Eli Can Tell You Ninjas Don't Exist · Page 6

I will follow Edge while trying to be quiet.

When Edge indicates that I am far enough away to change,
I do so and ask a few questions quietly.

"What are we doing tonight?"
"Why was Mantis chosen for my name?"
"Have you heard any rumors concerning my fight?"

OOC:Here are my thoughts on it.
If the bushi say anything about it, they would probably say that I was some sort of Oni(Ogre/Demon).
That is one of the few things in there worldview that can kill ten men and cripple a horse with it's bare hands.

NOTE:This is just a suggestion. You can freely ignore it if it doesn't fit in the story.

"What are we doing tonight?"

"You will be introduced to some of the other ninja in this area, and begin your training."

"Why was Mantis chosen for my name?"

"I saw you fight. I saw you hide. You are clearly a better fighter than hider. You need a fighter name, and the way you fight reminds me of a preying mantis. Besides, no one I know has that name, so it will not be confused with anyone else."

"Have you heard any rumors concerning my fight?"

"I'm sure that there have been stories told among the nobles, at least the bushi if not the kuge. I am not a noble; I would not hear such stories."

Any more questions?

--M. J. Young

None that I can think of.

I will follow edge to wherever we're going.

The clothes you don include a mask which covers most of your face; they are dark green, and you realize that Edge's clothes are not quite black but very dark blue.

In about half an hour you arrive at a clearing in what might be a forest, where there are perhaps a score of similarly dressed young men (you would assume them all to be men; there are none who are evidently women but the costumes would disguise at least some distinguishing features). There are also a few older men who are also disguised, but not as thoroughly.

You are introduced briefly as Mantis; a flurry of names go past, all of them obviously pseudonyms evocative of fighting or stealth or sometimes both.

A tale is told which captures some of the details of your recent adventure, that the herbalist of the West Pass was accused of harboring a Ninja, and that Edge and a few others formed an extraction team to rescue him and you, the Ninja; that you fought bravely and killed several before the team could rescue you, and that the herbalist has been relocated to a save village some distance from here, although it is regrettable that the sick will not find him in that pass anymore. It appears that you suffered an injury which has taken your memory of your training but not your respectable combat skills, but either you have lost your stealth skills or never were very good with them, and you do not have much experience with weapons.

Someone named Tiger reports that he took a few to assist him in a raid on a koku caravan, delivering the koku to a particular village where the villagers will see that it is properly distributed to those from whom it was taken.

After that, the group breaks up, each of the old men calling the names of several of the younger, apparently to train and practice in particular skill areas. One of them calls only you.

"You can call me 'sensei'," he says, "which is what you can call all of us who now teach instead of do. I cannot think of a reason you would need to identify me more specifically than that."

He picks up a wooden sword and faces you.

"They say you are good. Show me what you can do."

--M. J. Young

"Yes, Sensei."

I'm going to activate my Defensive Martial Dodging.
My first attack will be a Aggressive Running Side Slide into a Side Kick (Not a flying side kick, I don't want to kill him.)
The rest of my attacks will be basic attacks.

You fall into your stance easily and impressively; you see the rise of one eyebrow. You don't manage the defensive martial dodging, but you move into the run to close the distance.

I don't have "Side Kick" listed; is this the Roundhouse, or is that something else?

--M. J. Young

OOC: Sorry, A side kick is just a style basic attack. I will try to remember to mention it in the future.

You come in fast on the run and go for the kick, and catch him off-guard sufficiently that he barely avoids the blow.

"Hold!" he calls.

Assuming you do, he catches his breath. "You are indeed very good," he says. "Do you do anything with a weapon?"

--M. J. Young

I stop when he says "Hold".

"The weapon that I have had the most practice with is the bo staff. I've practice with the tonfa a bit.
But, I'm not very good with them. I would be happy to learn anything you teach. I would really like to learn how to use a tetsubo or a zanbato (horse-slaying-sword)."

He smiles perhaps finding humor in your suggestion.

"We teach the ninja-to. We also teach shurikens, metsubishi, needles, and grappling hooks. But apart from the ninja-to, what we teach is the use of whatever you can find as a weapon of resort. But first we teach you Ninja-do, and then the ninja-to, and some other useful skills. You have a good start, though; it should be relatively easy for you to learn the basics, at least."

He then instructs you in the base stance for ninja-do. It is clearly more defensive than your style, even without a sword allowing you to block and dodge incoming attacks more easily. It would not hit as hard as your style, but it is probably just as fast--or would be were you as good with it as you are with yours.

"I do not say that you must use this style; your style has significant advantages. However, a samurai would cut you to bits with your style, and would have more trouble doing so if you learn to defend yourself better."

You learn the basic style without the blade, and then he hands you what looks almost to be a fancy cane.

"You will have your own, eventually; but you will not take it home, because to be found with one of these is to be executed as a ninja. For the moment, you can use this one."

The blade easily draws from the wooden scabbard, which evidently is more than merely a blade case.

"It is not so fine nor so heavy a sword as the samurai's katana; but you will be fast with it, and it is light and easily concealed, and if you are forced to lose it it will not be so difficult to replace."

He shows you the basic way of holding the sword, which can be wielded either one-handed or two. Usually, he explains, you will be striking once with the sword and once with your other hand. You pick this up more easily, finding similarities with your tonfa training.

"Very good," he says. "I will leave you to practice a bit, and there are other skills you will have to learn tonight that others will teach you."

--M. J. Young

I practice ninja-do and with the ninja-to until somebody wants to teach something else.

After some time practicing, you are interrupted by another elderly man, who is quite abruptly in front of you.

"You can call me sensei," he says. "I am here to teach you in stealth techniques."

The stealth techniques he teaches can be loosely divided into three categories, which you might call stalking, sneaking, and hiding. Hiding refers to being able to be unseen by remaining motionless in a dark or partly occluded location. Sneaking means the ability to move through an area without making noise and taking advantage of cover and occlusion to be unseen. Stalking applies those concepts to the task of following someone or something, and getting close to them. Although they are all closely similar, there are sufficient differences that eventually you might be better at one or another. Thus who are burglars tend to be best at hiding; raiders at sneaking; assassins at stalking.

You already have stealth skill, and it will take time and practice for it to improve and it won't split to individual skills until level 2, so there's nothing else to roll here and no marks to make on your sheet.

After you have had time to practice what he has instructed, a third sensei approaches. He looks quite muscular yet trim for a man his age. Again he says, "You can call me sensei; I will teach you acrobatics."

There are a number of skills here that you might have but which are not listed on your sheet, so I'm going to ask whether any of these ought to be listed, or ought to be noted in some way:

• Crawl at Walking Speeds--this is faster than most people crawl, so the question is whether you have particular skill at crawling fast.
• Bars & Ropes B6@2--walking on or swinging from narrow bars (e.g., parallel bars, unevens, high bar), climbing ropes
• Tightrope Walking
• Bars & Ropes Contact --being able to do stunts on bars or ropes that retain contact with the bar(s) or rope(s) at all times
• Bars & Ropes Non-contact--stunts that disconnect from the bar or rope
• Tightrope Contact--stunts performed on a tightrope without breaking contact
• Rope/Trapeze Transfer--moving from one to another through the air
• Flips
• Tightrope Non-contact--leaving the tightrope and returning to it
• Tightrope Speed--running or otherwise speed-traveling on a tightrope

--M. J. Young

OOC:No, I don't have any of those skills.

You are shown how to crawl. This obviously is something you have done before, but the sensei gets you to think about crawling in ways that will enable you to move faster, or be lower to the ground, or do so more quietly, as desired. It will take practice, but you will improve.

He spends most of the rest of his time with you showing you how to climb--ropes, poles, trees, a stone wall. There is a lot of crossover of technique, and he is beginning the process without using any equipment to help, but promises that you will also learn to use equipment once you've got the basics.

My oversight--I didn't ask your skill at "climbing", which includes all the aforementioned types. I rolled for it as a new skill, but it seems likely to me that you probably already have some skill at this and we should push it up to a higher SAL--if you think so.

--M. J. Young

OOC: I've climbed trees when I was younger, I'm probibly 1@3 or 1@4 in it now.

It is still dark, but you've been here for what would be a long day when one of the senseis says to everyone, "Dawn nears. We will see you again in three nights."

Someone collects the swords, and the other ninja vanish into the woods but for Edge.

"Do you need help finding your way home? I know you are a stranger here, so you might not know the landmarks."

--M. J. Young

"Yes, I would be grateful for that."

On a unrelated note, did I notice the vectors on my equipment move when I was bedridden?

Would you have your glasses with you, or would they have been left behind?

Your equipment has split into two directions--one of them upward, and thus probably in the mountain pass, the other more on your level and at a different angle.

I am assuming you left nothing at your new location; you didn't have that much to leave, and things acquired in this world will not have scriff vectors until the next world.

Edge brings you back to the place where you changed and waits for you to return to your civies, then brings you within sight of the herbalist's guest house. When you turn to thank him, he has already disappeared into the woods.

--M. J. Young

I try to sneak into the herbalist's guest house and continue like nothing happened.

OOC:I would keep them with me, I only take then off when I'm sparring and when I go to sleep.

In that case, I have you in a loose white T-shirt, pair of pants, loose olive drab (don't interfere with kicks), extra pocket on each leg, pair of boxer briefs, pair of socks, pair of work boots, and glasses; everything else has been left behind.

You now also have the ninja garb Edge gave you--dark long-sleeved long-waisted shirt with low pockets, dark gloves with open fingertips, dark loose-fitting pants with several pockets and string ties at the waist and both ankles, dark knit socks with leather inside soles, and a dark cloth which wraps around head, hair, and neck to hide all but your eyes. (Ninja outfits were not actually black, which was hard to obtain, but either dark navy blue or a similar shade of green. I'm not that picky which yours are, but they might be mixed pieces, so tell me what you'd prefer and I'll determine whether that's what you got.)

You have no trouble getting into the guest house unnoticed, and are soon asleep.

No one bothers you in the morning, so you sleep late.

--M. J. Young

I follow my normal activities for the day until the ninja come again.

What color do you prefer for the ninja garb? (ge: 16) The ninja don't come again tonight; but then, they did say they wouldn't be back for three nights. Was there anything else you had intended to do before then? Are you spending your nights without them sleeping?

I would prefer green. I'm following my normal routine until the third night. Then I wait until my host is asleep. At that point I prepare as much as I can before Edge shows up to take me to the training site.

Here is Eli's sheet, notes below

Name Eli Ray Bumbalough
a.k.a. Eli
Magnus: Online handle
Mantis: Ninja identity

Attributes
Persuasion 1@5
Charisma 1@8
Animal Magnetism 1@5
Strength 2@1
Stamina 1@7
Resistance 2@1
Density 1@2
Flexibility 2@1
Agility 1@4
Hand/Eye 2@1
Intellect 2@3
Intuition 1@10
Education Level 2@1
Will Power 1@7

Averaged Attributes
Ranged Strike Value
Martial Strike Value 2@1
Target Value 1@5
Damage Value 1@7

Best Relevant Attributes
Tech 2@3
Psi 1@10
Mag 2@3
Bod 2@1

Bias
Tech
Psi
Mag
Bod

Weaknesses
extremely allergic to bees and wasps. Extremely nearsighted, I have to wear glasses to read and drive, Although I can fight without them on.
Description
21 yrs, 6’1”, 240#, Hair Dark brown, Eyes Brown, face is round not ugly but it's attractive, would probably look better if I grew a beard and mustache. Skin Pale… until it sees some sunlight then it turns bronze. Limbs Long and muscular, Torso Muscular with a thin layer of fat.

Skills

Tech
1@5 Ambush T0@3
1@5 Cook T1@3
1@10 Use Garden Tools T3@X
1@5 Whittling/Carving T3@3
2@2 Medical Diagnosis (herbalism) T6@0
2@1 Medical Treatment (herbalism) T6@1
2@3 Operate Computer T11@0
1@4 Read and Write Computer Program T11@1 (Visual Basic, C++, Java)
1@4 Build Computer T11@5
1@8 Artificial Intelligence Theory T13@0

Psi
1@1 German Language P0@0
2@1 Japanese Language P0@0
1@1 Teaching P0@1
1@2 Zen State P1@0 10:00 TF requires relaxation, focuses the mind for +RS/10 bonus to next mental skill, +43SM
1@3 Operate Telepathic Device P1@3 with eyes closed, envisioning silver thread connection between self and device (Psi Computer, Data Access Device, Telepathic Vacation) +5SM
1@1 Operate Force Generative Psionic Device P1@8 (psi drill)
1@2 Gather Chi P5@0 success allows (second if first is included) will power check against pain or other physical weakeners, 1:00 TF
1@6 Kiai P8@0 shout to intimidate gives -10 sit-mod to opponent skills for one minute.

Mag
1@4 Singing M0@0
1@5 Linguistics M0@0

Bod
2@1 Manipulate Chopsticks B0@1
1@5 Stealth B0@6
1@4 Climbing B1@3
1@2 Crawl at Walking Speeds 3mph B1@4
1@8 Aggressive Running Frontal Power Boost B3@10 uses one attack RS=+DC to next forward kick-based attack (Power Front Kick), on failure fall for damaging damage
1@8 Aggressive Running Side Slide B3@10 uses one attack +RS=SM to next side-arc kick-based attack (Side Kick, Flip Kick)
2@4 Eli's Style B7@1 Fast Aggressive Weapon-utilizing style, kick- and punch-based, RF2, +10 Att SM +10 Att Dam Mod.
2@4 Back Kick B7@1 basic attack on opponent directly behind.
1@6 Bo Stick B7@1 RF1 damaging two-handed
1@3 Tonfa B7@1 RF1 damaging
1@1 Steal Initiative Weaponless B7@1 in starting combat
1@1 Old Ninja-do B7@1 martial arts style fast defensive weapon-utilizing punch-based hand Att x2 +5 att SM -10 Def SM -10 Def dam mod
1@2 Ninja-to B7@1 martial arts weapon RF1 damaging
1@8 Elbow Strike B7@3 base dangerous attack at close range RF1 -10SM
2@1 Power Back Kick B7@3 base dangerous RF1 -10SM, +10 opponent attack SM
2@1 Power Front Kick B7@3 base damaging -10SM
1@8 Flying Side Kick B7@3 base dangerous RF1 -10SM, on failure lose balance and forfeit next attack
2@1 Roundhouse Kick B7@3 base damaging RF1 -10SM
1@1 Defensive Martial Dodging B7@4 RS=SM per minute

Equipment
Pair pants, loose Khaki (don't interfere with kicks), extra pocket on each leg.
Pair pants, loose olive drab (don't interfere with kicks), extra pocket on each leg.
Loose t-shirt, white
Loose t-shirt, navy blue
3 boxer-briefs (1)
3 pairs of socks (1)
Pair work boots
Australian Oilskin coat: looks like western duster coat. (Oilskin is cloth treated with oils and waxes to make it waterproof.)
Leather hat, looks like a cowboy hat except the brim is flat
Belt, plain leather
Backpack, military style canvas
Book on outdoor survival
Book on chi gung
Book on tai chi
Bowie Knife with brass blade catch and a leather sheath (RF1 damaging)
Maglite flashlight, 5 D-Cells, extra bulb in tailcap
Crowbar, 24"
Wallet with driver license and $40
Glasses

Taken by Samurai
Book on chi gung
Book on tai chi
Bowie Knife with brass blade catch and a leather sheath (RF1 damaging)
Maglite flashlight, 5 D-Cells, extra bulb in tailcap
Crowbar, 24"

Received from Ninja
Ninja outfit: dark long-sleeved long-waisted shirt with low pockets
Ninja outfit: dark gloves with open fingertips
Ninja outfit: dark loose-fitting pants with several pockets and string ties at the waist and both ankles
Ninja outfit: dark knit socks with leather inside soles
Ninja outfit: dark cloth which wraps around head, hair, and neck to hide all but your eyes

Stage 1

World List Tropical Island

Notes:

The bolded items are those which were on his person when he fled; they include one of the three sets of undergarments in each case. The other items in that list were left at the home of the herbalist in the pass, which is now abandoned.

The GE roll suggested that the samurai in charge took some of the more interesting objects from Eli's gear (probably along with some of the herbalist's gear), but that it will remain together in one place for the near-term future, and that the rest of his gear will also remain undisturbed at the herbalist's home for a reasonable time.

I believe I delivered a copy of this world to you. At a reasonable rate he will be introduced to the various skills in the martial arts style and to the acrobatics techniques listed as other ninja skills. "Stealth" will continue as a single skill until it hits professional level, at which point it should split according to the kinds of missions at which he excels. Since he already has an impressive combat ability, I anticipate him becoming either a Raider or an Assassin--his combat skills will always exceed his stealth skills.

I think Edge is probably an assassin, but I'm not sure I made that decision yet.

If I missed something or you've more questions, let me know.

--M. J. Young

*nods* (ge rolls: 21, 24) Your ninja suit is navy with one right green glove and one left green tabi./// Edge does not return the third night, nor the fourth, nor the fifth.

Hold on, I would have gone to look for the ninja on the third night when it became apparent that Edge wasn't coming to show the way. I would have thought "They're probably expecting me to find the clearing on my own."

I'm going to try to remember how to get to the clearing.
If that doesn't work, I'll wander around listening for the sounds of their training.
Until about 3 or 4 hours before sunrise, then I'll head back to the house to sleep.

OOC: Shouldn't the Aggressive Running Frontal Power, Aggressive Running Side Slide, Eli's Style, Back Kick, Elbow Strike, Back Kick, Power Front Kick, Flying Side Kick,and Roundhouse Kick be increased because of the new use mark I gained in the fight? And, Does that mark apply to the Steal Initiative Weaponless and Defensive Martial Dodging?

(With professional sals, you gain what are called "skill marks." It takes one skill mark to advance a level 1 skill, 4 to advance a level 2 skill, and 9 to advance a level 3 skill. If you'd like to put a +1 after the applicable skills, by all means, be my guest.) (Intellect check: 14) (Intuition check: 19) (percentile= 47,15 21 14 = 50% success rate.) You are following landmarks, sure that you are on the right track, but when you are almost there, the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. You begin moving quietly, and approach the training ground. There's a lantern lit, and there are several dead men in ninja costumes. Three men are here, one clearly a samurai on horseback. "That looks like the last of them; can we go now?" one of the foot warriors asks. "No!" The samurai barks back, "Our informant said there would be many here tonight. This is an excellent chance for us to crush them." You do not see Edge, nor any older men, amongst the bodies.

I stand while trying to remain hidden.

I shift into My Style(And I continue trying until it works).
I try to activate my Defensive Martial Dodging
I also try to develop a technique based on the moves used in Ninja-do to reduce injury and add them to my style.
(OOC: I would want it to be a minute by minute defense that gives a RS = -1 DC / -2 DC / -3 DC penalty to incoming attacks but costs 2 attacks to use.)

I then show myself and try my Kiai and Steal Initiative Weaponless

My attacks will be

Aggressive Running Side Slide into a Flying Side Kick towards one of the foot soldiers.
Elbow Strike into the first foot soldier if the Flying Side Kick didn't kill him or the second foot soldier.

(DC penalty is somewhat intense. Are you sure that's the way you want it, instead of a sitmod penalty or a reduction to the die roll for damage calculation?)

OOC:I can go for a reduction to the die roll for damage calculation.

(OK, Active Evasion rf 1/2 success = -10/-20/-30, B7@4.) (Eli's unmodified bod skill use number: 14 21 = 35) (percentiles: 6, 10, 15, 24, 12, 19, 5, 20, 21, 18, 4, 13 -- wow, lucky, and not so much.) Style up, Defensive martial dodging up (-10), Active Evasion up (-10), (20 16 16) Kiai works, Steal initiative works, Aggressive running side slide works, Flying side kick (18 35 10 -10 -20 = 35 eff 15 for damage, +dc for style, +dc for msv, annihalting, 15 damage) connects, the guy seems hurt but not down, and the samurai yells, "You!" as the other warrior swings at you (-10 -10 -15 20 20 14, 2 intensities) He hits you squarely in the shoulder with his club. New round. Your initiative.

I was trying to activate Eli's Style B7@1 Fast Aggressive Weapon-utilizing style, kick- and punch-based, RF2, +10 Att SM +10 Att Dam Mod.

I throw two punches at the guy I hurt.
(base Annoying +DC for style, +DC for MSV, +DC for Professional SAL, +10 damage mod. from style = Dangerous +20 damage mod.)

I then attack the next foot soldier with a Elbow Strike
(base Dangerous +DC for style, +DC for MSV, +10 damage mod. from style = Fatal +10 damage mod.)

I have five more attacks this minute, I want to see what my situation is before I type up the rest of my actions.

OOC: Should I post like this or should I leave the math to you?

That's the style you're in -- I don't see the skill you're using. You mean that you're using regular style attacks? When you post that way, it's worlds of help for both of us; if I see any errors, I'll ask.

Yes, they're style attacks. Should I post the SAL, BRA and sitmods too?

No, I can handle that. Here's the thing: no +DC for professional skill level with the style that I remember. Just +DC for the style, but professional level style DOES confer twice the attacks, so a style modifier of 4, with a 2@ msv is 8 style attacks a round. dangerous +10 from style. I believe. am I wrong?

I've always thought that professional skill level confers +DC and doubles the number of Attacks.

I could look it up but I can't get to my Big Black Book(Mutiverser rule book) for another 30 to 40 minutes... I'll look it up when I get home.

I looked it up. It's on page 66, under the combat skills

If the attacker's combat skills being used is at least skill ability level 2@1, the Attacker receives one damage category bonus. Usable combat skills include weapon skill , martial arts skill, martial arts weapon skill, and the skill ability level of skills used as attacks

((OK. That's all I needed to know. Thanks for clearing that up for me. It does indeed seem to be two damage category bonuses for a professional SAL in a style. See what happens when you quit playing for a while?))

Your Welcome.

(I seem to have missed one of your statements, and was wondering how you count five more. You have 8 attacks with the style; the Active Dodging skills has a 1/2 rf factor, using two of those, down to six, and then you used the aggressive running side slide and the flying side kick, meaning that you drastically changed your positioning on top of only having used half the round solely with attacks; my judgment is that the round passed.) (37 84 66 72 36 99 70 7 46 4 80 100, that's a nice mix) (35 24 = 59, -20 = 39) your initiative. your first strike misses, the second connects (36 = 56, 5 intensities), he goes down. You go for the elbow, and miss badly enough to knock yourself off balance. (botch) The remaining warrior misses you, and the samurai is dismounting his horse. Round 3. Actions?