1 Soul Bound
1.1 Finding her Feet
1.1.3 An Eventful Journey
1.1.3.7 Forward planning, gamer style
“Tomsk, I feel like I’m sitting on top of an out-of-control train. Laughter aside, what do you think I should do about it, if anything? I really don’t want this sort of fame. Can I stop singing, so nobody uploads any more audience shots, and just hope the train runs out of steam before it wrecks too much damage to my reputation?”
“What reputation? The you back in arlife has a reputation. But Madame Kafana is barely 8 hours old. This blue-haired singer is unconnected to the arlife you, as far as the world is concerned. New stage, new personality, new reputation. You can be silly, brave, imperious, kindly, anything you want to try being - none of it will affect the arlife you, thanks to Wellington. Besides, I think you’re more a soft-style type of person.”
Kafana: “Soft-style?”
Tomsk: “In a hard-style martial art such as Karate, if your opponent tries to punch you, then you use your arm to block it, force against force. In a soft-style martial art such as Aikido, if your opponent tries to punch you, rather than slowing their arm down, you blend in with their direction of movement, even speed it up to get them off balance. Once you have greater control over their movement than they do, you can direct it where you want, turn it against them, or even use it to collide them with a second opponent.”
Kafana: “So what are you suggesting?”
Tomsk: “If you don’t like where the train is going, then become the driver. Feed songs that shape the narrative the way you want it shaped. Don’t try to stop the momentum, just divert it.”
“And, talking of combat tactics, before we go much further, we should work out what we plan to do if someone attacks us while we’re walking along this path, so we don’t end up shooting each other by accident.”
Bungo replied: “That’s easy. You’re the one with all the combat experience. We do whatever you tell us to.”
Tomsk: “Thanks Bungo, but giving orders takes time and in combat even seconds can count. We shouldn’t get cocky. We don’t even have a scout out to warn us of approaching danger. I know real life combat, at least as a sport, but I’ve not spent as many hours playing combat games in velife as you have. I don’t know what magic people can cast, or would think to first cast. I don’t know who considers themselves a non-combatant and who’ll be willing to fight. I don’t even know much about the capabilities of the enemies we might find out here. The steward mentioned bandits and undead to me. But does that mean ghosts that swords will just pass through? Do bandits take hostages? Ride horses? Lay traps with magic? How are they armed?”
Wellington agreed: “Point taken, Tomsk, we’re being careless. I’ll start. Right now I’m a liability in combat. I need to spend some serious time learning magic properly before I’ll be of any use. I can stand watch and shout if I see anything. If we meet bandits I may be a useful decoy, distraction or negotiator. If we meet undead, my athame might be of some help, but I’m unlikely to be able to stab anything like a zombie or a skeleton if it is trying to prevent me. Alderney?”
“‘ ’Boing’ said Zebidee” shouted Alderney, and started to bounce on the spot. The bounces grew higher and higher. Soon she was reaching the height of the tree tops. At the top of a bounce she drew a tree stump the size of a table from her inventory box and dropped it. *wham* it made a large dent in the road. At the bottom of her next bounce, she shifted it back into her inventory box, ready for another drop.
“Awesome aren’t they? I still can’t believe I found an item this good. It isn’t like springs. It’s a magic effect. I don’t feel any stress on my legs when bouncing, and I don’t take any falling damage, even if I land on my bottom by mistake. I can control how much of the bounce effect I want to use by concentrating. Just using 5% makes walking incredibly easy, like perfect running shoes. I wanted to use an anvil, like the road runner, but they’re expensive and I only have one of them. Next time I get a chance to practise, I’m going to try using my throwing daggers while bouncing. If I need to escape, I bet I can run away really fast or climb a tree or something. So mark me down as ‘ranged combatant and scout’.”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Kafana spoke up: “I guess I’m the party healer. I might be able to buff the party and debuff the enemy too. But I’ve never tried my singing on a non-human target. Do skeletons even have ears and minds? Casting can take a minute or two, and is easy to interrupt. I’m not sure which songs take effect from the start and which only take effect at the end, but I’ve had at least one of both types. Also, some buffs appear to be easier to ‘maintain’ boosting their duration from time to time, than they were to originally cast. That’s not just quicker, it is also more mana efficient. I think buffs stack. Oh, and I don’t have a good way to regen mana, so if we get attacked by wave after wave, efficiency will be an issue and I’d like your advice on priorities. Physically, I’m a non-combatant. If someone is about to hit me with a sword, I think I’d try running away. Please protect me. I’m really new to this.”
Bulgaria spoke next. “I’m new to this too, but I’m willing to learn. I don’t know my spirit’s plans yet, but gaining a skill in wielding a weapon won’t harm him, if anyone is willing to teach me?”
Bungo finished “I’ve currently got the best dexterity and constitution. I could become a staff fighter again, but looking at the party I think it might be more useful if I tried to go tank, and acquire some type of aggro control skill. Maybe some mitigation and resistances. Got any ideas for threatening-seeming dexterity based weapons that do area of effect, and that can be used single handed so I can equip a shield? Ideally something sturdy enough to block or parry attacks.”
Tomsk thought for a few moments.
“Ok, how about this for a plan. Alderney, when we’re on the move, you range ahead of us. Try to develop things like tracking, enhanced hearing, enhanced vision, detection, danger sense, etc. If you see anything suspicious, get back safe, get back fast and, if possible, get back without them seeing you. Practise new ways of using your boots, such as drop kicks, or travelling along by bouncing from tree trunk to tree trunk. When we’re camped, you’re in charge of setting up traps and advance detection warning.”
“Wellington, you’re in charge of precautions. Look at maps, talk to Bulgaria to gather local legends. Come up with scenarios for me to find solutions to, then document them, systematise them, and make sure everyone knows what they’ll need to do in different situations. You’ll also organise watch rotas, camp setup, who is teaching which skills to whom, and keeping track of todo lists of items and skills we need to find out how to acquire before our next mission into a dangerous area.”
“Bulgaria, I’ll give you a sword and shield, and teach you a bit on how to use them. In combat your job is to stand next to Kafana and, if someone tries to attack her, warn us and buy us some time to reach and kill the threat. Out of combat, listen to Wellington.”
“Kafana, find the shortest song that can heal someone and practise it. Then try for a song that will focus all the enemy aggro upon Bungo. After that, see what you can manage in the way of stacking a series of area of effect buffs targeting only the party, that are mana-efficient to maintain. The longer the duration and the shorter the casting time the better. Finally, think about personal protection. If someone comes at you with a sword, is there anything you can cast quickly or beforehand that would be more effective than running away. Practise singing while running away and not facing your target.”
“Bungo, ever come across a fish-hook tetsumari? It’s a cross between a caltrop and a shuriken. You can use an xistera similar to those used in jai alai to throw them at 300 km/h. DEX based, packs one hell of punch, painful, annoying and I bet Alderney can construct some that look extra-threatening. I don’t know if she can make an xistera you can parry with, but if you experiment with shifting the ammo from your inventory box, you might well be able to throw several at once in a crude area of effect. She might also be able to customise your shield and stuff to make you seem bigger and badder. Grab the aggro, annoy the heck out of them, kite them in circles and stop them from noticing that I’m cutting them into pieces one by one.”
“General tactics are that initially we all protect Kafana while Alderney and Bungo try to distract them. Then once Bungo has aggro, we go on the offensive. Alderney takes out mages, ranged attackers and people giving orders. I kill as many as possible as quickly as possible. Kafana does what she can do, and Wellington and Bulgaria do their best to protect her if she gains any aggro, until Bungo or I can deal with it. Specifics I’ll send via group chat during the combat, which Wellington will relay to Bulgaria. Any questions?”
“”Yeah” said Bungo “Alderney, can I try out your boots?”