Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

eaglejarl · Jul 15, 2016

For the record: Keiko has zero interest in building the gang. It's time consuming, requires people skills she doesn't have, and the benefit isn't great enough to be worth it -- Panchipāma is known as a great fighter, but there are other great fighters. The fact that she heads a gang could theoretically be useful, but only in the Summon Realm and it could also be a malus there.

Briefvoice · Jul 15, 2016

eaglejarl said:
For the record: Keiko has zero interest in building the gang. It's time consuming, requires people skills she doesn't have, and the benefit isn't great enough to be worth it -- Panchipāma is known as a great fighter, but there are other great fighters. The fact that she heads a gang could theoretically be useful, but only in the Summon Realm and it could also be a malus there.

What a shame. Well, don't want to force her to do something she doesn't want to do.

Muer'ci · Jul 15, 2016

Muer'ci said:
[X] Action Plan: Cult Infiltration, Take Two.

Goals:

Learn more about the Hydra Medical Foundation

Investigate our old fort

Actions:
Fort:

Keiko, Akane and Kagome covertly visit our old fort and village next to it. Stealthily check who lives in our fort now, visit the village under fresh henge, ask for news, recent or not. Maybe stories of other nin who passed through? Keiko gathers info, Akane remembers to use fake names, keeps Kagome from blowing ppl away.

Get stuff if we need anything from here, leave.

The whole thing shouldn't take more than a day, two at most if they decide to spend the night for some reason.

Given the short travel times in Tea, if they don't return in two days we assume trouble and go looking for them.

HMF:

While half the team is away, rest watch the place from afar, observe the activity, comings and goings, etc. Ask around about the place, has it been here long? Anyone knows any members? Anything?

Check out a couple of other similarly sized nearby towns in Tea for branches of HMF (just a quick run to/fro)

Once everyone is back, Hazou returns in his guise, brings disguised Keiko with him, signs up for the thing. If questioned, claim companion from last time wasn't interested.

They attends lectures and such, talks to other members, do whatever there's to do at HMF that doesn't involve being poked at. Kei does her awesome analisys thing like she did at Liberator's.

Independently from them, Noburi goes as himself, with Mari, acting like it's their first visit. When a check-up is offered, agree, on the condition that Mari oversees.

In case of abduction, team plans a rescue.

Misc:

Akane keeps Kagome company when others are away, she's good for him.

Do some window shopping? Noburi can do actual money-shopping later.

__________________________________

Edits in bold.

There, everyone has a buddy now.

Twofold · Jul 15, 2016

eaglejarl said:
For the record: Keiko has zero interest in building the gang. It's time consuming, requires people skills she doesn't have, and the benefit isn't great enough to be worth it -- Panchipāma is known as a great fighter, but there are other great fighters. The fact that she heads a gang could theoretically be useful, but only in the Summon Realm and it could also be a malus there.

So basically what happened here is:

QMs: "Look at all these cool plot hooks!"
Players: "Screw those ones, what about this offer the pangolins made?"
QMs: "Err...we were not actually serious with that, it was kind of a joke."
Players: "Okay, we are totally picking that one!"
QMs: "..."

I'm not sure if this makes me want to pursue the gang idea more, or less. I really want to get that info on trading since we missed it in the last update. Is it worth it to stay in Tea for that or do we want to do one of these side quests? I could make another plan for the Hot Springs one, that seemed interesting.

(I'm just going to ignore you lunatics who want someone connected to Orochimaru do a medical checkup on Nobby and Hazou.)

Briefvoice · Jul 15, 2016

Muer'ci said:
There, everyone has a buddy now.

I think cult infiltration should use mundane disguises only; no henges. Henges are fantastically useful for surface level scouting, but there's no practical way to make sure activities don't include "being poked at". It takes far too little physical force to break a henge. Being slapped on the back too enthusiastically can do it. In a chakra-aware organization like this it's highly unlikely that they won't check. Heck, they might do it openly. Prick your finger with this dagger to dispel any henges, please.

Killer_Whale · Jul 15, 2016

[x] Action Plan: Cult Infiltration, Take Two

Twofold · Jul 15, 2016

Since the gang idea got axed and the plan to infiltrate Orochimaru's cult seems to be winning (this is not a good idea guys!) I present you an alternative plan that gets us doing something interesting. I picked it purely because it seems like the most interesting of the available missions. It will get us money, experience and info about the world and how it operates.

There are a bunch of risks involved. First of all we need to cross Fire. I have no idea how to do that safely, we've never done a proper border crossing without something going wrong but we can't stay in the Tea forever either.

Second is that we will be operating in a country with an actual ninja village. We have never been to a town that falls under the protection of one of the villages so I don't really know what to expect. Mari will probably stop us if we are doing something ridiculously stupid.

Ideas/edits/thoughs appreciated, the plan currently needs:

Good ideas on how to cross Fire safely (I have nothing for this)
Negotiation strategies
Contingencies
More paranoia

[X] Action Plan: Operation Soaked Spiderbear!

The last infiltration mission didn't go as planned, so it's time for Mari to teach our genin how to do one properly. If that involves lazing around in hot mineral baths while sampling cooled drinks and contemplating the tragedy that is a shinobi life...then so be it!

Goals:

Don't reveal our identities
Accept the Hot Springs job
Travel to Hot Springs without being detected
Gather preliminary information about the target resort

Methods:

Make contact with the entity offering the job and haggle for a good price
Let Nobby head the negotiation with Hazou as support, Mari is there to save the day if something goes really wrong

Get as much information on the target as possible

Make sure they pay our operating costs and give us an advance

Remain henged while negotiating

If feasible, have rest of the team short distance away, ready for combat in case of TREACHERY!
Break our camp and sneak our way across Fire to Hotsprings
Make sure it's impossible to tell what was done in our lab, use explosives for the walls if necessary

The hard spots will be the border crossings and the choke point between Tea/Noodle peninsula. Be extra careful in those parts and trust our speed.
Before heading to our target resort, stop in some Hotsprings town and gather information about the target resort
Enter the town as two separate groups under henge

The information we are interested in:

Anything to do with our target

What is it know for?

How big is it?

How's the security?

What kind of customers do they usually get?

Where do they buy their food etc. Who makes the deliveries?

Any interesting rumors?

Also gather information about Hotsprings in general and especially their ninjas

Take this as an opportunity to acclimatize Kagome to interacting with the public, Mari can work out the details of that
Take a moment to collate our gathered information and start planning how to accomplish our mission

Contingecies:

Set a rendezvous point in case something goes wrong and we become separated.

faflec · Jul 15, 2016

@Twofold Add something about investigating the squatter-nin/bandits in our camp, and I'll vote for it.

Twofold · Jul 15, 2016

One more alternative course of action. This one focuses on gathering intel about how trading works and has Akane, Keiko and Kagome check out our old fort. This is basically the "Step 0" of the Trade Empire idea.

This is the least risky of the plans presented yet (in my opinion). The biggest worry is the old fort and what will half the team do if there's someone actually scary there.

Edits/thoughts/additions appreciated, the plan currently needs:

More relevant questions to ask for the Trade Empire plan
An actual plan for checking out the fort (If someone makes something good I'll copypaste it in)
Some actual advice for Keiko's pangolin thing?
Contingencies (and more PARANOIA)

[X] Action Plan: The Spiderbear's Snooping Agency

Go back to Kobana, gather information for the trade empire, keep an eye out for the Hydra and don't die in the process.

Goals:

Keep our identities secret
Don't get made by the local ninjas
Get the basic information on how the long distance trade works in the Elemental Nations
Look for potential associates for our budding Trade Empire idea
Find out who is squatting in our old fort
Get more information on the Orochitology

Methods:

Hazou, Noburi and Mari gather information on how trading works and Orochitology
Hazou and Noburi keep up the henge and work as a front man/backup pairing where appropriate

Front man is talky and guides the conversation

Backup listens in the background and is prepared to provide distraction/exit strategy in case things go sideways.

Make sure that the front and backup are not connected with each other (come and go separately etc.)

Vary your characters, approach styles and henges often

Mari does her own thing and shadows the boys from time to time to keep them sharp and to make sure they don't have a tail or something

Gather useful information on how trading works

Visit places caravan traders and their worker visit under cover identity

Play dice (don't win too much too often)

Eavesdrop

Ask basic questions

In general, gather as much information on trading as possible

The goal is to have enough information that we can take part and manipulate trade to a small extent

How does transporting goods work and who takes care of it?

Is it mostly individual operators or are there big organizations that take care of moving the goods?

Is there an authority that controls and sets ground rules for trade? Who? Do they actually have any authority?

If there are rules, what are they?

What sort of protection they usually use?

How good are civilian mercenaries at protection?

How does one hire ninjas for protection and from where? How expensive is it compared to the other costs in traveling?

What if you hire ninjas from a different village than the one that operates in the country that you are travelling through? Is that done?

How does crossing borders work?

Are there check points or actual borders?

Do ninjas show up and ask questions?

Assess and make a list of potential Trade Empire associates, they should be:

Small time operators

Down on their luck and need a bit of a boost

Have lots of experience on how the practical part of trading and caravan work is done

If there's time and opportunity, keep an eye out for the Hydra

Be extra careful and don't take stupid risks

Focus on chasing the more indirect leads through rumors and connected topics

What kind of people take their offer? What happens to them?

What kind of businesses or people they cooperate with? Whose services do they buy?

How big are they as an operation? Number of employees and members?

How long have they been in town

What do people in general think about them
Kagome, Keiko and Akane should check out our old fort discreetly from a distance
Need actual details here.
Other preparations
Keiko keeps trying to make headway with the pangolins

Akane and Kagome work on Akane's style

Hunt for meat and belts to cover our operating costs

Contingencies:

Agree on a rendezvous point a safe distance from the town in case something goes wrong and we get separated

Muer'ci · Jul 15, 2016

Briefvoice said:
I think cult infiltration should use mundane disguises only; no henges. Henges are fantastically useful for surface level scouting, but there's no practical way to make sure activities don't include "being poked at". It takes far too little physical force to break a henge. Being slapped on the back too enthusiastically can do it. In a chakra-aware organization like this it's highly unlikely that they won't check. Heck, they might do it openly. Prick your finger with this dagger to dispel any henges, please.

I'm thinking, mundane disguises for everyone and henge on top of that for "don't poke me" crowd. Among ninja, certain amount of wariness is to be expected. If they say "to pass beyond this point kindly punch yourself in the face" we say "thanks but no thanks" and it should be understood that's the end of it. If they insist, that tells us something too. And if they get violent, we have decent combat dice and TacMov.

Trade empire step 0 plan is all talking. Sure, it provides useful info but I'd rather ask these questions OOC. Another talking heads update won't earn us shinies and besides, I'm honestly sick of it. Sometimes it feels like we never left ninjaville at all.

Hot Springs plan worries me bc there are no ideas on Fire crossing. Last time we ran into a patrol. Do we want to present J with two scrolls of bodies?
As an idea, perhaps we could boat it into noodles, and sea travel from there to hot springs? At this point I'm honestly not sure if close to water bothers me less or more than close to fire.

Does anyone feel like making a wave mission plan?

E: edited plan, new in bold.

Traiden · Jul 15, 2016

Thoughts on cutouts of our silhouette, or perhaps statues made to look like our team. Would making an Earth clone and having it stand in a mold to catch all the earth used when dispelling clone make it easy to have human shaped statues to place around our camp. They would work as substitution targets and you can use henge to look like a rough statue while someone is searching around our campsite without drawing to much attention. More thought is required...

Twofold · Jul 15, 2016

faflec said:
@Twofold Add something about investigating the squatter-nin/bandits in our camp, and I'll vote for it.

Checking the camp out doesn't really mesh with the idea of leaving Tea for now. It's present in the Snooping Agency plan but honestly I'm not that interested in what goes on in that fort.

Muer'ci said:
Trade empire step 0 plan is all talking. Sure, it provides useful info but I'd rather ask these questions OOC. Another talking heads update won't earn us shinies and besides, I'm honestly sick of it. Sometimes it feels like we never left ninjaville at all.

That's why I made the Hot Springs mission first. That one gets us doing something, although the first update pretty much has to be talking and information gathering. Can't really just jump into a mission like that.

Muer'ci said:
Hot Springs plan worries me bc there are no ideas on Fire crossing. Last time we ran into a patrol. Do we want to present J with two scrolls of bodies?
As an idea, perhaps we could boat it into noodles, and sea travel from there to hot springs? At this point I'm honestly not sure if close to water bothers me less or more than close to fire.

The thing is that we do need to leave Tea at some point anyway. I doubt we will stay here for long enough for everyone to get enough Stealth to dodge patrols better than we currently do. I would trust our speed, we are way faster than we used to be.

Boating takes us to Mist controlled waters (kinda) and we are sitting ducks in a boat. I think the risk of crossing to overland to Wave and Hotsprings is about the same so I picked the mission that seemed more fun.

And seriously, messing with Orochimaru's stuff is way more risky than some cross country hiking.

Briefvoice · Jul 15, 2016

Muer'ci said:
Hot Springs plan worries me bc there are no ideas on Fire crossing. Last time we ran into a patrol. Do we want to present J with two scrolls of bodies?
As an idea, perhaps we could boat it into noodles, and sea travel from there to hot springs? At this point I'm honestly not sure if close to water bothers me less or more than close to fire.

According to the player knowledge document, "Scouts/spies slip across the borders periodically -- as fast as ninja travel and as few of them are, borders are fairly porous to small groups."

I think what tripped us up last time was that we were running along a border, trying to stay between Rain and Fire. You run along a border, eventually you're going to hit a patrol. Trying to go through a border is much easier, given how long borders are and how few ninja there are to guard them.

faflec · Jul 15, 2016

Briefvoice said:
According to the player knowledge document, "Scouts/spies slip across the borders periodically -- as fast as ninja travel and as few of them are, borders are fairly porous to small groups."

I think what tripped us up last time was that we were running along a border, trying to stay between Rain and Fire. You run along a border, eventually you're going to hit a patrol. Trying to go through a border is much easier, given how long borders are and how few ninja there are to guard them.

We did just fine until we triggered the chakra rain trap and were forced to stay still for an extended period of time bathing. We won't be that stupid about it (again), I hope.

Still worried because of the heightened hunter-nin activity though.

Muer'ci · Jul 15, 2016

We're not infiltrating Orochimaru's lab in sound tho, just sniffing around some cronies. And it will get us just the kind of info J likes. Right now we have for him dead bodies and badly kept secrets. I'd like to supplement that with something more tangible than "Rain has magic rain, maybe."

Thar aside, ngl, very much surprised to receive actual feedback on my plan, as opposed to hahahanope.
Also surprised myself by making a plan like that. Must be the new avatar.

Twofold · Jul 15, 2016

Muer'ci said:
We're not infiltrating Orochimaru's lab in sound tho, just sniffing around some cronies.

But as the plan currently stands, we are giving Noburi's medical information to agents that report to Orochimaru (through intermediaries but still). After the checkup, if we don't want that info to move up the chain we need to steal the results and murder the doctor giving the inspection. That sounds kinda messy and inelegant.

If you really want to do the checkup, you could do something cute with Mari and her genjutsu skills to give the impression that Nobby is not a weird mutant. Assuming that there's only one doctor giving the inspection and that the operation is not observed by other guards or something.

Briefvoice · Jul 15, 2016

faflec said:
We did just fine until we triggered the chakra rain trap and were forced to stay still for an extended period of time bathing. We won't be that stupid about it (again), I hope.

Basically, bad random encounter (not even skill) rolls.

Looking at the map again, I'm fine with your boating plan. Catch a ship to Noodle, infiltrate from there.

Muer'ci · Jul 15, 2016

We might be able to check out Hydra and do a mission, come to think of it.
We just want to take one good look at the cult, and then leave. Staking out and actual infiltration shouldn't take us more than 3-4 days.

And the mission (either one) is a perfect excuse to bolt.

Twofold said:
If you really want to do the checkup, you could something cute with Mari and her genjutsu skills to give the impression that Nobby is not a weird mutant. Assuming that there's only one doctor giving the inspection and that the operation is not observed by other guards or something.

Oooh, this I like!

Cariyaga · Jul 15, 2016

I do feel that our plans recently have near-criminally underutilized Mari's skill in genjutsu...

Twofold · Jul 15, 2016

Almost forgot about the XP plans. I don't think there's anything we really need (or can) get XP wise for now. I kinda want to do more Sealing research, but that would be really stupid thing to try before Kagome gets back on us on his assessment of our skills compared to the difficulty of our potential projects.

[X] Training Hazou: Nope
[X] Training Keiko: Nope
[X] Training Akane: Nope

[X] Training Noburi: Deposit 10 XP to Medic Fund

MadScientist · Jul 15, 2016

[X] Training Noburi: Deposit 10 XP to Medic Fund

Sleeps Furiously · Jul 15, 2016

[x] Training Noburi: Deposit 10 XP to Medic Fund

Twofold said:
I kinda want to do more Sealing research, but that would be really stupid thing to try before Kagome gets back on us on his assessment of our skills compared to the difficulty of our potential projects.

That doesn't feel like something that needs an update to get an answer to. @eaglejarl, @Velorien, between PMYF v2.0 and Macerator, does Kagome feel that either or both is especially more dangerous to research than a normal sealing project? Does he think that either one is especially easier than the other, or that either or both are beyond our skill level?

Solonarv · Jul 15, 2016

[X] Action Plan: Cult Infiltration

Whatever's in our fort is probably not a big deal, but we'll beat ourselves up if it turns out to be important. Checking it out doesn't seem like a big investment anyway.

I'm *really* curious about Hydra, so that's good with me as well.

Solonarv · Jul 15, 2016

Actually, screw Orochimaru. He can wait until we're at least A-rank.

[-] Action Plan: Cult Infiltration

[X] Action Plan: Operation Soaked Spiderbear!

faflec · Jul 15, 2016

Twofold said:
Good ideas on how to cross Fire safely (I have nothing for this)

Reverse the strategy we used to get into Tea: take a boat to the Land of Fire (southern/western sea), saddle the border, and get to the Land of Iron; then take another boat from Iron to Tea. Obviously we avoid Hidden Rain now that we know what it does, and we make sure to account for the increased border patrols.

Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

Handsome Gentleperson