Over the next few weeks, there is plenty of sunshine and warm days. Your host frowns frequently at this.
As spring begins to move toward summer, he tells you that you have learned much as an apprentice herbalist, but if you wish to continue to advance as quickly as you have you will need to increase your effort, particularly in diagnosis. If you put in the extra time and effort, you will be as good a diagnostician as most young herbalists beginning their careers; your abilities in treatment will catch up to this soon, and that will also mean another increase in the workload. This is on top of the increased work you've been doing in Japanese.
--M. J. Young
Bring it on! He/I (... What is the proper noun for referring to a divergent self?)
have plenty of time to add more practice.
Players usually speak of their characters in the first person, except when there is reason to make a distinction between player and character, which usually means out-of-character conversation; even then, it's not uncommon for the character to be first person with a qualifier, "in the game, I".
Summer has arrived, and the arrival of rain in the early days of this period seems to have reduced your host's worries. The valley below is greening nicely now.
You are finally comfortable conversing in the Japanese language, although there are still occasionally conversations where you have to ask for clarification, either because the person with whom you are speaking uses a word you don't know or because his accent is different enough that you don't follow it well. Your teacher is also having you do diagnostics without his direct involvement, and is starting to have you do treatments as well, as your burden of the practice is increased. This includes time spent foraging for the needed herbs and tending the garden, all part of the task. You also continue your rather taxing training program.
--M. J. Young
let's continue.
You are in essence working full time as an herbalist at this point, plus your heavy physical training and martial arts and the chores necessary to maintain life in the mountain pass. The summer has not been overbearing in the shade in the mountains, and the flow of patients has been satisfactory.
Your martial arts abilities are becoming sharper. You've also learned to use chopsticks without having to think about it.
--M. J. Young
In the game, How am I progressing with the written language?
You were always getting a bit of the written language in your training sessions, as your host was attempting to teach you not only to speak and understand but to read and write. You are more focused on that now, but the typical peasant in this world does not read nor write, so your abilities to write (and read) do lag behind your abilities to speak and understand. (In mechanical terms, I will rarely require you to roll for speech and comprehension, but will require rolls for reading and writing.)
As the summer heat increases, there is more traffic through the pass, and you often see travelers while you are exercising. These include the occasional merchant, cartloads of goods and most often rice under the guard of soldiers (what your host calls "bushi", sometimes with a "samurai" who apparently is also "bushi"), rarely travelers who don't fit either of these molds--and most of those are coming for medical help.
One afternoon a group of soldiers arrives, some on horseback. They come off the road toward the house.
--M. J. Young
...@$%#@&^!!! The bushi are here to get me.
And now, It's time for twenty questions!
How many bushi are there?
How many are on horseback?
What weapons are they carrying?
How heavily armored are they?
How far away are they?
How fast are they moving?
If it's going to take them a few minutes to get here, I go and tell the old man about the bushi and ask him for advice.
There are about twenty altogether, three of these on horseback.
All of them have swords, some also have bows and arrows.
Most wear a metal hat on top of their heads plus a woven bamboo corselet around their torso; the mounted ones wear a complex combination of woven bamboo with a full metal helmet. This is typical armor for a bushi party; the mounted ones will be samurai.
It is about fifty yards from the road to the hut, lightly wooded; they are closing at what for the horses is a comfortable walk, a bit of a brisk walk for the footmen.
--M. J. Young
Well fighting them is out of the question. Maybe I can talk them out of stabbing me and the old man.
When they are near the hut, I greet the lead samurai.
"Hello [insert proper title and honorific here], How may I assist you and your men?"
"You may come with us peacefully, ninja, so you may have a fair hearing before your execution."
--M. J. Young
"If I go with you, will you let the old man live in peace?"
"You expect us to release a man guilty of harboring a ninja? I think you think too highly of the danger you pose to us, ninja, if you think you are in a position to bargain."
--M. J. Young
“It's true that I am no treat to twenty armed men, and in no position to bargain on that front.
No, my value is in what I can teach you and your men.
Would you like to be able to send in someone with nothing but peasants’ clothes,
have them gain the trust of a key ninja and when they are alone with the ninja,
they kill them with nothing but their body?
So, How about this deal? I grab my things from the old mans house,
go with you and teach this style to whoever you or your superiors’ want.
And you leave this old man to heal the sick in peace.”
If the bushi accept this deal, I need to talk to the old man in the hut.
The leader says, "I am not here to bargain, and I am not interested in learning your dishonorable peasant ninja ways. You will surrender, and so will the old man."
--M. J. Young
"I offered you the ability to wipe out the ninja!
And you rejected it you stupid Ronin!
And another thing, I am not a ninja.
I AM A MONK!!! KIIIIIIAAAAAAAAIIIIIIII!!!!!"
If they let me get through all the HAM, I attack them with these actions
Try to steal the initiative.
KIAI!
And, A flying side kick to one of the men near the edge of the formation.
I don't see a steal initiative skill on your sheet (or a fast draw, either, but since you're not using the weapon I'm assuming that a straight steal initiative is what you want). Is this absence an oversight (you actually have trained in such a skill but it's not listed) or an effort on your part to develop such a skill? If the former, what skill ability level would you guess? If the latter, what is your theory on how you accomplish this?
--M. J. Young
It's the latter, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by my theory. I'm trying to switch from talking to attacking abruptly so that they don't have time to draw their swords.
I think they're expecting me to draw a weapon before I attack them and I think that attacking them unarmed will throw a monkey wrench in that expectation.
You yell and run and fly into the side kick, which connects solidly; the man goes down, and does not look like he's going to get up again. The rest are clearly startled and disoriented for the moment; what do you do next?
--M. J. Young
I rush to the next bushi that is on the edge and attack him with an elbow strike.
If he is still standing or I miss, I attack him with a roundhouse kick.
Else, I attack the next one on the edge with a roundhouse kick.
I hope the old man has enough sense to run while I'm doing this.
OOC:I noticed that you missed my style's +10 Att Dam Mod. in the Behind the Screens.
Should I post this reminder here or in the Behind the Screens?
It doesn't particularly matter where you post such reminders, although since you saw it behind the screens it makes sense to post it there.
Your elbow breaks the neck of the next bushi, and you land a kick on the next; but he takes it partly on his corselet, and although he's clearly hurting he's still standing. Your enemies are attempting to draw their swords, but you should be able to land one more blow before any of them are ready to strike back at you.
--M. J. Young
For my next attack, I want to try to develop a throw that will send the guy I just kicked into the ranks of bushi and hopefully knock many of them down.
Do you expect the throw to be injurious to anyone involved, or simply tactical in nature?
--M. J. Young
Tactical, I don't care how much damage it does. I just want it to knock a large group down to keep them out of my hair.
He evades your grasp; you get only air on that attempt.
Sword are now drawn, what is your next move?
--M. J. Young
I jump back a few feet and shout to the samurai
"Do you see what I did in less than a minute? Imagine what I can do to a ninja!"
"Am I to believe a lying ninja who has just proved himself a ninja by killing two of my men? I know not what this fantasy you have about being whatever you mean by 'monk', but you are not bushi and you fight, and that makes you ninja."
--M. J. Young
...Charge!
"KIIAAAAAIIIII!!!"
My actions for the minute.
Kiai
focus more on defense, i.e. I'm trying to learn improved defenses.
Rush the last guy I hit and attack him with a power front kick.
If he is still standing after the attack, I attach him with a punch.
Attack the next guy with a elbow strike.
The kiai does not seem as effective the second time.
When you say that you are "trying to learn improved defenses" that doesn't really communicate to me what you are doing. There are many types of "improved defenses" as well as other "special dodging" and "anti-attack" skills and skills that improve defense without falling into any of those specific categories, but in all cases it isn't simply "I'm learning improved defenses" but some notion of what specifically you are going to do to defend yourself. So, what do you have in mind when you say this?
--M. J. Young
I'm trying to improve my defenses by focusing on dodging more than I usually do.
I imagining that a few minutes of this will exhaust me.
You have worked out the dodging technique; it is a minute-by-minute skill use, that is, each minute of combat you have to state that you are using it and make a successful roll which will be the basis for how effective it is this minute. For this first use, it is creating a -11 penalty on all your attackers.
The front kick misses (too much dodging, perhaps), and although the punch connects, the guy is still standing. On the other hand, you catch the guy on your left flank with the elbow hard enough that his neck breaks and he goes down.
You have one more attack before the bushi immediately adjacent to you will be able to attempt their attacks; I figure there were three in position, one of whom you just killed and another who has taken two serious hits and might go down on the next; that's as far as you listed for your intended actions.
Footnote: I understand that you've studied and practiced these maneuvers but never used them in live combat. When we're done, live or die, you should get new use credits for every maneuver you successfully used in the battle. I note the elbow strike, the basic style, the power front kick, the roundhouse kick, and the aggressive running frontal power boost, but I haven't been keeping track so I might have missed something.
--M. J. Young
I punch the the bushi that I punched before.
I am trying to maneuver to keep myself from being surrounded.
After they attack, I attack with another elbow strike,(I'm assuming I can use it 2 times per minute because of my 2@1 MSV)
a punch, a flip kick(it's a style basic kick), and a roundhouse kick
I'm focusing my attacks on one bushi until they go down, then I focus on the next bushi.
OOC: That's cool.
Here is a list in chronological order.
Aggressive Running Side Slide
Flying Side Kick
Kiai
Elbow Strike
Roundhouse Kick
Power Front Kick (for a Initiative roll)
Style Basic Attack (punch)
Your punch misses, and the one you were attempting to punch puts a nasty gash in your arm with his katana. (It hurts (and counts as damage), but does not hamper your abilities.) The other attacker you easily avoid.
After they attack, I attack with another elbow strike,(I'm assuming I can use it 2 times per minute because of my 2@1 MSV)
That is correct
The elbow takes out the one who hit you, and the punch connects with the one who missed, injuring him and knocking him back a step; both kicks miss as he falls back, trying to draw you into the crowd.
--M. J. Young
"KIIAAIII!!!"
Defensive Martial Dodging
Kiai
(Can you use steal initiative after the first minute?)
Punch
Elbow strike
Elbow strike
roundhouse kick
These attacks are directed at the bushi that are on the edge near me.
You can steal initiative at the beginning of every round, provided your method of stealing initiative can be used that way. E.g., if your steal initiative skill involves the quick draw of a weapon, once you've drawn it you can't steal initiative by drawing it again. I think the Kiai reasonably suited to re-use, although I'm going to reserve the right to penalize it in a combat in which you are using it repeatedly or if you are fighting a foe already aware of your skill. That won't apply this time.
Two of the bushi on the edge strike, putting you off your rhythm on your dodging, and one connects, giving you another gash. Somewhere in the back of your mind you think that you are going to have to treat these wounds before they become serious. You land a punch on the one who missed, take out the one who hit you with an elbow, demolish the first with the other elbow, and when you swing the kick you get nothing but air; the bushi are pulling back, opening a corridor to the mounted samurai. You still have four attacks left this minute, but have used up the elbow strike.
--M. J. Young
--M. J. Young
I rush the mounted samurai and attack the horse with a flying side kick and run away through the area with the least number of bushi.
If a bushi gets in my way, I attack him with a flying side kick.
Aggressive Running Side Slide
Flying Side Kick
Run!
If a bushi gets in my way
Flying Side Kick
You sail through the midst of the bushi; the samurai wheels his horse, but you catch it in the left rear upper leg, and it shies and wheels away from the blow, limping.
You come down onto your feet, and whirl around, but except for the horse all you really see are soldiers surrounding you. The hut is out of view, and you're facing the road in the distance. Picking a random direction, you run and leap into the next attack, crushing a man beneath your foot as he comes down under the force of your blow.
We are back to the top of the minute, I believe.
--M. J. Young
I continue running in that direction
When a bushi gets in the way, I use a flying side kick if there is enough room, otherwise I use an elbow strike.
If I run out of ether of them, I use the Aggressive Running Frontal Power Boost and the Power Front Kick.
Sorry, I forgot to mention that I was using Defensive Martial Dodging.
The bushi are mobbed around you at this point, limiting your running room and your dodging ability. You get a weak blow on one with your elbow and have to hit him again to bring him down, and then your kick misses but is followed by another kick which connects.
Four bushi manage to connect with you, and you still can't tell which direction will get you out of this crowd. Although individually the inflicted wounds are minor, you are being nickel-and-dimed to death and probably won't survive one more particularly solid blow or a couple more like you've taken. But it's your move, however, you want to handle it.
--M. J. Young