To whoever archived the last thread: thanks, but I was hoping to have the description be TOURNAMENT ARC again.

get ready to see him throw some flames at you and start off by throwing some shurikens at him

>>18988225
i mean shadow cannon balls, not shurikens

You start off by slinging balls of shadow at him!

(Attack roll = 19 + 1 for shadow burst = 20!)
Khan shoots off fireballs at you, but you barrage is too much, and pierces through them, smashing into him! “You’ve gotten better, Shun!” He crouches to the ground and kicks off, closing the distance in an instant! When he’s up close, fire erupts from his hands, and he spins around, making a cloak of flames around him! From the heat, a kick comes to sweep you!

(Defense roll = 9 + 1 for shadow burst = 10.)
You’re too slow, and the next thing you know, you’re on the ground! A fist comes sailing to smash into you!

(Defense roll = 15 + 1 for shadow burst = 16!)
At the last second, you roll out of the way as his flaming fist lands in the sand, glassing it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79gmwrgx7U8

back hand him with blinding strike and kick him away

You’ve got to blind him. It didn’t work too well last time, but it’ll give you an opening…!

(Attack roll = 16 + 1 for shadow burst = 17!)
Jumping from the sand, your fist collides with his chin, and the shadows crawl into his eyes, blinding him! Khan grins, and unleashes a quick roundhouse kick!

(Defense roll = 4 +1 for shadow burst = 5.)
And it lands in your chest! It… doesn’t really hurt, must be that endurance potion- but it does send you flying a few feet away! Regaining your footing, you see Khan screaming in fury at the heavens themselves, until inky black tendrils shoot from his eyes! He looks back down at you, green eyes ablaze.
Shit.

throw some shadow daggers at his legs while we close in on him and go hand to hand with shadow feint and counter his ass with elemental riposte if he lands a hit on us

>>18988575
Throw some projectiles as we close the distance, once we're close in use shadow feint.

Also he got rid of being blinded, what a jurk.

>>18988238
>>18988486

JESUS CHRIST
YOU DUMB DENSE MOTHERFUCKER!
HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES HAVE IT TO BE SAID TO NOT FUCKING USE SHADOW TECHNIQUES.
WHY THE EVER LOVING FUCK DO YOU THINK WE HAVE BEEN KEEPING IT SECRET FOR THE PAST MONTH?!
THE MAN WHO ORDERED THE KILL ON OUR SIFU IS STANDING OVER THERE AND LOOKING. YOU FUCKING IDIOT.

>>18988575
Hey, student, why are you holding on on us?
>+ 1 for shadow burst
we should have +2 bonus due to the agility belt. These fights are hard enough without you taking away the bonuses.

>>18988640
You only get the extra bonus when you're charging, since it makes you a lot harder to see.

>>18988646
that makes no sense
doesn't it increase the speed overall?

>>18988575
Charge towards him and attack using heavy punches and kicks. We should press on the assault while the endurance potion is active.

>>18988657
It increases movement speed. Your momentum gets going like a motherfucker once you start, but it takes a sec.

>>18988664
Hmm, this is decidedly different from what was said when buying the belt and from what was ordered. I didn't ask to give a speed boost that only works when building up the momentum, I wanted an overall speed boost that works all the time. Even the fluff text after we put on showed how it makes us immediately faster, now you say that it only has effect after a while?

>>18988682
You're right. Overall speed boost it is, I'll keep this in mind for later.

>>18988690
Cool. You can make it as you wish though but notify beforehand what exactly we're getting.

Anyway, lets continue the fight!
Press the offensive, with endurance potion we can neglect defense.

>>18988640
i was under the impression that we didn't need to hide anymore cause we used that giant burst of shadow riposte on the magic user

>>18988715
That was a mistake also. Now we have shown another technique.

Sigh, I guess it is late already.
Why the hell were you people so set on winning the tournament? Just BECAUSE we're the protangonist doesn't mean we have succeed at EVERYTHING.
Losing the tournament would have been okay as long as we didn't die.

You charge in, entering the Cold Phoenix stance, ready to strike!

(Attack roll = 7 + 3 for speed and cold phoenix = 10.)
Your fist goes for his knee, but he brings his leg up and kicks it away, and continues straight up for your chin!

(Defense roll = 4 + 1 for speed = 5.)
It knocks you up into the air! Shit, even with the potion, that still hurt! Underneath you, Khan kicks off, grabbing onto your flying body! This seems oddly familiar…

>>18988788
Aw shit.
The same trick wont work twice. Change back to Shadow Boost and break out of the hold.

>>18988788
Ok. Maybe we can use Shadowstalk, which lets us climb on walls, in order to get a better grip on him and flip this around. Otherwise Shadow Burst and break the hold.

>>18988828
Would it? We're in air and he has a hold of us. If that works on people too then we could do that.

You begin to shoot shadows from your arms and legs, trying to break his hold…

(Attack roll = 6 + 1 for shadow boost = 7.)
“Not this time!” the two of you start to careen to the sand, your head first!

Shit, I guess we sort of blew our cover on our shadow skills. That being said I think we should still avoid using obvious-ass shadow techniques likecreating shadow sords, knives etc. How big were the balls of shadow that we shot at him? Were they visible to the crowd?

The crowd probably saw that we shot some sort of balls at Khan but it probably wasn't visible what they were. And even if someone noticed that we are shooting an element they still do not know the extent to which we can manipulate shadows.

To simplify what I was thinking: Someone might have noticed that we can shoot shadow balls / pack shadow punches but we should hide the fact that we can create shadow weapons/what not. We still have at least an element of surprise of how well we control the shadows and how diverse our techniques are/will be.

That being said lets try to knock him unconcious with any free grasps.

>>18988895
since we're not being subtle anymore....
I guess cushion our blow with shadows

>>18988914
I don't understand why everyone cares about the crowd. The crowd is not the problem here, the Master Richard is, and you bet your ass he has noticed. I refuse to believe that he doesn't have supernatural senses and magic senses.

>>18988895
Grow personal shadow on the places where he's grabbing us, either to force his grip to slip and/or slice open his hands.

We're also going to want to make a cushion of shadow before we hit the ground. Given that we're spinning to the ground I don't think it'll be that noticeable in the crater we're about to make.

You’ve got to cushion the fall! Calling up another shield of shadows, you brace for impact…

(Defense roll = 5 + 1 for shadow burst = 6.)
It’s not strong enough for the sheer force of the drop, and it shatters beneath you as your skull smashes into the ground! Fuck… you roll over, eyes full of stars. Khan looks over you and says, “Feel like giving up?” What…?

>>18989020
We've lured him into a false sense of security, now's our chance. Kick him the balls, with tough shadow boots and either cold phoenix or shadow burst.

>>18989020
"You know the answer to that, Khan."

Charge him again, at the last moment use Deception to attack from a different angle, preferably from behind. Use shadow feint when attacking.
Use shadow riposte for the counter-attack if he lands a blow on us.

(if we have fucked up by revealing ourself the last to fight, no need to hold back anymore. We'll deal with the consequences later.)

You spit out a bit of blood dizzily. "You know the answer to that, Khan." He grins. You kick up at him, foot covered in shadow…

(Attack roll = 8 + 2 for shadow burst and speed = 10.)
(Attack roll = 4.)
It’s too obvious. He grabs your foot with both hands, and begins to spin around and around and around, dodging the shadow lance you had set up behind him… after a few seconds he lets go, and you fly into a marble wall, hearing a loud CRACK! When you flop on the ground, you glance at the wall, which has a massive crack in it from your impact. Ugh…

“You sure, Shun?” You look up at the grinning man who keeps his distance this time.

>>18989124

My spidy-sense tells me that there's gonna be some oh-so-hot fire coming our way. Kick up some dust to form a cloud if possible and prepare to evade.

>>18989124
I'm pretty sure Khan. Check the damages on us, if needed swig a potion. Get back into the fight. Once we get close, go invisible, he can see us while invisible but it will take him a second to switch to using his smell-o-vision, that should give us a chance to get a good crippling hit in.

Damn, the dice absolutely hate us this fight.

>>18989124
"Indeed"

Chuck a healing potion.

>>18989149
>Damn, the dice absolutely hate us this fight.

That's what I warned before. We should have not relied that we're going to win just because we're the main character.
As I said, we could have breezed through the fights or died on the first one.

>>18989149
Also be ready to use shadow riposte if he hits us.

fuck, lets pull out shadow feint if we havent already

>>18989274
We have. Just right now. It didn't work.

“Indeed.” As soon as you say that, a jet of fire comes streaming at you while the crowd goes nuts!

(Defense roll = 12 + 2 for speed and shadow burst = 14!)
In an instant, your hand throws up a mass of sand, blocking the fire and turning it into a glass sheet! You move to get up, but it’s hard… pulling out a health potion, you pop the cap and…

(Defense roll = 5 + 2 for shadow burst = 6.)
A leg kicks it out of your hand, and it spills red ichor all over the sand! “One more chance, Shun. Give up.” Khan looks serious for the first time. You spit blood onto the silky sand…

>>18989295
Whoops, that 6 is supposed to be a 7.

>>18989295
We're not giving up till we're knocked out.

He's close to us right now. Attack. Deception. Attack. Riposte.

>>18989295
In my position you wouldn't give up at this point now would you.

Get some hits in, use cloak of deception and shadow feint, we get some damage in we can get enough time to drink that potion.

>>18989326
We just used the feint, we can't use it again. It has 3 minute cooldown.

You cough wearily into the sand. “If you were in my position, you wouldn’t give up, now would you?” Khan chuckles in response, and brings his leg up to crush you, but it’s too late, you’ve already turned invisible. The crowd gasps as you disappear, while Khan begins to look around for you, slowly. Ten seconds is all you have.

It’s all you need to whip out a potion and drink it, the shadow dispersing just as it works its magic. Feeling everything going back to the way it should be, you stand up, energized. Khan glares at you and charges!

(Defense roll = 17 + 2 for speed and shadow burst = 19!)
Just as he gets into striking distance, you spin around him, and kick him into the wall! The force from it makes the crack widen even more, and he stumbles backwards, turning to face you!

>>18989413
HIT HIM WHILE HE'S DAZED!

Blunt force, of course. We are not going to kill him.

>>18989413
Keep on him, we've still got the endurance potion, and when that runs out our day will be much less fun.

He's dazed, follow up on this, shadow burst, gauntleted shadow hands made of personal shadow, the whole gamut. We can't give him a chance to catch his breath.

>>18989437
>>18989444

And again. Be ready for shadow riposte.

You need to keep going, before your potion wears off! Your shadow aids you, covering your hands, as you begin your final assault!

(Attack roll = 18 + 2 for speed and shadow burst = 20!)
A vicious blow lands square in his jaw! But… oh, shit, he’s grabbed your arm, and fire erupts from his hands as he returns the favor by exploding a fireball in your face, melting your mask a bit! Shit, it burns, you’ve got to take it off… jumping back, you quickly strip it off and throw it to the ground, still steaming. You had forgotten he’d taught you how to do that…

>>18989498
No defense roll?

Okay damn. Charge again. Well, it seems like we used up all of our active skills, the only thing is left is shadow riposte.

>>18989498
I liked that mask, it looked cool. How dare you.

Continue the assault, keep on bashing his face in, knock his brains about in his skull. If he gets a solid blow in use riposte, but for now all we can do is continue to hit him as hard as we can.

You don’t have much in the way of skills right now- looks like it’s just a slugfest…

(Attack roll = 20!!!)
While he’s still dazed, you burst forward with immense speed, grab his head, and smash it straight into the cracked wall, breaking it and going straight through! In the dark hallway, you hear the crowd outside yelling and hollering at your display. His head is bleeding profusely, but that doesn’t stop Khan from mounting his own attack…

(Defense roll = 1 + 2 for speed and shadow boost = 3.)
In an instant, he unleashes a devastating flurry of attacks that shouldn’t be possible with how much trauma he has! One hit fractures a rib, one smashes your shoulder, another trips you and you begin to fall, but he’s already got a grip on you and throws you out of the hole and clear across the arena! Bleeding, you get back up while he stumbles out of the hallway back onto the battleground. Damn, how is he still moving?!

>>18989604
Why didn't the counter-attack get used?

Anyway, this is pretty straight forward. No more skills to use so lets keep attacking. This has boiled down who the dice favours.

Is our armor useless or something? How come he keeps breaking our bones while we still have it on?

>>18989642
>Why didn't the counter-attack get used?
A 1 is a motherfucker.

>>18989604
Throw large shadow projectiles at his legs as he runs at us. We want to take his mobility out.
>>18989642
He flung us away from him and he breaks our bones because he hits really really fucking hard.

>>18989652
Also, you forget that you hit really, really hard for a guy who just uses his fists, and Khan hits even harder than you.

>>18989652
So?
What does it matter if it's a 1 or 20? It is an automatic defense.

>>18989664
I see. Cool.
We hit better than that javelin cannon that the guard had, right?

spit blood in his eyes and knockhim out

>>18989698
You cracked open armor that could withstand ballistae hits.
Khan hits harder than that.

>>18989722
Damn.

Anyway. Keep attacking.
Any chance a minute has passed since we used Deception the last time?

>>18989746
Yup.

>>18989758
Really?
Okay. Charge in, use the Deception BUT do not stop the charge, keep the attack going the same direction. With any luck he will thing we will try to attack from a flank or a side and try to protect from other side.

>>18989780
Also shadow riposte if he hits us

You charge at him, making it look like you’re going to flank him, but midway though, you disappear and head straight for the confused martial artist!

(Attack roll = 14 + 3 for sneak attack, speed, and shadow burst = 17!)
With a flying kick, your leg smashes into the side of him, knocking the wind out of him as he falls to the ground, rolling! He picks himself up instantly and his fist jettisons for you…!

(Defense roll = 5.)
Blue flames cover his fist as it strikes your chest, setting you ablaze! Oh SHIT you’re on fire, you’ve got to stop this now! Again, you bring your fist back, concentrating all of your shadow into it…

(Attack roll = 5 + 2 for speed and shadow burst = 7.)
Just as your palm is about to strike his face, he sidesteps it, and shadows explode out into nothing! He brings his fists up for a pile driver…!

(Defense roll = 14 + 2 for speed and shadow burst = 16!)
Like an illusion, you’re already out of his strike, standing next to him, still on fire! Fuck, fuck, fuck it hurts!

>>18989890
Whoops, didn't put the bonus on that first defense roll. A 7 wouldn't have succeeded anyway.

>>18989890
Is our endurance potion inactive already?
Any other techniques finished the cooldown yet?

>>18989913
Blinding strike.

>>18989890
Blinding strike. Don't give him the few seconds that he's need to remove it. Keep close, try to break his arm or something, don't let up.

>>18989926
Tell us when shadow feint is ready.

We're near him. Ignore the pain, attack him on his side.

smother the flame with some sand and blind strike him then get behind him and pummel him into unconciousness before he can get rid of the shadows with his flames

You’ve got to strike his side while you still have time…!

(Attack roll = 15 + 2 for speed and shadow burst = 17!)
Your palm smashes into his kidneys as darkness creeps towards his eyes again. Feeling it, he closes his eyes and tries to grab you!

(Defense roll = 11 + 2 for speed and shadow burst = 13!)
Nope! You duck under his grab and… feel the fire a lot more than you did a second ago! Oh, shit, the potion wore off and you’re still on fire! This is NOT good!

>>18989992
Rip the shirt off with our shadows while attacking him. I say try to kick him or roundhouse kick.

>>18990025
>rip the shirt off with shadows
Don't you have armor on?

>>18989992
Fight through the pain, bash his face in, try to knock him out or at least break something very important. Once he's severely disadvantaged or out that way we can stop drop and roll.

>>18990032
I mean the clothing parts of the armor. Which are the ones on fire, right?
We can't waste time putting the fire off or taking off the armor, so we should just do the next best thing....

>>18990067
Or we can fight through the pain. We'll heal up after this is over.

can't we just get rid of it with a hand full of sand?

>>18990123
This. Just try to finish quickly so we don't get too toasted.

>>18990149
>a hand full of sand
>your entire body is on fire

>>18990149
It will take action. We need to press the attack, hence the shadows, we can use them while attacking.

Though I'm chancing my suggestion to press the attack.

You’ve got to break his legs or something! The crowd roars as you punch his left knee…

(Attack roll = 19 + 2 for speed and shadow burst = 21!)
Khan yells out in pain and fury as you shatter his kneecap! Now’s your chance…!

>>18990158
i thought it was just our chest on fire.
our whole fucking bodys on fire?!

fuck yeah, now upper cut him and take him out!

>>18990183
Finish him off, given that we're on a time limit due to being on fire and out of endurance potion. Either get him to concede or beat him unconscious.

Once that is done we should focus on not being on fire anymore.

>>18990217
He is not going to concede. Stop wasting time and press the assault.

>>18990217
knock him out, don't ask for a surrender, they're always so eager to fight til the end

>>18990032

Fire needs oxygen to burn. Encase the fire with shadows and it will die out in no time. I guess using shadows is no secret anymore so if we can manipulate such a large shadow do it.

Damn captcha, I thought I already posted this but turned out otherwise. Well... Since we got his knee we have two options

a) Get a bit back and extinguish flames
b) end it now

I'm in favour of a) If we fail the next roll we are coming close to burining to death, we might have incapacitated Khan and if he doesn't have a health potion or something we can still knock him out.

>>18990254
If we fail now, we retreat to the other side of the arena and put down the fire and drink a potion.

Shit, you’ve got to end this now, you can’t take this fire anymore!

(Attack roll = 8 + 3 for speed, immobilized opponent, and shadow burst = 11.)
He blocks your punch to his neck with his arm! Jumping back, you drop to the ground to put out the fire… and you hear a poof. A poof? With an explosion of fire and smoke, Khan appears above you, bringing his calloused fist down on you yet again! Oh, hell no!

(Defense roll = 15 + 2 for speed and shadow boost = 17!)
You roll out of the way, but his arm bends at an impossible angle to continue the strike!

(Defense roll = 10 + 2 for shadow boost and speed = 11.)
His punch rains down like a meteor on your leg, breaking the bone underneath, and you scream as your brain explodes in pain!

>>18990351

Damnation. Do we still have a health potion and will it heal our bone or at least stop some pain?

>>18990351
>roll 12
>still get hit

FFFFFFuck. Khan is badass.
Now we both have broken bones.

Any chance Deception cooled down again? How about shadow Feint?

Anyway, jump the fuck away and chug a potion. (how many have we left anyway? By my count we should have 3)

>>18990400
You've got 3, and yes.

>>18990351
He's in this close, put him in a shadow enhanced choke hold, neither of us is really going to get anywhere. Keep behind him and keep a barrier of shadow between us and him to help with the flames he's going to put off.

>>18990406
Deception is good to go, feint isn't.

>>18990351
Has shadow riposte become available? That was one hell of a blow we received. I say pack a huge punch (with riposte if possible) to get him off us/daze or knock him out and drink a potion if he's still standing.

>>18990437
Waste deception to drink potion

do deception, drink from behind him and immediately attack him in the back of the head

Shit… neither of you are going anywhere, not with your broken legs. Even if you went invisible, you wouldn’t be able to move far enough to stop his attack…

His fist, his entire body weight thrown into this one punch, comes rocketing for you, while you get your good leg ready for a kick…!

(Attack roll = 17 + 1 for shadow burst = 18!)
(Defense roll = 8 + 1 for shadow burst = 9.)
His unstoppable blow smashes you straight in the chest, while you kick him right in his broken knee! Both of you yelling in pain, agony, and fury, your fists lock back, fire and shadow coalescing! Your palms collide, darkness and heat erupting into the battlefield, as both of you put your entirety into this one, final blow…

(Defense roll = 6 + 1 for shadow burst = 7.)
(Attack roll = 7 + 1 for shadow burst = 8.)

You give out first. Your shadows aren’t enough to stop his onslaught, and his fist smashes into your palm, breaking your arm and scorching your entire upper half. Dazed, confused, and in incredible amounts of pain, the edges of your vision turn black as you see Khan stand up, hair billowing in the wind…

>>18990566
Well, balls. Not much we can really do right now. We have a broken arm and leg. I don't think we can pull off any attacks at this point, if we can shadow feint him and try to take our what is left of his legs, worth a shot to bring him down with us.

>>18990406
>jump away
>>18990458
>go invisible while you can't move
>>18990513
>attack from behind

>your leg is broken

>>18990574
Jump away using one leg. How is that impossible?

You seem to think that by losing function of one limb the entire body gets useless. If someone like me can jump away and hop on one leg half the speed I can run, Shun should be able to do that even better at least for few seconds.

Here. Use one leg to propel and back spin, use our hands to push even further, then turn invisible and chug a potion.

>>18990566

Well fuck, I guess that makes us even unless we are still able to stay concious.

Although I must ask? We hit him twice with attack rolls of 20 wihtout causing significant damage. Is he seriously that good?

>>18990592
You were also on the ground, too. I cannot even fathom jumping on one leg while you're prone.

>>18990599
You DID cause significant damage. You smashed his head through a goddamn marble wall. Attack rolls of 20 just hit really hard, it's the natural 20s that do crazy shit.

And he is that good. You've taken some hard hits too, you know.

>>18990605
There's a lot it seems you can't fathom.

>>18990605
Even better. I suppose we were on our back? Hit off with the leg that works back flipping while pushing off with the arms.
Or roll away, I don't know.

Anyway, I'm not mad that we lost though. But we did aim to drink potion first.

>>18990566
And again, you didn't use the agility belt for the bonus. Not sure it would help but come on.

I suggest we go out drinking with Khan when we come to.

>>18990636
Drinking the potion would've set you up for some major hits. Khan was able to close the distance and kick it out of your hand, what would he do when he's already on top of you?

>>18990624
>>18990649
I'll admit, I fucked up a bit here.

>>18990585
well sorry for panicking, my boy shu just got set on fire and a broken arm

god damn kahn

>>18990661
Doesn't matter, I didn't actually think we were going to win the tournament anyway. I am pissed at people from previous threads insisting on using shadow techniques. If not for that, I would be completely content.

I'm sure we can meet Khan again and fetch the ride to Holy City together.

You feebly raise your arm, trying to get off a shadow lance, sword, ANYTHING, but… your world turns black.

You awaken in your room, a healer tending to you. “Hello. You took quite a beating there.” You nod, and hold your sore head. You sure did…

“He won, didn’t he?” The healer nods, silently, and you sigh. All that effort for nothing. Oh well. You can’t do anything about it now, unfortunately, so you lay back and relax while you get healed. After a few minutes, Hank stands in the doorway.

“Shun, High Master Blaine wishes you to join him at dinner with Khan tonight.” Wait… what?

>>18990681
well our boy used that shadow counter thing on his own, at that point it really didn't matter. you know how fucking smart, that guy we were trying to hide from was, we could have either kept up trying to hide it after it was very clearly shown or say fuck it and try and win this tournament.

fuck maybe we can bullshit him or something though, tell him our master was mortally wounded and we left to explore as his last wish or something

We just got our ass kicked by an idiot. A guy as strong as three rhinos, but still an idiot.

This is embarrassing.

>>18990718
That sounds like a plan. And I'm also a fan of free dinner.

>>18990718
"...Come again?"

>>18990718
Tell him to fuck off, we don't need his pity

seriously though, would it be smart or inevitable?

Again, I must express my hatred for the dice. I'm feeling less and less inclined to write elaborate plans when a massive plan the size of a paragraph and and a plan of single word "attack" boil down to stupid dice rolls.

>>18990718
"Do I have to?"

When do we have the date with Erin?

>>18990748
In a couple of days. The dinner is tonight.

>>18990728
Yay, MAA, guy!

I'm pretty cool with losing to Khan, now we are tied in our matches. Anyways, it's not about getting knocked down but getting back up. I'm sure our master has given us enough beatings to have learned that by now. Could be cool to bro up with Khan at some point, either to travel the Darklands or across the Starry Sea.

>>18990751
I guess we'll agree then.

Ask where Khan is. We should meet him up and go drinking together. Make him pay since he won the tournament.

>>18990748
Half the time, our plans are scarcely followed to begin with. I often find myself CAPS SHOUTING at Student because he didn't follow a particular point of the plan for some reason.

>>18990769
Sorry, it's difficult to go with a plan of action when I've got to read 5 ideas at once. I'm not sure how other quest runners do it.

>>18990789
>throw a dagger and charge him
>"You throw a dagger."
WHERE'S THE CHARGE, STUDENT?

>>18990769
Because of the dice rolls, I suspect.

That's why I'm peeved for not always using the agility belt bonus. We're having troubles enough already.

>>18990789
It's okay. We're just frustrated. We're not really really angry at you

>>18990803
Just as an example.

>>18990803
>throw a dagger and charge him
>throw a dagger
>GO INVISIBLE BRO
>throw a dagger
>SHADOW FEINT

OH GOD ALL I CAN DO IS THROW A DAGGER

That doesn’t make sense. You didn’t win. "Do I have to?"

“If you feel like refusing the most powerful man in Terec, nothing is stopping you.” So that’s a yes, you figure. “Why would you? He’s an enlightened man, it should be a pleasure to speak with him.” Maybe, but that doesn’t make you any more receptive to the idea.

>>18990819
"Urgh. Guess I'll have to.

Where's Khan?"

>>18990819
Well, the least we could do is entertain the bugger.
"All right. I'll bite. Where's this dinner, and when does he want me?"

don't go

>>18990819
Well, I'm not going to refuse free food. Also it'll be good to have drinks with Khan.

When and where?

>>18990814
Well, you could use at least one of the plans instead of ignoring them all and using half-coocked plan.

>>18990804
This. It's never fun to lose, especially to a dork like Khan. Let's get on with the quest or call it a day if necessary!

To what degree is our armor damaged? Do we have to take it to the workshops to fix it?

Also should we prepare somehow for the dinner with High Master Blain? Should we wear our armor in case of an ambush or a violent turn of events? I'd at least like to try and find Khan before the dinner to have a quick chat.

You shake your head, still in a little bit of pain. "Urgh. Guess I'll have to. Where’s Khan?”

“Getting healed from the number you did on him.” Good to know that he didn’t just walk away from that fight.

“Where's this dinner, and when does he want me?" He waves his hand at you.

“Don’t worry about it. You and Khan will be escorted when your wounds are healed. The High Master is already at his home.”

Goddammit, you don’t like this one bit, and you’ve got an ominous feeling…

>>18990850
He's saying use the one plan that is most tactically sound instead of just balking and using the lowest common denominator.

Alright, this is a good place to stop, since I'm already a little late for work.

I'll see you guys Monday! I'll answer questions/comments/criticisms when I get the chance, so don't hold back!

>>18990857

"What? Right now?"

>>18990877
See >>18990874
The players are giving you plenty of options, and they're not meant to compete against each other. Don't use the single lowest common denominator in devising a strategy. Use what's given and make what Shun believes is the most tactically sound plan.

>>18990877
Damn. No thread tomorrow?

>>18990907
FoSQ's normal schedule is every Monday and Friday.

>>18990882

Seems a good cliff-hanger really.

>>18990877

At some point tell us if we have to do some repairs to our armor. Did the armor actually break frmo the damage we took or did our bones break under the armor?

>>18990857
then what the hell are you doing shun?!
get the fuck out of there!

>>18990922
>At some point tell us if we have to do some repairs to our armor. Did the armor actually break frmo the damage we took or did our bones break under the armor?

We should claim false advertisement. "You said it can withstand 1000 mace attacks. It broke with a single hit!", all of which is technically true.

>>18990921
I thought it was all weekend. Oh well.

>>18990971
Nah. The tournament just ran long, that's all. I guess Student just wanted to knock it all out at once.

Thread is archived, FYI.

>>18990922
Armor took a bit of damage, but that can be fixed.

Also, could you direct me to some quests that run combat in a way you prefer? I've really just been making it up as I go. And I've noted that the speed belt gives a +1 to attack and defense at all times, no questions asked.

>>18990971
It's just a day! I don't want to burn myself out like I did when I started.

>>18991020
I've been pretty happy with what you've come up with so far. Although I do like the idea that well made plans would make success easier. I haven't followed so many threads so I wont be able to direct you in that sense but I'll make a suggestion: If we have absolutely conflicting views and can't agree on what to do perhaps we should roll to see which choice is carried out or gets most support?

>>18991118

There is the slight feel that our success is dominated by luck rather than good planning. Is it possible to boost rolls if we come up with a good or innovative plan?

>>18991118
He's done that throughout the first half of the quest. That just makes things a little awkward. It stands that Student and the posters should rationalize out the strategies so that something can eventually be agreed upon.

>>18991141
The whims of the d20 are merciless and cruel. Everything we shoot for can be hosed in an instant by a bad roll. That and even our better rolls scarcely have any effect on certain opponents.

>>18991141
The funny thing is that Student was at one point convinced to replace the d20 with 3d6 since the d20 was too swingy.
He switched back because the 3d6 was TOO NORMALIZED.

>>18991176
Maybe 2d10? It's not as swingy but there is a lot mroe variability than 3d6.

>>18991190
Could be worth a try. But i'm not really one to say. I don't have prior experience with anything else than d6's :P

>>18991020
>Also, could you direct me to some quests that run combat in a way you prefer?

Golem Quest on tgchan. It never, or at least almost never uses dice.
The quest is gargantuan. It will take you AT LEAST a week of dedicated reading to read all of it (as in, wake up, read till you pass out, wake up next day, repeat)
http://tgchan.org/wiki/Golem_Quest

But to give you a sample of the fighting, I'll link to the part where a side character has a Tournament Arc

http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/222777.html#229979

Half-way through that post you'll see this:
>......................................................PERSPECTIVE SHIFT: KEDDIC......................................................

Start from there and pretty much till end of the thread.


Now, the way we have your quest and they way that GQ used to run is very different. Here, we have several hours long of dedicated session while in GQ there would be a single massive update per day. So you don't have to copy it.

>>18992189

Please don't become unmotivated due to our whining. You're doing a great job, we just would like the quest to be better and better.
But if you continue to use Dice as Beginning to All, End to All and the Law that cannot be broken, do not become surprised when the players become less and less original and stop thinking during the fights. It is really painful when we can have situations like these:

-We make an extremely thought out plan. We predict every single move. We use weapons and our body in such creative and original ways that mankind did not think possible. We study our opponent weeks in advance, getting to know his mentality perfectly. We even employ psychological attacks., etc etc
>Rolls: 6, 3, 7, 1, 1
>Oh I'm sorry, you got your shit absolutely thrashed by a low-level scrub

On the other hand:
-Attack! Attack! Evade! Potion! Attack till he stops moving! xD
>Rolls: 17, 16, 18, 17, 20
>Holy shit, you just beat and ancient, elder dragon with your fists! Good job!

I have never DM'd or run a quest in my life so I do not know the perils of being one. I suspect it is a hard job. Don't let me get to you. I'm just an armchair DMing right now.

>missed the last two days' worth of FoSQ
God
Damn.

I guess it's time to read the archives, could I get a link or something?

>>18992189
Holy shit, those are some massive walls of text. It looks like there's no real way to fail, given how much anonymous likes to plan ahead. I think the only way I could make it work here would be to throw incredibly overpowered opponents at you (not that I haven't already).

>>18991190
2d10? Hell, it's worth a shot, isn't it?

>>18992202
It's a lot easier when you have an established system and people who know how to work it and have the mentality of what to expect. Like, for D&D, sometimes the dice fuck you over. But then again, the dice fuck you over in any tabletop game, right? The gambler's aspect is one of the draws.
But this isn't a tabletop game, even if I am drawing inspiration from one. So should there even be dice? I could go the Katawa Yandere route and have a small list of choices that alter the outcome of the storyline. But that would limit your freedom and creativity, and that would be even worse.

I can't do anything that doesn't have its flaws. But that isn't an excuse to not try and improve, is it?

>>18993082
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Fist%20of%20Shadow

Here you go, bro.

>>18992189
>go to that wiki
>see the list of characters
>scroll
>scroll
>scroll
>list of enemies
>scroll
>scroll
>DEEP SPAWN

Jesus christ how the fuck can one man do all this shit

>>18995487
>Holy shit, those are some massive walls of text. It looks like there's no real way to fail, given how much anonymous likes to plan ahead.
Yeah, I think entire quest is at least 1.5 million words of worth. And it wasn't even finished, not by a long shot.
Oh but there are ways to fail..... though now that I think about it, I'm not sure if there were spectacular failures like Shun had. Though, that is most likely because people always took smart choices and made very good plans. There were some really smart guys playing along.

>I could go the Katawa Yandere route and have a small list of choices that alter the outcome of the storyline.
Nah, that's bad, don't do that.

>The gambler's aspect is one of the draws.
To be honest, I absolutely hate that aspect. I prefer verisimilitude over dumb luck. ... Like that fight with the Mucktouched for example, you gave all the hints that we should absolutely avoid that fight, that if we fight it we'll die but people ignored them and went to fight anyway and won through sheer luck. But at later fights, going against much easier opponents, we've had some really shit rolls and got thrashed in one way or another. That's why in the beginning people were eager to take on fights but then started doing their best to avoid them, like not going to Hell's Gate

>>18995573
>Jesus christ how the fuck can one man do all this shit
Heh, this is the quest that guy does right now
http://tgchan.org/wiki/Guns_for_Hire

I still prefer GQ though.

>>18996933
>I'm not sure if there were spectacular failures like Shun had.

To be honest, I LIKE those failures. I could try and rationalize it, but you could easily pick it apart. Schadenfreude is my shit. Can't get enough of it, but I can certainly see why you guys are less than keen on it. But without some degree of failure, it turns into "watch Shun as he beats the shit out of everything in his path" which I think is far less interesting.

>you gave all the hints that we should absolutely avoid that fight

Really? I was just trying to hype it up (and did it too well, apparently), but I wasn't trying to imply that you'd get your shit pushed in and you should avoid at all costs.
Those were the Squats.

>>18997091
You misunderstand me. I didn't mean to say that failures are in any way bad. Failures are good, failures can be entertaining and can teach us something as long as we feel we deserve that failure. For example, the whole deal with stealing the shard, running away getting lost in Cave of Nightmares and subsequently needing to escape through Tomb of Horrors and paying dearly to get out of it alive. THAT was a good failure. It was completely the fault of the players. You don't see anyone complaining about it, we made a stupid, impulsive, short-sighted decision and we paid for it (seriously, I supported it even though RIGHT before we met that asshole, I noted that the entire Dawn Chaser tribe was there BEFORE the shard fell, meaning that they can sense and have premonition of these things, meaning that they can follow us due to the shard). When the player feel that the failure is because of his poor planning, then it is a good failure. When we fail because the Dice Say So no matter how good we are and how great of a plan we made, then it is shit.

Like having troubles fighting few low-level bounty hunters who are practically no different from bandit scum, at least in terms of expertise? I mean, at what age did Shun start training? 4? How old is he now? 17? 18? He spent about 14 years of his life completely devoted to honing his body, mind and soul towards his style, stealth and combat. I'm sorry to say this again, but I do not think you understand what kind of a big deal 14 years of constant training is.

>>18998600
Look, if I spent 14 years of my life completely devoted to, lets say, teak-wan-do, spending literally every waking minute improving my skill, who are you going to bet on if I was assaulted by 4-6 street muggers (with no firearms)? I personally know a guy who beat off about 10 people, putting several of them in hospital and he is not even a martial artist, he is just a strong, fearless guy.
Or say a Navy Seal, fully equipped with guns, ammo and armor finds himself transported through time and needs to fight 2 dozen of cavemen. I'm not saying that he cannot absolutely not lose. Like you said, many things can be changed by luck but a damn 1d20 is not an indicator of luck. According to it, the Navy seal can lose 9 out of 20 times, 3 out of which would be a great loss while 2 out of which will be tremendous loss, completely wrecking his shit. For the Seal to lose in that scenario his the odds should be astronomically high in number, not 1 out of 20.

Okay, lets have a no combat scenario. Imagine a carpenter, his father was carpenter, his grandfather was a carpenter. Since he was 6 years old he started learning tricks of the trade. He went to carpeting school. Entered Carpeting university, got a PhD in Carpeting, spent 20 years working as a carpenter. Now imagine we're playing that carpenter after all that and we have to hammer in a nail. Would you have us roll for that? 1d20 where there is 9/20 chance he will fail to hammer the nail and 1-2/20 chance he will fail so hard he will break his fingers? This is the situation that Shun keeps finding himself in.

>>18998605
Stop calling Shun a 'student' as if he is a freshman. He might be a student of his secret arts but on grand scale of things he is an 'expert' at at best, 'journeyman' at worst.
Having trouble with fighting Khan? That's okay. Trouble with that 3-time champion girl? Okay. Trouble with the best guard of the city decked in the best equipment and probably using potions? Okay.
Those are good. THOSE ARE FINE. Losing those fights is great because we feel that we went against a stronger foe and lost. Trouble with couple of bandits? NOT OKAY. ESPECIALLY when it comes to stealth. I know you said you wont roll for stealth again.... but then you went and did it again after you said you wont!

I know you think that it would make things 'easy'... but that's the point! It should be easy. Shun spent 14 years of his life dedicating every second improving his martial skills, his secret style and stealth. He should not be handicapped and punished by dice just because. This is not a video game, because it is starting to resemble more and more a jRPG rather than a Quest or PnP game.
Even Khan shouldn't be able to break our stealth easily. I know he is an amazing martial artist but it is painfully obvious that he is a POWER built with no sense of subtlety. Shun's skill at being hidden should far outclass Khan's skill at detecting shit, because he was not trainedspecifically for that. The only people who should be able to locate Shun when he does not want to be seen should be people who are trained for that kind of thing while being good at it and people who have powerful supernatural senses, spells and/or detection equipment.

>>18998632
You asked to give you a link to a quest which we find does combat better. I gave you Golem Quest, because that is a game where things work 'sensibly'. The main character of that game could take on an army of Shuns, Khans and Champion Girl, utterly destroy them and eat their souls (seriously the it eats souls to empower itself) and they would not be able to even land a scratch on it. Shit, several side-characters could do that too. Why am I bringing this up? Because in that game we would not have to roll for that, heck, it would have been auto-resolved because the difference in power is so great.
Another good example of quest with no dice mechanic would be Void Quest (look it up on suptg)

Here, we must take a risk literally doing everything. I still cannot fathom why stealth is not auto-success. Making Shun roll for it is like making him roll to successfully eat food, or walk, or breathe. Same applies to combat when he is fighting against opponents leagues below his level. Does his opponent has the skill equivalent to Shun's 14 years of training? No? Then he should be of no problem.
Having us keep failing to bring down a blinded, handicapped, unarmed, scared man (who is also less combat capable in his best form) due to retarded dice is stupid.

The way you keep using dice for every single thing, makes stealth more of an handicap at worst or a sub-par skill at best. The way I see it, I would trade Shun's training for an OVERWHELMING power style like Khan has. That way we wouldn't even need stealth and would be more successful in fights.

>>18998600
>>18998605
>>18998632
>>18998647

Phew. What a wall of text. Sorry about that.
Again, I love this quest even the way it is but you asked for criticism so here you have it. Even if you don't change anything, I'll keep following it.

Really, remember how I said it will kill imagination of the players? After the fight ended some ideas starting popping up in my head. Like for example, the broken leg should have not been a problem to Shun, because he can literally make a cast out of shadows and use that instead of his leg. Of course, the problem with that is that it would ALSO require roll, making us waste an action that could be used for an attack.
So there you go. Don't let the fight devolve in mindless dice rolling. You might as well save time by just rolling couple of dice in advance skipping the whole fight saying if we won or lost.

>>18997091
>Really? I was just trying to hype it up (and did it too well, apparently), but I wasn't trying to imply that you'd get your shit pushed in and you should avoid at all costs.

I must have misunderstood then. It did seem like it was a doomed effort from what we kept hearing about the much-touched.

>I could try and rationalize it, but you could easily pick it apart.
Speaking of picking fights apart. How come Khan was still standing after we literally punched his head through the marble wall AFTER we landed a perfect hit on his head AFTER we made a perfect counter-attack?
Don't tell me he changed so much in just over a month, we beat him in previous fight with a pile dive, I'm pretty sure punching through marble wall does much more damage than that.

>>18998738
EXPLAINED IN THE NEXT QUEST!

>>18998605
>>18998600
>>18998632
>>18998647

You raise excellent points. I've been underestimating, and therefore underplaying, Shun's power level, so to speak. I've had us nearly effortlessly defeat 20 trained martial arts students at once without a single roll, so why would I make you roll for a band of hunters?

I'm going to see how the next quest plays out without using any dice. It never hurts to experiment.

>>18999630
Was he also using an endurance potion?

>>18999731
Rolling for hard fights is okay. Like all of the tournament fights, still, it would do good to be rewarded for good/original plans.

>>19001489
Let's just say that the cloak isn't just a fashion statement.

>it would do good to be rewarded for good/original plans.
Such as extra bonuses?

>>19002063
Oh I see. He had it enchanted. Good for him.

>Such as extra bonuses?
Yeah, that could work. The better the plan the better the bonus. Of course the quality of the plan and the size of the bonus is reserved for your judgement.

Damn, I really want to play right now.

>>19002153
Tomorrow, my friend!
... although I may start working Mondays tomorrow. I'll find out tonight. If I am, then I'll start it tomorrow morning and keep going through Tuesday.

>>19002174
Heh, alright.

You at work now?

>>19002222
Getting on 4chan at work? That's irresponsible, and impossible, given that I make pizza.

>>19002455
Landing Gear runs MSQ from his work. Slacking off work is great!