Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

[LP CYOA] 傳

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Am in denmark cant talk much

C
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
Alright, now I can make a real post.
We could use money to buy books and improve our scholar skills hard way, buy a room for nights so we don't have to worry about weather or watch our backs during night. We could actually use money as bargain tools with assasins or grease the grease to get us WIB base.

I don't personally want to invest that kind of time into improving our scholar skills, for any deviation from fighting skills I'd mostly prefer to go about working on charisma-type things. Dealing with the weather will possibly help us to have better endurance, and if someone jumps us while we're sleeping then I think we're licensed to turn them into free XP. As for a bargaining tool with the assassins, well, what are you planning to do? Hire them, or tell them not to take certain jobs? While we can definitely get a pretty penny on a raid against the pirates, our future possible funds still pale in comparison to more established interests of the type that might want to get rid of the emperor, and our bought guarantee would likely vanish the moment they offered more coin. On the other hand, treave said that we can definitely start the ball rolling by shredding a few of their goons and telling them to listen up. I just don't want to pay off dudes if I can avoid it.

How? We would be alone without any support and no penny to our name, I don't fancy fighting these hardcore assassins nor working under them ( I admit, we do actually have pretty decent skills for that kind of work. ). At least with pirate hunt we have other pugilists and crew fighting with us and we are just facing pirates not expensive elite assasins.

We would not be without support (though I wouldn't mind ditching it, to be honest) and I don't think cash matters for whether or not we can learn techniques. We should check out their employment prospects for the lulz and possible infiltration, which is part of what we set out for to start with anyhow. Also, we tend to get boosts and skills through challenging fights; fighting elite assassins seems way more better to yield good results there than from ganking malnourished water rats, especially with a flood of combatants participating on our side so that we can't even be properly outnumbered.

True and it would be good idea to improve scholar knowledge and artistic skills in long term, but A Gives us better short term deals. With A we are guaranteed to earn cash and we gain more battle experience for Zhang challenge, thought Having favor even one merchant family could open intresting options in future.

Uh, what? B seems infinitely more likely to provide a decent amount of cash. You have to remember that these aren't pirates looting galleons from the Spanish Main full to the brim with silver and gold, these are often guys stealing what essentials they can to merely survive in these troubled times and whatever trinkets they can nab from their similarly impoverished victims (richer targets have better security and are much, much more dangerous to go after). Combine that with the fact that there are many pugilists participating for a part of this same pie, and we aren't likely to see much useful cash. If you say that we need to go because of the money, you should take the other option. If you still want to take A, you should be honest and admit that it's because you think beating up pirates would be awesome instead of stressing a need for cash.
Keep in mind that we didn't actually use money to enter the place, in fact we earned more money. And when we used money to free scholarbro, we did so that we didn't earn ire of the house. So far I would say that money, Yao's protective sheat and speech skills has been our most used and best resource during actual investigation, also without money we wouldn't got scholarbro so smoothly as we did.

Irrelevant, this is the only section in the LP thus far (I think) where the spending of significant amounts of cash was brought up as a choice, regardless of the choices we did make. Why is that? Because this is a very high-priced and well-renowned brothel, the kind of place where it's easy to spend massive amounts of cash because that's the point. It makes sense to come there with money. I'm not seeing why you'd need money going to the assassins unless you wanted to hire them to not kill the crown prince or something (which I already outlined to be kind of a bad idea) and it certainly doesn't seem like having money would help us in completing Zhang's challenge beyond making travel somewhat more comfortable. Maybe if we bought a horse, but given our 'condition' with them... money isn't too necessary for where we're going.
I doubt that anyone else, but the WIB could regognize us if she kept taps on us. Were like 12-14 year old when we met and for perhaps at tops 5 minutes? Iif she knows that we were adjutant then she has good reason to believe we are dead due to our failure to protect prince. Besides we have changed psychically great deal, we are hulking beast of man who has traveled world for years, not some soft palace boy no longer. Honestly I don't think that their recognize us as crown's prince right hand, but as travelling powerful unorthodox fighter and Zhang's appearance

We also entered as large muscular traveling merchant selling condoms, who for some reason paid of some no note of scholar out of his dept. Strange, but I doubt that they suddenly connect dots that condom seller is relatively famous Southern mania'c appearance and forgotten crown prince's servant. Besides all kind of pugilists visit the city, strong and weak, unorthodox and orthodox, unknown and famous. We are strong and have some fame, but we still have long way to go even to be considered one of most powerful pugilists. They would have to be on constant move if someone like us is even remotely near them. Not to mention we would be on their homeground where they have all the advantages, they could poison us, hire assassins to kill us, make traps for us, or just kick out ass as whole group.

Pirate hunting sounds like great misdirection for these guys.
" hey remember that guy who asked about us?"
" Yeah, is that disgusting man coming here?
" Nope, he went to hunt pirates, luckily for us that men are so stupid that they are distracted that we don't need to worry for someone to bust our asses"
" Yeah, Now I have time to get proper tan!"
They don't know our motives, they are on their hometurf where their master probably resides, they assasin guild at the next door and we don't come knocking as soon as we caught their scent then they probably don't expect us. We might be able to kill few people in there, but their masters and senior disciples tear us apart when they attack in group. In short they don't have to worry that we destroy their sect, they may even consider us as opportunity if we have enought cash to be considered as potential customer.

I don't think that WIB considers us such big threat that they have to move out of their en masse at sight of us. Hell Frathouse boys probably has using whorehouse's service during their entire existence and they probably still didn't move out at sight of them and Frathouse boys are definitely way stronger than we are.

I think you entirely misunderstood the point that I was raising. You seem to be under the impression that I'm concerned about us being recognized when in actuality I don't care. Perhaps that would help us to get to the point faster if she could remember the one who survive three of her palm techniques, but that's really not a factor. No, what I was saying was that an organization that tried to kill the crown prince is in deep trouble with the state, which you'll remember uses hyper-competent imperial assassins. Those guys are very, very good at gathering information and ruining people's shit, so if anyone has any sense at that organization, they're going to at least shift around their center of operations often enough so that they won't all be brought down in a rain of blood and pain when an imperial agent discovers where they are. Hence, it would be best to make a move on this information while it is somewhat recent.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Kipeci - C
Esquilax - C
Kashmir Slippers - C > A
Nevill - B
XenomorphII - A
Baltika9 - A
Azira - A
ERYFKRAD - C > A
m4davis - A
Zero Credibility - A > C
Lambchop19 - C
asxetos - A > B
Smashing Axe - A
TOME - A
Jester - C > B
Ifeex - A > C
Ganymede - B
Rex Feral - C > A
Elfberserker - C
Tigranes - C
ScubaV - A
Grimgravy - A

***

Current tally:

A - 11
B - 2
C - 9
 
Last edited:

Elfberserker

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
1,540
don't personally want to invest that kind of time into improving our scholar skills, for any deviation from fighting skills I'd mostly prefer to go about working on charisma-type things. Dealing with the weather will possibly help us to have better endurance, and if someone jumps us while we're sleeping then I think we're licensed to turn them into free XP.

the downside is that we won't have Cao'er or Yao us with this time. We would have to rely on our skills to heal any injuries and while our herbalism is decent, I don't want to spend unnecessary time to heal from flu or worse just because we didn't have cash for inn. Hunting pirates may take time, but it's sure way to earn cash and more safe to earn combat experience.

As for a bargaining tool with the assassins, well, what are you planning to do? Hire them, or tell them not to take certain jobs? While we can definitely get a pretty penny on a raid against the pirates, our future possible funds still pale in comparison to more established interests of the type that might want to get rid of the emperor

For starters we could buy info with cash, surely elite assassins know a thing or two in political spectrum. We could buy them to provide some kind of distraction while we sneak at WIB house among other things. Yes we don't have much cash compared to guys who regularly hire these guys, but we might be able to get something worthwhile information or extra help for one mission, if we have money and play smart.

On the other hand, treave said that we can definitely start the ball rolling by shredding a few of their goons and telling them to listen up. I just don't want to pay off dudes if I can avoid it.

Oh defninately they will listen powerful martial artist who suddenly decided to shred their goons, but Do we really want to get their bad side? They won't be announcing challenges, but try to poison us among other unsavory things.

Uh, what? B seems infinitely more likely to provide a decent amount of cash. You have to remember that these aren't pirates looting galleons from the Spanish Main full to the brim with silver and gold, these are often guys stealing what essentials they can to merely survive in these troubled times and whatever trinkets they can nab from their similarly impoverished victims (richer targets have better security and are much, much more dangerous to go after). Combine that with the fact that there are many pugilists participating for a part of this same pie, and we aren't likely to see much useful cash. If you say that we need to go because of the money, you should take the other option. If you still want to take A, you should be honest and admit that it's because you think beating up pirates would be awesome instead of stressing a need for cash

In B it depends do we succeed on our task. If we succeed then we get shitload of cash, if not then we don't get nothing. B is more bit of gamble in my option with our decent speech skills
In A we get less cash than in B, but unlike B we are sure to get cash and we get more fighting experience. Plus I want to see what scholarbro can do in fight.

Irrelevant, this is the only section in the LP thus far (I think) where the spending of significant amounts of cash was brought up as a choice, regardless of the choices we did make. Why is that? Because this is a very high-priced and well-renowned brothel, the kind of place where it's easy to spend massive amounts of cash because that's the point. It makes sense to come there with money. I'm not seeing why you'd need money going to the assassins unless you wanted to hire them to not kill the crown prince or something (which I already outlined to be kind of a bad idea) and it certainly doesn't seem like having money would help us in completing Zhang's challenge beyond making travel somewhat more comfortable. Maybe if we bought a horse, but given our 'condition' with them... money isn't too necessary for where we're going

Oh trust me, there are plenty ways to use cash in world even thought we have been fine so far without cash. And please don't put words in my mouth, Never once I have suggested that we would do something so foolish as pay assassins not to kill crown prince, but we it might be useful if we had extra help, if we decide to break to WiB cult. Personally I think that having more cash and arriving later provides more options than arriving now without penny on our name.

I think you entirely misunderstood the point that I was raising. You seem to be under the impression that I'm concerned about us being recognized when in actuality I don't care. Perhaps that would help us to get to the point faster if she could remember the one who survive three of her palm techniques, but that's really not a factor. No, what I was saying was that an organization that tried to kill the crown prince is in deep trouble with the state, which you'll remember uses hyper-competent imperial assassins. Those guys are very, very good at gathering information and ruining people's shit, so if anyone has any sense at that organization, they're going to at least shift around their center of operations often enough so that they won't all be brought down in a rain of blood and pain when an imperial agent discovers where they are. Hence, it would be best to make a move on this information while it is somewhat recent.

Well...That is actually good point.

I am flopping to C
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Anti-Pirate Alliance

The main hall of the Zhou Clan’s Manor is crowded with pugilists by the time you and Xiahou Yu arrive. The two of you blend into the crowd, not wanting to cause a stir. Given the different uniforms on display, you note at least six or seven minor schools present. The masters of those schools are seated at the front of the hall. One of them looks familiar, but you cannot place him at the moment. Only one of the Eight Sects has sent representatives; Kunlun, but you do not recognize their faces. They appear to be senior to you in age. Surprisingly, you spot Miss Xia there. Why would Yuhua Hall send a representative?

After some time, a distinguished, middle-aged gentleman with an elegant beard steps out from behind the main hall. He is followed by two youngsters – one male, one female, both rather pleasing to the eye. From the looks of it, they are probably his children. The gentleman clears his throat and calls for silence. It looks like he is the master of the manor, Zhou Dingqiu.

“Everyone, I am pleased to have you here today at the Zhou residence. I hope that you have been greeted with the greatest courtesy by the members of my household.” The crowd nods and murmurs in agreement; it looks like you have missed out on a free lunch earlier today. You cluck your tongue in disappointment. Zhou Dingqiu begins addressing the leaders of the minor schools, thanking them for their attendance. As he rattles off the names, you find terribly bored; they are all fodder – it doesn’t seem like there are any pugilists of interest here. You look around the hall. Xiahou Yu is actually listening intently, but you have better things to do with your time.

Then, you recognize the master you had found familiar just as his name is called, Zhou Dingqiu thanking him for coming all the way out here to help. Rong Muben of Songfeng. He stands up and bows in acknowledgement, looking rather hale and hearthy. It looks like there are some Songfeng disciples standing in the crowd too, though they have yet to notice you. You look away from him, deciding to focus on the matter in front of you first. Zhou and the various masters, as well as the Eight Sects’ representatives, finally finish their greetings and start discussing the main issue.

“We are all gathered here because of the problem plaguing this prefecture’s coastline. Wo pirates. They have been pillaging coastal villages for many months now, and no one has stood up against them.” begins Zhou Dingqiu.

“Ah, that is interesting,” whispers Xiahou Yu.

“What is?” you whisper in return.

“You know the Wo are the people of Nippon, right?”

“Even I know that. What is so interesting about them being pirates?”

“A treaty was signed sixty years ago to prevent this very thing from happening. It is a matter of foreign policy if the Wo are pirating on our shores.”

“Oh, did they?” It must have been taught to you in your studies. In fact, you recall hearing something like this, now that Yu has jogged your memory, but the details do not come to you. “If that is the case, the prefect should be dealing with it, or should have submitted a report to the Court for action. Why is he not here, with a Tang fleet to subjugate a single band of pirates? We do have a navy and it has not seen any action in… what, a century?”

“I wouldn’t know about that. It could be that he is in league with the pirates somehow,” conjectures Xiahou Yu. “It’s a wild guess, but the other alternatives don’t make him look much better.”

You nod. “Incompetence. Why he isn’t helping isn’t that important right now anyway, since the sects are taking matters into their own hands.”

“Now,” says Zhou more loudly, apparently distracted by your whispers with Yu. “The government will not aid us in this venture. The prefect has sent a letter detailing his approval of our actions and his gratitude, but there will be no money or ships forthcoming.”

“Do you expect us to swim there?” shouts a rotund master. “Sure, you can walk on water, but the rest of us aren’t so capable.” The crowd laughs as Zhou tries to calm them down. “Master Ji, this is why Lady Xia of Yuhua Hall has kindly agreed to sponsor our campaign.”

“Taking money from a brothel?” shouts a skinny master. “Why, I would never! This is a disgrace!”

“He’s right,” murmurs Xiahou Yu, “I’ve seen him give money to Yuhua Hall, not take it.”

“Well then, he’ll be a good customer for my product,” you grin. “Remind me to keep him alive so that he can continue whoring.”

“Now now, Master Gong, we really have no choice. For the sake of the people,” pleads Zhou Dingqiu. “This is not a time for our pride to stand in our way.”

“That is right, Master Gong,” says Rong Muben, joining in on Zhou Dingqiu’s side. “When the people are in trouble, we must help them. They are the livelihood of the country; we cannot let pride force us to reject help.”

“It is a merely a matter of community service,” Miss Xia speaks up. “Yuhua Hall continues to prosper because the people give to it.” She gives Master Gong a wink, sending him falling back into his chair with a red face. “It is only natural that we give back. If you will not work with us for your sake, at least for the sake of your wife?”

“W-well,” splutters Master Gong, “Fine. Do as you please. I have no objections.”

Zhou gives a sigh of relief. “Now, I will let my son, Zhou Zhideng, explain the plan.” The young man comes to the fore and begins talking. It is a rather basic plan that is hard to mess up – now that they have identified the hideout of the Wo pirates, they will sneak in under cover of darkness, burn the pirate ships, and begin exterminating the scum. One on one, every pugilist should be a match for any pirate, and it seems that they outnumber the enemy at that.

You notice the girl, Zhou Zhideng’s sister, looking moody and displeased. You sigh.

“What’s the matter?” asks Xiahou Yu.

“See that girl? Zhou Dingqiu’s daughter?” you whisper.

“Yes, what of her?”

“It’s going to be trouble. I know how this is going to go,” you grumble. “She’s going to try to sneak on board the ship and tag along for some reason or another.” Xiahou Yu chuckles. “Surely that cannot be true. She looks too meek to do such a thing.”

“Trust me, brother Yu. You’ll see.” You sigh again.

Then, the whispers begin.

“Hey, wait, that boy… Man Tiger Pig… that’s the Man Tiger Pig, isn’t it?”

“Zhang Jue’s disciple!? What is he doing here?”

“That… can’t be right, can it? I had heard Zhang Jue’s disciple was a mountain of a boy, not a scruffy young man who looks like he has just started shaving!”

“No, that is him! I saw him at the tournament! It’s Man Tiger Pig!”

You find yourself and Xiahou Yu in an ever-widening circle of space as the crowd backs away from you. You suppose it would be too good to be true to hope that no one would ever recognize you, but you had no intention of hiding your identity anyway. Looking confidently at Zhou Dingqiu, you bow politely in greeting, giving him your best smile.

“The disciple of Zhang Jue pays his obeisance to the master of Zhou Manor.”

Xiahou Yu follows suit quickly, calling himself a humble scholar.

The entire hall is frozen, with not a soul moving an inch; none of them know what to make of your sudden appearance in their midst. Zhou Dingqiu looks at you with suspicion. Rong Muben, on the other hand, has an expression of anger, but he does not move from his seat. The Songfeng disciples jerk into action, as they finally recognize your face.

“That is Xu Jing! Master, that’s the murderer of our young master! Let’s-“

“Stop!” roars Rong Muben. His disciples’ swords are half-drawn as they shrink back at their master’s voice. “I have no idea why this… cur… is here, but I have vowed that the Songfeng Sword School would not take vengeance for Zhiyu’s untimely demise. I will not break that vow as long as I live! Sheathe your swords!”

Heeding their master’s orders, the disciples step back, glaring daggers at you.

Up in front, Miss Xia arches an elegantly painted eyebrows at the revelation of your identity. You give her a brief shrug – it is what it is.

“Now, ah, Young Master Xu,” begins Zhou Dingqiu awkwardly, not entirely sure how to handle this mess, “Why are you here? I hope it is not to challenge us to battle. As you can see, we are rather occupied at the moment.”

You laugh, waving your hands in denial. “Oh, of course not. I merely heard of your manor’s call to arms against the pirates, and decided to participate.”

“Why would you do such a thing?” He seems genuinely puzzled.

“Why can’t I?” you reply simply, looking straight into his eyes.

Zhou does not answer, knowing that the only way to reply would be to drag your master’s reputation into it. Then, he shakes his head, a little sad smile crossing his lips. “Very well. I will judge you on what you do, not what your master does. It is not my position to question help, if indeed you are offering it. I have heard of your victory at the recent tournament – you will be a strong addition to our task force. I cannot turn that away.”

The hall erupts in protest at his words. It seems like no one here trusts you.

“They really hate you,” whispers Xiahou Yu.

“They can go die in a fire,” you say.

“That’s rather poetic. Maybe I should write it down.”

Rong Muben stands up from his chair.

“Master Rong,” begins Zhou Dingqiu, “where are you going?”

“I may not seek vengeance against that boy, but I cannot work together with him,” he grimaces. “I cannot even stand to see his face.”

“But-“

“It is done, Master Zhou. Songfeng will not be participating in this assault. It would sully my integrity if I cooperated with my son’s killer.”

“Is that pride I hear speaking?” you call out. Rong Muben turns around, glowering at you wordlessly. You continue, “Is the suffering of the people less important than your integrity, Master Rong?” One of the Songfeng disciples steps up. “I hate to say this, but if we leave now, Master, we are only going to let this bastard win. Perhaps that is what he wants, to drive this alliance apart. Maybe we should…”

You only laugh, looking around you casually. All of the pugilists seem to be on guard, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. “What is this? Are all of you going to pile on me? Who will make the first move? I do not think this is a good start to your anti-pirate alliance if you start losing people even before you set foot on the island.” They back away nervously as your gaze meets theirs; no matter what, your reputation does precede you, and these are merely a bunch of fodder schools compared to the Eight Sects. Of course, being a major sect doesn’t seem to stop the Kunlun representatives from looking worried as you grin at them.

“Look,” says Zhou Zhideng, trying to help his father salvage the situation. “Can everyone just calm down? I have seen Man Tiger Pig in battle. I do not think he is here to cause trouble, and I think he will be of great help.”

“You already have,” whispers Xiahou Yu.

“That I have,” you nod knowingly.

“Please, listen to my father,” says the young master of Zhou Manor. “We must not underestimate the pirates even if everything appears to be going right for us.”

“If…” says Zhou Dingqiu heavily, “if Young Master Xu is willing to promise his good behaviour, will you all accept his participation?”

The old man is trying to speak for you. Your first instinct is to interrupt him, but Xiahou Yu tugs at your arm. “Wait,” he hisses.

“Or perhaps he can take us on in a friendly match. No grudges,” says one of the Songfeng disciples heatedly. “If he wins, he gets to participate. If he loses, he gets out of here immediately.” Zhou Dingqiu looks taken aback at the idea of having a fight right now, but does not say anything for now. Master Gong speaks up suddenly, deciding to get involved. “How about we have a competition for the head of the Wo leader? We can settle the grudge that way, instead of fighting in Zhou Manor. If Zhang Jue’s disciple wins, it’s all good. If we win, it’s all good too!”

The hall seems to like Master Gong’s idea – Songfeng aside, none of them seem overly keen to fight you. Still, to be chased out by them now - to retreat - is an idea that irks you too much to even consider...

***

A. You decide to take on the Songfeng disciples in a ‘friendly’ match. It will not please Zhou Dingqiu, but backing down from their direct challenge will make you look like a coward in front of everyone. Besides, it’s about time you settled things with them.

B. You take the challenge of being the first to claim the head of the Wo leader. This should be able to satisfy everyone except Songfeng; some of them may start to say that you backed down out of fear of them.

C. You back down and promise your good behaviour to avoid any further trouble. This will only satisfy the Zhou Clan. You are not going to be taunted into any challenge – you are here to check out the pirate activity and perhaps subdue it, nothing more. You do not care whether a bunch of minnows think you soft.
 
Last edited:

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
Patron
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
28,242
Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
C.

Let others think us weak if they so care to. It will make things harder for them and easier for us, in a pinch.
 
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
2,951
B sounds like a good compromise between not starting a fight when our host clearly doesn't want one and not damaging our reputation.

I don't want to fight these jokers because that is clearly what they want us to do. Probably going to try to kill us even though it's supposed to be a "friendly" match and then use the old "he just ran on my sword, you all saw it" or "my hand slipped, on my honour" defence. There are at least some of these guys that were working with that poisoner bastard and I'm betting that some of them are here now, just itching for an opportunity for revenge. And if we kill them it paints us as the monster that everyone thought the Maniac’s apprentice would be and pisses off everyone against us, especially the guy that's putting this whole thing together. C could work as well, but B just looks like it accomplishes everything C does and also allows us to save face, which is why Gong probably suggested it in the first place.

Of course, it goes without saying that we should watch our back regardless if we choose B or C, because it's a sure bet these guys are going to try to backstab us while we are busy fighting the pirates.
 

Elfberserker

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
1,540
Need to think this one over. I'm torn between A and C. Could also consider B. Any cunning arguments?

I think it's both are double edged swords.

Case A:
If we win this match, it forces songfeng school to particate in the hunt if they want to keep their faces and for minor bonus is respect from other schools ( perhaps even the one of great sec, Kunlun I think? ). On otherhand we displease the leading man here and we waste our energy fighting here and there is good chance we have to fight Rong Muben. Songfeng's master has personal interest in us and fighting us in friendly match is good way get us out of picture and take small amount of revenge. Wealso keep our hardass reputation staple

Case C:
Songfeng is free to leave without losing large amount of face, but they may particate since Rong Mugen is pretty good guy, despite his hatred of us. We also take a rep hit on hardass scale, at laest from minor schools but I don't know how the Kunlun sect might view this. On other hand we get to put good first impression for leader man and saves ours and potential opponents strenght.

I have to go with B here. It gives us and Songfeng school to keep face and I doubt that some disgruntled lies from Songfeng is going to bite our ass big way in the future.
 

Kashmir Slippers

Magister
Joined
Apr 23, 2011
Messages
1,018
Location
Here, obviously
B

Maybe some of the scrubs will get themselves killed trying to be a hero.


Actually, fuck it. A. They want to play ball? Then lets pay ball. I bet we can beat them. We a LOT further on than we were when we killed Rong Jr. and he probably was one of their better disciples.
 
Last edited:

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Well...That is actually good point.
Actuslly, that argument doesn't hold water. It is based on the assumption that the Black Dragon Society is secretive, which would make sense if they were indeed the ones that made the attempt on the prince's life. But what exactly points to that? The only thing we know is that the person who took part in a raid three years ago was recently spotted hanging out with their members. Well, the disciple of Zhang Jue was recently spotted participating in the orthodox tournament. What does it say about the Eight Sects?

Absolutely nothing, that's what. We don't even know if she is one of them, of if she is their contact, or if she is their employer - or anything. The evidence against the mercenaries seems awfully circumstancial, if not outright non-existent, I have to say.

In the first place, they are a known organisation that offers the services of its members for gold. If you have to make sure that people with the money can find you, then what secrecy are we talking about?

The only thing we risk by sidetracking is that Chanfeng will finish whatever business she has with them and vanish again. The Black Dragon Society itself isn't going anywhere.

I guess I just wanted to point out that you should not consider them your enemies just yet.
----------------------------
For the current choice, I coulfn't care less what a bunch of losers thinks about us. I know we aren't making peace with Songfeng school in the foreseeable future, so pleasing them is not a concern. They can't win against us in a match, friendly or not. The only person who presents some sort of danger to us is Rong Muben himself, and he is bound by a vow not to take vengeance on us. I trust the man enough to know he will not break it - not after he stayed the hands of his disciples right after we killed his son. So A carries a risk of defeat by Muben's hand and of ending our pirate hunt prematurely, but nothing more serious than that. Victory here earns us a certain measure of respect and the displeasure of our host (whatever it might cause down the road).

I do not like the sound of competing in an uncontrolled circumstances that B seem to imply. Watching out for both pirates and our allies, who are bent on denying us our win, is more trouble than it's worth. Some of the Songfeng disciples wouldn't mind to play dirty if we don't show them that we aren't to be messed with first. Then again, A and C do not completely prevent such a possibility either.

C is my cup of tea. Love and peace and gruesome death to those who disagree. I vastly prefer being our own man and not jumping on every opportunity to prove something to every nobody that would question our behavior. By the end of this hunt they will all see what we are capable of, anyway. I can't see much drawbacks with this option. In fact, this deceiving laid back attitude is something I would expect from sneaky Jing. Pretending to be no one of note to snatch the victory from under their unsuspecting noses sounds like a good trolling opportunity. But with no clear winning condition it loses its allure somewhat.

I guess I'll go with A, for starters. I'd like to see what the Rong Muben is capable of. He is, after all, a former disciple of Huashan who mastered their techniques enough to come up with his own, and that school interests me greatly.

Oh, and that girl who would like to sneak out for whatever reason? If she ever decides to trust anyone to keep her identity secret, or to seek help from anyone, that would be you, the person most different from those that would try to return her home out of a concern for her safety. If she will be helpful to us somehow remains to be seen, but I can see our reputation of a bad boy luring her closer to us, and us keeping her alive and well mitigating our first bad impression on Zhou Dingqiu. It'll all work out in the end.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
2,951
Eh, I'm not so concerned about actually winning the contest in B. It was obviously proposed just to let everyone keep face while defusing the situation - "If Zhang Jue’s disciple wins, it’s all good. If we win, it’s all good too!". No matter who wins nobody looses anything (well, except for the pirates) so it doesn't really matter if they get to him first as long as we make a good show in battle (which we will). If they decide to press on recklessly just to win this, well at least they are not fighting us at the same time. Also, I'm getting a feeling that taking the head pirate isn't going to be that easy and nobody here apart from us and the masters present is up to the task.
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
B, let's give ourselves a goal worthy of us if we're going to be wasting time with the pirates.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Zero Credibility said:
Eh, I'm not so concerned about actually winning the contest in B.
Well, it turns 'Xu Jing versus Songfeng' into 'Xu Jing versus everybody, the pirates included'. To hold a competition out there on the battlefield is a rather unhealthy practice.

Besides, the one that gets the head also gets the most fame and, I assume, the biggest share of loot, so it is in our interests to be the one to slay the Wo leader.
 
Last edited:

Elfberserker

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
1,540
Actuslly, that argument doesn't hold water. It is based on the assumption that the Black Dragon Society is secretive, which would make sense if they were indeed the ones that made the attempt on the prince's life. But what exactly points to that? The only thing we know is that the person who took part in a raid three years ago was recently spotted hanging out with their members. Well, the disciple of Zhang Jue was recently spotted participating in the orthodox tournament. What does it say about the Eight Sects?

Absolutely nothing, that's what. We don't even know if she is one of them, of if she is their contact, or if she is their employer - or anything. The evidence against the mercenaries seems awfully circumstancial, if not outright non-existent, I have to say.

In the first place, they are a known organisation that offers the services of its members for gold. If you have to make sure that people with the money can find you, then what secrecy are we talking about?

The only thing we risk by sidetracking is that Chanfeng will finish whatever business she has with them and vanish again. The Black Dragon Society itself isn't going anywhere.

I guess I just wanted to point out that you should not consider them your enemies just yet

Actually I was thinking about Wunan school, I would imagine that if she is part of wunan school then they will be careful. I am pretty sure that we told everything we heard to imperial authorities that we heard WIB saying and there is a chance that some imperial spy might have been spotted around the are during the time we spend pirate hunting. However this is just speculation on my part.
 

asxetos

Augur
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
820
Location
Greece
A. B seems a bit more reasonable, but Jing is not a guy that backs of a challenge.
I might flop though
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Elfberserker said:
However this is just speculation on my part.
Well, the Wunan school is a different matter, I agree. However, if he Empire did not bother with them for 3 years, I doubt it will now. And even if an Imperial agent will set off the alarms, what does it change? We don't know anything about them now, and we won't know anything about them then. We can't lose the chance to find them that we never had.
 
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
2,951
Zero Credibility said:
Eh, I'm not so concerned about actually winning the contest in B.
Well, it turns 'Xu Jing versus Songfent' into 'Xu Jing versus everybody, the pirates included'. To hold a competition out there on the battlefield is a rather unhealthy practice.

Besides, the one that gets the head also gets the most fame and, I assume, the biggest share of loot, so it is in our interests to be the one to slay the Wo leader.
If we take A and win and Rong decides to participate we will still have to watch our back against his disciples. In fact, now more then ever, no way are they going to let us get away with humiliating them like that, especially if some of them were in on the son's plot. At least B gives them another target to shoot for beside our back. As long as we pull our weight in the battle nobody is going to deny us a fair share of loot / fame. It we personally take the head it would be more, sure. But win or lose in A, there are going to be consequences as well - for one thing, we are going to piss of the guy organising this whole show by starting a fight the moment we got here. A fight which we could have easily avoided without losing face. We didn't let BJ draw us into a fight during the tournament despite our pride at stake, so why should we let these amateurs now?


B seems a bit more reasonable, but Jing is not a guy that backs of a challenge.
... except for the last two times we did it.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Zero Credibility said:
In fact, now more then ever, no way are they going to let us get away with humiliating them like that, especially if some of them were in on the son's plot.
Showing them weakness is more likely to provoke them than kicking their ass. And at least A earns us some respect from the other guys. Songfeng guys won't try that shit in public.
Zero Credibility said:
At least B gives them another target to shoot for beside our back.
Which one is that? The head? They won't get it unless they stab us in the back. So, no, it isn't different.
Zero Credibility said:
We didn't let BJ draw us into a fight during the tournament despite our pride at stake, so why should we let these amateurs now?
Because they are amateurs and we can actually win against them. Also because losing here, as improbable as it might be, isn't anywhere near such a drastic failure as losing to BJ.
 
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
2,951
But the thing is, we don't have to fight at all here. Why risk them defeating us (as unlikely as it seems) or us injuring them and damaging our reputation with the crew we are going into battle later even more? Just for reputation with the crowd? We are going to get a much better opportunity to earn that by kicking pirate ass in the battle to come. B let's us come out of this looking reasonable and with our reputation intact. In A even if we win we look like a hothead (admittedly good in a fight) that started disrupting the whole campaign the moment he showed up because he just couldn't back down no matter how pointless the fight is. We know Jing is capable of that, so let's not play Maniac’s apprentice like they expect us to.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Zero Credibility said:
Why risk them defeating us (as unlikely as it seems) or us injuring them and damaging our reputation with the crew we are going into battle later even more? Just for reputation with the crowd?
To duke it out with them while it is relatively safe to do so - safe both for us and for them. Besides, I don't do it because I have to - instead, I want to test myself against Rong Muben, and the opportunity to do so just presented itself.
Zero Credibility said:
We know Jing is capable of that, so let's not play Maniac’s apprentice like they expect us to.
I see no harm in it. The reputation of our master is just another tool of ours, we can play it straight, or we can subvert it to our advantage.

Either way, I think no choice here is clearly superior to the other. They will play out differently, and I am interested in A enough to try it.
 

asxetos

Augur
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
820
Location
Greece
... except for the last two times we did it.

You are correct but only partially, because BJ was 99.9% setting us up for something bad, so it was a smart move to bail out.
This time is different, because they are genuinly surprised to see us, so it will be a clean fight. It's about time we set things straight with them. Come on, we saved their boss's life two times (poison and murderus son) and he needs to cut us some slack already.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom