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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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Briefvoice said:
Going into a hidey-hole is very opposite standard ninja strategy, which is to retain mobility at all costs. I took eaglejarl's warning about what the other teams might think to heart. If they see a blinged-up fortress with only one way in and out, they don't see a safe hidey-hole. They see a death trap. If/when the fort falls, they want to be able to run somewhere and regroup, not attempt to hunker down and trust seals (that they don't regularly use and don't understand) to tank future attacks.

That's what I want everyone to think about. It would be one thing if this was a strategy Hazou's team wanted to undertake on their own, but if you want to get the rest of the Leaf nin to cooperate you can't drag them too far away from their comfort zone. They want an open roof, so if there's trouble they can abandon the fort immediately. They don't like being anywhere that a single Athletics roll can't take them out of trouble. I consider securing the cooperation of the other teams to be a far larger power magnifier than a good fort, so that's what I'm concentrating on.

Now traps, they understand. Preparing some ground and then forcing the enemy to fight in it, they understand. As long as they can retain their mobility and move away from the fort the instant it seems to be useful, I think we can get them to go along with this. So that's why the plan I posted is all about the trapped ground, and the fort is just some walls to use as cover.
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This is why I keep harping on about having explosive enabled emergency exits.
Actually, adding some PMYF seals to the mix (as in, have a stockpile by the emergency exit that can be thrown out after the wall is breached) could speed up evac.
EDIT: Or have PMYFs on tripwires that will be launched/activated as the emergency exit goes boom.

The way I see it, the fort's purpose is to provide enough time for sleeping ninja to rally/negate 1 or 2 attacks.
 
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Roomba said:
On that note, I do wonder why civilian authorities aren't making more of an effort towards expansion.
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The fact that they're not making much effort towards expansion is evidence (some evidence, anyways), for the existence of Scorch Squads or something functionally equivalent.
 
Briefvoice said:
[X] Action Plan: No Hill Fort

General:
  • Keep OPSEC in mind. Run things though with Keiko and Noburi (in code) before discussing with others.
  • Run this through with Keiko and Shikamaru. Also Neji (probably most veteran) and Sakura (she's done the Exams before, she's smart).
  • If/when we elect a leader (and it's not Hazou) everything we haven't done is meant as suggestions. Follow the leader.
  • Be stingy with spending Fate Points; we will need them to survive battles alive, whereas a failed social or trap-making roll can be lived with
  • Conserve chakra when not under threat (e.g., building a Fort).
The Fort:
  • Build the fort on a patch of high ground out of three MEW walls in a triangular formation
  • Fort should be located near border of exam area, so that if we're facing over-whelming force there's the option to escape a fight by forfeiting the exam.
  • One "corner" is left open (small opening, fit for single person) for easy entrance/exit (ninja can easily jump the walls, but someone might be coming in wounded)
  • No floor If practical a slab of stone as a floor platform to ward off tunnelers, no roof, minimal investment in the fort structure itself
  • Inside the fort (not visible from outside), place Air Dome seals and several traps so that fighting inside will be more difficult for those who weren't there when it was setr up.
    • Also people can drag in some logs and such so that there are things to duck behind in the event of an explosive tag or explosive jutsu goes off inside (mechanically, enough so a dodge roll is at least possible)
  • Mechanical Effect: Intent is that the Fort should be its own Zone, with a 2 shift Border and the Aspects "Prepared Ground" and "Open Challenge"

The Perimeter
  • Who: Have our best trap-makers (read: allied ninjas/Pangolins with high Craftsmanship: Trapmaking) make traps.
    • Use maneuvers to create Aspects for trap-making (e.g., have high-Awareness allies like Neji/Hinata check traps to make an Aspect).
    • Take advantage of circumstance modifiers (e.g., everyone familiarizes themselves with terrain to create "Familiar Terrain" tag).
    • Ask what (non-lethal) traps our allies can make, and add them to the list.
  • The surroundings:
    • Destroy good sources of cover and tall trees (height advantage) with explosive tags.
    • Make note of trees/deep water/land for trap placement.
    • During daytime, leave a clear lane that's trap-free for use in going out and coming back from trading seals. Wave would-be traders there as necessary.
    • As night falls, drop additional traps to cut off lane.
  • Making traps:
    • Location:
      • Spread traps among 3-5 layers around the perimeter of the fort.
      • Take advantage of natural hiding spots (e.g., reeds, small trees...).
      • Have plans for underwater/underground traps.
  • Potential Payloads
    • Alarm seals (make a perimeter, alert everyone if breached)
    • Explosive tags (training).
    • Macerators (Pangolin peppers). (do not use peppers, disguise granite as "Aces" section)
    • Banshee seals.
    • Goo Bombs (use sparingly).
  • Mechanical effect: Intent is that the area around the fort will be a Zone with the Aspect "Trapped Area" and a multiple shift border as you have to avoid traps to move through it. (Traps will also attack as normal if attacking ninjas fail their alertness rolls).
  • Trap types:
    • LBF payloads as claymores/various mechanical traps (as done here).
    • Contact/proximity explosive tags to underwater/underground mines.
    • Remote-detonation payloads with detonation location inside our base.
    • Prep Kagome Maneuvers to the fort walls.
  • Other:
    • Attach long-term light sources to ninja wire and connect them from the fort to the edge of the trap line. Should lower Stealth in case of ambush at night.
      • Mechanical: Add aspect "Lit area".
    • Carve signs warning other ninjas of the traps and the terms of trading. Place them at the edges of the trap line.
    • As possible make shadow sources for Shikamaru's bloodline to use. Let him lead this since it's a clan jutsu and OPSEC stuff. (Aspect "Shadows.)
Social and Strategy
  • Aces Section: Keep the following abilities concealed from both enemies and fellow Leaf Nin. Use them only if a Team Uplift member (including Akane)'s life is at stake:
    • Macerator seals with pepper spray
    • Use macerators with granite spray only during battle (not traps) and attempt to use Deception to make it seem like it was a jutsu if using them.
    • Ghost Scales
    • Pangolin Earth Armor
    • Discuss in code with Team Uplift, explaining you want to preserve these as Aces for Tournament. Ask in code what if anything they want to preserve and go along with whatever they want.
  • Discuss strategy with other teams
    • Trade-off we are proposing is that the enemy gets to attack at a time of their choosing but at a prepared ground of our choosing.
    • We expect that one or more teams won't be able to resist trying to follow through on the challenge we're making to them
    • Make them fight in area we have trapped and where we have some walls and air domes prepped for any wounded to retreat to.
    • If they need convincing, without going into any OPSEC-breaking identifying details about the enemy, mention how our team once held a location again a far superior force with prepared traps and explosives. We have experience with defensive emplacements, something most ninjas aren't used to dealing with.
  • Establish an inter-team leader for emergencies.
    • We want someone competent (capable of split-second decisions) whom everybody will follow and who is capable of split second command decisions.
    • Don't nominate ourselves, but if all/most teams want us don't refuse.
    • Possible nominees include: Shikamaru, Neji.
  • Suggest potential combat strategies.
  • Broad tactics
    • Our enemies need to get through our traps. Take time to Summon/prep jutsu, and determine enemy composition/strategy.
    • Our close taijutsu fighters will leave the fort to engage the enemy in trapped ground where we know where all the traps are and they don't. Concentrate on pinning enemy down and preventing them from getting to walls (Blocks, mechanically speaking)
    • Meanwhile jutsu and ranged fighters stay at the walls and attack from a distance, using walls as cover in any ranged fight.
    • Take advantage of the terrain and trap knowledge (invoke Aspects: Familiar Terrain and Traps Everywhere!).
    • Abuse the hell out of our seals, Banshees especially.
    • Combine Pangolin with team tactics to cover roles (e.g., long-ranged Pangolin with Akane's mostly-CQC team).
    • Work out some pre-arranged codes to shout during fight
    • Specific counters:
      • Mist: Use Elemental Mastery to alter temperature and disrupt mist formation.
        • We know this is insufficient by itself, but don't have great solutions and are open to suggestions. It's not a goodidea to let ninja from Mist Village to fight in the mist, so... anyone have any strong wind jutsus? Alternately, targeting whomever is generating the mist and doing a focus fire could be a decent plan.
      • Poison gas: Use Tunneler's Friend. (if we have them)
      • Elemental attacks: Defend with appropriate elemental jutsu (for Katon jutsu, use Suiton; for Suiton jutsu, use Doton...).
      • Underground foes: Send in Pangolins to KO them. (But test out tunneling jutsu and see if it's even a danger in the ground of a swamp.)
    • General Contingency: If we need to scatter due to an overwhelming powerful jutsu forcing a general "get out of the area" dodge, form back up into a wedge and start focus firing enemy genin, trying to keep local numerical superiority as we chew through the battlefield. (Mechanically, make sure we keep working together as a group for Maneuver-Attack combos.)
  • Establish an alternating watch.
    • Ideally we want 3 people on watch at all times, one on each of the three walls covering 120 degrees of approach.
  • Give seals to all participants.
    • Banshee Slayers. (coordinate with code word usage)
    • Tunneler's Friend. (see note below)
    • Training Explosives
  • Consult with Keiko and Shikamaru about how Hazou should spend his sealmaking time
    • Discuss that Tunnel's Friends could have great utility versus a poison gas attack versus Hazou needs to be making Party Trick seals so we can win the competition
    • Ask them to estimate how many Party Trick seals he needs to make for a safe margin and how many Tunneler's Friends he can safely slip in, and have Hazou adjust his sealmaking accordingly (assuming he should try to get a decent night's rest in there as well)
  • Make trades with ninjas who want to trade.
    • Send a clone to deliver/collect the seals, then have Noburi re-absorb the clone. Cost: 15CP per trade (refunded after).
    • Send Pandā to deliver/collect the seals. Cost: 15CP per trade.
    • Have a team or two do the trades. Cost: 0CP per trade, but marginally increased risk of injury (if they betray us).
  • Have Hazou make Party Trick Seals for points.
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Does anyone have objections to this plan? If not, forever hold your peace!

[X] Action Plan: No Hill Fort
 
Briefvoice said:
Proposal:

We update the plan so that Hazou does not use the following unless he thinks his life or one of his team's lives is at stake (and does not discuss when planning with other Leaf genin):
Ghost Scales
Pangolin Earth Armor
Macerator/Pepper Spray combination

Those would be our "aces" for the Tournament. Considering the Hazou has chuunin-level taijutsu, I think we can chance those exclusions for any fights here in the swamp.

Can I get yay/nay opinions?
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This is so that we can keep them in reserve for the tournament, right? If so, it might be worth mentioning that the one place Mist is definitely going to be placing Sharingan-Kurosawa is in the stands of the tournament, so they can copy any jutsu that are being used. It might actually be safer to use our pangolin jutsu here, where there's less chance of it being copied. And then not use them in the tournament.
 
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Sentient Tree said:
This is so that we can keep them in reserve for the tournament, right? If so, it might be worth mentioning that the one place Mist is definitely going to be placing Sharingan-Kurosawa is in the stands of the tournament, so they can copy any jutsu that are being used. It might actually be safer to use our pangolin jutsu here, where there's less chance of it being copied. And then not use them in the tournament.
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If we know they're going to try and steal the jutsu, there are a number of ways to thwart it. For instance, Hazou could wear a cloak and use it to conceal the handseals he's making. Or block line of sight with a Misterator. Or tunnel down and cast the jutsu while he's underground. (Not a bad idea anyway.)

Problems for future discussion, but by no means unsolvable.
 
Briefvoice said:
If we know they're going to try and steal the jutsu, there are a number of ways to thwart it. For instance, Hazou could wear a cloak and use it to conceal the handseals he's making. Or block line of sight with a Misterator. Or tunnel down and cast the jutsu while he's underground. (Not a bad idea anyway.)

Problems for future discussion, but by no means unsolvable.
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Don't forget that in in Naruto canon the Sharingan didn't actually need to see the handseals being made in order to copy a jutsu. Or even see the effects of the jutsu. Or that there was a person there who might have used a jutsu. It was enough that a jutsu was used, once, at some point in history. Or really even thought of. Oh, and giant chakra mecha. Because reasons.
 
eaglejarl said:
Don't forget that in in Naruto canon the Sharingan didn't actually need to see the handseals being made in order to copy a jutsu. Or even see the effects of the jutsu. Or that there was a person there who might have used a jutsu. It was enough that a jutsu was used, once, at some point in history. Or really even thought of. Oh, and giant chakra mecha. Because reasons.
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Solution: Kill the Sharingan-user.

Counterargument: Radvic will make nukes.

...

...Huh.
 
eaglejarl said:
Don't forget that in in Naruto canon the Sharingan didn't actually need to see the handseals being made in order to copy a jutsu. Or even see the effects of the jutsu. Or that there was a person there who might have used a jutsu. It was enough that a jutsu was used, once, at some point in history. Or really even thought of. Oh, and giant chakra mecha. Because reasons.
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LOL, well you can only try your best. Given that the sharingan user the summon clans are most familiar with is Itachi, who canonically in MfD came to the Sixth Path and kicked the ass of his summon clan singlehandedly to force them into line, the Polemarch might actually have some sympathy if he hears his pangolin jutsus got jacked by a sharingan user. Not liable for acts of God.

By the way, do you feel like the current version of the plan is clear enough? Anything you would like me to clean up? I know you don't like to evaluate plans for content, because that's playing the game for players, but just asking if it provides sufficient clarity after you had trouble with the previous one.
 
Countermeasure: If we see anyone wearing dark glasses or goggles amongst the tournament audience, we hit them with a Fuel Air Explosive. Easy.

More seriously, if this tactic actually worked, there wouldn't be any Chuunin exam tournaments, because Konoha would always have multiple Uchiha watching and copying. Which probably just means that MfD Sharingan isn't quite as bullshit as the canon version. Or at least that's how I choose to interpret @eaglejarl's latest post on the subject.
 
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Cariyaga said:
Does anyone have objections to this plan? If not, forever hold your peace!
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It's obviously a ridiculous plan, riddled with problems. I don't have time to detail them right now--maybe after the next plot post.
eaglejarl said:
Don't forget that in in Naruto canon the Sharingan didn't actually need to see the handseals being made in order to copy a jutsu. Or even see the effects of the jutsu. Or that there was a person there who might have used a jutsu. It was enough that a jutsu was used, once, at some point in history. Or really even thought of. Oh, and giant chakra mecha. Because reasons.
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Really? Huh, didn't know that. Now we know why the Uchiha Massacre. Itachi didn't want the competition. (Yeah, yeah, canon makes it some kind of pre-emptive counter-coup. If you believe that, I'd like to see you about an investment in San Francisco bridges.)
 
Raxner said:
The fact that they're not making much effort towards expansion is evidence (some evidence, anyways), for the existence of Scorch Squads or something functionally equivalent.
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Chakra beasts are a much simpler explanation. Honestly, the idea of scorch squads never sat well with me, and the more I think about them, the less cost-effective they seem. Even if they do exists, small settlements should still be safe in the immediate proximity of a hidden village or ninja outpost.

Raxner said:
Really? Huh, didn't know that. Now we know why the Uchiha Massacre. Itachi didn't want the competition. (Yeah, yeah, canon makes it some kind of pre-emptive counter-coup. If you believe that, I'd like to see you about an investment in San Francisco bridges.)
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There's no way the Uchiha Massacre isn't an inside job in MfD. The alternative is that a single teenager murdered all combat-ready ninja in a clan, alone, and without the rest of the village noticing. Either Itachi had help from Leaf ANBU and approval from Hiruzen, or he's an innocent who managed to escape the massacre, making himself into a convenient scapegoat.

Sentient Tree said:
Somehow, I don't show up?
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@Velorien used an outdated tally. Doesn't count my vote either. Not that it matters in this case.
 
Roomba said:
There's no way the Uchiha Massacre isn't an inside job in MfD. The alternative is that a single teenager murdered all combat-ready ninja in a clan, alone, and without the rest of the village noticing. Either Itachi had help from Leaf ANBU and approval from Hiruzen, or he's an innocent who managed to escape the massacre, making himself into a convenient scapegoat.
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TBF I don't think we know the details of the massacre? It's completely possible Itachi just used a mass-poison jutsu instead of punching them all to death.

Edit: And yes, I do think the holier-than-thou Uchiha Clan would have segregated their weak-ass Uchiha from the combat-capable Uchiha. They would totally do that.
 
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