Like Riding a Bike [Training]

[Lexi]

SPOILER: Click to show

The Stance
Rank: "E"


Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary


Effect: Stance is a crucial part of using any weapon. This is the basic stance technique.


Special: ---


Drawback: ---


Description: Begin with the feet in a 90° comfortably separated at about half a shoulder's width apart. Center the weight on the rear leg. When throwing the user shifts their weight to the front. This causes the hips and shoulders to twist into the throw forcing the body's power into the throwing arm. After the throw is complete recover by returning to the original stance to ready the next throw.
Limit: Must be a Throwing Specialist.

[The Stance] 0/5

The academy was a complicated place. Between teaching kids to kill people twice their size, figure out when people are in their heads and use chakra to turn into anything they wanted, it was easy to let one or two slip by without the basics.

Ranako knew that between the Tateesha that grew in the forest, and the renown her own condition had been getting her, lately, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to ransack the place. It would be best to know how to aim.

She stood in one of the shack's two rooms, with a dart in her hand, nine more in her skirt pocket. Mould grew on the wooden walls, and there was a slightly sweet smell permeating the home. Furniture was sparse, with a rickety chair in one corner, a table in another, and several shelves, boxes and baskets filled with trinkets, tools and cooking utensils.

The little mark she'd etched on the wall seemed small and far away, not comparable to a human at all. She tried to aim: standing sideways, right foot in front of the left, she held the dart level with her eyes; picturing it was another shinobi, a monster, an enemy, but her head could conjure nothing. Maybe, maybe, if I had some incentive, I could make the shot. Incentive. .. yeah.


She had an idea.

Ten minutes and five oil crayons later, she had a crudely-drawn image of her old teacher tacked onto the wall with a rusty nail, right over the mark; her new target. Whatever dull clothes he had worn back at school escaped her, so Ran had sketched on an eye-catchingly bright, flamingo-pink jacket with a fuzzy collar, instead.
Again, she stepped back, imagining a line on the floor that would be her point of reference. She stood sideways, adjusting her legs so the area between them was rectangular to the imaginary line. Weight on her back leg, she held the dart up to her eyes and staring intently at the bright pink target and grinned.

The dart flew out of her hand, whizzing to the crayon picture, embedding itself a good three inches next to Takahashi-sensei's smiling maw. Ran bristled. "I was distracted, distracted. You know?"

Taking one more dart out of her pocket, she assumed the position once again- sideways, feet triangular to the imaginary line, dart at eye level. That was when she realised- it felt off. Wrong. Unbalanced. She settled back into an even position and stared evenly at the drawing.

What was it they'd said at school? Front, or back leg? ...Back leg? Slowly, cautiously, like a trap would go off if she moved too quickly, she settled onto the leg furthest from the wall and rocked herself forward, resting her weight on the front leg. Her left kept balance, nearly vertical and just barely on the floor. With her weight centered forward, she aimed her throw at his eye. It landed in right below his nose. A victorious thrill went through her. Without pause, she grabbed another from her skirt and let it fly. It missed his cheek by an inch. Not perfect, but better, and her stance felt natural.

From there, kunai were easy pickins. Frontwards instead of sideways, and the legs were farther apart, but the principal was the same. She plucked some kunai out of a chest on the floor and chucked a couple, trying variations in her stance. 45 degrees apart, 90, lean forward, lean back, until it was just as comfortable. She chucked them at the drawing- two in his coat.

Satisfied, Ran walked up to the picture and patted it appreciatively on the chest. "Thanks, Teacher Sir."

[Father 'Suke]

Lovely, absolutely lovely.

+5; learned

[Lexi]

The Grips 0/5

SPOILER: Click to show

The Grips
Rank: "E"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: The user learns how to grip their weapons through two types of Grips, the Handle Grip, and the Blade Grip.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Handle Grip: While throwing a weapon from the handle keep it centered if center of balance is possible. If not then hold it at the end of the handle. Balance is key. The thumb should be resting against the inside of the handle while the remaining fingers curl around it. When you throw the item travels vertically leading to the best speed and hitting power for long distances. When throwing by the blade, grip the item at the end of the blade with the thumb parallel with the blade. The rest of the fingers curl against the opposite side.
Limit: Must be a Throwing Specialist.

There were some things in the swamp you couldn't find in the towns. When people started to realise it, they came knocking on Ran's door.

Well, it was her mother's door, technically. She had it comissioned (5 years ago, before it was mouldy and weak and smelled vaguely sweet), but Kiku spent more time away than she did at the shack, so it was Ran's until she came back.

People came for all kinds of things- foods, books, to see the freaky frog girl who lived in a swamp- but she could count on her fingers the number of them who didn't come for the plants. Some of the herbs here had certain properties, apparently, that made you need more and more and more, and they were the ones Ran had been told to stay away from. But if people wanted to sample, and had food or clothes or talk, who was Ranako to turn them away? Akiko was one of them. 

He was was one of the youngest she'd seen. He came in a yellow shirt with a bento, and blushed when he said his name; it made his baby-fat cheeks light up. He asked if she had any Tateesha, for his older brother. Ran would have asked why his brother couldn't have come get it himself, but Akiko couldn't have been more than 10, and she didn't care enough to grill him.

She invited him inside (kunai tucked in her clothes, because the village produced some /vicious/ ten year olds), pointed him to where what he could find was, grabbed the bento straight from his hands and dug in while he fidgeted in a corner, drugs in hand, and finally settled on the floor on the opposite side of the room, next to some haphazardly strewn books.
As she ate, Ran noticed him staring intently at her box of weapons, and reprimanded herself for not putting them away earlier. After a minute, he found it in himself to speak.

"Are you a ninja?"

"Mmhmph."

"Say, do you know anything about how to... like, hold one properly?"

Ranako set aside the half-full bento to put aside later. She was garbed in her usual loose shirt-dress, black and too-big at the sleeves, and her signature hat. Not exactly training clothes.

"A weapon? No, no problem. Is that what you're learning in school- school, now?"

She guessed he was at least an academy kid, because the way to the swamp had its dangers. He nodded in affirmation. She also guessed he needed help, from the way he stared intently at the hem of his shirt. Hey, if I can get it in his head that I'm some teacher-figure for him, or something, maybe he'll stick around.


She went over for a kunai, and held it in her hand. That's when it hit her. She had no idea how the kids were learning to hold these things nowadays; most of the time, the frog girl just did what felt comfortable.

She gripped the knife at it's handle, wrapping her fingers around the handle wholesale, and positioned it at waist-level, at the side of her hip. Akiko raised his eyebrows. Wrong, then? Wrong, or... She adjusted her fingers, feeling around until her thumb was inside the handle.
It felt awkward enough that is was difficult not to revert back to her original grip. She looked at the boy. His shoulders were slumped, and his eyes wandered around the room. It took Ran a minute to realise that meant he was not impressed.

Ok, fine. I can show you how to hold a stupid, stupid kunai. Somewhat grumpily, she adjusted her grip, keeping her thumb inside the handle, while wrapping her remaining fingers around the shaft. When she took another glance at him, he looked slightly more impressed. She bristled. So who's teaching who, here?


At least she knew that she was on the right track. Ran ushered the boy out of harm's way, and tossed the kunai at the wall, only belatedly remembering that she still had the picture of her old teacher up. After plucking it back from the wall, she aimed at his face, now somewhat distorted by a multitude of holes.

She threw again, this time, fingers wrapped around the shaft, thumb in the handle. The grip felt a bit more natural, this time. Akiko nodded, but she barely noticed. She plucked it, once more, from where it had landed in the picture's left arm, and tossed again, and again. After a few tosses, she realise that she felt wrong, once again. Was it her balance? She shifted her weight so the kunai was at her centre, and let it fly again. After throw number five, she felt brave enough to try another hold, using Akiko for guidance. Holding the kunai by the blade felt a lot more clumsy, but it didn't hurt for variety. The first couple of times she almost sliced her thumb, inching it too close to the sharp edge, and wrapping the rest of her fingers around the blade felt odd; but once she found a comfortable place for her thumb to rest, parallel to the blade, everything fell into place, and the throwing came quickly enough.

Seven more throws later, the holding felt downright natural, and from the holes in Takahashi-sensei's face, she certainly had more accuracy than before. She'd continued throwing until well after the boy had hurried out, Tateesha in hand.

So, bikes, huh?

[Father 'Suke]

+5; learned

[Lexi]

Warning: Dumb. Also, long.

SPOILER: Click to show

Spit Marking
Rank: "E"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: Makes a Fowl trail of spit.
Special: User holds back taking in gargling their own inner spit, as well as the loogie that is found within bringing it down to the throat up to the mouth.
Drawback: Water will remove the color of the new loogie however it will not remove the actual spit covering.
Description: User holds back taking in gargling their own inner spit, as well as the loogie that is found within bringing it down to the throat up to the mouth. The user then hurls the large loogie to smash into what the user may wish. By focusing their chakra they are capable of changing the color of the loogie . When the loogie hits it creates a marking along what the user wishes. Some are capable of creating a vibrant color to allow the user to follow or allow others to see easily. The loogie spit (Not the color) disappears within three Roleplaying Days (Three Days that are Roleplayed out).
Limit: Anyone is capable of learning.

Ranako never would have thought it, but there were certain things you could learn from ten-year-old boys.

"You and your friends- you and your friends do this?"

"Well... yeah." Akiko said, unsurely at first; and then punctuated it with a nod of his spiky black hair.

Her only food source had been ambling around for the past hour, and she really did wish he would leave. If watching him spit was one way to do it, then that would be alright.

"So how... how do you spit that's so special?"

Akiko's face took up a wizened squint, not too different to a wise sennin about to impart forbidden knowledge.

"No, no, no- there's a method to it. You have to make it nice and thick, by getting it riiight from the back of your throat. Then, when you've got enough snot in it, you have to let it kind of dribble out without waiting too long."
Akiko suddenly stopped his enthusiastic ranting, and he took a moment to look down at his feet, embarassed. But Ranako just settled back in her rickety chair and gave him an even look, so he went on enthusiastically.

"If I had something to do it on, I could show you."

Sitting up and stretching, lumbered up from her chair like an old, full statue, and disappeared through an open door into the next room, reappearing with a yellowing piece of paper. She tossed it on the floor under him. The boy made a very distinctive sound and let loose the slimiest globule of spit she'd ever seen. When it touched the paper, he drew it back up with a slurping sound that stuck with Ranako.

"Do you have to suck it back up like that?" she asked, after a long pause.

He flushed. "No, it's just what me and my friends do." After a moment, he said, "You go now."

Ran paused. "Me?"

"Well that's what this was for, right?"

Ranako hesitated. Surely, she wasn't going to waste her time with something so dumb. There were much better things to do in the swamp, like sitting on the floor. Or watching mould grow. Or contemplating her rapidly diminishing food supplies.

"Sure." She looked down at the slightly damp piece of paper, and tried imitating the boy. The first step was gathering thick spit from the back of her throat until her mouth was full. Then, there was aiming. The dribble thing; well, she could do better. She spit it like a piece of old gum. It hit the paper with a splat.

"I'd give it a five out of ten." Akiko piped from his position behind and off to the side. Ranako glowered. He shrunk back. She gathered another, thicker, globule, and did it again. It landed next to the other one, thick and bulbous.

"Are we done?" She said, after a moment of contemplating her life. She really did want to get to finding somewhere to put the food away. Having it out in the open made her feel like someone would snatch it away.

"Wait! There's one more cool thing I want to show you." This time, the boy turned so bright it made Ranako curious. He jaunted over to her side and pulled back with a snort, and then released a ball of spit that was a bright, stunning crimson. Ranako recoiled. It almost looked like blood.

"It's a trick I learned from my brother. You just have to focus the chakra in your mouth, and you can make it any colour you want. It's great for pranks."

Ran was too preoccupied with the fact that he actually had a brother to comment, but she did as he said. It took a few moment's concentration to let the chakra coat her mouth completely- not missing any spots was surprisingly difficult, and she begrugingly admired the boy for it, then repeated the spitting process. It was a dull yellow. She turned back to him, who was standing, beaming. He really, really can't take a hint.

"So, I'll see you next time. Next time, then."

He flushed again. "Oh, um. Yeah. Right. Thanks for that." With that, he awkwardly took up his Tateesha and sped out the door as quickly as his short legs could take him. Ran resumed her seat and took to staring at the mould growing on the western wall of the shack, coddling her bento in her lap, and mourning that this still didn't make him the weirdest visitor she'd ever had.

[KoKoKo]

+5

[Lexi]

SPOILER: Click to show

Point Blank Shot
Rank: "D"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: A technique that gives the user greater proficiency within the range of 10 meters.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: With this technique the user has learned how to combat against opponents within 10 meters without fear or fumbling with their weapon. They gain the courage and ability to perform combat without much effort. This is a prerequisite technique for more popular techniques. What good is a Throwing Specialist if they are not ready to battle while in close range.
Limit: Must be a Throwing Specialist.

She left her shack- because on some days even hermits needed a break from the same, dilapidated walls. The rainstorms that had showered Kumogakure over the last few days meant that the water level around her home was higher than usual, and that, strictly speaking, it wasn't practical to go out.

Ran made her way out onto what passed for a porch in her shack- a long line of wooden planks held well above water level by supports- in her sturdiest boots and oldest clothes, intent on training her aim. The target wasn't anything special this time: just a plank of wood in her shack wall that stood out slightly from the others.

Honestly, Ranako had no idea what was pushing her outside in such bad conditions, just that it wasn't so much pushing as it was bulldozing; gnawing, paranoiac thoughts into her head that wouldn't abate until she had something sharp in her hands.

The frog girl laid five kunai out on the floor beside her and took one up from the pile, belatedly realising that she'd gotten her grip correct on the first try. She was fairly certain that hitting the target at the distance she was at: only about three paces away from the door; would be too easy to be a distraction. She back up slowly until the bottom of her heel came into contact with air, then stared squarely at the plank. She was a good ten, ten and half metres from the shack now (if there was one thing to say about Kiku's building style, it was she didn't skimp on material.) With the knife pointed at the target, she stepped into her stance: one foot forward, the other behind. Her academy days weren't entirely lost on her, and even though the earliest memories of the school were of stumbling, confused, through foreign social situations with people nothing like her, she'd retained some of the basics.
"Hold your elbow at the target. At the target." With it pointed at the plank, she tried to imagine it taking flight and whizzing in a straight line at the plank in front of her. One second passed, then another. She took a breath and squinted hard, trying in vain to contain her thoughts to herself and the target.

But her thoughts were racing: food, intruders- whatever her head could find to fixate on. She sneered. If she couldn't control her thinking, then maybe she could overpower it.
Ranako pulled her arm to her ear again and swung forward. Her arm shook with the effort, and the kunai made a spinning arc and landed to the right of its target. She knew, in a moment, what she was doing wrong.

"Keep it tight. Tight. Upper arm." In another instant, she had a second kunai in her hand. Drawing it back was a slow process, and she made sure that her elbow lined perfectly with the notch in the wood that she intended to hit. When she rocked forward, she tensed her arm, but she knew at once it was a second too late. The kunai took flight at the end of her swing, landing in the floor beneath her target.

Scowling, she picked up a fourth from the shrinking pile. The air around her felt thin for the first time in weeks, and when she threw, she didn't even bother tensing her arm. The kunai made another spinning motion, and landed to the right of the board, right in the door. Ran scolded herself as she went to retrieve the four kunai from their respective perches. Her arms were clutched tight, even with nothing in them, and the stench of the air filled her nose. Maybe, maybe it's time to go inside? The thought made her stomach knot.



Whether it was the talking or the short walk that did it, she didn't know, but when she got ready to throw again, her arm was almost steady. She took it back to her ear, elbow pointing directly at the target, and fixed it an even stare. In one, swift motion, she rocked forward and swung her upper arm in a smooth line. The kunai made went straight, and landed directly in its target.

It was almost like a fairy tale- a little too perfect, she thought. Worried thoughts kept gnawing at her head, until she took her stance again. After a few tries, she found that there was a moment in each throw that produced the perfect result. After she rocked forward, right before her arm reached a straight one-eighty, she threw. One after another, she exhausted her five kunai, following the process; stance, grip, pull back, rock forward; then again, and again.
By the fifth perfect hit in a row, one would think she would feel satisfied- accomplished, even. But after an hour of throwing that left her hands feeling even more callused than usual, and her arm sore, she didn't feel satisfied. What did it matter how well she could aim, if someone stronger than her decided to break into her house? How would aiming fend off starvation? Her mother hadn't appeared in days, and the thought was creeping up on her that she might never come again. Shoulders slumped in exhaustion; she picked up another kunai, and stared squarely at the target.

After a second, she let it rest to the ground, and, weapons still littering her porch, retreated into her shack.

[Nira]

Don't forget to have a tag for how much TP you'd need.

A 0/10 for this technique.

Otherwise it might not always be clear that it's a training post.

+10, learned.

[Lexi]

(Thanks for the tip, Nira, completely forgot about it. I had to take a break for exams, buut I'm back.)

Training Animal Lore (Savage, Able Learner, EDIT: Textbook)
0/5 TP, 0/125 SP
                

SPOILER: Click to show

Lore, Animal (Forest)

Rank: "E"

Skill: Skill

Effect: This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of an animal and interpret what is going on as well as identifying said animal.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: Actions can show how dangerous the creature is, whether it is hungry, protecting its young, or defending a nearby den. Furthermore, careful observation of signs and behaviors can even indicate the location of a water hole, animal herds, predators, or impending danger, such as a forest fire. A successful check means the character understands the basic actions of the creature, as well as the type of creature it is. A character may also imitate the calls and cries of animals that he is reasonably familiar with, based on the knowledge (user must learn per Region). This ability is limited by volume. A successful check means that only Chakra means can distinguish the character's call from that of a true animal. The cry is sufficient to fool animals, perhaps frightening them away or luring them closer. When learning the user must choose per Region and they may only have knowledge of Animals creatures. Each Skill level allows the user knowledge of each Animal category (Example: Novice can identify Common Animals, Master can identify Nearly Impossible Animals) within a region. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.

Limit: ---



Savage

Rank: "C"

Skill: Social Trait

Effect: User was born and raised in untamed lands far from civilization.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: User learned to survive in the elements among brutal humanoids and beasts. User gains a +5 trait bonus on Botany checks, Lore, Animal and Lore, Monster checks. The user gains a +1 to each of their die rolls each time they learn these skills. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.

Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.



Able Learner

Rank: "C"

Skill: Social Trait

Effect: The user has great aptitude for learning.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: When learning a skill, the skill states how many times a die roll may be applied to show how much they learned within that skill. Example, when a user learns "Botany" they gain 5 die rolls. This "trait" increases the amount of die rolls by 1.5 rounded to the highest number at 1 die roll per learning, however any number higher than 1 die roll is rounded down. For example: User learns Botany and gains 5 die rolls. With this Trait they will gain 7 die rolls. However if a user learns Lockpicking they normally get 1 die roll, however with this Trait they will gain 2 die rolls.

Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 2 Freebies.


Book: Textbook: Creature Lore (Forest)

x1

Rank: "C"



Type: Main, Book, Textbook



Effect: A Texbook that discusses the different types of Creatures found in a single Region.



Special: ---



Drawback: ---



Description: A Large Leather-bound book with "B.I.N.G.O. Productions" written on it. No Authors are listed within the book. This is a massive volume of 16 books pertaining to the knowledge of Animals, Monsters, and Vermin and what all of these creatures do. Each Volume discusses the Creatures found in a specific Region. Each volume gives a +5 Competence bonus to the user's skill pertaining to that region, and the user gains a +1 Competence bonus per die roll when learning the skill according to the specific region. Example: User has a volume on the Forest Region. They will gain a +5 Competence bonus towards their Entomology, Animal Lore, and Monster Lore skills for the Forest Region and gain a +1 Competence bonus to every die roll when learning the skill for Entomology, Animal Lore, and Monster Lore skills for the Forest Region.



Limit: These items may be bought inside any Book Shop within the Region. 25% chance finding Outside Region.



Cost: 5,500 Ryo

SPOILER: Click to show

She has a textbook, but it seemed wrong to use it considering she only whipped it out in the last para. Meh, I'll stick the book in.

It'd happened again. Somewhere in the middle of the night, when the birds were quiet and the only sounds around the shack were the low humming of frogs and crickets and the barely audible popping of mud bubbles, another animal had made its way in between Ranako's sheets. The creature, thin, slimy and pencil-long, had looked like a cross between a newt and a lizard. Unarmed, she had looked at it for a moment, matching its vacant stare and trying to simultaneously adjust her eyes to the dark and figure out how much time she had to run, and in those seconds the creature had charged at her. She was lucky she had Academy-level reflexes; if her sheet hadn't caught it in time, its claws could have taken her eyes out, and she thanked God or someone that after thirty seconds of tense combat, she'd come out with just a few, shallow scrapes on her forearms.



Under the light of the gas lamp, Ran stared at the corpse of the creature that had very nearly ended her shinobi career, but even after gaping at its unmoving form for a minute, she couldn't identify the animal. She forced herself to get back to bed, but when she woke up, the fact still bothered her. She could remember a time when identifying common swamp animals came as easily to her as holding a knife, but lately the names were slipping her. She felt, simply, out of touch. You were supposed to get wiser when you got older, not less so, right?



With that in mind, she went through her library; which wasn't so much a library as much as stacks of books haphazardly distributed throughout random chests and shelves in her shack. Having painstakingly ordered them when she was younger, finding one on animal lore took no time at all. It was leather-bound, and bigger than her head twice over; from sight it couldn't have been less than ten volumes, all condensed in one, enormous tome. "Bingo book, huh?"



Settling down into a comfortable seat on the wooden floor and adjusting her night-gown, Ran cracked the book open to the first page. The first lines of actual text were a table of contents, which she decidedly skipped- and found herself turning for pages and ruddy pages. How many animals could this book have information on? By the end of the twenty seconds it took her to get to the preface, she was beginning to realise that she was in this for the long haul.

[Solus]

+5 TP, +34 SP

Dat link

[Lexi]

Training Animal Lore (Savage, Able Learner, Textbook)
0/5 TP, 34/125 SP
                

SPOILER: Click to show

Lore, Animal (Forest)

Rank: "E"

Skill: Skill

Effect: This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of an animal and interpret what is going on as well as identifying said animal.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: Actions can show how dangerous the creature is, whether it is hungry, protecting its young, or defending a nearby den. Furthermore, careful observation of signs and behaviors can even indicate the location of a water hole, animal herds, predators, or impending danger, such as a forest fire. A successful check means the character understands the basic actions of the creature, as well as the type of creature it is. A character may also imitate the calls and cries of animals that he is reasonably familiar with, based on the knowledge (user must learn per Region). This ability is limited by volume. A successful check means that only Chakra means can distinguish the character's call from that of a true animal. The cry is sufficient to fool animals, perhaps frightening them away or luring them closer. When learning the user must choose per Region and they may only have knowledge of Animals creatures. Each Skill level allows the user knowledge of each Animal category (Example: Novice can identify Common Animals, Master can identify Nearly Impossible Animals) within a region. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.

Limit: ---



Savage

Rank: "C"

Skill: Social Trait

Effect: User was born and raised in untamed lands far from civilization.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: User learned to survive in the elements among brutal humanoids and beasts. User gains a +5 trait bonus on Botany checks, Lore, Animal and Lore, Monster checks. The user gains a +1 to each of their die rolls each time they learn these skills. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.

Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.



Able Learner

Rank: "C"

Skill: Social Trait

Effect: The user has great aptitude for learning.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: When learning a skill, the skill states how many times a die roll may be applied to show how much they learned within that skill. Example, when a user learns "Botany" they gain 5 die rolls. This "trait" increases the amount of die rolls by 1.5 rounded to the highest number at 1 die roll per learning, however any number higher than 1 die roll is rounded down. For example: User learns Botany and gains 5 die rolls. With this Trait they will gain 7 die rolls. However if a user learns Lockpicking they normally get 1 die roll, however with this Trait they will gain 2 die rolls.

Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 2 Freebies.


Book: Textbook: Creature Lore (Forest)
x1
Rank: "C"


Type: Main, Book, Textbook


Effect: A Texbook that discusses the different types of Creatures found in a single Region.


Special: ---


Drawback: ---


Description: A Large Leather-bound book with "B.I.N.G.O. Productions" written on it. No Authors are listed within the book. This is a massive volume of 16 books pertaining to the knowledge of Animals, Monsters, and Vermin and what all of these creatures do. Each Volume discusses the Creatures found in a specific Region. Each volume gives a +5 Competence bonus to the user's skill pertaining to that region, and the user gains a +1 Competence bonus per die roll when learning the skill according to the specific region. Example: User has a volume on the Forest Region. They will gain a +5 Competence bonus towards their Entomology, Animal Lore, and Monster Lore skills for the Forest Region and gain a +1 Competence bonus to every die roll when learning the skill for Entomology, Animal Lore, and Monster Lore skills for the Forest Region.


Limit: These items may be bought inside any Book Shop within the Region. 25% chance finding Outside Region.


Cost: 5,500 Ryo

The forests of Kumogakure contain an amazingly diverse group of wildlife, with species ranging from the tiny bee to the colossal woolly mammoth. Even after years of searching, we have not been able to identify all animals endemic to the bountiful forest regions of the land."

Forest animals? Not as relevant as she would have hoped, but she would at least give it a shot.

Ranako skipped the next three paragraphs, which were mostly, from what she could tell, fluff about the diversity of the animal kingdom, the majesty of life, the process by which animals were classified... blah, blah... and stopped at the start of the start of the fourth.

This textbook, at the time of its writing, is a complete volume containing records of all known fauna in Kumogakure's forest region, collected from a variety of sources. It explores the physical characteristics, behavioural patterns, nesting habits, and level of aggression of all known species found in the forests, and is complete with illustrations. In entries wherein not all information about a species is known...

The rest was more useless preamble; she could figure out how to navigate on her own. Letting her eyes skim over the next few yellowed pages, Ran picked up that they held basic information on the forests themselves, and then a few paragraphs on biodiversity. There was no author, and subsequently, no information about him or her in the preface. Finally, nine pages in, she reached what seemed to be the first hint of an actual animal.

The page was filled with illustrations of various creatures, presumably to give the reader a taste of what they were about to get into, and to catch their interest. It had done its job. The 'amazing diversity' of animals present in Kumogakure seemed to spring to life on the page; with pictures and pictures of illustrations, by various artists, of animals that existed or used to exist in the country's forests. She trailed a finger over the most intricate ones: a beaver, crocodile, a massive sketch of a dragonfly next to a tinier version of itself that vaguely reminded her of a book she'd read as a child...

She guessed that the illustrated animals were either common, or docile, because the artists, whoever they were, seemed to put painstaking detail into the drawings. Absentmindedly, Ran wondered how much someone had to like animals to put that much care into them. She tried to imagine herself as someone who studied animals, but no matter how hard she did, the frog girl couldn't picture herself as doing anything but sitting in her shack, reading books and once in a while, doing missions.

Though, taking an excursion into the forest at some point wouldn't be a bad idea. She would think about it... later.

[Deleted]

+5

narutoforumrp.proboards.com/thread/103073/skill-training-rolls?page=74&scrollTo=980805

+16

50|125

[Lexi]

Training Animal Lore (Savage, Able Learner, Textbook)
0/5 TP, 50/125 SP
                

SPOILER: Click to show

Lore, Animal (Forest)

Rank: "E"

Skill: Skill

Effect: This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of an animal and interpret what is going on as well as identifying said animal.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: Actions can show how dangerous the creature is, whether it is hungry, protecting its young, or defending a nearby den. Furthermore, careful observation of signs and behaviors can even indicate the location of a water hole, animal herds, predators, or impending danger, such as a forest fire. A successful check means the character understands the basic actions of the creature, as well as the type of creature it is. A character may also imitate the calls and cries of animals that he is reasonably familiar with, based on the knowledge (user must learn per Region). This ability is limited by volume. A successful check means that only Chakra means can distinguish the character's call from that of a true animal. The cry is sufficient to fool animals, perhaps frightening them away or luring them closer. When learning the user must choose per Region and they may only have knowledge of Animals creatures. Each Skill level allows the user knowledge of each Animal category (Example: Novice can identify Common Animals, Master can identify Nearly Impossible Animals) within a region. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.

Limit: ---



Savage

Rank: "C"

Skill: Social Trait

Effect: User was born and raised in untamed lands far from civilization.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: User learned to survive in the elements among brutal humanoids and beasts. User gains a +5 trait bonus on Botany checks, Lore, Animal and Lore, Monster checks. The user gains a +1 to each of their die rolls each time they learn these skills. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.

Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.



Able Learner

Rank: "C"

Skill: Social Trait

Effect: The user has great aptitude for learning.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: When learning a skill, the skill states how many times a die roll may be applied to show how much they learned within that skill. Example, when a user learns "Botany" they gain 5 die rolls. This "trait" increases the amount of die rolls by 1.5 rounded to the highest number at 1 die roll per learning, however any number higher than 1 die roll is rounded down. For example: User learns Botany and gains 5 die rolls. With this Trait they will gain 7 die rolls. However if a user learns Lockpicking they normally get 1 die roll, however with this Trait they will gain 2 die rolls.

Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 2 Freebies.


Book: Textbook: Creature Lore (Forest)
x1
Rank: "C"


Type: Main, Book, Textbook


Effect: A Texbook that discusses the different types of Creatures found in a single Region.


Special: ---


Drawback: ---


Description: A Large Leather-bound book with "B.I.N.G.O. Productions" written on it. No Authors are listed within the book. This is a massive volume of 16 books pertaining to the knowledge of Animals, Monsters, and Vermin and what all of these creatures do. Each Volume discusses the Creatures found in a specific Region. Each volume gives a +5 Competence bonus to the user's skill pertaining to that region, and the user gains a +1 Competence bonus per die roll when learning the skill according to the specific region. Example: User has a volume on the Forest Region. They will gain a +5 Competence bonus towards their Entomology, Animal Lore, and Monster Lore skills for the Forest Region and gain a +1 Competence bonus to every die roll when learning the skill for Entomology, Animal Lore, and Monster Lore skills for the Forest Region.


Limit: These items may be bought inside any Book Shop within the Region. 25% chance finding Outside Region.


Cost: 5,500 Ryo

The ant is a common insect in all regions; however, the Giant Ant is specific to the forest and jungle regions of most countries. Their tails contain a poison which can cause death by internal bleeding. Their natural predators are the Ant Hunter.

Ran struggled to see the two illustrations of the Giant Ant in the now-dimming light. At times like these, she felt like cutting down the trees in the swamp around her and letting the sunlight into her windows. The first illustration, next to the first paragraph, showed the ant's back, indistinguishable from a diagram of any normal ant, and the other, spread out on the bottom and taking up a good quarter of the page, showed the spiny front. Both had labels pointing out and naming its body parts, and next to the second was a small vial of a dark liquid that she assumed was the poison. Neither was indistinguishable from any other ant, if not for the third diagram, which put the creature next to a scaled picture of a human for reference. She found her eyes widening in shock, and the fluttering of fascination in her stomach. This massive-seeming creature made the pests that made their way into her shack seem tiny in comparison. Were these things really lurking in the forest?

Flipping through the next few entries, the frog girl found that most of the creatures were somehow hostile, if not lethal. That didn't surprise her. What did was the sheer variety of the animals' killing methods. Giant solitary wasps, for example, liked to kill humans to use their corpses as nests. She shuddered at the thought of being used as a giant nest.

As night approached, Ran found herself absently turning the pages, driven forward by pure, macabre interest. Many of the entries seemed more like something out of a story book than any real life situation, and she found herself wondering on more than one occasion whether she'd pulled out an imaginative children's book. But she hadn't- an hour later, after relighting the gas lamp, she was still flipping through it, in a trance.

She had also found that the book was well-organised. Each entry contained: the name, both scientific and informal, of the creature; the family of animal it belonged to; its' prey and predators; mating patterns; any outstanding behaviours; a diagram, detailing size; and, in a bar that was either striking shaded or left blank, their danger level toward the average civilian.

Most of the time, she let her eyes wander over the pages of animals: carnivorous apes, venomous snakes, and flying monkeys, and let the hours pass in a quiet haze, the only noises the dim sound of the gas lamp.

[Solus]

Technically ants are entomology but meh, +5 TP, stand by for rolls

SPOILER: Click to show

EDIT:: I found something wrong with your rolls, dw, if I am correct this is going to be to your advantage. Stand by while I get this done.

[Nira]

Ah, I found the problem Solus was talking about.

Riza's rolls didn't have the additional 2 rolls from able learner, or the +2 bonus from the trait and book.

Hm... Solus's first grade for this tech is off as well.

Alright, I'm gonna have to redo all your rolls for Animal Lore.

I'm not grading anything, since staff have already provided the grades.

Three sets of seven, 21 dice with +2 bonuses.

Done, your skill points are...

0/125 sp -> 118/125 sp

Rolls:
narutoforumrp.proboards.com/post/981088

[Lexi]

(Ok, dang. Thanks Nira!)

Training Animal Lore (Savage, Able Learner, Textbook)
0/5 TP, 118/125 SP
                

SPOILER: Click to show

Lore, Animal (Forest)

Rank: "E"

Skill: Skill

Effect: This skill enables a character to observe the actions or habitat of an animal and interpret what is going on as well as identifying said animal.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: Actions can show how dangerous the creature is, whether it is hungry, protecting its young, or defending a nearby den. Furthermore, careful observation of signs and behaviors can even indicate the location of a water hole, animal herds, predators, or impending danger, such as a forest fire. A successful check means the character understands the basic actions of the creature, as well as the type of creature it is. A character may also imitate the calls and cries of animals that he is reasonably familiar with, based on the knowledge (user must learn per Region). This ability is limited by volume. A successful check means that only Chakra means can distinguish the character's call from that of a true animal. The cry is sufficient to fool animals, perhaps frightening them away or luring them closer. When learning the user must choose per Region and they may only have knowledge of Animals creatures. Each Skill level allows the user knowledge of each Animal category (Example: Novice can identify Common Animals, Master can identify Nearly Impossible Animals) within a region. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.

Limit: ---



Savage

Rank: "C"

Skill: Social Trait

Effect: User was born and raised in untamed lands far from civilization.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: User learned to survive in the elements among brutal humanoids and beasts. User gains a +5 trait bonus on Botany checks, Lore, Animal and Lore, Monster checks. The user gains a +1 to each of their die rolls each time they learn these skills. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.

Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.



Able Learner

Rank: "C"

Skill: Social Trait

Effect: The user has great aptitude for learning.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: When learning a skill, the skill states how many times a die roll may be applied to show how much they learned within that skill. Example, when a user learns "Botany" they gain 5 die rolls. This "trait" increases the amount of die rolls by 1.5 rounded to the highest number at 1 die roll per learning, however any number higher than 1 die roll is rounded down. For example: User learns Botany and gains 5 die rolls. With this Trait they will gain 7 die rolls. However if a user learns Lockpicking they normally get 1 die roll, however with this Trait they will gain 2 die rolls.

Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 2 Freebies.


Book: Textbook: Creature Lore (Forest)
x1
Rank: "C"


Type: Main, Book, Textbook


Effect: A Texbook that discusses the different types of Creatures found in a single Region.


Special: ---


Drawback: ---


Description: A Large Leather-bound book with "B.I.N.G.O. Productions" written on it. No Authors are listed within the book. This is a massive volume of 16 books pertaining to the knowledge of Animals, Monsters, and Vermin and what all of these creatures do. Each Volume discusses the Creatures found in a specific Region. Each volume gives a +5 Competence bonus to the user's skill pertaining to that region, and the user gains a +1 Competence bonus per die roll when learning the skill according to the specific region. Example: User has a volume on the Forest Region. They will gain a +5 Competence bonus towards their Entomology, Animal Lore, and Monster Lore skills for the Forest Region and gain a +1 Competence bonus to every die roll when learning the skill for Entomology, Animal Lore, and Monster Lore skills for the Forest Region.


Limit: These items may be bought inside any Book Shop within the Region. 25% chance finding Outside Region.


Cost: 5,500 Ryo

The next creature she found her eyes lingering on was the Giant Badger, which, according to the BINGO book, measured 20 inches standing. In Ran's memory, it actually measured two 10 inch pieces. One morning after, a week after her eight birthday, she had watched on as Kiku cleaned the corpse of one of the beasts from a trap. It was the first time she realised just how well-protected the shack was against animals. Ran would probably forever remember the animal just from its smell; and anything that managed to smell so foul- rank, rotting meat tinged with sweetness- above the low, ever-present stench of the swamp was accomplished with just that.

Measuring at approximately 19 feet on average, the Giant Badger is the second largest of all mammals that can be found in the forest regions of Kumogakure, sharing its position with the Pleistocene Deer and bested in size only by the Fiendish Orange Wombat. Like most badgers, it can be identified by its short, round body, elongated heads and stripe-like white markings on its face.

Yadda, yadda. She might as well have been reading the article for badgers. Oh, according to the textbook, they were docile. Which means they're even more boring. She was about to skip to the next most interesting animal, when one word caught her eye.

"The blood of the Giant Badger is poisonous if injected into the bloodstream. It works by affecting the nervous system of the subject to make them perceive themselves as... invincible?"

Ran looked up to the slanted ceiling, wondering how such a strange poison would be put to use. She supposed you could prank your friends with it, or maybe slip it into someone's drink before a battle, if you were close enough, and watch as they strode confidently to their death. She found herself snickering at the image- a battle where all the soldiers were pumped up on badger's blood; that would be exciting. And short.

It took her forcefully prying herself away under threat of gas lamp-induced fire for Ranako to stop envisioning badger blood wars and put the book down, and by then, she was halfway considering letting the lamp burn out and dealing with the fire that came.

[Yoshi [Lynx!]]

+5 tp
125/125 sp! (You couldn't even miss this, so many die )

[Lexi]

Deido Nohara no Jutsu (Mud Field)
Rank: D
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: Causes the area (10m x 10m) around the user, given that it is earth and stone, to become mud.
Special: Rat, Dog, Boar
Drawback: It does not work in certain environments, such as tile and metallic floors.
Description: After the hand signs are performed, the user slams his/her hands into the ground. If the environment allows it, the area around the user will become a thick and heavy mud. No chakra is required to maintain the state of the area.
Limit: Earth Release, Water Release

Name: Strengthen Kumogakure I!
Rank: “D” Rank.
IIC Length: 2 days.
Difficulty: Easy.
Description: Increasing in strength is an important part of helping your village. Thus the ninja are being asked to train a technique! The idea is simple: train a “D” ranked technique and then show the new skill to the staff at the Raikage tower. Once this is done you will be rewarded for helping make the village strong!
Objective: May be repeated once a month.
Personnel requirements: 1-3 shinobis.
Reward: 4,500 ryo (3000 ryo for a non-nin)

[0/10]

With no formal teacher as in Academy days, Ranako had to take a more independent approach to discovering new techniques, and with the library being not too far from her location at the time, it was easy to get a technique high-ranking enough to fulfil the mission parameter. She hadn't been looking for anything in particular when, between the water and earth sections, she found the mud techniques.

The 13 year old stood in an open, empty field, just east of another, bigger training field. It was the perfect size and location for training, but the sheer number of rocks scattered about made it inconvenient enough that it was rarely put into use. It was good enough for Ranako to use, today- it wasn't going to stay solid long.

She formed the needed seals, and, like a gun responding to a trigger felt her chakra melt into the familiar, flowing ebb of water style. The hand seals for earth style soon followed. It took a second's concentration to stop the chakra from going back into the familiar water style, but with some effort, it solidified into heavy sloshing, then into a smooth, semi-solid puree of energy. After giving herself a second to accustom to the strange, sloshing chakra, she performed the last set of seal needed for the technique- quickly memorised from the scroll before she'd had to put it back- and pressed her hands to the hot earth.

Ran felt the chakra seep out of her, a sudden loss of energy, but the field didn't give way, stubbornly retaining its form against the persistent push of her chakra. She pressed the mix of chakra harder, harder, until she saw the first patch of earth, satisfyingly, give way. The crack spread across the field, under rocks, and she watched with pride as the earth exploded into a mess of cracks, patches of the ground sinking into a semi-liquid state.

When it stopped transforming, the result wasn't what she'd hoped. The ground was in patches, with puddles of dank, sunken slosh embedded between dry, hard earth, like the after-effects of an intense water-gun fight. Ranako found herself tugging at her shirt, unsatisfied. Without thinking, she forced her hands through the seals again, more quickly, running through her head what she could have done wrong. Too much force, not enough force, not enough balance... a wrong hand seal? She hoped it wasn't something as juvenile as the latter. As her chakra settled, once again, into the mud-like slosh she realised the mistake- too much water. Water release was comfortable, and familiar, and it took effort to let enough earth release energy get through to make the technique more solid. When her chakra settled, she took the energy to keep it that was as she pressed her palms against the ground, letting it go out in a smooth surge. The loss of energy felt smaller, this time. Within a second, the earth that was still solid cracked and sunk around her, sun glinting off the newly-formed mud, and stayed that way. Even the rocks had lost their shape. Gingerly, Ranako stepped one foot on the mud- her mud, her creation- and felt it sink under her, real as anything.

She was starting to get the intent behind the mission, now, as she stood on the only solid land in the middle of the mixture of water and earth, a trill of accomplishment running through her; and with the abundance of steep, sloping earth in Lightning Country, she could see the technique being put to fairly devastating use.

[Gohan]

+10

[Lexi]

Skill:

SPOILER: Click to show

Fortune Telling
Rank: "D"
Skill: Skill
Effect: This skill covers knowledge of a variety of methods of divination that share one factor in common all of them fake.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The user with fortune telling is familiar with numerous devices and methods, such as tarot cards, palm reading, interpreting the flight of sparrows or the arrangement of a sacrificed animal's entrails, and so forth. At least, the user is familiar enough with these practices to make him appear to be an authentic soothsayer. (Even if legitimate fortune telling exists, this skill does not allow a character to make accurate predictions. It confers no magical powers.) The user makes up the prediction he wishes to tell. A successful skill check indicates that the user's customer or client believes the fortune he was told to be authentic. If the check fails the sham is discovered in some way, or the prediction is simply too outrageous or unbelievable in some way. Telling a peasant he will be king one day is pretty wacky, but he will want to believe that his newborn son will one day be a great hero. If the fortune teller rolls a natural 1 on his skill check, a Game Master should make every attempt to see that the event the user predicted actually comes true. This can certainly lead to some interesting adventures. Each time learned user gets 5 die roll to increase the skill.

TP: 0/10, SP: 0/125
+ Able Learner

Intro fluff:

SPOILER: Click to show

When Ranako walked through the village, it was usually for some reason, and whatever it was she would get it done and be back at her shack. Today, in the late afternoon setting sun, Ranako saw something that captured her attention. Huddled in an alley of the street Ran was walking on, huddled between a tiny pub and a run-down flower shop, was a woman cloaked in a dark cape and ratty skirt. Next to her little cloth table was a sign, portraying a picture of a wide-eyed woman holding a crystal ball. Ranako recognised her immediately as a fortune teller.

Ever the cautious buyer, the girl approached the stall, took the seat opposite strange woman and requested a fortune. The woman looked young for what Ranako pictured a mystic to be, with only a few greys adorning her black hair and shallow wrinkles accenting her pock-marked face. When Ranako approached, she looked up, and fixed her a pleasant smile.
"Welcome, dear." She said in a syrupy voice. "Come for a fortune?" Her sweet demeanour took some of the mystery out of her stall, and anyone less cautious than Ran might have found themselves relaxing. Ran was just tense, plain and simple. "Yes, yes." She nodded, and the woman raised her eyebrow before taking out a pack of cards. Ranako stared down at them, the intricate swirly purple patterns would have marked them as something mysterious, if not for the folded edges that marked them as old and used. She laid them delicately on the table, like a newborn child, and held one slightly wrinkled hand out.

Honestly, Ranako was interested in learning tarot; interested in the occult, in general, really. When she read books as a child, would always identify more strongly with the mysterious fortune tellers and shady informants than the main character or love interest. She'd never had a real reading before, though. Ranako figured that, at least partially, she could learn by watching, and then maybe the fortune teller could give a few pointers, if she was generous enough.

"That'll be 1000 Ryo. Mysticism isn't free, sweet." Ranako sighed despite having known the cost. Parting with money was never fun. Once the money was handed over, the fortune teller began her trade. She beckoned for the frog girl to put her hands out. Ranako obliged, holding them out stiffly. She didn't like being so prone in such a dark area, but she hoped the glare that she gave the woman communicated that. Unexpectedly, the fortune teller reached for her cards and placed them firmly in her outstretched palms. "Shuffle them, honey." She commanded, muttering threats about what would happen to the girl if she dared drop them even as she smiled.

/INTRO FLUFF

Ranako balked down at the cards. She didn't know how to shuffle even normal-sized cards, and these were huge, comparatively. Hopefully her skill at handling weapons would cross over. The girl clumsily picked up the cards, gathering them into one neat stack. They slipped around her hands as she shuffled, and after nearly dropping them a few times, she simply placed them on the table and scrambled them. The reader didn't seem to mind terribly, so she collected them into a pile and handed them back.

"Right, now cut the cards into three piles, if you don't mind." She pushed strands of grey-streaked hair out of her face as she talked to Ranako. "And it's very important that you think of a question you want to ask while you do." Ranako paused. She hadn't thought of a question. It'd been an impulsive action to visit the woman, like many of her recent ones, and there were no burning questions in her mind.

Well, she wanted to know when her mother would come back. That question was always felt like fire, idly burning away in the back of her head. But the thought of telling the woman about that made her well up with shame, so she asked, "Will I be able to get enough money to afford the things I need?"

The fortune teller fixed her a long, appraising glance. Ranako found herself fighting not to fidget in her chair. Eventually, the woman broke her intense gaze, and took the cards into one pile, collecting each one from the left, to the right, to the middle. She said nothing as she laid the cards out on the table, and Ranako found a strange embarrassment in the silence. It was odd; she didn't usually feel embarrassed in interaction.

The woman drew a card from the top of the deck and placed it in the centre of the table, then another, horizontal, on top of it. The old black backs of the cards gleamed dull orange in the candle's flames. With a practiced hand she laid four more cards to the top, bottom, left and right of the two. Then, she took four more cards and placed them, one by one, in a straight line to the right of the other cards. Then, she straightened the deck against the table and put it to the edge of the table, away from the main cards.