Exercise over…

Herid Fel says:

Well since you said that having combat training with your horse requred special stuff, I guess thats something I would like to do, be able to use it into combat in various ways:
Charge, being able to scatter crowds with the horse, maybe some commands aswell like the classic whistle and the horse moves towards you. And just being able to use it properly into battle I guess, know-how stuff.

Okies, I only count Charge as something new here. Calling your horse is something pretty basic so I don’t count that as a specific request. Any other technique-kind things you would like to be able to do with your horse?

Oh yeah another question, since I am aiming for it to be a warhorse will that require and special CD cost aswell(except the fodder)?

No, what makes it a Warhorse is the training you’ll give and pay for it. No matter how you train it it costs to train your horse in either time or CD and sometimes both. The definition (in this case) of Warhorse though is that it’s trained to be able to attack and act as a creature of war. Also being quite accustomed to violence and such things. Though most horses still have problem with magic.

Another request or note is probably since these things with the horse will cost alot I think Katherine will be pretty active in doing quests and other things that might earn CD, like this plutoon thing if anything like that comes up over this period.

I’m pretty sure that won’t be enough for what you’ve had in mind. Remember maximum three quest solo a month and that often includes assisting missions too. Squad Missions though might give you three additional quests but if you are to take Rank 3 quests and missions you’ll be pretty dead before you’re done. You must think on alternative ways, there will be some presented to you later, but you need to think as well. I won’t do all the work for you.

Skill Techniques:
Sense presence (being able to feel people’s presence, not sure what to call it)
Unarmed rush attack (punch/kick, not sure what to call it)
Rush tackle (the warrior take-down one)

Just to be able to sense presence? Well, that is an easy technique which can be done in just a few sessions (in-game). You already have the required Intuition I think. The rest is up to someone showing you the trick. Pretty quickly done. The level required is 3.

If you mean what the Kremis Dwarf did in Project 3 on the other hand, its something completely different, even though in requires you to be able to do this first.

Rushing and punching someone will require you to train in this technique all by yourself. It’s no real technique since there are an exceptional few whose limbs can withstand a rushing blow. Thus most people rush, tackle then strike since you won’t break your arm that way. Note that this will be risky business. It’s not a common way to do things.

Right, so most of the skills and techniques above are a response to a need or a lacking. For instance Tatsuo has pretty much turned into the unofficial scout of the team and so I’m thinking that track would be a nice boost in that regard. The sensing thing is also something that would be very nice when moving about enemy territory and besides that it’s totally awesome 😛

Note that this ability is not passive. It’s an totally active ability, the sensing that is. You need to take a breath and do it. So you can’t sneak and do it. Understand? Active stance only. Plus that it will take AC.

The Katia knowledge skill I’ve got there is something of a practicality, it serves two purposes; one is to keep up the mental stimulation for balancing out the mantra and the other is to keep working on adapting and understanding ‘the wetlands’. I am open for suggestions here, maybe there is some knowledge one of my trainers could advice me to aquire. Specificly perhaps something useful in regard to the mantra? If there indeed is such a thing.

There are two ways you can do this. Buy it, or not. If you just let it be, you’ll get it eventually too since it will soon be time for you to know enough about Katia to earn it. If you buy it however you will get more AP on WIT, most likely.

As for requests for this session I have a few things I can think of. If we are going to act out parts of the training I’m particularly interested in the sensing bit (if I’m allowed to learn it). Also I’d like to see what results we might garner from our endless therapy sessions, atleast in the form of a summary if nothing else.

You are allowed to learn a simple trick as this. This is actually something that falls into the category as an obligation your Speciality trainer has to teach you if you are able. If you have the required level he will show you how to do it.

Herid Fel says:

Won’t I be able to do this while sneaking at all then? Could I do something like sneak about stopping every now and then in a hidden position to use ‘sense’?

Yes, this is exactly what you need to do. Thus, you must interrupt your sneak, and in some/most situations you’ll have to pay for your sneaking stance again.

Hmm, I’m interested in how aquiring the technique will work then. You did say that there would be a technique for this, have you changed your mind? Or did you mean that I could develope this into a technique? I also want to know how big the risk would be when using it, Tatsuo is already in the red zone for risk taking I think.

A Rush Punch technique you’ll have to develop yourself. How, it will take some amount of work and I can’t say right now precisely how since I do not know. The risk? Probably not too high, but enough to always need to roll a CON and PHY (small) roll every time you use it to avoid fractures and injuries on your hand. Rushing and punching is not a sound technique doing it simultaneously. Rushing then punching is a completely other thing though. That would be a chain technique.

I shall consider this, I guess this part could be taken on the session in question but I’ll ask again. Would my trainers suggest anything in particular in the ways of knowledge for Tatsuo to study?

No, most likely not.

Herid Fel says:

Yes, still the same limit.

Herid Fel says:

First of Jens have decided to change his method of earning credits from honest hard work to quests and missions. This is to become a more experienced and dedicated eye solider(cadet but solider sounds better). He also aims to start his enlighter training.

I wouldn’t completely rule out hard work I say. But that decision you can take later when more facts can be presented.

Will Jens finish his aura training during this time?

If he doesn’t then a lot of people will ask themselves how the heck did he learned magic in the first place.

Is this enough time to learn to control a new element?

It is, yes. But you need to be able to afford the training too. Learning by yourself is dangerous and takes longer, not to mention that it’s against regulations when it comes to magic since it’s dangerous for others as well.

Can I get rid of my -pm in MCH?

You can, but you’ll have to sacrifice quite a lot of CD for this. Either you sacrifice about 100-200 CD or you try to find a magical point instead sometime. The downside to the latter though is that they are quite rare.

Also since I lost my stuff during the exercise and since my new duties and talents require it I will have to buy some new tools. I don’t know exactly what I’ll need but I know what I need it for.

You will get compensated for your loss during the exercise.

And if I could get all of this combined into one nice suitcase that would be divine.

Actually getting tools, modifying a suitcase and putting the tools into that modified suitcase wouldn’t be so hard to do =P. You only need to afford all the tools.

A personal mechanical golem, if this does not exceed my ability.

I’m pretty sure that a mechanical golem is for the moment, out of your reach. You can study as a preparation for this though. But making golems, in any way, is very complicated work. You can get something for this though, but those details we can work out during the session. What you’ll need to think of though that I prefer that you have clear in your mind as soon as possible is the following details;

What materials will this golem be made out of (externally)?
Will it be an armoured Golem or what?
What will the purpose and function of the Golem be?
How are you going to control it (are a lot of different ways)?
What will the golem be able to do? (Techniques and such)
How big will it be?

The more you have envisioned the more concrete facts you can get about what Jens need to do to achieve this. Every little detail you can think about concerning your Golem will be of use. Your idea, your vision, your challenge.

I would like to know how much CD this should cost.

I cannot know this. Part of the reason for this post is to get a view of what you all will want to do. Thus giving me time to think about how I will make the costs and all. The Eye is under development still and thus making a lot of stuff undetermined.

Well, well… as it looks now I doesn’t have time enough to finish anything to Tuesday so maybe I’ll move the session. The problem though is that I’m in Umeå next weekend and also have some shit I need to do in Skellefteå in the middle of the week so the possible days to play are limited. If you have other musings or questions about this time plus something to tell about what you’ll do with Jens then write that. Otherwise I’ll soon need to compile all this information and try to prepare something. Even though some of what will need to be done will have to be done during the session itself.

Well, well… hopefully it will all work out.

Herid Fel says:

I’ve been thinking about this abit and find myself wondering what that chain technique would be good for. Rushing, stopping and then attacking seems like alot of wasted energy, what’s the advantage of doing it this way? I have a few thoughts about the rushing unarmed attack, however I might leave it as a future project for now.

A chain technique is when you do two things following eachother. Like when you use tackle you can attack if the tackle is succsessfull. That’s a chain technique.

The reason to why a rush punch isn’t effective is the very principle of punching. If you have participated in any martial arts you know what I’m about to explain.

Usually when you punch someone and aren’t trained. You draw back your arm and then plunge it forward with all your might. This principle of a punch is wasteful, slow and even though it might feel like it, not very effective.

So most fighters now that you need to gain speed and strength as well as a way to protect your hand. Since a regular punch in most cases hurts your fist almost as much as you hurt your opponent. To avoid this, you need to use less force, less muscles and use something else to make the punch effective.

To minimize the damage taken on your fist and maximise the damage you make you must, in all fighting styles, boxing, martial arts, modern martial arts and self-defence use rotation, gravitation and… how to describe it. Force, but applied correctly at the right time.

In boxing you use your body as an weight and do crooks. Which brawling is based upon. But instead of drawing back your arm, you quickly rotate your body and use either your upper body or your waist to give the punch it’s momentum and thus multiplying the force you apply to it. A crook is, to me who is used to more agile fighting, quite hard since you need to find the precise right angle of your arm and also know how to apply your force to the recoil of hitting your opponent. If you don’t apply your force correctly when actually hitting your opponent, you will hurt your elbow or your wrist. In worst cases, your knuckles or hand.

In Karate, Kung Fu, Thai and many other more agile martial arts you use rotation of the hip, the upper body, the arm, and and applied technique of how you move your body forward. This is what brings me closer to explaining your problem with an flying rush punch or whatever to call it.

But before that, I will describe Rush as I’ve imagined it.

Rush is a technique where you rush as fast as you can to slam your whole body weight into your opponent. If you have a sword in your hand you automatically draw it back so you can stop just a step or two infront of your opponent and then let the sword or weapon continue with the forward momentum you’ve build up during your short rush. You use rotation to redirect momentum using yourself as the axis. If you do this with a spear or a dagger or decide to plunge your weapon into your enemy you use your body weight. That’s it.

Now… applying this to a kick. That would be almost impossible if you don’t Jump Kick. Then it wouldn’t be a Rush, then it’s a completely different technique. But say, for the sake of describing why it’s not possible, that you rush as usual to your enemy and then when you close in to him you lift your leg and draw it back… then you can’t run. And still have one or two steps left before you reach your target, but you have effectively halted your rush.

Say that you do this at a closer range (completely discarding the actual benefit of rush) you are in essence still rushing when you kick him. A forward kick there, would be very dangerous to your leg. A usual kick cannot work since your momentum is different and if you do that you won’t even slow your own momentum. And applying all your momentum to the kick will most likely twist your ankle or make you just fall into the arms of your enemy. Thus a special adjustment need to be made, but still, with that much momentum your bones will take damage since you aren’t “grounded”. If you can’t focus your energy on one spot while you’re fighting you are useless. Another important point in all fighting. You need to have balance. Do not jump unnecessarily.

So to do this, you need to develop a special technique based on the same thing but not the same. The reason you need to develop it is because it’s ineffective. Nobody would develop a technique like this and teach it to others. Not because it’s powerful but because it’s too risky and not that advantageous. A flying kick is better suited. This though has a lot of powerful downsides. But whatever, not the point.

So, to the punch. And this I must say is actually something which will be a lot harder than a kick since you can easily adjust a kick to another character. Even though the rush will make it less effective (damage wise). Where you stomp him in the gut or at the chest and then land about 1-2 paces in front of your enemy. This though will most likely not add any damage at all, maybe 1 but mostly just effect his balance.

When you rush and punch you loose quite everything of a punch. Not to mention that you will practically need to rush INTO your foe if you are to have any chance of hitting him.

But the problem here is that if you don’t stop to redirect the energy and to use your rotation to add to the punch. Your punch’s force will be totally uncontrollable since you will practically only have one leg on the ground and that leg is pushing you forward. You cannot use the regular punch and you can’t even punch him effectively with this. If you punch him it will be a ‘superman punch’ letting your fist fly into him. The problem there is obvious. The counterforce from his body will put strain on your arm, your joints, and the bones in your hand. The only way to counter bad effects is to try to draw back your arm, while your body still has a forward momentum.

This is how Tatsuo need to do it to be able to do a rush punch. The problem here is that when you try to release the strain before it breaks your arm. You might as well do no damage or less damage. I guess that can be advantageous sometimes with quick foes. But the risk of hurting yourself will be there until you’re a master in this technique.

A Power Strike though would make that technique work. As well as a Ki Strike. But those Strikes often adjust and counts as weapons thus making it possible to use with the regular Rush, thus making a specific technique a little bit useless.

But, what I suggested for you to do, to make a chain technique is essentially that you train a technique which is a combined Rush+Punch and/or Rush+Kick. It will probably cost more than usual but the difference is that you can rush and do your punch or kick in the same phase. That’s a chain technique.

Otherwise just learning Tackle and then kicking or punching your opponent in his fall, would also work.

Do you understand now or were my explanation too long and wasted on you?