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Session 5 We Get a Quest
So after slaying the giant 9 headed bird the group checks out the shrine. Its pretty and glows when they enter, but the caretaker has been killed and his head is in the central fountain. Gushou takes the head out and they bury it with Gushou preforming a burial ceremony. The place is infected with dark chi but the group is unable to figure anything out from the clues.
That is when the dragon of the lake shows up, hes a big one, SM+7 at least!
Gushou takes the lead in talking with it, though most have various questions. The dragon explains that there are several temples, one for each element (this one is Water) and that should the dark chi sorcerer infect all of them something very bad will happen. Something that hasn't happened for thousands of years. He asks the group if they will stop him and most of the group vow to do so. Then he asks Gushou to extend his arm and breaths on it. When hes done, Gushou has an animated map on his right arm showing the path to a temple with a powerful compass that can led them to the remaining temples.
Session 6 The Thunder Demon Encounter
As the group travels to the mountain temple they come across a shrine being attacked by a large demon. Only SM+1, though a refreshing change...
Shen Feng and Xhui close in to attack, Gushou stays 3 hexes away taking advantage of his weapons long reach, and An Rang uses hos shurikens.
It attacks first as they close in and Shen Feng reflects its lighting back at it. Unfortunately that causes it to grow to SM+2.
It dodges some of our attacks and deals heavy damage with its claws,plus using a Kiai attack to stun.
Its a tough fight, Xhui takes some heavy damage, as does his horse but Gushou manages to absorb the damage using his weapon.
Xhui uses his trademark Deceptive -5 (-10 skill) double attack to the neck. He does pretty good damage, though never enough to cut the neck off.
Shen Feng does the most damage using his butterfly swords for two strikes a turn with the largest damage of thr group thanks to his Power Blow ability.
Gushou lost 3 turns to being stunned from the Kiai and hits the third hardest of the group but hits the most often. He can do a Rapid Strike 2 for three strikes with each being a Deceptive Attack for -3 defense at a net -4 skill due to a combination of his wildcard skill (house rules grant the half bonus as additional penalty when using Deceptive Attack so -2 skill nets him that -3) and his weapons magic properties plus Weapon Master so he only takes -1 per extra Rapid Strike. In this case he gets +3 from Demon Bane and uses Flurry of Blows, halving that Rapid Strike penalty so he was able to make 7! strikes per turn, though it burns up a lot of fatigue. Definitely a sprinting type move when desperate!
He opted out of doing lightning damage :)
An Rang does the least amount of raw damage in the group but is able to strike from range and with precision. He blinded the demon which was an important contribution to taking it down, and dealt the finishing blow. Plus he heals us after, probably should keep him around :)
Speaking of which we lost the mermaid, turns out she was the dragons daughter and she stayed with him.
Session 6 The Mountain Shrine
The group reached a stand alone mountain with a narrow path headed up. After some delay while AnRang tried and failed to convince the group to haul his camping gear for him he settled on taking just a blanket and pillow. At the top we find a caretaker who tells us to meditate in the temple and thetrials will be the next day. Everyone except An Rang manages to meditate and he has a less restful night. There are to be four trials.
Trial of Mind goes to An Rang who has to solve a riddle, he passes but takes some lightning damage for a misstep.
Trial of Body goes to our strongest member Xhui who has to lift a really heavy statue. He passes.
Trial of Will goes to Shen Feng who has to stick his hand in the statues mouth and hold it there, despite increasing levels of pain. He also passes.
Trial of Combat is a duel which goes to Gushou. He has to play tag, first person to touch the other three times wins. Its among some rocks at a waterfall and if he loses he is told he will die. We end the session there as its getting late and the fight is expected to take a bit.
Overall we probably chose the best member for each fight, Shen Feng probably would have been better at the duel as his unarmed combat skills are the best in the group, possibly his Acrobatics too. However Gushou is easily the second best with Brawling -18 and Acrobatics -18 as well. This is likely to go down to whomever gets lucky, though Gushou has some wildcard and Destiny points saved up.
Aftermath
This is a highly cinematic campaign, using Chambara rules from GURPS Martial Arts, Extra Effort, Wildcard skills, high point totals, and artifact level weapons.
Te above details and other behind the scenes stuff I post help showcase some of the capabilities of GURPS. In this setting were duplicating feats from various Wuxia and Xing novels and movies. Think Jackie Chan, Untamed, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, etc.
Hopefully Gushou wins his duel, I rather like him. However I learned what I needed to about Kusari in GURPS so if I have to build a replacement I will, and go for something different. So far I am happy with his combat ability, he is third in damage but hits more often and at a better reach than most. Basically he is second or third place in pretty much everything the group has dealt with so far, though a bit disappointed in social aspect. Session 5 was supposed to be a social one but there were really no important skill rolls other than a HT roll to see if the map took. He was specifically told to be the Face man for the group but two others can handle it pretty well if needed and the leader tends to do it the most, fitting as party leader so no complaints.
Social capability in GURPS is pretty cheap points wise, he has 37 points in advantages, 30 points in musical skills, and 48 points in Talker! a wildcard skill that handles all the influence skills at IQ+2, leaving room for improvement. His advantages pull the biggest weight in this regard.
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