Casting: Tiger Team!
- Jian Wu (Two) (Christian) 16M; Our smith and all around craftsman, carries a huge sword and Master of Dragon Man Kung Fu.
- Jiao Ting (Eight) (Chris D) 16M; Reckless grappler; Black Palm
- Liang Jing Min (Five) (Randy) 16M; Noble, on the outs with family; Chinese Spear Fighting.
- Nongmin Chushi (Seven) (Rory) 16M; He talks to spirits, inquisitive and charming perhaps a wee bit too friendly to strangers. Shaman, Eagle Fist Chin Na!, Quarterstaff. Also Talker!, Artiste!, and Outdoorsman!
- Shang Yi (One) (Calvin) 16M; Natural leader and archer. Shedao
- Zhiyu Zhige (Nine) (Laurie) 16F; Sorcerer specializing in healing. Transcendent beauty and possibly descended from a fox spirit. Eagle Fist Chin Na.
- He Bohi (Eleven) 16M; Twin, grew up near the docks. Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on striking.
- He Donghai (Twelve) 16M;, Twin, Eagle Fist Chin Na, focused on grappling.
- Ko Lanfen (Four) 16F; Solid Order devotee. Tai Chi Chuan,
- Laoshu (Three aka Mouse) 17F; Quiet and deadly with a knife. Dagger Fighting
- Meiyou Ren (Six) 16M; Affectionately called the party blending machine and close to Zhige.
- Rang Baozhai (Ten) 17F; Our bookworm and nerd. Eagle Fist Chin Na and Xiangliu's Bite (Crossbow).
Jing Man Steals the Day
After the prior episode where we picked up a bunch of Shenshou and closed a portal to hell the group goes out looking for more trouble. This time we opt to check out the nobility and the GM had a bunch of social stuff planned. Jing Min (the only one who bought up his Sense Chi power) crits his roll and leads us directly to a 2nd portal to hell. We quickly kill or capture the few cultists and head in to close the portal from the inside. This one requiring blood to do so.
Zhige stayed behind with Rang to analyze the Shenshou to determine who should get what, if anything. Shang Yi tries to knock out one of the cultists (we wanted prisoners) with a bodkin arrow to the head - instantly killing him of course. We otherwise made short work of the cultists and demons.
Players Notes: Zhige was on study detail because the player was out sick, though I was still a bit salty and disappointed that the mage was assigned to figure them out over my shaman since they are spirit artifacts (plus he has decent Empire History and Research skills, but mostly it was the niche takeover). We all had a good laugh (and fun harassing him) over Shing Yi's player not knowing what a bodkin arrow was when he picked that arrow to use. The GM is learning to plan backup plots for us shortcutting things. A good die roll or unexpected creativity can derail a game session but its far better when the GM rolls with it than arbitrarily declaring it failed. Let the players have their moment, through luck or ingenuity - it makes for a better story and memory than implausible, or plausible but still obvious countermoves to keep things in line with the GMs plan
The Third Gate to Hell and a Plot Revealed!
After capturing a few cultists we interrogate them. Chushi is lead interrogator since he has Talker! and his default is pretty high, plus he has Detect Lies at a good level. We learn that there are 3 gates to hell and that they likely all have been opened already. Bones, Blood, and the final Flesh. Also the end goal is to get parts of an Orierary that can send one to any place or time. Also a 4th portal to heaven will open up. Details a bit fuzzy.
We head just out of town to seal the 3rd portal, cultists all gone but a dead family is in the barn with the skin all flayed off. These demons are tougher than the rest as they are big and strong with a flaming aura. Ting opts to slam one anyhow but his new shenshou protects him. We target the joints as they are made of stone and magma and take them down without serious injury. Chushi has to have the skin peeled off his arm to close the portal. A couple of others volunteer but he argues he has less need of the arm than anyone else in the upcoming fight and demands everyone stop arguing and get it over with before he loses his courage. Zhige numbs his nerves and bandages him but it has to heal naturally (no magic) so he will lose the use of it for about a month.
The group rests the night away on our return. Jing Min goes to pay off his debt by dating the Bunny Prince and Chushi distracts himself making a tassel for his spear with his spirit hands.
The Final Battle?
The third session we started an hour late than the GM lost his power so even though we all got an experience point for showing up I'm not calling an episode - GM may adjust the session count anyhow though. We made some basic plans and as far as I know the following shenshou have been handed out.
- Ting got a cestus that has some kind of protection aura.
- Jing Min has his spear. It is the only awakened item so far and declares its unimpressed with its bearer. So far it hasn't been dropped in a volcano though...
- Shang Yi got a bow
- Ren got a sword
- Rang and Zhige got some jewelry.
The character's dont know what the items do yet. The GM did retcon things and said Chushi can talk to the sentient ones and wake them up from their dormancy. The nonsentient ones he cant really talk to but Spirit Empathy will help him determine their impressions of potential bearers. So he will get a chance to use spirit communication, at least in the background.