Remove ads

Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

Voting is open for the next 1 day, 2 hours
Reader mode
Enjou said:
Simple solution - have the sealmasters do research inside his facility. He'll have all sorts of ways to make them go boom squish if they try anything.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Kagome has a very liberal view of, "try anything." He's very good at detecting suspicious patterns other people miss. He's so good, he can see patterns that aren't even there. We would need, at a minimum, a two-man policy for the big red button.

Not that any of this is really relevant to getting him to acclimate in the next few updates. Maybe we could convince him to send clones out?
 
Remove ads
Omake: All Must Go
  • Apocrypha
    • Omake: All Must Go​

    "Master, have you played with crazy old Tadou?" Shou asked.

    "I haven't yet." Manabu scoffed, "And what good could an outsider like him be anyways? I'd never even heard of him before last week, and from what I've heard, he's a disgrace to Go players everywhere."​

    Shou nodded slowly. "Disgrace or not, he seems pretty good in general. Doesn't seem to know many openings though, and so he always winds up at a disadvantage to start. After a few plays though, the board's filled with traps and every step may lead to total destruction."

    Manabu nodded, "Anything else?"

    Shou smiled, "Well, his play style itself is always a treat to watch. Can be a little disconcerting the first time you play him. You can normally find him just within view of the main gate in the fields around noon. I'd suggest seeking him out tomorrow. It should most definitely be an… interesting… experience."

    Manabu nodded, "Someone needs to put him in his place. For the honor of the game if nothing else."

    ---​

    Kagome glanced around himself. Auntie sat beside him, reading a book in one hand, absently skewering nearby butterflies which considered landing on it with the other. He supposed this was safe enough. Barely. Sight lines out to about a thousand feet, Hazou's new invisible explosives and other traps (great trick that) scattered around the field so the cheaters with their stinking cheater eyes couldn't see them. Just a haphazard mess of Go score sheets scattered in the breeze. Nothing to see there. Nope. Definitely no city leveling directional explosives here. Stinking stinkers wouldn't catch him today. Team wanted him to "get to know people" and "acclimate" Pah! As if these Leaf stinkers could "acclimate" him! He'd show them acclimation! He'd acclimate the Lupchanz right out of their ears! He'd acclimate them until there was nothing left but ash! Boom! Squish! Acclimation!

    "Honey, have you considered Kenta's opening?" Auntie broke his explosive chain of thought, while pushing a book under his nose. "I think it might help with your early game."

    Kagome scoffed "Stinkers aren't going to catch me with the same opening! Gotta make it different each time or they'll see the traps." He smiled, "They never see them coming, it's always 'Ka- Tadou's crazy! He can't play Go! Does he even know how to play?' Pah! I'll show them." He crossed his arms, "I always show them. The stinkers."

    Kagome glanced around the clearing again. Two concentric rings of score sheets and stone placement histories were complete, with the third started yesterday. Linked triggers (who'd have thought Jiraiya actually had something useful. Not that he was to be trusted.) safely invisibly written into the custom table let him activate and deactivate them. Stinkers would be Boomed dbefore they knew it! He smiled and began to relax. A few more games of scribbling on meaningless paper and the defenses should be complete! Wait! A man approached!

    Kagome considered turning off the defenses. On the one hand, killing the random stranger would make him safer for now. On the other hand, it might also bring the stinking stinkers down on him again. He glanced at his two rings of go sheets. Not yet. Gotta get aerial traps too. Maybe he could make miniature seals which floated in the wind? Or maybe a clever application of five seal barriers disguised as gnats. Auntie certainly skewered enough to make something of them. Hm… maybe Noburi could help?

    The man approached the outer ring. Right! Gotta turn off the defenses! Kagome quickly send a pulse temporarily turning off the defenses.

    Manabu walked past the scattered Go sheets, sniffing disdainfully at Kagome's mess.

    "You! Tadou! I challenge you to Go!" Manabu shouted as he approached.

    Kagome glanced around, "Tadou! Who's Tadou! Where's Tadou! Is he a threat! I'll stop him! Boom! Squish!" Auntie put a hand on his arm, "You're Tadou dear." Kagome started, "Right! Right. I'm Tadou. Never heard of Kagome. Always been Tadou." His eyes narrowed, "and who are you! You should go!"

    Slightly taken aback by the crazed man, Manabu paused to consider what he was getting into, "...Manabu. Go champion of Leaf. I hear you're playing Go here, and making a mess of yourself and the game. I challenge you for the pride of Go players everywhere. After I defeat you, you shall cease your degradation of the most wonderful game."

    Kagome paused, "Game! Yes. Game! That's what I meant! We should play Go! Definitely not telling you to leave before the lupchanz below the ground eat your brain and make you go boom squish. Games are fun!" He pointed to the table, "Let's Go!"

    ---​

    "Stinking Stinker won't see my traps in the mid-game! Boom! Squish! I'll split his islands and crush him!"

    "...I can hear you, you know?"

    "Cheating ears with their listening!"

    ---​

    A stray wind blows by. A loose sheet of paper blows across the board. In it's wake, all the Go pieces disappear.

    "Stinker! You know I was about to capture the 3rd quadrant! Fowl!" Kagome toyed with the rune connected to the explosives Manabu was seated on.

    "Uh… you didn't have any pieces in that quadrant? Also why did the pieces disappear?"

    "..."

    ---​

    The afternoon wore on, and Kagome and Manabu kept slowly placing pieces, one by one. Black and white intermingled across the board, without an immediately clear winner.

    Auntie counted the points, "Looks like you two are tied." She smiled at Manabu, "Guess you'll just have to come back tomorrow for the honor of Go."

    "If that's what it takes." Manabu sniffed and walked away.

    Once he was out of sight, Kagome began gleefully hoping around the field placing the sheets of paper he'd "filled out" with their moves, notes, and scores throughout the field. Maybe if Manabu kept coming back, he'd get enough papers for a third circle by the end of the week.

    ---

    Hours later​

    Kagome and Auntie sat at the table: Kagome quietly whittling away, and Auntie reading a book. The Go table folded outwards, as Noburi and Hazou came out.

    "Thanks for keeping watch Kagome! I think we're close to figuring it out. One more Lupchanz died, but Sage knows we've got plenty - er - hopefully he doesn't. Anyways, we'll just need you to keep watch a couple more times I think."

    Kagome glanced down, "It's ok I guess. Can be fun."
     
    Last edited:
  • Apocrypha
    • I love Kagome so much.

    After we get the party obliterated, can we play as the renegade lupchanz he slowly learns to appreciate as it coaxes him back to sanity through explosive vengeance?
     
    So, let's talk about Hazou's personal combat. How do we want to approach it?

    I figure there's a few ways we can go. I'll outline them here:
    • Taijutsu/skills and Tac Move
      • Use Roki, Taijutsu, and maybe throw in a couple seals to boot
      • Requires leveling Taijutsu and Tac Move
      • Syncs with leveling Deception and Roki
      • Requires coming up with rules for "how does using a Macerator and other seals in combat work?"
      • Helped by developing new personal combat seals
    • Seals on Seals on Seals on Tac Move
      • Run around trying not to get hit while tossing/dropping seals around like they're candy
      • Requires leveling Tac Move and Sealing
      • Requires building armor with gadgets and things
      • Requires developing new personal combat seals
    • Punch Them All!
      • Just go full spirit of Youth! Punch things until they die.
      • Level Taijutsu, Roki, and Tac Move (and Deception)
    Of these, I'd argue we're currently in a "punch them all" style. To my knowledge, Skywalkers are the only seal we have which we have nailed down combat rules for. Ideally, I'd like us to get to either of the first two levels of combat. That said, I'm reasonably confident that if we get into combat in the near future, the QMs would need to lightning quick determine a whole new set of combat bonuses and rules to account for things like Hazou's seal rings and various tricks we'd suggest depending on how the combat works out.

    Do we have suggestions for how all of our personal combat seal ideas would work out mechanically for the QMs to look over and pick between? Also, do we want to focus on leveling Tac Move and sealing for combat, or also level Taijutsu and Roki?
     
    Melee is heavily disadvantaged in the new paradigm of 3D warfare. I suggest we go with sealing based combat style, or at least focus on ninjustu that have ranged applications.
     
    Radvic said:
    So, let's talk about Hazou's personal combat. How do we want to approach it?

    I figure there's a few ways we can go. I'll outline them here:
    • Taijutsu/skills and Tac Move
      • Use Roki, Taijutsu, and maybe throw in a couple seals to boot
      • Requires leveling Taijutsu and Tac Move
      • Syncs with leveling Deception and Roki
      • Requires coming up with rules for "how does using a Macerator and other seals in combat work?"
      • Helped by developing new personal combat seals
    • Seals on Seals on Seals on Tac Move
      • Run around trying not to get hit while tossing/dropping seals around like they're candy
      • Requires leveling Tac Move and Sealing
      • Requires building armor with gadgets and things
      • Requires developing new personal combat seals
    • Punch Them All!
      • Just go full spirit of Youth! Punch things until they die.
      • Level Taijutsu, Roki, and Tac Move (and Deception)
    Of these, I'd argue we're currently in a "punch them all" style. To my knowledge, Skywalkers are the only seal we have which we have nailed down combat rules for. Ideally, I'd like us to get to either of the first two levels of combat. That said, I'm reasonably confident that if we get into combat in the near future, the QMs would need to lightning quick determine a whole new set of combat bonuses and rules to account for things like Hazou's seal rings and various tricks we'd suggest depending on how the combat works out.

    Do we have suggestions for how all of our personal combat seal ideas would work out mechanically for the QMs to look over and pick between? Also, do we want to focus on leveling Tac Move and sealing for combat, or also level Taijutsu and Roki?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I'm all in favour of Going Full Sealmaster, but I feel that we could make an Earth Ninjutsu build work. It's certainly more viable that Taijustu at this point.

    Edit: :ninja:
     
    Last edited:
    Kiba said:
    Melee is heavily disadvantaged in the new paradigm of 3D warfare. I suggest we go with sealing based combat style, or at least focus on ninjustu that have ranged applications.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    MadScientist said:
    I'm all in favour of Going Full Sealmaster, but I feel that we could make an Earth Ninjutsu build work. It's certainly more viable that Taijustu at this point.

    Edit: :ninja:
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    The problem is Earth ninjutsu is likely not going to be terribly useful in the new 3D *aerial* battlefield. We can certainly look around for jutsu and see if there's something we can munchkin, but my hopes are not high.

    I'm totally down with ranged sealing expert though. I think we should make centrifugal shooters and pass it off as a clan technique. Use it for long range defenses of Konoha, and as a personal combat style. Just make sure whatever we shoot explodes eventually (so people can't reverse engineer our ammunition), and obscure the launcher in various ways.

    eaglejarl said:
    Hazou's what now?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    The stuff Kagome got him for his birthday. So far as I was aware, mechanics for using those in combat wasn't speced out yet (might be wrong on that count though).
     
    All right I've been having some thoughts about combat and the system overall. Overall the easiest exploit of the rule system is to create a ton of synergistic skills. Mostly I would suggest creating a combat style for each seal that we create. Then we would have to make another skill to integrate those skills to be used simultaneously.

    So we would have a skill Macerator Fighter a skill Aero Fighter and Roki
    Then we would level Macerator Aero fighter and then Level Macerator Aero Roki fighter

    Edit: we currently have over 800 exp put into Taijutsu. So that's 9 months of buying weapons up to just reach parity.
     
    Last edited:
    Speaking of synergistic skills, we've had confirmation that MedKnow decreases TNs for bioseals, and Oli has speculated that TH might decrease TNs on seals that mimic techniques.

    I cannot understand why so few people are jumping for joy at the idea that other skills can synergise with Sealing to make research easier. And they're skills that key off of INT (making them really cheap for Hazou, who has already bought the attributes, to get 10 levels in), to boot! This is everything we've been asking for!

    I mean, sure, I understand that we don't want to be Arikada. But that madwoman does not represent all of biosealing. We could start by making useful medical tool seals (seal equivalents of respirometers, ECGs, MRI scanners, etc.). Then we can make seals that modify organisms in useful ways (such as triggering gradual muscular growth without needing exercise, or regulating insulin levels in diabetics). And then, only then, might we start with the crazy stuff like growing shoggoths in test tubes. But there is so much to do here, and we're getting a multiple skill bonus and- and- and- why does no one else seem excited by this?
     
    Radvic said:
    The problem is Earth ninjutsu is likely not going to be terribly useful in the new 3D *aerial* battlefield. We can certainly look around for jutsu and see if there's something we can munchkin, but my hopes are not high.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    We can combine his Earth techniques with copious amounts of storage scrolls for a hybrid build. That way when we call out our jutsus people will expect them to come from the ground when really they are originating from the freshly unsealed rocks in the sky.

    What better way is there to surprise someone than using hiding like a mole technique and then emerging above them? Or an impaling stalagmite instead skewering someone like an earth-themed lightning bolt or for short an Earth Bolt.

    Mechanically speaking for dice bonuses I'm sure that's worth at least a few "WTF" bonus dice.
     
    Last edited:
    MadScientist said:
    Speaking of synergistic skills, we've had confirmation that MedKnow decreases TNs for bioseals, and Oli has speculated that TH might decrease TNs on seals that mimic techniques.

    I cannot understand why so few people are jumping for joy at the idea that other skills can synergise with Sealing to make research easier. And they're skills that key off of INT (making them really cheap for Hazou, who has already bought the attributes, to get 10 levels in), to boot! This is everything we've been asking for!

    I mean, sure, I understand that we don't want to be Arikada. But that madwoman does not represent all of biosealing. We could start by making useful medical tool seals (seal equivalents of respirometers, ECGs, MRI scanners, etc.). Then we can make seals that modify organisms in useful ways (such as triggering gradual muscular growth without needing exercise, or regulating insulin levels in diabetics). And then, only then, might we start with the crazy stuff like growing shoggoths in test tubes. But there is so much to do here, and we're getting a multiple skill bonus and- and- and- why does no one else seem excited by this?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Just call them medical seals and 99% of the stigma associated with the whole field goes away.

    You can still do mad science in practice so long as you don't explicitly call it 'mad science'. Just like how campaign contributions are totally different from bribes: it's all in their names.

    Hahaha
    Ha-ha
    Ha...
     
    MadScientist said:
    Speaking of synergistic skills, we've had confirmation that MedKnow decreases TNs for bioseals, and Oli has speculated that TH might decrease TNs on seals that mimic techniques.

    I cannot understand why so few people are jumping for joy at the idea that other skills can synergise with Sealing to make research easier. And they're skills that key off of INT (making them really cheap for Hazou, who has already bought the attributes, to get 10 levels in), to boot! This is everything we've been asking for!

    I mean, sure, I understand that we don't want to be Arikada. But that madwoman does not represent all of biosealing. We could start by making useful medical tool seals (seal equivalents of respirometers, ECGs, MRI scanners, etc.). Then we can make seals that modify organisms in useful ways (such as triggering gradual muscular growth without needing exercise, or regulating insulin levels in diabetics). And then, only then, might we start with the crazy stuff like growing shoggoths in test tubes. But there is so much to do here, and we're getting a multiple skill bonus and- and- and- why does no one else seem excited by this?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I agree that we should do Bioseals, there is nothing better than some Transhumanism in a (stealthy) kung fu battle wizard setting.

     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Voting is open for the next 1 day, 2 hours
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top