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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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Cariyaga said:
So here's a question: If we were another team, would we actually bother getting seals from the proctors, or would we just steal seals instead from then-weakened teams?

...Wouldn't everyone do that, thus making for relatively-few actual seals in the place?
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You're probably going to spend more of your chakra in a fight then you will activating some seals from the proctors.

But I really do hope the QMs remember that every team we're fighting has probably activated proctor-seals and fought at least a few battles, and chakra only regenerates over a 24 hour period. Except for the ones who also have a barrel-buddy, they aren't going to be coming at us full.
 
Briefvoice said:
So in a way, this "12 Strong" strategy has been a big gamble.

Look, we don't know how many ninjas the proctors intend to advance from this exam, but my guess is that it's a major winnowing device. Eaglejarl said outright that at least half the teams have been straight-up "taken out" and then you have the ones who don't bring in enough seals. I wouldn't be surprised if they only end up advancing 32* or so (10%) and then those go to the tournament. 32 would produce five rounds of tournament fights, which would allow everyone to display their stuff. That's 11 teams. We want to ensure the pass of 4 out of only 11 teams?
*11 teams would be 33, but I'm sure they can just pick the two weakest-seeming ninja and force them to fight for a slot or something.

Or hell, what if they only take the top fifteen and then it's a four round tournament, with some lucky fellow getting a bye on the first round! Then we're trying to ensure 4 out of only 5 teams!

I can see why multi-team teams might not have been a popular strategy. If you're trying to provide enough seals for 12 people to advance, you have to give up all hope of just targeting the weak and mutually agreeing not to fight with the other strong. It becomes not doable anymore. You're going to have to fight the strong. The numbers ensure it.

That was always going to be a tough row to hoe. We just did the easy part, chilling in a fort and relaxing for the majority of the exam. Boosting our score with seals. But now the piper comes due. We are going to have to fight multiple strong teams to win this. The best of the best, the few out of the 300 with the most power and skill. It's going to be brutal. And frankly, running around hunting a few weak teams won't help much. It's the toughest ninja that have the number of seals we need if we want 12 people to all pass.

Now, our advantage is that we do have numbers and we did spend most of the exam relaxing in the fort. Tanned, rested, and ready as the saying goes. But this is going to be one hell of a punch-fest.
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I mean, our strategy is only a gamble in the sense that it involves non-trivial risk. I don't think we could've done anything safer, though. If anything, 12 Strong minimizes the probability of getting KO'd out of the event, and guarantees a baseline amount of seals. We could, of course, have gone hunting instead, which has a higher potential payoff in return for higher risk. For our team specifically, said risk would've been much higher for political reasons. Personally, I'm happy with our overall choices and I don't think I would've changed much, even in hindsight. Would you have?

I also think your analysis of the event pass threshold, while plausible, is on the pessimistic side. There isn't really any indication that this is the final event. In fact, considering how much effort Mist expended to set up the secret words, it would be strange to only have two events. Using a team-focused event with the possibility of larger coalitions, like this one, as the final benchmark, has too much of an opportunity for lopsided outcomes as well. Mist should also want to avoid the situation where a group of Konoha teams play it safe, set up a huge ambush, and make up 40%+ of the tournament participants. I would expect at least one more event which tests us as individuals, for this reason.
 
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faflec said:
What does Hazou know of his allies (Team Asuma, Team Guy, Team Akane) in terms of their abilities?
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As far as Hazō knows:

Akane, Lee, Neji, and Chōji are all Taijutsu fighters. Neji has the Byakugan and his pain-in-the-ass family style. Chōji has some sort of body-morphing family jutsu. You aren't 100% clear on everything it can do, but you know that it improves his Taijutsu.

Tenten is a weapons mistress, favoring ranged attacks but comfortable in melee too.

Sakura has low chakra reserves; she's got some Taijutsu skill but is primarily focused on genjutsu and tactical control of her team.

Yamamoto Haru is a vicious Taijutsu type with some lightning techniques that make him brutal in close combat. He has always been polite but you can tell he doesn't like you and has a (well-disguised) chip on his shoulder.

Ino has and relies on her Yamanaka family jutsu. You're unclear on the extent of that, but you know that it can be used to take over enemies for a short time. She's unconscious while doing that.

Shikamaru has the Nara brains and jutsu, which let him take control of enemies and force them to copy his actions. He focuses on C&C for his team.



Your impression is that Team Asuma is an oddity among genin teams: they function poorly when split up, as only Chōji has direct combat skills that would keep him on his feet against multiple opponents. They are an excellent hunter team and a decent intelligence-gathering team, but not well suited for combat. That might just be an impression, though -- you have yet to see them in a serious fight.
 
eaglejarl said:
Your impression is that Team Asuma is an oddity among genin teams: they function poorly when split up, as only Chōji has direct combat skills that would keep him on his feet against multiple opponents. They are an excellent hunter team and a decent intelligence-gathering team, but not well suited for combat. That might just be an impression, though -- you have yet to see them in a serious fight.
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So then their stealth skills are acceptable?

(Similar question for the rest; who's decent at stealth and who's gonna stick out like Team Uplift does?)
 
eaglejarl said:
As far as Hazō knows:

Akane, Lee, Neji, and Chōji are all Taijutsu fighters. Neji has the Byakugan and his pain-in-the-ass family style. Chōji has some sort of body-morphing family jutsu. You aren't 100% clear on everything it can do, but you know that it improves his Taijutsu.

Tenten is a weapons mistress, favoring ranged attacks but comfortable in melee too.

Sakura has low chakra reserves; she's got some Taijutsu skill but is primarily focused on genjutsu and tactical control of her team.

Yamamoto Haru is a vicious Taijutsu type with some lightning techniques that make him brutal in close combat. He has always been polite but you can tell he doesn't like you and has a (well-disguised) chip on his shoulder.

Ino has and relies on her Yamanaka family jutsu. You're unclear on the extent of that, but you know that it can be used to take over enemies for a short time. She's unconscious while doing that.

Shikamaru has the Nara brains and jutsu, which let him take control of enemies and force them to copy his actions. He focuses on C&C for his team.

Your impression is that Team Asuma is an oddity among genin teams: they function poorly when split up, as only Chōji has direct combat skills that would keep him on his feet against multiple opponents. They are an excellent hunter team and a decent intelligence-gathering team, but not well suited for combat. That might just be an impression, though -- you have yet to see them in a serious fight.
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Hmmm. So the strategy I have right now is:
Akane, Lee, Choji ---> Blockers. Keep enemy off-balance and from having a chance to act.
Hazou, Neji, Haru, Noburi ---> Melee strikers
Keiko, Tenten ---> Ranged attackers; throw weapons and goo bombs.
Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura --> Use their crazy jutsus to control opponents and direct traffic.
 
Briefvoice said:
Hmmm. So the strategy I have right now is:
Akane, Lee, Choji ---> Blockers. Keep enemy off-balance and from having a chance to act.
Hazou, Neji, Haru, Noburi ---> Melee strikers
Keiko, Tenten ---> Ranged attackers; throw weapons and goo bombs.
Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura --> Use their crazy jutsus to control opponents and direct traffic.
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I'm not sure we've had enough time practicing together for that to work out well in a big brawl, no matter how effective it might be if we had.
 
Briefvoice said:
Hmmm. So the strategy I have right now is:
Akane, Lee, Choji ---> Blockers. Keep enemy off-balance and from having a chance to act.
Hazou, Neji, Haru, Noburi ---> Melee strikers
Keiko, Tenten ---> Ranged attackers; throw weapons and goo bombs.
Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura --> Use their crazy jutsus to control opponents and direct traffic.
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Would definitely switch Noburi out with Akane or Lee. He has syrup traps to help with blocks. Where as Akane and Lee both bring 50+ dice to smashing faces in
 
Cariyaga said:
I'm not sure we've had enough time practicing together for that to work out well in a big brawl, no matter how effective it might be if we had.
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Will this affect us mechanically, though? FMPOV as long as everyone does their job the only time we'd see this negatively affecting us would be if we did a bad roll and got hurt, and the QMs decided to use that as "how" it happened.
 
Oneiros said:
Would definitely switch Noburi out with Akane or Lee. He has syrup traps to help with blocks. Where as Akane and Lee both bring 50+ dice to smashing faces in
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Delicately put, though, we can't afford for Noburi to get hurt. He's one of the lynchpins of the operation since he can chakra drain opponents and recharge all of us between fights, given even a couple of minutes to work. And Blocker is the most dangerous position.

EDIT: He's also the med-nin if someone gets seriously hurt.
 
Briefvoice said:
  • Tactics:
    • Team is divided up into Blockers, Strikers, Ranged, and C&C
      • Blockers: Akane, Lee, Choji. Their assignment is to concentrate on locking down the enemy and keeping them from fleeing or being able to successfully attack (mechanically laying down Blocks on individuals). In the event one of them is injured or out of position, Hazou can slide up to become the third blocker.
      • Strikers: Hazou, Neji, Haru, Noburi. Their assignment is to get in close hit their opponents with taijutsu/water whips and do damage. Noburi's water whips should allow him to stay slightly back, and he should use them to chakra drain downed opponents.
      • Ranged: Keiko, Tenten. Their assignment is to use goo bombs and thrown weapons against enemies who have some sort of jutsu or ability allowing them to stay out of melee or to lock down excess opponents if we're fighting multiple teams or a team with clones or something of that sort.
      • C&C: Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura. Their assignment is to maintain greater battlefield awareness from the rear and use their special jutsu against the most dangerous opponents such as those who have a damaging aura that makes it impossible to engage in up close combat, some sort of overwhelming jutsu that can hit multiple opponents, and that sort of thing. Shikamaru directs traffic, and Sakura takes responsibility for defending Ino's unconscious body if she uses her possession jutsu.
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See the revised tactics section above.
 
I am guessing/hoping that since Choji is regularly responsible for protecting two people who can't hold up in melee, his clan techniques have special advantages that will make him excel as a Blocker.

Cariyaga said:
We should test if Ino can use her clan technique through and Air Dome, and if so, put her and Sakura in one of those.
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I will add a note to make sure that Sakura is equipped with an air dome for emergencies and leave it to her and Ino to discuss. (What can block Ino's technique is probably an impolite question to ask when it comes to clan secrets.)
 
@Briefvoice Regarding the Tactics section:
  • I'll echo turning Chouji into a Striker over a Blocker, but will add that you can ask Chouji which he'd prefer.
  • Keiko and Tenten shouldn't use Goo Bombs unless the fight isn't going our way.
  • Shikamaru should be protecting Ino, since he can still fight while using his jutsu; Sakura uses genjutsu which makes her as useless as Ino during that time.
 
faflec said:
@Briefvoice Regarding the Tactics section:
  • I'll echo turning Chouji into a Striker over a Blocker, but will add that you can ask Chouji which he'd prefer.
  • Keiko and Tenten shouldn't use Goo Bombs unless the fight isn't going our way.
  • Shikamaru should be protecting Ino, since he can still fight while using his jutsu; Sakura uses genjutsu which makes her as useless as Ino during that time.
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I will add something about how these roles can be adjusted if some team members feel Hazou is incorrectly assessing their abilities. Unfortunately this format doesn't really allow for the back and forth to discuss the matter. I do think Chouji is probably a kick-ass Blocker, though.

The Goo bombs... well, I don't think we're going to get through this without using them, so if the secret is going to be out anyway we might as well squeeze every advantage our of them.

SHIKAMARU: Doctor, will I be able to fight while using my jutsu?
DOCTOR: Of course you will son.
SHIKAMARU: But doctor, I can't fight even when I'm not using my jutsu!
;)

Sakura at least has "some taijutsu" (unlike Shikamaru), and if a bad guy pops up in the rear she should probably just drop her genjutsu and concentrate on punching and dodging. Her genjutsu is the least powerful of the three "special jutsus" the C&C group has.

EDIT: Actually, I just looked at the genjutsu section in my copy of the rules document. It says only a supplemental action is needed to maintain a genjutsu, so I don't know why Sakura can't maintain it and fight at the same time.
 
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I don't know if this is excessive paranoia, but I keep looking at the section where Hazou accepts leadership and coming up with different foot-in-mouth scenarios for it. On the other hand, I don't know how to fix it either...

@faflec this is literally the ideal situation for effective Goo Bomb use. They let us both stop teams from running away from us, and delay them from joining the fight if we have our hands full. I expect them to help a lot, and would, if anything, lobby for more liberal application. We have 48 in total and won't use more than 1 per enemy team.

For tactics, I think there's an argument in favour of putting Noburi with the C&C groups, or at least telling him to take it easy. We really don't want him to get hurt or damage his barrel, and we probably can afford to keep him back for most fights. Also, if the enemy has more than one team, we should forego blocks and focus on taking them down asap.
 
Quick reminder of how blocks work for everyone:

DA RULES said:
On your initiative, designate an action that you want to prevent, the person(s) that you are preventing from doing it, and the skill you're using for the block. Make a skill check using that skill; the result is the strength of your block. If any of the people you are blocking want to perform the action then the strength of the block is subtracted from the shifts they generate on their skill roll.


Blocks that affect one person can prevent multiple types of action. Blocks that affect multiple people can only affect one action. Example: "I want to prevent anyone from leaving the room" (multiple people, one action) vs "I want to prevent that guy from doing anything" (one person, multiple actions).


Unless stated otherwise, a block lasts until the end of the round. You can do it again on the following round, but you'll need to spend your action again and the strength of the block will be the result of the new roll.
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