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Live The Balance (Original cultivation)

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[X] Plan Points for Stats

[X] Water drips from the blade.
[X] Grass sprouts from the drops.
 
[X] Ma Gang.
[X] Lady Zhu.
[X] Water drips from the blade.
[X] Grass sprouts from the drops.

[X] Plan: Get Points and Increase Mind Stat
-[X] The Garden Job. (x2)
-[X] Spent 100 sect point for tuition in Mind Stat
-[X] Physical Cultivation. Breakthrough when necessary until limit of current realm. Then switch to Mental Cultivation.

Simple plan that allows us to get points and use the existing points to increase mind stat by 25%. After four lessons the increased mind stat will allow for more efficient Mental Cultivation.
 
Tharuk said:
Simple plan that allows us to get points and use the existing points to increase mind stat by 25%. After four lessons the increased mind stat will allow for more efficient Mental Cultivation.
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I don't think it works like that.

Kadmus said:
An inner disciple will oversee your efforts to improve your very self. Dedicate 7 time blocks and gain +25% towards the next letter rank in a stat other than Talent.
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Bold mine. That's why I asked the QM if it is indeed possible to raise stats (not skills) like Mind. At the moment, I don't see a way to do it in the stated rules and other informational posts. Or am I missing something?

Edit - Oh, yeah, I am missing something. For some reason, I thought that all stats were talents. Like Mind Talent, Body Talent and so on. My bad.
 
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Epic Bygones said:
In my eyes, we either think short term (the sect and ship), mid term (the war), long term (our life beyond military service) or some kind of mix. For example, we could get the Move technique that lets us travel faster and leave no tracks in the woods, but when will we get the chance to make use of that?

Personally, now that we're past the super short term (making Disciple), I think that raising our Talents, while an investment mostly geared towards the future, is too good to pass up, so that would be my priority. As far as techniques go, instead, we get so many (up to 144) that I think that beginning with the short term sounds wiser, and that going specific and powerful is better than broader and weak. That said, I can see that changing depending on a few factors, and either way, I'd like to know more before deciding, so...

@Kadmus
1) What do we know about the war in which we will have to take part? Stuff like the nature, abilities and technologies of both our side and our enemies', the kind of terrains/battlefields involved, common strategies/tactics used, what will be expected of us, etc. If we know nothing or very little, what would be the best use of a time-block meant to rectify our ignorance on the matter?

2) In your Sect Points informational post, there is no example of Physical Move technique. Is it because the combination is not available for some reason, or was that just an oversight?

3) You've mentioned multiple times that things like techniques and spirits will be able to grow/develop with us (and that lower grade doesn't necessarily mean worse/lower value). Can you tell us more about this process? Specifically (but not limited to) what happens when two cultivators in different realms get access to the same/a similar one at the same time.

Thanks in advance for the reply.

Edit - 4) Could it be that Talents can't be raised, or is there just no way we currently have access to/know about? Are we stuck at our current ranks in those categories?

5) You said to tell you what we'd like the spirit we want to be able to do, but could you give us some examples of what's possible?
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Good questions! It's hard for me to remember what you know vs what I know sometimes.

1. Zhi Gao knows that the war is fought on all sides. There are fronts in every direction, but the major ones are north and south, as that's where habitable land is. East - where he is now - is more persistent raids from seaborne foes. He doesn't know much about the west.

He can research this in the library, for basic information. He can also buy training in tactics for the tactics stuff, or talk to someone who knows more about it. Library research can be done with a single block, with a Bureaucracy roll to get some extra information.


2. It's an oversight. Physical move stuff is all 'being very fast' or 'jumping very high' - I'll add one in.


3. Spirits can achieve the same degree of cultivation as the cultivator they're bound to. If a Second Step Outer Human binds a daisy spirit, and an Outer Immortal does the same, the spirit will still start as a First Step Outer Human equivalent.

The spirit can then be improved by their cultivator through an investment of time and effort. The Outer Immortal could bring their spirit up to Inner Human very quickly, for example, but the Outer Human would have to put in significant effort to get their spirit to Second Step.

Functionally, this will be represented by using Spirit Ken as a cultivation roll for the spirit, to represent you guiding it. You will also be able to invest Degrees of Success from your own cultivation to the spirit. To give you a peek behind the curtain, an Outer Immortal needs 24720 DoS to reach Second Step, so throwing a few hundred to a spirit to get it improved isn't a big cost, relatively.

For Techniques, these will require training in a similar manner to skills. They come with a % skill and a letter ranking, and both of these can be improved. You need to get the technique to 50% skill, and then you can choose to invest the improvements you would get in the skill itself into the letter rank. This gets less effective the higher the letter rank, so at J you can invest a 1% to get a 1% towards the next letter rank, but at I it costs 2% for 1%, at H it's 4% for 1%, and so on.

Techniques don't require tutoring to improve, but improve faster with it. Once you've got a technique, the costs for tutoring will go on the board.


4. I know you've picked up on this one already, but Talent is just one of the four Stats. You can improve the other three Stats by buying training. Talent will require very special tuition or medicines. The Sect Head's tuition session gave the winner +1 Talent, for example.


5. Anything can have a spirit, from a pebble to a mountain. Manufactured objects need to have been around for a century to develop a spirit, but otherwise they're everywhere. @Corndog has the right of it for abilities; think of what it might be conceptually linked to, and it will probably have abilities around that.

Some broad categories:
Flower spirits: growth, nice smells, bright colours.
Insect spirits: metamorphosis, flight, disease.
Item spirits: whatever the item does! Umbrella spirits are resistant to water, for example.

You can also get spirits that are more like the traditional monster or supernatural creature - I'm sure everyone here reads Threads of Destiny, so if you've seen a spirit critter there, it's probably in this game too. Xuanwu are probably not available for a dirt-farming peasant, unfortunately.

Let's use the daisy spirit I mentioned. It would start at the very lowest rank - Outer Human First Step equivalent. It would have an active technique based around either rapid growth or wide dispersal, both of which would be wood-aspected. It would have a passive technique based around either hardiness or rebirth, also wood-aspected.

In comparison, something like a dragonfly spirit could be anywhere on the scale, but one you could get would have active abilities around rapid flight, exceptional vision, and swooping attacks. It would have passive abilities based around nimbleness and agility, but would be relatively fragile.


Hope this has helped a little! Please ask if you need clarification, I'm always happy to talk about this stuff.
 
Ugh, it's a shame getting the Elder's personal lesson was impossible for anyone but the people who were already prepared to begin with.

It's telling that even Jia--who's halfway through the Outer Human Mental Realm--didn't qualify because she was having problems with her body cultivation.

Nice to see that talent and effort is secondary to who you know even at the highest levels!
 
Politics is gonna politic, unfortunately. There will certainly be opportunities to get that sort of thing in the future, though - don't forget that the sect leaves port in two months, and that's going to be a whole different kettle of fish.
 
Yeah, our protagonist at least seems like he's well looked upon so far? Diligent worker with useful skills and enough Talent to break through on his own starting from nothing within a month--while being otherwise unattached--is a pretty good investment.

He didn't get the "Free Talent Buff" like the actual rich people had a chance to get, but it's a good start.
 
I think it was better he didnt get the sect head lesson because of our background. It would attract A LOT of bad attention (good too, but most bad) and practically all the nobles would be against us for we are "too talented that we are a threat to be let alone", kind of a "you are with me or against me". And I particularly want that Zhi Gao becomes an elder in this sect. In all other quests the character goes out and leaves the sect in some point or is planning to leave, and in this quest being a commoner is the only way to be an elder.

We are probably in the first loot of commoners to breakthrough to first step, and hopefully the first to reach second step, all on our own and without a single drug. The other disciples may not care or notice but I doubt the higher stands don't know about it. If we can maintain the pace by our own for a long time, I think we have a good chance to gain a very good boon for "perseverance and talent". They need commoners in high positions in the sect for balance.

About the plan for the week, what about tuition about spirit ken as a preparation to find a spirit? We have 40% in this skill, so reaching the 50% max of the tuition is very easy with the +2% granted and +4% for each successful roll. @Kadmus the tuition means we can only reach 50% in spirit ken or is +50% for the tuition, being possible to reach 90%?

And can we go out of the sect to look for a spirit? Because if yes, we could always go to library next turn for books about spirits and locations, and THEN we look for one.
 
You can only reach 50% from tuition. Getting higher than that will require finding a specialist tutor or specialist scrolls/resources.

You can leave the sect - and even the city - to go out and explore, if you want. You have to come back, but the lands around are all fairly well-populated with sect members out and about on errands.
 
[X] Lady Zhu.
[X] Ma Gang.

[X] The Garden Job. Now that you're an outer disciple, the job pays better, but has commensurate difficulties. +1 sect point per hour per Step increase. At your current level (Second Step Outer Human), offers 13 sect points per time block, plus the Degrees of Success on your Spirit Ken roll.

[X] Water drips from the blade.
[X] Grass sprouts from the drops.

[X] Free Technique: Wood-Nurtured Physique
-[X] Physical
-[X] Type: Attack
-[X] Element: Wood
-[X] Your muscles are strong like a tree and flexible like bamboo, able to give fast attacks and more damage in melee.

[X] Free Technique: Deepwater Body
-[X] Physical
-[X] Type: Defend
-[X] Element: Water
-[X] Your body is like the deep ocean, able to absorb attack after attack without being destroyed. Grants extra resilience and makes it very hard to dismember you.

To me Zhi Gao is a very straightforward person, and what says more than this type of person than an "I take your hits and give you back tenfolds"? Since our body cultivation has more chances to advance faster than our mind cultivation because of stats, and Body and Spirit are I rank anyway, a melee combat build is better for now. (or I am saying bullshit and interpreted things wrong, would not be the first time)

I don't know if I did right on the wood technique, tried my best.

[X] Plan Don't Slow Down and Preparations
[X] 1 block a day on physical cultivation.
-[X] If reach 30 success, attempt breakthrough. After successful breakthrough, alternate between physical and mental cultivation.
[X] 1 block a day on mental cultivation.
-[X] If reach 30 success, attempt breakthrough and continue on mental cultivation.
[X] Spend 50 sect points to buy Spirit Ken lessons, 1 block a day on them.
-[X] If reach 50% and can't advance the skill anymore, go to library to study about the spirits on the sect and on Songhua. Try to ask the tutor about their opinion on what spirit is best for a first-timer.

Name is very objective: continue what we are doing to advance and stay in the top, and doing preparations to go for a spirit in the next week or after next week.
 
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[X] Lady Zhu.
[X] Ma Gang.

[X] The Garden Job. Now that you're an outer disciple, the job pays better, but has commensurate difficulties. +1 sect point per hour per Step increase. At your current level (Second Step Outer Human), offers 13 sect points per time block, plus the Degrees of Success on your Spirit Ken roll.

[X] Water drips from the blade.
[X] Grass sprouts from the drops.

[X] Free Technique: Wood-Nurtured Physique
-[X] Physical
-[X] Type: Attack
-[X] Element: Wood
-[X] Your muscles are strong like a tree and flexible like bamboo, able to give fast attacks and more damage in melee.

[X] Free Technique: Deepwater Body
-[X] Physical
-[X] Type: Defend
-[X] Element: Water
-[X] Your body is like the deep ocean, able to absorb attack after attack without being destroyed. Grants extra resilience and makes it very hard to dismember you.


[X] Plan: Get Points and Increase Mind Stat
 
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[X] Ma Gang.
[X] Lady Zhu.
[X] Water drips from the blade.
[X] Grass sprouts from the drops.

[X] Plan: Get Points and Increase Mind Stat
-[X] The Garden Job. (x2)
-[X] Spent 100 sect point for tuition in Mind Stat
-[X] Physical Cultivation. Breakthrough when necessary until limit of current realm. Then switch to Mental Cultivation.

yo there I'm new and enjoying the story, Can't wait for more
 
[X] Lady Zhu.
[X] Ma Gang.

[X] The Garden Job. Now that you're an outer disciple, the job pays better, but has commensurate difficulties. +1 sect point per hour per Step increase. At your current level (Second Step Outer Human), offers 13 sect points per time block, plus the Degrees of Success on your Spirit Ken roll.

[X] Water drips from the blade.
[X] Grass sprouts from the drops.

[X] Free Technique: Wood-Nurtured Physique
-[X] Physical
-[X] Type: Attack
-[X] Element: Wood
-[X] Your muscles are strong like a tree and flexible like bamboo, able to give fast attacks and more damage in melee.

[X] Free Technique: Deepwater Body
-[X] Physical
-[X] Type: Defend
-[X] Element: Water
-[X] Your body is like the deep ocean, able to absorb attack after attack without being destroyed. Grants extra resilience and makes it very hard to dismember you.


[X] Plan Don't Slow Down and Preparations
[X] 1 block a day on physical cultivation.
-[X] If reach 30 success, attempt breakthrough. After successful breakthrough, alternate between physical and mental cultivation.
[X] 1 block a day on mental cultivation.
-[X] If reach 30 success, attempt breakthrough and continue on mental cultivation.
[X] Spend 50 sect points to buy Spirit Ken lessons, 1 block a day on them.
-[X] If reach 50% and can't advance the skill anymore, go to library to study about the spirits on the sect and on Songhua.
 
Kadmus said:
- Raging Qi Pill. Grants +3 Degrees of Success to every mental cultivation roll for a week. Effective until Inner Human First Step.
- Surging Blood Pill. Grants +3 Degrees of Success to every physical cultivation roll for a week. Effective until Inner Human First Step.
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Before we look for a spirit, I want to buy one of each of these pills then spend two weeks on cultivation (one wholly physical, one wholly mental, at least as much as we can with the mandatory job). We should take advantage of these pills before Inner Human while we still can, cos they are pretty cheap for what they do. Also, having a higher cultivation means we'll have a wider choice of spirits when we go looking, and it will be easier to subdue or convince them to join us if we're stronger.
 
[X] Lady Zhu.
[X] Ma Gang.

[X] The Garden Job. Now that you're an outer disciple, the job pays better, but has commensurate difficulties. +1 sect point per hour per Step increase. At your current level (Second Step Outer Human), offers 13 sect points per time block, plus the Degrees of Success on your Spirit Ken roll.

[X] Water drips from the blade.
[X] Grass sprouts from the drops.

[X] Free Technique: Wood-Nurtured Physique
-[X] Physical
-[X] Type: Attack
-[X] Element: Wood
-[X] Your muscles are strong like a tree and flexible like bamboo, able to give fast attacks and more damage in melee.

[X] Free Technique: Deepwater Body
-[X] Physical
-[X] Type: Defend
-[X] Element: Water
-[X] Your body is like the deep ocean, able to absorb attack after attack without being destroyed. Grants extra resilience and makes it very hard to dismember you.


[X] Plan Don't Slow Down and Preparations
[X] 1 block a day on physical cultivation.
-[X] If reach 30 success, attempt breakthrough. After successful breakthrough, alternate between physical and mental cultivation.
[X] 1 block a day on mental cultivation.
-[X] If reach 30 success, attempt breakthrough and continue on mental cultivation.
[X] Spend 50 sect points to buy Spirit Ken lessons, 1 block a day on them.
-[X] If reach 50% and can't advance the skill anymore, go to library to study about the spirits on the sect and on Songhua.
 
primary: metal
supporting: earth
countering: water		primary: water
supporting: metal
countering: wood		primary: wood
supporting: water
countering: fire		primary: fire
supporting: wood
countering: earth		primary: earth
supporting: fire
countering: metal

From a narrative standpoint, for what we know of our character, my favorite is either the first or more likely the fourth combination, which is the only one with both earth and wood. So, as far as insights go:

[X] Fire is raised from the kindling.
[X] Earth is born from the flame.

For techniques, instead:

[X] Free technique.
-[X] Physical
-[X] Type: Move
-[X] Element: Fire
-[X] Specific: Exploding Steam Speed - You are capable of bursts of speed resembling the sudden explosion of super-heated water, which allow you to cover a lot of space in little time.

[X] Free technique.
-[X] Mental
-[X] Type: Defend
-[X] Element: Wood
-[X] Specific: Field of Bamboo - You can cause a patch of bamboo stalks to suddenly rise from the ground, allowing you to hinder attacks or movement.

As for the people to spend time with:

[X] Lady Zhu.
[X] Other (you will go wandering and try to find someone interesting. Now that oyu are an outer disciple, new options will be available).

The weekly job can't be anything but:

[X] The Garden Job.

And since raising Mind is too good to pass up:

[X] Plan: Get Points and Increase Mind Stat
 
The Meddler said:
Before we look for a spirit, I want to buy one of each of these pills then spend two weeks on cultivation (one wholly physical, one wholly mental, at least as much as we can with the mandatory job). We should take advantage of these pills before Inner Human while we still can, cos they are pretty cheap for what they do. Also, having a higher cultivation means we'll have a wider choice of spirits when we go looking, and it will be easier to subdue or convince them to join us if we're stronger.
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I think we shouldnt go for pills, not until absolutelly necessary. The sect will not give something will affect bad on their disciples (not to everyone, only for the most despairing cases maybe) but it can have minor effects along the way, a thing very common in this setting and not unexpected with how cheap these pills are.

Farmboy is doing well without pills and probably can go a few more steps without it. The money on pills could very well go to tuitions for combat or to raise stats. And a commoner raising to power by his own without external aid will be more valuable to the sect (this part is something I think is important since I want farmboy to be a sect elder later, dont put importance on this if you dont want that)

We dont know all options of spirits we can have, but QM sais that strong supernatural spirits are out to Zhi Gao. We probably can only contract spirits of our level, outer human, and since it is the moat basic, I doubt we will need to beat it to submission. From the exemples kadmus gave us, there were insects, flowers and items, so a good talk should be enough independent if we are strong or not - they are weak too, after all.

@Kadmus it is possible to Zhi Gao contract an inner human spirit? Just for the curiosity, we probably will die if we try.
 
Yeah, you can't contract anything above your own level of cultivation. At the moment you can only contract stuff up to Outer Human Second Step. There's a wide variety available, but none of them are massively strong at the moment, though something like a weapon spirit would be better in a fight than you are.
 
Hm... We can have two spirits as a outer human, right? Because of the speaker thing.

Spirits can give bonus to cultivation?
 
A spirit that gave you bonuses to cultivation would be extremely rare. You can currently support two spirits, as you're Outer Human and a Speaker.

You will need to look into the pills if you want to find out about pill toxicity and so forth.
 
If we can have two, we can have a first one as a support spirit, and another in later steps for combat purposes or just a stronger spirit. We dont know much about spirits in general even Zhi Gao being a speaker, and learning with a more amible and weaker spirit is way easier.

Well, we cant have pill toxicity if we never take pills. Big brain time.
 
[X] Lady Zhu.
[X] Ma Gang.

[X] Water drips from the blade.
[X] Grass sprouts from the drops.

[X] Plan: Get Points and Increase Mind Stat

I will probably edit in some of my technique preferences later.
 
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