?

What would the operation entail? People are going to assume automatic fail for whatever reasons, from zero traps skill fro finding non-existant traps, to low luck (again). Perhaps a clarification of how we may intend to go about it might be in order.

And that's 11 votes for 1C, not 10.

What do we really gain if we succeed?

A clear path for Shun to ascend the throne, for example. There won't be that many pretenders to the throne if it would be done cleanly, even Shun have acknowledged that.

 

[Tigranes]

There's a reason that in just about every monarchy in history, if you do any kind of takeover of the throne, you kill your predecessor, or you regret it. Why? Because as long as people think/know that the predecessor lives, that belief alone becomes a possibility for a coup against you. In the long history of the Byzantine Empire, it had become common practice to mutilate the basileus and/or heirs in order to secure one's throne. Well, after a while, one dude said fuck it if you cut off my nose (I think it was the nose in this case), I will still come and kick your ass and take it back. Which he did.

Ascend to Heaven? Yeah, sure. It's a nice story, and I'm sure if we pulled it off properly Shun will be well off as Emperor. But it's far too much risk, for a gain which is mainly in the lulz and nothing significant in reality. It's Youxia City Good Cops all over again. In the real world, Shun will be most secure if everyone knows for sure the Emperor is dead.

Edit: Yes, to be precise, Justinian II the silt-nosed, who eventually replaced it with a golden replica.

 

[Grimgravy]

Shun also has a plan in place to deal with a fair number of pretenders. I imagine it is a significantly better plan and easier to pull off than the immortal emperor thing.

 

[Esquilax]

I'll flop to B A>B A, though I doubt we'll be able to salvage the cause of perception. I just don't see why we need anywhere near this much stealth, we're already at the point where it's tied with our speech skill while using the Kuanglang Step. I've just never thought of sneaking around as being too important of a part of Jing's skillset and it's already pretty good.

Well, if we're going with Operation Immortal, stealth will be crucial.

Anyways, I've come around on Operation Immortal. I believe that it can be done - but the skill choices are completely crucial to its success. I think that the rewards from our Master, should we be successful here, will be tremendous. It's not everyday that someone infiltrates a palace and kidnaps an Emperor for Master Zhang's collection. Such a move might even be enough to unlock the Zhang Jue romance, which I'm sure is what we've all been working towards here.

However, to make things work, we can't think about anything but what's in front of us. We can't think "oh, this skill might not great for when we fight the Fire Cult", or "why do we need more than Stealth 5? I want Reikan!" That will get us killed. No, we need to be fully committed to this and only this. And I believe that this presents a great opportunity that we just can't cast aside.

treave mentioned that there aren't that many traps around*, so this is a major serious hurdle out of our way. However, there are going to be lots of eyes watching for Shun's people to make a move against the Emperor; there are people anticipating him and our only hope of surviving this is in ensuring that we can't be seen. And that means putting all we've got into Stealth.

I should remind you that in the long-run, we can still be the greatest pugilist of our generation even with this focus on Stealth at the moment. In fact, through my nefarious powers of metagaming, I remember that in the other timeline, the Sword Saint, greatest swordsman alive, was also considered to be a master of stealth.

YOLO flopping to CCB

*

As for traps in the palace... probably not as filled with it as you think. It's a place to live/govern in, and having to press the secret code and do three precise skips to prevent yourself from being dropped into a spike-laden pit every time you need to get requisition Form 2B is probably not the best way to cultivate a functioning bureaucracy. Unfortunately the Emperor's obsession was in alchemy, not in turning his palace into Deathtrap Dungeon. His lab, though...

Emperor's body located in the lab.


I might flop back if I lose heart and feel like a big pussy again though.

 

[Nevill]

We can't think "oh, this skill might not great for when we fight the Fire Cult", or "why do we need more than Stealth 5? I want Reikan!"

But what if I want to play cradle with low level silky webs instead of getting an AGI boost to be competitive in the tournament and stealth to survive the current mission?
It is nice to think about the future, but first you'd have to live long enough to see it. Stealth would prolong our lifespan tremendously.

Emperor's body located in the lab.

Shun would know that.

 

[Esquilax]

Now, assassination is just stupid because he's better at you at that game and has been playing it while you were off cavorting with the prince. So he may be about your age, but he both took his training a lot more seriously and actually had a more lethal curriculum. You spent your days fooling around in an arguably privileged position. But that's just how you are. Even though you have the talent, your confidence tends to mean you coast on it. And you aren't the only talented person in the world. Guo Fu is a huge trouble for you in a fight and he is practically untrained. Is it far fetched to think there could be a few others out there who are a match for you given that you only trained all of one and a half years with Zhang Jue while they may have devoted up to a decade of their life to it?

Jesus, more lethal than being Zhang's apprentice? How is that possible? The Southern Maniac's apprentices had the lifespan of mosquitoes, so I shudder to think of the sort of training that Gao Ying was subjected to.

 

[Kipeci]

Stealth would prolong our lifespan tremendously.

Not having decent stealth wasn't what killed us any of the times we've died, and we already basically go for none of the stealth options aside from rather rare break-ins. Treave directly said that no matter which of the boosts we take, we can survive the mission ahead if we take the right choices, so why are you fear-mongering about this?

 

[LWC1996]

CAB.

 

[Kipeci]

LWC1996 , if you're wanting to vote for middle A would you consider flopping that vote to a A >B? I would love it if A won, but it's not looking too likely right now. If we do get the spider silk usage though, that at least provides us with an incentive to try to go for animal taming if we ever get another chance at it if for no other reason than to secure our supply of silk.

 

[treave]

What would the operation entail? People are going to assume automatic fail for whatever reasons, from zero traps skill fro finding non-existant traps, to low luck (again). Perhaps a clarification of how we may intend to go about it might be in order.

The best way for it to work is if you use the apparatus and personnel already in place for the assassination, so Gao Ying and his merry men will be involved. This takes care of any concern you would have about gaining entry or securing the palace. Smuggling the body out without being seen is somewhat harder, but still doable especially if you involve Qilin and her disguise technique. More important is the part where you have to sell the whole immortality ascension bit. It could be something as trivial as disappearing from a locked room, or if you want to be flashy, a bit of trick with disguised wire to have what seems like the Emperor fly off into the night in plain view of a gathered host of ministers and princes, or whatever else you think you can get away with. Smoke and mirrors. The real aim isn't to fully convince them, which may not be possible, but to leave it so that they have no alternative explanation for what happened except the story the Emperor purportedly leaves behind. Sneaking isn't actually required on your part - you can play the role of a showman, the confidence trickster, the man who comes in and says that he's heard from the celestial grapevine that there's a new immortal about to ascend, if that is how you want to approach the scheme.

Of course, you can just sneak and do everything quietly and leave the exposition to a written letter to reduce the risks.

If you want to do everything alone, it'd be a lot more difficult, and that is where I give you guys the details and you work out a plan.

Still, C is undoubtedly the riskiest of the 3 choices, not in terms of consequences for the dynasty, but for you, personally.

Jesus, more lethal than being Zhang's apprentice? How is that possible? The Southern Maniac's apprentices had the lifespan of mosquitoes, so I shudder to think of the sort of training that Gao Ying was subjected to.

Uh, lethal for the student's target, not for the student. He's trained to kill in many very interesting ways that don't require an application of stupid strength, so in a fight he's not as disadvantaged as you think just because you are physically stronger.

 

[LWC1996]

LWC1996 , if you're wanting to vote for middle A would you consider flopping that vote to a A >B? I would love it if A won, but it's not looking too likely right now. If we do get the spider silk usage though, that at least provides us with an incentive to try to go for animal taming if we ever get another chance at it if for no other reason than to secure our supply of silk.

Sure, I can do that. Such a pity 2A won't win though. The whole place must be crawling with critters we can use.

So changing my vote to C, A>B, B.

 

[treave]

The whole place must be crawling with critters we can use.

That's an insult to the cleaning prowess of the palace maids.

There's a reason that in just about every monarchy in history, if you do any kind of takeover of the throne, you kill your predecessor, or you regret it. Why? Because as long as people think/know that the predecessor lives, that belief alone becomes a possibility for a coup against you. In the long history of the Byzantine Empire, it had become common practice to mutilate the basileus and/or heirs in order to secure one's throne. Well, after a while, one dude said fuck it if you cut off my nose (I think it was the nose in this case), I will still come and kick your ass and take it back. Which he did.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanwu_Gate_Incident

It's probably interesting to compare the political structure of the Tang court to the Byzantine Empire in that particular time period.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

The whole place must be crawling with critters we can use.

That's an insult to the cleaning prowess of the palace maids.

They must be damn good if they can clean whilst being banged by royalty.

 

[Bloodshifter]

B
C
B

 

[LWC1996]

That's an insult to the cleaning prowess of the palace maids.

Not to disparage the work ethics of palace maids, I'm assuming the ppl in charge won't clamber high and low into every nook and cranny checking that all critters and dust have been swept away by the maids...

 

[treave]

The whole place must be crawling with critters we can use.

That's an insult to the cleaning prowess of the palace maids.

They must be damn good if they can clean whilst being banged by royalty.

Wouldn't be fit to work in the residence of the Son of Heaven otherwise.

Speaking of which, I haven't introduced any Tang princesses, have I?

 

[LWC1996]

Oh god pls. No more females. Coz some ppl might vote with the intent to increase their fictional harem.

 

[Anabanana]

More important is the part where you have to sell the whole immortality ascension bit. It could be something as trivial as disappearing from a locked room, or if you want to be flashy, a bit of trick with disguised wire to have what seems like the Emperor fly off into the night in plain view of a gathered host of ministers and princes, or whatever else you think you can get away with. Smoke and mirrors. The real aim isn't to fully convince them, which may not be possible, but to leave it so that they have no alternative explanation for what happened except the story the Emperor purportedly leaves behind.

Perhaps we should throw some message bottles detailing his ascension into the sea, treave? Maybe get Qilin to command a swarm of golden butterflies or two? Start working on a suitably maniacal ahaha.wav?

 

[LWC1996]

I reckon Jing cud sell this immortal ascension schtick... He's had lots of practice of being the smooth snake oil salesman charmer. After all he was the face of Killing Physician Yao, Inc.

And he's got tht right ppl to pull off the job.

 

[Esquilax]

10,000 Ghosts of Maniac Island, Pt. 2

 

[Anabanana]

I want to see treave write a locked room. Let's see them try to kill the God Emperor with the blue truth.

 

[treave]

I thought I was leaving the heavy lifting and thinking to you guys.

Perhaps we should throw some message bottles detailing his ascension into the sea, treave? Maybe get Qilin to command a swarm of golden butterflies or two? Start working on a suitably maniacal ahaha.wav?

Spoiler

There are no secret passages or hidden chambers in this room. Yet, the Emperor was right here with you while you were investigating the room for his presence.

How did he conceal himself?

With magic, of course! Because he is an immortal!

ahaha.wav

 

[Nevill]

10,000 Ghosts of Maniac Island, Pt. 2

I am so regretting we didn't go with the first one when we had the chance.

Jing will become the sorceror yet!

Look, it can be done, we've got a direct confirmation from GM. We ought to at least try it. A locked room mystery should suit our needs fine if we go with a full stealth approach.

Speaking of which, why are we going for as many different techniques as we can get instead of improving on existing ones? We have the most powerful unarmed technique available... and it is level 2. We've been sitting on it for 2 years already. How many years would it take for a spider silk to become a real asset in combat?

 

[MystiKnight]

I thought I was leaving the heavy lifting and thinking to you guys.

Perhaps we should throw some message bottles detailing his ascension into the sea, treave? Maybe get Qilin to command a swarm of golden butterflies or two? Start working on a suitably maniacal ahaha.wav?

Spoiler

There are no secret passages or hidden chambers in this room. Yet, the Emperor was right here with you while you were investigating the room for his presence.

How did he conceal himself?

With magic, of course! Because he is an immortal!

ahaha.wav

Disappearance of the Golden Emperor? Oh my, this option suddenly sounds so much more entertaining! Changing vote to C1, B2, A3.

 

[Fangshi]

Look, it can be done, we've got a direct confirmation from GM. We ought to at least try it. A locked room mystery should suit our needs fine if we go with a full stealth approach.

Oh, there are a whole bunch of ways to pull it off I think, for example I am reminded of a campaign I ran last year or the year before for a group of three (well four but one had to drop out fairly early).

Now this was not about kidnapping an Emperor no, my players tend to just kill those and take their thrones. But they did kidnap a "popess"/high priestess once, it was something of a long term confidence job.

One of them impersonated a wandering immortal, another managed to get promoted to head of the royal guard, while the third took control of a wandering theater troop.

The "immortal" came to visit the high priestess, he was put through a number of tests based upon stories about his character, walking on fire, ingesting lethal poison that sort of thing. He managed to succeed through preparation, sleight of hand and out-and-out lies. Once it was certain that he was a "true" immortal he became her adviser. He set to work seducing her but it became clear that she was tired of running her empire and wanted out, as they had actually fallen in love he offered to help her with that.

They gathered up all of the religion's higher ups and the local peasants to preform a ceremony of "ascension" and using the actors and props from the theater troop she underwent a "ritual" to become immortal. They did it up in style, think of all those Las Vegas magicians and you will get an idea.

She and the adviser disappeared into thin air, using trap doors/pulley system to "ascend" to the spirit realm. The assembled leaders did not know what to make of this, the peasants bought it though, especially when the guard captain appeared and read her final orders. She appointed the guard captain the new ruler of the empire, ordered the day to be made a national holiday, and gave each peasant in the capitol and surrounding countryside 5 gold pieces (about 1/5 of the treasury).

Now the people cheered and the priests revolted. So the guard captain ordered his archers placed on the walls (to "protect" them and the high priestess during the ceremony) to cut down the priests. The priests were massacred and the peasants were fine with this since each one benefited from the act. The guard captain, now emperor, had to fight a brief war against one of the governors but in the end he took sole control of the entire empire and slowly turned it into a constitutional monarchy.

The player that ran the theater troop became the national poet and opened a proper theater in the capitol.

As for the high priestess and the conman, they lived out the rest of their days in peace and marital bliss far away in the mountains, some say that they really did eventually ascend to the ranks of the spirits but that is another story...