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In Thunder's Echo (Legend of the Five Rings Quest)

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A Nation's Virtue said:
I've been mildly salty that we didn't save the XP from the beginning for getting Reflexes 3 for this fight. :V
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Look on the bright side, with his current build Naoto will be able to compose a stirring poem that truly encapsulates the essence of what it feels like to get the snot kicked out of you by a Matsu Berserker with the whole Court watching. :p
 
Okay, so. Our opponent is a fresh-out-the-dojo Matsu Bushi. Their first technique--which we can be safe in assuming is all he possesses--grants increased movement in the stance of Full Attack and increased damage. The Stance of Full Attack is their bread and butter and therefore they will likely use it.

Matsu Bushi also get a free Emphasis--exploding 1s--for katana, which he is using. For him to be passable at his job, he must meet the Bushi average of 6k3. Full Attack grants +2k1.

Therefore his probability to succeed is 79% and the average result is 37.2 and σ 9.6.

Our ATN is, as it happens, 25 right now (I'm an ill idiot and thought we had Ref 3 ._.) so it's trivial, from this alone, for us to be hit. Which means we will be hit, and it will hurt like a bitch. They roll ~8k2 damage as Matsu born Matsu Bushi with (presumably) Kenjutsu 3. Keeping low still means it's a bitch.

It's... likely if not a given that he's wearing this Heavy Armor to make up for his shitty Reflexes. At best he has Reflexes 3, which means ATN 30 base--20 in the Stance of Full Attack--and if not then both drop down by 5 to 25 and 15.

Our effective ATN is 5 higher because Heavy Armor increases all Agility/Reflexes TN by 5.

So now let's adjust the average result down to 32.2 and a σ 9.6. Spending a Void Point would just barely raise our ATN above the average.

I don't think we should do it. What I think we should do, since the name of the game is hit that motherfucker, is go balls to the wall in Full Attack as A) We're likely to get hit no matter what and B) We still need to hit first. This for sure opens us up to be hit, yes, but... it's likely we would be anyway. I see no reason to gimp our piddly Attack roll on the coin-flip that we might not get hit.

We get a Reduction of 3, but assuming we DO get fucked any - we want to reduce our Wound penalties. We cannot afford to take any. If it comes down to simply "who hits first" then if we both have Reflexes 2, we have the leg up--if he has Reflexes 3, we're borked. But I don't see why any self-respecting Matsu would go with the Heavy Armor if they had otherwise.

Therefore:

[X] Full Attack
-[X] Strike first
[X] If any damage would bring us into Wound Penalties, spend a Void Point to negate it.
 
If we have armour 25... do using a void point truly help?

Lets say he has 6k3 plus any bonus from his school and from his stance... unless he rolls really bad, he will hit us.

Wouldn't be better to use our void point for another thing? Like a rase for a called shot in his hand?

Ninjad.

[X] Full Attack
-[X] Strike first
[X] If any damage would bring us into Wound Penalties, spend a Void Point to negate it.
 
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Looking at the rules again, we could go for a Called Shot to his hands to get him to drop his sword. This would require two Raises, so with his (assumed) TN of 25 we'd have to reach at least 35 on a 5k3. Full attack would take us to 7k4, and a Void Point on top of that would take it to 8k5. We might be able to send him into wound penalties if we're lucky first, which serve as an extra line of defense, and we might take an action away from him.

...and @Rook typed her post up as I was thinking about this. Dammit.
 
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A Called Shot is also a very good option and, in all honesty, something that slipped my mind entirely. >_<

I feel both are good; and that may even be the wiser choice. Who knows I'm kinda out of it right now :V
 
Also it's worth noting that at some point we'll probably want to just go full retard and blow a Void Point to keep high on katana damage so we fuck up someone's sword arm because that's the best way to knock someone out of a fight :V

Like I'd like to see you hold a weapon after taking 7k3 damage to the ow.
 
Going to change my vote then to

[X] Attack in Full Attack Stance
-[X] Use the Called Shot maneuver on his right hand
-[X] Spend a Void Point for 1k1 on the Attack Roll

I'd honestly rather go for the "untouchable" route, but our Reflexes aren't that high and so long as we don't miss on our own attacks we have the advantage in this match due to Initiative.
 
While I am intimidated in the face of Rook's math I feel like I should point out that going Full Attack is against what our stab happy lord advised us to do.
 
gman391 said:
Called shots don't do anything beyond gm fiat

You're thinking the disarm maneuver

which requires a strength check
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I'm aware. I literally just checked the book to see what our options are. It's still a hit, and I want to see if we can get him to drop his sword rather than forcibly disarm him.

Alternatively, just fuck his arm up enough to get a bonus to his Wound Penalties.
 
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Da Boyz said:
While I am intimidated in the face of Rook's math I feel like I should point out that going Full Attack is against what our stab happy lord advised us to do.
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Well okay but the math points out that our lord is wrong in this case :V
gman391 said:
Called shots don't do anything beyond gm fiat

You're thinking the disarm maneuver

which requires a strength check
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I'd rule that taking [OW SHIT FUCK] amounts of damage to the hand is enough to disarm someone in lieu of a proper Disarm check. But I'm not our GM.

Also I've had a thought: it's entirely possible that this young Matsu won't be keeping low on his damage dice. Possible. Not saying he will; but he might.

Which, if that's the case, means his damage roll will have the average result of 22.4 and σ 7.6

Which means we're going to be wishing we Voided it.
 
We know that he had the akodo symbol ... could he be from their school and not from their family?

If so, what would be his probable build?

Because the Matsu usually use a light armour, no?
 
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Rook said:
Well okay but the math points out that our lord is wrong in this case :V

I'd rule that taking [OW SHIT FUCK] amounts of damage to the hand is enough to disarm someone in lieu of a proper Disarm check. But I'm not our GM.

Also I've had a thought: it's entirely possible that this young Matsu won't be keeping low on his damage dice. Possible. Not saying he will; but he might.

Which, if that's the case, means his damage roll will have the average result of 22.4 and σ 7.6

Which means we're going to be wishing we Voided it.
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Fucking his hand up enough might prevent him from getting his swing in at all, meaning no need to Void penalties.
Bastur2 said:
We know that he had the akodo symbol ... could he be from their school and not from their family?

If so, what would be his probable build?

Because the Matsu usually use a light armour, no?
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The Akodo use Light Armor, gain +1 Perception if you're in their Bushi school, and can ignore ATN derived from Armor or gain a Free Raise when attacking. They also gain 1k0 on their first Attack roll.
 
My reading comprehension is mildly atrocious tonight but it's worth pointing out that there are no Akodo Bushi being trained as far as we know. This guy is a graduate of their dojo. I'm derping pretty hard. So let me lay this out piecemeal so I can't say more stupid shit :V

The Mastu Berserkers Rank 1 said:
Techniques
Rank 1: The Lion's Roar
Warriors of the Matsu School respect their Akodo cousins' leadership skills, but they know that a furious attack often simply overwhelms an enemy. You add your Honor Rank to all damage rolls. Whenever you assume the Full Attack Stance, you may move an additional 5 feet per Turn in addition to the bonus your receive from the Stance. (This does not allow you to move farther than your maximum move per Turn.)
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So while it's not 8k2+Honor Rank, it's... still 7k2+Honor Rank. Assuming he's 6.5--the standard--that's either, depending on how you do it, 7k2+6 or 7 which means at the very bare minimum 8 damage (then subtract 3 from the Light Armor for 5.)

If he DOES explode it the average result is 21.4 and σ 7.4; then let's tack on the 6/7 for 26/27.4 with the swing still out there.

While I doubt he'll keep as high as he can, if he gets a fair few explodes? Or just not shit rolls?

That's nearing a third of our piddly little 34 Wounds. We are likely to take Penalties here.

I don't want to risk that.
 
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Ummm.

Isn't the point of this exercise that we and our friendly neighborhood Matsu aren't really trying to turn each other into cold cuts, so maybe we shouldn't try and lop his arm off?
 
[X] Full Attack
-[X] Strike first
[X] If any damage would bring us into Wound Penalties, spend a Void Point to negate it.


I get the feeling that it would be a good idea for us to do as Scorpions are want to do... Screw all tenants of Bushido except for Loyalty. Let's see if we can force him to drop his weapon, on the off chance that-

Hey, don't we have a free raise from an omake? Has it been used already?
 
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Quick thought - in Rokugan at this time, limb removal is still well beyond the ability of shugenja to heal. We don't want to kill our opponent, but we also most certainly don't want to maim him (or her) - and "do enough damage to his hand that he cannot help but drop his sword" sounds like it might well be a maiming blow.
 
[X] Full Attack
-[X] Strike first
[X] If any damage would bring us into Wound Penalties, spend a Void Point to negate it.

Question time. One, will be keep our initiative for the whole fight, or will we have to roll initiative each round? Two, can we spend void points to improve an initiative roll?
 
Keep for the whole fight
You can opt to spend a void point fora +10 to initiative for a round

Seriously Void points are basically the best thing ever
 
[x] Full Attack
-[x] Strike first
[x] If any damage would bring us into Wound Penalties, spend a Void Point to negate it.

Seems like the most solid approach, overall.
 
So, how hard is to recover void points?

Because in my experience, spending limited resources in non-vital fights (specially ones were we expect to lose anyway) is a badly thought idea.
 
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