Ninja Burger PBP Episode 1 - 5/7/06
This is it. You've made it to the final challenge in your basic training course. Over the past few months, you and several hundred other students have taken tests, run laps, lifted weights, fired arrows, fought bears, swum through boiling water, swallowed fire, and run across tightropes while carrying large cups of cola, and in the end only seven of you survived. I mean, succeeded.
Now you stand in the final test chamber with six other people (total = seven). This is a warehouse-sized room, at least two-hundred feet long, half as wide (100'), and half as high (50'), and the seven of you are crammed on a narrow steel catwalk designed for about four people, tops. The catwalk hangs halfway up the wall (25') of one of the narrow ends of the room. There are no visible ladders; only the steel door you came in, which slammed shut behind you moments ago.
Across the warehouse, on the far end (you're told) is an identical door, atop an identical catwalk. For your final test, you must simply get from one end of the room to the other end. The room appears completely empty. It looks too easy.
As you survey the situation, a loud whistle pierces the silence, echoing around the chamber.
"HELLO NINJA," booms the godly voice, and it echoes and echoes around the room, nearly damaging your hearing. A few loose bolts rattle underfoot, and the catwalk suddenly seems less secure than before. "OOPS, SORRY," says the voice. "WRONG CHANNEL. LET ME FIX THAT..."
The voice comes back, softer, closer -- this time, from your ear, where you've got your Ninja Burger two-way radio stuck.
"Sorry about that guys. Anyway, I'm your Dispatcher for the evening. And, if you make it through this challenge, I'll probably be the one Dispatching for you in the field. I know that this is really the first time you seven are actually working together as a team, so I think it'll be helpful if everyone introduces themselves. Keep in mind that we're all wired for sound, so talk in a normal tone of voice. Anything anyone says will be heard by everyone in the team, including me."
"And oh, by the way -- you should start thinking about this final challenge. It is a timed challenge, and, let's see here [Dispatcher +6]... you've got... five minutes remaining."
[OOC BEGIN]
Anything the Dispatcher says out loud will be in quotes. Anything not in quotes is description. Anything sandwiched in between [OOC] headings will be just that - instructions to the group that are neither description nor dialogue. For this first challenge, please react and act as you wish, using the same formats. Anything you want to say out loud to the group, say in "quotes", anything you wish to do without saying, type as description, and anything that you want to ask Out Of Character (questions, clarification, etc.), sandwich in [OOC] brackets. Within description and dialogue, you should also feel free to include references to relevant skills, as I did above with [Dispatcher +6]. Don't get carried away with them though; your post should look like paragraphs, not a math equation.
Once everyone has posted (or Saturday, midnight comes), we'll go into the next phase of this episode and I'll show you how the dice rolls work. For now, just introduce yourself and tell me what you plan to do with the situation you're in.
And as always, if anything is unclear or at issue, let me know.
[OOC END]
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[OOC begin]
are we on a platform 150ft in the air?
[OOC end]
[OOC] I make it 25 feet up. Fromm 200' long, half (100) as wide, and half again (50) as high. The catwalk is half way up.
Did we enter from outside the building? or is this room within a much larger building? What is the structural makeup of the building? What lighting fixtures are there? Any structural members visible (Im picturing a steel prefab building, but should like to know)?
[OOC]
I am Skipito Friskito, Deliverator of Legend and I propose a Kobyashi Maru. That is, we should cheat. Most easily by exiting the building through the door or the wall, go around or over it, then re-enter through the other door. Then, assuming the mission is to leave through that door, we can leave through that door.
My second choice is to make a Ninja Pyramid (TM) up to those lights and Monkey Chain Swing (Pat. Pending) across from fixture to fixture.
The floor is obviously too dangerous.
Toru bows humbly (well, more of a respectful nod really, there's not much room on the catwalk) to his fellow Ninja.
"Honourable clan brothers and sister," starts Toru, speaking very fast. "May I suggest a course of action. Let us make like stockings, and ladder!" He smiles cheesily at the group. "We can lower each other in a human ladder, then climb to the floor one by one. Who shall descend first?"
[OOC begin]
Based on the description, it is about twenty-five feet in the air. It's halfway up a wall, which is half as high as the width of the chamber, which is half as wide as the length, which is 200 hundred feet long. 200' * 1/2 * 1/2 * 1/2 = 25'. Oops.. maths equations.. :-)
You already mentioned the chamber is empty, but what materials are the walls, ceiling, and floors made of? Are there any exposed girders or beams? Masonry with gaps?
Also, what can we assume in the way of equipment, if any?
[OOC end]
[OOC begin]
Ooops! Whutaguy posted while I was still typing mine.
[OOC end]
Toru was lowering himself from the edge of the catwalk, but after hearing Skipito's plan, swings back up.
"Truly, you are wise Friskito-san. Let us try the door."
[OOC begin]
The warehouse appears to have steel walls, a steel roof and a steel floor, but really you can only be sure about the wall you just came in -- the room is quite dark, and everything is masked in shadow. The other side of the warehouse could very well be made of plastic, or wood, for all you know. You can't see it. The wall you can see is quite smooth, and climbing it would be difficult.
The ceiling is angled gently, and there are indeed some light fixtures hanging from the center, about 20' off the floor (30' from the ceiling; yes this is odd). They are spaced evenly every 25' or so, with the first one being 25' out from the wall you're against. None of them are lit; the only light in the room comes from a small sign over the door you just came in. Being ninja, you have an overall sense of the space, but you can't be 100% sure about anything until you get closer to it.
Also, you're not absolutely certain, but you're pretty sure that the "warehouse" is really just a warehouse-like room. Ninja Burger's Headquarters and training facility are underground, and as far as you are aware you haven't left the HQ. You were in a hallway and you entered a door in the wall and here you are. Of course, ninja are involved, so there's an off chance it's all an elaborate ruse of some sort.
[OOC end]
"Keep in mind guys," says the Dispatcher in your ear, "that if you want to ask me a specific question, it'll help if you address me as Dispatch directly. That way I can be sure you're talking to me instead of just other teammates."
[OOC] Many Questions
How far can an average Ninja leap? without a running start? With say a 5' to 10' drop (5 from catwalk to light level, 5+ more for catching with hands rather than landing on feet)? With Team Acrobatic Launch (Fastball Special for Comic fans)? From a 20' stack of teammates?
In short, is a leap to the first fixture possible in any manner?
Arvo asked, what equipment do we have?
Are the lights on flexible or rigid mounts? Can we tell? Wires, chains, threaded rod, conduit? Will they bear the weight of a Ninja?
How permanent is the catwalk? Is it two 25' planks easily removed? Or more smaller pieces? Or one 50' immovable object? Is there a rail? what is it's nature?
Is the dispatcher shaking his head in disbelief because we are missing something simple? Or making this much harder than it should be?
[OOC]
McGyver would be done by now. We suck.
[OOC Begin]
Ninja can do amazing things, being ninja. The limits of what they can do are hard to define. Generally speaking, ninja find out what they can do by trying to do it. If they succeed, they are ninja. If they fail, they are probably dead.
All that said, from what you guys learned in Basic Training, you figure that dropping down from the catwalk to the floor would be about an Average Difficulty check for a ninja. Leaping from the catwalk to the nearest light would be a bit harder than that, but is certainly doable for a real ninja. Cooperation, of course, makes these tasks somewhat easier. The method of cooperation is up to the team.
As for equipment, you are generally assumed to have on your possession anything that a ninja might reasonably be carrying around. Think ninja. Smoke bombs, grappling hooks, climbing claws, shuriken... that sort of thing. Such equipment, however, is generally considered to be a part of your Ninja Quality, so saying that you use a grappling hook to climb down will have the same overall game effect as saying that you do something else that's ninja-like. Be creative and imaginative.
The lights appear to be flexible, which means anyone who stands on one will have to cope with swaying. They appear to be metallic but you can't tell without standing next to them. As to weight, also hard to tell. Ninja vary in weight.
The catwalk is metal, probably steel, and dismantling it will take a lot of time. There's a low railing. It's pretty much like a fire escape, except it's a bit longer and there's no stairs down.
[OOC End]
[OOC]
what does the sign over the door say?
[OOC]
Kitaro greets his fellow ninja and starts unwrapping his ninja-rope from around his waist.
"Instead of making a human larder [poor pun-maker] or jumping to the lamp, why not bring it here? if you guys could...just..make some room, I could hook it with my grapple and pull it in. after all, I are baboon...eh...Kitaro-san"
- reading a signature is silly -
[OOC]
Exit
[OOC]
Tadokoro Bozuko looks at Skipito Friskito, grins sideways at him (obviously liking his plan), and shakes his head.
"As Ninja-y as that is, we don't have any idea of what's on the other side of that door, or how ta get there. It could be a bloomin' broom closet, and the only way ta get there is from this room."
"Howdy, I'm Tadokoro Bozuko. Yeah, just call me Bozo. Hey, why don't we tie a rope ta one a these sticky (suction-cup) arrows and tag the opposite wall with it [Projectile Guidance +2]? Make a Ninja Pyramid right here and lift a couple of guys up to the roof? Connect rope to da ceiling, and zipline it over?"
[OOC Begin]
Is this too many actions for one turn? if so, drop the one below
[OOC End]
Bozuko examines the room [Spotter +2], looking for traps or other obstacles, taking particular notice of the light fixtures and what he can see of the catwalk on the other side.
"A government is a body of men usually notably ungoverned"
-Shepherd Book, from Joss Whedon's "Firefly"
"Suction cups?" Haruko looks puzzled for a moment, then points upwards. "If we take gravity out of the equation, then we already have a clear path to the exit."
She points backwards toward the door they came in through. "Observe. The door is connected to a wall, which in turn connects to the ceiling. By using four suction cups per ninja, we should be able to simply crawl upside down in the blink of a tiger's eye!"
Then she looks down, growing uncertain. It is a long way to fall...
"...or a single person could then connect a rope between the two catwalks..." she adds.
There is heroism and brute warfare on the ocean floor, unnoticed by land-dwellers. There are gods and catastrophes.
-"The Scar", China Mieville
"Ahh, so many good ideas," exclaims Toru-san. "But while it is said that a wise man changes his mind, time flies like an arrow, and we should decide upon one. My vote is for Haruko's Skittering-Gecko-Walks-On-Ceiling."
"Perhaps in future, we might take turns to lead the team on each challenge, to promote decisive action?"
"Most excelent, Toru-san," Haruko says, cutting off the rest of the team. "Here are the suction cups. Go bring your ancestors great honor."
There is heroism and brute warfare on the ocean floor, unnoticed by land-dwellers. There are gods and catastrophes.
-"The Scar", China Mieville
giggling, Kitaro says:
"well....I have to say this idea SUCKS...." [-2 punmaker]
- reading a signature is silly -
Bozo nods at Haruko.
"That'll do. Maybe we should tie a rope around Toru-san and hang on ta the end over here? Ta catch 'im if he falls?"
"A government is a body of men usually notably ungoverned"
-Shepherd Book, from Joss Whedon's "Firefly"
Toru nods and waits quietly for Bozo to tie the safety line, reflecting on the task ahead in silent Ninja meditation.
When the line is secure, he begins climbing the wall [+0 Ninja], aiming to reach the other side via the ceiling. The "schlorp" sound made by the suction cups echoes around the chamber..
"Good Ninja Sauce (TM)! We are ninja, not the Batman Poser Corp." says Skipito as he watches the other inventory gadgets.
Assuming the lights are laid out in a semi-regular grid pattern, Skipito selects a line of lights other than Kitaro's choice of rodeo targets, and faces the wall through which we have entered.
Jumping up and a step back onto the rail, Skipito then springs as high as he can toward the wall. Then coiling himself into ball of ninja powered spring force, Skipito Friskito, Deliverator of Legend, kicks off the wall toward the nearest light.
Average Ninja [+0] + good Extreme Sportster [+2]
I mean c'mon, how cool will this look?
Morboko, breaking herself from what she believes to be an "important" habit (various soft vocal inflections to prepare her voice, along with lip manipulations that would be vaguely suggestive if her mask didn't cover them), tosses her masked head back in hopes her team has enough creative chutzpah to envision her black hair flaring and flowing. "Boys, boys, boys, boys, boys! If there's one thing I've learned in my weeks of acting, it's to go from point A to point B, stop, and deliver. Who's with me?" Her bravado is... not... entirely... .. .. ok, entirely pathetic.
She squeezes her way through the remaining bodies, until she reaches the end of the (seen/known) catwalk, nearly becoming a shadow herself. She pauses to look back, winks, and steps forward.
[OOC]Morboko believes, having seen this once in a supernatural ghost story, that the catwalk, whether visible or not, stretches from their wall to their final destination. Her belief system, along with her acting ability, is highly suspect.[/OOC]