[LP CYOA] 傳

[treave]

This skill boost is not a usual matter. Attending during a trial year finds a higher quality of attendees. Also, the higher your rank, the harder it will be to raise. Expect little progress above rank 4 by just listening to lectures, you'll need plenty of practical experience after that point.

 

[TOME]

We already have a master and a pretty good one. I'm completely opposed to going over to the Maniac for tutelege. But we attracted his attention and now we need info about how to avoid him.

The maniac already said out loud about our werid qi, so we might just as well ask about it. I don't like asking about the swords because it might come back to haunt us. If someone sees us using a superior sword, questions will rise and they will remember us asking about 10 specific swords.

Asking about the trial will be useless because no one knows the criteria of selection. We can't even be sure if the trial has any meaning on selection. Maybe it is just a front, and the real selection criteria is something else?

IV, V, AA (if IV and V has no chance of winning, count my vote to anything that will beat II or III winning)

 

[Jester]

I, V - Lady looks like quite powerful person if he backed out and sounds damn interesting, getting as much info on our condition could help us much.
I don't think that we will be able to easy loose our new friend so dont see IV as beneficial cos we will find out on our neck either way, II dont think that we will get any very important information there needed to pass, V is probably known to Zhang at least some but could be chosen to find other possibilities, III we have rare drop dont need to know whole story.
B - I think that will help us with learning techs and help us become more gentlemanly overall but see merits of A.
A - Sounds suspicious either this is related to that prefect mission, search for some rare thing/tech or attempt to find out what trials are before them. Think knowing what's going on could be beneficial.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

By the way, treave, do we have any rules that cover improvised weapons? Or do they simply come under the skill of the weapon they match the closest?

 

[Jester]

TBH, I'm not too keen on the idea of switching Masters. I like the Killing Physician.

Yes don't like it to much either Yao is cool guy in my book but we got mission to infiltrate unorthodox world and having one of greatest figures of said world as teacher could be beneficial to investigation.

 

[treave]

Well, it depends on how you want to use them. You could wield a stick like a sabre, or like a sword, or a staff or spear if of sufficient length. But it won't be as effective as using the weapon itself.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Incidentally, treave/anyone have any good recommendations for Wuxia style movies? It's not a genre I'm familiar with at all.

 

[Zero Credibility]

1. V, VI

I'm going with our condition (because that is one of the reasons we are here) and the woman in black (because we are on a mission). Knowing more about the lady of the house would be nice, but there are only 2 choices possible. I don't like the idea of even talking about the sword (in fact, I hope the beggars omitted that part from their rumors - the guy that told us about it certainly didn't sound like somebody that would knowingly get castrating nuns on our back) and the less contact we have with the maniac, the better as far as I'm concerned. Approaching somebody that obviously dangerous (he was even described as dangerous and everyone was moving as far away from him as possible) blindly, come on people.

2. B > A > C

Voted B because it sounds useful (especially scholarship) and because it will improve our already existing skills. And also because it gives 4 points where A and C give 3. True, D gives even more points, but all of them in skills we have no training so far - I think it would be better to concentrate on our existing weapon skills. Speech skill is my second choice because it is very useful indeed, and C my third because I'm a bastard that likes preferential voting (and because it is also a level up of our existing useful skill).

3. A

Just because it sounds more interesting than sleeping.

 

[Baltika9]

What the- guys, how is Yao better for our development than the Maniac? He's a medic and we're a fighter, we'll never reach our potential under his tutelage.

With Jing's stats and chaotic qi, we are to the Maniac what Cao'er is to Yao with her Immortal' Eyes.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Well, it depends on how you want to use them. You could wield a stick like a sabre, or like a sword, or a staff or spear if of sufficient length. But it won't be as effective as using the weapon itself.

And any rules that cover fighting with less weapony stuff like, say, furniture?

 

[Zero Credibility]

What the- guys, how is Yao better for our development than the Maniac? He's a medic and we're a fighter, we'll never reach our potential under his tutelage.

With Jing's stats and chaotic qi, we are to the Maniac what Cao'er is to Yao with her Immortal' Eyes.

Yes, how could we choose two best physicians in the land that actually seem to care about us over a guy that wanted to tear off our arm and kidnap us the first time he met us, I really have no idea.

Seriously, this guy is probably called a maniac for a good reason, and us meeting him here is probably not good luck on our part. Let's just stay the hell away from him - isn't life interesting enough as a killer physician apprentice already?

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

III IV

B>D>A

A

 

[Esquilax]

treave, can we also ask about the Emei nuns as well? I believe that this is a topic of conversation that Jing should be able to inquire about.

It is owned by a mysterious woman named Lady Ji, who is rumoured to be an ageless and beautiful immortal, having resided in the manor for over two hundred years. It seems that Lady Ji has never left the grounds, preferring to live in seclusion.
...
Strangely, the atmosphere of the conference seems to boost your attention and concentration; you find yourself remembering more than you usually would, helping you learn faster.

Wacky speculation on my part, but I believe that there is something about this place that's allowed Lady Ji to enhance her lifespan. I think that she doesn't leave the grounds because she would die if she did.

As for this choice, the nature of the trial is such that nobody knows even knows what it's about:

Well, before thinking about forming a team, you don't know what the trial is like, and more interestingly, none of the fellows appear to have an idea of what the trial actually is even after being selected. Even the criteria is unknown, so apparently it's not anything as simple as being the strongest or the smartest or the prettiest or even the most reputable - people would have noticed the pattern if it were so. The only thing you know is that there is a trial going on within these three days.

I can't help but feel that picking II might be a red herring, even if it's the most relevant to our current circumstances. That's the most important information here, but if one of the attendees here knew the criteria, which is doubtful, they certainly wouldn't share it so frivolously. Nevertheless, maybe we might gather a few scraps of info that we can infer something from? As for the other option, learning more about the Southern Maniac and his relationship with Luoying Manor seems important now that his gaze is upon us. This guy certainly seems to respect Lady Ji a lot.

Speaking of Lady Ji, I'm getting the impression that only she knows the criteria for admittance. I've already got my speculations about her, but I believe that the best bet for learning about how to get into Luoying Manor isn't in asking about the trial itself - it's in asking about Lady Ji. If you know everything about her, you know everything about the trial. You bros are really neglecting this one, and we ought to give it a look over.

So I IV. A Nice synergy here is that we might learn how Lady Ji and the Southern Maniac crossed paths with one another.

As for the skill choice, I am strongly going toward picking up three extra points in Speech. Consider that now we have the Southern Maniac's attention on us - and should the Emei nuns learn that we have the Yuchang Sword, their attention will be on us as well. There is no way we can take on somebody at their level, so you're goddamn right that we better learn some fucking diplomacy.

A

As for the choice facing us right now, I think it's too risky. I figured that the "dangerous man" wouldn't kill us on the spot since Luoying Manor is a civilized place for artists, but following the scholar could be serious trouble: we would be following them towards the inner court. We have three days grace from the Southern Maniac, I'd rather not have an attempt at infiltrating the inner court kick us out here and now. I know we just did something very risky right now, but we don't need to do it at every opportunity.

B

 

[Baltika9]

We won't become a great martial artist with that attitude, so might as well not try. Yes, he'll be a tough master and, yes, he's probably not the nicest guy around. Our enemies won't care for our wellbeing, that's for sure.

There's also the fact that he knows what to do with our chaotic qi, that he's also a high-strength fighter just like Jing, that he actually wants to teach us even if it puts us through the wringer and that, when shit hits the fan and it's time to go against the Yemei nuns and the assassins that came afrer Shun, we'll be thankful for every last second of the training he gave us. When one of the five greatest Martial Artists wants to teach us, it's stupid to refuse.

Yao is a bro and he does care, but medicine and healing just isn't our department, at the end of the day we're a fighter and that's that.
Edit:

I can't help but feel that picking II might be a red herring, even if it's the most relevant to our current circumstances. That's the most important information here, but if one of the attendees here knew the criteria, which is doubtful, they certainly wouldn't share it so frivolously. Nevertheless, maybe we might gather a few scraps of info that we can infer something from? As for the other option, learning more about the Southern Maniac and his relationship with Luoying Manor seems important now that his gaze is upon us. This guy certainly seems to respect Lady Ji a lot.

Speaking of Lady Ji, I'm getting the impression that only she knows the criteria for admittance. I've already got my speculations about her, but I believe that the best bet for learning about how to get into Luoying Manor isn't in asking about the trial itself - it's in asking about Lady Ji. If you know everything about her, you know everything about the trial. You bros are really neglecting this one, and we ought to give it a look over.

So I IV. A Nice synergy here is that we might learn how Lady Ji and the Southern Maniac crossed paths with one another.

Good point, flopped.

 

[treave]

treave, can we also ask about the Emei nuns as well?

You wouldn't find out anything useful at this moment, or to be more exact, there's nothing at this conference about the nuns you can't learn from more easily available sources if you want to.

What exactly did you hope to find out?

 

[XenomorphII]

VI, V
A
A

Finding out more of our qi issue and our mission should be first priority.
Speech seems a good boost, but I can be swayed otherwise here.
Might as well see what is going on.

 

[Tigranes]

We won't become a great martial artist with that attitude, so might as well not try. Yes, he'll be a tough master and, yes, he's probably not the nicest guy around. Our enemies won't care for our wellbeing, that's for sure.

There's also the fact that he knows what to do with our chaotic qi, that he's also a high-strength fighter just like Jing, that he actually wants to teach us even if it puts us through the wringer and that, when shit hits the fan and it's time to go against the Yemei nuns and the assassins that came afrer Shun, we'll be thankful for every last second of the training he gave us. When one of the five greatest Martial Artists wants to teach us, it's stupid to refuse.

Yao is a bro and he does care, but medicine and healing just isn't our department, at the end of the day we're a fighter and that's that.
Edit:

I can't help but feel that picking II might be a red herring, even if it's the most relevant to our current circumstances. That's the most important information here, but if one of the attendees here knew the criteria, which is doubtful, they certainly wouldn't share it so frivolously. Nevertheless, maybe we might gather a few scraps of info that we can infer something from? As for the other option, learning more about the Southern Maniac and his relationship with Luoying Manor seems important now that his gaze is upon us. This guy certainly seems to respect Lady Ji a lot.

Speaking of Lady Ji, I'm getting the impression that only she knows the criteria for admittance. I've already got my speculations about her, but I believe that the best bet for learning about how to get into Luoying Manor isn't in asking about the trial itself - it's in asking about Lady Ji. If you know everything about her, you know everything about the trial. You bros are really neglecting this one, and we ought to give it a look over.

So I IV. A Nice synergy here is that we might learn how Lady Ji and the Southern Maniac crossed paths with one another.

Good point, flopped.

How does SM actually 'know' how to treat our qi? We don't know for sure. And we don't know if he has any solution to our poison problem than to rip out our arm.

I will go with [I,IV]Ax for now, though I'm also partial to C(Sleight of Hand). Either way this seems to be a big boost taking us up to 5/7 speech or 4/7 Sleight, probably our main skill reward for reaching the Manor.

Have to think more about the infiltration.

 

[TOME]

Yes, he'll be a tough master and, yes, he's probably not the nicest guy around. Our enemies won't care for our wellbeing, that's for sure.

I think you are understating a bit here.

Then, his smile turns into a wicked grin. “You will be my next apprentice. I have just run out of living ones. Come, I am taking you home.”

 

[TOME]

Guys, why not ask about our qi? Everyone in the room already knows there is something special in it.

 

[Baltika9]

Hey, we want to do more than just survive the unorthodox world, right? We want to prosper and become the best, right? Surviving under his tutelage will prepare us to defeat all the crazy shit that's going to happen in the future, not just survive it, "make training hell so war isn't" the old saying goes. Our enemies will never be soft with us, so our training must not be either or we'll get killed when things get serious.

I'm not saying he has the cure to our condition, but I think he knows how to use and channel it so we don't die (unless his definition of blossom is "explode from overflow"), he seems like a qi specialist.

Of course, we have to settle our debt with Yao first and become a fellow, but this is definitely a chance we need to take in the near future.

 

[Zero Credibility]

We won't become a great martial artist with that attitude, so might as well not try. Yes, he'll be a tough master and, yes, he's probably not the nicest guy around. Our enemies won't care for our wellbeing, that's for sure.

There's also the fact that he knows what to do with our chaotic qi, that he's also a high-strength fighter just like Jing, that he actually wants to teach us even if it puts us through the wringer and that, when shit hits the fan and it's time to go against the Yemei nuns and the assassins that came afrer Shun, we'll be thankful for every last second of the training he gave us. When one of the five greatest Martial Artists wants to teach us, it's stupid to refuse.

Yao is a bro and he does care, but medicine and healing just isn't our department, at the end of the day we're a fighter and that's that.

We're 15, there's plenty of time to learn to be a great martial artist, and Yao himself is hardly a novice when it comes to that himself. Yao also travels a lot without appearing suspicious and has extensive contacts among the beggars - both ideal for our mission. Hell, he even let's us choose where to go next. As his apprentice we have a perfect cover to wonder the unorthodox world and gather information and favors. While he is weird, he also treats us nice, and I don't feel like abandoning Cao'er either.

The Maniac on the other hand is indeed a great fighter and could teach us a great deal. But I personally also value other traits in a potential teacher, starting with, oh, sanity, and after this little show I fear that is something in short supply with Mr. Maniac. He almost tore our fucking arm off and kidnapped us after saying he has run out of living apprentices - what part of that would lead anyone to think "I want to learn more from this guy!"?

 

[Esquilax]

Yeah, I get it, the Southern Maniac offers some training from hell with the possibility of dying in exchange for a Master that knows how to utilize our particular abilities to their full potential. There are plenty of reasons not to go with the Southern Maniac - I could see Cao'er becoming vengeful and angry if we up and abandon her like that (and I'd rather avoid that) - but there is no question that being Master Zhang's tutelage would fit our own physical style like a glove. Plus he knows how to adapt our chaotic qi to work with us instead of against us. Master Yao is great and lets us do whatever the fuck we like, but it's also clear to me that his instruction seems to mesh better with Cao'er than it does with us.

Guys, why not ask about our qi? Everyone in the room already knows there is something special in it.

This is a good question. treave, did the others in attendance hear Zhang's remark about our qi? If they did not, then they won't know we have anything special about it.

I'd like to point something out about the offer that Qilin is making us:

“I have decided to spend my time at the inner court this year. Until later, Lady Ji,” says Zhang without looking back. He walks out of the hall. The crowd scatters hurriedly, with not a person wishing to get in his way.
...
“Well, don’t you find it suspicious? I spotted them walking off further into the manor grounds just now. They might be going towards the rumoured inner court.”

Hmm, so we have an unorthodox master who is "capricious" and follows his whims, heading to the same place where we would be heading right now if we follow the scholar - I wonder what could go wrong? It's a bit silly that a lot of the same people who are clamoring to avoid Zhang are probably going to be heading in his direction.

Of course, there are good reasons for A. Qilin fixed our arm, and she likely kept quiet about our little tryst with Madame Jiang, so we do owe her. We earned a few brownie points with her by approaching the Southern Maniac, but she might turn cold if we don't return the favour.

How does SM actually 'know' how to treat our qi?

He doesn't; in fact, it seems that he sees the chaotic nature of Jing's qi as an asset rather than a liability. I reckon that Zhang would be able to adapt the chaotic qi within ourselves to become a great martial artist. The man kills off his apprentices like flies, but there's no question that he sees much potential in us that I'm pretty sure he knows how to fulfill. I'm not saying we should leave Master Yao out of the blue, but Zhang definitely knows how to make the most of our abilities.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

His previous apprentices might've died because they were lucky. So I'm guessing we won't die. With some improving, that goes into- what doesn't kill/maim you only makes you stronger.

 

[Baltika9]

The fact that he's one of the Great Fives, for one. That he's a strength-based neiggong specialist that sounds like he knows what to do with our condition, that no one will be able to stop us from going where we want to with him on our side; that being his student will open a lot of doors for us in the unorthodox world later on abd that he'll prepare us and hone our natural talent far more than Yao can. What have we learned in this year we've been with him? Speech, stealing and herbalism and he only gave us one technique, that's it. Let's face facts, Yao's talents are simply in a different area from ours, nothing wrong with that but he's not the best one to help us reach our full potential.

Zhang is. That, and a story of a student rebelling against his batfuck insane and cruel master sounds great.

 

[Azira]

Here are my votes:

I, IV
A
A