[D4LA] Ujik techniques

[Moto Mitsuki]

Mitsuki was at the dojo, repeating her kata. She was dressed in a standard training kimono, was holding a standard bokken... And on her left arm was strapped a chaotic contraption of wicker and leather, like if its creator couldn't decide between making a hat and a glove and mixed them in a round piece of nightmare. The painting of a red demon on its surface put the finishing touch at the horror.

A closer, more objective, inspection would reveal that the item, though gaudy and worn-out by time and use, had actually been designed with great care to achieve a near perfect compromise between width, weight and resilience.

In all cases, Mitsuki was moving with it on her forearm with the same ease as it wasn't there.

She was training yes. But mostly she was waiting.

She had made the beginner's mistake of underestimating her opponent the previous time because he wasn't wearing his battle experience on his face. She had been dumb and had no one to blame but herself for her defeat. Well, her opponent was in part responsible for it too of course but...

Anyway, she wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

[Suzume Senseki]

Said opponent's victory had come, mostly, from simplicity. Simplicity of style, of movement, and of thought.

He was even surprised that he won - and he was sure a rematch would be even harder to win again, as the Moto, having seen his style once, would most likely adapt to meet it.

That, and today, as promised, he'd see her in her real style - wearing that arm-tessen of sorts, she had told him about.

Senseki's smile as he came into the dojo, however, was friendly and curious, rather than fierce - more fit for one ready to meet a friend for a quiet drink and a calm conversation than one going towards a challenge of sorts.

Which was just as well, as this wasn't actually a challenge. Not really...

Right?

[Moto Mitsuki]

"Hello Suzume-san. I hope you had a good day so far?"

Though small talk was coming out of Mitsuki's mouth, her body was very much readying itself for the battle to come, her feet, arms, belly, already in position, her breath composed, her eyes sharp. Come at me with all you've got was the message she was actually emitting.

---

Skirmish rules starting at 2 range bands from one another (so we're at perfect range to hit with the free move), both using a readied bokken as our weapons?

D4L4 | Sparring | Initiative | Tactics (Water) | TN: 1 | Success: 1 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 1


1 to heal 2
1 to cancel 1

Stance: Water
Initiative: 4+1=5
Strife: 4-2=2/8
Fatigue: 0/8
Physical resistance treated as 3 (buckler effect)

[Suzume Senseki]

"Hello Suzume-san. I hope you had a good day so far?"

Though small talk was coming out of Mitsuki's mouth, her body was very much readying itself for the battle to come, her feet, arms, belly, already in position, her breath composed, her eyes sharp. Come at me with all you've got was the message she was actually emitting.

"Ah... even better than expected, I suppose.", he said with a calm, but warm voice. Seeing her taking her stance, he took some slow steps to get in position as well, shifting his stance slightly and holding the bokken low, as if sheathed. His pose and face are calm and generally friendly, but a deeper inspection shows he's ready for a rather serious sparring bout.

The Moto's flowing and ferocious stance, however, clearly gave her an edge, and the chance to react first.

OOC:
Assuming he's keeping a 'sheathed' bokken so I can use the Iaijutsu tech if it gets to that (which can be used with bokken, as per the rules... right? )

Initiative - rolling Tactics/ Earth, TN 1
D4 LA - Tactics/ Earth for Sparring Initiative | TN: 3 | Success: 0 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 0


Opportunity used to "Reduce the severity of the next critical strike you suffer before the start of your next turn by 1." (not particularly useful, but...)

Starting Stance: Earth
Initiative:
Strife/Composure: 2/10
Fatigue: 0/8
Physical resistance: 1 (assuming he's wearing common clothes, not armour)

[Moto Mitsuki]

Mitsuki rushed forward and struck first with a ferocity that was not unexpected, all clichés about the children of the wind coming to mind. What was more surprising however was how smoothly she folded back into a guard posture immediately after having dealt her opening blow, her raised shield acting as a wall covering about one half of her crouching body.

---

Free movement: 1 band forward to be in range.

Action: Strike (Attack)
D4LA | Sparring | Strike | Melee (Water) | TN: 2 | Success: 2 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 2


: During an Attack action check, ignore 1 point of target’s physical resistance per spent this way.
: Remove 2 strife from yourself.

Total damages: 3 (one-handed bokken, no bonus, no resistance)

Second action from Water Stance: Use Buckler (Movement, Support)

As a Movement and Support action, if you have a buckler readied, you may increase the TN of the next attack action check made targeting you by 1. (Path of Waves, page 111)

(yes, having a shield basically changes the Water Stance into the Air Stance)

Stance: Water
Initiative: 4+1=5
Strife: 2-2+2=2/8
Fatigue: 0/8
Physical resistance treated as 3 (buckler effect)
+1 to TN to be hit (buckler second effect)

[Suzume Senseki]

Mitsuki rushed forward and struck first with a ferocity that was not unexpected, all clichés about the children of the wind coming to mind. What was more surprising however was how smoothly she folded back into a guard posture immediately after having dealt her opening blow, her raised shield acting as a wall covering about one half of her crouching body.

The Sparrow is ready for the Moto's ferocity, but defending against it still takes a good deal of his air out of him. He reacts quickly, however, changing his stance to a flexible footing and flowing forward as he arcs his body to deal a low strike that manages to find an opening in the half of the Moto's body that remains exposed, thus forcing her to exert herself to defend as well.

OOC:
Set Stance: Water
Free movement: 1 band, to 0

Action (Support): Prepare bokken in two-handed stance
Action 2 (Water stance): Strike
Martial Melee check vs TN 3 (+1 due to buckler!)

D4 LA - Strike vs Moto Mitsuki. Melee/ Water vs TN 3. Damage = 5 (bokken 2H DMG) | TN: 3 | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 0

3 Sucesses, 1 Opportunity, 0 Strife
Opp spending: During an Attack action check, ignore 1 point of target’s physical resistance per Opp spent this way.

Hit! Total damage: 5 (2H bokken) - 2 (Resistance with buckler, -1 due to opportunity) = 3

Stance: Water
Initiative: 3+0 = 0
Strife: 2/10
Fatigue: 3/8
Physical resistance: 1

Stance benefit: During your turn, you may perform one additional action that does not require a check. This action cannot share a type with another action you perform this turn.

Question here - does keeping the shield "ready" just occur by itself, needing no action? Physical Resistance 3 at all times makes the bokken basiclally useless unless wielded two-handed, wow! Hadn't looked at rules for shields before... wow!

[Moto Mitsuki]

Mitsuki had the unfair advantage of knowing how to fight an opponent without a shield, while her opponent had to adapt his strategy in the heat of the moment.

Well, advantages were meant to be exploited. She of course expected to be targeted on her unprotected side – shields guided your opponent's strikes where you wanted them to go in more ways than one. Her body, ready for the blow, brushed it off with ease, and her counterattack was swift and terrible, hitting the Sparrow in the middle of the chest with what would have been quite the nasty strike with a non-training weapon.

---

Stance: Water

First action: Strike (Attack)

D4LA | Sparring | Strike | Melee (Water) | TN: 2 | Success: 4 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 2


1: During an Attack action check, ignore 1 point of target’s physical resistance per spent this way.
1: Remove 1 fatigue.
Total damages: 3 (one-handed bokken) +2 (bonus success) -0 (no more resistance) = 5, putting you at exactly 8/8. From that point, any more damage would put you at risk to be actually hurt, so I guess we stop here?

Second action: Shield (Movement, Support)

Strife: 2+2=4/8
Fatigue: 3-1=2/8
Physical resistance treated as 3 (buckler effect)
+1 to TN to be hit (buckler second effect)

---

Free movement: 1 band, to 0

Not sure how this works with the bokken being Range 1 (not Range 0-1) but whatever, it's not like one of us has a spear and the other a knife and that range matters here.

Question here - does keeping the shield "ready" just occur by itself, needing no action? Physical Resistance 3 at all times makes the bokken basiclally useless unless wielded two-handed, wow! Hadn't looked at rules for shields before... wow!

No other cost than taking one hand yeah.

... That's not cheating. That's strategy.

[Suzume Senseki]

Mitsuki had the unfair advantage of knowing how to fight an opponent without a shield, while her opponent had to adapt his strategy in the heat of the moment.

Well, advantages were meant to be exploited. She of course expected to be targeted on her unprotected side – shields guided your opponent's strikes where you wanted them to go in more ways than one. Her body, ready for the blow, brushed it off with ease, and her counterattack was swift and terrible, hitting the Sparrow in the middle of the chest with what would have been quite the nasty strike with a non-training weapon.

The Sparrow is caught off-guard by the woman's quick reaction, and this time trying to defend against the blow is too much. The bokken hits his chest squarely and he steps back, tired but, after a deep breath, sporting a calm smile.

"Well done! That was interesting, Moto-sama!", he says with a deep bow. "Definitely not something I'd trained against before!"


OOC:
Could take a breath to recover some Fatigue, but nah - just conceding.

I'm wondering how 'skirmish to three hits' could be played in 5e though... just 3 hits? or 3 criticals, keeping to low deadliness criticals? Trying to get the feel of how to do these things in the new system

Not sure how this works with the bokken being Range 1 (not Range 0-1) but whatever, it's not like one of us has a spear and the other a knife and that range matters here.

Whoops! My mistake, let's just assume this didn't happen.

No other cost than taking one hand yeah.

... That's not cheating. That's strategy.

Gosh, this is strong! I guess in an actual combat it's less so as Ashigaru armour has similar Resistance, but still!

[Moto Mitsuki]

"Oh I know. It wouldn't have been nearly as one-sided if you were used to such tactics.

Because, in all truth, you did quite well. A lot of warriors just panic and are unable to land a single blow the first time they face both shield and blade. You however adapted your style with extraordinary ease, and I had to go for the kill quickly, while I still have the advantage of surprise.

I must admit I'm curious about where you learn to fight like that Suzume-san. Either you have an extraordinary sensei that is worth a thousand praises, or you've got a good deal of actual battlefield experience yourself."

She smiled:

"In both cases, there's a story to tell here."

---

I'm wondering how 'skirmish to three hits' could be played in 5e though... just 3 hits? or 3 criticals, keeping to low deadliness criticals? Trying to get the feel of how to do these things in the new system

Even the lowest level critical rips clothes, so I would say stopping when one character is at Fatigue >= Endurance is good enough for training. For a more violent mock fight, maybe stop at the first Flesh Wound?

Gosh, this is strong! I guess in an actual combat it's less so as Ashigaru armour has similar Resistance, but still!

Yeah, in true combat, it's just Ashigaru Armor that allows you to get the bonus from Air Stance while in the Water Stance at the cost of losing your two-handed grip damage bonus.

Since the Moto however start with a weapon that has no such damage bonus and an armor less resistant than the ashigaru one... Let's just say taking one was a good mix of fluff and optimization.

[Suzume Senseki]

"Oh I know. It wouldn't have been nearly as one-sided if you were used to such tactics.

Because, in all truth, you did quite well. A lot of warriors just panic and are unable to land a single blow the first time they face both shield and blade. You however adapted your style with extraordinary ease, and I had to go for the kill quickly, while I still have the advantage of surprise.

I must admit I'm curious about where you learn to fight like that Suzume-san. Either you have an extraordinary sensei that is worth a thousand praises, or you've got a good deal of actual battlefield experience yourself."

She smiled:

"In both cases, there's a story to tell here."

He heard her words silently, his own smile widening slightly, little by little, at her compliments. As she was done, he nodded, his eyes clearly showing respect, for his opponent, his sensei, and her respect of his sensei.

"We shall see if this experience will help the next time we train", he says. Then, more seriously. "But I'm very thankful for your words, Moto-sama... even if I cannot quite agree with them! My experience is surely much less than that yours - I'd never even been to the north of the Spine of the World before coming here, while Moto-sama's experience extends even beyond the Empire, ne?"

A modest smile, a moment of silence, and he nods again. "I'm sure my sensei Suzume Yoshie would be happy to hear it, though... Although she'd probably be very humble about it too". His eyes seem full of admiration for a while, and then he gets to the story.

He tells her some stories of his childhood, often exploring the woods and sometimes sneaking out to do so, and how his parents were happy when their request that they train under Yoshie was accepted. He told her of the young sensei's fame for her skill with a sword and for her honesty, which she did her best to impart to him. And he told her of what his field experience amounted to - assuring her that it was much less than hers, but mentioning a few stories - one in which he helped others protect Sanbuku Mura from assailants, aided by one other samurai, some ashigaru and one friend of his among the fox that had been visiting; one in which he tracked a group of bandits down in the wilderness; and the stories of his visits to Fox and Hare lands and how he had learned some things from observing their own fighting styles.

All in all, they were more personal and 'practical', less moral stories, but stories they were nonetheless.

---
OOC:
Taking your hint and rolling for agenda

D4 LA - Agenda roll Session 2 targetting Moto Mitsuki. Earth/ Performance TN 2 | TN: 2 | Success: 2 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 1

Using 1 opportunity to ignore 1 strife. 1 Agenda point gained!

Even the lowest level critical rips clothes, so I would say stopping when one character is at Fatigue >= Endurance is good enough for training. For a more violent mock fight, maybe stop at the first Flesh Wound?

Makes sense! I'm guessing maybe at some point it might make sense to add some changes to mock fights to make them more manageable in future games, but we'll see. At any rate, your suggestions sound good! And mending simple clothes shouldn't be too hard, I'm guessing.

Since the Moto however start with a weapon that has no such damage bonus and an armor less resistant than the ashigaru one... Let's just say taking one was a good mix of fluff and optimization.

Makes sense! And this leads me to another question btw - with a critical that would damage armour, if you're wearing a shield does it damage the shield instead? Or your choice between the shield and the armour?

There's quite a bit I still don't quite get about the new system now I think about it!