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Dragon Ball: After the End

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I think I'd be fine with switching viewpoints, so long as we don't wind up knowing more than Kakara reasonably could. It's hard to stay engaged with a character when you know more than they do, doubly so when you need to make decisions for them and aren't allowed to act on all your knowledge.
PoptartProdigy said:
It is more power than you have ever felt from one place -- even from the Genki Dama.
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Oh. Did she eat Jaffur? ...And Raditz, and the rest of the Super Saiyans?
Oh.
Pittauro said:
do remember that

1)There's no guarantee we'll actually reach legendary. It can't be reached simply through training, it would take something special.
2)There is a good chance we might actually try/be offered something even BETTER for a legendary talent.
3)choosing the "less impressive" one seems like a bad decision strategy. Especially if the talent remains the same. I don't think it would simply be upgraded because we're taking it later. I'm not even sure if there are legendary-only talents or if they're the same

There are good arguments in favour of machine sense though, like the fact it would allow us to sense stealth spaceship, maybe stealthed enemy by sensing the energy of their stealth suits, and of course it would allow us to sense the ki/energy of androids and unusually advanced machines/weapons.

Who knows, maybe we'll be able to sense an enemy simply by the smartphone in their pocket :p
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If I were running this game, I would let Elite+ Talents be trained seperately from their skills. No good reason that learning Machine Sense should preclude learning All Is One, or that getting to Legendary should make learning Elite Talents harder.

Incidentally, I'm about half done with an omake. Expect to see it soonish.
 
HoratioVonBecker said:
Oh. Did she eat Jaffur? ...And Raditz, and the rest of the Super Saiyans?
Oh.
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or she achieved ssj god. Her ki would still be sensable while not in god form.
HoratioVonBecker said:
If I were running this game, I would let Elite+ Talents be trained seperately from their skills. No good reason that learning Machine Sense should preclude learning All Is One, or that getting to Legendary should make learning Elite Talents harder.

Incidentally, I'm about half done with an omake. Expect to see it soonish.
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Well, Elite talents mean you're breaking new ground in unexpected, possibly even considered impossible, ways.

If you manage TWO such discoveries, that could very well be enough to bring you to legendary rank.

I think Poptart told once that you could be taught more elite+ talents, or that you could research more of them once you reach Legendary, but I might remember wrong.

@PoptartProdigy could you clarify if elite+ talents can be achieved outside of the standard "get to that skill level"?


...Actually, by the definition of elite+ talents, wouldn't Jaffur and Tabe be Elite+ in ki control (or something close to that), due to how they discovered their own tricks? They're certainly (as far as we know) something new. Or are they different enough from ki control/known skills/abilities that they simply counted as inventing/discovery a completely separate skill?
 
Probably "separate skill," since Kakara would probably have noticed (given her own skills) if either of them had ki control superior to her own.

In fact, we explicitly know that Jaffur's Ki Refinement is a separate skill (since Kakara has a rank in it). And Tabe's Overdrive trick can be taught to someone who, so far as we know, does not have Elite ki control herself, namely Apra.

...

@PoptartProdigy , I find myself wondering whether/if Apra tried Overdrive against Yammar during the royal smackdown back on Garenhuld.
 
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Pittauro said:
@PoptartProdigy could you clarify if elite+ talents can be achieved outside of the standard "get to that skill level"?


...Actually, by the definition of elite+ talents, wouldn't Jaffur and Tabe be Elite+ in ki control (or something close to that), due to how they discovered their own tricks? They're certainly (as far as we know) something new. Or are they different enough from ki control/known skills/abilities that they simply counted as inventing/discovery a completely separate skill?
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An elite+ is part of what makes one elite+; once you hit Legendary, you can grind for additional talents, it's just that they don't coincide with a level up.

They will hit Elite once they finish developing their new tricks. As it presently stands, their new tricks in their present forms are prototypes.
Simon_Jester said:
Probably "separate skill," since Kakara would probably have noticed (given her own skills) if either of them had ki control superior to her own.

In fact, we explicitly know that Jaffur's Ki Refinement is a separate skill (since Kakara has a rank in it). And Tabe's Overdrive trick can be taught to someone who, so far as we know, does not have Elite ki control herself, namely Apra.

...

@PoptartProdigy , I find myself wondering whether/if Apra tried Overdrive against Yammar during the royal smackdown back on Garenhuld.
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Oh, she did try, yes.

Apra's problem was that she was pretty critically rusty. Like, she'd fallen out of training a while back. She started working again once shit started getting real, but she still had lost her edge, whereas Yammar kept himself combat-ready basically every day of his life.

So, for a while there, she absolutely kicked his ass...but he managed to ride it out until she ran out of juice. Didn't help that he managed to hurt her before she fired it up, nor that he had Senzus on hand. And then it was Yammar time.
 
Simon_Jester said:
In fact, we explicitly know that Jaffur's Ki Refinement is a separate skill (since Kakara has a rank in it). And Tabe's Overdrive trick can be taught to someone who, so far as we know, does not have Elite ki control herself, namely Apra.
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Actually, that's something I meant to ask forever ago and never got around to it: @PoptartProdigy given how you've described Elite Talents becoming regular separate talents for other people, did you model Jaffur's trick as being an Elite Ki Control talent for him, or was it always a separate thing?
 
Deathbybunnies said:
Actually, that's something I meant to ask forever ago and never got around to it: @PoptartProdigy given how you've described Elite Talents becoming regular separate talents for other people, did you model Jaffur's trick as being an Elite Ki Control talent for him, or was it always a separate thing?
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Jaffur gets a putative form of his eventual Elite Talent before touching Elite because he's got a trait.
 
PoptartProdigy said:
An elite+ is part of what makes one elite+; once you hit Legendary, you can grind for additional talents, it's just that they don't coincide with a level up.

They will hit Elite once they finish developing their new tricks. As it presently stands, their new tricks in their present forms are prototypes.
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interesting. It's like our perfect multiform. We're technically capable of using it, but as it's incomplete/inefficient it doesnt' count as an elite talent yet.

Does that mean that once we learn it we can teach it as its own technique to other people?


Also, this finally makes me understand how things would have worked in the past for skills that are normal today, but were exceptional in their time.

Like, the Kamehameha for Muten was probably an elite talent resulting from years of meditation and training. The Mafuuba was the same for Mutaito.

Yet when Goku learned those, to him they were normal skills.

So to Jaffur Ki Refinement will be a elite talent once he complete its development, to Kakara it would be a normal skill.

right?


Also, something I'm not sure if I already asked in the past: In this quest's canon was Cell actually capable of using Perfect Multiform, or was it a misunderstanding on our part?

I mean, if he REALLY could use it he would have likely used it against Gohan, and Goku wouldn't have had as little trouble as he did dealing with it.

I always assumed the clones seemed stronger than the normal 1/4 because Cell was actually hiding his full power, so he could actually make it seem like they didn't lose their strenght while in reality he was simply stopping holding back once splitted.

Or maybe he had it easier thanks to the "infinite ki reactors" he absorbed from the androids?
 
Pittauro said:
Does that mean that once we learn it we can teach it as its own technique to other people?
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Yes.
Pittauro said:
So to Jaffur Ki Refinement will be a elite talent once he complete its development, to Kakara it would be a normal skill.

right?
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Also yes. Albeit an advanced one.
Pittauro said:
Also, something I'm not sure if I already asked in the past: In this quest's canon was Cell actually capable of using Perfect Multiform, or was it a misunderstanding on our part?
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Kakara is modeling her research on a technique Cell was recorded to use against Goku, and as far as she knows, the record is accurate. She presumes there was some drawback to the technique which Cell declined to share with his opponents.
 
So... given that it's the Elite+ Talent which makes you Elite, I guess it's less of a question of which talent we want as a reward and more of which one do we want Kakara to train in.

Also, thanks to @Pittauro I am now imaging that when Kakara eventually goes theough the gauntlet of fighting through Hell in order to reach Heaven, she meets Cell and it really does turn out she made a real technique where he was faking. :D
 
buli-buli said:
So... given that it's the Elite+ Talent which makes you Elite, I guess it's less of a question of which talent we want as a reward and more of which one do we want Kakara to train in.

Also, thanks to @Pittauro I am now imaging that when Kakara eventually goes theough the gauntlet of fighting through Hell in order to reach Heaven, she meets Cell and it really does turn out she made a real technique where he was faking. :D
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I was thinking of the Nail Gun thing. A new technique born of a misunderstanding :p

You know, Perfect Multiform will help a lot in hell. We only need ONE clone to make it through, we can leave 3 Golden Oozaru making a ruckus while Kakara proceeds stealthly

about the "training talents.."

well, training machine sense NOW seems pretty hard. We can maybe try to sense the energy of Namekian spaceships, and that's it. And they're probably created through magic, so maybe they work differently. It would be a lot easier once we meet the androids.

One is All seems instead like something we could train anywhere.

We'd want to complete the multiform training before proceeding to the next elite training of course. We don't want to spread ourselves too thin.
 
PoptartProdigy said:
Kakara is modeling her research on a technique Cell was recorded to use against Goku, and as far as she knows, the record is accurate. She presumes there was some drawback to the technique which Cell declined to share with his opponents.
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Random thought, but what if Cell's Perfect Multiform was similar to his creation of the Cell Juniors? As far as I can remember he wasn't hiding so much of his power as to match a Full Power Super Saiyan seven times over without weakening himself too much, and from how they were treated both during the fight and once they regenerated we know that once Cell initially created the Jr's they were their own people with their own source of ki. Maybe he did something similar with his clones, making a separate body with its own power source but never allowing it to become another individual?

From what we've seen so far of Kakara's take on the technique she doesn't do that (which is good, because that might kinda be murder), but we've been repeatedly reminded that it's possible we developed it along entirely different paths than Cell.
 
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The troubles are nearly over!
 
Building Up
  • Threadmarks
    • [X][KILL] Speak up now and remind them all that one, you're thirteen, and two, you actually have a fairly developed view of violence and killing which means that you're not actually willing to kill Haila in cold blood, since they all seem quite certain that you can win the fight without resorting to lethal force.

    [X][MIND] Shielding. The number one immediate use you have in mind for this talent is shielding your mind from foreign influences. Dazarel begins helping you to refine the lightning shield.

    [X][TRAP] Wish for the trap to be destroyed. (x1.1 vote weighting from, "Ambitious.")

    [X][LURE] Get aggressive. Confirm his location and attack immediately. Get his guards away from him and throw up a katchin dome. Once that happens, you can fight him unimpeded.
    [X][ASK] Kakara, how difficult is it to grow extra arms in Shade form?

    "I can't do that at all, let alone as a shade."

    Building Up
    ​
    You stare up at the projection of Porunga, weighing the possibilities. It's all very sorts of tempting to wish him gone. You have the chance of gaining wishes. But...

    ...

    ...no.

    No, no but. Free wishes. Free wishes. You can help your host/maybe-kinda-friend, do the Namekians a favor, and get wishes.

    You step forward, away from Bassoon. "I'll do it."

    He blinks, doing a double take. "Wait, what? Really? If you were just going to do it, why'd you call us in?"

    You turn around and step backwards, spreading your arms. "I was sick and tired of the trap. It was annoying me. And I thought I might as well get some experts on the problem. But the experts gave a big shrug." You drop your arms and turn back around, stalking to the plinth in the center of the stone circle. "I'm still sick and tired of the trap. I want to be done with this." You come to a halt before the plinth and look up. "Great Porunga, I have a wish to make!"

    Porunga peers down at you. "I AM LISTENING."

    You swallow, fighting back a last moment surge of doubts. "I wish for this trap to be destroyed, and Bassoon's mind restored to how it should be."

    Porunga's eyes glint; not with the telltale flash of a granted wish, but with a more mundane glimpse of triumph. "IT IS DONE."

    WHUMP

    A shockwave blasts out in all directions, flattening the grass and peeling back the shroud of darkness in the sky. As it hits the eclipsed suns, the eclipses end and the sky burns blue, light returning to the world. You brace yourself for the sound of an ocean of shattering glass, but it never comes.

    When you look back out across the plains, you see the blades of grass simply swaying back upright. Normal. Flexible. Just grass.

    Thank the kais.

    You let out a sigh of mingled relief and frustration, close your eyes, and take a slow, cleansing breath.

    It is at that moment that the stone circle starts to collapse.

    With the rumbles and cracks of shattering rock, the stones rend themselves apart, splintering like wood. From above, you hear a titanic sigh, before Porunga speaks again. "AND WELL DONE, TOO. I AM IN YOUR DEBT, SCION."

    The wind builds to a shriek as you slowly turn, your stance widening instinctively. Air rushes past you, inwards towards the plinth and then up. Porunga stares down at you, his eyes still glowing bright red.

    "SEEK ME OUT, WHEN NEXT WE EACH STAND IN THE MATERIAL WORLD. I AM UNFAMILIAR WITH THE HOLDING OF DEBTS, AND FIND IT UNPLEASANT. SEEK ME OUT, AND MAKE A WISH. BE IT WITHIN MY POWER, THEN ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT THE COVENANT OF THE DRAGON BALLS COMPELS OF ME, I WILL GRANT IT."

    You hear a muffled gasp from Bassoon, but have no time to contemplate it. The wind intensifies into a raging howl that would likely deafen you, were you without your ki. A whirling tornado builds around Porunga.

    "NOW I GO, BACK TO MY SLUMBER," he proclaims. "FAREWELL!"

    The wind intensified, dust snaps up into it...and then the plinth explodes. Shards patter off of your quickly-upraised arms. The shockwave actually forces you back a step.

    Then, when you look up again, the stone circle and Porunga are both gone without even a trace. You smile, a mixture of anticipation, satisfaction, and general fuzzy feelings. That was a good thing you just did, and it's going to pay off in spectacular fashion.

    Then, from behind you, Bassoon burst out with, "A free wish?!"

    Despite the fact that you're looking away from him, you immediately suck in your lips to hold back a smile. "He seems like he gives the best gifts."

    The trap is dismantled. Porunga seems to have been freed? You guess you'll figure out whether or not that was real the next time he's summoned.

    Something has shifted, since the trap dispelled. Bassoon's subconscious is cleaner, the air is lighter. Host Bond increased to level 2. Salient changes: manifestation time up to twenty minutes per day, and you can now use your own senses in place of his, through his eyes and ears, although you cannot grant him the benefits of those senses directly    .

    * * *​

    At the defense summit...

    As Guru peers at you, through Bassoon, you grimace. "Actually, back up," you say, scowling a bit.

    Guru blinks at your tone; the other Elders mutter between themselves, frowning in disapproval. "What is it?" asks Guru.

    You fold your arms and lift your chin. You know the reaction you're about to get. You wouldn't get it from every saiyan -- not like your distaste for fighting would -- but from a group of military leaders? Oh, yes.

    But you won't remain silent.

    "I don't kill," you say.

    There's a moment -- just a heartbeat, really -- of silence as they process that.

    Then Guru nods. "All right, then."

    "Reasonable enough," says one of the other Elders.

    "I told you all it was a bit much to be putting on a thirteen-year-old," grumbles one of the others.

    "Indeed you did, Elder Pura," sighs Guru. "I apologize, Kakara. I suppose we got carried away. Of course we will respect that. I did not mean to imply that we were asking you to, although I suppose that I may have fallen into the trap of assuming you would."

    You blink. "I...what?"

    "It would be utterly unreasonable of me to expect for you to kill on our behalf," he continues. "If anything, I want you to know that I respect the conviction your refusal to do so implies. Thank you for being willing to tell us this."

    You shake your head. "You're not...mad about this? At all?"

    "Well, it does make things a bit more complicated, but again, I respect the conviction," he says. "The galaxy would be a better place if more people thought that way." He sighs. "Alas."

    Pura leans forward again. "If you are -- entirely understandably -- unwilling to use lethal force, we need to consider the other options." He glances around the table with a superior expression. "As, if you all remember, I said-"

    "Yes,     Pura, thank you kindly for reminding us," sighs Guru, his expression pinched. Pura subsides, and Guru takes a deep breath. "I suppose this segues nicely enough into our next topic." He leans forward. "We need more information. Thanks to the Scion's information, we know roughly when the Empire will arrive, but little else. The adventurers have been returning as the summonses go out; now we must ask them to leave again." He presses his lips together in a grim line. "They are the ones with the most experience in the outside galaxy. We need to send them out and learn all we can about this invasion. And..." He glances up at Bassoon. "Scion, I apologize if this will disrupt your plans, but Bassoon must go with them."

    You flinch. "...but I need to train Perika!"

    "We can train her," says one of the elders down at the other end of the table. "We are not unaccomplished warriors."

    "But you're not saiyans," you continue. "Perika's already at a wall, and if nobody's there to guide her, she might explode past it out of sheer frustration. You're not ready to deal with an angry super saiyan."

    "She and you already train in katchin domes," points out Bassoon. "It'd be easy enough to contain her."

    You cast around for different explanations. "You won't be able to train her strength like I can, especially since the only way it can possibly happen at this point is through transformation. You have skills, but nobody does strength training like an Exile. We have it down to a science."

    "You will have time to prepare her," answers Guru. "I don't intend on you leaving immediately, after all. Plenty of time to set up a training regimen to which she can stick." He tilts his head. "Why are you so set on staying?"

    You bite your lip. You hate to admit it, but they're right. You don't really have many reasons they can't answer. It's more...responsibility. You rejected Perika saying that you have to be in charge because you have the highest rank around, but that doesn't change the fact that she claimed you as her Lady. You cast about, struggling to find an explanation that could convey to a room full of anarchists the level of responsibility for her well-being that placed on your shoulders.

    You fail, and cross your arms. "I don't like running out on my responsibilities," you eventually say.

    Guru nods, giving you a sympathetic grimace. "I understand, but...we really need Bassoon out there. He's our best."

    Your host shifts uncomfortably. "Father-"

    Guru holds up his hands. "No, no! You don't get to run supplies through the Siege of Arcosa every six months and tell me that you aren't our best! This isn't fatherly pride talking-"

    You hear Pura cough something that sounds suspiciously like, "Lies!"

    Guru ignores him with princely equanimity. "-it's simple fact. We might have stronger, but we don't have better, and we need the best we can get right now!" He then shifts his expression slightly in a way that makes it clear he's addressing you; a little less fierce pride, a little more intense sincerity. "And that is why we need him out there, Scion. I would honestly prefer to hold you back, but we need information, and Bassoon is the best we have. Furthermore -- and this is where the segue comes in -- if the Cold Prince is going to survive this battle, we need alternative methods of keeping your existence a secret. The ability to erase or modify memories is rare and ill-practiced on Namek, and I hesitate to rely on our mages for it; the wider galaxy may have more skilled individuals." You grimace, and your silence apparently speaks for you, because Guru then follows it with, "I can give you a month to prepare. We're still getting more people in who I want on the mission, anyway, and they'll need time to rest and prepare."

    You sigh, long and hard. You purse your lips. At length, you reply with, "I understand."

    Truthfully, it's all you can say that wouldn't burn bridges for little gain right now.

    Perika's going to be pissed.


    You have a month left on Namek before Bassoon needs to head out on a scouting trip. You'll be going with. If you have anything to do that relies on being on Namek in particular, now is the time.

    You have five free AP.

    Going by your visions, you have ten months until the invasion hits New Namek    .

    The Sight -- or, perhaps more accurately, your psychic abilities -- got you into this mess. Kais and Ancestors willing, they will get you out. This category has 2 AP.

    [ ] Continue Your Training (1 AP): Dazarel hasn't let up with his insistence on training you. It's actually cute, how afraid he seems of the idea of failing in the task Grandpa Gohan gave him. Now, you need to get to work on improving your gifts, starting with the lightning shield. Follow Dazarel's training regime.

    [ ] Looking Home (1 AP): You may have left home, but you will return someday. When you do, it would be best to be well informed. Devote a substantial amount of time and effort to using your Sight to keep up to date on the current events on Garenhuld.

    [ ] Future Options (1 AP): The mysterious destinations that called to you when you fled Garenhuld, and again when you departed the Other World, are an intriguing mystery. Bassoon may have been a friend, but can you guarantee that the self-described, "Enemies," will be? Try to pierce the odd veil around your host options, revealing a chosen option's identity for the next time you need to find a new host.

    [ ] Looking Abroad (1 AP) [TOPIC HERE]: It is difficult to fully describe the dizzying potential of your Sight. With sufficient precision and effort, literally anything past, present, or future is yours to behold. Use your Sight to look into a topic of your choice to the best of your abilities.

    The drive to improve oneself is intrinsic to the saiyan race, and you are as saiyan as they come in the modern world. This category has 3 AP.

    [ ] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: Choose one of your existing skills to improve. Make a training roll in the specified skill. Exceptional or higher skills are a matter for the, "To Go Beyond," option below. Please note that you can no longer directly train super-skills like Hand-to-Hand or Ki Manipulation.

    [ ] New Skills (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: Your repertoire is impressive, but it can always expand. Variety is the spice of life and the key to not losing it. Acquire any skill of which Kakara knows, at an appropriate starting level. The skill's theory and practice must be things to which Kakara has access.

    [ ] Research Project (1 AP) [PROJECT NAME GOES HERE]: There are some whispered legends yet to be recreated; there are some things held to be impossible. You brought the Genki Dama back into the world. You're only getting started. Start making research rolls to acquire or invent a skill to which Kakara does not have access. The project name should be the name of a technique you want to acquire or an effect you want to achieve, whichever is more descriptive (i.e., "Perfect Multiform," or, "a good piercing attack with an emphasis on speed." Success is not guaranteed.

    [ ] Style Training (1 AP) [STYLE HERE]: Yammar took you apart. A good part of that is who he is and the experiences he has endured, but another part was his simple superiority as a fighter. You must improve. When you return to Garenhuld, it will not be peacefully. Make training rolls towards leveling up one of your combat styles.

    [ ] Invent a Style (2 AP): Perhaps the answers to your needs do not rest in the past. Perhaps you need to strike your own path, if you are to stand up to the trials set against you. Design a new combat style and begin training it.

    [ ] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: You have experienced moments throughout your life that hint at an understanding of your current techniques which few can equal. You have the chance to truly push the boundaries of your people's knowledge. Select either Ki Sense or Multiform and begin training it to Elite+ levels.

    [ ] Broken Precedent (2 AP): Perika was brought into this world at peak base saiyan strength with a wish that supposed she'd be useful for fighting an opponent at your level. Moreover, she is a saiyan without a support structure, loose in the wider galaxy. You have already given leave to the Senzus to reach for the next level. You must do the same for Perika. Settle down with Perika, and for the first time in your life, help to create another super saiyan.

    For as long as you can recall, you have been an outgoing girl. Though you have grown rapidly over the past year or so and your life has turned upside-down, that fundamental truth has not changed. This category has 2 AP.

    [ ] Strengthen Host Bond (1 AP): Neither you nor Bassoon fully understand the nature of the ties that bind you. Perhaps you can unravel the mystery of your presence here. Deepen the metaphysical connection you have with Bassoon by running experiments with him and exploring his mindscape.

    [ ] Talk to Dazarel (1 AP): Dazarel is a twisted, evil monster who believes might makes right and that psychic might makes rightest of all. Your own abilities and obvious power grant you some respect from him, but everybody else is like so much chaff to him. Still, you are stuck with him, and have managed to gain some insight into his character. Perhaps, with time and effort, you might render him something approaching tolerable.

    [ ] Strange Sister (1 AP): Perika has established a bond of trust with you that you can't help but try to live up to. She has claimed you as her Lady. It is only right that you spend time with her, and ensure you're doing right by her. Also...you need to prepare her for your absence.

    [ ] General Training (2 AP): Now that you can communicate with people outside of Bassoon's head, you intend to take advantage of it. Spend time walking as many namekian warriors as will listen through basic training regimens. You can't give much, but you should hopefully be able to give more than they have.

    [ ] Socialize With [TARGET] (1 AP): You can now use your telepathy to speak with individuals outside of Bassoon's head, and your social circle has thus expanded tremendously. Take advantage of this and grind up your relationship with any person of your choice.

    With the level of access you have, it's all-but-guaranteed that you'll be able to sway Bassoon into doing things in the outside world. This category has 2 AP.

    [ ] Adventures (2 AP): New Namek is bracing for invasion, but there's a whole galaxy out there. You and Bassoon have access to a stealth ship. With the scouting trip coming soon, this will mostly be groundwork for that, but you might find something interesting.

    [ ] Instruction (1 AP): He might complain about bottle blondes again, but you're riding in Bassoon's head, and you have a vested interest in keeping it intact. In spare moments, impart some of the secrets of your people's warrior traditions to him. The irony in you, of all people, doing this is stifling, but you'll power through. Bassoon makes a concerted effort to train his power level and abilities this month, and you directly assist him.

    [ ] Historical Insights (1 AP): Bassoon has mentioned to you, offhand, that he's originally a historian by trade. That actually represents a significant source of information for you on the state of the galaxy, and it'd be nearly criminal to neglect it. Bassoon gives you a history lesson on a topic of his choosing. Gain deep insight into that topic.

    You have sworn Dandeer Vegeta's complete and utter defeat, and your and Jaffur's ascension to your people's leadership. You will see it done. This category has 1 AP.

    [ ] Anything (AP Variable): You may fill this category with any type of action from any other category, as long as it applies directly to improving your ability to defeat Dandeer.

    [ ] Write-In (AP Variable): You are Kakara Goku, and it has admittedly been a little while since you last made a proper list! You're sure that you can come up with something else that you've forgotten at just this moment!

    MANUAL MORATORIUM; APPROVAL VOTING.

    Please form a plan from the above options, as usual.

    Worth noting again that Kakara is being extremely uncharitable with the namekians' political system. Again, she's an autocrat from an extremely collectivist society; while she has vague republican sympathies, she views liberal democracy as about as fringe as things can realistically get while still being credible forms of governance -- and even then, she's had the narrative that it's fundamentally unworkable for saiyan societies in her head for all her life. Thus why she thinks of even semi-anarchic, highly individualistic societies like New Namek's as fully and negatively anarchic, and just kind of unquestioningly assumes that nobody who lives there would be able to comprehend the concept of one's position imposing responsibilities.

    She's got a big blind spot around this. And, most importantly, she is not me and you should not be angry with me for her opinions. :p

    All right, we're back up and running, folks! I've missed you. ;) Let's get back on with things, shall we? Go ahead and remind me if there were any options I promised that I've missed here; it has been a while. Also, please remember to tag me with write-ins, so I can feature them in the unlock!

    Welcome back! :D
     
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    • PoptartProdigy said:
    [X][KILL] Speak up now and remind them all that one, you're thirteen, and two, you actually have a fairly developed view of violence and killing which means that you're not actually willing to kill Haila in cold blood, since they all seem quite certain that you can win the fight without resorting to lethal force.

    [X][MIND] Shielding. The number one immediate use you have in mind for this talent is shielding your mind from foreign influences. Dazarel begins helping you to refine the lightning shield.

    [X][TRAP] Wish for the trap to be destroyed. (x1.1 vote weighting from, "Ambitious.")

    [X][LURE] Get aggressive. Confirm his location and attack immediately. Get his guards away from him and throw up a katchin dome. Once that happens, you can fight him unimpeded.
    [X][ASK] Kakara, how difficult is it to grow extra arms in Shade form?

    "I can't do that at all, let alone as a shade."

    Building Up
    ​
    You stare up at the projection of Porunga, weighing the possibilities. It's all very sorts of tempting to wish him gone. You have the chance of gaining wishes. But...

    ...

    ...no.

    No, no but. Free wishes. Free wishes. You can help your host/maybe-kinda-friend, do the Namekians a favor, and get wishes.

    You step forward, away from Bassoon. "I'll do it."

    He blinks, doing a double take. "Wait, what? Really? If you were just going to do it, why'd you call us in?"

    You turn around and step backwards, spreading your arms. "I was sick and tired of the trap. It was annoying me. And I thought I might as well get some experts on the problem. But the experts gave a big shrug." You drop your arms and turn back around, stalking to the plinth in the center of the stone circle. "I'm still sick and tired of the trap. I want to be done with this." You come to a halt before the plinth and look up. "Great Porunga, I have a wish to make!"

    Porunga peers down at you. "I AM LISTENING."

    You swallow, fighting back a last moment surge of doubts. "I wish for this trap to be destroyed, and Bassoon's mind restored to how it should be."

    Porunga's eyes glint; not with the telltale flash of a granted wish, but with a more mundane glimpse of triumph. "IT IS DONE."

    WHUMP

    A shockwave blasts out in all directions, flattening the grass and peeling back the shroud of darkness in the sky. As it hits the eclipsed suns, the eclipses end and the sky burns blue, light returning to the world. You brace yourself for the sound of an ocean of shattering glass, but it never comes.

    When you look back out across the plains, you see the blades of grass simply swaying back upright. Normal. Flexible. Just grass.

    Thank the kais.

    You let out a sigh of mingled relief and frustration, close your eyes, and take a slow, cleansing breath.

    It is at that moment that the stone circle starts to collapse.

    With the rumbles and cracks of shattering rock, the stones rend themselves apart, splintering like wood. From above, you hear a titanic sigh, before Porunga speaks again. "AND WELL DONE, TOO. I AM IN YOUR DEBT, SCION."

    The wind builds to a shriek as you slowly turn, your stance widening instinctively. Air rushes past you, inwards towards the plinth and then up. Porunga stares down at you, his eyes still glowing bright read.

    "SEEK ME OUT, WHEN NEXT WE EACH STAND IN THE MATERIAL WORLD. I AM UNFAMILIAR WITH THE HOLDING OF DEBTS, AND FIND IT UNPLEASANT. SEEK ME OUT, AND MAKE A WISH. BE IT WITHIN MY POWER, THEN ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT THE COVENANT OF THE DRAGON BALLS COMPELS OF ME, I WILL GRANT IT."

    You hear a muffled gasp from Bassoon, but have no time to contemplate it. The wind intensifies into a raging howl that would likely deafen you, were you without your ki. A whirling tornado builds around Porunga.

    "NOW I GO, BACK TO MY SLUMBER," he proclaims. "FAREWELL!"

    The wind intensified, dust snaps up into it...and then the plinth explodes. Shards patter off of your quickly-upraised arms. The shockwave actually forces you back a step.

    Then, when you look up again, the stone circle and Porunga are both gone without even a trace. You smile, a mixture of anticipation, satisfaction, and general fuzzy feelings. That was a good thing you just did, and it's going to pay off in spectacular fashion.

    Then, from behind you, Bassoon burst out with, "A free wish?!"

    Despite the fact that you're looking away from him, you immediately suck in your lips to hold back a smile. "He seems like he gives the best gifts."

    The trap is dismantled. Porunga seems to have been freed? You guess you'll figure out whether or not that was real the next time he's summoned.

    Something has shifted, since the trap dispelled. Bassoon's subconscious is cleaner, the air is lighter. Host Bond increased to level 2. Salient changes: manifestation time up to twenty minutes per day, and you can now use your own senses in place of his, through his eyes and ears, although you cannot grant him the benefits of those senses directly    .

    * * *​

    At the defense summit...

    As Guru peers at you, through Bassoon, you grimace. "Actually, back up," you say, scowling a bit.

    Guru blinks at your tone; the other Elders mutter between themselves, frowning in disapproval. "What is it?" asks Guru.

    You fold your arms and lift your chin. You know the reaction you're about to get. You wouldn't get it from every saiyan -- not like you distaste for fighting would -- but from a group of military leaders? Oh, yes.

    But you won't remain silent.

    "I don't kill," you say.

    There's a moment -- just a heartbeat, really -- of silence as they process that.

    Then Guru nods. "All right, then."

    "Reasonable enough," says one of the other Elders.

    "I told you all it was a bit much to be putting on a thirteen-year-old," grumbles one of the others.

    "Indeed you did, Elder Pura," sighs Guru. "I apologize, Kakara. I suppose we got carried away. Of course we will respect that. I did not mean to imply that we were asking you to, although I suppose that I may have fallen into the trap of assuming you would."

    You blink. "I...what?"

    "It would be utterly unreasonable of me to expect for you to kill on our behalf," he continues. "If anything, I want you to know that I respect the conviction your refusal to do so implies. Thank you for being willing to tell us this."

    You shake your head. "You're not...made about this? At all?"

    "Well, it does make things a bit more complicated, but again, I respect the conviction," he says. "The galaxy would be a better place if more people thought that way." He sighs. "Alas."

    Pura leans forward again. "If you are -- entirely understandably -- unwilling to use lethal force, we need to consider the other options." He glances around the table with a superior expression. "As, if you all remember, I said-"

    "Yes,     Pura, thank you kindly for reminding us," sighs Guru, his expression pinched. Pura subsides, and Guru takes a deep breath. "I suppose this segues nicely enough into our next topic." He leans forward. "We need more information. Thanks to the Scion's information, we know roughly when the Empire will arrive, but little else. The adventurers have been returning as the summonses go out; now we must ask them to leave again." He presses his lips together in a grim line. "They are the ones with the most experience in the outside galaxy. We need to send them out and learn all we can about this invasion. And..." He glances up at Bassoon. "Scion, I apologize if this will disrupt your plans, but Bassoon must go with them."

    You flinch. "...but I need to train Perika!"

    "We can train her," says one of the elders down at the other end of the table. "We are not unaccomplished warriors."

    "But you're not saiyans," you continue. "Perika's already at a wall, and if nobody's there to guide her, she might explode past it out of sheer frustration. You're not ready to deal with an angry super saiyan."

    "She and you already train in katchin domes," points out Bassoon. "It'd be easy enough to contain her."

    You cast around for different explanations. "You won't be able to train her strength like I can, especially since the only way it can possibly happen at this point is through transformation. You have skills, but nobody does strength training like an Exile. We have it down to an science."

    "You will have time to prepare her," answers Guru. "I don't intend on you leaving immediately, after all. Plenty of time to set up a training regimen to which she can stick." He tilts his head. "Why are you so set on staying?"

    You bite your lip. You hate to admit it, but they're right. You don't really have many reasons they can't answer. It's more...responsibility. You rejected Perika saying that you have to be in charge because you have the highest rank around, but that doesn't change the fact that she claimed you as her Lady. You cast about, struggling to find an explanation that could convey to a room full of anarchists the level of responsibility for her well-being that placed on your shoulders.

    You fail, and cross your arms. "I don't like running out on my responsibilities," you eventually say.

    Guru nods, giving you a sympathetic grimace. "I understand, but...we really need Bassoon out there. He's out best."

    Your host shifts uncomfortably. "Father-"

    Guru holds up his hands. "No, no! You don't get to run supplies through the Siege of Arcosa every six months and tell me that you aren't our best! This isn't fatherly pride talking-"

    You hear Pura cough something that sounds suspiciously like, "Lies!"

    Guru ignores him with princely equanimity. "-it's simple fact. We might have stronger, but we don't have better, and we need the best we can get right now!" He then shifts his expression slightly in a way that makes it clear he's addressing you; a little less fierce pride, a little more intense sincerity. "And that is why we need him out there, Scion. I would honestly prefer to hold you back, but we need information, and Bassoon is the best we have. Furthermore -- and this is where the segue comes in -- if Haila is going to survive this battle, we need alternative methods of keeping your existence a secret. The ability to erase or modify memories is rare and ill-practiced on Namek, and I hesitate to rely on our mages for it; the wider galaxy may have more skilled individuals." You grimace, and your silence apparently speaks for you, because Guru then follows it with, "I can give you a month to prepare. We're still getting more people in who I want on the mission, anyway, and they'll need time to rest and prepare."

    You sigh, long and hard. You purse your lips. At length, you reply with, "I understand."

    Truthfully, it's all you can say that wouldn't burn bridges for little gain right now.

    Perika's going to be pissed.


    You have a month left on Namek before Bassoon needs to head out on a scouting trip. You'll be going with. If you have anything to do that relies on being on Namek in particular, now is the time.

    You have five free AP.

    Going by your visions, you have ten months until the invasion hits New Namek    .

    The Sight -- or, perhaps more accurately, your psychic abilities -- got you into this mess. Kais and Ancestors willing, they will get you out. This category has 2 AP.

    [ ] Continue Your Training (1 AP): Dazarel hasn't let up with his insistence on training you. It's actually cute, how afraid he seems of the idea of failing in the task Grandpa Gohan gave him. Now, you need to get to work on improving your gifts, starting with the lightning shield. Follow Dazarel's training regime.

    [ ] Looking Home (1 AP): You may have left home, but you will return someday. When you do, it would be best to be well informed. Devote a substantial amount of time and effort to using your Sight to keep up to date on the current events on Garenhuld.

    [ ] Future Options (1 AP): The mysterious destinations that called to you when you fled Garenhuld, and again when you departed the Other World, are an intriguing mystery. Bassoon may have been a friend, but can you guarantee that the self-described, "Enemies," will be? Try to pierce the odd veil around your host options, revealing a chosen option's identity for the next time you need to find a new host.

    [ ] Looking Abroad (1 AP) [TOPIC HERE]: It is difficult to fully describe the dizzying potential of your Sight. With sufficient precision and effort, literally anything past, present, or future is yours to behold. Use your Sight to look into a topic of your choice to the best of your abilities.

    The drive to improve oneself is intrinsic to the saiyan race, and you are as saiyan as they come in the modern world. This category has 3 AP.

    [ ] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: Choose one of your existing skills to improve. Make a training roll in the specified skill. Exceptional or higher skills are a matter for the, "To Go Beyond," option below. Please note that you can no longer directly train super-skills like Hand-to-Hand or Ki Manipulation.

    [ ] New Skills (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: Your repertoire is impressive, but it can always expand. Variety is the spice of life and the key to not losing it. Acquire any skill of which Kakara knows, at an appropriate starting level. The skill's theory and practice must be things to which Kakara has access.

    [ ] Research Project (1 AP) [PROJECT NAME GOES HERE]: There are some whispered legends yet to be recreated; there are some things held to be impossible. You brought the Genki Dama back into the world. You're only getting started. Start making research rolls to acquire or invent a skill to which Kakara does not have access. The project name should be the name of a technique you want to acquire or an effect you want to achieve, whichever is more descriptive (i.e., "Perfect Multiform," or, "a good piercing attack with an emphasis on speed." Success is not guaranteed.

    [ ] Style Training (1 AP) [STYLE HERE]: Yammar took you apart. A good part of that is who he is and the experiences he has endured, but another part was his simple superiority as a fighter. You must improve. When you return to Garenhuld, it will not be peacefully. Make training rolls towards leveling up one of your combat styles.

    [ ] Invent a Style (2 AP): Perhaps the answers to your needs do not rest in the past. Perhaps you need to strike your own path, if you are to stand up to the trials set against you. Design a new combat style and begin training it.

    [ ] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [SKILL NAME GOES HERE]: You have experienced moments throughout your life that hint at an understanding of your current techniques which few can equal. You have the chance to truly push the boundaries of your people's knowledge. Select either Ki Sense or Multiform and begin training it to Elite+ levels.

    [ ] Broken Precedent (2 AP): Perika was brought into this world at peak base saiyan strength with a wish that supposed she'd be useful for fighting an opponent at your level. Moreover, she is a saiyan without a support structure, loose in the wider galaxy. You have already given leave to the Senzus to reach for the next level. You must do the same for Perika. Settle down with Perika, and for the first time in your life, help to create another super saiyan.

    For as long as you can recall, you have been an outgoing girl. Though you have grown rapidly over the past year or so and your life has turned upside-down, that fundamental truth has not changed. This category has 2 AP.

    [ ] Strengthen Host Bond (1 AP): Neither you nor Bassoon fully understand the nature of the ties that bind you. Perhaps you can unravel the mystery of your presence here. Deepen the metaphysical connection you have with Bassoon by running experiments with him and exploring his mindscape.

    [ ] Talk to Dazarel (1 AP): Dazarel is a twisted, evil monster who believes might makes right and that psychic might makes rightest of all. Your own abilities and obvious power grant you some respect from him, but everybody else is like so much chaff to him. Still, you are stuck with him, and have managed to gain some insight into his character. Perhaps, with time and effort, you might render him something approaching tolerable.

    [ ] Strange Sister (1 AP): Perika has established a bond of trust with you that you can't help but try to live up to. She has claimed you as her Lady. It is only right that you spend time with her, and ensure you're doing right by her. Also...you need to prepare her for your absence.

    [ ] General Training (2 AP): Now that you can communicate with people outside of Bassoon's head, you intend to take advantage of it. Spend time walking as many namekian warriors as will listen through basic training regimens. You can't give much, but you should hopefully be able to give more than they have.

    [ ] Socialize With [TARGET] (1 AP): You can now use your telepathy to speak with individuals outside of Bassoon's head, and your social circle has thus expanded tremendously. Take advantage of this and grind up your relationship with any person of your choice.

    With the level of access you have, it's all-but-guaranteed that you'll be able to sway Bassoon into doing things in the outside world. This category has 2 AP.

    [ ] Adventures (2 AP): New Namek is bracing for invasion, but there's a whole galaxy out there. You and Bassoon have access to a stealth ship. With the scouting trip coming soon, this will mostly be groundwork for that, but you might find something interesting.

    [ ] Instruction (1 AP): He might complain about bottle blondes again, but you're riding in Bassoon's head, and you have a vested interest in keeping it intact. In spare moments, impart some of the secrets of your people's warrior traditions to him. The irony in you, of all people, doing this is stifling, but you'll power through. Bassoon makes a concerted effort to train his power level and abilities this month, and you directly assist him.

    [ ] Historical Insights (1 AP): Bassoon has mentioned to you, offhand, that he's originally a historian by trade. That actually represents a significant source of information for you on the state of the galaxy, and it'd be nearly criminal to neglect it. Bassoon gives you a history lesson on a topic of his choosing. Gain deep insight into that topic.

    You have sworn Dandeer Vegeta's complete and utter defeat, and your and Jaffur's ascension to your people's leadership. You will see it done. This category has 1 AP.

    [ ] Anything (AP Variable): You may fill this category with any type of action from any other category, as long as it applies directly to improving your ability to defeat Dandeer.

    [ ] Write-In (AP Variable): You are Kakara Goku, and it has admittedly been a little while since you last made a proper list! You're sure that you can come up with something else that you've forgotten at just this moment!

    MANUAL MORATORIUM; APPROVAL VOTING.

    Please form a plan from the above options, as usual.

    Worth noting again that Kakara is being extremely uncharitable with the namekians' political system. Again, she's an autocrat from an extremely collectivist society; while she has vague republican sympathies, she views liberal democracy as about as fringe as things can realistically get while still being credible forms of governance -- and even then, she's had the narrative that it's fundamentally unworkable for saiyan societies in her head for all her life. Thus why she thinks of even semi-anarchic, highly individualistic societies like New Namek's as fully and negatively anarchic, and just kind of unquestioningly assumes that nobody who lives there would be able to comprehend the concept of one's position imposing responsibilities.

    She's got a big blind spot around this. And, most importantly, she is not me and you should not be angry with me for her opinions. :p

    All right, we're back up and running, folks! I've missed you. ;) Let's get back on with things, shall we? Go ahead and remind me if there were any options I promised that I've missed here; it has been a while. Also, please remember to tag me with write-ins, so I can feature them in the unlock!

    Welcome back! :D
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Rough vote:
    Five general AP:
    [ ] Broken Precedent (2 AP): Perika was brought into this world at peak base saiyan strength with a wish that supposed she'd be useful for fighting an opponent at your level. Moreover, she is a saiyan without a support structure, loose in the wider galaxy. You have already given leave to the Senzus to reach for the next level. You must do the same for Perika. Settle down with Perika, and for the first time in your life, help to create another super saiyan.
    We need or at least could really use another SSJ and *soon*. Hopefully she should be able to do acclimiation training to get the rest of her power from there, though her base will need to be taken care of at some point.
    [ ] Continue Your Training (1 AP): Dazarel hasn't let up with his insistence on training you. It's actually cute, how afraid he seems of the idea of failing in the task Grandpa Gohan gave him. Now, you need to get to work on improving your gifts, starting with the lightning shield. Follow Dazarel's training regime.
    We are trying to make a habit of keeping our psychic abilities developing, which I think is a good one.
    [ ] Experiment with Katchin Containment (1 AP): We might be able to skip out on the battle with member of the royal family by escaping using IT or shade travel, but you suspect that Katchin might interfere with the process. Play around with possible methods to escape a katchin dome.
    [ ] Instruction (1 AP): He might complain about bottle blondes again, but you're riding in Bassoon's head, and you have a vested interest in keeping it intact. In spare moments, impart some of the secrets of your people's warrior traditions to him. The irony in you, of all people, doing this is stifling, but you'll power through. Bassoon makes a concerted effort to train his power level and abilities this month, and you directly assist him.
    Bassoon is clearly at least *one* of the best, if not nesscarily the best at any one particular task. Training him should hopefully be an opportunity for bonding at might give real returns in effectiveness, as one of the strongest warriors on the planet.
    A cause:
    [] Shielding Training (1 AP)
    The voice of the thread seems to think of this as important and connected to her so...
    Free AP for scouting trip:
    [ ] Adventures (2 AP): New Namek is bracing for invasion, but there's a whole galaxy out there. You and Bassoon have access to a stealth ship. With the scouting trip coming soon, this will mostly be groundwork for that, but you might find something interesting.
    Adventures are always fun, and we might meet a useful asset...
    I guess the reason why Bassoon is the best is becuase he is a PC is because he is solid in a lot of things - ki and magical power, fighting skill etc. I don't think he's supposed to be incredibly skilled at anything.
    Wonder if the host bond has any useful magical properties...
     
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    So now I really want to see if we can make a spirit saiyan from our own Ki. It seems like it should work, because as we saw with Yammar one person can make a spirit bomb, but I'd really like to have that as an ace up our sleeve. Adding a Multiform GO to our power could be the difference between victory and defeat, and if it works it should scale with power increases.
     
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