L5R- Legend of the Five Rings General

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>First for the rightful Emperor

>>47152134
I mean, honestly speaking, Daigotsu came off better after the Destroyer War than if he'd became Emperor. After Fu Leng kicked the bucket, Daigotsu took his place, so now he's the new lord of Jigoku, which I'd say is a way better gig than just being Emperor.

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So I'm building a villain for my current campaign, and I wanted to see what you guys think of what I've got so far.

>Villain is the son of Daigotsu Kanpeki. Was born in the Shadowlands after the Spider clan tried to usurp the throne and got kicked out of the Empire (this is ignoring the whole seals of Jigoku bullshit).
>Is an Akutenshi, and technically speaking the prince of Jigoku.
>His goal is to usurp the Iweko dynasty and take his rightful place on the throne as a Hantei.
>To this end, he plans to negotiate an alliance with some of the gaijin, bring in some extra manpower and gaijin pepper
>Not only that, but he plans to use Maho to replace parts of his body with parts of Fu Leng (Heart of Fu Leng, Eyes of Fu Leng, etc.) so he can conduct a ritual that lets him be possessed by his grandfather Daigotsu, who can't normally leave Jigoku now that he's become it's lord. This will cause the Third Day of Thunder.
>Central philosophy is that the Empire has forgotten who it's Emperors are, the Hantei dynasty. Thus, it's only fitting that he punish them for forgetting who their master is.
>Personality is basically like Nobunaga's from Sengoku Basara, except for one facet: his brother.
>His brother was disgusted with what his clan was plotting, and decided to run away at a young age
>Villain is uncomfortably clingy when it comes to his brother. Got into a fight with him when his brother tried to run away, was nearly killed in the process
>Still cares for his brother even after nearly being killed by him. Still keeps close tabs on him via spies in the Empire, plans to bring him back home by force if need be.

What do you guys think? Interesting concept for a BBEG?

>>47152112
>3k2 Katana can't get through reduction
Sounds like that scrub needs to up his Strength and Kenjutsu.

>>47154916
Right? It should be at least 5k2 unless he's an anemic cripple.

Now without bothering to read the books apart from what I skimmed a year ago or so before my computer died (again).

Is female Scorpion Samurai/Ronin/whatever fights with a sword, a viable concept or are they all entirely dedicated seduction, shotgun weddings and blackmailing?

>>47156632
The Bayushi are a normal bushi school. The clan as a whole is sneaky bastards, but individuals fill all of the normal roles a clan needs, including soldiers and bodyguards. It's just that a certain number of those soldiers and bodyguards are also sneaky bastards who may or may not seduce people to get at their dirty secrets. If they were literally all into that, it would be too easy to just arrest every Scorpion present whenever anything happens and the clan couldn't use any of them as surveillance bait.

What should a new GM for L5R look out for when running a game? What are some very critical things to know about Rokugan?.

>>47157178
The number one most important thing any new L5R GM needs to know is that you should never expect your players to have the same knowledge their characters have. Never, ever, EVER fucking punish your players for doing something their characters would know is against basic etiquette without warning them first. And don't be fucking ambiguous about it, you fucking tell them flat out "your character would know this" in no uncertain terms.

Being fucked by shit GMs jumping at the chance to punish you over esoteric social rules the GM never warned them about is the number one source of L5R hate in the RPG community.

>>47157480
I do something similar, but I base it on the Etiquette or Courtier skills of the involved character. Somebody makes a character without either skill, I am going to gotcha him with Breaches of Etiquette every now and then. I'll warn a character if he has the skills depending on the situation, the more obscure or refined the situation, the higher the skill will be needed for a warning.

>>47157579
Keep in mind what would and wouldn't be common knowledge in that world for a character of a given social class and clan. Ettiquette is such an ingrained thing in L5R that even the shit that seems esoteric to you and I would be common knowledge to even a Crab on the wall.

>>47157659
That Crab on the Wall is the setting equivalent of a redneck. He's a backwoods guy whose idea of what is polite is different than a refined Crane or even Lion samurai.

That said a character with even a single rank of Etiquette will get by in most situations. A guy with a 3 would be fine in most mid-level courtly situations. A guy with a 5 could navigate the high courts of the Great Clans or the Emperor's Winter Court without issues. True masters of the court with 7+ skills pretty much warp the rules around them.

Those ratings are for if the character isn't being targeted by hostile courtiers or the like. In most cases, he just won't make a breach out of ignorance. Being set-up to lose face is an entirely different animal.

>>47153044
Yeah, decent, I like the part about still caring for his brother who hates him and his plans

>>47157480
I wouldn't do something like that to my players, I'd definitely let them know how samurai handle social situations, especially since samurai were raised into the role.

>>47157659
It'd be cool to separate etiquette by the different clans. It'd make sense considering that Crab prefer blunt honesty while the Crane would use subtle hints.

>>47158348
Eh, they're not that different most of the time. Etiquette is pretty much universal. Really, the Crab are the only real outliers, and only because they can't afford to ignore mistakes and talk around uncomfortable subjects when mistakes can get everyone in the area killed horribly by uncomfortable subjects.

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I once had a friend
His poems were much worse than mine
Are you there, my friend?

>>47152112
So, I started the L5R general in march where that OP is from, and it still irks me that those links are wrong.
Here are the correct links
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/2nbbe1kyny4qo/L5A
>basically everything from 4e

http://www.mediafire.com/folder/c7tfqff9sqp71/L5R
>previous editions and old d20 stuff

>>47158348
>Crab have etiquette
>It's just not that key, to us
>Unlike stuck-up Cranes

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Can someone reccomend me an OK ronin school? I'm trying to make pic related in L5R.

>>47158996
Which of us is Crab,
and which is Scorpion, friend?
For 'worse' is a lie.

As you may recall,
it was not myself who fled
last time we duelled thus.

>>47159356
I have responsibility!
grandchildren more brave than wise
and my fool husband

>>47159396
Duty ever calls--
some of us towards glory,
some of us away.

>>47159282
Don't rely on schools if you're a ronin. You're going to have to use skills and stats.
That being said, the generic ronin school from Secrets of the Empire isn't that bad.

>>47159456
But now, I have time
I'll relax with a contest
Care to lose again?

>>47159282
Play 3e and take the godly Ronin Duelist school. Or play 3e Revised and play the less godly but still fucking good Ronin Duelist school.

>>47159470
I'm sure that one school at char creation is better than 10 measly xp

>>47159521
The games 4e, I'm afraid

>>47159506
What is this 'again'?
Some strange creature from the Wall?
I have not lost yet.

>>47159541
You mean Path, right?
Well, the generic ronin is an entire school, which means more than one rank of techniques.
But I'm saying that you should focus more on just getting good stats and skills. Techniques aren't going to do it all for you, except for the rank 3 or 4 (Depending on whether you're in the school or just trying to get paths) Single Action Attack. That's something you need as a bushi.
The problem with being a ronin and trying to get Paths is that they're all from different groups and are mostly exclusive. Unless your GM is specifically letting you get them piecemeal for game balance reasons, it's incredibly difficult to pick up more than one or two, and even a single one requires being a member of a larger group.

>>47159545
>I have not lost yet
Again, the scorpion lies
Try to lose with grace

>>47159601
Would a Crab know grace
if it came announced by horns
and two-score Mia?

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>>47159741
Dishonor on you! Dishonor on your cow! How dare you misspell the family name of the honorable heralds of the Emperor, the Miya.

>>47159741
A display like that?
It would need greater fanfare!
But let us move on

Seen some plays lately?
I saw one the other day
about the "brave" crane

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Friendly reminder that The Kolat did nothing wrong. Literally everything wrong with the setting can be tied back to insane Kami and Onnotangu being a fucking idiot and ignoring the Lying Darkness.

>>47159282
I don't actually know much about Snake, but here's a decent Ronin track. Keep in mind that everything other than the generics are tied to organizations that are exclusive and might not even exist at the time your game is happening. Tweaking from the GM is necessary for you to learn most of these beyond the Rank 1 or generic options.
Rank 1: Tengoku's Justice
Rank 2: Generic Ronin or The Thousand (for duelling)
Rank 3: Generic Ronin or Hidden Sword (If you can keep your Honor rank high)
Rank 4: Generic Ronin or Sword of Yotsu (If you took Hidden Sword)
Rank 5: Generic Ronin or Wolf Legion (If you took Hidden Sword and Sword of Yotsu)
The generic ronin stuff makes you generally tough and good in a fight. The Hidden Sword of Yotsu Legion makes you super good guy ronin who gets all sorts of bonuses for high Honor. Also, peasants love you.
There are also paths for duelling at those ranks, but they're not great.
You can also substitue Legion of Two Thousand or Disciples of Sun Tao for three of those ranks (Up to and inlcuding ranks 6, 7, and 8), but be warned that replacing rank 3 means you don't get the magical SAA until you get to the end of LoTT or DoST.

>>47159857
I love how your tons of high honor techs lead in with a bandit path.

>>47159845
Master Coin - the Koku Kolat!
...I'll see myself out.

>>47159915
Like I said, you can't really use them with their organizations, and taken by itself, it's a path that starts with 4.5 honor (Somehow) and a decent enough sneak attack technique.

>>47159790
I beg forgiveness:
my mind knew the second's lapse
friend Crab's known for years.

>>47159793
A good friend of mine
from Shosuro's famed dojo
asked I see her play.

The play showed a ruse
by a young samurai-ko
to wed a poet.

After the play's end,
as I am not blind to hints,
we became engaged.

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Greatest L5R card ever printed coming through.

>>47159987
Mazal Tov, my friend!
May you two have wise children
and only some fights!

>>47160066
Many thanks, friend Crab.
Dawn and Duty rise as one,
so I must depart.

>>47160145
Now we have both fled
From this sadane battle.
May we meet again!

>>47160191
Is it Sadane,
when insults fly less often
than words of friendship?

If so, then I think
we both must bear the same loss.
Goodnight, my true friend.

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>>47160295
The third iteration of our ongoing confrontation, saved for posterity yet again.

>>47160019
Is it worth learning the L5R card-game, or is it too late?

>>47153044
Make his brother the 8th Thunder. Not only is it a twist of unforgettable proportions, it gives you the option of a future Rokugan with a partially good Spider Clan.

>>47160973
There's apparently a new one in the pipeline. Non-ccg.
We'll see.

>>47161644
Let's pray to the fortunes, and hope it's not shit

>>47159282
>MSF combat medic
Don't start as a ronin. Go with a monk-trained samurai, then work your way into roninhood.

>>47160973
Don't. The CCG is dead. Wait until FFG releases the game as a LCG and hope it is as good as someother of their LCGs. Announcment Gencon 2017

>>47161479
Yeah, that's what I was planning to do. They're both from the Hantei line since their grandfather is Daigotsu himself, so I was going to have one Thunder from each of the great clans, plus the descendant of Shinsei, and then have him as the representative of Hantei. After the battle, the brother will likely look for a way to purge the Taint that he picked up from living with the Spider, then the Empress will probably look into marrying him to her daughter so the Empire will have a Hantei on the throne again (assuming he does find a way to purge his taint, that is).

>>47167394
Actually, thinking on it more, I kind of like the idea of his brother starting a less-evil version of the Spider Clan. Maybe instead I'll have the Empress grant him his own clan, and if the Iweko want to cross their bloodline with a Hantei's, they'll wait for his kids since I'm not actually sure there's a way to purge taint from someone without killing them.

Speaking of Iweko, how would you stat someone from one of the non-Hnatei emperor's lines in 4e? The core book gives you family bonuses for Hantei, Miya, Ottomo and Seppun families, but not for Iweko or Toturi. Presumably Iweko I would have the Kistuki family bonus, but how would you handle descendants? Just treat them like Hantei anyway?

>>47160973
If there are people in your area still playing sure, its not expensive (especially now).

>>47167913
Toturi family samurai have stats, it's in the same sidebar as the Hantei family's stats. IIRC they get +1 Stamina. I don't remember if Iweko had stats in the same
Sidebar though, but I wouldn't give them the same bonus the Hantei get. The Hantei are supposed to be special, it's why they're the only family in the game that gets +1 Void.

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>>47167741
The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a mostly-good Spider Clan. So much so, I kinda want to include them in my next campaign.

I imagine that the reformed Spider clan, while being good and loyal, would have a mentality similar to the Scorpion where they believe in the importance of necessary evils.
>"Shourido may be more ugly than Bushido, but in the service of The Son of Heaven, even ugly things are necessary."
>"Yes, there are tainted samurai among the Spider. But they do not use the power of Jigoku for personal power, but in service of their clan and Emperor. All samurai are willing to give up their lives for duty, but only Spider clan samurai are willing to give up their souls as well."

>>47168605
Right, but Iweko I does become Divine, which I didn't think happened to the Toturi. I figure that mechanically you could represent that by giving her line the same +1 void, but I guess that depends on what becoming Divine even means-- I had thought it was the Heavens granting her the same mojo that made the Hantei line worthy of being Emeperors in the first place, but really I don't know.

>>47168605
>>47168733
Just cracked open my 4e pdf after some digging, Toturi gt +1 Willpower in the same sidebar that shows Hantei, but there are no stats for Iweko.

>>47153044
Oh yeah, while I'm at it and to keep the thread bumped, how do you know if an encounter is balanced or not? Because I build my villain to be Insight Rank 9, so I can't tell if he's where a Rank 9 Akutenshi should be, or if I went overboard.

Cherry blossoms fall.
Cicadas sing their last song.
So too this thread's fate.

>>47171473
Summer grasses,
all that remains
Of soldiers' dreams.

>>47168058
Holy shit, you weren't kidding. I just went to my FLGS, and they gave me a 2-player starter set for only 5 bucks!

Are schools limited by that particular family? As in only Hida can go to the Hida bushi school?

>>47172869
Schools are open to anyone of the same clan. It is perfectly OK for a Kuni or Kaiu samurai to train in a Hida bushi dojo.

>>47172869
Anyone in the clan can go to the school. Ideally, a kid's parents, lord, and a relevant sensei work together to figure out the kid's aptitudes and then send them to the school best suited for them, but factors like what the clan needs also come into it, and sometimes there are shady backroom dealings and bribes that need to happen before a kid can attend certain prestigious dojo. A Crab can go to any Crab school, but most members of a major family will go to that family's school, and in the case of a clan like the Crab, many will go to the Hida and Hiruma schools just because the clan needs way more soldiers than anything else.
The exception is for shugenja. If a kid has the ability to talk to spirits, his clan's shugenja school will push HARD for him to attend their school, and usually the parents will also want that to happen. A kid from a shugenja family who doesn't have the talent for it will need to go elsewhere.
Incidentally, there are lesser schools that don't even have Techniques, and these are where a lot of vassal family samurai end up going. Every samurai attends a dojo as part of a School, but not every School is worth mentioning in the grand scheme of things.

>>47173162
One addendum to shugenja. The ONLY schools that teach Void magic are Phoenix schools and as such if a child is Ishiken the Phoenix generally swoop in and take in the child. This is generally allowed as talent with Void magic is exceedingly rare even in the Isawa family and is so rare outside the family to nearly be unheard of.

>>47173446
How do people learn if a shugenjs can do Void magic?

Like, to learn a kid has magic is easy: his imaginary friends actually talk back. That's a pretty obvious red flag. But, since you can't commune with the Void, how do people learn if someone's an Ishiken-do, or if they're just a shugenja?

>>47173446
It is possible for another school to hang onto their ishiken (If the isawa miss the signals or the clan is hostile to them), but they can't really teach void magic and the most common outcomes for it are the kid going a little insane or the void connection to fade out, but if they don't and it doesn't, it's possible to have a member of another school to be an ishiken, but even then it's likely that they eventually get in contact with the Isawa, who either give them a crash course on how to not drive themselves and others insane or do some nasty ritual to cut their connection.
Frankly, I'm surprised that they've never caused a war due to their pushy, arrogant ways. "Yeah, we metaphysically mutilated your kid because he was too vaguely dangerous and we don't trust you to deal with it" isn't going to fly with most clans.

>>47173654
Sometimes the void comes through and someone recognizes it, sometimes another ishiken picks up signals through the void that they have a new peer and goes to do something about it.

>>47173659
It is mostly because it is so rare. Maybe one non-Isawa child in a generation is born with a connection to the Void. And the Isawa really go out of their way to not destroy new Ishiken, their rarity makes them too valuable.

>>47173822
They try to avoid destroying them, but are willing to kidnap the kid if they can't convince their family to hand them over. Entering a clan's land to kidnap a child isn't much better.

>>47173860
It is sometimes easier to seek forgiveness than permission, especially when you bring back a new Void shugenja to serve the wronged Clan.

>>47173913
Assuming they actually bring the kid back.

>>47173446
This is true up to roughly the 1200s, when ishi started popping up in other clans in greater numbers.

>>47173654
Generally, people don't. They get superstitious, and someone learned will come along and deal with it.

>>47174770
Yeah, but by that point AEG has shitted on the Metaphysics of the setting so much that it should be disregarded.

How much free will do The Lost have? Are they kinda like Daemon Princes, where their nature is completely changed, but most of their character remains the same?

>>47176132
By definition, Lost are beyond the point of having free will. In practice, there are noted exceptions, but I can't recall any names off the top of my head.

>>47176132
Depends on exactly how Lost they are. Those who are just recently Tainted beyond hope are twisted and completely subservient to Jigoku, but still mostly themselves. Those who have been tainted for longer are just direct puppets of Jigoku with a thin veneer of their old personality on top.
Some very, very rare individuals (Fu Leng, Daigotsu, that evil goddess and... Pretty much anyone who is strong enough to be the Master of Jigoku) keep their own minds, but even they are servants of Jigoku. They can fight amongst themselves over who gets to boss around the lesser beings, and might be capable of changing how Jigoku works, but they can't actually go against Jigoku.

>>47176199
Are their every move controled by Jigokou, like puppets, or just their wants and desires?

>>47176256
It kind of depends on what Jigoku wants them to be. If they're supposed to infiltrate, they can keep their own mind and act on their own initiative. If they're supposed to run headfirst at the Crab, then it just takes direct control. If they're supposed to lead a horde, then it's up in the air and they might just get boiled down to horde based military tactics with nothing else going on in their heads.

>>47176240
There was also that Moto leader who was still running around being a douche, that gaijin from White Stag, and that Kuni who convinced the Crab to form an alliance with the shadowlands.
All three of them are super lost who still have their own minds.

>>47176132
As >>47176334 said it depends on what Jigoku wants them to be. A terminally Lost person can be totally sane and even close to asymptomatic and then boom, full crazy demon mode happens. It is part of what makes the taint so frightening.

>>47176423
I think there was also a Scorpion lady who did some nasty shit.

I'm gonna be playing in a campaign which uses that alternate history thing from Emerald Empire where Fu-Leng won in the Second Day of Thunder and possessed Fu-Leng. What should I expect?

>>47179486
The entire country has gone to shit and officials are people to be avoided.
There's a resistance movement that hemorrhages more people every day.
The Crane are dead because one of Fu Leng's buddies was a Crane and decided that there wasn't a single other Crane who was worthy of being in the same clan as him.
The Crab might as well be dead because they got stomped from both sides, and those that are left live as hermits in the mountains or are part of the resistance.
The Mantis aren't a Great Clan, but are otherwise mostly intact, since they're on an isolated island.
The Oracles were dumped like hot garbage when the Heavens retreated from Ningen-do and are all dead except for one, because only the Thunder Dragon thought it would be a good idea to stick around and fight back.

>>47176423
Kuni Yori.
One of the greats.

>>47179609
Point of order, there is still a "Crane clan", but they're not Cranes by blood and are not pussy courtiers. There's literally one real crane and he was a daidoji who started recruiting others to his side. The "Cranes" are universally Daidoji Harriers who were recruited from orphans and other disenfranchised youth.

>>47179646
Of course, he is opposed by members of the Kasuga family, and their Nezumi allies.

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>>47179646

>>47179609
I should probably mention That we're all gonna be playing 'evil' characters in this game.

Also
>Lion clan follow Fu-Leng since he's the Emperor, and obviously they have to remain loyal to the emperor, right?
what the actual fuck

>>47180219
>what the actual fuck
What did you expect? They had their internal disputes about it, and brains lost to loyalty.

>>47180305
>"We have to stay loyal to the emperor"
>"but the emperor is literally satan!"
>"yeah, but he's still the emperor"
>"BUT HE'S SATAN!"
>"HEY! THAT'S EMPEROR SATAN! Show some god-damned respect"

>>47180339
Yes-ish. The body being inhabited by Fu Leng is still the emperor, and by divine mandate the emperor can do no wrong.

>>47180467
But there is no divine mandate; Satan has no divine mandate.
In fact, it's literally the opposite of a divine mandate.

>>47180638
Still physically the emperor.

>>47180957
Different Anon here, but wouldn't the Lions duty be then to do whatever they can to FREE the emperor from Satans control?

>>47152134
>imprying