Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

[Kiba]

Yeah, I figured that'd be why you didn't write anything for Kagome.

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The only character interludes we didn't see yet are for Kagome and Akane.

 

[Citrus]

The only character interludes we didn't see yet are for Kagome and Akane.

Click to shrink...

Potentially understandably for a number of reasons (original 3 genin interludes; Kagome's secret backstory; akane interacting with leaf ninja we would recognize or giving us canon deviation info)

 

[OliWhail]

Also, for whomever asked if research/training plans should be included -- go for it.

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That was me!
E: Lots of formatting.

Spoiler: General Plan - Round Out the Team

I don't think this is a great way to go, but here is how we could get everyone Stealth 12, TacMov 16, and a few other goodies.
Hazou 123:
Stealth 9-11 [30]
Dex 6 [42]
TacMov 15 [57]
Capacity 6 [69]
Capacity 7 [83]
MEW 7-10 [117]
Save 6 XP

Noburi: 98.5 + 38
[Resolve 4 [8]
MedNin 7 [15]
MedNin 8 [23]
MedKnow 4 [27]
MedKnow 5 [32]
MedKnow 6 [38]]
*^From MedBank^*

Stealth 10-12 [33]
Wits 4 [41]
Dex 6 [53]
TacMov 16 [69]

Intelligence 3 [75]
MedKnow 7 [82]
MedKnow 8 [90]
MedKnow 9 [99] (are you shitting me)
Save 8.5 XP and 0 banked XP

Kei: 61
Stealth 11 [11]
Stealth 12 [23]
TacMov 16 [39]
Capacity 11 [61]
Save 0 XP

Akane: 85 + 8.5
Capacity 6 [12]
Capacity 7 [26]
Dex 6 [38]
Stealth 12 [50]
TacMov 16 [66]
Transform 2 [68]
Transform 3 [71]
Transform 4 [75]
Diplomacy 6 [81]
Save 4 XP

Spoiler: General plan - Specialize

Hazou 123:
Wits 5 [10]
Capacity 6 [22]
Capacity 7 [36]
Intelligence 13 [62]
Intelligence 14 [90]
Sealing 13 [103]
Sealing 14 [117]
Save 6 XP

Keiko: 61
Capacity 11 [22]
TacMov 16 [38]
TacMov 17 [55]
Transform 3 [58]
Save 3 XP
or
Capacity 11 [22]
Capacity 12 [36]
TacMov 16 [52]
Transform 3 [55]
Transform 4 [59]
Save 2 XP

Noburi 98.5 + 38:
Control 10 [Bank -20, 18]
Wits 4 [Bank -8, 10]
Resolve 4 [Bank -8, 2]
Resolve 5 [Bank -2, 0] [8]
Intelligence 3 [14]
Intelligence 4 [22]

Mednin 7 [29]
Mednin 8 [37]
Mednin 9 [46]
Mednin 10 [56]
Medknow 7 [63]
Medknow 8 [71]
Medknow 9 [80]
Medknow 10 [90]
Vampiric Dew 14 [97]
Save 1.5 XP

Not sure how to specialize Akane until we get the word from QMs on how MechApt specializations work.

 

[Solonarv]

We don't know Japanese, and it appears you named our team after a naruto fic that is most likely terrible.

Click to shrink...

I don't really know Japanese either, I just took the Sannin's name and replaced san (three) with roku (six). I wasn't aware there was a fic with that name.

You have no idea what you've done.

*insane laughter*



In effect it's a special context-specific sub-language within the larger language of a plan. An action to flee is made up of multiple internal contingencies that aren't reasonable within the context of a larger plan. A function trying to capture that would be best written with something like the ruby "yield" block rather than a series of parameters, but writing it as a monad allows you more control over how the sub-language functions and interacts with the parent language.

A monad is a very good way for creating these context specific sub-languages, that allows for them to be defined with their own special semantics and structure while letting you embed them directly within the parent language.

Consider the original program:

flee('HotSpring', 'Fire', 'Iron', 'rivers'=True, 'boost'=True);

And the more monadic haskell version:

{-## General Purpose definitions ##-}

-- keepFull tells us that when someone in a group goes below a
-- specific level of chakra, refill them with Nobby's Vampiric Dew.

keepFull :: [People] -> Float -> Plan ()
vdKeepFull people minLevel =
  mapM_ people refillWhenLow
where
  refillWhenLow person = do
    cpLevel <- chakraProportion person
    when (cpLevel < minLevel) (vdRefill person)

-- I am including the above to have an example of how we
-- can turn a specific action (vdRefill, for refilling a single person)
-- into a plan-component that keeps the entire team full, without
-- having to create additional primitives.

-- This is an example of a default plan for a particular type of
-- action. We can have similar plans for sealing safety, combat,
-- evasion, etc.. That can later be modified to better tune them
-- for a particular situation.
defaultFleePlan :: Flee ()
defaultFleePlan = do
  {- This is do block using the flee monad, and lets us
   - capture properties of the algorithm we use to flee
   - without leaking those primitives to higher-level
   - plan environment. There's a careful separation
   - between the strategic and tactical component of a
   - plan this way. -}
  setPathPriority rivers 10
  defaultChakraBoost 1 -- 100% of base level, no boost
  vdKeepFull teamMembers 0.9

{-## The following code occurs within a Plan monad's do block.  ##-}


{- Here we can perform the strategic action of fleeing towards fire,
- with the tactics we defined earlier plus some special case details
- relevant to this particular leg of the trip -}
fleeTowards Fire $ do
  defaultFleePlan -- Incorporate default
  setPathPriority deathSwamp 0 -- Add or overwrite extra settings
  defaultChakraBoost 1.5
  -- The contingencies function will perform a series of actions when
  -- the initial contingency is met that stop when the
  -- contingency stops being true.
  contingencies beingPursued [
    defaultEvasionPlan (abortIf $ minChakra 0.8),
    fakeDeaths (allow stupidBox) >> pmyfTrailBreak 3,
    stealthEvasionPlan (abortIf $ minChakra 0.5),
    defaultCombatPlan]
  contingencies suddenAngryJiraya [
    honestDebrief,
    returnBodies,
    begForMercy Jiraya,
    makePeaceWithImpedingDemise]
fleeTowards Iron defaultFleePlan

(Yes I know it's like 50 times longer, but that's because it does more, has comments, and a bunch of code written out that would be in the implementation of the original version's flee function)

This programmatic structure lets us express and reuse default plans while allowing us to override them or nest them as neccesary. For environments like combat or evasion we can define general purpose plans that assume nothing of the situation we're in, using an algorithm to decide the actions needed based on the environment or, when possible, just decide on a straight list of actions that are more suited to the specific case we're in now.

Also depending on the exact structure of the various monads needed (basically, define them as monad transformers where possible) we can compose these with existing probabilistic evaluation monads and run simulations that attempt to find out the distribution of likely outcomes.

The short version is that monads let you create embedded domain specific languages easily and use the power of the host language, all while preserving a separation between the embedded and host languages.

In the case of this quest we have domains that are split into a few major groups: Strategic vs. Tactical, Declarative vs. Imperative1​. As well as major components of a plan that fall into all four categories.

Strategic & Imperative (SI): The high level plan.
Strategic & Declarative (SD): Training, Research, possibly empire management if we have to do enough of that we need an extra abstraction level.
Tactical & Declarative (TD): Travel, Fleeing, etc..
Tactical & Imperative (TI): Combat, Negotiation, specific Research Plans

In practise we should have monads for each of these four categories, with well defined combinators that allow jumping between them. In the above example the contingencies function is one such combinator, allowing the TD plan for fleeing to embed TI plans for negotiation and combat. Other combinators can allow unidirectional nesting and bidirectional information flow, like triggering imperative action on a condition and returning the level of success or some other relevant information.

[1]: As I'm using it here, a declarative domain specifies a set of stances and choices that all apply at once without any particular ordering, and an imperative domain is a series of actions that we perform in some order.

Click to shrink...

*squees in Haskell*

Or just get more convincing every time

"Okay, I know it's been a trick the last sixteen times, but LOOK at them! That's clearly their bodies! We have DNA confirmation and everything!"
"Uh, Yagura-sama, we have confirmed reports of the Rokunin fomenting rebellion in the northern part of the country."
"Jashin DAMMIT! Fooled again!"

Click to shrink...

...does this make the team name I suggested canon?

 

[Cariyaga]

That was me!

Spoiler: General Plan - Round Out the Team

I don't think this is a great way to go, but here is how we could get everyone Stealth 12, TacMov 16, and a few other goodies)
Hazou 123:
Stealth 9-11 [30]
Dex 6 [42]
TacMov 15 [57]
Capacity 6 [69]
Capacity 7 [83]
MEW 7-10 [117]
Save 6 XP

Noburi: 98.5 + 38
[Resolve 4 [8]
MedNin 7 [15]
MedNin 8 [23]
MedKnow 4 [27]
MedKnow 5 [32]
MedKnow 6 [38]]
*^From MedBank^*

Stealth 10-12 [33]
Wits 4 [41]
Dex 6 [53]
TacMov 16 [69]

Intelligence 3 [75]
MedKnow 7 [82]
MedKnow 8 [90]
MedKnow 9 [99] (are you shitting me)
Save 8.5 XP and 0 banked XP

Kei: 61
Stealth 11 [11]
Stealth 12 [23]
TacMov 16 [39]
Capacity 11 [61]
Save 0 XP

Akane: 85 + 8.5
Capacity 6 [12]
Capacity 7 [26]
Dex 6 [38]
Stealth 12 [50]
TacMov 16 [66]
Transform 2 [68]
Transform 3 [71]
Transform 4 [75]
Diplomacy 6 [81]
Save 4 XP

Spoiler: General plan - Specialize

Hazou 123:
Wits 5 [10]
Capacity 6 [22]
Capacity 7 [36]
Intelligence 13 [62]
Intelligence 14 [90]
Sealing 13 [103]
Sealing 14 [117]
Save 6 XP

Keiko: 61
Capacity 11 [22]
TacMov 16 [38]
TacMov 17 [55]
Transform 3 [58]
Save 3 XP
or
Capacity 11 [22]
Capacity 12 [36]
TacMov 16 [52]
Transform 3 [55]
Transform 4 [59]
Save 2 XP

Noburi 98.5 + 38:
Control 10 (20 from medic fund = 18 remaining)
Wits 4 (8 from medic fund = 10 remaining)
Resolve 4 (8 from medic fund = 2 remaining)
Resolve 5 (2 from medic fund, 8/98.5)
Intelligence 3 (6+42 = 48/98.5)
Intelligence 4 (8+48 = 56/98.5)

Mednin 7 (7+8 = 15/98.5)
Mednin 8 (8+15 = 23/98.5)
Mednin 9 (9+23 = 32/98.5
Mednin 10 (10+32 = 42/98.5)
Medknow 7 (7+56 = 63/98.5)
Medknow 8 (8+63 = 71/98.5)
Medknow 9 (9+71 = 80/98.5)
Medknow 10 (10+80 = 90/98.5)
Vampiric Dew 14 (7+90 = 97/98.5)
Save 1.5 XP

Not sure how to specialize Akane until we get the word from QMs on how MechApt specializations work.

Click to shrink...

Definitely go with the specialized route for Noburi and possibly Hazou. We can afford to bump Akane up to 15 in MechApt regardless of how we specialize her and we can consider improving her stealth by 1 to improve her Trap emplacements' rolls by 1 (1/4 of Stealth, her stealth is currently 11).

fake edit: The faster we get better, the faster we can do the stuff we really want to as far as sealing goes, and Noburi being better will make that faster.

 

[HyperCatnip]

伝説の六忍 / Densetsu no Rokunin is perfect, right? We should totally go fight Hanzōsome legendary ninja for it!

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It's a reference to the Sannin (densetsu no sannin, 'legendary three (people? ninja?)'. This would be 'legendary six' if my google-fu has not failed me

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Good potential team names include The Nine (Akane as Burnscar, anyone?) and Shichinin.

Spoiler: Shichinin - minor spoiler for Significant Digits, the HPMOR fanfic

they'd called their trio the "Shichinin" (七人, or "Seven People") because they really loved a Kurosawa movie Harry had once shown them, and because Fred and George were certain that "our enemies will think there's four more of us somewhere!"

 

[HyperCatnip]

That was me!
E: Lots of formatting.

Spoiler: General Plan - Round Out the Team

I don't think this is a great way to go, but here is how we could get everyone Stealth 12, TacMov 16, and a few other goodies.
Hazou 123:
Stealth 9-11 [30]
Dex 6 [42]
TacMov 15 [57]
Capacity 6 [69]
Capacity 7 [83]
MEW 7-10 [117]
Save 6 XP

Noburi: 98.5 + 38
[Resolve 4 [8]
MedNin 7 [15]
MedNin 8 [23]
MedKnow 4 [27]
MedKnow 5 [32]
MedKnow 6 [38]]
*^From MedBank^*

Stealth 10-12 [33]
Wits 4 [41]
Dex 6 [53]
TacMov 16 [69]

Intelligence 3 [75]
MedKnow 7 [82]
MedKnow 8 [90]
MedKnow 9 [99] (are you shitting me)
Save 8.5 XP and 0 banked XP

Kei: 61
Stealth 11 [11]
Stealth 12 [23]
TacMov 16 [39]
Capacity 11 [61]
Save 0 XP

Akane: 85 + 8.5
Capacity 6 [12]
Capacity 7 [26]
Dex 6 [38]
Stealth 12 [50]
TacMov 16 [66]
Transform 2 [68]
Transform 3 [71]
Transform 4 [75]
Diplomacy 6 [81]
Save 4 XP

Spoiler: General plan - Specialize

Hazou 123:
Wits 5 [10]
Capacity 6 [22]
Capacity 7 [36]
Intelligence 13 [62]
Intelligence 14 [90]
Sealing 13 [103]
Sealing 14 [117]
Save 6 XP

Keiko: 61
Capacity 11 [22]
TacMov 16 [38]
TacMov 17 [55]
Transform 3 [58]
Save 3 XP
or
Capacity 11 [22]
Capacity 12 [36]
TacMov 16 [52]
Transform 3 [55]
Transform 4 [59]
Save 2 XP

Noburi 98.5 + 38:
Control 10 [Bank -20, 18]
Wits 4 [Bank -8, 10]
Resolve 4 [Bank -8, 2]
Resolve 5 [Bank -2, 0] [8]
Intelligence 3 [14]
Intelligence 4 [22]

Mednin 7 [29]
Mednin 8 [37]
Mednin 9 [46]
Mednin 10 [56]
Medknow 7 [63]
Medknow 8 [71]
Medknow 9 [80]
Medknow 10 [90]
Vampiric Dew 14 [97]
Save 1.5 XP

Not sure how to specialize Akane until we get the word from QMs on how MechApt specializations work.

Click to shrink...

I think we should go with specialization for Hazou and Noburi (medicine is a great force multiplier that we neglected for too long; Sealing, after a few rounds of A Sealing Researcher Is You Quest will also greatly add to our team's power).

 

[OliWhail]

they really loved a Kurosawa movie

Click to shrink...

So meta

 

[Cariyaga]

We should also consider going through another round of Intense Team Training (TM) as we did when we met Jiraiya. Although in this case it will probably mostly involve each of us getting our ass handed to us in turn by Mari because I find it exceptionally unlikely that any of the chakra beasts are particularly threatening.

e: Couple sealing questions. How long does it take to infuse a seal and do they blow up if you put an uninfused seal in a storage scroll?

 

[OliWhail]

as we did when we met Jiraiya

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"Wtf guys, you're doing the same thing as the last time I showed up. What gives? Is this your way of telling me I'm being predictable?"
-J when he shows up at our campfire again next update

I find it exceptionally unlikely that any of the chakra beasts are particularly threatening.

Click to shrink...

Depends how much we heal up but yeah, generally.

 

[OliWhail]

So it sounds like we want ~

[]Training Akane: Skill Roundup (need to fix still)
Capacity 6 [12]
Dex 6 [24]
Stealth 12 [36]
TacMov 16 [52]
Transform 2 [54]
Transform 3 [57]
Transform 4 [61]
Diplomacy 6 [67]
MechApt 15 [82]
Save 3 XP

[]Training Hazou: Sealing Specialization
Wits 5 [10]
Capacity 6 [22]
Capacity 7 [36]
Intelligence 13 [62]
Intelligence 14 [90]
Sealing 13 [103]
Sealing 14 [117]
Save 6 XP

[] Training Keiko: Supercapacitor
Suggest the following to her:
Capacity 11 [22]
TacMov 16 [38]
TacMov 17 [55]
Transform 3 [58]
Save 3 XP
or
Capacity 11 [22]
Capacity 12 [36]
TacMov 16 [52]
Transform 3 [55]
Transform 4 [59]
Save 2 XP

[] Training Noburi: Medical Specialization
Control 10 [Bank -20, 18]
Wits 4 [Bank -8, 10]
Resolve 4 [Bank -8, 2]
Resolve 5 [Bank -2, 0] [8]
Intelligence 3 [14]
Intelligence 4 [22]

Mednin 7 [29]
Mednin 8 [37]
Mednin 9 [46]
Mednin 10 [56]
Medknow 7 [63]
Medknow 8 [71]
Medknow 9 [80]
Medknow 10 [90]
Vampiric Dew 14 [97]
Save 1.5 XP

 

[Twofold]

Spoiler: General Plan - Round Out the Team

I don't think this is a great way to go, but here is how we could get everyone Stealth 12, TacMov 16, and a few other goodies.
Hazou 123:
Stealth 9-11 [30]
Dex 6 [42]
TacMov 15 [57]
Capacity 6 [69]
Capacity 7 [83]
MEW 7-10 [117]
Save 6 XP

Noburi: 98.5 + 38
[Resolve 4 [8]
MedNin 7 [15]
MedNin 8 [23]
MedKnow 4 [27]
MedKnow 5 [32]
MedKnow 6 [38]]
*^From MedBank^*

Stealth 10-12 [33]
Wits 4 [41]
Dex 6 [53]
TacMov 16 [69]

Intelligence 3 [75]
MedKnow 7 [82]
MedKnow 8 [90]
MedKnow 9 [99] (are you shitting me)
Save 8.5 XP and 0 banked XP

Kei: 61
Stealth 11 [11]
Stealth 12 [23]
TacMov 16 [39]
Capacity 11 [61]
Save 0 XP

Akane: 85 + 8.5
Capacity 6 [12]
Capacity 7 [26]
Dex 6 [38]
Stealth 12 [50]
TacMov 16 [66]
Transform 2 [68]
Transform 3 [71]
Transform 4 [75]
Diplomacy 6 [81]
Save 4 XP

Spoiler: General plan - Specialize

Hazou 123:
Wits 5 [10]
Capacity 6 [22]
Capacity 7 [36]
Intelligence 13 [62]
Intelligence 14 [90]
Sealing 13 [103]
Sealing 14 [117]
Save 6 XP

Keiko: 61
Capacity 11 [22]
TacMov 16 [38]
TacMov 17 [55]
Transform 3 [58]
Save 3 XP
or
Capacity 11 [22]
Capacity 12 [36]
TacMov 16 [52]
Transform 3 [55]
Transform 4 [59]
Save 2 XP

Noburi 98.5 + 38:
Control 10 [Bank -20, 18]
Wits 4 [Bank -8, 10]
Resolve 4 [Bank -8, 2]
Resolve 5 [Bank -2, 0] [8]
Intelligence 3 [14]
Intelligence 4 [22]

Mednin 7 [29]
Mednin 8 [37]
Mednin 9 [46]
Mednin 10 [56]
Medknow 7 [63]
Medknow 8 [71]
Medknow 9 [80]
Medknow 10 [90]
Vampiric Dew 14 [97]
Save 1.5 XP

Not sure how to specialize Akane until we get the word from QMs on how MechApt specializations work.

Click to shrink...

My first problem with these plans is that Hazou is getting only Capacity 7. He needs more if he wants to actually function in a ninja fight.

My second problem is that we are buying an attribute (Dex 6) and only getting 1 dice worth of skills with it (TacMov 16). That might be okay if we were to continue with getting TacMov 18 next time, but I have this suspicion that we won't be able to do that to the whole party come next XP spending round.

We could get 2 more levels of Stealth, 1 Stealth + 1 Capacity, or something else relevant with that same XP.

Third problem is that in the specialized plans we are raising individual TacMove scores without doing it for the whole party. Remember that we can only run away with the lowest TacMove dice.

The last one is not necessarily a problem, but what are these random Transformation levels and where are they coming from?

 

[Cariyaga]

My first problem with these plans is that Hazou is getting only Capacity 7. He needs more if he wants to actually function in a ninja fight.

My second problem is that we are buying an attribute (Dex 6) and only getting 1 dice worth of skills with it (TacMov 16). That might be okay if we were to continue with getting TacMov 18 next time, but I have this suspicion that we won't be able to do that to the whole party come next XP spending round.

We could get 2 more levels of Stealth, 1 Stealth + 1 Capacity, or something else relevant with that same XP.

Third problem is that in the specialized plans we are raising individual TacMove scores without doing it for the whole party. Remember that we can only run away with the lowest TacMove dice.

The last one is not necessarily a problem, but what are these random Transformation levels and where are they coming from?

Click to shrink...

Functioning in a ninja fight isn't really the point of this training plan. Considering that we'll be resting and recovering for months, helping various people with their projects, etc., we'll have plenty of opportunity to improve capacity further. Hopefully.

...although I'll grant you that it would be nice to have enough XP to make a ninjutsu that we learned from the pangolin useful.

e: I would rather have more Capacity than more Tac Move on Akane, though.

 

[Twofold]

Functioning in a ninja fight isn't really the point of this training plan. Considering that we'll be resting and recovering for months, helping various people with their projects, etc., we'll have plenty of opportunity to improve capacity further. Hopefully.

Click to shrink...

While we are resting, training and doing research, we enter time skip mode. Meaning we won't be seeing much in XP gains during that period.

The training plan we vote in now is pretty much what we can expect to have for our next mission, expecting that to not end in a ninja fight a bit too optimistic to my taste.

 

[Cariyaga]

While we are resting, training and doing research, we enter time skip mode. Meaning we won't be seeing much in XP gains during that period.

The training plan we vote in now is pretty much what we can expect to have for our next mission, expecting that to not end in a ninja fight a bit too optimistic to my taste.

Click to shrink...

I recall us getting a not-insignificant amount of XP for finishing research on PMYF before, though that was partially because it was our first unique seal. So as long as we do unique stuff for projects, we might be able to manage around 30 XP across this time skip and we can make note that we're training our other skills in that time so that when we actually get the XP we can spend it.

 

[OliWhail]

He needs more if he wants to actually function in a ninja fight.

Click to shrink...

Would an alternative like this seem better to you? It leaves a little bit we could use to get higher stealth or something.
[]Training Hazou: High-Capacity Sealing
Wits 5 [10]
Capacity 6 [22]
Capacity 7 [36]
Capacity 8 [52]
Capacity 9 [70]
Intelligence 13 [96]
Sealing 13 [109]
Save 14 XP (enough to level stealth or MEW)

Third problem is that in the specialized plans we are raising individual TacMove scores without doing it for the whole party. Remember that we can only run away with the lowest TacMove dice.

Click to shrink...

I can see your point here, but we use individual scores in actual fights to determine ranges and sometimes initiative, so there is definitely value there, especially for Keiko who would really like to be far away from the enemies.

That said:
[]Training Akane: High Capacity Roundup
Capacity 6 [12]
Capacity 7 [26]
Capacity 8 [42]
Stealth 12 [54]
Transform 2 [56]
Transform 3 [59]
Transform 4 [63]
Diplomacy 6 [69]
MechApt 15 [84]
Save 1 XP

I don't know what would be better for Keiko. Maybe some better jutsu? Start learning Wind Wall?

The last one is not necessarily a problem, but what are these random Transformation levels and where are they coming from?

Click to shrink...

Akane and Keiko have pathetic transformation levels. Not only does that make me cry, EJ has said it prevents us from doing any kind of clever things with henging to change our aerodynamics for PMYF, and makes it easier for others to spot their henges.

 

[Twofold]

Akane and Keiko have pathetic transformation levels. Not only does that make me cry, EJ said it prevents us from doing any kind of clever things with henging to change our aerodynamics for PMYF.

Click to shrink...

I doubt few levels are enough to change that.

I recall us getting a not-insignificant amount of XP for finishing research on PMYF before, though that was partially because it was our first unique seal. So as long as we do unique stuff for projects, we might be able to manage around 30 XP across this time skip and we can make note that we're training our other skills in that time so that when we actually get the XP we can spend it.

Click to shrink...

I doubt it is going to work like that in practice. But even so, Capacity 10+ is really what we want for Hazou, Capacity 8 is just a compromise since we don't have XP for everything.

Here is some pre-work for XP plans from before:

Current XP:

Hazou 122 XP

Keiko 60 XP

Noburi 135.5 XP (97.5 XP saved + 38 XP banked)

Akane 84 XP

Here's what Stealth 15 would costs for each character:

Spoiler: Stealth 15

Hazou

Stealth 9 [9]
Stealth 10 [19]
Stealth 11 [30]
Stealth 12 [42]
Stealth 13 [55]
Stealth 14 [69]

Total 69 XP


Keiko

Stealth 11 [11]
Stealth 12 [23]
Stealth 13 [36]
Stealth 14 [50]
Stealth 15 [65]

Total 65 XP



Noburi

Stealth 10 [10]
Stealth 11 [21]
Stealth 12 [33]
Stealth 13 [46]
Stealth 14 [60]
Stealth 15 [75]

Total 75 XP


Akane

Stealth 12 [12]
Stealth 13 [25]
Stealth 14 [39]
Stealth 15 [54]

Total 54 XP

Here's what TacMov 18 would cost for each character:

Spoiler: TacMov 18

Hazou

Dex 6 [12]

TacMov 15 [27]
TacMov 16 [43]
TacMov 17 [60]

Total 60 XP


Keiko

TacMov 16 [16]
TacMov 17 [33]
TacMov 18 [51]

Total 51 XP


Noburi

Wits 4 [8]
Dex 6 [20]

TacMov 16 [36]
TacMov 17 [53]
TacMov 18 [71]

Total 71 XP


Akane

Dex 6 [12]

TacMov 16 [28]
TacMov 17 [45]
TacMov 18 [63]

Total 63 XP

The otherwise critical skills for the moment are Nobby's medical stuff and Keiko's Capacity 11 (22 XP) that enables her to summon a lvl 10 pangolin without passing out from chakra exhaustion immediately. Also note that currently Keiko is missing 5 XP from Stealth 15, but can get TacMov 18.

For the curious, here's my budget for Nobby's medical skills:

Spoiler: Medical Ninjutsu 8, Medical Knowledge 9

Noburi

Resolve 4 [8]

MedNin 7 [15]
MedNin 8 [23]

MedKnow 4 [27]
MedKnow 5 [32]
MedKnow 6 [38]

Intelligence 3 [44]

MedKnow 7 [51]
MedKnow 8 [59]
MedKnow 9 [68]

Total 68 XP

Note that if we go with Stealth 15, we can't affor MedKnow 9.

EDIT: Oh, and since Hazou and Akane both really need capacity, it's important to note that Hazou could get Capacity 8 (42 XP) but Akane could only get Capacity 7 (26 XP) if we go with Stealth 15.

(Btw, I didn't really double-check the numbers, so if you go and copy-paste them to training plans or something you should definitely check the numbers.)

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Here's an alternative:

Spoiler: Hazou

Stealth 9 [9]
Stealth 10 [19]
Stealth 11 [30]
Capacity 6 [42]
Capacity 7 [56]
Capacity 8 [72]
Capacity 9 [90]
Capacity 10 [110]
Save 12XP

Hazou gets Stealth 12 (the standard for this series) and Capacity 10, burning all his XP in the process. It skimps out on his sealing and Earth Release jutsu but given that we're going to be avoiding combat RN and first researching casino seals (which shouldn't be that complex)...

12XP...???

Spoiler: Keiko

Stealth 11 [11]
Stealth 12 [23]
Capacity 11 [45]
...

Keiko doesn't have enough XP RN for Capacity 12 (she has 60XP). I'm really hoping we don't get a repeat of Chapter 59 and have her ignore us in favor of full Capacity training.

Spoiler: Noburi

Stealth 10 [10]
Stealth 11 [21]
Stealth 12 [33]
Resolve 4 [41]
Medical Ninjutsu 7 [48]
Medical Ninjutsu 8 [56]
Resolve 5 [66]
Medical Ninjutsu 9 [75]
Medical Knowledge 4 [79]
Medical Knowledge 5 [84]
Medical Knowledge 6 [90]
Intelligence 3 [96]
Medical Knowledge 7 [103]
Medical Knowledge 8 [111]
Medical Knowledge 9 [120]
Save 15.5XP

This gives Noburi Stealth 12 and Medical Ninjutsu/Knowledge 9. It also puts him 16XP off Medical Knowledge 10 (0.5XP, fuck) and 38XP off Medical Ninjutsu 10 (54XP total). I expect we'd have enough to get 10 for both after completing our activities in Iron.

The extra 15.5XP can be used to get Vampiric Dew 15 with 1XP left over. Maybe we want it instead of saving up, maybe not.

Spoiler: Akane

Stealth 12 [12]
Capacity 6 [24]
Capacity 7 [38]
Capacity 8 [54]
Capacity 9 [72]
Save 12XP

Fucking Akane, can't even giver her the Capacity she needs. I dunno what to do with her honestly, until the GMs give us the rundown on how Mechanical Aptitude specialisations work it's gonna be interesting. Maybe level Social?

Check for math fuckups guys, I need the help.

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Training Proto-Plan Hazou:

Wits 5 [10]
Int 13 [36]
Sealing 13 [49]
Stealth 9e10 [58]
Stealth 10e11[68]
Chakra Capacity 8 [120]
Save 2 XP

Click to shrink...

EDIT: I'll see if I have the energy to propose some training plans later.

 

[Jello_Raptor]

Hmm, both enemy teams look like they've survived, which is good. But they're going to put out the fire and figure out we just blew up a pile of boar meat.

They also don't know where we went, also good. It means that we can rest sooner, ideally within Fire's borders.

There's going to be a zone near the border with regular patrols, with the innards of Fire being much less regularly patrolled unless there's a town or something nearby.

We've broken our trail and then lit the area we wanted to hide our movements in on fire. This should cover our escape pretty well.

I'm going to also assume that the enemy teams are going to figure out that we tricked them in a few hours, and try to reengage pursuit with a focus on the border to Rice (because Sound) and Iron (because it's a good place for missing-nin and other deniable assets to go). I do think they'll put more emphasis on Rice, since it's a much more reasonable target given our trajectory, and has bigger consequences if that's where we actually went.

So I'd like to rest enough to get some sleep, refill our chakra, and have a bit of a talk, somewhere in Fire where people aren't likely to find us. That way we're fresh and a bit more collected when we have to do the next border crossing into Iron.

Consider the following map:



The red area I've highlighted is a zone that's within 25 miles of the fire country border. That is the area where I think we might encounter regular border patrols. I figure an individual border patrol has a 5 mile detection radius if they're incredibly good, but that entire zone might contain people searching for signs of others entering or exiting.

The orange areas, are the same 25 mile bubble around major settlements, and 6 mile wide lanes around the rivers. They are where I expect trade patrols, as well as higher internal patrols.

The two blobs with the dashed outlines are where I think we should make our overnight camp. Ideally somewhere quiet where it's hard for people to notice us. A cave would be perfect.

The green area is closer to our actual target, and should make it easier to get back into Iron. The blue area is farther away from the path to any of our likely destinations and probably going to be undisturbed unless the pursuing teams manage to get back on our trail. Both are fine, Blue is a bit more paranoid about being found, while green prioritizes a shorter traversal through the border zone.

Personally, given our experiences with previous border runs I think hiding off the beaten path and then crossing when fresh is a better plan than trying to cross before we rest.

There is the downside that this gives Fire more time to realize what happened, and reinforce the border patrols around Iron and Rice. However, I think there's a good chance that they'll believe we crossed over to Rice in ruckus rather than deciding to hole up within Fire. They don't actually know how injured we are, and from their perspective we just set up a pre-prepared fake suicide at little cost to ourselves.

@OliWhail: Right now your plan doesn't specify whether or not to attempt to cross before resting or not, even if it's somewhat implied. Here's what I'd add to your plan:

6. Identify somewhere fairly well hidden/secure to camp, e.g. high up in trees, underground, overhang in a riverbed. Conceal the spot as well as possible.
1. Choose a location away from the border, villages, or likely trade routes. Ideally in either the blue or green highlighted areas in this map. Try to avoid the red or orange highlighted areas if at all possible. We want to be able to crash here for a day at most, before attempting the jump back into Iron.

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Unrelatedly: Seriously Pandaa, you managed to survive the explosions and get us cool intel. That's legitimately badass. We do need to teach you to act like a normal pangolin sometimes though. Never unsummon in sight of enemies, but act like a non-sentient animal until they're out of visibility, etc... Also, we like games too. You should teach us how to play Hallways and Humans at some point. We can show you how Hazou will completely break your political system by exploiting voting bylaws and filibusters.

 

[Cariyaga]

Unrelatedly: Seriously Pandaa, you managed to survive the explosions and get us cool intel. That's legitimately badass. We do need to teach you to act like a normal pangolin sometimes though. Never unsummon in sight of enemies, but act like a non-sentient animal until they're out of visibility, etc... Also, we like games too. You should teach us how to play Hallways and Humans at some point. We can show you how Hazou will completely break your political system by exploiting voting bylaws and filibusters.

Click to shrink...

Oh my god. We have to have Pandaa GM a game for us now. It's a must.

That's such a hilarious thought, my god.

e: Also, @OliWhail (even though I know this won't ping you) could you consider adding the video feed seals to our suggestions to Kagome? I know it's a bit of a drag to pull something like that off, but it's certainly something that he could manage if not Hazou.

 

[OliWhail]

The two blobs with the dashed outlines are where I think we should make our overnight camp.

Click to shrink...

Those seem like an awfully long distance from our present position at the upper left corner of the H in Hot Springs. ~100 miles? Given our current condition, I'd think we just want to drain as much as we can from the river and then head inland a ways to get away from the border/river patrol areas. We can move to the green circle tomorrow and then cross over fully rested, hopefully with some re-stocked explosives.

could you consider adding the video feed seals to our suggestions to Kagome?

Click to shrink...

I'm torn between the obvious utility of CCTV versus the probably long research time + keeping the shortlist manageable. I guess we can ask:
@Velorien is the sealing shortlist in my sig a manageable amount for Hazou's discussion with Kagome? Too much? Plenty of room for more?

 

[Kiba]

Akane won't be able to henge, but luckily that's why I suggested paper airplanes and origami.

Anyway, I prefer to spend our EXP points on increasing our stealth and tactical movement so we reduce the amount of 'fun' and 'excitement'. Then we'll worry about training and research.

Those seem like an awfully long distance from our present position at the upper left corner of the H in Hot Springs. 100+ miles? Given our current condition, I'd think we just want to drain as much as we can from the river and then head inland a ways to get away from the border/river patrol areas. We can move to the green circle tomorrow and then cross over fully rested, hopefully with some re-stocked explosives.

Click to shrink...

I thought draining the river was pointless since fishes don't have a whole lot chakra.

 

[OliWhail]

I thought draining the river was pointless since fishes don't have a whole lot chakra.

Click to shrink...

They have some, though, and we need all we can get right now.

I prefer to spend our EXP points on increasing our stealth and tactical movement.

Click to shrink...

Want to write out those plans so we can see the math?

Tbh I am very reluctant to not get Noburi his Med 10 though. I guess we can come back after visiting the area Uzu used to be, and maybe we'll get enough XP back from that?

 

[MadScientist]

So it sounds like we want ~

[]Training Akane: Skill Roundup (need to fix still)
Capacity 6 [12]
Dex 6 [24]
Stealth 12 [36]
TacMov 16 [52]
Transform 2 [54]
Transform 3 [57]
Transform 4 [61]
Diplomacy 6 [67]
MechApt 15 [82]
Save 3 XP

[]Training Hazou: Sealing Specialization
Wits 5 [10]
Capacity 6 [22]
Capacity 7 [36]
Intelligence 13 [62]
Intelligence 14 [90]
Sealing 13 [103]
Sealing 14 [117]
Save 6 XP

[] Training Keiko: Supercapacitor
Suggest the following to her:
Capacity 11 [22]
TacMov 16 [38]
TacMov 17 [55]
Transform 3 [58]
Save 3 XP
or
Capacity 11 [22]
Capacity 12 [36]
TacMov 16 [52]
Transform 3 [55]
Transform 4 [59]
Save 2 XP

[] Training Noburi: Medical Specialization
Control 10 [Bank -20, 18]
Wits 4 [Bank -8, 10]
Resolve 4 [Bank -8, 2]
Resolve 5 [Bank -2, 0] [8]
Intelligence 3 [14]
Intelligence 4 [22]

Mednin 7 [29]
Mednin 8 [37]
Mednin 9 [46]
Mednin 10 [56]
Medknow 7 [63]
Medknow 8 [71]
Medknow 9 [80]
Medknow 10 [90]
Vampiric Dew 14 [97]
Save 1.5 XP

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I think these look pretty good.

Obviously, we'll want to get more survivability stuff (capacity/tacmove/stealth) before we try doing anything exciting, but for a few months of research (which we really need to do before we start dabbling in missions again, I mean we haven't even done the casino seals!) this looks useful.

 

[eaglejarl]

Question for the thread: What's up with all the 'fake edit' tags? I take that to mean that it was added before actually posting, in which case it's not an edit and doesn't need a tag. If it was added after posting then it would just be an 'edit'. What makes it fake?

e: Couple sealing questions. How long does it take to infuse a seal and do they blow up if you put an uninfused seal in a storage scroll?

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A few seconds and no, respectively. An uninfused seal (aka a blank) is just a picture.

The training plan we vote in now is pretty much what we can expect to have for our next mission, expecting that to not end in a ninja fight a bit too optimistic to my taste.

Click to shrink...

Would we do that to you?

we might be able to manage around 30 XP across this time skip

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For the record, I'm using 13-17 XP as my basic award and then modifying from there based on the various factors that I've listed before this.

Oh my god. We have to have Pandaa GM a game for us now. It's a must.

Click to shrink...

*facepalm*

The layers of meta that we could get into here....

Kishimoto: I'm going to write an anime called Naruto.

John Smith[1]​: I'm going to play as a character named Cariyaga in a quest called Marked for Death set inside the world of Naruto.

Cariyaga: I'm going to play as a character named Jim Maplebottom in a Humans and Hallways game inside a quest called Marked for Death set inside the world of Naruto.

Jim Maplebottom: I'm going to use meta^2 knowledge to create an anime called Naruto inside this game of Hallways and Humans that is inside a quest called Marked for Death that is inside the world of the anime called Naruto.

Jimou Mapubotomu: I'm an OC ninja inside the world of Naruto that exists inside the game of Hallways and Humans that is inside a quest called Marked for Death that is inside the world of the anime called Naruto. I'm going to use meta^3 knowledge to create a game called Hallways and Humans....

---

[1] I do not actually know Cariyaga's atomspace name.

 

[faflec]

*facepalm*

The layers of meta that we could get into here....

Kishimoto: I'm going to write an anime called Naruto.

John Smith[1]: I'm going to play as a character named Cariyaga in a quest called Marked for Death set inside the world of Naruto.

Cariyaga: I'm going to play as a character named Jim Maplebottom in a Humans and Hallways game inside a quest called Marked for Death set inside the world of Naruto.

Jim Maplebottom: I'm going to use meta^2 knowledge to create an anime called Naruto inside this game of Hallways and Humans that is inside a quest called Marked for Death that is inside the world of the anime called Naruto.

Jimou Mapubotomu: I'm an OC ninja inside the world of Naruto that exists inside the game of Hallways and Humans that is inside a quest called Marked for Death that is inside the world of the anime called Naruto. I'm going to use meta^3 knowledge to create a game called Hallways and Humans....

Click to shrink...

LETS

FUCKING

DO

IT