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

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So... let's lay out what we know.

Someone is trying to kill Otomo-sama. Presumably because they hate him they don't want him to either A) do his job, or B) discover something. This means that they have something to hide. They are also hiding their identity, so it's not a frame job - they don't want to be known.

-I feel safe in writing off the Phoenix and Dragon here based off of what we know about them.
-Similarly, the Unicorn.
-The Crab don't do assassination, period. The Kuni Witch Hunters would just walk up to you and murder you, and they're the only real family that would do this.
-The Lion are ridiculously touchy about their honor. The only people who willingly sacrifice it with any regularity are the Ikoma's Lion Shadows, but this would have to be a rogue agent as far as I can tell, as they gain nothing from this man's death that I can see. I also don't see why this would be Ginwei, and his archery is shit with his bad Reflexes so realistically he can't make this shot :V
-The Mantis would need a similarly rogue agent here, or for the Tsuruchi to be absolutely bonkers.
-I highly doubt our own lord is trying to get our charge shot on our watch, as we're very important to this mission; I feel safe in writing off the Scorpion.
-It could be some spillover from The Crane Situation (this is quite possible, and I can see a Daidoji Harrier doing this maybe), but this would mean things are running really deep and in ways we don't expect because they got shit to hide;
-Or it's an outside agent. Which leaves the usual suspects of angry commoners, cultists, or Kolat. Kolat seems kinda likely if we continue thinking that Pale Oak has an in with them.

Going over our options...
-We can take an arrow to the knee face, probably, as unless this is a Tsuruchi the arrow isn't likely to do too much damage. They don't generally. But if they're going after an Imperial and they want the Samurai dead (as opposed to a scare hit for intimidation) then they want insurance. Insurance means poison. Poison means Earth Rolls.

We have terrible Earth.

So while we could survive ~6k2 fairly easily and have the Kitsu patch us up, if we want to chase this sumbitch down I'd rather we not do it with poison and Wound Penalties slowing us.
-Throwing a commoner in kinda closes off a lot of options for us. I don't like that.
-Throwing the Otomo is also an option but I doubt he'd appreciate it so :V

I really just want to see what total options we have here before we do anything, though our next step is almost certainly going to be running this man down.

.. which will need Athletics rolls, likely. And we have no points in that. Which means we burn Void. Or, if we're really wanting to bring this person in (they're probably expendable so it won't be the greatest but still nice) we could go for the Honor Roll. I can see that as an option. But overall the situation is essentially:

Fuck.
 
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[ ] Tackle Otomo-sama into cover.

We need to get Otomo out of line of fire, and we'd prefer not to get injured ourselves. It would be preferable if we can both get into cover of a doorway or a cart or something, but failing that, we'll still be a smaller target and shielding him with our body. It's not terribly dignified, but surviving to recover one's dignity is more important.

There's also a possibility there is someone to follow up on the strike on the ground, which is another reason just trying to tank the arrow is a bad idea.

Edit: Changing vote due to further information.
 
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Jaertin said:
There's also a possibility there is someone to follow up on the strike on the ground, which is another reason just trying to tank the arrow is a bad idea.
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... this is also an option. It's entirely possible that they'll have someone sent in to confirm the kill, so we have a melee assailant to deal with while the archer runs.

Bleh. Messy situation all around.
 
[X] Tackle Otomo-sama into cover.

I think he'll appreciate living more than the impropriety of us touching him.

...and I just realized that this is a setting where handholding is genuinely lewd.
 
I'll be honest, this is smelling a bit like a set up.

Otomo Kairyu seemed confident, I would say almost eager, that he would be attacked as he performed his duty. He then choses Naoto, a man who has made a mixed impression on the Lion, as his Yojimbo just in time for all this to happen? It's just a hunch on my part, but this event seems almost tailor made to bring great shame to the Lion, the Matsu specifically.

It doesn't change what we do now any, but after the dust settles I think we should keep our eyes peeled to ensure we don't get dragged too deeply into any schemes. We're walking a fine line, and a gentle push could send us tumbling into commitments we do not want or need.
 
We could try to cut the arrow out of the air. It's quite possible, since we're seeing the shot coming, though the distance obviously plays a role as well. We also should be able to spend a Void point, here. Probably a more difficult option, but also one that doesn't have any real drawbacks to it the way the others would.

Alternatively, instead of a random commoner, we could try to put something else in-between us/Otomo and the shooter. Throwing some cloth, clothes, or the like into the line of fire, or improvising the cover of a barrel into a shield. That sort of thing. Again, probably somewhat more difficult than the other options, but with less drawbacks.

@Maugan Ra: Are either of the two possible? And if so, could you give us an idea what skills/stats would be involved?
 
Rook said:
@Maugan Ra I forgot to tag you in my last post but - there it is.

As for the rest of the thread I really do stress that we should wait and see all the options we have available to us - this arrow is almost certainly poisoned if the assailant was aiming for an Imperial; whoever has the balls to do that won't do a job half-done, they'l want to be certain. Let's think a little here.

e2- I'm thinking that maybe we could roll Reflexes here to cut it down? Reflexes/Kenjutsu? I would absolutely rather us burn a Void there (with me calling one of the Free Raises our QM has allotted for a bonus) to have nobody get hit, than to potentially take an arrow to the ow. It'd also be pretty fucking badass too so we'd get some delicious Honor and Glory :V
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Hmm. The rules don't include anything about cutting arrows out of the air, but it is pretty cool. So... that'd be a Reflexes/Kenjutsu roll at a Target Number of, oh, say 30? Free Raises can be spent on the roll to lower the TN by 5 each time, and Void can also be spent.

It's also worth remembering that there are a considerable number of Lion samurai around. Maybe half a dozen within easy line of sight, and more likely within the buildings?
 
Maugan Ra said:
Hmm. The rules don't include anything about cutting arrows out of the air, but it is pretty cool. So... that'd be a Reflexes/Kenjutsu roll at a Target Number of, oh, say 30? Free Raises can be spent on the roll to lower the TN by 5 each time, and Void can also be spent.

It's also worth remembering that there are a considerable number of Lion samurai around. Maybe half a dozen within easy line of sight, and more likely within the buildings?
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... can we use the Full Attack Stance to charge the arrow? :D
 
I would like to point out that we're Otomo-sama's bodyguard.

That means our job is to guard his body. Where I'm going with this is that however we deal with this attack, if we go haring off after the Mystery Archer we are failing as a bodyguard.

First priority is to get our charge to safety, and I don't mean just shoving him under something. If a masked man #2 comes out of an alley and shanks the Otomo while we are chasing masked man #1, we have screwed the pooch.

Oh, and I'd be willing to add my Free Raise to @Rook 's for a vote of "Cut the arrow of the air".

Edit: just saw the GM say there are a lot of Lion samurai around. That changes the situation a lot vis a vis "Chasing after the mysterious masked man".
 
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I mean if we get to Full Attack it--which makes sense because hey, we're just charging bodily forward in a way that people tend to do to hit shit--then we're rocking 7k4. I'll drop my Free Raise if nobody else does because ~7k4 should clear a TN of 25 quite nicely.
 
Maugan Ra said:
It's also worth remembering that there are a considerable number of Lion samurai around. Maybe half a dozen within easy line of sight, and more likely within the buildings?
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That changes things a bit, I'd though we were in town for some reason. Being incapacitated is less of an issue then, since it's unlikely the assassins will get a second shot. I'll probably switch to interposing and trying to cut down the arrow.

Winged Knight said:
I'll be honest, this is smelling a bit like a set up.

Otomo Kairyu seemed confident, I would say almost eager, that he would be attacked as he performed his duty. He then choses Naoto, a man who has made a mixed impression on the Lion, as his Yojimbo just in time for all this to happen? It's just a hunch on my part, but this event seems almost tailor made to bring great shame to the Lion, the Matsu specifically.

It doesn't change what we do now any, but after the dust settles I think we should keep our eyes peeled to ensure we don't get dragged too deeply into any schemes. We're walking a fine line, and a gentle push could send us tumbling into commitments we do not want or need.
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If it is a set-up, he's gambling his life on our skill :confused: It's possible that he intends to make a sacrifice play, and there's probably something up with him having no escort...
 
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I think burning a Void point on this is overkill--not unreasonable overkill, but all the same--if we get the +2k1.
 
[X] Cut the arrow out of the air

Will add my Free Raise to Rook's. See, it's very important to succeed when you do stuff like this, because while pulling this off makes Naoto look like perfect husbando material for Matsu Ketsui JUST AS PLANNED look awesome, if he fails he looks like an absolute dumbass.
 
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Rook said:
I think burning a Void point on this is overkill--not unreasonable overkill, but all the same--if we get the +2k1.
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If we're going for knocking the arrow out of the air then we really should go for as much overkill as possible because the outcome if we were to fail would be...poor to say the least.

"My deepest apologies I didn't push you out of the way Otomo-sama. I just thought that I had the opportunity to do something really cool here!"
 
Da Boyz said:
If we're going for knocking the arrow out of the air then we really should go for as much overkill as possible because the outcome if we were to fail would be...poor to say the least.

"My deepest apologies I didn't push you out of the way Otomo-sama. I just thought that I had the opportunity to do something really cool here!"
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The TN is 30. With two people offering to add their Free Raises to reduce it to 20 and the possibility of us being able to add 2k1 to the roll of 5k3 I don't think Void is necessary.
 
Wade Garrett said:
[X] Cut the arrow out of the air

Will add my Free Raise to Rook's. See, it's very important to succeed when you do stuff like this, because while pulling this off makes Naoto look like perfect husbando material for Matsu Ketsui JUST AS PLANNED look awesome, if he fails he looks like an absolute dumbass.
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That more or less seals the deal if we get the Stance bonus; our odds are sitting pretty at about 97%.
 
[x] Cut the arrow out of the air.
-[x] Holler out "That bowman is attacking Otomo-sama! Try to take him alive!"
-[X] Spend a Void Point

[X] Burn Rook's Free Raise
For Honor and Glory!
 
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[] Cut the arrow out of the air.

I'd add a line to stay on guard and check our surroundings as well. Lions around or not, @Wade Garrett raises a good point on the possibility of being more than one assasin.
 
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A Nation's Virtue said:
The TN is 30. With two people offering to add their Free Raises to reduce it to 20 and the possibility of us being able to add 2k1 to the roll of 5k3 I don't think Void is necessary.
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Provided we can full attack it's probably not needed given that even 5k3 would on average make that TN. If we can't I'd rather play it safe and spend a point of void.
 
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