Stormfall (An AU Naruto Quest)
- Thread starter Shrooms
- Start date
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Sadly too OP for everyone in the world to have access to. Not impossible that there are those with similar capability somewhere though...
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
It is actually very difficult to worldbuild a society around "Literally all of the magic users learn how to shapeshift and/or illusion themselves into a copy of someone else and can do that trivially". Anyone at any time could be running 20 different DnD-esque doppelganger shapeshifter gambits.
Cariyaga
Handsome Gentleperson
- Location
- United States
Oh, I'm just meaning that like, if we're baiting them *while* talking to civilians, we should have a plan for avoiding the civilians being in the crossfire.
A few updates to the plan, voting is still open so feel free to make more suggestions
Nah, I think we're going to just let you carry this quest.
(Also, holy shit the plans are so much more readable without wordcount optimization.)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I guess I'll just have to see if I can arrange for more contentious scenarios to vote on :^)
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
I suggest that all plans must adhere to a strict 200 character standard in the future, with a limit of at most 3 "rare" characters such as "!",".","," "_", ";", or "^".
All characters with macrons, are obviously "ultra-rare" and so should cost at least 50 characters.
This will enforce a natural equilibrium in the story to stop us from recruiting too many party members (especially those characters who are comprised of too many characters or ultra-rare characters), please observe the following system of partial differential equations that verifiably supports this--
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I know that was a joke and I'm way ahead of myself on this, but relatedly I have been imagining that if too many party members get recruited then it likely becomes best to split them off into smaller groups to run independent but roughly simultaneous missions. Kind of like how Akatsuki operates in pairs or whatever
Either that or start killing some off 🤔
Either that or start killing some off 🤔
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Suggestion: Just vote to send them off on sidequests offscreen or do a bunch of missions in parallel or work on some misc. basebuilding tasks or [...] stuff like that.
- Location
- Book Fort
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Turn it into a vote on who to kill off, it'll be like the Bachelor
Vote closed
New
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Fight against conformity ✊
- Location
- Book Fort
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Chapter 3: Bug Trap
New
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Shion waded through the paddy, shearing through the rice ears and stuffing them into her basket in a swift, practiced motion. She hummed a soft tune, far enough from her family that she wouldn't be too embarrassed to do so. It was a cool day for the summer, but it was still muggy, so she was covered in sweat nonetheless. Her mother Ume was gathering up grains herself on the other end of the field, while her father Tanjiro was leading the family ox around, plowing the field they'd already collected from and drained. Koichi and Dan wrestled on the porch, still a bit too young to contribute much to the work, but they could still, in theory, watch and learn.
She was sore from the past couple weeks of work. The tax collector would be coming soon to take the Daimyo's allotment of rice, and they were behind on their yield for the season. At the least, keeping busy helped the time go by faster. She was eager to get back to learning the recipes for the Shimmerveil festival in the fall, after finally persuading her mother she was old enough to help. If a nine year old could swing a sickle and gather rice, surely she could help make a sweet bean cake.
She wiped her brow and waded back, her basket filled to the brim. The mud squelched beneath her in a strange but familiar way. The sun was already gone, but some light remained, dimming minute by minute. As behind as they were on their harvest, they worked until they couldn't see anymore.
Shion put her rice with the rest, and started cleaning off her sickle as her mother made her way over with a basket of her own. Her father spared Shion a glance, frowning. "Slow," he said, quiet enough that he probably didn't intend for her to hear, and yet she did. She was crestfallen, though only a little bit. It wasn't the first time she'd heard something like that in their recent rush. He walked off, continuing to prepare the field, while her mother came up and mussed her hair.
"It's embarrassing, but I think you're already better at this than me, Shion," she said, smiling. Suddenly, her mother stopped in her tracks, looking around. "The birds…" she murmured. Shion noticed too. They'd stopped chirping. Ume called out to Tanjiro, then scooped up Shion, running her over to the house. "Watch your brothers," she said, racing off to join Shion's father.
Shion enticed Koichi and Dan inside with the promise of sweets, then crawled over to the window while they munched on rice cookies. Her mother gripped a sickle and her father gripped a spear, and they argued fiercely.
"...come inside, we'll be safer there!"
"Those damn wolves took our other ox. If they take this one too, there's no way to plow the fields in time. I'll be dragged off to debtor's prison, you'll be married off as a concubine to some asshole, and who knows what'll happen to our children!"
"Better that than risking your life and suffering an even worse fate!"
Her parents continued bickering, all the while keeping a watchful eye at the howling in the distance as the sun's last traces finally began to wane. Shion's grip tightened on her own sickle that she'd taken inside.
And then the wolves came, eyes burning red in the growing darkness. Despite her mother's protests, she stood by Shion's father's side, while the ox grew restless at the encroaching predators. The wolves stayed at a healthy distance, circling and observing their adversaries with a concerning intelligence. Every now and then one would feint, getting a reaction out of Tanjiro as he stabbed fruitlessly at them.
Finally, several rushed in at once and Shion's parents swung madly to fend them off, their ox kicking wildly as wolves lunged upon it. Her brothers looked up in confusion as Shion cried out at her parents suffering multiple bites. She ripped a lantern off the wall, hurling it out the window and crashing to the ground, igniting a pile of rice that had been left out to dry under a tarp.
The wolves balked momentarily at the surprise gout of flame, giving her parents the reprieve to fatally wound two of the wolves, but there was easily half a dozen more, and they began to recover from their brief confusion, closing in on her parents again. Shion swallowed her fear and leapt through the window, a surprising strength surging through her and giving her clarity and focus.
Her mother yelled at her, telling Shion to go back, but even at her young age she knew that without her parents, the whole family was doomed, to starvation if nothing else.
She gripped the sickle tightly, running to her parents, and she felt herself becoming faster and faster - she cut down a wolf in an instant, surprising the others, who turned to the smaller target and leapt upon her, knocking the sickle away. She cried in pain as they bit into her arms and torso, while she covered her neck and head. Her strength surged again and she tackled a wolf to the ground, grabbing its legs and swinging it overhead, slamming it into the ground with a sickening crunch. She turned to the remaining wolves, snarling - and felt that strange strength leave her, falling to her knees as her parents cut the others down, the survivors fleeing into the night.
As she began to lose consciousness, she only caught one confused word from her father.
"...ninja…?"
It wasn't long before they were visited by someone with the regional Daimyo's insignia. His eyes flicked over to Shion, who was using her newfound strength to pull the plow in lieu of their last ox perishing from the wolf encounter.
Her father exchanged pleasantries, clearly nervous about not meeting their rice quota, ready to haggle for a light sentence, or a greater future yield.
The man shook his head, extending a letter with the emblem of Hidden Rain on it.
On her first day in the academy, she sat in the front row, a bit confused at all the scheduling, the punctuality, the formality. Shion had never been in a school before, much less a military academy. It was overwhelming. Their teacher watched impassively as students filed in, giving them time for introductions and greetings. The teacher scribbled notes as students filed in, and Shion wondered if she was taking notes on the students themselves.
A boy in resplendent dress approached her with an air of friendship. It was a breath of fresh air in a place full of strangers. He introduced himself as Okura Sai. Naturally, his clan's reputation preceded itself. Or whatever.
"What family are you from?" he asked mildly, after exchanging pleasantries.
"Um… what do you mean? My family's just… my family."
"Ahhhh. Farmers?"
"Yeah."
One of his friends snickered. Shion caught the word, "Mudfoot," though she wasn't sure what it meant.
"You don't know anything about the Okura Clan, do you?"
"...no," she admitted.
He leaned in uncomfortably close. "You have a lot to learn, mudfoot. Best pay attention."
He started to walk off, and her shock and sadness turned to smouldering anger. She wasn't going to just roll over and be anyone's punching bag. She grabbed the back of his fancypants robe and spun him around.
"Listen, pretty boy, I don't care who your daddy is." Okura blinked in surprise, and she rolled up her sleeves. "See these scars on my arms? I got those from wrestling Dusk Wolves to the death while they tried to maul my parents. I'll bet you've never even seen one of the fuckers. You think having a silver spoon in your mouth makes you tough shit? Nah, it just makes you a little bitch. Let's see if you've got the balls to earn anything for yourself without riding your Clan's coattails." He tugged the clothes she was gripping away with a haughty huff and stalked off.
The teacher smiled and went back to scribbling notes.
Shion made her way back to their home in the Village Hidden in the Rain. She dropped her academy bag and stretched, and was soon greeted by her mother with a hug.
She made her way into the living room, where her youngest brother Kazuki was building a tower out of blocks. " 'sup, runt?" she said, dangling him upside down while he squealed in delight.
Her father was relaxing in an armchair after another day of farming - admittedly in much better conditions than their old home in the marshes. "Ah, Shion, welcome home."
"Hi dad," she said, then looked back and forth between him and her mother. "I spoke with Hanako-sensei today about my career after I graduate next month. I'm going to be an apprentice!" Her parents clearly didn't know much about what that entailed, but were happy she was excited nonetheless.
"Mmm, maybe our boys have that to look forward to in their future, too," her father mused.
Shion had a flash of irritation. "Dad… we've been over this. Koichi and Dan would've demonstrated chakra capability by now. They're not gonna be ninja. The medics were skeptical Kazuki will get a developed chakra system either." He grunted noncommittally, further annoying her. This probably wouldn't be the last time she'd hear it from him.
Her mom tried to smooth things over by moving on. "What will this apprenticeship entail?"
Shion huffed, then said, "I'll be learning from a ninjutsu expert in the arts of creating and manipulating paper. I'll be spending my days with her, performing missions and errands with her, and… I don't know, whatever apprentices do," she said, shrugging.
"Think you're too good for farming now, eh?" her dad asked.
"You know, I'm pretty tired. Think I'll head to bed for now," she groused.
"Wait, Shion, I was just kidding…" he finished lamely.
At this point, she didn't care. Someone had finally recognized her potential, and Shion wasn't looking back.
Shion sat awkwardly in the study of her new sensei, Tanaka Rei, who was currently making them both tea. The study was a bit messy, papers scattered about and scrolls lying unattended and unfinished. Ornate candle holders were scattered around on dark wooden furniture, and an assortment of baubles and trinkets tinkled overhead. A cozy fire thrumming in the fireplace illuminated the otherwise dark room.
Tanaka-sensei took a seat across from Shion at the small table, setting down a cup for each of them. "Apologies for the mess," she said, flicking through a few hand seals. Soon enough, papers sprung up and carried themselves to their requisite shelves, cleaning the space up in moments.
Shion arched an eyebrow. "Did you leave it a mess on purpose to show off?"
Tanaka-sensei smiled mischievously and sipped her tea. "I read some of your essays in the academy. You're quite perceptive on the nature of chakra for one so young. You're quite perceptive in general, really. And more than that, I get the impression you've got a bone to pick with the universe itself. The chip on your shoulder is more like a plank of wood." Shion's pride quickly turned into embarrassment. Tanaka-sensei continued. "Don't get me wrong, this is something you'll need to control and harness. But I'll take someone with that kind of drive over a do-nothing who expects to just be given the answer any day of the week."
"I… I understand, sensei."
"Good. The paper arts are a proud tradition of Hidden Rain. They are not to be sullied by amateurs who do not appreciate the art."
Tanaka-sensei rose from her seat and rifled through a desk, pulling forth a stack of paper.
"We'll get to some real Paper Release techniques eventually, but for the next two months, we will be doing basic control exercises to prepare you to mold a very special kind of chakra - and yet, the simplest form of all. Neutral chakra."
"You mean the kind we use for the Clone technique or Substitution technique?"
"The very same. But molded into a shape that paper will resonate with, and recognize as its master."
"..."
Tanaka-sensei smirked, and continued. "Mmm, imperfect comparison, but you can think of it like… like how water can be mixed into a new substance, to make juice, or tea, or poison, or mud. But water itself can be so many things, it becomes… challenging to use it in that form, for all but the most basic tasks. That's how neutral chakra is. The basic academy jutsu you mention are some of the most well understood ninjutsu in the world. The basic Clone technique especially is more of a training tool than a useful technique in its own right. The principles of neutral chakra can be applied to any more specialized element like Fire Release or Earth Release, the mixtures I mentioned before. The reverse can be true, at times. But everyone can manipulate neutral chakra, if they can manipulate chakra at all."
"And manipulating paper… it doesn't use any of these mixtures?"
"It isn't a different 'phase' per se," her sensei agreed. "It's still that basic form of chakra with seemingly endless possibilities and forms. I'll be teaching you how to narrow the focus, so that your chakra knows how to recognize and commune with paper."
"...why paper? If one could use neutral chakra to commune with anything…"
"Figuring out even this much was multiple lifetimes of work, Shion. But, for what it's worth, there exist other clans and villages who have learned such things. It is said the Sage of Six Paths could use neutral chakra to create and give life from nothing, and to manipulate the world to his desire, like genjutsu made manifest." Tanaka-sensei shrugged. "Sadly, most of us are not the Sage of Six Paths. You'll have to settle for just paper for now."
She placed the stack of papers she'd pulled from the drawer in front of Shion.
"Do you recognize this kind of paper?"
"Ah, yeah… it's affinity paper. It responds to your innate Chakra Nature and tells you which element it is."
Her sensei nodded. "Many similar tests exist in the world, but affinity paper is the most common. Given what it is made of, it's also well suited to be our way of measuring your progress." Tanaka-sensei grabbed a few sheets, and surprised Shion when different papers had different reactions as Tanaka-sensei picked them up. She explained, "When they aren't actively manipulating their chakra to do otherwise, everyone will trend towards a single basic elemental affinity, the one they are born with. Those who have learned multiple elements can get the paper to react to one of those, instead, if they are focusing." She picked up one more sheet, which remained inert. "Your task will be to get the paper to not react at all."
Shion took a paper. Unsurprisingly, condensation began to accumulate on it, reflecting her Water Nature.
"We will be learning about how to manipulate your chirality, ambulation, polarization, and plenty of other fancy words you may have heard a time or two in the academy. The process is not dissimilar to learning any other Chakra Nature. In many ways, Paper Release may as well be a pseudo-element."
Shion took another paper and failed, sighing. More than likely, she wouldn't be managing this exercise for quite some time. She turned back to her teacher with a look of determination. "What else you got?"
Tanaka-sensei smiled at her and said, "I think I'll enjoy these next few months."
Shion fidgeted nervously as she sat across from Tanaka-sensei. Tanaka Umi, sister of her former teacher. Her new teacher's eyes were still red, and there was a lingering scent of alcohol about her.
"Needless to say, I would not be wasting my time with a brat like you if it weren't the last wishes of my dearly departed sister. She gave her life for the glory of Rain. Don't dishonor her memory by being a bad student. She had many good things to say about you for whatever reason, so I have high expectations for you. Very high expectations."
"Yes, sensei."
"Bleh. Words I've never wanted to hear." She took another drink from a bottle she carried around. "Tell me what you've learned from Rei so far. Start from the basics."
Shion took a deep breath and began to recite the maxims and basics of her training, but was cut off two minutes into what would easily be at least twenty minutes of summarization.
"So you didn't manage to pick up much, sounds like," Shion's new sensei said, dismissive.
"Sensei, I've barely even started recounting the lessons-"
"We'll start back at the basics, then. Even an idiot should manage to pick things up a second time around."
Shion simmered. Under the table, she gripped an affinity paper. Even now, she could only manage to hold it for a few seconds before her Water Nature inevitably leaked through. And now they were starting over?
She steeled herself for what was to come. She would prove her worth.
Shion burst into the study, waving a page. "I did it, sensei! The page is dry! Sensei-"
She choked back her words when she saw the body hanging from the rafters.
Shion stood by a small tributary of water, slowly streaming her Water Whip back and forth, trying and failing to concentrate on her forms.
"Curse. Who would teach you and put themselves at risk?"
Superstitious idiots. If no one would teach her, then she would just have to teach herself.
"Two of the brightest minds in Rain, dead because of your bad luck. Are you so arrogant as to try claiming more?"
No one wanted her on a three-man squad either, but that suited her just fine, honestly.
"Who told you you could hang around here? Get lost, mudfoot."
Honestly.
"Fucking freak. Stay away from me before I catch your bad luck."
Her water whip quivered in her hand and she lashed it out, shearing through a small boulder, shouting all the while.
"Good for nothing."
"Worthless."
"Trash."
She raised up her Water Whip for another strike, before hearing another voice behind her.
"Am I interrupting?" said some tall old chūnin, probably here to get his licks in while she was down.
"Yes," she grumbled. "As you can see, I'm very busy training. What do you want?"
"I've heard a lot about you, Shion. I wanted to know if the rumors were true."
She looked at him with a stormy expression, opening her mouth to give a scathing remark, but he kept going.
"Rei told me you were inquisitive, driven, and determined. That you had a knack for understanding the more esoteric aspects of chakra."
Shion paused, stock still.
"Hitomi gave me the impression that you were a highly talented ninjutsu specialist - for a genin, if nothing else. And with Water Element at that, which, as it happens, is my own best element and natural affinity."
"Um…"
"Minoru says you're naturally empathetic, that you have a good understanding of the lives of others, and a distaste for injustice, with a will to match. That you believe fairness is not only possible, but necessary. That you can get along with anyone, if they're willing to get along with you first."
"...are you messing with me?"
"Nope. My name is Kobayashi Jun. I'm trying to put a team together, but I've had a hard time finding candidates worth the time. Based on what I've heard about you, I think you might be worth it, but I wanted to pay you a visit and make sure. What do you think? Are you worth it?"
Once upon a time she'd have jumped at the chance to say yes. Nowadays…
"You don't… think I'm a curse? Bad luck?"
The man had a confused look on his face. "Hmm, maybe if I were a superstitious fool, I'd care about silly notions like that. But I think the world's got enough superstitious fools already. What do you say we choose to be something better?"
After a short rest to top off on chakra, they were ready to make their way to Sarubetsu to deal with the Spider Wasps (and maybe something worse…)
No, she couldn't afford to be afraid now. For her own sake, and for those depending on her. And, admittedly, because she would hate to be seen as afraid. It was at least some consolation that Kenzō looked as nervous as she felt. Momoka, for her part, was merely contemplative, and Sensei was naturally all determined and stuff.
They moved at a steady but reasonable jog, not enough to tire them out, but enough to get close to the village in a reasonable amount of time. As they grew closer, she noted the occasional bit of spiderweb drifting through the drizzly breeze, while more webbing clumped on the damp ground around them. She did her best to avoid the sticky bits on the road, and kept an eye and ear out for any suspicious buzzing.
It wasn't long before the town came into view, and a familiar sound greeted her ears - the sound of shouting.
Kobayashi-sensei cursed. "Looks like the spider wasps have moved on to the livestock and townfolk already," he said as he ran. "Shion and Kenzō, try to round up the stragglers before they close in. Momoka and I will shield the civilians."
After a chorus of agreement, Kobayashi-sensei flashed through hand seals Shion was quite familiar with by this point, even if she hadn't mastered what came after.
"Water Release: Surging Seas," he intoned, conjuring a massive wave that lifted him off the ground. Momoka leapt upon the water, waving her arms to try and keep balance on the wall of water that barreled away from Shion and Kenzō, smashing through several spider wasps as it went.
Shion heard the distant cries of Momoka's Multiple Earth Wall technique, giving the civilians respite against the onslaught of the predators. A dozen more of the pests roamed about near her, feasting on or wrapping up fallen goats and sheep. They soon turned their gaze to the new prey running towards them, with venom dripping from their jaws.
Kenzō had his swords out already, holding them in a defensive stance as the swarm thundered towards them, the buzzing becoming deafening.
"Cover me!" she shouted over the furious beating of wings, and he nodded, standing firm. She began molding chakra for a Water technique, but was forced to start to dance around the spider wasps that managed to stay out of his reach, coming straight for her. She was dodging frantically, diving to the side, rolling, jumping, sprinting forward, replacing herself with a boulder.
Kenzō took the heat off her where he could as his blades arced out, catching the first few spider wasps that had reached them, showering them both in bug guts. Shion continued to dodge, flashing through hand seals, all the while thinking ew ew ew ew ew ew ew-
She jumped, springing off the head of a spider wasp, before unleashing her technique. "Water Release: Syrup Capture Field!" she cried, and a surge of water bubbled up and blasted forth from her mouth, dropping to the ground and engulfing the swarm of wasps. Kenzō rolled out of the way just before it grabbed him too, and the sticky mass of water spread thin, grabbing the last of the bugs, who were now beating their wings angrily, trying to escape the goop. Ironic, given what kind of creature they were.
"These should hold for a while. Let's back up the others!" she shouted.
He nodded and stowed his swords in one quick motion, Vacuum Stepping away towards the others, falling just short, and hurling his sword overhand to split another spider wasp in half before it could bite into another villager.
Damn, that was cool. But now was her moment to show off, she was sure of it. She amassed her will, mentally tracing the twist of her energy like Tanaka-sensei - er, the first Tanaka-sensei, had instructed her.
"Water Release: Surging Seas!" she cried out, as water began to boil up from beneath her, lifting her. Her spirits swelled - but she felt a wrench in her gut that something was off, and the technique slipped from her control, sending her spinning to the ground coughing up water.
When she looked up, Momoka was standing by the Syrup Capture Field, finishing off the trapped spider wasps one by one with a kunai to the brain, like some kind of macabre bug execution ceremony. She looked over towards the village, where Kobayashi-sensei and Kenzō made their way over to her. Kenzō stared impassively, which was almost worse than actual mocking. Kobayashi-sensei, for his part, had a look of disappointment, which was worse than actual mocking.
Once again, she'd failed.
Didn't quite get to the rest of the plan unfortunately, but this chapter already ballooned to be a bit bigger than I'd intended anyways. Gives the players some time to revise the plan anyways, especially accounting for…
XP! Yes, you will be getting XP this chapter, which you should be able to spend before the next combat encounter. Normally, you will not receive mid-arc XP. However, for the purposes of the one-shot this was based on, the previous few fights serve as a sort of tutorial for how the mechanics work, and a mid-one-shot XP dump lets new players learn about investing XP into the skills they learned how to use. You will be getting some of the arc XP now, and some at the end, so you can expect these two awards to be smaller individually than a typical full end-of-arc bonus can be by itself.
I will clarify some of the bonus rewards for this arc but may not (and probably will not) do so in the future. Some bonuses are inherently going to be hard or maybe impossible to get all the time, this isn't intended to be a judgment on players/PCs/the author, but simply the way of things.
- (+50) Default Income
- (+100) Missions succeeded (chakra beasts slain.)
- (+30) Flawless bonus (No damage taken against level-appropriate enemies)
- (+20) Thread Discussion / Plan Quality
- (+100) 8/10 villagers rescued in spider wasp fight, 2/2 civilians rescued in Lava Deer fight.
XP awarded is therefore 300 XP. Sheets will be updated later.
Thinking I may need to add a category for number of unique voters, too...
The wasps are already present and attacking people in the village, defending their livestock. Civilians don't typically have character sheets, I'll instead just flip a coin for if they live or die each round. Party interference might improve their odds.
Initiative:
Jun, Alertness: 55
Momoka, Alertness: 42
Spider Wasps, Alertness: 35
Shion, Alertness: 31
Kenzou, Alertness: 31
The party is between 4 and 8 zones away from the civilians who are scattered around, trying to fend off the Spider Wasps.
The Spider Wasps have these stats:
2 stress boxes
Alertness 35
Athletics 20
Melee Bite 40 - Successful bites are venomous, which requires an additional Physique TN of 20 to avoid becoming poisoned. Failure causes one additional stress. If the poison causes you to take a consequence, the effect ends. This roll must be made every turn until succeeded, cured, or causes a consequence. They cannot counterattack.
They can fly and therefore ignore most borders.
Jun's Turn:
Jun will use max Effect Surging Seas to close the distance faster. He will make the roll a bit weaker to allow Momoka to ride alongside him and help shield people with MEW, so no Boost is needed here. He wants to conserve chakra anyway in case there's enemy ninja watching.
Jun, chakra: 420-96 = 324
Momoka, chakra: 190 - 20 (boost) = 170
Surging Seas, capped at 40: 50 + 9 = 40
Momoka, Athletics: 32 + 4 (boost) = 36
Momoka fails by two shifts and can only travel 4 zones with Jun.
After traveling two zones, Jun impacts a spider wasp.
Spider Wasp, Ath: 20 - 6 = ded
After traveling two more zones, Jun impacts a spider wasp.
Spider Wasp, Ath: 20 + dice actually dont matter I realize = ded
Momoka falls off of Surging Seas.
After traveling two more zones, Jun impacts a spider wasp. (Ded)
Jun will use MEW at Effect 1 to help shield a civilian in an adjacent zone. I'll represent this as them getting 'advantage' on their coin flip, letting them reroll once.
Jun, chakra: 324 - 34 = 290
Momoka's Turn:
Standard: Kill the Spider Wasp in her zone
RW: 36 + 4 (boost) + 0 = 40
Wasp can't roll high enough to dodge, so ded
Supplemental: MEW at Effect 2 to shield villagers in an adjacent zone, giving each of them advantage.
Momoka, chakra: 170 - 38 = 142
Spider Wasp Turn:
There are 10 civilians in the combat, most of whom are in melee with a Spider Wasp. A series of coinflips:
There are many more wasps who aren't near the village yet, who will beeline (waspline?) for Kenzou and Shion. Kenzou already has his swords drawn, but no Gale Edge to save chakra, especially since it's unlikely to be necessary. Shion will probably use Athletics instead of countering since her Athletics is better.
3 attacks on Kenzou:
Spider Wasp: 40 + 0 = 40
Kenzou, MW: 41 + 5 (boost) - 3 (dice) = 43
Dead spoder
Spider Wasp: 40 + 0 = 40
Kenzou, MW: 41 + 5 (boost) - 3 (dice) = 43
Dead spoder
Spider Wasp: 40 -3 = 37
Kenzou, MW: 41 + 5 (boost) + 0(dice) = 46
Dead spoder
Kenzou knocks em dead.
4 attacks on Shion:
Spider Wasp: 40 + 6 = 46
Shion, Ath: 41 + 5 (boost) + 3 (dice) = 49
Spider Wasp: 40 - 9 = 31
Shion, Ath: 41 + 5 (boost) + 0 (dice) = 46
Spider Wasp: 40 + 3 = 43
Shion, Ath: 41 + 5 (boost) + 9 (dice) = 55
Spider Wasp: 40 + 0 = 40
Shion, Ath: 41 + 5 (boost) + 6 (substitution) - 6 (dice) = 46
Shion bobs and weaves around the attacks, needing to substitute for the last one.
Kenzou, chakra: 220 - 25 = 195
Shion, chakra: 260 - 25 (boost) -14 (sub) = 221
Shion's turn.
Shion will trap the remaining wasps with Syrup Capture Field. Effect 1 should suffice for now since she's just trapping them in place.
Shion, chakra: 221 - 28 = 193
Syrup Capture Field: 23 + 5 (boost) + 6 (dice) = 34
Kenzou, Athletics: 34 + 5 (boost) + 0 (dice) = 39. He dodges out of the zone.
Spider Wasps cannot pass even with +12s, so they are all stuck, with a -3 to all physical skills. They aren't going anywhere so Kenzou and Shion will try to make their way to the others.
Kenzou's Turn.
Kenzou will sheathe his swords and vacuum step twice to reach the villagers faster. He is unfortunately still a zone away, and will resort to throwing a sword to kill one of the wasps.
Kenzou, MW: 41 + 5 (boost) - 5 (Sword Throwing stunt penalty) - 3 (Quick Draw stunt penalty) -3 (dice) = 35
Spider Wasp, Athletics: 20 + 6 = 26
Ded spoder
Kenzou, chakra: 195 - 46 = 149
Jun's Turn.
He will Surging Seas again at Effect 5 to save a bit of chakra.
Jun, Surging Seas: 50 + 3 (dice)
He will steamroll 3 more wasps.
Jun will MEW to protect another civilian.
Jun, chakra: 290 - 34 (MEW) - 78 (Surging Seas) = 178
Momoka's turn.
She'll attack the nearest Spider Wasp.
RW: 34 + 9 = 43
Ded spoder
Only two remain that aren't stuck in Syrup Capture Field (which they are unable to escape even with a +12 as they have low Physique.)
Shion will try to close some distance with a supplemental Sprint and Surging Seas.
As she lacks Apprentice Wavecharmer she only has a 34% chance of using the technique correctly. On a 1d100, if she gets 34 or less it will activate. She gets a 55 and falls on her face.
Kenzou will move a zone and substitute across an open field to reach a spider wasp, then attack it.
MW: 41 + 6 = 47
Another dead one
Kenzou, chakra: 149 - 14 = 135
Jun's turn.
He will close the distance with the final wasp and easily kill it with TJ. The team can head over and kill the remaining trapped wasps in SCF.
8/10 Villagers in the combat were saved. A few crop fields were flooded in the process, but that can be fixed.
Initiative:
Jun, Alertness: 55
Momoka, Alertness: 42
Spider Wasps, Alertness: 35
Shion, Alertness: 31
Kenzou, Alertness: 31
The party is between 4 and 8 zones away from the civilians who are scattered around, trying to fend off the Spider Wasps.
The Spider Wasps have these stats:
2 stress boxes
Alertness 35
Athletics 20
Melee Bite 40 - Successful bites are venomous, which requires an additional Physique TN of 20 to avoid becoming poisoned. Failure causes one additional stress. If the poison causes you to take a consequence, the effect ends. This roll must be made every turn until succeeded, cured, or causes a consequence. They cannot counterattack.
They can fly and therefore ignore most borders.
Jun's Turn:
Jun will use max Effect Surging Seas to close the distance faster. He will make the roll a bit weaker to allow Momoka to ride alongside him and help shield people with MEW, so no Boost is needed here. He wants to conserve chakra anyway in case there's enemy ninja watching.
Jun, chakra: 420-96 = 324
Momoka, chakra: 190 - 20 (boost) = 170
Surging Seas, capped at 40: 50 + 9 = 40
Momoka, Athletics: 32 + 4 (boost) = 36
Momoka fails by two shifts and can only travel 4 zones with Jun.
After traveling two zones, Jun impacts a spider wasp.
Spider Wasp, Ath: 20 - 6 = ded
After traveling two more zones, Jun impacts a spider wasp.
Spider Wasp, Ath: 20 + dice actually dont matter I realize = ded
Momoka falls off of Surging Seas.
After traveling two more zones, Jun impacts a spider wasp. (Ded)
Jun will use MEW at Effect 1 to help shield a civilian in an adjacent zone. I'll represent this as them getting 'advantage' on their coin flip, letting them reroll once.
Jun, chakra: 324 - 34 = 290
Momoka's Turn:
Standard: Kill the Spider Wasp in her zone
RW: 36 + 4 (boost) + 0 = 40
Wasp can't roll high enough to dodge, so ded
Supplemental: MEW at Effect 2 to shield villagers in an adjacent zone, giving each of them advantage.
Momoka, chakra: 170 - 38 = 142
Spider Wasp Turn:
There are 10 civilians in the combat, most of whom are in melee with a Spider Wasp. A series of coinflips:
- First guy has advantage. Tails, Tails. Rip bozo
- Heads.
- Heads.
- Next two have advantage. Tails, heads. Lucky lucky
- Tails, heads.
- Heads.
- Heads.
There are many more wasps who aren't near the village yet, who will beeline (waspline?) for Kenzou and Shion. Kenzou already has his swords drawn, but no Gale Edge to save chakra, especially since it's unlikely to be necessary. Shion will probably use Athletics instead of countering since her Athletics is better.
3 attacks on Kenzou:
Spider Wasp: 40 + 0 = 40
Kenzou, MW: 41 + 5 (boost) - 3 (dice) = 43
Dead spoder
Spider Wasp: 40 + 0 = 40
Kenzou, MW: 41 + 5 (boost) - 3 (dice) = 43
Dead spoder
Spider Wasp: 40 -3 = 37
Kenzou, MW: 41 + 5 (boost) + 0(dice) = 46
Dead spoder
Kenzou knocks em dead.
4 attacks on Shion:
Spider Wasp: 40 + 6 = 46
Shion, Ath: 41 + 5 (boost) + 3 (dice) = 49
Spider Wasp: 40 - 9 = 31
Shion, Ath: 41 + 5 (boost) + 0 (dice) = 46
Spider Wasp: 40 + 3 = 43
Shion, Ath: 41 + 5 (boost) + 9 (dice) = 55
Spider Wasp: 40 + 0 = 40
Shion, Ath: 41 + 5 (boost) + 6 (substitution) - 6 (dice) = 46
Shion bobs and weaves around the attacks, needing to substitute for the last one.
Kenzou, chakra: 220 - 25 = 195
Shion, chakra: 260 - 25 (boost) -14 (sub) = 221
Shion's turn.
Shion will trap the remaining wasps with Syrup Capture Field. Effect 1 should suffice for now since she's just trapping them in place.
Shion, chakra: 221 - 28 = 193
Syrup Capture Field: 23 + 5 (boost) + 6 (dice) = 34
Kenzou, Athletics: 34 + 5 (boost) + 0 (dice) = 39. He dodges out of the zone.
Spider Wasps cannot pass even with +12s, so they are all stuck, with a -3 to all physical skills. They aren't going anywhere so Kenzou and Shion will try to make their way to the others.
Kenzou's Turn.
Kenzou will sheathe his swords and vacuum step twice to reach the villagers faster. He is unfortunately still a zone away, and will resort to throwing a sword to kill one of the wasps.
Kenzou, MW: 41 + 5 (boost) - 5 (Sword Throwing stunt penalty) - 3 (Quick Draw stunt penalty) -3 (dice) = 35
Spider Wasp, Athletics: 20 + 6 = 26
Ded spoder
Kenzou, chakra: 195 - 46 = 149
Jun's Turn.
He will Surging Seas again at Effect 5 to save a bit of chakra.
Jun, Surging Seas: 50 + 3 (dice)
He will steamroll 3 more wasps.
Jun will MEW to protect another civilian.
Jun, chakra: 290 - 34 (MEW) - 78 (Surging Seas) = 178
Momoka's turn.
She'll attack the nearest Spider Wasp.
RW: 34 + 9 = 43
Ded spoder
Only two remain that aren't stuck in Syrup Capture Field (which they are unable to escape even with a +12 as they have low Physique.)
- First with advantage. Tails, heads.
- Tails. Rip bozo
Shion will try to close some distance with a supplemental Sprint and Surging Seas.
As she lacks Apprentice Wavecharmer she only has a 34% chance of using the technique correctly. On a 1d100, if she gets 34 or less it will activate. She gets a 55 and falls on her face.
Kenzou will move a zone and substitute across an open field to reach a spider wasp, then attack it.
MW: 41 + 6 = 47
Another dead one
Kenzou, chakra: 149 - 14 = 135
Jun's turn.
He will close the distance with the final wasp and easily kill it with TJ. The team can head over and kill the remaining trapped wasps in SCF.
8/10 Villagers in the combat were saved. A few crop fields were flooded in the process, but that can be fixed.
This fight is sort of supposed to be demonstrative of a way to add stakes to a fight that don't necessarily involve your character potentially dying. Sometimes a strong enemy may still not pose too significant of a threat to you on your own, but you may be enticed to act on behalf of others. There are other possibilities for nonlethal stakes that may or may not come up down the line, like chasing down an enemy before they can alert their allies, winning some kind of competition or exam, or even just completing a job that is difficult but not deadly to get paid.
But, you know, throw in some occasional potentially lethal challenges too to keep things interesting :^)
But, you know, throw in some occasional potentially lethal challenges too to keep things interesting :^)
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I count 280 XP from the numbers given
Aww poor Shion. Hopefully we can fix her jutsu issues?
She's chakra boosting without any training? I feel like this might have lore implications.
Based. He's just some umbrella doofus anyways.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hmm I must've changed something around but I don't remember what. I'm already committed to 300 though 🗿
How bout a flat 10 xp per civilian saved
- Location
- Book Fort
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[x] Training Plan: Kenzou
Vac Step 11 -> 20 (-78xp)
Deceit 9 -> 10 (-10xp)
Resolve 14 -> 20 (-105xp)
Stolen Whispers 20 -> 27 (-110.5xp)
2.5xp Remaining
[x] Training Plan: Shion
Physique 16 -> 20 (-76xp)
Resolve 13 -> 20 (-119xp)
Surging Seas 17 -> 24 (-73.5xp)
Apprentice Wavecharmer (-25xp)
8.5xp Remaining
[x] Training Plan: Momoka
Physique 15 -> 20 (-90xp)
Rapport 5 -> 10 (-40xp)
Resolve 13 -> 20 (-119xp)
Athletics 32 -> 33 (-33xp)
Spine of the Earth 29 -> 30 (-15xp)
3xp Remaining
Vac Step 11 -> 20 (-78xp)
Deceit 9 -> 10 (-10xp)
Resolve 14 -> 20 (-105xp)
Stolen Whispers 20 -> 27 (-110.5xp)
2.5xp Remaining
[x] Training Plan: Shion
Physique 16 -> 20 (-76xp)
Resolve 13 -> 20 (-119xp)
Surging Seas 17 -> 24 (-73.5xp)
Apprentice Wavecharmer (-25xp)
8.5xp Remaining
[x] Training Plan: Momoka
Physique 15 -> 20 (-90xp)
Rapport 5 -> 10 (-40xp)
Resolve 13 -> 20 (-119xp)
Athletics 32 -> 33 (-33xp)
Spine of the Earth 29 -> 30 (-15xp)
3xp Remaining
My sibling in Sagacity, where are the base stats? Imagine spending 8% of your total XP and not buying one single level of Alt
- Location
- Book Fort
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Momoka already has too much Alt
(Physique and Resolve are important for those stress boxes. Shion needs another Water Element 20 to get Wavecharmer (so she can actually use Surging Seas), and Kenzou needs to up Vac Step for movement tech. But Kenzou doesn't really need Stolen Whispers at 27. I could rip that out, and replace it with Athletics 35/Alt 33?
As for Momoka, even if I replaced Rapport 5 -> 10 with Trapmaking 10, and Removed the Spine of the Earth 29 -> 30, she'd still only have 32xp remaining, which wouldn't be enough to level up her Ath/Alt/RW stats...
who needs base stats when we ball this hard already