TTJP Season1 Episode 16 The Next Step

 

Casting: Tiger Team!

• Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 11M; Smith and guy with huge sword
• Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 11M; Reckless grappler
• Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 11M; Noble, on the outs with family
• Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 11M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming more than creepy, despite possibly being insane. Perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers.
• Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 11M; Natural leader and archer.
• Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 11F; Sorcerer specializing in healing.
• He Bohi (Eleven) 11M; Twin, grew up near the docks.
• He Donghai (Twelve) 11M;, Twin, powerful grappler
• Ko Lanfen (Four) 11F; Solid Order devotee.
• Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 12F; Quiet and deadly with a knife.
• Meiyou Ren (Six) 11M; Also good with a blade, possibly any blade.
• Rang Baozhai (Ten) 14F; Our bookworm and nerd.

Blood for Teacher!

So our intrepid and scrappy band of bald headed 11 year olds heads back to the arena for some sparring.  Everyone will participate in a unarmed duel, the sorcerer in a magic duel and the shaman in a shaman duel and the armed combat one is optional though advised.

At stake is not just our creches reputation but the quality of teachers who will pick among us. Oh and were fighting team Umber Snake, Lanfen's old team whom we traded Qing for.

First up are the two magical duels....

• Chushi sparred a shaman who tried to turn into an animal but Chushi pinched his nose breaking his concentration. Then they traded TK punches he went for Chushi's groin, Chushi started off with the face. Chushi fell down but remained conscious at 0 HP then knocked the other guy out with an extra effort judo throw.
• Zhige dodged a lightning bolt and cast an illusion of pits of hell and he screamed in terror and yielded.

First round goes to us 2 -0!

As both of us had the Green Seer for a teacher little was at stake here but it could reflect on our teacher so best we won.  Also Chushi showed his toughness by fighting through his wounds and Zhige won on style points.

Next up was the armed combat round...

• Jian Wu took his guy out with 12 HP using a sparring stick, guy rolled 18 on his HT roll to stay conscious.
• Chushi went up to fight a guy (DX 18!) with cestus who took him out with two hits to the face in one round.
• Jing Min went up against a guy with bladed hands who was also fast, did retreating dodge to avoid then Giant Step to get some distance and crushed the guys windpipe.
• Yi shot three arrows into a bullseye, easily besting his opponent.

Score was 2 - 1, with Chushi losing.

Finally we have the Unarmed Combat!

• Ting slammed into his foe but he managed to stay on his feet and failed a return punch. Ting followed up with a clinch and knee strike to the groin, guy breaks free and steps back retreating dodge and Ting hit him with another slam then he backed up for a kick. Ting followed up with another clinch and knee strike Observers were overheard talking about how unorthodox his style was, but also remarking on its effectiveness.
• Yi traded blows with his foe, both dodging well. Then he did a Judo Parry followed by a Judo Throw which stunned him. Did enough damage to break the arm and knock him out.
• Chushi opponent leads with a flying jump kick which Chushi handles with a Judo parry followed by a throw. Guy was stunned and Chushi kicked him while he was down, the team saw him think about stepping back after the third round of kicking him to let him recover and shouted NO! so he kicked gum again while he was trying to get up and he he eventually fell unconscious.
• Jing Min did a judo throw and kicked his guy while he was down, breaking both arms.
• Jian Wu rushed his guy for a Wrestling grapple all out attack and walked his foe out of the ring.
• Zhige fought Qing who rushed for all out attack grapple but she dodged then did all out attack double grabbing his head and shoving it into her knee.  She stunned and knocked him down the did an Arm Lock and paralyzed and arm then the next arm, followed by the leg. Judges had to call it as he refused to yield.

Score 6 - 0

All the NPC's won their fights as a Quick Contest of skills so no details on those.

Overall we did well, several of our NPC's out preformed us but everyone except Chushi won all their bouts. Zhige was very popular as she healed everyone and the medics standing by had nothing to do.

We were waiting for the end to see who would get offers and discussing how well we thought we did when we were summoned away.

 Some Bad News, and Some err Lets Call it Good

We were ushered into Headmaster Jong Jong Shi's office and some strange guy was standing next to him, looking very unhappy. We were informed our teacher had died falling down the stares between fights. Yi or was it Jing Min? was the only one of us who looked unsurprised and not flat out incredulous (ie he actually had Acting skill and the brains to use it) while some us restrained ourselves or were in too much shock. Most of the group however exclaimed in disbelief and Master Shi said there would be an investigation. Zhige pointedly asked them if they had killed him (and people keep wondering why Chushi is the one still alive?) and threw the bones to confirm. In the meantime we were all to report to Master Whisper (Orders Inquisitor) for questioning and pack our stuff as we were being reassigned to Master Pai Mei (The unhappy old guy there) for instruction as we had overall showed much promise. Plus other creche teachers were busy after all.  Individual instructors would be in touch with us later and we were dismissed.

Chushi quickly inquired if since Master Pai Mei lived in a private mountain retreat if he and Zhige would still be able to be taught by the Green Seer. We were informed it would be so.

Our Masters are Indeed, Idiots

We quickly left for our rooms and started discussion.  No one believed Master Wo Er just fell and Chushi decided to go see if he could talk with his spirit. Everyone else came along to pay respects and provide cover. Master Wo Er was easily contacted and informed us that he didnt see who tripped him but that there was a mole in the Order and we had to make sure the Ebon Book of 1000 Nightmares did not fall into his hands. (You know where this is going...)

We questioned him as much as we could and were informed it was secured in the library where only two people had access to it. Also we told him we won the testing and he said he saw most of it and was proud of us, at least most of us. Shade from beyond the grave! He also told us he was sorry when told we had been reassigned to Pai Mei as he is particularly harsh and impatient with students, especially girls.

We headed back to our rooms to discuss options. Rang said she knew where the book was and we opted to go look for it.  Mouse escorted her and Chushi offered to follow along. Getting a dirty look from her he mentioned he would go as a spirit so they agreed.  Mouse was prepared to break in but Rang had a key since she worked there.  Chushi propped himself into a corner and went into a trance to project his spirit. Rang quickly went to the main desk and pulled some keys from underneath the desk that gave access to where the book was locked up. They went and she quickly recognized the book was not there as she had just been cleaning the room the week before.

Hello, you call this secure?

Chushi spotted a dark aura and trail leading from the room and went to investigate.  Unable to speak so the others could hear him. He followed the trail to the dungeons where Qing was talking with the captured bandit leader and he had the book under his arm and was fumbling with some lockpicks.

Suddenly a demon attacked and tried to possess him! He resisted (rolled a 5) and quickly fled, hearing the demon warning the others they had been discovered. He found his body and woke up to Mouse and Rang waiting on him. Warned them to head to the dungeons yelling and ringing every alarm we could along the way!

Meanwhile as the demon attacked Chushi the bones given to Zhige by the Moon Spirit  jumped out of her pouch and started circling her head.  One was trying to lead her into a specific direction. So they headed to the dungeons.

Apparently the stones were a better guide than Chushi's memory as a spirit and the main group arrived first. They found an unconscious and badly wounded guard that Zhige healed who told them what was going on and to get help. The bandit was free by this time and had the book. Yi shot an arrow at him but he plucked it out of the air and was creating a gate. The guard handed Zhige a stone and she passed it along to another to throw it, not trusting her aim. It shattered and the bandit vanished into the gate as it closed, except for the arm he had defended himself with. Qing was quickly beat up and paralyzed before the rest of the guards came along and Chushi and infiltration squad.

Master Shi exclaimed in an exasperated fashion how he had just left us and how could we get into so much trouble so quickly. Master Whisper had us all interrogated separately.  Were alive so our stories were accepted, probably helped having the bandits arm and the healed guard handy.

We were released and sent back to our rooms to head out in the morning. Chushi and Zhige were not having it and told the others they were off to talk with the Green Seer, they decided to tag along in case of more trouble.  She was waiting for us at the clearing, though expressed surprise Chushi was still alive and escorted us to her house for a snack and we discussed things. She gave Zhige and Chushi a green gate crystal and we were told she would see to it that Pai Mei was fair to the girls and allowed our training to continue.  Also our training was to be sped up and we needed to be ready for a conjunction when the book would be used.

Aftermath

Regarding the fight, we all had saved Impulse Points and several of us used them to reroll failures during the duels,  So things not quite as risky as it sounded or surprising we won. Chushi could have used two to avoid taking those two hits in his armed combat round, but it was obvious he was going to lose so saved his remaining three points for a closer contest.

Next time will be another three years later and we all have Trained by a Master and impressive combat skills.  Chushi added Universal to Medium so he can now talk to the tree and understand what its saying! Christopher cried.  Also increased his TK strength and can now project his spirit for an hour at a time, only taking a minute of meditation.

Most of us studied up on some Demon Lore, Green Seer offered to teach Zhige and Chushi and Chushi will teach the others with Zhiges help. Chushi has Teaching -14 and Hidden Lore (Demons) -14 by the end of the time skip. Rang likely already has some skill in it as well and probably can still access the library.

Chushi impressed some teachers after all (yay!) and learned Quarterstaff fighting from Hwa Ga Wen, the Orders best staff fighter.  Not sure how that happened as Chushi didn't get to fight with his staff, being knocked out before he could move. Maybe it was his undeniable charm, his toughness in the first round, or perhaps the Green Seer put in a word for him.  Seems everyone wants him to be good with a staff, probably a "shamans should use staves, like priests" kind of thing.

He also learned Pai Mei's Eagle Fist Chin Na style, improved his Cooking to -17, and learned to ride a horse.

TTJP Season 2 Episode 15

 GM Link

Casting: Tiger Team!

• Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 11M; Smith and guy with huge sword
• Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 11M; Reckless grappler
• Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 11M; Noble, on the outs with family
• Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 11M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming more than creepy, despite possibly being insane. Perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers.
• Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 11M; Natural leader and archer.
• Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 11F; Sorcerer specializing in healing.
• He Bohi (Eleven) 11M; Twin, grew up near the docks.
• He Donghai (Twelve) 11M;, Twin, powerful grappler
• Ko Lanfen (Four) 11F; Solid Order devotee.
• Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 12F; Quiet and deadly with a knife.
• Meiyou Ren (Six) 11M; Also good with a blade, possibly any blade.
• Rang Baozhai (Ten) 14F; Our bookworm and nerd.

Bandits Part Deux!

With the village saved we interrogate the bandit leader (who was apparently just knocked out) and he is unimpressed with our intimidation efforts. Chusui tells him he will bind his soul but the bandit doesn't believe he knows how. And well he doesn't so he says hesoff to look for ingrediants to maintain the bluff while actually checking for tracks.  Turns out they made no effort to hide the trail and Chushi easily finds it and tells the others. We leave several behind to guard the village (2 players werent feeling well) and Ren was really hurt.  Villagers do not have the tithe so we have to get it from the bandits, plus most of us wanted to finish them off anyhow.

Happy Trails!

We follow the trail to the a point where we cant take the wagon any further and leave it to keep going. Bandit leader is tied up in the wagon (not sure why really but he might be useful)and Chusi leads us onward.  We pretty much stumble across the camp with us spotting it and they spotting us at the same time.  There hold up in a cave with a wide ledge.

We split the group, half going toward the cave, with Jian, Liang, and Donghai taking the farthest ledge since they have two bowman over there, plus some guards.

Mouse gets up first, followed by Bohi, and Ting, with Chusi being the slowest opted to stay behind.

Bohi gets one good but an archer cripples his leg and he isnt much use after that, Mouse kills several, Ting dispatches 3, including shoving two off the cliff. Chusi uses his spirit powers to turn the quivers upside down and disarming the archers (Telekinesis 6 so its too weak to grapple adults). Jian gets mauled but survives his death and consciousness checks and dispatches 3, while Liang and Donghai kill the ones that were attacking Jian. One was thrown off the ledge and Chushi tried to kill him but after finishing the fight on the ledge Liang made a flying leap off it to land on him with his spear. Ting was just a second to late to do his own flying leap from the other side.

So one seriously wounded on our side and a few with significant injuries vs. another 12 bandits taken out. Totaling 44 bandits, we cut off some ears for bounty and haul the wounded and goods back to the wagon.

The Spoils of War

We found some coin, the tithe, and misc gear and materials in the cave plus the bandits armor was quality leather.  We split the coin up into three parts, 1 to the village, 1 split among us, and 1 to the Order.  We figured they had been raiding several villages in the area so the village probably got more than was lost but we couldn't chase down the other villages.  After all we were running late!

We were chewed out for being two days late when we got back and the order took the weapons and armor but we got to keep our share of the coin plus will get some bounty money for the bandits.

Next week is sparring, and how well we do will influence if we get offered any special training our teachers take an interest in us.  If not we keep with the regular training we have been undergoing.

TTJP Season 1 Episode 14

 GM Link

Casting: Tiger Team!

• Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 11M; Smith and guy with huge sword
• Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 11M; Reckless grappler
• Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 11M; Noble, on the outs with family
• Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 11M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming more than creepy, despite possibly being insane. Perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers.
• Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 11M; Natural leader and archer.
• Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 11F; Sorcerer specializing in healing.
• He Bohi (Eleven) 11M; Twin, grew up near the docks.
• He Donghai (Twelve) 11M;, Twin, powerful grappler
• Ko Lanfen (Four) 11F; Solid Order devotee.
• Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 12F; Quiet and deadly with a knife.
• Meiyou Ren (Six) 11M; Also good with a blade, possibly any blade.
• Rang Baozhai (Ten) 14F; Our bookworm and nerd.

Update

So everyone has spent their saved experience and some bonus points from 3 years of training and are quite a bit better than we last saw them.  Note a few changes in the casting list for hints.

Jian Wu got stronger and added some Talents, perks and other things letting him do massive cutting damage to the neck.

Jiao Ting added more DR, ST, and some special traits letting him do more on his Slams (still a favored tactic) plus increased Judo and Karate and is good at Knee strikes.

He Donghai has become a vey good grappler.

Mouse got even deadlier with her knife, and does does Rapid Strikes to the vitals.

Meiyou Ren learned a Technique called Greater Whirlwind and used it to great effect.

Chushi added Awareness to Channeling, purchased Medium, TK 6, and Spirit Form. Also modestly increased his combat skills to 11, though still ST 8.

I didn't really get to observe everyone else's upgrades.

A Trip to Town

Our group is sent to bring back provisions from a nearby town, part of its tithe.  Its a week there and back and fortunately Chushi spent points learning Teamster so is no longer working from default.  Also now has Animal Handling (Equines) to help take care of the horses. And Zhige has Veterinary in case things get really bad for them, not to mention her sorcery.

Many in the group have obtained weapons from the groups blacksmith Jian Wu and we get some provisions and gear for the trip from stocks.

The first night out, were still in the valley but post guards as were in the woods and to get in the habit. Chushi hears something during his watch and signals Zhige who is also awake (all the PC's and several NPC's have Reduced Sleep so we dont need a full 8 hours rest) and goes to check it out. Recognizing its the sound of a Kharakara staff which has metal rings to scare away small animals (carried by some Buddhist priests) he goes to the road and observes an old woman. He stands out so as not to startle her and greets her and she in turn greets him by name and directs him to take her to the camp, naturally he does just that.

OOC There is some discussion how Chushu should not be allowed to stand watch anymore...

She enters camp where some have woken up and introduces herself as the Spirit of the Moon. Chushu nods, thinking of course she is and that explains everything. Some are a bit skeptical but most wise enough not to be too obvious about it and Chushu courteously offers her something to eat.

She sits down and explains the group is headed into trouble as the village is beset by bandits and were greatly outnumbered.  She offers to throw the bones for us, getting mildly annoyed with Zhige who can read them and silences her to keep from telling everyone what they say.

Note: Need to ask her to teach me how to read them too, as he only knows Fortune-Telling (Dreams).

She does get the bag of bones tossed to her as a gift though so the Spirit Lady is not very annoyed after all.  Also were all given a silver coin to toss in the water sometime after we survive and we can call on her.

Thats cool!

The Fight!

We do a bit of scouting and opt for most of the group going in the center across the main bridge with two small groups of flankers. There are 31bandits, a handful with bows.  Most clustered in the south around the village square, a few to the north.

Mouse, Zhige, and Ren head towards the north, Jian and two others flank from the south around some buildings and the rest head straight in. We get initivive and surprise them with some opening attacks as we drive across the bridge.

Its a long and brutal fight, 12 vs. 31  so I wont cover it all.

Ren accounted for the most deaths, though he also took the most hits. At one point he was fully surrounded by 6 bandits and killed 5 of them in an impressive Greater Whirlwind attack. I think he killed that remainder and 2 more before things were over.

Jian got the next most kills, mostly with a form of aggressive parry and his huge sword.

Mouse probably came in a close third, she was hung up on one guy who kept passing his death checks.

Everyone else got at least 1 kill except for Rang who stayed out of the fight and held the wagon.

Everyone (most of us are 11) did impressive against bandits in leather armor, showing why the Order earns its tithe.

We ended right after the fight as the game lasted longer than normal, about 5 and a half hours, much of that the fight.

Aftermath

Next time Chushi should probably threaten the dead bandit leader with an ignominious burial to see where their camp is and get the villagers back some of their stuff plus make sure there are no stragglers.