OOC Discussion

[Marullus]

OK. I think I need to do some math to see if it’s even possible for Taisho to make the trip. I have a feeling it’s near impossible for him and may not even be possible for someone with much better saves.

Awww... live dangerously. Haruto has a health save of 1. He is going to absolutely take damage and rely on his magical healing. It is how he survived as a sickly kid and some things are more important than the weakness of your body.

[ffilz]

-We can proceed with the pilgrimage to Fuji-san while we're getting prepped for a possible upcoming battle. After consultation with a native Nipponjin (my wife), some changes:
-There's a shrine at the foot of the mountain and another rest stop/unmanned one halfway up. Revised On:
Visit a Shinto shrine at the base of Fuji-san - 5 On.
Visit the unmanned shrine/rest stop halfway up Fuji-san and return (doable before dark) - 15 On
Climb to the snowline and return (after dark) - 35 On.
Climb to the snowline and view the sunrise from it - 60 On.
Urinate or defecate on the holy mountain - minus 20 On. Will require one Health ST per hour. Fail requires a Will ST.
There's an unnavigable Forest of the Lost on the lower slope of the mountain. Because of the wildness of the place, and the many suicides there over the years. Wit + Will
/2 ST required to stay on or get back on the trail to the clearing and the top, or Perception of Hidden things roll, players choice. Spells helping to put ghosts and earthbound
spirits more at ease may help....

So one of my concerns is this the poop save... Taisho has a 62.5% chance (1 - chance to fail HLT (.75) * chance to fail WILL (.5))^hours to succeed in not pooping every hour. After 4 hours that's a 17.7%, after 8 hours that's only 3%... Do we still have to make a save to avoid subdual damage? I'm not quite sure what magic mechanics help with the ghosts. Placating the Kami of the forest would be BCS 11 - the rank of the Kami. Taisho's Blessing will help this (Karma Yoga Blessing increase all BCS +2) but not the saves.

[jemmus]

As with the Kentaro-Akemi romance thing, I'm 100% sure that this is the first time I've seen a bowel movement saving throw in an RPG. There's no subdual damage involved, just the extreme shame of having desecretated Fuji-san (loss of On). But if that happens, you could still come out with a net gain of On from the pilgrimage.

Let's say that PCs can buy a laxative from a herbalist in Kofu or at a shop at the foot of Fuji-san. 3 silver per dose. +5 to Health ST BCS per dose (cumulative). If successful, the PC's bowels are empty and no further STs are needed for the rest of the trip. But if the PC carries water and drinks it, he'll need to make the STs. If he doesn't drink water, he'll have to make a Health ST every 4 hours or temporarily lose 1 Health.

[ffilz]

As with the Kentaro-Akemi romance thing, I'm 100% sure that this is the first time I've seen a bowel movement saving throw in an RPG. There's no subdual damage involved, just the extreme shame of having desecretated Fuji-san (loss of On). But if that happens, you could still come out with a net gain of On from the pilgrimage.

Let's say that PCs can buy a laxative from a herbalist in Kofu or at a shop at the foot of Fuji-san. 3 silver per dose. +5 to Health ST BCS per dose (cumulative). If successful, the PC's bowels are empty and no further STs are needed for the rest of the trip. But if the PC carries water and drinks it, he'll need to make the STs. If he doesn't drink water, he'll have to make a Health ST every 4 hours or temporarily lose 1 Health.

That seems like a workable solution, combined with fasting of course (those of us 50 and up know the drill here...). Really there should be no need for a save, you just take the prep and do the fasting and you're empty... So how many health saves for the hike?

[jemmus]

Fasting would work too, no need for an herbalist or ST. (Although fasting eliminates the (first-ever to my knowledge, but very like not the first-ever) BM STs mechanic).

The number of STs needed would depend on the hike the PCs do. The times stated are for round-trips.
-Visit the Shinto shrine at the base of Fuji-san - 0 hours hike.
-Visit the unmanned shrine/rest stop halfway up Fuji-san and return (doable before dark) - 8 hours.
-Climb to the snowline and return (after dark) - 14 hours.
-Climb to the snowline, stay overnight and view the sunrise from it, and return - 29 hours.

Drinking water during the hike and not urinating - 1 ST per 4 hours.
Getting lost in the forest could lengthen times.

[Marullus]

Oh geez... I missed the "save vs poop every hour" sentence. TBH that's the most awkward and ridiculous thing I've seen in an RPG. I hadn't considered it, but I guess with his low health, Haruto has to have Crohn's Disease and IBS. What a weird thing to roleplay. Haruto only has a collective 2% chance of surviving any given hour holding in his poop.

Knowing his own limitations, Haruto will gladly invest in purgative/laxative and accept hit point damage, relying on his magical power to mitigate it (which is then part of roleplay and MP expenditure and thus opportunity costs). With only a 2% chance of not pooping any given hour, he probably has to live his whole life fasting and eating only very cautiously to avoid various shames... exacerbating his wan and malnourished appearance and already poor Health.

[jemmus]

Yes, I have to admit, it's pretty ridiculous. But it's a real thing for even modern-day Mt. Fuji hikers/pilgrims. One must not pollute the sacred mountain with one's eliminations! And the Forest of the Lost is real too.

[ffilz]

Yes, I have to admit, it's pretty ridiculous. But it's a real thing for even modern-day Mt. Fuji hikers/pilgrims. One must not pollute the sacred mountain with one's eliminations! And the Forest of the Lost is real too.

Though in modern day there are toilets on the mountain making it an easier thing to deal with.

[jemmus]

We can completely drop the potty ST thing if you guys prefer. I'm not attached to it at all. There could be other difficulties to deal with along the way. It's climbing a wild mountain, after all.

[ffilz]

We can completely drop the potty ST thing if you guys prefer. I'm not attached to it at all. There could be other difficulties to deal with along the way. It's climbing a wild mountain, after all.

Yea, why don't we focus on the adventure bits and not weird overly detailed logistics... Taisho is happy to fast or do whatever folks normally do to avoid the unthinkable.

Now I'd be OK with some sort of save to have the endurance to make it to the top. And maybe we don't have a very good chance of making it.

[Marullus]

Yes, I have to admit, it's pretty ridiculous. But it's a real thing for even modern-day Mt. Fuji hikers/pilgrims. One must not pollute the sacred mountain with one's eliminations! And the Forest of the Lost is real too.

Oh, I know! I originally thought we were starting much closer to Mount Fuji and specifically invoked the haunted Aokigahara forest in our first scene.

[Marullus]

I will gladly roleplay that he fasts regularly to ensure he doesn't have IBS and cause social issues, especially if it otherwise allows us to skip Poop Savings Throws.

I hope there's other things for us to do adventure-wise than hold our bowels.

[jemmus]

I may have to adopt that as a term for when GM does something wild or poorly considered. For example, "Do you guys agree? Or is that a Poop Saving Throw?"

It turns out that, according to Honor Bound's map of the Kofu area, Haruto's hometown of Fujikawa-cho ("Fuji River-town") is on the road from Kofu to Fuji-san. It's the town on the road closest to Fuji-san, so it's where pilgrimages up the mountain start. So Haruto knows quite a lot about pilgrimages to Fuji-san-- more than I planned for him to. For example:

-Pilgrims set out from Fujikawa for Fuji-san before dawn.

-About the worst thing that can happen is a big snow storm comes up while a group is high up on the mountain. Some say they naturally freeze to death, some say the Snow Woman comes and drains the heat out of their bodies. Either way, they aren't found until the spring thaw.

-Pilgrims report seeing or surviving encounters with predatory creatures on the mountain: huge spiders, giant centipedes, bakemono.

-The Forest of the Lost (a.k.a. Sea of Trees) is full of yurei, of course. But people report seeing wolves, tigers and troops of vicious monkeys there as well.

-Many pilgrims hire ronin from Kofu as yojimbo bodyguards.

If he likes, Haruto can stay overnight at his childhood home in Fujikawa-cho, rather than at the inn. He doubts that his brother will be home. He's probably forming up with the other Takeda bushi.

[Marullus]

That all sounds delicious.

[jemmus]

I've done a few test run army battles. The dice really, really drastically determine the outcome. With the same two armies and same two commanders, two wins and two losses for each. And when things start falling apart for one side, it can go south pretty quickly.

Things to know for players:
-There will probably be around 5 Battle Turns. That's around 5 times the PCs will roll on the on book 2, page 36.

-The chart is pretty good for PCs when their side is Winning or Deadlocked that turn. But it's pretty harsh for them on a Losing turn. It's grim on a Defeated turn.

-Players roll 2d6 on the chart each turn. Before rolling, they say whether their PC is Courageous (+2 to the roll), Dutiful (+0), or Cautious (-2) that turn. PCs can only go one step in either direction each turn (e.g. Courageous to Dutiful, Dutiful to Cautious, etc.) Two turns as Cautious give the PC the option to leave the battle.

-The PC's choices of Courageous, Dutiful, or Cautious each turn of course affect his chances of earning honors at the end of a battle. If a PC is Dutiful every turn, his Recognition Number (chance of earning honors) is 1. That gives him a 1% chance (1d100 roll) of earning honors. A PC who was Courageous for 5 turns has a 5% chance of recognition. A PC who was Cautious for 5 turns has a 5% chance of rolling on the very harsh Battle Disgrace Table.*

-If a PC's army is defeated, he has no chance of earning honors.

-The PCs are familiar enough with battles in Nippon to know that commanders are likely to Retreat if losing, rather than to fight to the death. After a retreat, there is no chance of earning honors and no payment.

*That is, if I'm understanding the rules starting on p. 36 correctly. They're pretty poorly worded and hard to decipher, IMO.

We can have more Battle Turns, if you guys want to have more chances at getting honors. I'd just have to adjust how many troops are in one Troop Point.

Question: Do you all want to have the details of how each Battle Turn goes (showing the rolls, exact Troop Point losses, etc.)? Or do you want to have "fog of war" in effect, so your PC only knows the local situation, and only gets general notion of what's going on in battle overall?

[jemmus]

I want to add a rule about Battles. The rules don't mention any losses to Troop Points when there's a Deadlocked result. I want to deduct half a TP from each side, because each turn is a Nippon hour (two hours) long. It doesn't make sense that there would be zero casualties. Also, we don't want battles to draw out too long in stalemates, because every turn PC's risk losing HP.

[Marullus]

Question: Do you all want to have the details of how each Battle Turn goes (showing the rolls, exact Troop Point losses, etc.)? Or do you want to have "fog of war" in effect, so your PC only knows the local situation, and only gets general notion of what's going on in battle overall?

I would like to learn the system and so see all the rolls, personally.

[ffilz]

Question: Do you all want to have the details of how each Battle Turn goes (showing the rolls, exact Troop Point losses, etc.)? Or do you want to have "fog of war" in effect, so your PC only knows the local situation, and only gets general notion of what's going on in battle overall?

I would like to learn the system and so see all the rolls, personally.

Agreed. That's why I'm having Hirosho join the battle rather than accompany the pilgrims.

[jemmus]

OK, I'll post the rolls and mechanics results. Since Marullus said in the other game that jmcatty is currently tied up, we'll proceed with the battle. And the pilgrimage, of course.

[Marullus]

I talked with both Jmacatty and Enoch and they both may be rejoining. Mac needs to remake Ito (he never had a copy of the sheet and I didn't see one here on the site) and Enoch would pick back up Katsumi (who did the necessary job for his family while we dealt with mountain bandits). So, if you allow Mac to make battle rolls, we can add Ito and Omi to join at this juncture of the scene.

I am excited about the roleplay opportunity in Katsumi meeting Akemi!