We have identified the following domains as specialties for each of the PCs. Feel free to double check our work here and suggest changes or additional domains.
What if we want to change their domains? As in, we think that X has reached a sufficiently high skill level in Y and no longer plan to put any XP into it or we don't think there are any reasonable opportunities that they can challenge themselves in that skill?
For example, wouldn't there only be about 20ish people total that Jiraiya would have been challenged by in a fight? Besides for intentionally picking a fight with Akatsuki (and only some of them), a jinchuriki (only some of them), or a foreign Kage (maybe all of them?) he wouldn't have had a level appropriate fight in years.
Was Jiraiya just not really progressing much in the last number of years of his life since he was only progressing at 10% his XP rate after hitting maximum stagnation? Alternatively, he changed his domains to sealing/summoning/spying/something else instead on combat in order to avoid the stagnation hit to his XP?
We know that Mari re-specialized early onto her ninja career (pre-chuunin, from the conversation, iirc. Something about Mari realizing her genetics weren't going to make taijutsu viable).
So I guess re-specializing is possible, if it's done early into a ninjas career.
seems inconsistent with rocket boots
"Any use of chakra adhesion (e.g., to wallwalk) will trigger them. Trying to layer them triggers all of the seals, so you get only a single activation before needing to swap them out."
What if we want to change their domains? As in, we think that X has reached a sufficiently high skill level in Y and no longer plan to put any XP into it or we don't think there are any reasonable opportunities that they can challenge themselves in that skill?
For example, wouldn't there only be about 20ish people total that Jiraiya would have been challenged by in a fight? Besides for intentionally picking a fight with Akatsuki (and only some of them), a jinchuriki (only some of them), or a foreign Kage (maybe all of them?) he wouldn't have had a level appropriate fight in years.
Was Jiraiya just not really progressing much in the last number of years of his life since he was only progressing at 10% his XP rate after hitting maximum stagnation? Alternatively, he changed his domains to sealing/summoning/spying/something else instead on combat in order to avoid the stagnation hit to his XP?
We actually already know that Jiraiya was completely stagnant by the start of the quest. Originally just chalked up to age, but the QMs are on record as saying that he wasn't gaining any XP anymore. Stagnancy meshes pretty well with that, giving a second explanation to reinforce the first. Naturally Jiraiya of the Sannin would have trouble finding worthy opponents, and those he does find would be few and far between, so he'll be spending much of his time rocking large penalties to his XP rate.
As for domain changing, I figure it just sort of happens naturally, as we level some stats and not others and use some stats and not others. I figure Hazou's likely to grow into a 'politics' domain, since he's a Clan Head and we're planning to raise his socials across the board sooner or later. Strictly speaking these domains don't need to be explicitly written down and tracked, because the main purpose they serve is to help the QMs figure out what they should be looking at to determine if the character's starting to twiddle their thumbs too much. If Hazou just stops raising combat stats entirely and pushes his sealmastery and socials instead, I'd expect combat stagnancy to get procced less and less until it just quietly stops being a thing Hazou needs to reinforce, with the QMs instead prodding us to go do important politics/seal research instead.
I figure Hazou's likely to grow into a 'politics' domain, since he's a Clan Head and we're planning to raise his socials across the board sooner or later.
kei seems overly pessimistic with plans
akane seems to just follow whatever hazou suggests, instead of giving initiative and ideas and criticisms
helpful to keep in mind when brainstorming plans with them
We actually already know that Jiraiya was completely stagnant by the start of the quest. Originally just chalked up to age, but the QMs are on record as saying that he wasn't gaining any XP anymore. Stagnancy meshes pretty well with that, giving a second explanation to reinforce the first. Naturally Jiraiya of the Sannin would have trouble finding worthy opponents, and those he does find would be few and far between, so he'll be spending much of his time rocking large penalties to his XP rate.
As for domain changing, I figure it just sort of happens naturally, as we level some stats and not others and use some stats and not others. I figure Hazou's likely to grow into a 'politics' domain, since he's a Clan Head and we're planning to raise his socials across the board sooner or later. Strictly speaking these domains don't need to be explicitly written down and tracked, because the main purpose they serve is to help the QMs figure out what they should be looking at to determine if the character's starting to twiddle their thumbs too much. If Hazou just stops raising combat stats entirely and pushes his sealmastery and socials instead, I'd expect combat stagnancy to get procced less and less until it just quietly stops being a thing Hazou needs to reinforce, with the QMs instead prodding us to go do important politics/seal research instead.
Did we ever send an Arachnid Ambassador to the Conclave and other embassies? It would make Kagome viable for Zoo Rushes, strengthening Leaf yet more.
I'm assuming Arachnid joining up with the 7th Path Trade Network has been done automatically and offscreen, since that was Hazou's brainchild, and it boosts the Goketsu economic power.
I'm assuming Arachnid joining up with the 7th Path Trade Network has been done automatically and offscreen, since that was Hazou's brainchild, and it boosts the Goketsu economic power.
I think so, I believe that's where all the silk is coming from (beyond all that silk we collected from the Dragon battle). They can trade through Hazou or Kagome
I will observe that it is going to be VERY hard to get Noburi an appropriate combat encounter given that he's confined to the village for literal months on end. He's essentially limited to doing stuff with his reputation on the line, which...uh...is he supposed to piss of Ritsuo or something? Rematch against Hinata?
"You summoned me, sir?" Goro said, kneeling seiza in the door with his back perfectly straight, knees two fists apart, hands on his thighs.
Clan Lord Hyūga Neji, father of Goro's elder brother, sat at his desk in the corner. He was writing two separate documents at the same time, brushes moving with speed yet exquisite elegance. Goro's Byakugan was running, as per his Clan Lord's expectation of proper Hyūga behavior even if it did eat chakra like dango, and it showed him that the document on the left was a letter to Goro's elder brother and the one on the right was a ledger calculating expected income from various Hyūga properties for the next quarter.
Eita waited silently on his Clan Lord's pleasure. The silence dragged on for at least two minutes.
"I am informed that you have trained an outsider in our taijutsu," the Clan Lord said, not looking up. "You will stop."
"My Lord, I did not teach him the Gentle Fist, merely—"
"You will stop."
"...Yes, My Lord."
"That is all."
"Yes, My Lord."
o-o-o-o
The day was cold, the skies gray, and the sun only barely risen when the team arrived at Training Ground Thirty-Seven. Goro was the last to arrive.
"'Morning," Hayata said, waving as his white-eyed teammate jogged up. "Good timing. How are things?"
Coming from another, Goro might have interpreted the 'good timing' to be a subtle jab, a suggestion of Goro's inferiority for having arrived after everyone else. Coming from Hayata, Goro interpreted it to mean that the others had arrived only within the last few minutes.
"Things are..." Goro began, before trailing off. He had no way to finish that sentence.
The other two eyed him for a moment and then Eita asked, his face and voice completely calm, "How is your father? Spent any time with him lately?"
Goro forced his teeth not to clench at the thought. "I did indeed speak with my Clan Lord last night," he said. "I regret to say that he has forbidden me from sharing Hyūga clan taijutsu techniques. Or, apparently, any taijutsu techniques, since everything I have been showing you two was based on that independent study I did with Yada-sensei."
Eita nodded, unsurprised. The lack of surprise made Eita flush with shame; what must a life be like to make its bearer simply assume he would never receive help from anyone?
"But it's not Hyūga stuff!" Hayata objected. "Did you tell him that?"
"I tried. I'm sorry, both of you."
"It is what it is," Eita said. "No worries. I'm just grateful for what you did share."
"I could put a word in with Yada-sensei?" Goro suggested. "He might be willing to..." He trailed off. It was a ridiculous suggestion. Yada Kazuharu did not take on students, not even temporarily. Not unless they came with the name of a Great Clan and a massive pile of ryō. The man was obsessed. All he cared about was his own training, his own skill. He had been compared repeatedly to the Green Beast of the Leaf, Maito Gai. Unfortunately, the comparisons were usually to the negative—not as friendly, not as inspirational, and, most damning of all, not quite as good. It was hard to surpass someone who now lived only in legend, and the need to do so had taken over Yada's life.
"It's fine, thanks." Eita smiled and gave his teammate a nod. "I appreciate the offer."
"Your Clan Lord can—" Hayata began angrily, only to cut himself off when Goro raised an interrupting hand.
"My Clan Lord has spoken," Goro said calmly. "He is the wisest of the clan and therefore obedience to him is obedience to wisdom. I shall not be able to offer instruction again. I apologize to both of you. Now, if you will excuse me, I wish to do a few kata before we eat."
The others looked surprised. The tradition among Team Honoka was to eat a light meal before training. That was the entire reason for getting here at this unholy hour.
"I shall be training in Yada-sensei's fourth basic kata," Goro said. "I wish to be certain that it does not fade from my memory due to insufficient practice."
Eita's eyebrow went up. All three of them knew that the odds of Goro forgetting a taijutsu kata were approximately equal to the chances of Hyūga Clan Lord Hyūga Neji ever getting the stick removed from his ass.
"Should you wish to eat without me, please feel free," Goro continued. "Alternatively, if you wish to do your own training then we can eat together afterwards." He activated his Byakugan and turned away, taking a few steps until he had space and then settling into the guard stance of Yada-sensei's kata.
"Let's see..." Goro murmured to himself. "Ah, yes. My back leg should be straight." He carefully straightened his leg in exactly the way that he had been nagging Eita about. "Yes, that's better." He began the kata, performing it slowly and very precisely. He smiled, very slightly, when the others joined in behind him, precisely copying his movements. Well, almost precisely. He shifted his arm to match the position of Eita's and then stopped.
"No, that's not right," he mumbled, clearly thinking out loud. "Let's see...oh, right, I'm not closing the line properly." He very carefully moved his arm the necessary two inches back to proper position, then resumed the kata.
They ran the kata four times before sitting together for their usual light breakfast. After all, Psycho-sensei would descend on them soon enough and they had best not be working on empty stomachs.
o-o-o-o
"You summoned me, sir?" Goro said, kneeling seiza in the door with his back perfectly straight, knees two fists apart, hands on his thighs.
Clan Lord Hyūga Neji turned in his chair, facing his younger son. His face was utterly blank, the perfect Hyūga mask.
"I instructed you not to train that mudfoot," he said. His voice was perfectly calm, almost disinterested.
"Yes, My Lord...?" Goro said, his voice filled with all the innocent confusion that Psycho-sensei had convinced Mari-sensei to teach them how to portray. "I have ceased all instruction of anyone."
"You were leading taijutsu training with your team, precisely as you always do," the Clan Lord said, a trace of irritation leeching into his words.
"Respectfully, My Lord, I did not lead their training. I did my own training, as was appropriate for a training period. If they happened to copy me, I have nothing to say. Their taijutsu is inferior to mine, much less to Yada-sensei's. Is it surprising they would wish to steal a few crumbs?"
The Clan Lord eyed him calmly. "Goro, do you think me an idiot?"
"No, My Lord!"
"Do not train your teammates in taijutsu. I did not expend such wealth as was required to retain Yada simply to have it given for free to mongrels. That training is yours, to preserve your life."
"With respect, My Lord, does not the survival of my teammates also contribute to my own survival?"
The Clan Lord's teeth ground together. "The training is yours. It is to your honor and you will not cast it into the dirt."
It was to the Hyūga's honor, is what he meant. Certainly, the family was wealthy enough that they could afford to retain Yada for their eldest son and heir. Most of the Great Clans could do that. The Hyūga were so very wealthy they could even afford to have their spare be trained by the legend.
"Of course, My Lord," Eita said, bowing dogeza. He held the pose for two seconds, then straightened. "I will not show my teammates any more of Yada-sensei's instruction. Nor will I practice it where they might copy me. I apologize for my disobedience."
The Clan Lord eyed his second son for several seconds before saying, "You are dismissed."
o-o-o-o
"Morning!" Eita called, jogging up for their barely-dawn gathering. "Mom made omelettes!" He held up one of the many storage seals that Lord Kagome had pushed into the team's hands after discovering that Psycho-sensei had not properly outfitted them.
"Fifty?! You only gave them fifty storage seals each?!?! How are they supposed to carry the full load-out with only fifty seals?!"
"Aw, Uncle Kagome, don't be silly! They don't need the full load-out."
"WHHHAAAAT!?!?!?!?! Mari, grab her! I need to check her ears!"
Lord Kagome had been closely supervising them ever since then, ensuring that they were properly equipped and requiring them to frequently demonstrate that they were carrying everything he felt they should have. This was challenging, since he would occasionally add some new item to the list of things they were expected to have and not bother telling them in advance.
"How would you survive meeting a brindlebeast if you didn't have six pounds of peanuts on you? Huh? Huh?! Stupid stinking kids, always thinking they know so much, why I oughta—
"What's a brindlebeast, Uncle?" Psycho-sensei had asked. "I don't remember this story."
"You don't remember it?! You foolish child, have you forgotten everything I've ever taught you?!"
"Aw, Unc, don't be like that! I remember everything. Like what to carry with me and the six types of traps and—"
"SIX?! SIX?! There are twelve kinds of traps!"
"Are you sure? I really thought it was six..."
"Come with me, right now! You three...oh, fine, I suppose you can come too. You're Honoka's, and that means you're kinda clan. And it would make her look bad if you died because you didn't know how to properly protect a camp." He frowned, then looked over to Honoka. "It would make you look bad, right?"
"Yup! Very bad."
Lord Kagome nodded in satisfaction. "Nailed it. Come on, all of you."
If that was the level of detailed instruction required of people who were 'kinda' clan, Goro shuddered to think what the actual clan children must be required to learn.
As he came to a halt, Eita saw the look on Goro's face. Or, rather, the lack of a look. Goro was wearing the Hyūga mask. That never had good news behind it. With a sigh, Eita unsealed the three bento boxes (omelettes with a side of pickled ginger and dango because Mom thought that it was important to have sweets in order to keep energy up) and passed them around. Goro had been writing in a small journal, but he happily put it down on the grass and accepted the bento in its place.
"Thank you very much, Eita," Goro said. He opened his and paused to inhale the scent of breakfast. An expression of quiet delight drifted across his face for a moment, as it did for everyone who smelled Tanaka Haruyo's cooking.
"I'm afraid that I have bad news," Goro said. "My Clan Lord has instructed me not to train anyone in taijutsu of any kind, nor to practice where I might be seen."
Eita's stomach dropped, but then it rebounded and his eyes narrowed slightly instead. There was something odd in Goro's voice.
"I would suggest that—" Goro broke off. "Oh dear, I have forgotten to use the bathroom. Obviously, as a proper son of the Hyūga, I cannot simply urinate on a tree like a peasant. No, I shall have to go back into Leaf to find a proper toilet. Please, eat without me. I will be back soon." He stood up and dashed off, his foot carelessly spurning the journal that he had left sitting on the grass. It flopped open to a page showing a diagram of a person in a combat stance.
Eita and Hayata shared confused looks. After a moment, Eita reached over and picked up the journal, glancing at the contents. Hayata leaned in, looking over his shoulder.
Dragon Hammer Kata: Yada-sensei emphasized the importance of this one as a counter to the soft/hard style used by many Mist ninja. The steps are as follows: start in stance #3, then...
For one moment, Eita's heart stopped beating. One did not write down the secrets of training obtained from another ninja. Or, at least, not in straightforward, unencoded language such as this.
And then his heart started up again and he struggled not to smile.
"Very careless of Goro to leave this behind," he said, closing the book and tucking it into the bento that his white-eyed teammate had abandoned. He put the whole bento back into its seal. "I will return it to him when he returns."
"Yes," Hayata said, his voice serious and his nod grave. "Or tomorrow, if you happen to forget that you have it." Pause. "Hey, would you like to come over for dinner tonight?" And make two copies of this book of treasure went unsaid.
"That sounds lovely," Eita said, his voice equally serious. "Very careless of Goro to leave it here."
"Yes. Very careless indeed."
It was a lovely plan, but I fear I had no juice. I hate not delivering on Sunday and I didn't want to take a chance on breaking my streak by not being able to write tonight, so I decided to do something light and fluffy that I could knock out before work. Apologies, and I shall transfer the baton to the eldritch talons of @Velorien.
(Note: This is in Threadmarks for now but will later move to Sidestory.)
Vote time! You have two choices:
[] Continue the plan
[] Plan name here, details below
Personally, I would suggest sticking with 'continue the plan'; it's a fun one and a lot of work went into it. Still, you deserve the chance to change your mind if so desired.
Hyuga Clan Heads acting like pricks, what's new. Also I don't rememeber if they have the whole caged bird seal in this AU as well. If that exists then that is yet another blight that needs to be destroyed. Even more than most things because such a thing potentially leaking would be so bad for Uplift that it's destruction should honestly be prioritized. Then again the bitter reality is that in the grand scheme of things Hazo is bitterly weak.
"Let's see..." Goro murmured to himself. "Ah, yes. My back leg should be straight." He carefully straightened his leg in exactly the way that he had been nagging Eita about. "Yes, that's better." He began the kata, performing it slowly and very precisely. He smiled, very slightly, when the others joined in behind him, precisely copying his movements. Well, almost precisely. He shifted his arm to match the position of Eita's and then stopped.
"No, that's not right," he mumbled, clearly thinking out loud. "Let's see...oh, right, I'm not closing the line properly." He very carefully moved his arm the necessary two inches back to proper position, then resumed the kata.
Also I don't rememeber if they have the whole caged bird seal in this AU as well. If that exists then that is yet another blight that needs to be destroyed.
There's a very confusing feeling associated with hearing that someone has recently read some of your earliest work. It's part squee at having your work known and part cringe at realizing that people's memories and opinion of you will now be tainted by this embarrassingly bad thing. Not sure what to call it...squinge, perhaps? Cruee? Crunge? Let's go with squinge.
There's a very confusing feeling associated with hearing that someone has recently read some of your earliest work. It's part squee at having your work known and part cringe at realizing that people's memories and opinion of you will now be tainted by this embarrassingly bad thing. Not sure what to call it...squinge, perhaps? Cruee? Crunge? Let's go with squinge.
I quite enjoyed it and even felt sad upon reaching the end, for there tautologically was no more. I found a great deal of emotion in it, many interesting original ideas, and efficient as well as intriguing characterisation. Rest assured most readers' critical eye isn't nearly as scathing as a story's own writer's, and this one indeed does not find itself tainted, yet rather inspired by the experience.
Well said! It's too late for them to take my degree back now, muahahaha
More seriously I think you worked the adoption of different characters' PoV, both in and out of their internal focalisation, admirably, whereas many other authors botch it up, especially early in their writing efforts
Clarification: Kagome has been working on the notes since at least the beginning of the Squirrel mission. Is this (the descriptions of the seals and the estimates) the fruit of his labours, or has he made progress on the first seal?
Another question: do Kagome and Hazo both feel that they'd take similar amounts of time to research the seal? I'm admittedly trying to get a handle on Kagome's sealing-related stats here, but it feels a little strange that they'd both take a similar amount of time to research the seals given that I thought Kagome would have been Hazo's superior in sealing.
How is Hazou supposed to know how many seals he can use without collapsing the cave before actually collapsing the cave? Seems unnecessary risky to me.
This is intended as flavourful language and not a specific instruction. Given that it does not impact the plan I might clarify it, but I lean against doing so.
If we choose to do this. Hazou shouldn't be fighting, since he won't have enough chakra for it to be reasonable. That should be made explicit. I would prefer sending an advance group of SCs and Snowflake ahead of the main party to scout rather than risking a chakra depleted Hazou to heptacats.
I expect the characters will make intelligent decisions about combat. We don't need to specify toenail clipping in plans, and they're the combat experts. Akane and/or Kei would point out 'hey, aren't you pretty low on chakra' if necessary.
Simultaneously, we want that stagnancy issue resolved.
Based on the QMs not reversing stagnancy on Hazou going toe-to-toe with two senior enemy chunin and surviving, I think he has to kill something personally. That means Summoning is not the right call.
Clarification: Kagome has been working on the notes since at least the beginning of the Squirrel mission. Is this the fruit of his labours, or has he made progress on the first seal?
Kagome has made substantial progress towards finishing the first entry in the seal chain. He thinks he's nearly done, and he's excited to share his progress with you.
Another question: do Kagome and Hazo both feel that they'd take similar amounts of time to research the seal? I'm admittedly trying to get a handle on Kagome's sealing-related stats here, but it feels a little strange that they'd both take a similar amount of time to research the seals given that I thought Kagome would have been Hazo's superior in sealing.
Kagome will plainly say that he is better than Hazou, but not by much. Hazou is inclined to agree, but thinks that Kagome's tendency towards being overcautious hampers him somewhat. Kagome certainly researches faster than Hazou in general, since Kagome doesn't spend 2 days after every research roll with an extradimensionally-sourced migraine.
It seems like every genin fight would be decided simply by who has explosives, and those would end up mattering more than any actual skills they have, with a Ranged 40 attack with high weapons rating being so much better than, say, Taijutsu 30.
Yes, explosives are great for improving genin survivability.
In practice, this is less impactful than you think. Brand-new genin with 20s might get a lot from explosives, but a little more mileage under their belt decreases the marginal value. 30s Taijutsu, after chakra boost, clan techniques, fighting styles, ninjutsu, or plain Aspect-invokes can outpace the 40 flat TN, and 30 Athletics plus any respectable Substitution level tends to dodge it.
The specific requirement of risk in order to prevent stagnation not only feels rather gamey, but rather more importantly it seems rather unnecessary in light of the actual purpose of such a system.
Anecdotally, you will not get very good at programming if you only read textbooks and do puzzles, you will not get very good at performing with a musical instrument by only practicing in your room, and you will not get very good at a sport by only doing drills. You should do real programming projects, perform in front of people to feel out your nerves, and actually compete and try to win.
@eaglejarl@Velorien Would a combat spar in the Seventh Path risking the Summoner's reputation among the Toads/Pangolins/Dogs be a thing that could be arranged? Like, we challenge some Doggo to sign a contract if we can beat him in a spar, or something?
Stuff on Discord brought up this idea to stop stagnancy, and I wanted to know if it was plausible.
Alone, this would not be enough. Here are some ways that it could be enough: (1) The spar is to get Ma and Pa to teach you Sage Mode; (2) you desperately need a tracker to find the lost scroll; (3) this summon has exactly the ninjutsu you need to exfiltrate from the enemy base you reverse summoned in. Alternately to a single fight, you could do a campaign of such spars, where the stake is your overall reputation in the clan and access to contracts. The core is still meaningful, level-appropriate stakes.
Based on the QMs not reversing stagnancy on Hazou going toe-to-toe with two senior enemy chunin and surviving, I think he has to kill something personally. That means Summoning is not the right call.
Fighting alongside Summons? This could remove stagnancy. Letting the summons do all the work? This does not remove stagnancy. As Akane and Yuno did most of the work against the enemy chuunin, Hazou's contribution was not sufficient to completely clear his stagnancy.
Exciting to have these rules now. Just to clarify, anyone who attacks with a weapons: 4 explosive will be attacking with TN 40, even if they have RW: 1?
They will be attacking with at least 40. They make their roll, and if it is lower than 40, they instead attack with 40 flat. Someone with RW 1 will almost always attack with 40, someone with RW 80 will almost never use the flat 40.
