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unseenlibrarian
Jun 4, 2012

There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.
So, before I try the dumb thing I'm going to try, what are the odds that the wormtamer tunnels run this far, given the folks we ran into at the crossroads went in another direction and still made it into town?

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grassy gnoll
Aug 27, 2006

The pawsting business is tough work.
I guess that depends on what you've got planned. If you're going to just cap her to keep her from mortally wounding your friend, you don't really have to worry about digging out some substructure. You can always spoil whatever it is if you're feeling particularly dramatic.

unseenlibrarian
Jun 4, 2012

There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.
I wasn't going to shoot her directly because I figured Tankyuusha wouldn't appreciate that. But if there's a likelihood of tunnels being here, I figured 'Shoot the ground where she's standing and drop her in the resulting hole."

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
Yurie is just going to step in the way of the attack if it gets that far, relying on her Undying and hoping that's enough. If necessary, I'll drop the traditional Kiai to redirect the attack to her.

grassy gnoll
Aug 27, 2006

The pawsting business is tough work.
Crossroads

The oni strikes, and there is a terrible roar as the entire world shifts.

Oni bounty hunter attacks with crazy-rear end oni magic. Tankyuusha cannot defend, but can dodge.

Attack: 6 sux, success reroll 5, total successes 11.

11 successes + 15 = 26 damage.

Others can attempt to defend Tankyuusha and reduce the bounty hunter's successes by dropping a kiai to effectively act out of initiative order. Blowing everyone up with Falling Star Shot may work, but may have collateral damage. Yurie gets the sense that whatever oni hoodoo the hunter's using may affect her vulnerability - tanking may not be a wise idea on this one.

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
Tankyuusha
Aiki: 0 | Kiai: 9 | Kiai Spent: | Kongohki: Sealed Memory 4 | Goal: Find the Oni Girl 3 | Emotion: Criminals Are a Cowardly and Superstitious Lot 3 | Costs: 2 | Misfortune: Who Have I Hurt? 4 | Emotion: I Must Protect My Friends At All Costs 2
Overdrive: 8


Have none of you been paying attention to my rolls? I GOT THIS!

Evasion (Overdrive): 13d6u3+2 10
Evasion (Overdrive): 10d6u3+10 13

Tankyuusha moves with such speed, sidestepping away then returning to where he stood, that for all appearances the blast went straight through him.

"Send your attacks at me - they will pass me by time and time again, until you tire or answer. I was made to battle. But I am not here to do so. I will not take arms against you. Never have I attacked an Oni, nor shall I start today. I do not know who I am, but I know who I am not."

grassy gnoll
Aug 27, 2006

The pawsting business is tough work.
Crossroads

The oni woman stares at Tankyuusha, open-mouthed. Dirt and scrub drift down through the air around you all, a remnant of the explosive strike fueled by oni magic. A small earthquake just got channeled through a sword which struck with the speed of a landslide, and the kongokhi wasn't even touched.

The bounty hunter staggers back as if struck. "How..."

Then she pauses, staring at Tankyuusha's chestplate. A very tired expression creeps onto her face. She stabs her own blade into the packed soil of the road, then meets Tankyuusha's eyes. The machine and all around him can tell the fight's gone out of her.

"I suppose you have your answer, as best as anyone can give you, then. I don't know who you are, or were. I wasn't sure at first what you were. But I know what's inside of you."

The oni waves at the kongohki, like brushing aside a fly. "You carry the heart of one of my clan, though they're reduced to mindless whispers by now. Not that I can do anything about it, apparently."

Why can't I loving kill any of you? :argh:

sentrygun
Dec 29, 2009

i say~
hey start:nya-sh
Shinobu
Aiki: 2 | Kiai: 9 | Soul: 24/24 | Goal: Pursue (Percieved) Objective 2 | Secret: Plagued by Amnesia 4 | Destiny: ? ?

This might end in some ghost nonsense and/or yelling, probably nothing big. Shinobu begins patting parts of her outfit, taking inventory of what she's got left. Almost certainly more than enough of everything, but it's a good way to pass the time.

Then the oni shoots an earthquake with a sword. Guess that's kind of ghost nonsense. Shinobu's caught completely off guard by it, enough so that she doesn't even have the time to do any sort of ninja tricks. She just dives off to the side, flumping into the dirt. After all, the earthquake didn't seem to stop at Tankyuusha. She picks herself up and scrubs some mud off her face. "Wait, that was doing nothing about it? I thought the dogs were bad enough! But... Well, I won't pretend to understand what's going on with the armored ghost, but you're here to get something from it and it's no longer really recoverable?"


Shinobu glances between the Oni and Tankyuusha, tapping her cheek both to think and to get some of the dirt off of it. "It's looking for something and doesn't know what, you're looking for something but it's not what you really wanted even if you can get it. Hmph. There's no such thing as coincidences in Tenra. I won't pretend to be some scholar on oni, but I'd be surprised if the secret to recovering that mad heart isn't locked up inside of it. And it looks like you're the best lead it has, if you know what's inside it better than it does. You haven't stricken me as the type to make friends, but if you can tolerate this thing long enough, maybe you'll be able to help it along the path it wants to take, and in doing so, heal that tortured soul. Wouldn't be the strangest story."

Shinobu tosses a doll of herself from hand to hand as she continues. People usually listen when she talks, but she's rather... uncertain if she's talked to oni in the past. Or even how many times she's run across this one. Feels like more than just under Iezane, but it's muddy. More importantly, having a substitute in hand would be nice if magical resonant earthquakes start getting flung around more in her direction.

"Might sound a bit sappy, but look at the alternative. The heart isn't known to live long outside its body. This surrogate could be the only thing letting your clan cling on to life. Bust it open and you serve your vengeance, but let fly all the unanswered questions tinned into that can. Considering it doesn't seem to want to harm you, there seems to be little harm in keeping it convenient and at hand."


Empathy: Work Together: 8d6u4 4

Talking things through between the two murder mcgees, because Persuasion is supposed to be the other thing Shinobu's really good at. Also, aiki to Yurie for continuing to remind me that aiki exist and that I should be giving them out, and one to Tankyuusha for cheating and out ninjaing the ninja.

grassy gnoll
Aug 27, 2006

The pawsting business is tough work.
I am going to leave that decision up to you guys and whether or not you realize the ramifications of such an act in character.

Also, it turns out the OoC thread's fallen into the archives! This game is really long as it turns out. So, to be blunt, I've been trying to find a way to gracefully end the game for months. This is me unsubtly wrapping up the loose ends. If there is anything you guys want done, now is the time to let it be known.

sentrygun
Dec 29, 2009

i say~
hey start:nya-sh
Oh! Well, in that case, Shinobu's action would just serve to stretch thing out more. Probably not a great idea then?

Waffleman_
Jan 20, 2011


I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna!!!

I say end it as soon as possible, yeah.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
Yurie
Aiki: 0 | Kiai: 20 | Karma: 53 | Destiny: To Ensure Everybody's Free 3 | Emotion: Hatred of Armors 4 | Emotion: I Must Protect My Friends 2 | Marked: Known to the Priesthood 3

"But... but... Tankyuusha is good...", Yurie starts, biting her lip for a moment. "I'm sure he didn't mean to do anything like that, right?" She looks to the kongohki, walking over towards him. "I mean, sometimes good things can come out of terrible things." Both her and he, after all. She bows, keeping her eyes on the ground. "I'm sorry to ask anything like this, but can he borrow it a little while longer?!", she near-shouts.

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
Tankyuusha
Aiki: 0 | Kiai: 9 | Kiai Spent: | Kongohki: Sealed Memory 4 | Goal: Find the Oni Girl 3 | Emotion: Criminals Are a Cowardly and Superstitious Lot 3 | Costs: 2 | Misfortune: Who Have I Hurt? 4 | Emotion: I Must Protect My Friends At All Costs 2
Overdrive: 8


Tankyuusha looks at the Oni, then at the companions he had been traveling with.

"...You say I've the heart of your kin in my chest. I cannot know what that means. But behind me, the city you lived in burned. Let me tell you what I know. I know in the city I was made there once was a tribe of Oni. I know that they are there no longer. I know that soon after they vanished, a terrible disaster befell the city, slaying hundreds. I know I have memories of that disaster, and I don't know where they come from. And I know one Oni, a girl, survived, and that I seek her. Be it for my redemption, or justice at her hands. Whatever I was, let me never be again."

He turns to the others.

"Since I cut down my cruel creator and fled that city, I have fought for Oni everywhere I could without knowing why. I don't know where we are going to travel to from here. I will continue my search as best I can. But I wish to no longer travel alone; I go where there will go. I have a new purpose besides simply my search."

Behind them, the city erupts in chaos. A rebellion can no longer be contained. A cold lord may be cast out by the next morning. The metallic figure offers a hand.

"Our time in this city is over. Yours too, I imagine. We've a spirit who learned to care, a weapon who started to think for himself, a human changed to something else, and a gun who wields himself. And a ninja. An oni would fit in rather nicely. If you've nothing better, I'd like to learn who and what I am. I'd like to learn why I fight for your kind. Wherever this new road takes us."

Would this work as an ending? :)

grassy gnoll
Aug 27, 2006

The pawsting business is tough work.
Yeah, your idea was pretty alright otherwise, Sentry.

And yes, that's a poignant and appropriate place to end.

I hope you all enjoyed yourselves. Maybe next time I'll have some idea of what the hell I'm doing! Also, it turns out trying to make a grim and unpleasant story is pretty unpleasant to play! Don't do that.

sentrygun
Dec 29, 2009

i say~
hey start:nya-sh
Pretend credits roll with a bunch of yarn origami cranes flying out into the sunset as Shinobu realizes she still has no idea what she was supposed to be doing.

Also, I had fun! TBZ seems cool, I'd like to see more of it, and might force myself to be the person making that happen. Who knows~ Thanks for the game though, gnoll!

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
Thanks for the game gnoll! It was a fun game! :D I know you tried to make it grim and unpleasant, but TOO BAD, we conquered it with love and friendship.

I learned a lot from this game. Namely, that kongohki are broken as a motherfucker. Seriously, just being one kicks your three big combat stats up by +3 to +4, which in of itself is a massive boost even before you count Overdrive. Now that you have a huge boost to combat and the ability to spike your rolls, why not give you access to the mecha parts which gives auto-successes? Honestly, I could easily see GMs going "Nope, no kongohki."

Waffleman_
Jan 20, 2011


I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna!!!

I learned that holy crap Jugemu is made of paper. Good game.

unseenlibrarian
Jun 4, 2012

There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.
It was great fun, and thanks for running. I learned that High rank arts of war are terrifying for a reason! Also that possibly the Ayakashi rules aren't as thought out as they could be when it comes to PCs.

..I think the main thing I want as the result of this game is to see more F.EA.R. stuff translated, since TBZ is basically the prototype version of a lot of their later games. Like Spirit of the Century compared to FATE Core.

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Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
Thanks a lot for running, it's good to see another Gnoll game roll all the way a conclusion. It was fun being the reformed monster ghost, hopefully she and Tankyuusha will find what they're looking for someday!

I just recently ended a TT game of TBZ and I'll just attest that it, uh, isn't particularly balanced in any sense. It turns out Buddhists are the most dangerous ever, no lie, within each lies a core of spiritual gigalaser doom if you run the game RAW. Kongohki are bad but there are things like ninja arts that are even worse. There's always the akayashi rules that let you get double overdrive too... even if it's very hard to obtain. But it still can be a lot of fun, but you have to provide a wide variety of challenges (including broken ones) since any player group will likely have at least two game-breaking characters even if the players aren't intending to bust it down.

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