Chuunin Exams Part II - The Hell Maze

The interior of the Unzen Mountain, home to an active volcano, has been hollowed out and transformed into a ninja proving ground. Kiyoshi of the Stag Emporium has created a complex maze consisting of hostile architecture, tunnels and open spaces. The idea was to harness the inhospitable nature of the volcano and channel it into an environment where shinobi survival skills, tracking capabilities and combat skill could be stretched to their breaking point.

One by one, entrants will be guided by a proctor to a specific part of the exterior of the volcano. From there, they and their partner will be ushered inside. A small crevice will open by way of fuuinjutsu and engineering allowing them to enter the Hell Maze. They cannot leave the Hell Maze once inside unless they are escorted out by a proctor. The volcano has been reinforced making it almost impenetrable and the complex fuuin layered inside suppresses even the most advanced Sensory abilities thereby making it impossible for genin to get out of the Maze by themselves.  

At the center of Maze is a control room housed inside a larger luxury suite. The Division Proctor for the Hell Maze will be able to see all that goes on inside the maze.  Through a myriad of hidden cameras, sensors, telemetric devices and scanners, they have complete awareness of what is going on at all times. On top of this, the Division Proctor may use whatever abilities they possess to keep further tabs on the combatants. The control room can manipulate several aspects of the Maze to increase or decrease the intensity of any part of the Maze. There are multiple hidden passages leading from the control room and luxury suite to different parts of the Hell Maze allowing the Division Proctor to get to the entrants relatively quickly in an emergency. Likewise, assistant proctors may be sent in to rescue.


This phase of the Chuunin Exams will have both RNG and roleplay features as shown below. You will be assigned a partner and from there the pair of you will be forced to tackle survival and tracking checks determined via dice roll. After these checks, you will proceed to a combat thread against another team of entrants.

Each team will be given a special scroll. In order to pass this portion of the Exams, you should aim to have least two scrolls. The scrolls cannot be destroyed or forged, and there is a general OOC presumption that unduly tampering with them will lead to negative consequences.

This portion of the Exams will take place over the course of 3-4 IC days. Each "day" will consist of two threads. A Preparation Thread (the dice roll checks) and an Encounter Thread (the team combat). Note that its possible for your Encounter Thread to be against NPC opponents who will be roleplayed by the Division Proctor player.


There are two primary aspects that the RNG elements of the Maze will focus on: Survival and Tracking. Entrants will roll for each of these aspects during their Preparation Thread.

Each day will start out with a Preparation Thread. The Division Proctor will take a team and set a scene for your team to post in. It will be in a section of the Maze with a unique survival challenge or difficulty that will force the participants to use their skills and techniques to adequately rest, eat, drink, heal etc.

Once the scene is set, there will be three rounds of posting where the teammates demonstrate their survival skills and attempt to overcome the challenge.

Note that a decent level of creativity/good roleplay will net such a team a +5 Modifier for the Survival Roll. If they do something truly impressive/unorthodox/creative they will get an additional +5 Modifier. After they are done with their three rounds of posting, the team will roll for Survival. Only one player needs to roll.

Survival Outcomes
0-10 (Catastrophic Conditions): Hit with a -1 Tier to each physical stat. -10% Chakra.
11-30 (Desperate Destitution): Hit with a (--) for your next encounter thread for each physical stat. -5% Chakra.
31-50 (Rough Rucking): Hit with a (-) for your next encounter thread for each physical stat. You receive no chakra recovery.
51-80 (Moderate Means): You survived decently well. No stat penalty and chakra recovery of +10% Chakra.
81-95 (Rugged Survivalist): No stat penalty. No chakra penalty. +15% Chakra Recovery.
95-100 (Survival of the Fittest): Well Rested. A plus to each stat and +25% Chakra Recovery.

Additional Survival Modifiers
Ijutsu: Those with Ijutsu get +5 [Only one team member needs to have this]
Chemistry: Those with Chemistry get +5 [Only one team member needs to have this]
Constitution: Those with base Con above C get +2 [Both Need to have it to get this one]
Stamina: Those with base Stamina above C get +2 [Both Need to have it to get this one]

After they have finished the Survival Roll. The team makes a post roleplaying the outcome however they see fit and then they prepare to head out. They will do another roll for tracking.

Tracking Outcomes
0-10 (Directional Disaster): NPC opponents manage to sneak up on you and ambush your team during the preparation thread. This sets you back two outcome levels from what you rolled and your Prep thread basically becomes a warzone. You manage to fight off the attackers but must deal with a weaker survival outcome heading into your next Encounter Thread.
11-30 (Navigational Rout): In your next Encounter Thread, you will start off the match with poor positioning and an element of the settings/surroundings will not be in your favor.
31-50 (Mediocre Scout): In your next Preparation Thread, the area will be not very good for survival. You will receive a -5 modifier to the Survival Roll.
51-80 (Sharp Tracker): Neutral. Nothing really happens. You proceed to the next encounter on neutral terms.
81-95 (Eagle Scout): You can ambush a nearby resting NPC Team. This ambush will result in you acquiring spoils that will aid in your survival. You may increase your Survival consequence level by 1. Alternatively, if you've lost some items to an opponent, you may choose to sneak into their camp and steal it back unnoticed and unmolested.  
95-100 (Head Hunter): You can select one PC Team of your choice to attack in a hit-and-run style ambush. You can invade their Preparation Thread, ambush them and disrupt their survival and exit without consequence. This has the effect of setting your target's consequence level back by two. Alternatively, if you've lost some items to an opponent, you may choose to sneak into their camp and steal it back unnoticed and unmolested.  

Additional Tracking Modifiers
Sensory: Those with Sensory get +5 [Only one team member needs to have this]
Pet: Those with a Pet that possess a tracking-specific Perk get +5 [Only one team member needs to have this]
Perception: Those with base Per above C get +2 [Both/All Need to have it to get this one]
Coordination: Those with base Coordination above C get +2 [Both/All Need to have it to get this one]

Potential Additional Modifiers & Misc. Notes

• Betrayal/Going Solo: You can leave your partner. Doing so will inflict a -25 modifier to all of your next survival and tracking rolls. While you are free as a shinobi to make your own choices, the proctors will increase intensity of the trials you face to compensate. The victim of betrayal will not get a penalty and may proceed solo normally or may join another group.
  
• Moderate Injury: Sustaining and failing to heal a moderate injury will give a -5 modifier to each roll.
  
• Severe Injury: Sustaining and failing to heal a severe injury will give a -10 modifier to each roll.
  
• Industriousness: Quick moving and quick thinking shinobi tend to fare better in harsh environments. If you and your ally or allies can finish your entire Preparation Thread in 48 Hours (rom when it began) then you will receive a +10 to your Survival Roll. Be careful not to sacrifice quality for speed however! If the quality of your post dips below an acceptable threshold, you will lose the +5 from this modifier AND forfeit the +5/+10 Survival Modifier that you would have received for quality and creativity.  
  
• Lethargy: Slow and lazy shinobi find themselves at a significant disadvantage when it comes to the brutal reality of the Hell Maze. If your entire Preparation Thread takes more than 5 Days (from when it began) to complete then you will receive a -5 to your Survival Roll.
  
• Allies: Extra Allies don't affect the rolls aside from the potential -25 penalty that a betrayer brings with them to their new team. Because its harder to feed more people and coordinate, it ends up being a wash as far as the rolls are concerned. However more people could lead to excellent roleplay which may net you the +5.
  
• The modifiers with respect to chakra recovery do not allow you to gain more chakra than your pool has. If your already at max chakra then the chakra recovery does nothing for you. Recovery percentages are based on your total pool.
  
• Debuffs are base debuffs. Boosts are considered UAs in the stacking order. They apply through your next Encounter Thread until your next Preparation Thread where you roll again.  
  
• Physical stats are defined here as Strength, Constitution, Speed and Coordination
  

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

Nakaba would be sitting slightly above the height of the other genin. If Hibiki was here, she might be equally high up, as Nakaba was riding his giant pango-stoat, Limon. Using sweet Limon’s flat, middle ridge of scales between the leather straps, he was hammering away at some small pieces of metal forcing and fitting pins and wood together as he shaped the barrel. Attaching the rest of the pieces would be easy enough. He just needed time. He also knew the vibes he’d gotten from the proctors as well as his Kage’s normal vibes, that the disruptive hollow thunking of metal piercing hard rubber would probably get him harassed by a proctor if he took too long. Steadily though he’d slowly form polymer and metal into their shape as sweat poured down his brow. He’d been relying on sweet Limon since they’d started heading to the mountain as he tried to recover from the chakra fatigue that slowly crept up on him. He’d constantly be leaning over grabbing materials and switching tools from the array of goods at either side of sweet Limon, as well as giving this good boy the head occasional well earned side pats and head scritches he deserved. “Sorry bud looks like we’re going to have to reallocate some of our food and water resources. The heat’s already intense.” Limon would respond to his friend’s whisper with a huff.

Starting 72 hour timer

Attempted craft:

Sweet Limon:

With a sigh, Nakaba's breath returned to a normal pace, and he'd strap the metal and wood orb onto his back. It's cork was sealed, and a small pipe coiled around a hook on its side. It was sealed in clay to imitated a dried gourd. "I'll name you, Surface Piercer." Nakaba would run along with his proctor to make his way into the mountain.
/end oven timer

Surface Piercer:

[Exit]