History's Most Mediocre Cultivator (Xianxia Quest)
- Thread starter Timewinders
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Location
- Malaysia
Finally took the time to check the math here. The 81.6 expected ghost eyes successes is incorrect. The 2 actions spent on ghost eyes would give 35, where as the 8 actions spent elsewhere would give 5.83, for a total of 40.83 expected successes.
I do get your meaning. Past a certain point of cultivation training martial and spear mastery would give us better action efficiency in raising combat power. A narrow specialization MIGHT let us compete in a certain area, but our low Stealth and Deception stats really narrow down our options in that direction.
Things that stand out for us are our high diplomacy, knowledge, and intelligence. High diplomacy means deception rolls against us will be harder (2.4) and we'll have an easier time convincing people of things (1.3). We haven't seen how the other two stats work mechanically yet.
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- Location
- USA
It's easy to just look at the talent and think we'll always be behind. But our strength isn't in our talent.
Our relationship with the Elder got us the herb permission.
Stealth could help get us the herbs, and the dice from that are significant.
Our relationship with Suyin got us access to her family Arts, and the strength one seems quite powerful.
I expect Xaoli to be quite helpful in the future too.
Our strength comes from other people, and drugs.
Our relationship with the Elder got us the herb permission.
Stealth could help get us the herbs, and the dice from that are significant.
Our relationship with Suyin got us access to her family Arts, and the strength one seems quite powerful.
I expect Xaoli to be quite helpful in the future too.
Our strength comes from other people, and drugs.
- Location
- United States
No, negative votes aren't really necessary and might be inflammatory. You can get the same effects by just voting for everything you want except for the thing you don't want. Besides, it'd make tallying the vote inconvenient compared to just using the program..
Ok, let's check the math.
8 * 5.83 = 46.64
2 * 17.5 = 35
35 + 46.64 = 81.64
Note that 8 * .83 is not equal to .83.
- Location
- Malaysia
You're right. My bad.
You can see how the original wording was somewhat unclear yes? I didn't think to check that line. Which is ironic because that's probably the line that niggled my subconscious when I first read it.
The gulf between a talent 6 and a talent 4 is wide indeed. We'll have to be the Li Suyin to someone else's Ling Qi. Take advantage of our good diplomacy, make good powerful friends at the sect.
You can see how the original wording was somewhat unclear yes? I didn't think to check that line. Which is ironic because that's probably the line that niggled my subconscious when I first read it.
The gulf between a talent 6 and a talent 4 is wide indeed. We'll have to be the Li Suyin to someone else's Ling Qi. Take advantage of our good diplomacy, make good powerful friends at the sect.
- Location
- Canada
Oh good catch! That made me laugh
Edit: oh right I should vote
[X] [Minor Action] – Xiaoli has been pestering you to spar with her. You suspect that despite having started cultivating later than you she'll still beat you, but it could be a useful learning experience.
[X] [Minor Action] Spend time with Meiling – Soon you will be gone and will rarely see your sister for two years. It might be good to spend some time with her now.
[X] [Minor Action] Spend time with Chin, Fang, and Daquan – they are good friends, and you'll be leaving soon. It couldn't hurt to spend time with them.
- Location
- United States
Vote is closed. Winning votes are:
[X] [Minor Action] – Xiaoli has been pestering you to spar with her. You suspect that despite having started cultivating later than you she'll still beat you, but it could be a useful learning experience.
[X] [Minor Action] Spend time with Meiling – Soon you will be gone and will rarely see your sister for two years. It might be good to spend some time with her now.
[X] [Minor Action] Gather the spiritual herbs that the Honored Elder spoke of.
[X] [Minor Action] – Xiaoli has been pestering you to spar with her. You suspect that despite having started cultivating later than you she'll still beat you, but it could be a useful learning experience.
[X] [Minor Action] Spend time with Meiling – Soon you will be gone and will rarely see your sister for two years. It might be good to spend some time with her now.
[X] [Minor Action] Gather the spiritual herbs that the Honored Elder spoke of.
The problem is that everyone else that matters will have drugs, other people, and talent. Given that success compounds, it's more worthwhile for families to concentrate their efforts and resources in their most talented members, and for the already powerful to befriend and sponsor those same talented people, as they're the ones that will make the most useful allies and subordinates in future. As a result, talented people will be given better drugs and better training than the protagonist can hope to get access to.
We've coasted by on sentimental attachment to children, but when we move into the wider world such inefficiency is likely to be ruthlessly selected against.
As Theodore Roosevelt said about effective diplomacy, 'speak softly and carry a big stick'. It doesn't matter how softly we speak if we lack the stick to make it worthwhile to listen to us at all. Diplomacy is a very useful ancillary technique that can be leveraged to create further advantages for the already strong. I don't see it as something very useful for the weak in this kind of setting.
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- Location
- USA
This is what I disagree with. The Lavender we got was amazing, and as far as we have seen so far it's not like Xaoli is getting fed Lavender to cultivate with. But we got it through risk to ourselves, and maybe could continue getting it through raising stealth.
Same with training, would you tutor someone you don't like? In most cases no. Our ability to make friends and be like able can probably open doors for us that even powerful people can't walk through.
Also even at higher Talent levels these guys don't learn everything. How many new students at the Sect will have learned Qi dampening, or Soundless Step? I can't imagine they are popular arts for young cultivators. There could be a niche and connections we can make there even if we aren't beating people in fights.
Sitting around all day cultivating is never gonna to be our route to power, that's why I was against going just for Ghost Eyes at the start. Instead we have to judge what arts give us the best ROI for the least amount of time. We have to go out and look for opportunities like the Herbs. We have to spar and get good at fighting, so that the faster stronger guy who shoots fireballs and spends all his time cultivating loses to us because we know use a spear well in an actual fight.
My point is that yes, in a dog-eat-dog world like this, to tutor people you don't particularly have to like them, as long as they aren't actively objectionable. Either because you were being paid by their own patrons, or because it maximises your own long term power to cultivate a strong ally. It's not as if you have to choose to be either talented or personable. It's fully possible to be both - particularly if their are cultivation arts that enhance other aspects of the mind (the sense of balance is at least partially mental, as it's produced by synthesising multiple different sensory signals) that influence how socially adept you are, such as improving the neo-cortex's processing ability to increase Dunbar's number, or improving one's ability to detect micro-expressions, or augmenting the ability to smell to improve emotional reading through that channel.
And yes, the more talented may not learn everything, but if you combine talent with the additional drugs and training that it's worth investing in the talented, it's worth them picking up low hanging fruit like Qi Dampening and Soundless Step before sending them to a Sect. Now matter how talented, a starting off cultivator is always going to be a very small fish in an ocean full of sharks, even if they have the potential to grow up to be a shark. It would pretty much always be worth teaching them how to hide themselves from the true monsters out there. Possibly more so than for someone without talent, as the talented are probably more likely to get themselves in trouble.
Against a faster, stronger guy that can shoot fireballs it's irrelevant how good you are with a spear, because their superior speed means that they control the terms of the engagement, and their fireballs means they can incinerate you from outside the reach of your spear. This is the big problem here. It doesn't take many cultivation arts to really devalue conventional skills by making them inapplicable. You run into a linear fighter, quadratic wizard issue.
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- Location
- United States
I will point out that even if you're talented and focus on cultivation arts rather than physical skills, trying to take on someone two stages above you is practically a guaranteed defeat. Also, in this story's setting there are no cultivation arts to directly enhance the mind. Balance increases with physical cultivation simply because it's easier to maintain balance with a stronger body. There are some passive effects of cultivation that improve other parts of the body outside the skin, muscles, bones, tendons, heart, and lungs but that mainly just heals cellular damage to prevent cancer and aging.
Umi-san
Procrastinating.
- Location
- ꙮ
The fact that people who are better than us will remain better than us is both unsurprising and unimportant.
What matters is how we can best leverage what we have.
Friends, drugs, and knowledge are the things that we are the least outcompeted in, and therefore are what we should concentrate on.
What matters is how we can best leverage what we have.
Friends, drugs, and knowledge are the things that we are the least outcompeted in, and therefore are what we should concentrate on.
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- Location
- United States
Mainly because Ghost Eyes is not very useful in everyday life. Since it only shows living things, you can't use it to walk around your home, travel, eat, read books, etc.
- Location
- Middle of Nowhere
Non-living things are completely invisible? Not just washed out? We could potentially use it while traveling, as trees and plants are living.
Umi-san
Procrastinating.
- Location
- ꙮ
We could definitely use it while traveling if we're not worried about hitting rocks or something. Like, if the road is pretty stable or if there's open grass fields we could definitely use it there.
Realistically we could also walk around our home by like putting pots of flowers at the corners of things and so forth. It would basically be like adapting to blindness (through controlling your environment and deducting facts from what you can experience) except that it's selective blindness.
You could probably work out interesting tricks with Ghost Eyes if microorganisms show up. Walls will have a fine coating of them. Fabrics will have the larger dust mites.
Inanimate objects being invisible also means that you can use it to see through walls and floors, or look inside caves from the outside, which could be very useful.
Inanimate objects being invisible also means that you can use it to see through walls and floors, or look inside caves from the outside, which could be very useful.
- Location
- United States
Only multicellular organisms produce qi. And let's just say that if it's small enough that you'd need a microscope to see it then you're not going to be able to see it with Ghost Eyes. Maybe at higher levels of cultivation when there's a lot of them close together. But yes, it can be used to look through walls and stuff. But right now your Ghost Eyes still can't see at quite the same level of detail as your physical eyes.
Chapter 2.9 – A Rather Auspicious Occurrence?
- Location
- United States
[X] [Minor Action] – Xiaoli has been pestering you to spar with her. You suspect that despite having started cultivating later than you she'll still beat you, but it could be a useful learning experience.
[X] [Minor Action] Spend time with Meiling – Soon you will be gone and will rarely see your sister for two years. It might be good to spend some time with her now.
[X] [Minor Action] Gather the spiritual herbs that the Honored Elder spoke of.
[X] [Minor Action] Spend time with Meiling – Soon you will be gone and will rarely see your sister for two years. It might be good to spend some time with her now.
[X] [Minor Action] Gather the spiritual herbs that the Honored Elder spoke of.
Chapter 2.9 – A Rather Auspicious Occurrence?
Blossom 15, 12053
There were only three weeks left until Shaohuo would have to leave to join the sect. He felt anxious, but there was nothing else he could do to prepare besides simply continuing his usual schedule of cultivation.
(Ghost Eyes Level 2 * 5 + Talent 4 *5 + Tutoring 10) * 3 actions + Spirit Herb Pill 5 * 2 actions = 130d10 = 1, 3, 3, 8, 4, 2, 8, 5, 4, 9, 9, 6, 9, 9, 1, 5, 7, 9, 2, 9, 5, 1, 3, 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 6, 4, 2, 6, 10, 9, 7, 4, 7, 4, 7, 9, 2, 1, 10, 4, 6, 5, 3, 9, 2, 7, 2, 2, 4, 4, 8, 8, 9, 8, 9, 10, 4, 3, 3, 9, 3, 7, 5, 5, 5, 4, 7, 5, 4, 8, 9, 5, 10, 7, 5, 6, 1, 6, 4, 8, 7, 1, 6, 8, 9, 6, 3, 5, 5, 4, 2, 3, 9, 8, 7, 3, 2, 3, 10, 7, 8, 9, 8, 2, 8, 7, 2, 2, 9, 8, 8, 3, 4, 2, 7, 3, 2, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 4, 2, 4, 7. Number of successes = 36.
Progress 70/70. Stamina Cultivation Level 2 reached.
Progress 30/70 until Defense Cultivation Level 2.
One third of successes to Ghost Eyes: 12.
Progress 100/800.
One third of successes to Qi Cultivation: 12
Progress 15/5
Qi: 59/59 > 60/60
Progress 10/6
Qi: 60/60 > 61/61
Progress 4/6.
Progress 70/70. Stamina Cultivation Level 2 reached.
Progress 30/70 until Defense Cultivation Level 2.
One third of successes to Ghost Eyes: 12.
Progress 100/800.
One third of successes to Qi Cultivation: 12
Progress 15/5
Qi: 59/59 > 60/60
Progress 10/6
Qi: 60/60 > 61/61
Progress 4/6.
(Ghost Eyes Level 2 * 5 + Talent 4 *5 + Spirit Herb Pill 5) * 4 actions = 140d10 = 1, 9, 9, 7, 3, 6, 5, 3, 10, 6, 7, 2, 6, 3, 6, 9, 10, 3, 10, 7, 8, 3, 10, 8, 1, 10, 5, 6, 9, 2, 2, 8, 4, 1, 5, 8, 9, 8, 6, 5, 2, 9, 5, 3, 8, 2, 3, 2, 2, 6, 7, 5, 6, 2, 2, 4, 9, 7, 5, 3, 9, 9, 5, 9, 9, 9, 8, 9, 5, 3, 3, 8, 3, 8, 9, 1, 3, 5, 2, 2, 3, 6, 3, 8, 9, 9, 3, 5, 2, 2, 3, 9, 8, 9, 7, 3, 2, 6, 2, 4, 1, 6, 6, 2, 2, 2, 5, 7, 9, 5, 5, 9, 6, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3, 7, 6, 4, 4, 7, 8, 5, 2, 9, 9, 7, 8, 7, 9, 8, 9, 6, 5, 8, 8, 7, 3. Number of successes: 45.
Progress: 60/60. Soundless Step completed.
Overflow of 7 to Stone Skin.
Progress 34/60.
One half of Soundless Step successes to Shadow Mastery: 19.
Progress 30/100 to next level.
One half of Stone Skin successes to Earth Mastery: 3.
Progress 16/100 to next level.
One third of successes to Ghost Eyes: 15.
Progress 115/800 to next level.
One third of successes to Qi Cultivation: 15.
Progress 19/6
Qi 61/61 > 64/64.
Progress 1/6.
Progress: 60/60. Soundless Step completed.
Overflow of 7 to Stone Skin.
Progress 34/60.
One half of Soundless Step successes to Shadow Mastery: 19.
Progress 30/100 to next level.
One half of Stone Skin successes to Earth Mastery: 3.
Progress 16/100 to next level.
One third of successes to Ghost Eyes: 15.
Progress 115/800 to next level.
One third of successes to Qi Cultivation: 15.
Progress 19/6
Qi 61/61 > 64/64.
Progress 1/6.
A red-level shadow art. When activated at a cost of 20 qi, it provides an additional 4 dice to stealth rolls over a short period of time.
(Ghost Eyes Level 2 * 5 + Talent 4 *5) * 2 actions = 60d10 = 2, 4, 9, 8, 4, 4, 7, 3, 6, 1, 6, 2, 2, 2, 10, 6, 2, 9, 3, 1, 7, 1, 6, 9, 3, 4, 9, 2, 2, 4, 7, 7, 2, 4, 10, 3, 7, 7, 7, 6, 5, 4, 7, 1, 2, 6, 4, 2, 5, 8, 5, 10, 3, 6, 1, 7, 1, 6, 5, 4. Number of successes: 21.
Progress 55/60.
Half of successes to Earth Mastery: 10.
Progress 26/100 to next level.
One third of successes to Ghost Eyes: 7.
Progress 122/800.
One third of successes to Qi Cultivation: 7.
Progress 8/6.
Qi 64/64 > 65/65.
Progress 2/6.
Progress 55/60.
Half of successes to Earth Mastery: 10.
Progress 26/100 to next level.
One third of successes to Ghost Eyes: 7.
Progress 122/800.
One third of successes to Qi Cultivation: 7.
Progress 8/6.
Qi 64/64 > 65/65.
Progress 2/6.
He made steady progress, even reaching the next stage of Stamina Cultivation and mastering Soundless Step. With Father's help, he'd begun cultivating his physical toughness, channeling qi through his skin, bones, and muscles in such a way as to resist forces applied to his body while he performed a wide variety of exercises, from running to weight-lifting to sparring, and even punching and kicking trees and other hard objects. In many ways it resembled the physical conditioning he'd performed before becoming a cultivator. So he'd be able to cultivate his strength later on, Father demonstrated how to do so briefly at the end of one of their sessions. It also involved performing a series of exercises, with an emphasis on weight-lifting and running so as to exercise every muscle, but rather than resisting forces it involved using qi to flow alongside the pulling of his muscles, enhancing his strength.
With his enhanced physical cultivation, Shaohuo had officially reached orange, his pink aura now streaked with true orange rather than the reddish-orange it had been before. Father and Mother had complimented him at dinner when they'd noticed, and he felt proud that he'd managed to overcome this obstacle, the first of hopefully many.
Shaohuo had hoped to finish Stone Skin as well, but unfortunately he still had a little further to go before he could use it in combat. Xiaoli had sent him a letter asking him to spar, and he'd agreed. It would give him a sense of their current capabilities and would let them make plans to deal with other students at the sect. Without Stone Skin he'd have a harder time making a good showing in their spar. It didn't matter in the long run, of course. But just because he was used to not being anything special and tried to accept that, it didn't mean he enjoyed losing.
The weeks passed quickly, and before he knew it, it was the month of Solstice and there were only three days left. With so little time remaining, he decided to gather more Celestial Lavender. He hadn't used the previous batch yet, but this would be his last chance to gather any for a long while.
As before, he woke early in the morning and took a carriage. They arrived at a point near the mountain, where he disembarked to make the rest of the trip on foot. First he began dampening his qi and using Shadow Step to muffle the sound of his footsteps. With luck even if there were spirit-beasts nearby, they wouldn't find him. He walked along the edge of the forest until he found a gap in the trees revealing the same animal trail he'd used before. He walked up it, taking care not to make noise by brushing against tree branches with his arms or legs. Shadow Step wouldn't help him if he was careless.
Unlike in the spring, the air was now humid and damp, making his clothes stick to his skin. His enhanced stamina apparently didn't stop him from sweating, and on further reflection as he walked, he remembered that while Father didn't always get noticeably sweaty during their exercise routines, he did sweat on particularly hot days. So it was unlikely that Shaohuo would ever be free from the curse of humid weather.
As he neared the glade where the Celestial Lavender grew, he froze. His heart pounded fast as he noticed the aura of what was unmistakably a spirit-beast. Its small, bird-shaped aura hadn't stood out among the rest of the wildlife until he realized that the red aura was interspersed with orange, a sign of its cultivation. His first thought was to run as he was instructed, but there were only a few types of spirit-beasts and from the shape of the aura, it must have been a phoenix. They were said to be benign and were considered an auspicious omen. In any case, it looked like it wasn't much stronger than him, if at all, so he decided to take a closer look. He crouched down and slowly moved up behind a tree at the edge of the glade. He waited a moment, and then cautiously took a peek.
The phoenix was a short little thing, reaching up with its neck in abrupt, avian movements as it tore flowers from one of the Celestial Lavender plants, leaving petals strewn across the ground, presumably for later consumption. It must have been young for a phoenix, considering its cultivation level. Its plumage was a rich red, with green neck feathers and a crest of green feathers on top of its head. Its three long, green tail feathers trailed behind it, resembling a peacock's with their black eye-like patterns near the ends. The tail feathers seemed shorter than in illustrations Shaohuo had seen in books.
He wasn't sure what to make of it. In the stories he'd heard, the sighting of a phoenix was a sign of the ascent of a new emperor, though that was probably just a superstition. After all, spirit-beasts were nothing more than intelligent animals that were able to cultivate. It was definitely considered an auspicious omen, but the stories about the phoenix were rather vague, perhaps because of how rare they were. Shaohuo wasn't sure how to react.
The phoenix suddenly turned toward the tree he was hiding behind and looked him straight in the eye. He hadn't made any noise to make it aware of him and it couldn't see his aura, but perhaps it had smelled him.
One way or the other, he would have to act quickly.
Shaohuo's Base Stats:
Talent – 4
Qi: 59/59 > 40/65
HP: base 10/10 * 16.7 (from physical cultivation) = 167/167
Funds: 600 > 0 coppers (-600 from drug purchases)
Inventory: Spear, Celestial Lavender
Spear Mastery: 2/5 (Trained)
Diplomacy – 8/10
Knowledge – 7/10
Deception – 4/10
Intelligence – 9/10
Perception – 6
Martial – 4/10
Strength – 9
Defense – 5
Flexibility – 4
Balance – 3
Speed – 8
Stealth – 4
Stamina – 8
How does Shaohuo react?
[X] Flee.
[X] Flee, and then return in another few hours. It would probably be gone by then. Probably.
[X] Drive it off. While the thought was practically blasphemous to tradition, this phoenix wasn't much stronger than him if it was stronger at all. Since phoenixes were generally peaceful, if he stopped suppressing his aura and simply rushed at with his spear extended, he could likely scare it off. Then he'd be able to get away with collecting more than one dose of Celestial Lavender, since the phoenix had already stripped one of the plants bare. A bit duplicitous, perhaps, but two doses were going to be collected anyway and it was better than the phoenix having it.
[X] Hold still and try to appear nonthreatening.
[X] Write-in
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- Location
- Malaysia
Not to complain or anything, but so far we've been generally rolling under the expected values for cultivation actions. Dice gods insist that Shao Huo remains a mediocre cultivator! I am convinced that they shift our luck to event rolls, those have been going well.
Stat sheet will be updated in a few minutes.
I don't suppose we carry our batch of Celestial Lavender with us? Can we reach into our backpack and pull out Celestial Lavender to offer the Phoenix? Maybe we'll get a fun pet/mascot/owner.
Stat sheet will be updated in a few minutes.
I don't suppose we carry our batch of Celestial Lavender with us? Can we reach into our backpack and pull out Celestial Lavender to offer the Phoenix? Maybe we'll get a fun pet/mascot/owner.
- Location
- United States
Generally speaking yes, some of the cultivation rolls have been unlucky, but this update the rolls were under the expected value for one and over it for two. But there are enough dice that the deviations aren't that large in either direction.
No, Shaohuo doesn't carry his Celestial Lavender with him. No reason to, and his pouch is empty since he was going to use it to carry the herbs back.