[LP CYOA] 傳

[ERYFKRAD]

I'm also voting to find Yao and Cao'er right now because Yao needed us for something dangerous.

Where did you get that? And what makes you think it had waited for almost two years?

Yao did mention he wanted us for a specific task. No other detail do we know.

 

[Baltika9]

It's only an unpredictable fighting style insofar as people don't know about it. Some of the pugilists at the competition are going to be very crafty, perceptive types, so they'll be able to read our style and devise some possible counters to it. We don't need to go, and ultimately, the goal is to beat them at a later point in time, so I don't see why we'd go now. I understand that meeting a few orthodox types is tempting, but with our mediocre PER stat, it seems to me that they would get more out of it than we would.

Precisely, however, with our laverage PER stat, the best way to learn of our competition is to fight them. However, we do not need to give away all of our tricks, so this is my 'kunnin plan:
We go to the tournament and throw our fights, our real objective is to defeat the Orthodox students in their own schools, not the tournament, so we'll use the tournament to underplay our strengths and make ourselves look cocky and inferior to them, at the same time we'll study their techniques and strengths and when the time comes for the real challenges, we will use our full arsenal. Simple, but it works. Totally agreed on the second choice.
BA
Hey, you guys wanted sneaky, right?

Vote preferences are the devil. I'd also prefer only one vote per person and allow flopping, but no preferential if this, then that conditional flops. But this is treaves LP, and treaves rules.

Agreed and that's why I stopped using them. Just promotes a "let's gang up on what we think is the worst choice and disregard all else. That way there's no way we can lose." Negotiation is a big part of these LPs, but then again, ot's my butthurt speaking.

SYou don't really think he was whoring for a year and a half, do you?

He probably was, so his endurance stat is now unbeatable.

 

[kazgar]

Just realized, the tournament is going to be neutral ground and very public, the castration squad will find us there easily, and we won't have the advantage of the forest anymore, and we just said in the update we're not to sure how'd we go in that case.

 

[Zero Credibility]

I'm also voting to find Yao and Cao'er right now because Yao needed us for something dangerous.

Where did you get that? And what makes you think it had waited for almost two years?

You know, I'm not sure if I read it or it was just an impression, but I'm pretty sure it's something with Cao'er and her test. As for why just now - that would be just like our luck if it happened now, when we could help them. Then, if we don't and something bad happens they get to hear we were whoring around in Yuhua Hall when we could have been helping them. Our luck is just shitty enough for that to happen.

 

[Nevill]

We go to the tournament and throw our fights, our real objective is to defeat the Orthodox students in their own schools, not the tournament, so we'll use the tournament to underplay our strengths and make ourselves look cocky and inferior to them, at the same time we'll study their techniques and strengths and when the time comes for the real challenges, we will use our full arsenal. Simple, but it works.

But here is the thing - you can only lose once, if I get the 'tournament' part correctly. Or do you get to fight everyone and there is a scoring system in place? A clarification is in order.

Just realized, the tournament is going to be neutral ground and very public, the castration squad will find us there easily, and we won't have the advantage of the forest anymore, and we just said in the update we're not to sure how'd we go in that case.

This, too. Observing from the sidelines seems the wisest move.

 

[Zero Credibility]

There is no need to lose every single fight we have, just not use everything we have. And even if we lose out early, we can always spectate and make contacts among other contestants.

As for the castration squad, yeah I get the feeling we will be seeing more of them. Maybe it could help if we had our former master to with us to watch our back while we are on the tournament?

Also, if the tournament is neutral ground, the nuns wouldn’t attack us there in the first place, wouldn't they?

 

[Baltika9]

Just realized, the tournament is going to be neutral ground and very public, the castration squad will find us there easily, and we won't have the advantage of the forest anymore, and we just said in the update we're not to sure how'd we go in that case.

I don't think they'll attack someone in the middle of a formal tournament like that, though, the Orthodox sects are big on honor and propriety and that's as opposite as you can get from that. Someone may try to poison us secretly, though, or we may be beset by the squad right after the tournament.

There is no need to lose every single fight we have, just not use everything we have. And even if we lose out early, we can always spectate and make contacts among other contestants.

Pretty much, I have the idea that we're going there to just learn of our opponents and appear an overconfident twat to them so that when the time comes for our real mission, we have the advantage.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

There is no need to lose every single fight we have, just not use everything we have. And even if we lose out early, we can always spectate and make contacts among other contestants.

As for the castration squad, yeah I get the feeling we will be seeing more of them. Maybe it could help if we had our former master to with us to watch our back while we are on the tournament?

Also, if the tournament is neutral ground, the nuns wouldn’t attack us there in the first place, wouldn't they?

It's neutral ground for the participating schools, I guess. Emei'd hold back only if they were participating, which I doubt.

 

[Nevill]

There is no need to lose every single fight we have, just not use everything we have.

If we aren't fighting them seriously, as in not testing our capabilities against theirs, then why do we fight at all and let our presense known to everyone? You are not trying to win the contest, you are okay with losing and just spectating - why participate as a contestant, then?

Maybe it could help if we had our former master to with us to watch our back while we are on the tournament?

Right, the first thing we do upon our return is put him against half a dozen of castration nuns. Some gratitude.

 

[Baltika9]

There is no need to lose every single fight we have, just not use everything we have.

If we aren't fighting them seriously, as in not testing our capabilities against theirs, then why do we fight at all and let our presence known to everyone? You are not trying to win the contest, you are okay with losing and just spectating - why participate as a contestant, then?

To study our competition. Our PER score is rather average, so Jing will learn more from actually getting the feel of how they fight and their techniques rather than observing them. Then there's the underestimation element when we'll face them in their schools, "oh, I fought this guy, he was rather average. Heh, no problem." Underhanded, sure, but we're the trolling type now.

 

[treave]

Clarifications on the tournament. Though you're not supposed to know about the rules until (if) you get there, this is to prevent another couple of pages of speculation:

It will be held in Luoyang.

There will be no fighting outside the tournament allowed in the city for the duration of the competition, as decreed by the Eight Major Sects. This is to prevent butthurt losers from getting their sect buddies and starting a street fight, which has happened before to their eternal shame. The Eight police this rule rather strictly, and any orthodox member caught in a fight will be severely punished, if not expelled.

The competition format is divided into three stages: A battle royale, four-on-four team matches, and finally a regular elimination tournament. The battle royale and team matches are preliminary, and contestants can opt for either form of match to qualify for the tournament.

There is no identity check for the crests. Of course, the orthodox participants would never abuse this, name and honour being important to them, and most participants come from one of the Eight so they are all already rather known to each other.

You can expect these rules to apply to most tournaments held by the orthodox sects.

 

[Nevill]

To study our competition. Our PER score is rather average, so Jing will learn more from actually getting the feel of how they fight and their techniques rather than observing them. Then there's the underestimation element when we'll face them in their schools, "oh, I fought this guy, he was rather average. Heh, no problem."

You either win a fight and thus automatically become someone who in not average, or you lose and do not participate further, but with your cover blown. A lose/lose situation.

If we go there, we should go with the intention to win.

Edit: will think about whether the clarification changes anything, now that I've seen it.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

There is no need to lose every single fight we have, just not use everything we have.

If we aren't fighting them seriously, as in not testing our capabilities against theirs, then why do we fight at all and let our presense known to everyone? You are not trying to win the contest, you are okay with losing and just spectating - why participate as a contestant, then?

There is this though, if at all we MUST take part in the tournament, it might actually be better if we don't win all the way. We'll attract FAR less attention that way, provided we don't drum up our provenance too much. I'm hoping that even if we do join it, no one knows who is Zhang's apprentice. That much works for us if we DO decide to join for educational purposes.
Also what Baltika9 said.

 

[Zero Credibility]

There is no need to lose every single fight we have, just not use everything we have.

If we aren't fighting them seriously, as in not testing our capabilities against theirs, then why do we fight at all and let our presense known to everyone? You are not trying to win the contest, you are okay with losing and just spectating - why participate as a contestant, then?

Because of the description of the choices. There is no mention of "potential knowledge, contacts and benefits" in B. For all we know, B might mean not even showing up.

Maybe it could help if we had our former master to with us to watch our back while we are on the tournament?

Right, the first thing we do upon our return is put him against half a dozen of castration nuns. Some gratitude.

Yeah, but if the choice is between facing the nuns alone or with our master, I'd still prefer some backup. I mean, we are talking about a castration team here, and we are not at all sure we can take them alone out there.

 

[Nevill]

Because of the description of the choices. There is no mention of "potential knowledge, contacts and benefits" in B. For all we know, B might mean not even showing up.

You decide not to join the Young Tigers Martial Arts Competition with the invitation you have been given.

My bad. I assumed that we will be going there anyway, just not as a participant. treave?

Yeah, but if the choice is between facing the nuns alone or with our master, I'd still prefer some backup.

Why even let them know we are there?

On an unrelated note, this list makes me chuckle every time I read it. Must be my past of playing Sierra adventuring games that keeps me thinking on the possible interactions one can have with these items in his posession.

Items:
Yifang's Skull Cap
Yao's Protective Sheath
Laxative
Yuchang Sword

 

[treave]

Because of the description of the choices. There is no mention of "potential knowledge, contacts and benefits" in B. For all we know, B might mean not even showing up.

My bad. I assumed that we will be going there anyway, just not as a participant. treave?

You will also go in B due to your curiosity (though depending on how things play out you might have a choice to give the whole thing a skip), but the major difference here is that participating gets you access to the 'locker room', so to speak. You could hang around the audience area, take notes, watch them fight, but unless you get lucky and manage to find some elder pugilist standing next to you to serve as a plot device, you're just going to get less information than you would have by taking the risk of participating and actually hanging around the fighters when they're not fighting.

And even if you do not participate, there is the choice of hiding or not hiding your identity. Your reputation may close some doors and open others; being totally incognito could mean no one wants to speak to this nameless brat. It's up to you how you want to play it.

edit: Oh, and 8 Charisma Traumatized Poet/Tigerman Xu Jing would definitely have the option to try and turn the competition into a PR event for him and the Southern Maniac. "See, guys, we're not as bad as you think!"

 

[Nevill]

Don't participants declare their name and the school they came from? I was under an assumption that this would never, ever, work:

We'll attract FAR less attention that way, provided we don't drum up our provenance too much. I'm hoping that even if we do join it, no one knows who is Zhang's apprentice.

 

[Kipeci]

AB

 

[treave]

Don't participants declare their name and the school they came from?

Yes, the orthodox participants declare it proudly and do not lie about it. They are fighting for both their personal honour and that of their school, after all.

 

[Esquilax]

We go to the tournament and throw our fights, our real objective is to defeat the Orthodox students in their own schools, not the tournament, so we'll use the tournament to underplay our strengths and make ourselves look cocky and inferior to them, at the same time we'll study their techniques and strengths and when the time comes for the real challenges, we will use our full arsenal. Simple, but it works. Totally agreed on the second choice.

Yeah, the PER boost will help us out a bit, but I think it'll help us out more in the heat of battle, on-the-fly than it would through study and observation. I suppose treave could give us confirmation here: at PER 6, what sort of things could we hope to observe from our enemy at this level? We won't be able to see the flaws in someone's technique as easily as you imagine. Remember our fight with Rong?

Whenever you see an opening for an attack, Rong appears to instantly draw away, before launching another series of strikes by starting off with the lunge. These are probably breaks in the technique designed to lure an enemy into overextending and also to create space should the user require it; their purpose is rather obvious to you. Even so, you can find no real opportunity to attack.
...
As he lunges yet again, you block the first strike. Again he moves his sword; again, in the same direction. You twist your sheathed sword, heavy in your hands, and yet growing familiar; metal clangs against metal as again you block him - and again, he moves, in an increasingly predictable way.

His breezy swordplay is nothing more than a string of moves chained together elegantly to respond to the way you block. The more predictable you are, the more predictable the Songfeng technique becomes. Of course, it took you the exchange of many moves to finally realize it, but it’s not too late yet.

treave, I am under the impression that with our current level of PER, we can't have some in-depth knowledge of our opponent's flaws purely through observation; we have to fight them to figure them out, basically. Sitting down as an observer and taking notes doesn't seem like the approach that would bear a lot of fruit for us - if we were an incredibly observant character like the Goat, then perhaps, but I don't think Jing can really get a feel for his opponent without actually getting in the ring with them.

Nevertheless, I think that this maxim is important to keep in mind:

If information is scarce, create the opportunity to obtain more, through baits, feints and all manners of tactics. At the same time, be aware of what you are teaching the enemy, for knowledge flows two ways.

 

[treave]

treave, I am under the impression that with our current level of PER, we can't have some in-depth knowledge of our opponent's flaws purely through observation; we have to fight them to figure them out, basically..

You would pick it up much easier by actually experiencing the technique first hand, yes. If purely by observation, you'll need to see at least two or more matches of the guy to get a feel for the technique; you won't pick up things in a single match. Considering that our INT is at 7, there's also a more limited amount of information you can remember at any given time compared to, say, Goat Adjutant with INT 9.

edit:

Nevertheless, I think that this maxim is important to keep in mind:

If information is scarce, create the opportunity to obtain more, through baits, feints and all manners of tactics. At the same time, be aware of what you are teaching the enemy, for knowledge flows two ways.

This is correct. The main thrust of the choice here is between getting more information, and inevitably leaking some of your own info, and getting less information, and keeping your own info private.

 

[Baltika9]

Let's treat this as a hit.
We have a primary objective: defeat the top students of the eight Orthodox Sects. Everything else is peripheral.
We know that the targets will be attending the Young Tigers tournament to which we are also invited, we can use this to gather information on them and their styles to make things easier for us in the future. Whether we go incognito to avoid troubles at the tournament, or announce our presence to make them underestimate us is up for future debate. What matters is that we get into the tournament and "locker room" to learn as much as we can.

Jing is a very instinctual fighter, so he will best learn from fighting up-close and personal but at the same time, the calm and center we received from 1B will allow us to keep our mind in the thick of it and not give too much away of our own style.

 

[Kipeci]

I think there's a lot more to learn here than there is to give away.

 

[TOME]

AB

Combat Skills:
Bows - 0/6
Thrown Weapons - 0/6

Active Skills:
Pressure Points - 2/5
Sleight-of-Hand - 0/7
Sneak - 3/7

Passive Skills:
Qinggong (Light Body Skill) - 4/7

Shouldn't these skills have increased caps after we got AGI and PER boost, treave?

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

AA

1A to see how we actually match up with our opponents. We might even glean some new techniques or make a new one.

2A to actually get on with our mission. Seeing Master Yao and Cao'er would be cool and all, but I don't see anything good coming out of it. I think we should at least start trying to uncover stuff for the Prince.