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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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Urk. Today was a very long day. And it hasn't even really ended yet.

I'm not super happy with this, but it feels more in-line with my understanding of Hazou as a character. @Cariyaga pls help. Some notes in parentheses.
  • You are Hazou Gouketsu, son of Hana and Shinji. (Good start, Hazou loves and is proud of his parents.)
  • Just one man.
  • Jiraiya is also just one man.
  • If you can't stand against Jiraiya's will, how will you stand against the world itself? (This is a great way to move past the particulars of the situation and towards what Hazou actually cares about.)
  • The world is a ravenous, unfeeling machine, slowly devouring humanity. We are all its victims - civilians and ninjas, innocents and killers, the weak and the powerful. We all deserve more. (I struggle with the metaphor here a bit. The idea is that the real thing to overcome are the circumstances this crapsack world forces onto people, and the incentive structures they create. I'd like this to be maximally inclusive, and not just focused on helping civilians. I'm not sure if calling it a "machine" isn't too anachronistic - for us, similar metaphors only started emerging with the industrial revolution.)
  • You must defeat it. And you can.
  • You took a mundane defensive seal, and let people walk on air with it. In your hands, a pile of wood and a storage scroll turn into a blazing inferno of death. (More ideas on what to put here and how to phrase would be good. Hazou is definitely proud of his inventions, and they demonstrate his ingenuity and effective problem solving skills. @eaglejarl pls no ideas vs execution tangent, we know Kagome made Skywalkers.)
  • You will bring down every wall, shatter every chain, undo every barrier the world places in your path. You will find a way, as you always have. (We've done impossible things, and will continue to do impossible things.)
  • You must win. And you will.
  • Stand. Raise your head high and look Jiraiya in the eye.
 
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Roomba said:
You took a mundane defensive seal, and let people walk on air with it. In your hands, a pile of wood and a storage scroll turn into a blazing inferno of death
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Ironically enough, this is the only thing I have a problem with. Bit of a mouthful, yknow?

Anyways @Roomba you're awesome! This is great!!

I hope your day gets better.

He says, as he resigns himself to grading midterms until 2am.
 
MMKII said:
Ironically enough, this is the only thing I have a problem with. Bit of a mouthful, yknow?

Anyways @Roomba you're awesome! This is great!!

I hope your day gets better.

He says, as he resigns himself to grading midterms until 2am.
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Yeah, the phrasing is clunky there. I'm hoping the hivemind can polish it up a bit. Glad you liked it.

My day's honestly been fine, just very long and eventful, and I'm exhausted. At least it seems to be over. If I were on call tonight, I'd be busting out some cocaine bourbon right about now.

Sorry to hear about your midterm problem. Hopefully it's at least something that's straightforward to grade?
 
Cariyaga said:
You should train your chakra reserves instead of grading papers so you can use shadow clone to grade papers faster :V
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Vecht said:
Unironically this?

(Except we don't have ninjutsu; the magic in our world is programming.)
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If only though.

IRL Shadowclones would be great. No one likes paperwork.

Roomba said:
Yeah, the phrasing is clunky there. I'm hoping the hivemind can polish it up a bit. Glad you liked it.

My day's honestly been fine, just very long and eventful, and I'm exhausted. At least it seems to be over. If I were on call tonight, I'd be busting out some cocaine bourbon right about now.
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I'll chew it over in between throwing red ink on stuff if no one else gets around to it first.

Sorry to hear about your midterm problem. Hopefully it's at least something that's straightforward to grade?
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Multivariable calc unfortunately, so no way in hell. Having clever students is really awesome, until you have to spend mental energy to dissect their cleverness to ascertain its correctness. C'est la vie.
 
Roomba said:
Yeah, the phrasing is clunky there. I'm hoping the hivemind can polish it up a bit. Glad you liked it.

My day's honestly been fine, just very long and eventful, and I'm exhausted. At least it seems to be over. If I were on call tonight, I'd be busting out some cocaine bourbon right about now.

Sorry to hear about your midterm problem. Hopefully it's at least something that's straightforward to grade?
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Being busy sucks. My condolences. (Currently considering your suggestions on the post to see if there's anything I can improve, but nothing yet.)
Vecht said:
(Except we don't have ninjutsu; the magic in our world is programming.)
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Would you know if we did? :p
 
MMKII said:
IRL Shadowclones would be great. No one likes paperwork.
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MMKII said:
Multivariable calc unfortunately, so no way in hell. Having clever students is really awesome, until you have to spend mental energy to dissect their cleverness to ascertain its correctness. C'est la vie.
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You can approximate this though by getting students to grade each others' papers and double-check afterwards. Make them use their cleverness against themselves! Muahahaha.
 
So Killing Intent doesn't fully capture the full breadth of what can be done with this effect. Should we switch to calling it something like Jonin Presence to include shit like The Third's "Grandpa-ness" and "being like a bigass(sic) tree"?
 
Dissonance said:
So Killing Intent doesn't fully capture the full breadth of what can be done with this effect. Should we switch to calling it something like Jonin Presence to include shit like The Third's "Grandpa-ness" and "being like a bigass(sic) tree"?
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Isn't it already called Jounin aura?
Velorien said:
"Past a certain point," Keiko said. "I cannot speak beyond my own experience, except to say that I believe it to be the foundation of the jōnin aura."

"Which is what, exactly?"

"I have spoken to Jiraiya on the subject. The mechanism is not fully understood, and probably involves some combination of killing intent and chakra. If you have ever felt a jōnin intimidate you through their sheer presence, without any particular act or word, if the experience evoked in you an image or sensation uniquely associated with that individual, that is what elite shinobi colloquially refer to as a jōnin aura. Needless to say, I do not possess one, though with sufficient practice—which you have happily volunteered for—perhaps I might acquire it earlier than others."
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Killing Intent is the separate-but-connected ability to scare, intimidate, and/or suppress people with the force of your personality (at least, the part of it willing to commit extreme violence). One part almost-telepathy, one part being completely terrifying.

Killing intent has magnitude, jounin auras are personalized. Tsunade's aura feels like a mountain, Hiruzen's feels like grandfatherly safety, Mari's feels like a fire, etc. It's speculated that killing intent is needed for the Jounin Aura, probably because it's the same kind of mechanism (kinda-telepathically attacking other people with force of personality), but jounin auras don't seem to be inherently violent (see Hiruzen) and are meaningfully distinct from Killing Intent.
 
You guys think we'll be able to eventually flip the table hard enough that MfD-verse genre shifts into a Shounen cooking battle world?
 
FUCK.

I've figured out a strong possibility for Hiruzen's social build: Presence plus a bunch of Stunts that add Presence to his other skills.

Also that what we've been describing for several pages has been textbook Presence, so oops?
 
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
FUCK.

I've figured out a strong possibility for Hiruzen's social build: Presence plus a bunch of Stunts that add Presence to his other skills.

Also that what we've been describing for several pages has been textbook Presence, so oops?
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Presence is more of a theatrical thing, isn't it though?
 
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
FUCK.

I've figured out a strong possibility for Hiruzen's social build: Presence plus a bunch of Stunts that add Presence to his other skills.

Also that what we've been describing for several pages has been textbook Presence, so oops?
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If we're allowed to have stunts that add X to other skills ad hoc like that I would be perfectly willing to get Empathy to everything :p
 
Cariyaga said:
If we're allowed to have stunts that add X to other skills ad hoc like that I would be perfectly willing to get Empathy to everything :p
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Drunken Master
XP cost: 10, but you have to beat Tsunade in a drinking contest that many times too.

User gets 1.5N x (Relevant Aspect Bonus) added to all skills, where N is the number of drinks they've had in the last hour.


Absolute Resoluteful Stillness Ascending Beyond Heaven and Earth

XP Cost: Err, you might want to become immortal first.

Everytime the user makes a roll with one of (Taijutsu, Resolve, Lightning Jutsu, Earth Jutsu) add the relevant aspect bonuses of the others to it. Use the highest available aspect bonus for Earth or Lightning jutsu.
 
Updated with @Roomba's version of the mantra (edited for wordcount):

MadScientist said:
Alright.

Wordcount: 299

[x] Action Plan: The Power of Love to Go Even Further Beyond

  • Practicing KI with Kei:
    • Inform her we will project our own feelings.
    • Project outwards Hazou's own soul. Not a will to destroy, but to support. Even under the terrifying pressure of Kei's KI, Hazou projects a warmth of (sibling!) love that will melt the ice and deliver her the spiritual and absolutely-not-physical hug she so clearly needs. If he's mentally sundered by the ice mirrors so be it, Kei's KI will not push away his support.
  • Grab an hour-ish of Jiraiya's time, alone, if possible.
    • Mindset: Mentally prepare for the most brutal thing you have ever experienced.
    • Ask him about Killing Intent.
      • What's the deal there?
    • Help us practice resisting it, please?
      • It's a critical vulnerability if some Jonin can incapacitate and kill us.
    • Ask Jiraiya to floor you with a bit of his KI as he is the scariest/strongest around.
      • Please don't accidentally kill us or break our minds though.
    • Now. Get. Up.
      • You are Hazou Gouketsu, son of Hana and Shinji.
      • Just one man.
      • Jiraiya is also just one man.
      • If you can't stand against Jiraiya's will, how will you stand against the world itself?
      • The world is a ravenous, unfeeling machine, slowly devouring humanity. We are all its victims - civilians and ninjas, innocents and killers, the weak and the powerful. We all deserve more.
      • You must defeat it. And you can.
      • You will bring down every wall, shatter every chain, undo every barrier the world places in your path. You will find a way, as you always have.
      • You must win. And you will.
      • Stand. Raise your head high. Look Jiraiya in the eye.
    • Repeat a few times.
      • Try to at least raise your head and look Jiraiya in the eye without hurting yourself.
    • Ask Jiraiya for intel on our competitors.
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[x] Action Plan: The Power of Love to Go Even Further Beyond
[x] Action Plan: The Power of Something to Protect: Go Even Further Beyond!

[X] Training Plan: In Case of Emergency, Break the Hazou
 
MMKII said:
Presence is more of a theatrical thing, isn't it though?
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I'm willing to trust that Presence is exactly what it bills itself as: the presence a person has. From that perspective, an aura that nonverbally conveys our presence is probably going to need, oh, Presence instead of something like Empathy or Rapport.

MadScientist said:
Alright.

Wordcount: 299

[x] Action Plan: The Power of Love to Go Even Further Beyond

  • Practicing KI with Kei:
    • Inform her we will project our own feelings.
    • Project outwards Hazou's own soul. Not a will to destroy, but to support. Even under the terrifying pressure of Kei's KI, Hazou projects a warmth of (sibling!) love that will melt the ice and deliver her the spiritual and absolutely-not-physical hug she so clearly needs. If he's mentally sundered by the ice mirrors so be it, Kei's KI will not push away his support.
  • Grab an hour-ish of Jiraiya's time, alone, if possible.
    • Mindset: Mentally prepare for the most brutal thing you have ever experienced.
    • Ask him about Killing Intent.
      • What's the deal there?
    • Help us practice resisting it, please?
      • It's a critical vulnerability if some Jonin can incapacitate and kill us.
    • Ask Jiraiya to floor you with a bit of his KI as he is the scariest/strongest around.
      • Please don't accidentally kill us or break our minds though.
    • Now. Get. Up.
      • You are Hazou Gouketsu, son of Hana and Shinji.
      • Just one man.
      • Jiraiya is also just one man.
      • If you can't stand against Jiraiya's will, how will you stand against the world itself?
      • The world is a ravenous, unfeeling machine, slowly devouring humanity. We are all its victims - civilians and ninjas, innocents and killers, the weak and the powerful. We all deserve more.
      • You must defeat it. And you can.
      • You took a mundane defensive seal, and let people walk on air with it. In your hands, a pile of wood and a storage scroll turn into a blazing inferno of death.
      • You will bring down every wall, shatter every chain, undo every barrier the world places in your path. You will find a way, as you always have.
      • You must win. And you will.
      • Stand. Raise your head high and look Jiraiya in the eye.
    • Repeat a few times.
      • Try to at least raise your head and look Jiraiya in the eye without hurting yourself.
    • Ask Jiraiya for intel on our competitors.
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I had a very sudden brainwave just now: replace the machine metaphor with Swamp of Death.
 
huhYeahGoodPoint said:
I'm willing to trust that Presence is exactly what it bills itself as: the presence a person has. From that perspective, an aura that nonverbally conveys our presence is probably going to need, oh, Presence instead of something like Empathy or Rapport.



I had a very sudden brainwave just now: replace the machine metaphor with Swamp of Death.
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Oh shit yes.

MadScientist said:
Alright.

Alright.

Wordcount: 300

[x] Action Plan: The Power of Love to Go Even Further Beyond

  • Practicing KI with Kei:
    • Inform her we will project our own feelings.
    • Project outwards Hazou's own soul. Not a will to destroy, but to support. Even under the terrifying pressure of Kei's KI, Hazou projects a warmth of (sibling!) love that will melt the ice and deliver her the spiritual and absolutely-not-physical hug she so clearly needs. If he's mentally sundered by the ice mirrors so be it, Kei's KI will not push away his support.
  • Grab an hour-ish of Jiraiya's time, alone, if possible.
    • Mindset: Mentally prepare for the most brutal thing you have ever experienced.
    • Ask him about Killing Intent.
      • What's the deal there?
    • Help us practice resisting it, please?
      • It's a critical vulnerability if some Jonin can incapacitate and kill us.
    • Ask Jiraiya to floor you with a bit of his KI as he is the scariest/strongest around.
      • Please don't accidentally kill us or break our minds though.
    • Now. Get. Up.
      • You are Hazou Gouketsu, son of Hana and Shinji.
      • Just one man.
      • Jiraiya is also just one man.
      • If you can't stand against Jiraiya's will, how will you stand against the world itself?
      • The world is a Swamp of Death, slowly devouring humanity. We are all its victims - civilians and ninjas, innocents and killers, the weak and the powerful. We all deserve more.
      • You must defeat it. And you can.
      • You will bring down every wall, shatter every chain, undo every barrier the world places in your path. You will find a way, as you always have.
      • You must win. And you will.
      • Stand. Raise your head high. Look Jiraiya in the eye.
    • Repeat a few times.
      • Try to at least raise your head and look Jiraiya in the eye without hurting yourself.
    • Ask Jiraiya for intel on our competitors.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
 
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Off topic, but Jounin auras being personalized so intensely, and yet their origin being mysterious, weakly supports Kagome's idea of chakra as being about communication between minds. Hiruzen has lots of chakra, so his chakra accurately reports, "I could kill you but I am more likely to grandfather you," etc..
 
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