Soragakure OOC III - Why Do We Have 3 Of These?

[TraceHyde]

Going to bed, probably in 5 minutes. Amon will go with whatever Houshi and Yousuke want to do (within reason). Bear in mind our resources as you plan; we can probably commission at least one of the other team's trackers if we need to or even pass the mission off to them (since they're more likely to get it done and it would keep them distracted while we sneak off with Kaede). Actually leaving it to them may be for the best - if we really want to help someone we have to realise when we're not strong enough to help and defer to someone else. The old dude's had one hell of a rough day as it is - a real trooper, really. Other resources, here's Amon's sheet; her signature abilities are, as always, Plan, Mind Transfer and now Puppetry with her as of yet unused Shanghai. It turns out low-level puppetry isn't effective in a groupfighting scenario. After all, most fights only last a few rounds and I generally have to blow one animating a puppet and leaving myself open. I'll be glade when I break into some Advanced Puppetry to decreae my prep time, otherwise Shanghai might not see use until I fight in some sort of controlled environment and/or without my team. It's almost like the Alice method of puppetry assumes you're a reclusive with no one to mutually rely on or something~

[Jacior]

You know, I was thinking about it, and I really don't think that puppets have a time limit. I mean, look at Konkuro.

[ZeroNumerous]

Well they do according to the puppetry rules.

However, I think Trace was referring to the fact that puppets require a standard action to use Chakra Threads.

[Jacior]

Oh, I was just thinking about the show. Kankuro regularly hid inside the bundle where he supposedly kept his puppet.

[Cespenar]

Jacior, any thoughts on my plan... some 2 pages ago?

[Jacior]

I still wanna kill gonzou. But the plan has merit.

[TraceHyde]

See if it was our group, and we wanted to kill Gonzou for so long, we'd have just killed Gonzou by now. What do you expect when Amon is our best party face and we tow Houshi, a character dedicated in every aspect to dealing an absurd amount of damage, around?

[Cespenar]

Yeah, but things are not that straightforward, you see. Gonzou is protected by a Soragakure chuunin for another, kinda-sorta-unrelated-to-us mission.

[TraceHyde]

What, are you afraid of fighting a chuunin of your own village or something? That sure didn't stop us from pounding a jounin into the dust. She was a summoning specialist so she sucked at everything that wasn't summoning so it all came down to the sumons themselves - she had the worst luck in that nothing she summoned wanted to actually kill us. In fact, she summoned one of our friends and invoked some sort of contract that Amon managed to circumvent by using Mind Transfer to possess the summoned friend and pound the summoner until she gave up and and ran away - everyone got to do something, even Amon managed to contribute!

What was the point here, I'm trying to remember... Hm, well i guess it would be 'it's okay to take on high rank ninja of your own village' but that's not it since Suneko was the weakest jounin I've ever met due to her incompetency at controlling her summons (I remind you, her summons being the only thing she's capable of using). Also even though Houshi 'started' the fight by punching her, which she somehow managed to no-sell despite clearly not being very durable, Suneko was very obviously trying to kill us in the first place - she said as much. So I guess 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' - if a Jounin gets all up in your face it is okay to not stand there and take it.

Which, at the end of the day has no relevance to you since this chuunin probably hasn't picked a fight with you yet, or if they did it was in a 'just business' way.

[ZeroNumerous]

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

Also even though Houshi 'started' the fight by punching her, which she somehow managed to no-sell despite clearly not being very durable, ...

Since you obviously weren't paying attention: Suneko had DR 3/- and CON 18. She clocked in at 145 HP. She was very durable, and pretty much nothing else.

[Cespenar]

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

Which, at the end of the day has no relevance to you since this chuunin probably hasn't picked a fight with you yet, or if they did it was in a 'just business' way.

Pretty much this.

[TraceHyde]

Realy? Huh. That makes a lot of sense actually - summoning takes a lot of chakra that, say, Amon's constitution wouldn't suffice for. And hey, I never looked at her character sheet, I don't know that she has DR - I was too busy dealing with things on the 'south of Suneko' side of the battlefield to be too worried about that until I possessed Suzunabu - DR is something for those accursed melee types to worry about, after all. I guess for some reason i just assumed that since her Dex sucked her Con wouldn't be much better - dumping out everything for Oni Summoning after all, since you said such a thing would shape your entire build. Though I think I get it now, especially referencing the weird nose she was specified as having - gaining the contract with the Oni and other greater spirits means you have to reflect some of their characteristics, right? ... I wonder what the snake contract would require.

What did you say Cybele had a contract with?

[TraceHyde]

Hey, can I get Blood Pact as a bonus feat? I believe you said tat for the (I think) 12 major summoning entities you get the feat as a bonus for completing a quest. I don't suppose the same applies for minor entities like cats, does it? Eh, I'll pony up a feat if need be, Summoning is always really cool.

I kind of want to head out during out next downtime and get a blood pact going, in fact I would do it, but it would have to be a solo quest. Or at least exclude Houshi since he can't learn ninjutsu. Unless there's some sort of Taijutsu abilities only available to people with, like, the War Hero contract, that could work. But I would never do something that intensive away from the party - it would need to be something really cool and flavourful, the process of proving your worth to a sage or champion, not something we should approach with the mindset of 'let's hurry up and get this out the way before we keep the rest of the team waiting too long'.

[ZeroNumerous]

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

What did you say Cybele had a contract with?

I never said what her pact was with, but she does have the Snake Pact even if she can't use it. And that pact does come out in her mentality and general slim body type.

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

Hey, can I get Blood Pact as a bonus feat? I believe you said tat for the (I think) 12 major summoning entities you get the feat as a bonus for completing a quest. I don't suppose the same applies for minor entities like cats, does it? Eh, I'll pony up a feat if need be, Summoning is always really cool.

I said there are 12 major Pacts that require a quest, at the end of which you get the feat for free. There are other minor Pacts that you can get by just expending a feat. Cats aren't a Blood Pact.

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

Or at least exclude Houshi since he can't learn ninjutsu. Unless there's some sort of Taijutsu abilities only available to people with, like, the War Hero contract, that could work.

Houshi wouldn't be able to sign the War Hero contract anyway. Amon wouldn't be able to either for that matter. Yousuke could, but given the way he reacted to the path necessary to attain that contract I doubt Yousuke would do it.

[Bad Situation]

He doesn't even qualify for Summoner for a very long time and so far Yousuke's planned build is SWORDS, so I dunno. I wouldn't mind investing in Summoner if it means getting a cool and flavorful summon but it seems very far down the line at the moment. How many Summoner levels would he need to take to prove his dedication to the art?

[ZeroNumerous]

Originally Posted by Bad Situation

How many Summoner levels would he need to take to prove his dedication to the art?

Just one, but Summoner doesn't really do too well with just one level in it. That said, War Hero would require Yousuke to abandon his grandfather's ideal of a swordsman and adopt the ideal of his mother.

A War Hero is not beholden to a lord or prince. He or she strives to be the greatest user of the weapon they used in life. Each one is a warrior who has abandoned precepts of camaraderie, servitude, and everything else in order to reach the absolute pinnacle of the Way of the Sword. The way of a War Hero, or their sage, is to devote yourself to standing atop a mountain of your enemies no matter the cost.

That's the path that Youmu and Rasen have taken, and Yousuke doesn't seem to be on that path right now.

EDIT: Also, build-wise, Fast Hero into Shinobi Swordsman is perfectly fine. If you'd rather have more raw damage then Samurai is pretty ridiculous, but if you want more flexibility then Shade gives you a lot of bonus damage as well as skills that aren't completely terrible. You could also go Shinobi Bodyguard if you wanna play up the whole "Serving Yuyuko in the afterlife" bit, but I'd have to fix it if that's what you wanna do.

[Bad Situation]

Oh, then yeah, that summon is totally out of the question then. At least, for now. I don't want to say it could never happen but character development is one of those tricky things.

Which summons respect family and honor most of all? Those might be more in tune with Yousuke.

[Cespenar]

Originally Posted by Bad Situation

Which summons respect family and honor most of all? Those might be more in tune with Yousuke.

That would be House Tully. Oh, wait, we were playing Naruto, right?

[Bad Situation]

Originally Posted by Cespenar

That would be House Tully. Oh, wait, we were playing Naruto, right?

Yousuke learns Summoner Bigger Fish.

[ZeroNumerous]

Originally Posted by Bad Situation

Which summons respect family(1) and honor(2) most of all?

Above all else:
1. Dogs.
2. Tigers.

As minor precepts:
1. Turtles.
1. Bears.
1. Monkeys.
2. Rabbits.
2. Dragons.
2. Boars.

[TraceHyde]

I was just using War Hero as an example - I never meant we would all obtain the same contract - just that if Amon was going to go off on some quest to obtain a summon contract everyone else should get a cool sidequest too and if they happened to involve blood pacts in all cases, a contemplation of what Houshi could hope to gain (even if it required some homebrewing). Amon would certainly want something more appropriate than a War Hero contract even if she could obtain such a thing. After all with the retaining I've done, Amon is proficient in nothing more than a quarterstaff, so I don't know how many quarterstaff-masters would be willing to serve me.

What summons values cunning and knowledge? Or bravery/independance

[Bad Situation]

Looks like it's Tigers for Yousuke when he hits Chuunin. Dragons are cool but, like War Hero, would require those Summoner levels that pose a problem with Yousuke's current build.

[TraceHyde]

Ooh, planning ahead for chuunin huh? I thought of a fun thing we could do - I know an artist around campus who seems pretty reliable with commissions - how about when we all hit Chuunin we commission her to draw our characters (possibly in a group shot) in celebration?

[Bad Situation]

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

What summons values cunning and knowledge?

Can't say for certain but I think that's Hare.

[ZeroNumerous]

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

..., so I don't know how many quarterstaff-masters would be willing to serve me.

War Heroes don't serve anyway.

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

What summons values cunning(1) and knowledge(2)? Or bravery(3)/independance(4)

Absolutely:
1. Rats
2. Ravens
3. Rabbits
4. Lizard

As minor precepts:
1. Ravens
1. Hawks
2. Rats
2. Dragons
3. Dogs
3. Tigers
4. Snakes
4. Sharks

[TraceHyde]

Originally Posted by ZeroNumerous

Absolutely:
1. Rats
2. Ravens
3. Rabbits
4. Lizard

As minor precepts:
1. Ravens
1. Hawks
2. Rats
2. Dragons
3. Dogs
3. Tigers
4. Snakes
4. Sharks

Usagi the Brave!

Man, Ravens and Rabbits (and Rat's too but they're not very fabulous) seem pretty nifty, huh? Can't quite decide between the two. Although the minor precepts of Dragons sound pretty cool. What's their major thing then? It would make for a pretty funny twist if Amon managed to tame the dragon contract. And by funny, I mean awesome.

I'm gonna go check my equipmen list - I can't remember if I left Usagi the Brave with Aiko or if Amon is still carrying it.

Spoiler

Aiko said she didn't need Usagi anymore - since Amon had a hard time last year and she was crying a lot, she said she could have Usagi instead. When Amon's decided she has enough people to support her now, she'll return Usagi to Aiko as a sign of that independance

Yes, I can provide emotional relevance to a mangy old plush doll. Am I not awesome?

You can't have more than one Blood Pact as far as I know, so I'll have to choose carefully, if at all.

[ZeroNumerous]

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

What's their major thing then?

Servitude. Dragons guard and protect the Sage's Pact that enforces obedience on all the blood pacts, and by proxy they serve mankind and protect the world from the power of the animals in the blood pact.

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

You can't have more than one Blood Pact as far as I know, so I'll have to choose carefully, if at all.

You can have as many as you want, as long as you can find them.

[TraceHyde]

Really? Cool. That sounds like a whole campaign in itself - going to each of the summon spirits and becoming champion of each of them to bring about peace, possibly starting with dragons so as to serve that cause. A little above our team's paygrade, but pretty awesome. Dragon's might be fun then - if they're tied into all the other pacts it would provide a lot of setting fluff, though I might take them as my second contract, if possible. Also 'finding them all' in the context of summons reminds me a lot of pokemon. I know, I'm weird, right? ...Now I want to go buy an old copy of Pokemon Red and spend my weekend on a nostalgia trip.

Top candidates then... really each of the contracts have something cool about them. Though for Yousuke I guess Dragons may not be... actually they kind of are appropriate. They are tasked by their exisence and their proxy to the world to contain the power of their peers and to use their own in the service of a greater purpose. That just screams the Konpaku legacy and Yousuke's responsibility to his mother

[TraceHyde]

Bad, you should totally have Yousuke go see if the other team would be willing to track Ueki. Amon probably won't work with Sanagi, not while there's still a chance that thanks to her she'll never see Kaede again, so the most that could be managed is the other genin if they were willing to team up, though as I've said letting them handle it while we get back to Soragakure as fast as possible may be the best thing to do - it would be just our luck if the cat popped out of existence halfway home because we took a detour to complete our actual mission. Maybe ZN will be 'kind' and have us walk into something mission relevant on the way home, though with getting captured by the leaf-nin it's pretty apparent the party already played out and we missed all of it. Now we'd just be fighting them without drama probably - so our only chance would be to infiltrate them quickly to check the status of Ueki (and the Red Eyes) before retreating for good. Chances are beyond that they won't make TOO many important moves - at leats nothing too rapid that things will get much worse if we wait until morning so as to retrieve Cybele to see through the dismantling of the Garou (or at leats investigation).

We kind of screwed up today's mission in every way that matters and yet the general concencus seems to be to give up and go home. Sorry.

I think we need a good old fashioned training montage if we want to keep up with these dangerously strong people around here - it's kind of making Team Cybele moot to have half a dozen chuunin or higher ninja floating around

[ZeroNumerous]

Originally Posted by TraceHyde

We don't deserve any XP for this mission really, we buggered it up in every way that matters and I don't think I learned anything form it, nor did Amon.

Good, because I didn't plan to give you any.