3rd Scroll - God of Thunder

[jemmus]

It is a cold early morning in the middle week of Kami-na-Zuki*. The travelers have been led to a tall warehouse. Porters in heavy winter clothing run in and out of it, carrying chests, directed by a foreman. Four and their driver stand, the oxen blowing clouds of fog from their nostrils. The porters load some of the chests onto the oxen. The slide carrying poles through loops on the tops of others. The hook-nosed merchant comes out of the warehouse and addresses Hiroshi, Buru and Akemi. There will be a bonus of 12 silver moons if the cargo is delivered to Kamakura within seven days. But it will Satoshi-- he indicates the foreman-- who will set the pace. Bushi-san, I recommend that you don your armor after crossing the border into Sagami province. The Miura have the same rule about armor on the highway and in towns as the Takeda. But, unfortunately, they are rather lax about patrolling the Emperor's highway.

Then to the whole group he says, I recommend that you not discuss politics with anyone on the road. The clans along the road to Kamakura and Edo are Minamoto allies.
But loyalties can change after big victories. Or big defeats. He discusses something with the foreman, who bows and says to the porters, Yosh! Let's go!Eight porters shoulder four chests, the loaded oxen start moving, and the porters fall in behind them. The freighters and the travelers head down the highway to the east, toward the Kanto.

The train encounters no one on the snowy road. No one else is out traveling on this winter day. It's quiet enough that the distant sound of someone chopping wood sounds as if he could be quite near.

At the end of the day, they reach a village called Yamana-cho, still in Kai province. The travelers and freighters enter the post station inn for food and lodging. A group of four peasant men are sitting at a low table, drinking sake and gambling with dice. When Akemi enters, they eye her. One in particular rudely looks her up and down. He's not particularly tall, but he's muscular. He has a wakizashi in his sash. He appears to be about halfway to getting drunk.

The party are greeted by the innkeeper, seated, and told what tonight's meal will be. The peasant continues to leer at Akemi. One of them says to him, Go ahead, Shiro.
You never know, eh? The peasant laughs. He calls over to Akemi, Older Sister, want to have tea together? It's the standard rude pickup line that boors call out to attractive women on the street. The peasant smirks with a suggestive look on his face.

*Kami-na-Zuki - "Moon of the Kami"
Actions?

[jemmus]

By the way, the party traveled 2 hexes today. Rough terrain, major road, no deep snow. The porters and oxen have BMA 3.3.
If you want to rewind and state something your PCs did before leaving Kofu or along he way, please feel free.

[Marullus]

Both Haruto and Buruusu have winter clothes, kasa straw hats, and mino raincoats already. Haruto gets to be level 2 now, right?

Haruto
As both he and Taisho are guests for the journey and not accepted for pay, Haruto plays the role of the religious pilgrim as they set out together. He walks with his staff, Haru padding along at his side, the large dog standing above waist-high. As he gives Riku to for Taisho to ride, the priest's status is elevated among the stranger merchants as well.

Haruto is glad to be at the first inn, and making good time and is enjoying his meal with his companions. All the grief for his brother, the trouble for Yayoi and his father, the moving, the tenseness of everyone... here it now feels right. Like water that has moved past the rocks and now flows freely downstream towards its destination.

Until the boor begins on Akemi. Haruto tenses. Haru growls low in his throat where he lies on the floor next to the table, sensing and locking eyes with the object of his companion's distress. She doesn't deserve such treatment. Haruto looks around at the others, realizing that, even without displaying his kamon, his own good-quality samurai clothing sets him as the highest ranking among them... it is his duty to intercede.

While Haru's growl menaces low, the young samurai pilgrim shifts in his seat, pointedly making eye contact with the boorish man. Haruto shakes his head very slightly to signal the man no, then flicks his hand gently. A breeze blows for just a moment, but enough that the boorish man's soup bowl surprisingly tips over, spilling its hot liquid contents onto the man's lap, disrupting the moment and drawing the laughter and attention to his plight rather than his cat calls...

Ledgerdemain (BCS 12) [1d20]=10

Buruusu

Buru spends the day alert, focused on the job given him. His mill dealt with merchants a plenty and he knows to be wary both of bandits and of the greed of his own now-employers. He is quiet with his new companions. The ronin he has come to know and trust in their short acquaintance. The peasant girl of uncommon self-assurance, the priest and pious layman who accompanies him are new. Buru is not boorish himself, but he is accostomed to such from other heimin. He will not allow unwilling advance upon his female companion, but he he remains relaxed at the table, eating a steamed dumpling, until something significant actually happens. Words are just words.

[jemmus]

There's an involuntary yelp and the obnoxious stands upright and looks down at his trousers. The other drunken peasant gamblers gape at Haruto in surprise and study the slight youth, slack-jawed. The innkeeper, teapot and tray of cups in his hands, bursts into the room from the kitchen, appalled at the disturbance between the guests. A woman and young boy soon also appear in the doorway, wide-eyed. The apparently bravest of the drinking gambler peasants does a faked laugh, and the others try to join in. You were a little hot under the trousers before, Shiro. But now you're burning under the trousers! Now the lit men guffaw in earnest. They slap their knees and pour drinks from the sake flask around. The pourer comes up short, with just a few drops for his cup. Older Sister! he yells to the innkeeper woman. You let us get dry! That's alright, you're an old and forgetful woman. Don't bring us cool sake in the winter. Did you remember to heat it? He looks around the table and his gambling buddies laugh. They resume their game. Ey, Shiro, what's your wager?

But Shiro doesn't join in. He looks down, his face red with humiliation. Then looks up at the kid Haruto, eyes glowering. His hand is on the hilt of his wakizashi. Shiro, don't make trouble. Shiro, calm down and place your bet. You just got out of the Takeda jail, calm down and don't kill him, Shiro. If you go in next time, it will be worse....
A lot worse, Just calm down and let it go, Shiro. Place your bet!

But Shiro just glares at Haruto. He draws the wakizashi from it's sheath, examines the blade, and draws his thumb crossways across its edge. He nods approvingly to Haruto, and again smirks.

I'll throw this text from the Bushido rulebook in. Its something people wouldn't know about Bushido Nippon's culture unless they've read it from within Book 2's Encounters table.

Rude Peasant. A boorish and insulting commoner is met. Any Buke (Haruto and Hiroshi) receiving such treatment is within his rights to cut the fellow down. This character is a stupid/suicidal Average Man Extra. He may be slaughtered with Flashy Bladework for On.

But the Encounters table has additional versions of the rude peasant.
Ashigaru, 1st level
Ashigaru of random level
Budoka, 1st level
Budoka of random level
Yakuza of random level
The 'peasant' is really a Legendary or Supernatural Being, either testing the PC in some way (for mercy or propriety) or baiting a trap for him.

A successful Wit BCS will help a character appraise about which kind of Rude Peasant this might be. Hiroshi has had intensive experience with evaluating other apparent bushi. He adds his level to his ST. Haruto, Taisho, and Akemi have been in fights between bushi. They add +1 to BCS. Buru is straight Wit BCS, +0. If you decide to roll, please RP if your PC wants to share with the group, and how they do it.

[ffilz]

Taisho failed:



Hiroshi just barely makes it:

[jemmus]

Taisho, having just returned from Fuji-san and encounters with a murderous yurei trapped in a kind of hell in a forest, an oni who was part spirit world kami and part very earthly beast, and perhaps (or probably?) encounters with the winds of Fuujin, the god of the wind.... He's on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Fuujin-kami's counterpart Raijin, a week's travel to the east. after all. The kami of the wild winds of the sky. The princess goddess of vast, serene, Fuji-san itself. The serene kami who knows, observes, and records every tiny, trudging footstep of every pilgrim that the accustomed side of her face. And now-- this journey to the east to meet the kami of rolling clouds, storms, thunder, and lightning. The only expected can be the unexpected. An at the first stop one a frigid day for a warm meal, hot tea, perhaps enough a spot or warm sake.... A bored local boor. Looking for action. And useless and tiresome trouble.

It appears to Hiroshi that the rude peasant is just that-- an aggressive person who challenges and tries to back down and dominate anyone he perceives as smaller or weaker than himself. The ronin is a calm man and a veteran of fierce battle. The scars on his arms and neck and winter-chafed skin show that. Calm as he is, the local's impudent grin and steady stare at Haruto, Akemi, and himself makes his throat rise to his gorge. "I've known many like you," the young and desperate ronin thinks. "How many crimes did you commit in your village, before you came to the battle? And you and your cronies ran away from it?"

Akemi gets alarmed and hastens to say, "Haruto-san! Hiroshi-san! Calm yourselves! Don't make trouble out of pride. Tomorrow morning we will be following oxen and drivers into the Kanto plain. We will never see this ruffian again." But after she says it, she looks down and her brow furrows. It seems that she contemplates what might happen here after the travelers have gone. She looks down, brows still tightly furrowed, for a long, long moment. Obviously contemplating many future possibilities and things.

[Marullus]

Buru Wit ST (BCS (4+1) [1d20]=12
Haruto Wit ST (BCS (10+1) [1d20]=13

Haruto simply remains seated, unmoving except for the small gesture he made before the soup spilled. He meets Shiro's gaze, sitting in his fine samurai clothes with no weapon but his walking staff at hand. The frail noble pilgrim does not shrink from the gaze of the lesser man.

The game kind of expects us to slaughter rude peasants for On, right? I suppose that's for Hiroshi.

...also, is the use of Legedemain assumed to always be overt and noticed? I had assumed that his successful use of it was at least plausibly-deniable. He was taking pains to travel as a simple pilgrim (before this, at least), but people keep saying "oh, he's a shugenja" on sight.

[jemmus]

Yes, the rules present Rude Peasant as an easy way to earn On with Flashy Bladework. The Phoenix Games 1st editions rules made a bigger deal of it, if maybe only because they were much shorter, so all content had heavier weight. But these PCs don't seem to be a little mellower and less murderous than the average Bushido PC. No problem with that, they're good RP PCs.

The rules don't mention what's involved with casting spells, such as VSM as D&D does. I would think that neither Buddhist or Shinto spells would involve any vocals or gestures. Buddhist spells are about channeling and focusing the world of the Kakuriyo through silent meditation and clearing the mind of the illusionary laws of the physical world. Shinto spells are similar, but involve invoking the kami and helping them set wrong things right. (Exceptions for Buddhists might be a difficult Exorcism or Segaki burial rite. Those could involve burning purifying incense and chanting sutras (as in the movie "Kwaidan.") I any event, I think if Legerdemain involved any hand gestures, the successful spell itself would conceal them.


At two other tables, the merchant's forman, porter, and oxen drover observe the situation with interest. It seems they are appraising the travelers. What kind of road yojimbo will they be? The shipment isn't even out of Kofu and the daimyo's protection yet, and still 12 or more days of cold, short days of daylight of winter and long, dark, colder nights of the same. Maybe 14 days of lugging and roading. But the foreman and two or three of the porters rise on their floor cushions. As if ready to do their part in inn brawl, should it come to it. The innkeeper and his wife and the kitchen girl nervously watch from the kitchen. The wife starts to raise herself to whisper something to the husband, but he shushes her.

Akemi's calm words relax the situation with the boorish bully peasant. "There's no need for anyone becoming non-present because of some foolish words by a foolish person. But I worry that the next bushi will test the edge of his katana on this stupid person's neck. We gave him good warning, Hiroshi-san and Haruto-san." She bends her head and furrows her brow. The peasant makes a joke to the innkeeper about "Kofu men can rely on their little boys and women to defend them, neh?" and he and his cronies depart. Obviously, sooner than they intended. The meal's rice is fresh and hot and the house pickled radishes are excellent, if a shade on the salty side.

Haruto travels the kakuriyo and observes Yayoi back in Kofu. She has said her prayers to the Buddha for the soul of Harumasa, and is busying herself with shaking out, inspecting, and re-folding the children's fresh-laundered clothing. Once in a while she stops and her pale face draws up and her mouth looks like its about to tremble, in preparation for tears. But she draws a breath, sits upright again, and bravely sings a happy folk song to herself. "The moon has come out/ The moon has come out/ Just like a great round dish...."

The rice is hot and the upstairs rooms for the bushi are pretty warm, and the downstairs rooms for the others aren't too cold and the futon are thick. The first night of travel passes without other incident.


*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYDCcT5vZ_c This folk song goes back to medieval Japan times, and people still do folk dances to it at festivals in current Japan.
Next day, TBC.

[jemmus]

Day 2
The travelers and porters rise in the dark, eat a morning meal, and purchase cooked food for the road from the inn. They depart at first light, to make the most of the sunlight of a short winter day. The highway rises, falls, twists and turns in the rough terrain of Kai province. In a thickly forested section, suddenly a troop of monkeys appear and charge along the ground, darting among the travelers. The startled porters shout, Oi!, Hora!, , or just Yaa!. They are so fast that one can only see the one grabbing at the person before him's possesions at his side or back, while feeling one behind him doing the same to him. Taisho, mounted on Haruto's horse, see a big male run across Buru's back, teeth bared and the hair of its shoulders raised. It snatches at the budoka's furoshiki. Ahead, there is a commotion and he sees a monkey leap for the oxen drover's kasa hat and miss and tumbles onto its back in the roadway. Behind him, he senses abrupt motion and commotion in the area where Akemi was walking at the rear of the train.

The monkeys have high BAP, they all go first. The monkey on Buru did a Charge (move and attack) primary action and rolled a success. Buru feels the motion behind him and the missing weight of his furoshiki. The other PCs only see and hear monkeys roughly the size of medium-size dogs chartering and darting around their legs, crossing the road, and and stopping at a safe distance to look back at them. And with surprising animal intelligence, stand and observe the situation. As if appraising the awareness and intelligence of the humans crew.

The PCs have Actions, according their BAPs and other AP actions. For example, they can change facing to face the opponent behind them, or draw and attack the one in front, using iaijutsu for same Action Phase strikes.

[Marullus]

So, what's the action order? Can you post the phases? Do you have a map for calculating positioning and ranges?

Round 1, Phase 13
The large monkey bounds over Buru, pulling the crossbody furushiki off over the farmer's head. "Yai! No you don't!" he exclaims and whirls his weighted chain, flinging it outward at the creature before it can fully escape.
That's a Close to Engage, which he can move up to 5 yards to ensure he's still in 4 yard distance for the chain. He gets another primary action on Phase 8, where he can again position five yards and also strike depending what happens here.
Manrikigusari (4yd) (BCS 17) [1d20]=15 Damage [1d5+3]=4+3=7 (S)
If the monkey is fleeing with my bag, I assume I have rear facing for +10 BCS, which applies 7 subdual damage to the monkey and -12 Hindances to its BCS as it is tripped by the chain.

Haruto doesn't act until Phase 4, so I guess I don't post for him yet.

[jemmus]

(1 of 2)
Here's the order of the actions.
Monkeys
Akemi
Buru
Monkeys
Hiroshi
Akemi
Buru
Freighters
Oxen
Hiroshi
Akemi
Monkeys
Haruto
Buru
Taisho

I don't have a map yet, because I need you guys to decide on how you're going to guard the shipment. Here's the situation when on the road.
-There's a foreman. Behind him there are 8 porters carrying 4 loads between them on their shoulders. Behind them is a drover leading 4 loaded oxen. They walk single-file. The drover holds a rope which runs through the oxen's nose rings. He carries a tonfa, and uses it for its original purpose as an oxen goad/cattle prod. (Peasants used them as weapons when shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi outlawed weapon ownership by peasants. Hideyoshi is a very interesting character, by the way. He went from Low Samurai or even High Ronin to the top. And wasn't such a bad guy along the way).

How do arrange yourselves in relation to the freightage train? Akemi volunteers to be the last in the marching order, probably because of her position as eta (and an outcast eta with no ninja clan as well). She'd probably make a good scout, because of her speed and stealth. But ironically, it the spellcasters with high Wit who would be best at noticing Hidden Things.

[jemmus]

(2 of 2)
The monkey trying to steal Buru's furoshiki did a Charge action from a side facing. Snatching the bundle at the end of the charge was the equivalent of a weapon attack. When Buru's BAP comes, the monkey is directly behind Buru's back, 0 yds range. Per our house rule (or really clarification of the RAW rule), Buru must expend BMA to change facing 180 degrees and do an attack. https://www.unseenservant.us/forum/view ... 28#p601928
Tactical movement options
5pts (9-10 BMA): Attacker can make it to a REAR facing and rotate, but enters short range. Attacker +9, Opponent -11.

Please also see the subsequent post, with the graphic visualizations. I don't remember, does that mean that the attacker adds 9 to the attack BCS roll? Buru has BMA 10, so he can do a full 180 degrees rotation in his BAP, but do no Range opening or closing Movement.

But the monkey is less than 1 yd from him (Short Range). The Range for manrikigusari ("10,000 powers chains") is Variable. Buru can feed out the chain's length or draw in slack (without doing a Movement action) to change the weapon's range. No linear movement was needed, but it's still a Close to Engage primary action. The question is, does a + 9 penalty apply to the BCS? Just common sense envisioning how the situation would be, it would seem that some penalty would apply. Rotating and striking something not a second before you hardly saw would take some good skill, or some good luck.

(As you post your char's actions, please bear in mind that that long list of everyone's Phases will happen in 6 seconds. And there are 23 moving characters involved. Please RP that, but if you're ready to post your PC's action, please go ahead.

Please also let me know about your roading marching order. You can just say where you PC chooses to be in relation to the NPCs and other PCs. Or you can discuss and decide together about tactics, if you prefer. At least four PCs (Haruto, Hiroshi, Buru and Akemi) understand the strong tactical advantages of ambushes from the side or behind.

[ffilz]

I think it would make sense for Taisho to walk up with the foreman. We also need a warrior up front. Hiroshi could be in front or we could have Hiroshi be in the middle (to help with ambush from the side). Middle person should be just ahead of the drover.

[jemmus]

Bump. We need Haruto's and Buru's places in the marching order when you have a chance. We also need Buru's manriki-kusari roll.

[Marullus]

So, the options I posted in house rules are two people armed with medium weapons (like Katanas) trying to circle each other for advantage. What your quoting is that if he's facing an opponent he can close to engage and with 5 movement actually circle his foe and hit from a rear facing for +9 bonus to BCS, not a penalty.

In this case, he is rotating in place to confront the monkey in his rear facing, which is 1 movement for each 60 degrees, so 3 movement to rotate 180.
He still has two yards of movement left for positioning (move back to Medium) or chase. This removes the monkey's rear-facing bonus because I'm now facing him, but I expect the monkey is/was fleeing? If he's fleeing, then I'm hitting HIM from behind and have plenty of movement to do it.

Haruto is not a guard or being paid - he is a samurai caste guest being escorted. So he is at the front with the headman and Taisho (on the horse).

Buru is at the rear, as the farmer, suffering the animal's dust.

[jemmus]

I see. The monkey ran from the side of the road, grabbed the furoshiki, and he wants to keep going in a straight line to the other side of the road. But I don't think Bushido allows that. He basically did a Charge attack (move and snatch). He probably has lots of BMA left to spend, but the attack ended his movement this turn. He split his movement into move, attack, move, like you can in D&D 5E (I think).

After rotating, Buru is facing the running monkey's side. He gets the Side attack bonus (+5). Please roll Buru's attack.

I posted the marching order in the Log - PCs Tracking thread so we can easily find it. https://www.unseenservant.us/forum/view ... 31#p618731 The train is 23 yards long (from Haruto to Buru).

[Marullus]

Roll was already posted...

Round 1, Phase 13
The large monkey bounds over Buru, pulling the crossbody furushiki off over the farmer's head. "Yai! No you don't!" he exclaims and whirls his weighted chain, flinging it outward at the creature before it can fully escape.
That's a Close to Engage, which he can move up to 5 yards to ensure he's still in 4 yard distance for the chain. He gets another primary action on Phase 8, where he can again position five yards and also strike depending what happens here.
Manrikigusari (4yd) (BCS 17) [1d20]=15 Damage [1d5+3]=4+3=7 (S)
If the monkey is fleeing with my bag, I assume I have rear facing for +10 BCS, which applies 7 subdual damage to the monkey and -12 Hindances to its BCS as it is tripped by the chain.

[jemmus]

Not exactly sure how to handle this, but we'll say that Buru had the weapon ready and didn't have to use the Draw Weapon action. He's on the road in mid-winter with few other travelers on the highway. And with little in the way of Takeda samurai patrols expected. The patrols would likely be toward the west and the Imagawa and Taira lands. Not east, toward the Minamoto lands.
Akemi turns to the side to face the monkey nearest her and barks Kiai! Begone, naughty monkey!

Buru sees a big male monkey charging from his right and feels his furoshiki being lifted away. He hears Akemi ahead blow out threatening ki energy and yell, "Begone, naughty monkey!" He crouches, by trained reflex does a ju jutsu reverse to the rear movement, and takes two steps backward. His long manrikikusari chain does only one overhead spin, whips out, and wraps tightly around the monkey's near forelimb. The monkey, caught up short in it's dash, tumbles back over head, feet over underside to the snow-covered roadway.

The chain-wrapped monkey screeches in pain, alarm, anger and fear. Everyone hears the loud chattering of maybe eight to twelve monkeys in motion all around raising their expression of dismay, alarm and warning.

Hiroshi sees a monkey rush toward him, then turn to the right and circle back to the side of the road and turn to watch the action. A feint. It's four yards away, among the tree trunks and bare bushes. Hiroshi hears Akemi yell out a blast of ki energy and admonish a monkey, from yards behind. Then, the clinking of chain links, a swoosh, the sound of a monkey-sized body hitting earth. The monkey watching him looks behind him and chatters in excitement and alarm, and alarmed and protesting monkey voices almost instantly join in.

Akemi hears the action to the rear, where Buru would be. She reaches into her bundle. No one but the foreman might possibly see what it is. Only because of the nature of a sudden charging, chattering, scampering and scattering of a monkey band is what it is.

There's a rising chorus of freighters jumping around and yelling things like, "Huh?" "What?" "Hey you!" "Get away!" "That's mine!" Joined at the same time by the slow, deep bass of deep bass voices of lowing oxen.

Buru's attack hit, the monkey failed its SPD ST and was tripped. It tumbled hard (for a monkey) and failed its HLTH ST and loses its action next round. Buru saw that and knew it.

Quick Buru has a Secondary Action up, Hiroshi has a Primary. Akemi spent her Secondary readying a weapon. I will say that it appears to the travelers that the monkeys appear to be just regular monkeys. Curious, disrespectul tricksters and and expert thieves. Nobody knows why a Nippon monkey wants to steal and inspect a certain human thing. Could be a +1 wakizashi, could be a furoshiki, be a hat, could be a +1 wakizashi. On the other hand, it could be a pack of oni, or any other kind of thing one might encounter while roading along a cold winter road.... But farmer Buru feels that it's just a monkey. Who would have stole his furoshiki and challenged him about it... but lost and gave it up and cast it away.

[ffilz]

Does Hiroshi have any idea how aggressive monkeys are? Will shouting and other noise making scare them away or something more serious like clanging weapons or would we need to actually harm some to drive them off?

What would Taisho know? He can thump his bo (walking staff) on the ground to make noise.

[Marullus]

Quick Buru has a Secondary Action up

Quick Buru has a second Primary Action up because he has Zanshin 2, and his Secondary later this turn.

Buru lashes out with a sidekick, ensuring the monkey drops the sack.

BCS 18 +5 for opponent being prone, +7 for opponent being hindered. Subdual damage only.
Foot Strike [1d20]=7
Foot Strike Damage [1d10+3]=7+3=10

Buru scoops up his furushiki and slips it back on, pulling it tighter, waiting to see if the beaten monkey flees. (Secondary Action: Perform Action. It needs a speed ST to "Alter Position" as a Primary Action - if it is still aggressive he is Engaged, if it is fleeing he doesn't oppose and lets it go.)