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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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Velorien said:
Bear in mind that if the characters failed a Deception roll, you might not know about it.

As a GM, I regularly make my players make Perception or equivalent rolls while travelling or camping, whether there is actually something to notice or not. Otherwise, knowing that a roll has to be made is in itself a spoiler. (This is also why @eaglejarl does his "rolls if rolls were made" thing - I tend to take the opposite approach).
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My solution for tabletop games is to make everyone do a series of rolls at the start of the session and write them down. When a chance for Perception etc comes up I just use the next roll on the sheet without showing them that I'm doing it.
 
faflec said:
And the neighbors just decided to not send some extra fighting hands to ensure the safety and/or well-being of their livestock?
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Presumably, the farm is near civilization enough that it's safe to do so. Remember, not everything is dangerous wilderness waiting to bite your finger off.

You are simply getting paranoid because she told you like three paragraphs for which you have NO CONTEXT of the surrounding, like everybody freaking out at cute murder-girl because she have skywalkers.

The biggest danger right now is our team getting itchy trigger fingers rather than a ninja team ambushing us.
 
Kiba said:
Presumably, the farm is near civilization enough that it's safe to do so. Remember, not everything is dangerous wilderness waiting to bite your finger off.

You are simply getting paranoid because she told you like three paragraphs for which you have NO CONTEXT of the surrounding, like everybody freaking out at cute murder-girl because she have skywalkers.

The biggest danger right now is our team getting itchy trigger fingers rather than a ninja team ambushing us.
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...what exactly do you think I'm advocating? Because I'm not advocating exploding everything (right now).

I'd advocate quietly pulling Minami aside and telling her of our concerns under the guise of convincing her to help the contact. Then, assuming she doesn't overrule it, ask some pointed questions regarding the local wildlife/her neighbors, and then make a decision from there. Chances are we'd just be extra-cautious (don't eat her food, have a watch up) but it something else is noted we'd leave full stop. We aren't equipped to handle an unknown ninja force.
 
Also it is raining so if we get her and Noburi outside should be easyish to check her reserves
 
eaglejarl said:
My solution for tabletop games is to make everyone do a series of rolls at the start of the session and write them down. When a chance for Perception etc comes up I just use the next roll on the sheet without showing them that I'm doing it.
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Tsk tsk. You're missing a golden opportunity there. Every time the players make a Perception roll, they are reminded that they may be in danger without knowing it. When they make their rolls and detect nothing, they don't know whether there's really nothing there or whether their rolls were too low. Every time, they must ask themselves "Is this the one?" "Is this the one?"

Of course, it's easier in MfD, where the players take care of their own paranoia, and these days we hardly even get to drop ominous hints.
 
faflec said:
...what exactly do you think I'm advocating? Because I'm not advocating exploding everything (right now).

I'd advocate quietly pulling Minami aside and telling her of our concerns under the guise of convincing her to help the contact. Then, assuming she doesn't overrule it, ask some pointed questions regarding the local wildlife/her neighbors, and then make a decision from there. Chances are we'd just be extra-cautious (don't eat her food, have a watch up) but it something else is noted we'd leave full stop. We aren't equipped to handle an unknown ninja force.
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You are paranoid about the lady given things that she didn't explain things to you to your satisfaction. I am paranoid about being too paranoid that pattern match things that aren't there. I tried to come up with possible reasons why it might not be the case. Also her husband and her son might be simply riding someone else's wagon.

Anyway, we lack context, and neither of us are farmers in a death world let alone this particular patch of the Elemental Nations. This trigger hivemind paranoia as they look for the smallest discrepancies to justify it.

Remember also that we are a team of traumatized soldiers. We must be in control of ourselves in the presence of civilians.

That is my biggest worry.
 
Kiba said:
You are paranoid about the lady given things that she didn't explain things to you to your satisfaction. I am paranoid about being too paranoid that pattern match things that aren't there. I tried to come up with possible reasons why it might not be the case. Also her husband and her son might be simply riding someone else's wagon.

Anyway, we lack context, and neither of us are farmers in a death world let alone this particular patch of the Elemental Nations. This trigger hivemind paranoia as they look for the smallest discrepancies to justify it.

Remember also that we are a team of traumatized soldiers. We must be in control of ourselves in the presence of civilians.

That is my biggest worry.
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So...you're advocating...doing nothing?

Nothing at all?
 
Kiba said:
Presumably, the farm is near civilization enough that it's safe to do so. Remember, not everything is dangerous wilderness waiting to bite your finger off.

You are simply getting paranoid because she told you like three paragraphs for which you have NO CONTEXT of the surrounding, like everybody freaking out at cute murder-girl because she have skywalkers.

The biggest danger right now is our team getting itchy trigger fingers rather than a ninja team ambushing us.
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Reasons for my concern:

  • Contact phrase is pretty vague: it's entirely possible Jiraiya's contact is the husband and this woman isn't affiliated or knowledgable
  • Kagome gave identifying information about himself
  • It seems suspicious that the man and son would be out right now, having chosen to leave when a monsoon was coming
  • This stop is further out of the way than other stops - higher chance the contact has been compromised since the last check in
  • Contact's surprise, disbelief, and ask for proof that we are ninja (gives us a chance to pretend to be civilians)
All these things make me suspicious. I'm not saying we should kill her immediately, I'm mostly saying we shouldn't rest without Kagome setting up a defensive perimeter. Like, I think we should say no to her invitation to stay, then go build a Pangolin cave in the nearby middle of nowhere and have Kagome set up defenses. Then, ask Minami if we can check back on the woman stealthily in the morning (just make sure she's still at home and alone), and check her cover story (and help her husband if we find him).

That way, if she's a good Jiraiya agent, we helped her out, and just got a bit wet, and if she's compromised, we've maintained personal safety and gathered evidence of her being turned, so we may be able to save Jiraiya's information packet from falling into the wrong hands.
 
Radvic said:
Contact phrase is pretty vague: it's entirely possible Jiraiya's contact is the husband and this woman isn't affiliated or knowledgable
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I'm fairly certain the information we were given would have told us of the contact's gender.
Kiba said:
No. I suggest we keep an eye on Kagome and keep our paranoia in check, and if necessary get out ASAP. Get the least paranoid member of our team to ask questions whoever that is.
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Wouldn't that make Kagome more paranoid, if the least paranoid member was asking questions regarding the contact's story?
 
I am in favor of camping out if possible, though I am not optimistic about the possibility. It assuage both @faflec and my paranoia in different ways.
 
Kiba said:
I am in favor of camping out if possible, though I am not optimistic about the possibility. It assuage both @faflec and my paranoia in different ways.
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Depends on how "out" we are. If we disappear where a hypothetical watching ninja (from outside) couldn't track us I'm cool. But otherwise...

It's too bad we can't use Skytowers anymore, those would be really useful right about now. Keeps us safe and out of the rain.
 
Velorien said:
Tsk tsk. You're missing a golden opportunity there. Every time the players make a Perception roll, they are reminded that they may be in danger without knowing it. When they make their rolls and detect nothing, they don't know whether there's really nothing there or whether their rolls were too low. Every time, they must ask themselves "Is this the one?" "Is this the one?"

Of course, it's easier in MfD, where the players take care of their own paranoia, and these days we hardly even get to drop ominous hints.
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Valid point. Very valid. I will keep this in mind for the future. Can't have the players not becoming nervous wrecks getting complacent, now can we?

Radvic said:
we shouldn't rest without Kagome setting up a defensive perimeter.
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*blink*
Did it occur to you that he *wouldn't*? You have met the man, right? In a few minutes that room is going to be covered with enough explosives to put the house in orbit.
 
Space program with farm homes via explosive seals!

Well we are in a loop of bad thoughts about what action to take or if we should restrain ourselves. There is another option we could take, collect information. Actively investigate the area and subtlety interrogate the wife. Things Mari taught us to do.
 
Radvic said:
Reasons for my concern:

  • Contact phrase is pretty vague: it's entirely possible Jiraiya's contact is the husband and this woman isn't affiliated or knowledgable
  • Kagome gave identifying information about himself
  • It seems suspicious that the man and son would be out right now, having chosen to leave when a monsoon was coming
  • This stop is further out of the way than other stops - higher chance the contact has been compromised since the last check in
  • Contact's surprise, disbelief, and ask for proof that we are ninja (gives us a chance to pretend to be civilians.
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Okay. I'm looking at this from a DM trying to instill paranoia angle. If we cannot say for certain that we know she is one of Jiraiya's agents then can we let her leave with this bit of knowledge?

To use Minami's reasoning from a few updates ago if she gives away the information that an older man, a woman, and three young adults came to her home and were clearly ninja how long does that take to ring bells of missing-nin?

Kagome's living in the forest comment may not mean much to her but to a hunter-nin that may or may not have heard of us it is a clear sign of a missing-nin.

MfD is a world of plots and intrigue especially with a ninja world war looming. Two jonin level ninja traveling with three low chunin/genin who were missing nin for a long time will lead to Kagome's history and possibly link him to us.

I don't think we should kill her to be clear but I do not think we can leave without checking her story at minimum.
 
As the situation stands, Minami doesn't want to help her, which means in the morning we'll pack our things and move on. For us to get caught by a hypothetical trap at the wagon, we'd first need to convince Minami to go through with the mission, and if it's that risky we can just not stop Minami from denying the mission and leave in the morning.

How the wagon's being brought to the town when the farm doesn't have any horses might be a plot thread dangling in front of our faces, but even if it is we don't need to take it. Personally, I think we'd be better served by leaving this situation behind us so it can't end up hurting us, and trying to finish the courier mission this update.
 
Inferno Vulpix said:
Personally, I think we'd be better served by leaving this situation behind us so it can't end up hurting us, and trying to finish the courier mission this update.
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I don't think this is an option, sadly. We're spending the night and leaving the morning after, and we've announced the fact to the contact. She has all night to summon whatever ninja force is available, assuming she's turned.
 
What's this? Disagreement on a strategic level? You know what this calls for don't you? Multiple Plans and Voting! These barebones plans can be voted for as is, I won't be making major revisions to them. If interest happens to one, I'll link to somebody's Non-Binding Suggestion list if they make one for a relevant plan so the details can be hashed out without changing the overall objectives.

[X] Fireside Story Time
  • Accept the woman's invitation to stay the night: ask her questions about her life and the recent troubles. Make sure she hasn't been turned or anything
  • In the morning, go to check on her husband and son. Make sure they exist and help them if expediently possible. Don't tell the woman we're doing this

[X] The Mission Marches Ever Onward
  • Bid our hostess farewell and continue on our mission - can't stop for the night
[X] Paranoid Ninja say What
  • Bid our hostess farewell and say we must continue on our mission
  • Before we leave, ask some questions about her husband and son to check her story. Say that we're just asking in case we meet them.
  • Make a camp in the nearby woods (~2 miles from her house)
  • In the morning, check on our hostess - make sure she's still alone in the area
  • Check on her husband and son - make sure that story checks out
  • Continue on the mission
[X] Be Normal
  • Accept our hostess's invitation and leave in the morning to continue our mission
 
faflec said:
I don't think this is an option, sadly. We're spending the night and leaving the morning after, and we've announced the fact to the contact. She has all night to summon whatever ninja force is available, assuming she's turned.
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This is assuming that it is to their benefit to attack and grab us, instead of trying to identify every ninja that came through. If they coerce her, it's possible that we could pick up her lies.

Their best bet is to do long term surveillance until they milk everything of value.
 
Kiba said:
This is assuming that it is to their benefit to attack and grab us, instead of trying to identify every ninja that came through. If they coerce her, it's possible that we could pick up her lies.

Their best bet is to do long term surveillance until they milk everything of value.
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Unless they recognize us as the Cold Stone Killers, which they could because Noburi's barrel.
 
We don't have to just sit around fortifying our position we could also investigate too. In fact that shall be my plan.

[X] Action Plan: Investigation
  • Quietly investigate the farmhouse for evidence collaborating the story we have been told.
As it is raining outside could Noburi be a god right now? Anything outside with chakra is vulnerable to his powers and he would only need a bit of skin contact with the water. This aspect of his power is not obvious and easily rationalized as some other detection method, the desks Kagome has been putting everywhere could be pointed at as how we know of things going on.
 
Did anybody else notice that she didn't give a counter-sign? Well, unless, "welcome", was the counter-sign, but that's an extremely poorly chosen one. The other contact had and gave a counter-sign to the correct signal. Presumably, they all should just as a matter of good tradecraft.

As far as the team actually knows, they got lost in the dark and rain, stumbled upon completely the wrong farmhouse, got invited in as a matter of ordinary rural hospitality, and then told the confused civilian, "Hi, we're incredibly dangerous ninja sent by the world's most notorious spymaster to give you this confidential information and solve any problems you might currently have. (Oh, and by the way, if we find out that you're not who we think you are, we're probably going to kill you, everybody you know, and burn everything you've ever touched to the ground to cover this up.)"

I mean, everybody is exhausted and desperately wants to relax in a warm and dry safehouse, but regardless of the actuality of the current situation there appear to have been a lot of very serious screw-ups. Ironically, Hazou doesn't appear to have been directly responsible for any of them.
 
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Traiden said:
As it is raining outside could Noburi be a god right now? Anything outside with chakra is vulnerable to his powers and he would only need a bit of skin contact with the water. This aspect of his power is not obvious and easily rationalized as some other detection method, the desks Kagome has been putting everywhere could be pointed at as how we know of things going on.
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Don't forget that Noburi requires contiguous water between him and the target for long enough to sense them.
 
Lailoken said:
Did anybody else notice that she didn't give a counter-sign? Well, unless, "welcome", was the counter-sign, but that's an extremely poorly chosen one. The other contact had and gave a counter-sign to the correct signal. Presumably, they all should just as a matter of good tradecraft.

As far as the team actually knows, they got lost in the dark and rain, stumbled upon completely the wrong farmhouse, got invited in as a matter of ordinary rural hospitality, and then told the confused inhabitant, "Hi, we're ninja sent by the world's most notorious spymaster to give you this confidential information and solve any problems you might currently have."

Regardless of the actuality of the current situation, there appear to have been a lot of very serious screw-ups. Ironically, Hazou doesn't appear to have been directly responsible for any of them.
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This is an incredibly good point....
@eaglejarl did the contact give the appropriate counter sign?
 
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