[LP] The Way of the Tiger. (Complete)

[angelfromanotherpin]

Make a note of how many times you attack the thief. Tyutchev's bastard sword parts the air with a menacing shrill sound and you duck to let it fall behind your shoulder. Your arm darts out parallel to the blade and you wrap it around his wrist, as you intend to twist into him and throw him over your hip. However, Tyutchev's skill with the sword is as the dancers with their feet, and he is already using his momentum and yours to drive the blade back into your upper leg. Any greater force and your leg would have been sheared clean off. As it is, you lose 6 Endurance.

(This was not your third attack.)

You stagger behind Vespers, whose blade clashes against that of Tyutchev once again as you ready your next move.

• Cobra Strike punch?
• Leaping Tiger kick?

Ouch.

[Mr Shine]

Try a punch

[MisterDee]

Fist of Fury!

[angelfromanotherpin]

tyutchev grins evilly as he moves in to the attack. His enormous bastard sword swirls through the air faster than you might have believed possible and you can only hope to strike even faster. If your attack succeeds and you have the skill of Yubi-Jutsu, you may add 2 to the damage, but you may not combine Nerve-Striking with Inner Force.

TYUTCHEV
Defense against Cobra Strike punch: 7
Endurance: 20
Damage: 2 Dice + 2

• If your attack reduces him to 3 End or less...
• If not, and this is your third attack...
Otherwise, Tyutchev easily deflects another attack from Vespers and then his blade arcs in a backwards swing up from underneath your outstretched arm. Your defense is 9.

That's a pretty high defense for us, given how badass Tyutchev is being presented as; I guess Vespers is at least diluting the enemy offense. Note that the 6 End we lost for trying that throw was significantly under-average for Tyutchev, who damage output is beastly.

Also, ick. A two attack window to deal 17 damage is rough. As I see it, we have three options here, none of them great:
• Gamble, throw two Inner Force punches, hope luck is with us. (Avg dam 14)
• Gamble big, go all out, Inner Force this punch, then try an Inner Force kick hoping the change of maneuver doesn't screw us over. (Projected Avg dam 18)
• Gamble bigger, assume failing the countdown is survivable, save our Inner Force and normal punch twice.
• If you see a workable strategy I haven't, speak up...

[Mr Shine]

That's a beast of an endurance to get down. I'd inner force this punch, see if we have any realistic chance of finishing it next round and play it by ear. Hopefully the timer is the point when Vespers gets a hit on, or otherwise actively becomes helpful in the fight.

[SGamerz]

Damn, I hope their mage is permanently out of this fight. The one on our side has been useless thus far. At least the melee companions seem to be helping out a bit.

Inner Force!

[angelfromanotherpin]

Okay, throwing the first Inner Force punch, seeing what we get.
... and it's 3, a miss. With that, even a maxed out Inner Force kick wouldn't make our target.
Tyutchev makes his attack with a 10, which we block with a 5.
We attack again, 6-2, miss again. Guess it's time to take our countdown medicine...

You are still struggling with Tyutchev when Thybault crashes into you. He had resumed battle but is losing against Cassandra. Eris and Taflwr are both recovered, but Thaum is about to cast another spell. Tyutchev turns to face the new threat from his one-time friend, Eris the magician. Suddenly you notice the tapestry at one side of the room begin to ripple as if in a wind.

The tapestry down one side of the hallway is being ripped aside and torn to shreds by a colossal being. It is the Krathak, in shape like a chameleon, with huge pincers and claws and feeding tentacles around its cavernous maw. Everyone cries out in panic and begins to run, friend and foe alike.



The Krathak is not alone. There is a howdah behind its head; it is being driven by Dark Elves in red robes. These are the personal bodyguard of the Black Widow. It seems she has decided you will venture no deeper than the fourth tier. You join the flight away from the monster to the far end of the hall. A hail of arrows discourages thoughts of taking a stand, but the bolas thrown by one of the Black Widow's bodyguards winds around your legs and knocks you to the floor.

You hear Cassandra shout, "The Worldworm, it's our only chance.' Disentangling the twine of the bolas, you set off in pursuit of the others as the beast bears down on you. Tyutchev has reached the far end of the hall and is opening a large secret door. Like all seasoned campaigners, the chaos-bringers chose their ground well and have prepared a way of retreat.

Having a third party interrupt their fights is something that happens way too often with these guys. It becomes an overly-obvious contrivance to keep them alive. I don't even understand the need to keep them alive at this point, this was supposed to be the last story anyway.

The end of the hallway slides back to reveal a bowl-shaped cavern running with fire. It is the lair of the Worldworm, which fables tell has its head in the Rift, here, and a body that stretches all the way around Orb, through the roots of the mountains, and a tail that reaches to the very center of Orb. In the middle of the bowl is what looks like a gigantic statue of a snake's head, its mouth open, showing great curving fangs.

Tyutchev does not hesitate, for there is no other way out of the cavern. He leaps into the statue's open mouth and is lost to view. You sprint towards the statue as the Krathak's stinking breath bathes you and its footfalls shake the earth. Soon everyone has jumped into the statue's mouth. Cassandra is the last, just ahead of you. As she leaps there is a cracking noise and the statue turns to gray-green scaly flesh. The Worldworm is coming to life.

As quick as thought, Cassandra thrusts her blade into the roof of the Worldworm's mouth to prevent it closing on her. In the next instant you have leaped up beside her. The Krathak is not far behind.

• Attempt a killing blow against Cassandra?
• Run into the belly of the Worldworm?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Ignore Cassandra and go down. If the book wanted us to be able to kill the Chaos-Bringers Thaum would be dead by now and Tyutchev might be too.

[SGamerz]

Considering how favoured this trio has been by the writers, they'll probably punish us for trying to kill the GMPC. Leave her.

[angelfromanotherpin]

(You did not capture Cassandra's sword before setting out.)

This is a particularly annoying check. Cassandra usually has a frost brand, but in the opening it's possible to capture her and take it. You have no good reason to give it back, but her replacement weapon doesn't have enough +s to hold off the Worldworm and you both get crushed. So it's possible to lose the game in the intro for making an extremely rational decision. The only thing that keeps it from being Creature of Havoc level bullshit is that at least it's obvious how to correct it on your next try.

From the Worldworm's maw you plunge down a dark tunnel of ridged stone, towards its belly. But the Worldworm no longer has what passes for stomach and tail. Instead you all out of a jagged hole in its body into a pitch-black void. The wind whistles past your ears as you fall ever faster into darkness.

The cries of others sound below you. Cassandra tries to grab hold of you but loses her grip and you hear her cursing fervently in despair as her god will not help her. You try to call upon Kwon the Redeemer, and for a desperate moment you feel the presence of your god as he tries to lend you his strength, but it is only a moment. You are too far from the sunlit lands and still you fall.

Then you are wreathed in a gossamer thread, as smooth as silk, that slows your descent into the middle of Orb. You fall more slowly now, until at last you come gently to rest in a great cocoon of silk. A pale and sickly light looms above you and a great heaving body begins to scuttle closer to you on eight hairy black legs. You have fallen into the web of the Black Widow, whose minions have driven you to this pass.

Here on the seventh tier you will make a juicy morsel for the Queen of Evil, unless you can somehow rid Orb of its darkest blight...

I like how the 'seasoned campaigners' retreat plan... leads right into a trap. Apparently they only scouted it as far as 'here's a hole we can jump down.' I guess that's chaos worshipers for you?

Anyway, that's what was previously the extremely unsatisfying end of the series. It didn't help that the book was actually very brief compared to the rest of the series, due chiefly the amount of basically redundant material. There are like half a dozen ways to get the meeting with Cassandra at the start, and while they do make some difference, they eat reference numbers out of all proportion to actual distinct content. The same with tracking the presence of Foxglove and the adventuring party. Like, you can meet the adventuring party in (I think) three different ways, and each time it checks for your previous encounter and sends you to a different reference to remind you who they are.

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions before we proceed. As far as that goes, it turns out that the new book 7 has call-backs to the new book 0, so unless there are any objections, I think I'm going to do a 'flashback' run of NINJA before moving on to the hopefully epic conclusion.

[Darth Rabbitt]

How does keeping Foxglove influence the fight with the Chaos Bringers? And is there anything else interesting that having her does? Actually, how do you keep her with you? Just don't let her get close enough to hug/kiss you?

Also I remember you mentioning you could "give her as a bribe to a lecherous orc." What's up with that? Is it as fucked up as it sounds?

What does touching the probably trapped urn do? Is it a trap?

Finally, is the way of thrones also an ambush or did Cassandra just make that up in hopes that she could get us to be ambushed by her and her colleagues at the end?

[angelfromanotherpin]

How does keeping Foxglove influence the fight with the Chaos Bringers?

It doesn't. She finds a place out of the way to cower and then she cowers. If she's enchanted you, you're told you have to choose to protect her if it comes up, but it doesn't come up.

And is there anything else interesting that having her does? Actually, how do you keep her with you? Just don't let her get close enough to hug/kiss you?

Treating Foxglove like dirt gets her into the Rift with you (unless you take your eyes off her, in which case she poison daggers you and books it), but the payoff is actually really sad. I think she offers exactly one hint in her role as 'person who's been in the Rift before,' which is bullshit, she's supposed to be an expert spy, she should be a gold mine of information. Instead she's kind of a useless wet noodle. In addition to the orc-bribing scene, you can lose her if you're disguised as Dark Elves: Eris lightning bolts her to death before you have a chance to ninja honesty. Killing your companion is the most effective Eris is ever shown to be.

It kills me how badly the whole Foxglove thing was fumbled. Having someone who is useful but only just on the edge of trustworthy is a super-interesting relationship, and it should have been IF gold. I have no idea how they managed to fuck it up so badly.

Also I remember you mentioning you could "give her as a bribe to a lecherous orc." What's up with that? Is it as fucked up as it sounds?

I don't have the book in front of me right now, but when I do I'll put up the relevant content and let you judge for yourself.

edit: Here is is.

Round the curve of the tunnel comes a team of Orcs in harness towing a wooden chariot with rusty iron wheels along the rails. On the chariot are a driver clad in an outlandish suit of spiked armor, with a polished brass horn seeming to grow out of his forehead, and an orcish chieftain – of all the hundreds of orcs you have ever set eyes on, he is both the most brutishly strong and ugly-looking. By the side of the chariot lopes the wood carrier. He points and starts gibbering in orcish while the chieftain stares at Foxglove and grins unpleasantly. You have heard enough orcish spoken by those inhabitants of Irsmuncast who are Orcs or half-breeds to understand a few words as the chieftain calls his men to halt in front of you and then addresses you. 'Kneel, shambler, before Lord Sile of the second tier. Why trespassing far from the shambler hovels?'

• Kneel and say that you are taking your slave to the third tier where you can sell her for a high price? √
• Remain standing and say that she is the Black Widow's favorite and that he and the Orcs had better leave you be?

The chieftain sneers and scoffs. 'A shambler owning a beautiful human slave?' he laughs. 'So she just wandered into the Rift and asked you to take care of her?' Again there is laughter. 'She looks tasty for a human.' He licks his lips while the Orcs slip out of the harness and begin to stride closer.

• Give them Foxglove and hope they let you go? √
• Tell the chieftain that he can have Foxglove only if he beats you in single combat?
• Attack them?

The chieftain beckons Foxglove to step up beside him on the chariot and forbids his orcs to touch her. You let fall the coffle chain.
(Check for enchantment by Foxglove, assuming no.)

Foxglove turns to you and says in the common tongue: 'We shall meet again, Avenger.' The chieftain of Orcs recognizes the common tongue and he asks Foxglove who you are as she mounts the chariot beside him. He reaches out and paws her, but to your amazement Foxglove seems not to mind. Foxglove whispers in his ear as you pretend not to have understood her words spoken in the common tongue. You are surprised that she can speak Orcish, a legacy of her days organizing the Order of the Yellow Lotus for the Usurper. Sile is far less interested in you than in she, however, and you are able to slink past them and away. You can hardly imagine where Foxglove's talents will carry her from here.

The blue text is an addition in the new printing.

What does touching the probably trapped urn do? Is it a trap?

It is totally a trap. A tiny spider daughter of Nullaq pops out of it into your mouth, burrows in, and makes a nest under your brain. I don't think that gets any payoff in this book, though.

Finally, is the way of thrones also an ambush or did Cassandra just make that up in hopes that she could get us to be ambushed by her and her colleagues at the end?

There is actually an arbitrarily inescapable trap down the way of thrones. I think it's dumb that when the choice comes up the way forward is to trust a totally untrustworthy person who also hates you personally, but there it is.

[angelfromanotherpin]

So, Ninja!.



David Walters is a guy with several gamebooks under his belt, and while the 7th book has his name as well as the series' original authors on the cover together (which I take to mean he finished the book from their notes or something), this one is all him. He also apparently wrote the Way of the Tiger RPG, which is still in beta.

I have to say that I like the art in the new books a lot less. First, they're by several different artists, which makes it feel less coherent. Second, instead of being in clean B&W, they're all in this very muddy grayscale which suggests that they were originally color pieces poorly converted for a B&W printjob.

A couple of other nitpicks of the Walters books: 1) They have bizarre formatting issues which involve weirdly large blank spaces on several pages; this seemingly has to do with the art, but it seems very strange that it's a problem in 2014 when it wasn't in 1983. 2) All the game over paragraphs have a {Death} tag at the end, as though he didn't trust his audience to understand a game over section when we read it.

Mechanically, we're back to our original three skills (Climbing, Pick Locks, Poison Needles), and that last one is kind of a sucker's pick for this book, because the nature of the mission means we don't start with any poison (although we might find some). Also, to represent our inexperience, Avenger has a max Inner Force of 3.

Setup-wise, Yaemon has already killed your foster-father Naijishi and stolen the scrolls of Kettsuin, but nobody has yet figured out just how bad that is and also you haven't proven yourself hardcore enough to go out avenging. Instead, you're just working on your ninja career.

Now the time of trial approaches, the time to prove yourself worthy of becoming a Grandmaster at the Temple of the Rock. The Grandmaster of the Five Winds has passed away peacefully and you were selected to challenge for the honored role along with four other Initiates of the Inner Circle, the most talented followers of Kwon.

You have been taken by ship to the Island of Plenty, where you must journey from Lemné on its eastern coast to Iga in the west within five days. On your way you are to surmount a challenge. All five cities on the east of the island are ruled by Daimyo, who each have a single flag bearing the mons of their clan trimmed with gold. Your challenge is to capture two of these flags and then travel to your waiting ship in Iga. You must do no evil on your journey, and must not take a flag from a peer. Any candidates who succeed will then be permitted to undertake the final test.

The Grandmaster of the Dawn also informed you before you departed that only two of the most trusted Daimyo there have been told of your test, for it was a scant thirteen years ago when the monks of Kwon were driven from the island...

Your small ship the 'Catechism' sails into Lemné's harbour, the sprawling city lit by the soft glow of thousands of night lamps. The vessel is manned by fishermen from the Island of Tranquil Dreams, their work punctuated by the creak of timber and the splash of waves against the hull. You and the four other Initiates are assembled above deck. You are the youngest ever selected to begin the time of trial, and you vow to succeed to honor the memory of your late foster-father Naijishi.

Aiko is the first of your rivals for the title of Grandmaster; like you, she wears a black ninja costume, and she kneels nearby rechecking her equipment. Your other competitors are all shaven-headed monks of Kwon. First is the towering Gorobei who stretches against the mast as if he could push it over; he is your main rival, having nearly succeeded at this tiral once before. Next is Daon, who leans against the wooden rail staring out across the dark sea; he fled the island as a boy, his temple incinerated during the Black Lotus Rebellion. Last is the eldest competitor, Chigeru, a slight figure who has cultivated his spiritual power under a Grandmaster in the mountains of the mainland; he sits cross-legged on a coil of rope, meditating.

Your ship moors alongside a merchant ship. You spot a young woman in a white kimono on the docks, flanked by two samurai in white lacquered armor. Gorobei heads down the gangplank which groans under his weight and you all follow.

'Gorobei,' she says softly, 'I am most pleased to see you again. For the rest of you, welcome. My name is Singing Wind.'

Gorobei bows. 'I am surprised to see you here, my lady. The last time the test was set by your husband.'

A look of pain passes across her. 'My husband has been assassinated! My troubles outweigh any test I was to have set you. The bandit leader Mutari has since slain my guards and seized my home, taking my husband's falcon katana to claim dominion of Lemné. My remaining samurai are away escorting my husband's body to his family estate, and so I beseech you for help.'

Gorobei eagerly volunteers to help, as do Daon and Aiko.

'What of the flag we were to compete for?' Chigeru asks.

'Whosoever wrests the falcon katana from Mutari's corpse will earn my flag.'

Chigeru says that a spear does not become shaper the more steel you put in its tip. Singing Wind already has several champions for her cause. Instead, he declares he will hasten to Nara to capture another flag.

• Agree to help Singing Wind and work alongside the others?
• Seize a head start, leaving Lemné along the northern road to the castle at Suma?
• Follow Chigeru's route, leaving Lemné along the southern road to the ancient city of Nara?

[Mr Shine]

Good ninja care not for games of flags. There's a real sumbag out there who needs a punch in the balls or 5.

We're obviously going to fail to be made Grandmaster here anyway.

Actually, it looks like it'll be us and Gorobei, the first scene in Avenger! being the last part of this same test.

[SGamerz]

Hunting down a murderer or getting a flag....I know which one sounds more fun to me.

Besides, we now Gorobei is still going to be a major contender in Book 1, so staying with him can't go very wrong.

[Omegonthesane]

Avenge a thing. It's literally our name one book from now.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Go on the sidequest.

[angelfromanotherpin]

You agree to help Singing Wind who bows, expressing her deep sense of gratitude. You follow her and her two samurai along the dock. She steps into a waiting purple palanquin bearing the mon of a black moon. Two burly servants dressed in white lift the palanquin and begin forward along a wide white paved road, her samurai falling into line alongside.

You, Aiko, Daon and Gorobei accompany them along the streets which are deserted at this time of night, lit only by hanging lanterns. Aiko points out a building which resembles a temple of Kwon.

'It used to be,' Gorobei says, 'but ever since our brethren were driven from the island it is now simply a cargo store.' Daon mutters the Pilgrim's Curse under his breath.

You recognize that you are near the city market district. You have been to Lemné and the surrounding area twice before, always on covert missions to help the downtrodden, and your only other time spent on the island has been around Iga. You pass by closed shops and empty carts. Ahead are the famed seven hills of Lemné, on the highest of which is perched an impressive complex protected by a white stone wall.

Singing Wind emerges from the palanquin. 'My maidservant has informed me that there is a group of ronin up the hill securing the main entrance to my residence. I must ask you to overcome them, so that I can gain access to my rightful home.'

You share a gaze with Aiko, a plan forming instantly based on deception. Aiko enters the palanquin, with Gorobei and Daon changing into the clothes of the palanquin bearers. Lastly, you cling to the underside of the palanquin and hang on, ready to roll out when the moment is right. Singing Wind stays back with her palanquin bearers, although she sends her two samurai along with you.

Daon puffs a little as the palanquin is carried uphill, however Gorobei does not seem to show even the slightest strain of exertion. From your upside-down position you can see that the way ahead is barred by a set of locked iron gates which are guarded by half-a-dozen of the mercenary samurai.

Aiko calls out to the ronin from inside the Palanquin, her voice a perfect imitation of Singing Wind. 'I am the rightful heir to Lemné and I will not be denied entry to my own home!'

Two of the ronin draw their katana and approach the palanquin. Suddenly Aiko bursts out with a Leaping Tiger kick into the face of the nearest enemy. You drop from the palanquin and roll aside as Gorobei and Daon abandon it to join the fight alongside Singing Wind's samurai. There is one ronin not engaged by anyone who is trying to work his way round to attack Aiko from the blind side.

• Join the attack against the unengaged ronin?
• Use the distraction to slip over the wall and into Singing Wind's residence, trying to be the first to find Mutari and claim the prize?

[Silent Wayfarer]

Be heroic, help against the ronin. Also, no Book 7 (Redeemer!)?

[angelfromanotherpin]

As far as that goes, it turns out that the new book 7 has call-backs to the new book 0, so unless there are any objections, I think I'm going to do a 'flashback' run of NINJA before moving on to the hopefully epic conclusion.

[Mr Shine]

Attack the Ronin. Flags will probably come automatically by doing honourable actions.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Take out the ronin.

[angelfromanotherpin]

To your left Gorobei grabs an onrushing ronin and pins his arms in a bear hug, drawing upon his inner chi to squeeze the life from him despite his armor. Daon and Aiko are busy in combat against two others. The ronin nearby turns at your approach with his katana drawn.

• Winged Horse kick?
• Cobra Strike punch?
• Whirlpool throw?

[Darth Rabbitt]

He's armored so a punch won't do much damage and a throw will be hard to perform. Kick him and hope his katana doesn't cut our leg off.

[Mr Shine]

I'd go for a throw, since this island is Japan-analogue I expect it's lacquered armour rather than steel, so easier to throw.