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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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@Twofold Ah, apologies. I'd misread it as "do labor activities in preparation for caravaning at end of week".

@Radvic Whatever we do we need to keep an eye on the caravan while they're here. The townsfolk all know we're ninja, they've probably sussed out that we're missing-nin, and I really don't trust their skill to keep that information from the merchants. While the guys might not want to tell everyone in sight there's missing-nin in this village we really don't want to take the risk. Henge or no someone might put two and two together.
 
Solace said:
There's a lot of reasons to be suspicious of the caravan, as others have already discussed. If the caravan are actually ninja, they will be better at resisting probes for information than the villagers, so we (read: Inoue) should ask around the village for more information on the caravan. If there's something suspicious about the caravan, especially if it's arrived at an odd time of year, the villagers will have noticed. This can be weaved into whatever plan we choose. It's a very low cost action that could result in potentially life saving information. Even if we don't go with the caravan, we still need to be aware of a potential threat if something is off.
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Agreed. I figure there's something the caravan is not telling us. The question is if the things they're hiding are dangerous to us. Might just be that they stole from the last village they were at and got into a scuffle with guards which killed their extra guards, might be that one or more have ninja training, might be that they've got additional guards waiting somewhere else, might be that they're a desparate group going without adequate protection. Everybody's got their secrets, most people's secrets don't concern us. I like the idea of talking to the village about the caravan, though I'm not entirely sure what we'd say.

faflec said:
@Radvic Whatever we do we need to keep an eye on the caravan while they're here. The townsfolk all know we're ninja, they've probably sussed out that we're missing-nin, and I really don't trust their skill to keep that information from the merchants. While the guys might not want to tell everyone in sight there's missing-nin in this village we really don't want to take the risk. Henge or no someone might put two and two together.
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Yes, the townsfolk will tell people ninja came through and helped them. This will likely be true regardless of what happens with this caravan. We will probably be the talk of the town for the next couple years. Mostly, we're relying on people not caring about us, which is quite probable. So long as we don't do something insane, like, say, murder a caravan or a village, nobody's going to care about a couple ninja going through killing monsters and hunting. That said, if we wanted to, the village is likely loyal enough to us at this point we could request they don't tell people and it'd be somewhat effective. I just don't think we benefit from the silence, unless we're going full murder, which we're not. It might even be to our benefit if rumors started going around about helpful ninja, for whenever we decide to actually become a publicly relevant force (depending on what we want to do).

One other thought I had: if we think the Black Hunter is a seal-master, we could leave them some blanks (we can copy explosive tags right?) and maybe leave a proposal for cooperation. If they're a seal master, they might be intrigued enough to follow up. If they aren't, it's unlikely they'd care enough to do anything.
 
@Radvic

I'm not worried about the villagers actively telling anybody about us, I'm worried that a perceptive ninja entering the town and asking if there were any ninjas would roll higher than the villagers (horrendous) Deception check, then realize likely missing-nin were here. My concern is that we've just gotten away from the Swamp, chances are the place got blown up already, and any hunter-nin who keeps up on these events can and will put two and two together to realize that survivors from Hidden Swamp are/were here. Which means anybody not confirmed dead (i.e., there's no body, which includes our faces) suddenly gets a "possibly active" note in the Bingo Book.

Might I request we piss off of Iron as soon as we have the stealth/awareness to do so safely?

And I don't agree that giving the Black Hunter blanks is a good idea. We still don't know if he's even a missing-nin, or a possible friendly, and giving him information that can let him conclude we have some sort of seal-blank bloodline makes us a target. A bartering chip if nothing else.
 
On a separate note, Inoue's lecture has persuaded me to join the "tell them about our bloodline" faction.
 
faflec said:
@Radvic

I'm not worried about the villagers actively telling anybody about us, I'm worried that a perceptive ninja entering the town and asking if there were any ninjas would roll higher than the villagers (horrendous) Deception check, then realize likely missing-nin were here. My concern is that we've just gotten away from the Swamp, chances are the place got blown up already, and any hunter-nin who keeps up on these events can and will put two and two together to realize that survivors from Hidden Swamp are/were here. Which means anybody not confirmed dead (i.e., there's no body, which includes our faces) suddenly gets a "possibly active" note in the Bingo Book.

Might I request we piss off of Iron as soon as we have the stealth/awareness to do so safely?
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This seems paralyzingly paranoid to me. I also disagree about others putting two and two together, and the state of hunter-nin activity - it's a terrifyingly dangerous profession. Also, someone who is qualified to hunt Inoue has better things to do than hunt Inoue.

The most relevant concern is if Black Hunter is a hunter-nin and is aware of the fact that we likely have bounties and only Inoue can defend us. It's very unlikely they know exactly what village we're from or who we are, but they might decide to do something. Probably not since Inoue spotted them though. You don't live long by engaging people at your level to make your pay.

Where do you suggest we go aside from Iron? Do you suggest we just never use ninja abilities at all so nobody can find us?

faflec said:
And I don't agree that giving the Black Hunter blanks is a good idea. We still don't know if he's even a missing-nin, or a possible friendly, and giving him information that can let him conclude we have some sort of seal-blank bloodline makes us a target. A bartering chip if nothing else.
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Making blanks is something anyone can do, but that only seal masters are likely able to do. It is also a hidden bloodline ability, and Black Hunter has no real connection to Mist or our bloodline. Their most likely conclusion on our abilities is that either it's nothing, or that we're a sealmaster. Yes, if they collude with the villagers, find out about Swamp, spend a substantial amount of effort reading through the bloodlines of all the missingnin in the most up to date bingo book, and decide we're not likely sealmasters they might figure out who we are. This is also ignoring the very likely conclusion of the Black Hunter that this is a trap and never going near them. But even given that long chain of unlikely events, they still are likely to not want to pursue us given that they are at a combat level near Inoue and it would be hazardous to their health to do so. The world is dangerous, but not everything is explicitly trying to kill us specifically. We're not special.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of sending Black Hunter blanks, but that's just because I think it'd be mostly useless. Could potentially set something up, but likely going to do nothing, small chance of backfiring. Mostly it's the lowest risk option I can think of for getting in contact with Black Hunter. Doesn't mean I think it's on net a good idea yet, but maybe someone will refine my idea - it's happened before.
 
@Radvic
I'm suggesting we get out of a place we've made a mark in (and we will, there's no way we'll be able to leave Iron anytime soon if this discussion is any indication) once we have the skills to do so. After that point we'd probably want to move further inland, to perhaps Rivers or (less likely) Tea. The Earth/Wind Country border has some countries we don't know about but if we find out they're good places for us to be in those are options too. Not being ninja is stupid because our faces are in the Bingo Book.

I don't know what situations would arise where a person would spend the time to learn how to make seal blanks (remember this is a very difficult process, we have advantage because of our kekkei genkai) but not know how to infuse them. At the least it would suggest we're missing-nin since we would have gone to village sealers to learn if we were so motivated, not some random guy-in-the-middle-of-nowhere. I'm mostly having trouble writing how we'd ask the guy for help: my impression is that we're supposed to give the guy blanks and ask for help on infusion?
 
faflec said:
I'm mostly having trouble writing how we'd ask the guy for help: my impression is that we're supposed to give the guy blanks and ask for help on infusion?
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Well, I think the narratively pleasing version would be we make seals so terribly we offend their pride as a seal master, but with such potential that they simply must train us to prevent us from making the world uglier and/or blowing up the world with our terrible seals. The risk, of course, being that the simplest way for us to resolving making ugly seals is either blowing ourselves up in very creative ways, or seal-master-sensei deciding that the best way to stop our ugliness is to remove us from the world.
 
eaglejarl said:
Can you link me what the training decision was? I didn't think there was a consensus.
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Velorien said:
Here endeth the voting.

Plan Constant Vigilance and Movement! is the winner by an exceedingly long way.
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Okay what, somehow that link just doesn't work.

Twofold said:
[X] Constant Vigilance and Movement!
Resolve 2 [4]
Awareness 6 [10]
Wits 3 [16]
Awareness 7 [23]
Awareness 8 [31]
Tactical Movement 2 [33]
Tactical Movement 3 [36]
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Also, i can't believe absolutely noone linked you to this in the seven hours i was asleep. Seriously people, do you not want to spend our XP?
 
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Chronic said:
Okay what, somehow that link just doesn't work.



Also, i can't believe absolutely noone linked you to this in the seven hours i was asleep. Seriously people, do you not want to spend our XP?
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faflec said:
@eaglejarl

Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest | Page 152

Also a question, do we have to make seals on paper? There've been canon examples of seals being put on non-paper things, like humans. Is this advanced sealing, and/or do we know this?
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Messing with Black Hunter-san is too dangerous because he's totally jonin. Our deception is too low to go with the caravan. We should strive to stay away from those other options, because I don't like how they are worded and the feeling they convay.
I feel that we should:
[x] Finish up and move out
[x] Finish up and move out (Minus interacting with Sparky Sparky Boom Man-san)
 
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eaglejarl said:
Let me throw some info out there: I don't mind being teased about this stuff (looking at you, @MadScientist), but I don't want to write a quest for evil characters. If you want to play Robin Hood, or be assassins for hire, or be thieves, great. If the group starts regularly choosing options that involve gratuitous murder, I quit.
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I should add the following. I have no objections to the players regularly choosing to do evil. Like RPGs, quests are about freedom, not railroading. However, two factors should be taken into account:

1) All choices have consequences, and any QM worth his salt will delight in enforcing them.
2) Writing a quest like this may be too much for me to do alone. Consider how this will affect your odds of survival should you end up driving @eaglejarl away.


Solace said:
What happened to poor Kanda? :sad:
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According to Baikan, Kanda was carried off by something winged and nocturnal while answering a call of nature a little too far from their campsite, taking with him Baikan's hopes of adding a fourth wagon anytime soon.
 
faflec said:
Also a question, do we have to make seals on paper? There've been canon examples of seals being put on non-paper things, like humans. Is this advanced sealing, and/or do we know this?
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@Velorien and I are hashing it out now. We'll have an answer for you tomorrow.

Velorien said:
Like RPGs, quests are about freedom, not railroading. However, two factors should be taken into account:
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Oh, I'm not railroading them. Railroading would be if I let them vote to do evil and then bent coincidence and fate to the task of preventing their evil plans. They're free to do evil; I'm just saying that I'm free not to write it.
 
eaglejarl said:
Oh, I'm not railroading them. Railroading would be if I let them vote to do evil and then bent coincidence and fate to the task of preventing their evil plans. They're free to do evil; I'm just saying that I'm free not to write it.
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I'm all for us dying in a blaze of our own glorious stupidity. Especially if we go stupid evil. Heck, we're close enough to Hot Springs, just have Hidan come after us for being Janshin-kill-stealing heathens. Surely, if anyone had a "wanton murder sense," it'd be the immortal, S-rank, omnicidal maniac.
 
dwibby said:
I'm all for us dying in a blaze of our own glorious stupidity. Especially if we go stupid evil. Heck, we're close enough to Hot Springs, just have Hidan come after us for being Janshin-kill-stealing heathens. Surely, if anyone had a "wanton murder sense," it'd be the immortal, S-rank, omnicidal maniac.
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Remember that you're dealing with rational!Hidan here. For all you know, there are now more secret Jashinites on the continent than there are kunai, all just waiting for their immortal high priest to give the order.

If that is the case, and I'm not saying it is or anything, you may even have spoken to some already...
 
Our hair must be getting long by now. We should get it cut.

We don't want to reveal our true form to the villages barber though, so let's just put a bowl on our head and cut our hair around it.
 
Velorien said:
Remember that you're dealing with rational!Hidan here. For all you know, there are now more secret Jashinites on the continent than there are kunai, all just waiting for their immortal high priest to give the order.

If that is the case, and I'm not saying it is or anything, you may even have spoken to some already...
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See? Problem solved. I've helped the QMs develop their own personal secret police if we ever get too far out of line. I'm helping!

Edit: Oh, for the record? It's probably a bad idea to murder the followers of a god that's powered by murder. Oooh! New Achivement:

Yes, Hazō, There is a Jashin!
Attract the personal attention of the Wicked God of Murder and Destruction
 
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[X] Finish up and move out (minus interacting with Sparky Sparky Boom Man-san)
[X] Finish up and move out

Just the act of approaching him is too dangerous, and leaving a note is just weird unless they're secretly in league with him. "Hey, if you're ever running for your life from the black monster and desperately hoping you are spared from a horrible murder at his hands, please take this note out of your pockets and drop it as well." I do want to inform the village lady that the black monster is a ninja, and having Inoue see if she is actually surprised by that information. She won't be able to beat 18 Dice of Awareness, so she can't lie to us. That's a sure-fire way to get that information. We could also talk to someone else who (if the lady hasn't told anyone else) doesn't know we're missing nin.
 
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Alright, I've removed contacting the Black Hunter from the proposed plan, and added clarification on what to ask to trade for Wakahisa and Mori. New plan is here:

We've done all the easy stuff at this village. Lets take our quest rewards, lay some contingencies for the future and head out. Here's the bare bones.
  • Trade for a map from the caravan
  • Trade for a barrel from the caravan (for Wakahisa)
  • Trade for a weapon for Mori from the caravan
    • Preferably a quality bow and rapier
  • Leave a message for the Black Hunter (probably expressing desire for cooperation, potentially by leaving a note at the explosion, or something for the villagers to carry and abandon when they see BH)
  • Leave a way for the townspeople to get in contact with us, or recognize "our associates" (us henged once we're better at deception)
  • Leave the villagers with a surplus of logs and meat and suggestions for how to build a wall if they have the time (we can give them the materials)
  • Go to another village of comparable size to this one and help them out
  • Finally tell Inoue about our seal abilities, because there's very little reason for us to hold out on her anymore

The plan can still use some refinement, particularly on methods of the townspeople contacting us. Most likely this will just involve us saying we know some like minded ninja we could send their way if they're interested. We could also ask them to keep an eye out for something in particular if we're interested. For instance, if they hear rumors of a seal master or medical ninja or samurai. Yes, it's unlikely they'll hear anything, but if done correctly it won't hurt us.

We may also need to figure out how we plan on paying the caravan. I'm guessing a bow and rapier of the quality we want are moderately expensive, and I don't think we have money. Things we can use to barter/acquire them (there's probably others too):
  • Steelback spikes? I kinda thought we'd already traded these but not sure.
  • Clay - the village probably won't mind if we use some of their clay (we've helped them a lot)
  • Protection to the next village (though this runs the risk of us being found out by them)
  • Trade with something we catch in the wild (though this will reveal our existence as moral ninja to them)
  • Sneak after them and steal it (though this has its own problems, especially if they have ninja with them)
This is also when we should decide if we want to be as private as possible, or start spreading rumors about us. This is determined by if we tell the village to be silent about us or not. I'd prefer to ask them to keep quiet about us, but could be swayed either way.

I'll be back and can update my plan once tonight (in ~ 12 hours) if people have come up with sensible ideas to include, or someone with more free time can make a plan taking ideas from me. The more detail we provide, the better.
 
Wouldn't it just be easier to say that we might come back? Like, they know we're under Henge and nobody else really knows about the Henge we're using (merchants aside)...what's the problem with using this Henge for this village only?

As for trade, I wouldn't mind selling the meat we've caught for them. It's in abundance and unless we say how we caught it they'll just assume we trapped and killed a deer or something. Not all wild animals are chakra monsters.
 
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Radvic said:
Trade for a weapon for Mori from the caravan
  • Preferably a quality bow and rapier
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I'm not sold on the idea of rapier for Mori. First of all it doesn't really fit the Japanesque setting, it is probably a very uncommon weapon (we don't want to get famous just yet) and I just don't plain like it. I'm all for getting a bow for disguise purposes but most likely kunai are superior ranged weapon for ninja. It might not be a good idea to spend what little funds we have on a bow.

@eaglejarl, @Velorien, @Jackercracks and @AugSphere

Did we get anything from the village as a payment for the work we did? The clothes were mentioned and also that they didn't have barrels but was that all? Here's the original list of things we were looking to get as a reward from the plan:
Twofold said:
What we want for our services
- Materials for another barrel for Noburi
- Basic supplies (That Inoue doesn't have)
- A bow and arrows
- Some spearheads that we can fashion in to actual spears quickly
- Extra clothes, I'm sure ours stink, might be useful if we need a non-henge cover
- Anything useful we can get from them, maybe a bigger share if we do the Caravan thing?
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Also, could we possibly get a short list of things that Baikan has to sell? I feel silly arguing about what kind of weapon we should get for Mori if it turns out that the guy doesn't have any weapons in his caravan.

Radvic said:
Leave a message for the Black Hunter (probably expressing desire for cooperation, potentially by leaving a note at the explosion, or something for the villagers to carry and abandon when they see BH)
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I actually like this idea very much. If the guy is a hunter-nin then why did he make himself known to us and why would he stick to one place for long? Leaving a note and some blanks probably wont lead to a fight, it would be an unnecessary risk for the Hunter. There's however the question of what kind of blanks do we leave. Sealmakers have their own distinctive styles and it's possible that we could be traced to Mist through whatever seal we copy from Inoue. Especially if someone else than the Hunter happens to pick them up.

Radvic said:
  • Steelback spikes? I kinda thought we'd already traded these but not sure.
  • Clay - the village probably won't mind if we use some of their clay (we've helped them a lot)
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We still have the spikes, but I have a feeling we could get a better price for them if we sold them directly to an actual blacksmith, who could possibly make Mori a nice custom weapon. We might also need to spend them to buy kunai and shuriken, I have no idea how many of those we have left.

The bristles are currently most (if not all) of our wealth (not including Inoue's personal stash), I really dislike trading them away in the first opportunity. Ideally we would be trading stuff that we got from the village in reward for our work but it's still in the air did we get actually get anything from them. I think we can get to the next village without major investments, the only really useful thing would be the map (and possibly the barrel). If they only have one we could buy something to write on and copy it.

Radvic said:
Leave the villagers with a surplus of logs and meat and suggestions for how to build a wall if they have the time (we can give them the materials)
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Why are we doing this? I mean it will take time to hunt and cut down trees, wouldn't it be better spent by heading to the next town?
 
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@Twofold We also have a supply of spearheads from the blacksmith, as reward for -whatevermission-. I think Baikan has spices and an animal skin, but I'm not sure what else he has.
 
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