/L5RG/ - Legend Of The Five Rings General

>>49446249
>Which Minor Clan is the greatest, and why is it the Sparrow?
Their mechanics make anons cry.

>>49446362
Why is that?

IT LIVES

>>49446249
If you can create custom spells through spellcraft, could you cipher them into scrolls and hand them to other shugenja of the same school ? Or do the have to go through the spell research again themselves ?

>>49447025
Once a spell is made, it's made.
Officially, all of your research material belongs to your school, including the spell itself (Traditionally, three copies of it are given to the head of your school, and then one of those copies is returned to you) because you had to use school resources to make it (And had to get special permission to do so, since a spell with a bad starting premise could be very dangerous, or blasphemous, or both).
The honorable thing to do is give it to your sensei's boss and let him figure out how to disseminate it, but anyone in your school would be able to cast it if they got their hands on a scroll.

>>49447025
Technically, if someone really wanted to replicate the same effects, they could importune the kami and ask. So long as (theoretically) they could cast that spell from a scroll, it's doable.

>>49446249
>and why is it the Sparrow?

Ah yes, the supposedly humble Mary Sue's clan of choice.

>>49447096
>supposedly humble
Mate. You better be humble when your techniques are Jack and Shit, and Jack was killed for being gaijin scum.

>>49447152
I'm a bit toasty and thus can't tell if that was really good or trying too hard.

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>>49447152
Goddammit, anon.

>>49447208
Probably trying to hard, but the product is acceptable.

>>49446362
That Rank 5 technique synergizes pretty well with the Kakita Bushi Rank 5, for all those Rank 10 Sparrow/Kakitas running around.

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The Hare mechanics look pretty good to me.

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>>49447365
Shame Hare clan is dead in my game.

>>49447389
Monster. Why?

>>49447540
I assume because he's a spider sucking faggot

>>49447540
Because it's a very real possibility that can occur in 1E adventure.

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>>49446249
So let me get this straight; Unicorn's Yomanri archery is superior to typical Rokugani instinctive fire, right? Is that represented in any tangible mechanical way or is it just a flavor thing?

>>49447732
It's different. A master archer doesn't stop being a master archer just because they use a different technique. They do make pretty good sniper assassins, though.

>>49447732
I think it's "for each round you spend aiming you get a free raise". You also have to be stationary and your defense drops to TN5 or something like that

>>49447844
+1k1 attack or +1k0 damage per simple action taken, all lost if you're interrupted, and doesn't work with centre stance.

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>>49446249
>why is it the Sparrow?

The Sparrow used to be interesting, now they are just an edgy gone native Spider Clan splinter group nowadays.

The bat clan I always enjoy due to their interesting gimmick of being spiritualist telephones via Bat-a-mail.

>>49447732
During the last Wintercourt a Unicorn archer destroyed the competition in the archery contest. Its pretty solid.

While the Tsuruchi method is easier in combat due to the quickfire mentality a good Unicorn with time to set up and aim will fuck anyone over.

>>49448197
Yomanri Archer is a rank 4 tech, and WC limits you to IR3, so that was probably just good rolls rather than actual school techs winning out.

>>49448174
When did this happen? They seemed ok in secrets of the Empire

>>49448342
Spider infiltrated them during I think the race for the throne or shortly after. The point was to slowly subvert the minor clan into a base for mass infiltration of Spider spies and assassins. The plan went to shit when a number of the infiltrators went native and came to cherish the simple, kind, lifestyle of the sparrow and exposed the whole charade while killing the worst of the infiltrators. The empress and the sparrow allowed them to become true sparrows in recognition of their actions. But by that time the majority of the clan's leadership were Spider's of some kind and no one REALLY knows for sure just how many Sparrows are legit original sparrows and not turn coat Spiders since the clan doesn't track blood lines as strictly as other clans.

It was one of those "oh, that happened" things where it was just kind of in the background. Current Sparrows deeply hate the Spider though for fucking with them.

>>49448342

Same anon >>49448433, just looked it up, it was infiltrated during the lead up to the destroyer war, then the Great Clan Spider cut all ties to the infiltrators and then the infiltrators went native until a mantis figured it out.

http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Sparrow_Clan

>>49448476
Yeaaah... I think I'll ignore that for my Rokugan. It seems a bit heil hydra.

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>>49448586
Well, the end result actually wasn't that Hydra as the remaining Infiltrators are pretty much just Sparrows right now. They have no alternative motives and the Sparrow are saved thanks to mantis wining the tournament associated with them.

The Sparrow in pic related was a child of the current Sparrow which are basically the same as they always were. They just have a huge hate boner for the official Spider clan as seen, no doubt encouraged by the Spider renegades who are now all Suzume who view the official Spider as treacherous douchbags, since they KNOW how evil they can be.

>>49448586
The only time Spider clan EVER works is in a Heil Hydra style.

Spider should have been what the kolat are, a massive and secret organization of conspirators working from the shadows to turn the empire away from the heavens and dismantle the honor system.

The kolat are so poorly written once you get to their actual motives, which are forgotten every time they do shit. Spider would have fit that role so much better in the long run.

Even the name of Spider emphasizes this, with the webs they would weave throughout the empire. The night of Assasins would have been perfect with them in that position and characters like Susumu would have been even more at place.

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>>49449117
Can't tell if you're saying the night of assassins should be Spider or Kolat.

http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Night_of_the_Spider

It was Spider, fwiw.

>>49447389
Tomoe better still be alive, asshole.

>>49449204
Oh I know it was Spider that pulled the night of assasins, I just think that it would have been even more fitting in a Kolat Spider way, since it was intended to kill important people and have Spider infiltrator's rise into the now empty positions. It is the perfect example of how that concept could work.

The problem is that, since Kolat exists, AEG wouldn't even think of make TWO conspiracy groups and as a result the Spider infiltration of the empire was clunky as fuck.

>>49446249
>and why is it the Sparrow?
I mostly like the Sparrow because they're simple, heart-on-sleeve country Samurai. They're kind of like the Monkey, in a sense, but without the amazing founder or crazy good techniques. They're just trying to survive, do the Emperor proud and pass on their traditions via storytelling.

As for optimizing the school mechanically, it's hard but can be done. That's not to say other schools don't do it better, but working with what you have there's still some decent builds.
If you're going for a bushi, then the go-to build is as an Archer. Your rank 1's primary weakness, reduced initiative, will mean you'll need to be protected in order to avoid spending void to avoid wound penalties, but reflex stacking covers both of those pretty well. Your rank 2 also helps cover for your rank 1 weakness, the rank 3 is kinda whatever for pure combat. It does add theoretical versatility, though.
Rank 4 is a rank 4. Rank 5, if you stack the center stance, rank 1 and spend void, gives you +3k2(+10) on attacks.

Now making a courtier is a very different path - without different/multiple schools, you should ideally go Suzume storyteller at 2 and minor clan diplomat at 4. Your rank 2 and 3 are both void reliant, so you can spend a little more on void and build as a duelist. Your rank 5 doesn't work in Iaijutsu duels, but then again between your rank 5 and 1 (and since you're a courtier mostly, you should have a yojimbo), you can kinda eke some combat skills. Since you'll be wearing your katana anyway, you might as well learn kenjutsu as well.

Have you ever killed a character with no-save poison, /l5rg/?

So which clan would Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden belong to?

>>49451089
Ninja don't exist, so he would not exist.

>>49451089
We all known ninjas are just a myth and peasant superstition.

>>49451087
No, but I was DM when one of my players did it.
It's not as OP as you might think, especially considering the hoops you have to go through to kill someone with it.

Statistical question: Roughly what ratio/percentage of samurai take the different school advantage? For some clans, especially minor clans with only Shugenja schools, I imagine the percentage is much higher than normal, but I'm curious what people think.

I'm also working on a campaign who has a major figure who has the different school advantage, so I'm curious.

>>49451111

Thing is he spends more time killing demons and maho users then as as an assassin. It is just he has skills in acrobatics and shit

>>49452445
Kuni-trained Hiruma Witch Hunter?

>>49449368
I think Tomoe survives regardless and becomes Kitsu anyway. Canonically, at least.

>>49452816
In the original bad ending for the Hare adventure the entire family asked one of their ronin vassals to serve as second in their collective suicide, then he takes the PCs out of the sieged castle and asks them to serve as his second.

>>49452654
I think he would have to be a Hiruma trained Kuni Witch Hunter, since they don't allow non-Kuni to join.
His traditional Kuni facepaint must be relatively small and covered by his scarf or something.

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Is there any downside to taking the Topaz Champion rank?

For a first time 4e l5r gm(played before so I'm familar with the rules) which is the better box set? Second City or City of Lies? Anything to watch out for with either of them?

>>49453613
The requirement of being the actual Topaz Champion is pretty harsh to meet, and you can't really plan to meet it.
You get one shot, and if you don't ultimately win, you will never get the opportunity again.

Other than that, no.

>>49453784
City of Lies is 1E, so mind that. Not that it has much in the way of mechanics, the only NPCs statted are those who the PCs are reasonably expected to see in a fight.

>>49453830
Yeah I saw that while glancing at it, I just heard it was a good sort of campaign framework- which I think will be what I need most to get the PCs working together and giving decent location info.

>>49453830
Are you talking about 1E City of Lies?

>>49455177
(checked)
Not him, but I thought 1E was the only city of lies there was?

>>49456276
Pretty sure it is.

>>49446249
Five Rings like the book by that samurai who defeated Saskai who may or may not have existed?
Sasaki that is not M whatever his name is

>>49457361
Random, but wat?

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>>49457385
Famous samurai book
I'm given to understand the moral is
>be a sneaky fucker do whatever it takes to win

>>49457408
... Yeah, I get that's where the "five rings" thing originates, but what the shit are you talking about?

Clearly, in English. Please.

>>49457427
Sasaki is a samurai that may or may not have existed but allegedly was hot shit and Musashi killed him with a whittled oar

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So I know very little about L5R but I do know it shares mechanics with 7th Sea
So my question is how difficult is it to combine the two could I take a noble from Montaigne and an Eisen mercenary and drop them in Rokugan

>>49457607
They don't share many mechanics. You'd have to build everything from scratch.
There's also cultural problems, in that Rokugan is a very xenophobic place and the last time not!europeans came around, the results were bad enough that they closed the border on pain of death. The only people who get away with it make friends while outside of Rokugan and then pretend that they've always been samurai while otherwise keeping their heads down.

>>49457607
You could, but it would require a lot of handwaving cause the Rokugani fucking hate foreigners. Especially European-type ones.

>>49457607
7th Sea and L5R both use pools of d10s where a certain number is rolled and a certain number is kept.

That's where the similarities in mechanics end.

>>49457607
A foreigner in Rokugan absolutely NEEDS to have friends in high places if they don't want to get forcibly escorted to the nearest border or killed outright.
The Moto had the entire rest of the Unicorn Clan backing them.
The Unicorn Clan itself would have been destroyed or driven back out if they hadn't gained the support of the Crane by proving their heritage.
Yoritomo Singh had express permission from two different emperors and the champion of the Mantis Clan, and had to repeatedly prove himself willing and capable of learning Rokugani ways before being officially recognized.
The gaijin sailors that joined the Tortoise clan were as secret as possible and had express permission from an Emperor.
That one gaijin woman who runs a geisha house on behalf of the Scorpion has at least one (Probably more) major daimyo backing her.

>>49457670
I know Rokugan is isolationist to the the point of absurdity in the games fiction but I was thinking of a game set during a period where foreign trade opens up. The current Emperor decides to open the borders and the game would be a mix of court drama between the different factions and nations trying to open up relations at a summit and the behind the scenes fights to stop a group trying to sabotage the summit by assassinating the foreign diplomats

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>>49458562
I was thinking of a San Juan Bautista campaign, where gaijin traders share shipbuilding technology with Rokugan to patch up relations and a year or so later the Emerald Empire builds its first ocean-worthy galleon and sends an roving embassy to explore the world. Getting gaijin paintings of the party is a must.

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Are there firearm rules in L5R or just a picture of a gun with the words DISHONARABRU GAIJIN written under it in big block letters

>>49460413
>Are there firearm rules in L5R
There are for sure, but I'm drawing a blank as to where to find them for 4e. Maybe try the first Imperial Histories book?

>>49460413
There are two separate rule sections for firearms.
One is for the guns used by the dishonorabru gaijin, in Imperial Histories 1, and the other is for the guns that Rokugan would theoretically create if they decided to make their own from scratch, using only the basic concepts from foreign weapons, in Imperial Histories 2.

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>>49460462
>>49460474
I assume the books take every opportunity to say how horrible guns are and how no honorable samurai who be caught dead using them going so far as to reiterate that point ever five sentences

>>49460538

Yes for the first, no for the second. The IH2 campaign is Iron Rokugan, where firearms and other technology has been incorporated into Rokugani society.

>>49460548
Incorporated is the most important word for Iron Rokugan, because it directly contrasts with "westernization" that happened to real Japan.
Rokugan with guns is still Rokugan. Swords are culturally more important, ashigaru aren't given the good stuff, gaijin are restricted to one port city, and any attempt at foreign influence is met with harsh and unyielding resistance.
They bought a dozen arquebus, reverse engineered them, and then designed their own weapons.

>>49460413
>>49460538
You seem a bit like you're fishing for an argument, friend.

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>>49460586
It's more that I dislike the absence of guns in material depicting samurai when guns where actually regularly used because samurai aren't idiots

D&D gets a pass because guns usually haven't been invented yet and it's clusterfuck of nonsense anyway but in L5R the people of Rokugan have first hand knowledge of how effective guns are when properly fielded and they should know useful they would be in fighting THE ARMY OF DEMONS that they live next to

I understand the image of the honorable swordsman charging into battle but when you have a society that is right next door to Hell and has to regularly fight off demon invasion the fact that they don't adopt guns in anything but an alternate hypothetical future timeline is something that takes me right out of the setting

I mean the Crab seem like they should be lining up to get huge fuckoff cannons to fire at giant Oni

But then again there's always homebrew

>>49460684
To be fair the Rokugani didn't just arbitrarily decide that guns were DISHONORABU for no reason. They banned them after getting super pissed at the gaijin after the gaijin nearly fucked their shit with them and an Empress got her head blown off by a cannon.

Honestly I think the gaijin origins of guns have more to do with it than the power of the gun.

>>49460684
They didn't just up and decide that guns were bad because lolfuckguns.
Gunpowder is literally blasphemous. There's a lot of evidence that it actually fucks with the elemental kami, and nobody wants to do that when doing something like that can cause multi-year crop failures and other horrible curses.

>>49460684
The Crab aren't very interested in losing the blessings of their ancestors and all of their magical protections for the sake of a projectile that's slightly better than whatever the Kaiu have whipped up.

>>49460731
Sorry, this is bullshit.

It's open to interpretation on whether Rokugan-approved fireworks and explosives are legit different to gunpowder, or just "different" (ie; name only) for sliding them under Rokugani law.

>>49460815
And it's not up to interpretation that a cannon took the empress' head clean off despite the entire range of magical protections the heavens and the Seppun Hidden Guard could bring to bear.
It's also not up to interpretation on whether the Emperor can declare something blasphemous and have it actually become blasphemous.
Before White Stag, someone using a firearm was just a guy using a firearm. After White Stag, someone using a firearm will cause them to be thrown into Gaki-do or toshigoku because Emma-O and the rest of the heavens listened when the emperor said fuck that shit.

>>49460815
It can actually be both, thanks to metaphysics.
The chemical composition might be exactly the same, but the fact that it's not foreign made and not used for military purposes can actually have an impact due to pulvera (sp?) being explicitly blasphemous by name and firework powder not being blasphemous, also explicitly and by name.

The emperor has the same kinds of powers that the Pope has, except that it's objectively true and tangible. When they say something is bad, it actually becomes bad and the spirits consider it bad going forward.

>>49460837
The difference between "Rokugan says ..." and "It actually happens like ..." is a pretty important distinction imo, and removing it sucks a lot out of the setting. Maybe not so appreciated in RYW.

>>49460926
Rokugan says is the more important part for figuring out how people will act.
If people honestly believe that it's really different, and really bad for you spiritually, then they're going to treat it as such. It doesn't even matter at that point whether it really is that bad (The only functional difference is how much paperwork Emma-O has to deal with later). Anyone caught using it will be treated as if they had used maho and probably executed for violating a serious imperial law and/or for their gross breach of religious morality. At the very least, their ancestors will turn away from them. Spirituality and magic is very real and has a very strong effect on everyone in the setting.

>>49460953
Of course, ancestors are notoriously blind to whatever their descendants are doing, or even whether their descendants are where they think they should be (See also: Many Yasuki ancestors coming back from Oblivion's Gate and being really fucking pissed that their family jumped Clans over 800 years prior).
But usually, when they notice something, it's because it's gone public in the mortal world.
Unfortunately, firearms are loud and obvious when used. Stick to bombs like the totally -nonexistent-I-swear ninja do and you'll have a much better time of it.

>>49461003
>ancestors are notoriously blind to whatever their descendants are doing, or even whether their descendants are where they think they should be
Maybe most of them are only obligated to look after the first few generations after their death or for as long as people are actively praying to them specifically? Unless you're Mirumoto or Otaku, if you died over two hundred years ago most of your descendants aren't going to remember you specifically. Maybe once you've stopped being relevant and are lumped into the generic ancestors category you get to go on break and just play pachinko in Yomi for the rest of your time. Then, it'd make sense why so many have no clue what the fuck is going on. They're letting the newbies take care of things.

>>49460953
I don't think you've been following, which is really an accomplishment.

>>49461003
You know that different realms operate at different time scales, right? That you can accidentally walk through a portal and spend seconds/months/years in another realm, then find your way back seconds/months/years ahead/behind when you left.

>>49461039
>You know that different realms operate at different time scales, right?
Where is this stated? There was that one guy who founded the Tanuki Clan who lost a year, but it was never directly stated that he was in a spirit realm during that lost time, and I don't recall this being in any of the descriptions for the spirit realms. Especially not one of the ones that is actively connected to ningen-do.

>>49461039
>I don't think you've been following, which is really an accomplishment.
I don't see why you'd think that, considering that what people in the setting say is true and believe to be true is more important than what is actually true, especially when some of those people are actually spirits that have objective power over your afterlife and the wellbeing of everything around you.

>>49461054
It's described that way in reference to travelling through Dragon lands, Kitsune Mori, and other places connected to different realms and accidentally passing through, though you would have to seriously dig through books to find an outright statement.

I'd sooner start trying to refind the reasons behind the three offers and two refusals in the ritual of gift giving, as that was actually useful.

>>49461105
That sounds more like Chikushudo or Sakkaku being dicks than a general statement on spirit realm speeds.

During the Destroyer War and the Oblivion's Gate thing, travel between Ningen-do, Yomi, and Tengoku all seemed to be pretty much 1:1. An entire unit of Scorpion troops committed sepukku at one end of the Oblivion Gate battlefield and marched right out of the gate on the far side within just a few moments to catch the enemy in a pincer attack. Although in that particular case, someone higher up in the celestial bureaucracy might have told Emma-O to expedite their afterlife processing and shove them back out the nearest hole.

>>49461105
Refusing twice proves that the person giving the gift is sincere in offering it and that they really do want you to have it.

Do any of the books have a collection of plot hooks, adventure seeds etc? I think the core had some, but am wondering if there were more elsewhere.

>>49461129
And as a development of that, it also proves that the person receiving the gift is taking the time to properly consider it.
It'd be rude to just take a gift and toss it on the pile, after all.

>>49461136
I think the Game Master's guide from 1e had more than a few.

>>49461127
>That sounds more like Chikushudo or Sakkaku being dicks
Not when it involves the Elemental & Celestial Dragons, and realms other than Chikushudo or Sakkaku.
> than a general statement on spirit realm speeds.
I wouldn't take it as a direct statement of ratio per realm; they're more ineffable than that.

>>49461129
Everyone who has heard of the ritual knows that. This particular description went into detail on each offer & refusal.

>>49461136
Try here: http://www.kazenoshiro.com/rpg/unofficial-content/l5r-rpg-adventures/
The site also has a number of official fictions which you may be able to draw inspiration from. In addition, if you're looking for more of a one-shot kind of game, check out the challenge-focus-strike series:
http://www.kazenoshiro.com/challenge-focus-strike/

>>49460573

Japan was using firearms in the Warring States period. That's long before Westernization hit.

>>49461003
>Stick to bombs

Because they are totally quiet and discreet?

>Explain tge setting to new guy
>" Wtf this is a japanese ripoff of AGOT, it even has the giant wall that protects the land from an ancient evil, manned by people nobody likes"

Where can i find good players these days ?

>>49467429
Don't let that bother you. GOT is so popular nowadays that any relatively low fantasy , gritty setting with politics will get called out as a reskin of it.

>>49467429
That's actually pretty fucking funny.

>>49463979
They are when you can plant them and be far, faaaaar away when they go off.
"Someone set up a bomb and ran" is far less incriminating than "The guy holding a gun fired a gun", because it could be literally anyone.

>>49467429
You should let him know that L5R was written in 1995, and A Game of Thrones was written in 1996.
And low fantasy politically charged setting with a wall and some evil stuff beyond the wall is a far, faaaar older concept than either of them.

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>>49460538
It actually goes the opposite direction with the first; early firearms might as well be laser weapons that shred any and all armour (mundane and magic alike) like it was rice-paper. Because, you know, that's how it worked in real life.

Alright, that last bit is a bit of snark on my part - firearms in Rokugan have the explanation that they don't follow the same meta-physics that the rest of Rokugan follows, which is why magic armour doesn't really work (at all) against them

Which is still fucking dumb, but still

>>49472955
>Alright, that last bit is a bit of snark on my part
Welcome to /L5RG/! You fit right in.

>>49471396
>What was that, gaijin boy?

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>>49473329
Here's hoping FFG's artists can manage more samurai and less teehee. Or, heavens forbid, Genzoman.

>>49473583
>three swords
>one saya

what

>>49473663
If your only going to stop using your sword(s) when the battles over (or your dead), there really isn't a reason to carry your sheath into battle.

>>49473663
He's from the fearsome Dragon saya-throwing school. Wait til you see how he throws the last saya.
>Crane duellists hate him!

>>49473663
>Holy shit, look at these swords I just found!

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>>49473525
I always found it interesting Scorpion women are basically all sluts when 1E books go out of their way to show that Bauyshi Kachiko is special in a sense that she always wears loose silk clothes to show her off curves. She's the signature seductress, but that doesn't really mean ALL Scorpion women behave like that.

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>>49446249
So how would you reinvent/remake L5R if you had the chance? Mechanically or fluff-wise.

I've been screwing around with stuff for a bit, mostly as a way to get me back into the setting. I've been looking at the base material, and how Miyamoto Musashi was of the mind that it is better to know a variety of techniques than to be a master of one.

I've been designing and incorporating around the idea of Kishōtenketsu, the four act structure; in terms of techniques. With the rank one introducing the concept, the rank two developing it further, rank three twisting it to a more foreign concept, and rank four uniting it all together with a capstone. You can be a master of one specific way, but find yourself lacking in others--though this is still sort of how core has it.

My intent is to hit more of a balance between ronin, multi-school characters, and full school loyalists; so they're all able to specialize and be good by way of techniques in their own way.

Fluff-wise I've been looking more into the names behind the various kami and clans and trying to make it all fit a more Japanese model. The Kami were essentially Japan invading and culturally dominating China (Yobanjin territories pretty much show the Rokugani as originally Chinese), which means a bit more friction and a bit more variety in housing styles/environments.

I really like a more Balinese Mantis Isles chain. Invindi is essentially Kushan (at least when Destroyers are involved), and I kind of just want to get everything a bit more Sino-spheric, still waging a war against the Kami's influence.

Spirit Realm stuff is as 1e had it. Though I like the world as having more spirits in it, as well as yokai proper. And an incorporation of the mythology that allows for more religious skirmishes between parties and allows individuals with actually important names (like Fudo) to serve a place more like their actual counterpart rather than just being evil Buddha.

>>49474299
I'd probably add more of a focus on dealing with Youkai and maybe give the realms that aren't Heaven and Hell a bigger role.

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Legend of the Five Rings is the most weeb thing I think I've ever seen.
I'm not saying I hate any thing vaguely asian in my games like some of the grognards on here, I've played Tenra Bansho Zero and other anime inspired games but every time I look at L5R I get the image of this motherfucker. L5R just seems so stuck up its own ass and overly serious about "NOBLE SAMURAI" and "MUH HONOR" that it seems to fold in on itself becoming some strange 4th dimensional asshat and I can't tell how much of that is the game itself or John Wick watching a bunch of old samurai movies and taking a college coarse on Japanese history and slapping his turgid boner all over the design teams notes

I want to like the setting it has some cool ideas but I just can't get past the tone of the game itself

>>49474502
The tone is exactly why I like it.
I want to play a game where the characters are all over the top obsessed with a specific idea of honor (At least in appearance). As dumb as it is, the culture has strong elements that actually affect characters and how the game is played. And I like that.

>>49474502
I don't think you really know what weeaboo means.

>>49474502
>John Wick watching a bunch of old samurai movies and taking a college coarse on Japanese history
That's giving Wick WAY too much credit.

He, at best, half remembers a movie he saw once.

Remember he's the guy who earnestly believes ronin have no place in samurai drama.

>there are people actually replying to 49474592

Damnit, /tg/. You guys should be smarter than this. We've had a couple decent discussions and a couple autistic ones the past couple threads, but we were doing just fine without bringing up Wick and rehashing the same fucking shit for the billionth time.

>>49474674
we need our fun from time to time.

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>>49474268
We all know Horiuchi Shoan was the best waifu.

>>49475782
racist-ass artists, man

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>>49475878
That's 1E for you, senpai.

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>>49475878

Well, white people are inherently racist anyway, and mostly white people play L5R, so it stands to reason that artists will draw what their audience wants to see.

>>49477631
Mate. Humans are inherently racist.

>>49476515
>>49477631
holy shit they really did sex it up over time

>>49477631
what the fuck am i even looking at here

>>49477939
>>49477805
>Another commission of an original design for an L5R character for Adrian Rammelt

Yeah, no. They didn't. Some rando DA has, for money.

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>>49474299
>Mechanically

Action Points based combat system. Increase power level, putting the 'fantasy' into the samurai.

>Fluff-wise

Stuff would be bigger and stranger. No shallow exoticism like the weird-ass caste system but real weird-o-mancy like a 4 dimensional matrix society with dominant meritocracy and socio-mysticism.

>>49477994
>someone seriously paid money for that

Why is to so difficult to keep these threads going? Hard to find audience for L5R?

>>49480683
Just not a lot of talk about right now I guess.

I love these threads but they're just slightly too slow for /tg/.

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>>49457466

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>>49478947
that's a cute couple

>>49474299
Remove Kebab...err I mean Spider.

Fluffwise, I'd drop everything after the Four Winds period. Reign of Blood is when things really start going off the rails in a way that makes the stupid shit during the Hidden Emperor look reasonable.

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Historically-accurate costuming bump

What time periods do you like to play in?

I feel like most games I know seem to do some time in the 1100s, the spider not existing for various reasons(a good call).

>>49480804
In part because there's nothing happening in L5R until 2017, besides people running games and such. Maybe if we organized some kind of collab project?

>>49483273
I prefer pre-Scorpion Coup/1E era, and then not be saddled with the metaplot.

As for a collab project, how about a /tg/ city? Districts, NPCs, power dynamics and all that jazz.

>>49480683
Excess of shitposting, lack of innovative ideas.

>>49483273
I prefer either Pre-Scorpion Coup or the gap between the War with the Spirits and the Four Winds period.

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>>49483321
A /tg/ city is actually what I was thinking of - either that or a minor clan collab.
There's quite a few places which could exist on the border of two clans, so maybe something there could work? It could allow for discrepancies of tone and writing style, especially if it's across, say, a river.

>>49483427
im pretty sick of minor clans desu.

a few are fine to keep spice in the setting, but they quickly become meaningless if there are too many.

>>49483495
I like unaligned daimyo and vassal families to add color to a region myself.

>>49483427
>no Kitsune Mori in the Kitsune territory
Every fucking time. Also, where's the Badger?

>>49483536
Shiro Ichiro would either be a little bit off 1 or 4 - it's described in the wiki as being on infertile land with the Unicorn to south and west, the Dragon to the east and the Burning Wastes to the North.

This map might be better, unless someone has a pdf of atlas of rokugan:
http://www.postwarvandal.com/GG/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/rokugan_map_full.jpg

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>>49483676
What's wrong with this one?

>>49483895
Which edition is that from? The gap between the clans is much bigger than on other maps...

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>>49474299
Make the setting less "magical threats come to destroy the throne" and more sengoku period. Put more water on the map. It always bothered me that a setting based on japan isolationist culture was 3/4 landlocked. Make teppo, military fireworks, and hwachas a thing. Get rid of or reinvent the spider and shorido. add more ronin/generalist schools. Get rid of the no hide/red meat thing.

>>49484076
Fourth. The gaps are wider, though the clans do fight over the lands between. It's just clearer that aside from the Lion pushing into Crane territory every summer (then losing it every winter), marked clan lands are generally always clan lands.

>>49484125
>Get rid of the no hide/red meat thing
When Unicorn eat meat without dressing up the situation, Dragon have "mountain tuna", Crab eat whatever will help them grow up big & strong, and Mantis don't really care for Crane customs, that's a fair chunk of the empire that eats red meat.

I dare say half the clans are equally pragmatic about leather, with a few fastidiously performing cleansing rituals, while others just use properly prepared leather and give no fucks.

>>49484206
That works. Based on the more persistent map, I see constant Scorpion/Crane borders, constant Crane/Lion borders and an interesting dynamic could be bread of a city with both sides having historical connections, but split by the clan system.

Any of those interest people, or are there any other connective areas which interest people?

>>49484299
I would rather make an area like the Naishou province. Somewhere deep into the contested/ignored areas that has recently had a boom in Great Clan interest.
One idea is that it had been a Minor Clan's province decades ago, but then the clan collapsed or died out or whatever and the rest of the empire has only recently noticed and stepped in to take it all back.

>>49484260
As early as City of Lies leather was gradually becoming accepted, particularly by younger samurai that saw in it a way to stick it to the elders without going out of bounds. Hell, eta were called "leatherworkers" for a reason. It was later books that went overboard with the disgust towards leather and all that was made of it.

>>49484260
Using leather without cleansing it is just asking for spiritual dirt.
Of course, there's a difference between mass cleansing finished products and taking a half hour to cleanse each individual bit of leather before and after it gets stitched into the end product.

>>49484404
It also said that pretty much all soldiers that wanted anything to do with cavalry shrugged and used saddles rather than get owned by the Unicorn over and over, so there's definitely been a shift.

The no red meat thing can stay, since as mentioned a good chunk of the Empire is actually okay with it and it serves as an interesting cultural difference.

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>>49484346
Off the top of my head, there are two areas near Shinomen Mori which used to belong to clans - although we don't know where the Tanuki clan was, according to the wiki Shinomen no Mori where the Snake clan used to reside.

>>49484483
It doesn't have to be a canonical minor clan. If anything, it shouldn't be, since the Snake clan lands are either desolate or repopulated by a Great Clan, and the Tanuki lands are not the kind of place anyone else would want to go.

Nice dubs.

>>49484422
>Using leather without cleansing it is just asking for spiritual dirt.
>mass cleansing vs proper cleansing
Some samurai just man up, and don't care about their next life.

>>49484433
I like a perfect at face value / pragmatic underneath, hypocritical, history-revising Rokugan.

>>49484588
>Some samurai just man up, and don't care about their next life.
Fools maybe. Even the Crab care about this kind of thing, since it could possibly give them an edge against Jigoku.

>>49484635
Only if you're going full hyperbole Honurr Stronk Rokugan.

Sure, everyone gets cleansed after a battle, but not everyone gets cleansed after cutting a finger, accidentally stepping in horseshit, getting drunk, offending a minor fortune/kami, leading a worldly life, or any of the myriad ways to be less than perfectly spiritually pure.

It's just not that important for all samurai, when you get down to brass tacks.

Which clan gives the best spouses, and is better to marry in or out of your clan?

>>49484752
Those things aren't the same as deliberately using a piece of gear that is unclean by default. Not everyone meticulously wastes entire days blessing bits of leather, but they all at least get it consecrated once manufacturing is finished.
Even the most pragmatic of clans don't want some maho-tsukai reanimating their saddle.

>>49484755
Crab have best waifu.
There's pros and cons to marrying in and out of your clan.
If you stay in, you don't have to worry about your wife's ex-family conflicting with your family. Inter-clan fighting is rare.
If you marry out, you've got connections in two different clans, but if things go sour, nobody is going to trust you (Since someone marrying out is supposed to fully join their new clan and be a loyal member of it, but most people still have strong ties to their birth family and everyone knows it).

>>49484755
Depends on the size of the clan, your political situation and the clan's situation.
If the clan is small, too many people marrying inwards could lead to issues, although it may be intercesting to see.
If you are related to kuge, your marriage becomes more important - marrying out the clan will strengthen the relationship between the two clans, while marrying inwards (such as to a prodigal samurai-ko in the buke) could keep the Kuge strong in the long run.
If your clan needs allies, marrying outwards could do the clan good, especially if a minor clan marries a few people into a great clan.

For the average status 1 buke (if they have a choice), it could swing either way and probably depends on the samurai's preferences and family. An interclan marriage is more likely to result in a stabler relationship at first, but marrying out of clan could be more exciting but also riskier, depending on how the partner feels about clan customs.

As for best waifu, probably Crab or Sparrow.

Got any stories, /l5rg/?

A while back, I had the (not so) brilliant idea of answering the 20 questions with haiku.

The character was a former Mirumoto poet who lost an arm by way of rookie mistake in his first major battle, and retired into the Togashi. Rather than write my own haiku, I chose twenty famous haiku, translated in ways that broke the standard 3-5-3 structure.

The GM burst. Not recognising any of them, he told me they weren't haiku structure, and promptly kicked me out of the game for bad haiku & bad character. (I didn't decide to start with Mirumoto Bushi and Missing Limb, then Multi-School into Togashi Monk - just went straight to Togashi)

>>49484901
A short but good anecdote from the Scorpion clan game:
>Previously gave order to docks to stop empty ships from passing to investigate them
>Get on board, checking them out
>Fail pretty much every perception roll
>Not playing one-eye-Mako
>"I don't know which of you is missing an eye."

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>>49483427
I'm confused on something - Unicorn returned after centuries of wandering, right? So what territory did they claim on return? Was it all conveniently empty or did other claim return to them their ancestral lands?

>>49487458
They took their 'ancestral lands'(a bit of shenanigans since they'd occupied them for less than a generation) back from the Lion, who had taken them from what became the Fox.

>>49474268
as someone not familiar with the game, why do they all wear masks?

>>49488868
In short; Shinsei pimp handed Bayushi for lying to him and not being able to fully hide the lie. Being a bit of a drama queen, Bayushi took to wearing a scrap of cloth, so no one would be able to see through his deceptions the way Shinsei did.

>>49488868
Everyone's wearing some sort of mask in court. The Scorpion just outright don physical ones.

How much XP should a GM be giving out per session / adventure?

>>49489615
Somewhere in the 3-6 range is normal.

>>49487458
why does that picture make me hard?

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>>49490647
You've never seen a real samurai woman.

>>49491245
And he still hasn't.

>7th Sea is getting a video game
>still not L5R video game

GODDAMMIT

>>49491496
If it makes you feel any better, there's zero chance that game won't be awful.

>>49491851
I'd settle for a mediocre game, senpai. It's kind of amazing L5R never got any adaptation.

>>49492458
There was talk of an L5R MMO for awhile. A lot of people ragged hard on the idea on AEG's forums and it faded away.

>>49492508
to be fair: it woulda been shit.

>>49492458
Weren't they doing a Visual Novel?

>>49488868

This >>49489137. Tho, it is worth noting that Bayushi specifically had his mask to cover his -->mouth<-. Having a mask that doesn't cover one's mouth is kinda missing the point of the whole mask thing.

>>49446249
A shugenja from the mantis clan arrives to the Kaiu wall. He is in a warrior's pilgrimage with a vague goal of better understanding the threats that endager the empire, and humbly requests to be positioned to the wall for that purpose. He is a capable combatant and is not an ass about chain of command. What are the odds the local daimyo accepts ?

>>49495143
I don't think Crab turns anyone away as long as they can fight.

>>49495245
Pretty much this. Doubly so for a shugenja as they are relatively rare. Triply so for a shugenja that can cast great furious lightning bolts from the sky like most Yoritomo shugenja can.

>>49493753
There are three lessons in Shinsei's retelling of The Frog & The Scorpion.

First, Bayushi assumed he knew how the tale ended.

Second, once he had heard the ending, Bayushi assumed he had learned all there was to learn.

Third, "Your face told me one thing, and your eyes told me another. I had to reward one of the two, so I chose to reward your lying face." is Shinsei's actual statement after striking Bayushi.

>>49495143
The Crab will place them with the Moshibaru, and get on with doing their thing unhindered by rookies.

>>49496658
What a sick burn.

What's your favorite fortune, /L5RG/?

>>49498067
Isora.

In 1e, there's a Crab bushi writeup + sheet, whose backstory is basically, "I got drunk while on patrol and Isora raped me."

>>49498067
Ebisu

Mostly because my first character was saved by him, in a manner of speaking.
Crane magistrate, aided by the rest of the party, investigating a drug
everybody splits off, i end up going to a teahouse that's a bit further from
the palace in Tsuma, hoping to find some information among the poor plebs.
The owner's son has fallen ill due to the drug, and I manage to endear myself to the grandmother
After taking care of the local drug ring and finding out that the source is somewhere in the colonies,
i visit the teahouse and make it known what i've done and and what i intend to do, always making
sure it's quite public so everyone can see how generous and humble i am
In her gratitude, I am gifted a family heirloom, a small statuette of Ebisu, made of jade
(I don't know how a poor teahouse family ends up owning any amount of jade, but i wont look a gift horse in the mouth)

>>49498371
Fast forward a few months, and we've found the lab of the original maker of the drug,
not far from the spider-controlled parts of the colonies, who happens to be a maho-tsukai
(BTW, because RYW, our GM has decided that the "deal" between the Empress and Daigotsu
regarding taint only affecting those accepting of it is only in effect within the emerald empire proper,
not in the colonies)
Just before, we were given a small supply of jade dust, because the abandoned village in which
the lab is found is said to be haunted by ghosts. I just said: "I ain't afraid of no ghosts"
and skip taking any jade powder, barely remembering the jade Ebisu in my traveling pack
Big boss battle ensues, I give the maho-tsukai the killing blow, but with his last breath,
and the blood rushing out of the wound i gave him,
he casts one final spell, as a shotgun blast hitting most of us, mostly me because I'm right in front of him,
which wounds me enough to be out, but not killed
Later, while being healed by a shugenja npc (mostly because none of us bothered rolling a shugenja because first ever characters),
we are all checked for taint, and nobody worries too much because they all had that lil bit of jade powder, just about enough compared to
the minimal damage they took from that last spell compared to me
They all thought I had no jade powder, and I might be tainted
But i'm found free of taint, though still barely alive
And thus, memory coming back to me, I whisper but one thing
"Ebisu"
They check through my traveling pack, and find an ornate box in which the statue had been kept
Opening it, finding only the thick dark liquid of taint-absorbed jade

And that's how Ebisu saved my first character, and that's why he's my favorite fortune

>>49498428
Nice.
Did you set up a small shrine to Esibu after that?

By the way, does anyone here play the ccg at all? Has anyone tried using this?

http://www.hwstn.com/sunandmoon/index.html

>>49500495
I've tried to get people into it, but I'm a total novice myself.

Also with the new card game coming out some people are ancy about playing the old one anymore.

>>49500495
I used to. I played from SCC to Mid-Late Diamond and then again during Late Samurai. The modern game is totally unrecognizable compared to the early game.

A huge section of the core rules have changed significantly, for instance you can "split" gold now, where gold you get from bowing a card will stay in your pool until the end of the phase, in the old days you couldn't any gold you had over the cost of a single card was lost. I feel the old way is superior as it makes you think about your entire gold scheme and personality costs in order to maximize efficiency in your purchases.

>>49495143
As long as they have no reason to believe he's a traitor (And they probably don't as long as he discloses his warrior pilgrimage and its goal) they'd set him up with one of their squads that needs a shugenja. Most likely he ends up going through wall boot camp, to make sure he knows the signals and intricacies, and can run up and down wet, slippery staircases.

The Crab have many, many soldiers from other Clans at the wall at any given time (The Daidoji in particular are a near permanent presence). Anyone who shows up and is capable is welcome to show up and help.

>>49501502
That's also why a lot of ronin hang around with the Crab. It's super dangerous (Unless you get lucky and get an internal job, like patrolling an inner province), but you'll never go hungry and the job security is fantastic.

>>49501502
>they'd set him up with one of their squads that needs a shugenja
No they wouldn't. Remember, this is the Crab. The clan who have a word for how long it takes an oni to rip a fully armoured samurai in half, call non-Crab sent to The Wall "ponies", and (quote) "the moment something seems amiss, he must break bones as if walking through grass. If he cannot, he will soon be food or the slave of the enemy. When you wake a Crab, use a stick." Shugenja are even more of a problem, as they attempt to speak with the kami regularly - kansen are always willing to answer, and non-Crab will lack training in that area.

A random shugenja would be set up somewhere away from The Wall to tend to the wounded, or possibly put through extensive testing before being set up on a quieter stretch of The Wall to hang out with the 20 Goblin Winter ronin and their handlers. (Moshibaru vassals)

>>49501570
Also due to the Twenty Goblin Winters which are kind of a good deal for Ronin.

>>49502382
Depends on whether you want to risk death in the Shadowlands or on The Wall, or prefer being given the option of protecting a backwater rice village for the rest of your life without complaint.

Neither is a particularly good option, but if you won't lower yourself to serving merchants or retiring into a monastery, there's not much else.

>>49499563
I did not, no
Didn't have the time due to my dedication to my duty
Also with returning to the empire, being nominated for emerald magistrate, becoming a hero, and beign invitied to the Summer Court, i never had any real free time
Then, in a duel defending the honor of my entire clan on the very last night of the SC, i died
But that part of the story I've already told in the general not too long ago

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>>49487458
As someone who never read anything past 1E did Moto story ever get resolved?

>>49504324
The dark moto were destroyed in battle. Then Fu Leng abandoned them and the taint receded. They promptly all sudoku'd.

>>49504324
Otaku Kamoko, the Unicron Thunder, led the Dark Moto into a trap they were more or less wiped out completely, avenging the Moto once and for all and lifting the Moto curse.

It paved the way for a whole horde of Mongo--er, Moto to show up in the Empire shortly after.

Why do the Moto even fucking exist?

Do you want the canon reason or the meta reason?

the canon reason i know already and I'm okay with I guess, as long as they had remained a side-family

the meta reason is a fucking mystery because i don't understand the appeal at all

>>49505190
Choose one of the following:
>The one faggot(who probably wrote most of the Unicorn stuff) was a mongolfag.
>Wick got too mad at a mongolfag, so put them in to shut them up.
>One of the publisher staff (rather than the writing staff) was a mongolfag.
>Drafts for Legend of the Burning Sands were in works at the same time as l5r, but when one was dropped some aspects were inserted into the other.
>A Moriya shrine conspiracy.

By the way, I've set up an L5R discord for ease of gamefinding, arranging ccg games, all that good stuff.
Link is here: https://discord.gg/mrwXZMK

How common are twenty goblin winters, and are any questions asked about the survivors? Could any peasant who found a daisho somehow do it?

>>49506113
Any peasant who found a daisho would probably die. Twenty goblins is no joke, and you don't become good with a sword overnight. Maybe if they had already been booting around posing as a Robin for a long time, but mostly I think they would get steamrolled.

>>49506113
Not too terribly common but not really rare either, they mostly happen after the Crab's ranks are depleted from a heavy attack. Generally they are accepted no questions asked, but if the Crab are suspicious of the applicant, they'll throw him on very dangerous duties to either get rid of him or prove his worth. It is mostly Ronin and occasionally ji-samurai that participate, but Ashigaru have participated before.

>>49506113
>As their name implies, Twenty Goblin Winters usually last for a single winter season, although they may extend longer if the Clan Champion thinks it necessary. The longest Twenty Goblin Winter on record was in the year 1021, when the ranks of the Crab Clan were nearly halved by a plague. That one lasted three years and added more than five thousand samurai to the clan.
It's still more common than getting a way into any other clan, and far quicker, too.

>During a Twenty Goblin Winter any ronin (and on rare occasions even ashigaru) can petition the Crab Clan for admission.
Any peasant who found a daisho could possibly make the attempt, but most would die in the process.

>>49506213
>Koma (Pony)—An insulting term for a non-Crab who has been sent to the Wall. Derived from the Yasuki custom of supplying lame ponies to the Hida for archery practice. In the Crab view, an outsider serving on the Wall is about as useful as a lame pony, only able to stumble around and bleat for help.
The Crab don't like putting anyone incompetent in places that will create work/danger for the Crab. As far as they're concerned, everyone but trained Crab are incompetent until proven otherwise. Whether they like a successful applicant or not, they'll put them through endurance training before they even set foot on the wall. If they like you, it'll toughen you up. If not, prepare to have your shit kicked in repeatedly, and possibly an 'accident' that cuts short your ambitions if you're really stubborn.

>>49506471
They've already proven a degree of competence by killing 20 goblins. They throw the guys into the grinder to save their regulars a bit of pain.

Koma are fucktards that are being punished by their feudal lords by being sent to the wall. The Crab rightly expect them to be incompetents.

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>>49506113
>Could any peasant who found a daisho somehow do it?

Of course. It is just a matter of talent and aptitude. The difference between a talented peasant and a samurai is almost nothing. For example, the peasant pirate in Enemies of the Empire can bite an IR1 PC in half no problem.

>>49506574
>Koma are fucktards that are being punished by their feudal lords by being sent to the wall
That's (sort of) the 1e version, not the 4e version.

Every edition stresses how only the Crab truly train and prepare to fight the Shadowlands. It's the basis for the other clans underestimating the wall's value, which led to the Crab being taken advantage of in terms of trade and politics, swaying Hantei 39th against the Crab, leading to Hida Kisada's view that the Hantei was a weakwilled idiot ... etc.

>They throw the guys into the grinder to save their regulars a bit of pain.
They don't though. That's reserved for real Crab.

20 Goblin heads gets you a spot in the Moshibaru, which is the equivalent of saying, "You're a second class Crab now, so you can sit with the other Crabs-in-name-only on this quiet stretch of the wall until we've decided you know which end of a tetsubo the oni goes on."

Question: How powerful does the Topaz Champion technique make a character? I'm thinking of making an NPC a ronin Topaz champion, but wanted to gauge what kind of threat they'd pose.

>>49509115
It doesn't make anyone really powerful, per se, but it does allow them to get a lot of bonuses. So really they only become as powerful as you, the GM, allow them to be because you decide when they use those bonus points on things.

I had a party who had a character win and get that technique, it saved her life plenty but didn't add much to her overall killing power (though she was a Doji Magistrate, in the hands of the Kakita Duelist it probably would've been more lethal). So it is also gonna depend on what school your dude is.

>>49509285
Good to know - I was originally thinking of using a Kakita Bushi, though I may change it. (Definitely not putting it on a void reliant school).

>>49509411
dude looks like he's zoned out. wonder what he's thinkin' 'bout...

>>49510649
Zanshen

So, from you who use the general, tell me who is thinking of running a game with this and has barely opened the core book: Is this game made for weeaboo japanofiles or does it just use eastern civilizations as a back drop to make a game based around their mythologies without just jerking hard over how katanas cut steel slabs and how a karate master-ninja can can hide behind a standing match in broad daylight and then snipe a nobleman across the town with karate-judo-krav-maga?

Alternatively phrased: Is the system and the fluff good if you have no strong feelings about the theme before hand, other than "huh, i want to play something that's not medieval Europe ver.17.4.12a or CoC?

>>49510649
>That Lion had a really nice mempo, I wonder where he got it. Would I look good in a mempo? Maybe I should get a mempo. My uncle looked good in a mempo, but he was a Bayushi. Maybe I could pull it off. Dad always said I got my looks from mom's side of the family. I think I'll try wearing a mempo for a while... just for a few battles, to see how it looks. Maybe samurai-ko will dig it. I've heard ladies like that kind of thing.

>Oh look, the battle is over.

>>49510992
It's not so extreme, but in-setting, human beings are inherently magical, so they can do shit like run as fast as horses if they train hard enough.

>>49510992
So long as your thoughts aren't "I want to play something relatively accurate to feudal Japan", you should be fine.

>>49510992
I'd say the best way to run the game is to find an era you like, because while it isn't weaboo japanophile-palooza; it can easily become that if you let it.

It is very loosely based on the mythology, and katanas are pretty much the only weapon you'll use in most circumstances. You can't karate ninja-master hide behind a match in broad daylight, but you can do a lot of crazy stuff.

The system is good, the fluff is good depending on when you run in it, and if you have no strong feelings about theme beyond "I don't want to play in Europe again" it'll be fine for you.

That all being said, find an era you like and that fits the sort of game you want to run. If you want gritty desperate 7 Samurai stuff, run during the Age of Famine. If you want adventure and wandering try the Era of the Shining Prince (3rd century or so). If you want sneaky samurai rebellion coupled with some Throne of Blood nastiness, the Reign of the Steel Chrysanthemum.

Or just run it in an area you like and disregard era. The world works just as well in a generic state where "these clans and families are around."

>>49453613
You can only take one alternate school rank without affecting your effective school rank. This doesn't matter for some schools which don't use their school rank to determine anything (for instance, the Hida Bushi), but can be detrimental for others (like the Hiruma Bushi). Shugenja in particular will have their maximum spell level limited by this, so they stand the most to lose.

Topaz Champion IS a great rank. But if there are other ranks you have that are as good or better for you, you may have reasons not to take it.

>>49511905
Topaz Champion doesn't actually replace a rank; you get it and your normal r2. I don't think it counts as your one free at rank.

>>49511976
It's still a path, though. It gets some special rules in not replacing anything, but you've still taken a path for anything that checks.

>>49512010
I just double-checked the core and you're right that it doesn't include not counting towards total alt-ranks in its specific exceptions, but I think of I were running a campaign that's something I would houserule.

>>49512150
I've been toying with the idea of a campaign where everyone is a former topaz championship entrant, and the topaz technique is just something you have the option of learning for being one of the thirty odd entrants per year.

>>49512267
That sounds pretty neat!

>>49512267
I did something like that, but instead of all entrants, I made the PCs 4 Topaz Champions in a row who all just recently got recruited by the Emerald Champion (Because I like the idea of Topaz Magistrates).

Pop quiz, /l5rg/. Your shugenja thinks of themselves IC as 'the healer'. Wat do?

I don't want to rant in the group, but it just feels like they've missed the concept entirely, in favour of healbotting.

>>49514061
Have it be made clear that Path to Inner Peace doesn't stop the injury, it just stops the pain and detriment it might cause during combat.

Have the shugenja, if they openly call themselves a hero, get bothered by every peasant with a sore back, every samurai who is paranoid of creeping illness, and every enemy who doesn't want that shugenja healing his targets.

Have the kami stop healing because they don't feel placated or formerly respected. The shugenja keeps beseeching them for aid, but perhaps the shugenja should beseech kami more associated with violence because the healing ones are tired of prolonging life--until a proper sacrifice is made.

And maybe, worse case scenario, have a kansen begin whispering to them due to how much blood the shugenja finds himself dealing with. Maybe the healer could do so much more, if he just lets the kansen in...

>>49514123
If you go the kansen route, have some horrible thing happen so that there are just too many people that need healing. Far more than they could ever heal with their current spell slots (Also keep in mind that using real magic on peasants is seen as mildly wrong to many shugenja).
And then, when they've run out entirely and are stuck using normal medical procedures, have a strange little kami show up with a brand new spell, that they can use over, and over, and over again, as long as they just make a little sacrifice here and there. Blood Rite is powerful and terrible.

>>49514061
There's nothing wrong with playing your shugenja as a medic-type character, especially if that's what you're interested in, and especially if you're a water shugenja. Is your player having fun? Because if so, what exactly is the problem? At most, I would suggest that a samurai medic is most likely to be a combat-medic, and that some offensive spells would be a good way to round out their scroll library. But unless your player has themselve expressed disatisfaction with their chosen role, it sounds like >>49514123 and >>49514233 are suggesting ways to punish your player for pursuing the options they thought were interesting.

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>>49510992
>is the system and the fluff good if you have no strong feelings about the theme before hand

The system is super-fun but the fluff is 'meh'. You can help the latter by making up stuff that is loosely based on what is in the book... "Rokugan Your Way!" and shit.

>I want to play something that's not medieval Europe ver.17.4.12a

Be warned tho that Rokugan -can- be medieval Europe ver 19.2.88c Reskined Edition very easily if you follow the themes too closely (sounds odd? it is!).

>>49514061
>Your shugenja thinks of themselves IC as 'the healer'. Wat do?

He is probably closer to what a shugenja should be than 90% of every other shugenja character (including canon ones). So nothing. Maybe warn him that he should also bless crops, do ceremonies, appease the kami, and stuff like that for the full shugenja experience.

>>49514811
A Shugenja can be many things. Saying that they "should" be healers is pretty dumb. Many of them literally cannot heal, and most of the rest can only do it as a secondary thing, at best.

>>49514834
I can't imagine anyone but a rank 1 water-deficient shugenja not having Path to Inner Peace even if it's the only water spell they know. It's just so basic and so useful, especially since >>49514123 is wrong in that it explicitly accelerates the body's natural healing to alleviate wounds, rather than merely suppressing pain and combat penalties. There's no reason for a sensei not to teach it to their students, even in the water deficient schools.

>>49514923
PtIP is common, yes, but no non-Water school teaches it to literally all of their students. There's a bunch of support and divination that can be done with the one water spell that some schools get.
Most shugenja are not combat healers. It is not a universal role.

>>49514923
>There's no reason for a sensei not to teach it to their students
How about "Their students aren't combat healers", "Their students need some other spells", or "Variety is how the clan avoids not having an application when it's needed."

>>49514978
Alright, that's fair that when early water slots are limited, schools might prioritize other things, but not having a basic healing spell gets more and more unlikely the longer a shugenja's career becomes since it's literally life-saving and danger or misfortune can strike at any time, even if you aren't a combat medic-- which isn't even the only kind of medic you might be.

I think >>49514834 underestimates just how useful even doing healing as a distant fourth thing is-- it's the only guaranteed way of keeping somebody from dying. A successful divination can give you the information that would keep you from needing to fight at all-- if you interpret it correctly, or nothing else you didn't forsee intervenes. When you get to the fight, a successful buff may let you carry the day, but then again, it might not. But if you're on the ground,a successful healing spell is guaranteed to keep you from bleeding out.

>>49514923
In older editions it is merely a suppressing point, and I think in the Book of Water splat it states that it can be refluffed as the same.

If the GM wants to discourage the "I'm the healer" mentality it is one way to go.

>>49516155
>In the original First Edition of the L5R RPG, Path to Inner Peace was quite literally the only healing spell in the game... and even it did not really “heal” in a conventional sense. Instead of stimulating the flesh to knit and repair itself, the spell merely sent a flood of rejuvenating chi through the target’s body, allowing him to ignore the pain and trauma of his injuries. Thus, while the spell healed Wounds in a mechanical sense (the Wounds were erased from the character sheet and thus the character no longer was under Wound Penalties to his actions), it did not actually physically repair the injuries themselves.
>(The L5R supplement Way of Shadow offered a vivid depiction of this effect – a gruesomely injured shugenja casts the spell on himself and is then able to move and fight normally, even though his left arm is still a shredded bloody ruin hanging uselessly at his side.)

>GMs who wish to give their L5R campaign a grittier, more culturally distinct tone may wish to consider restoring the original in-world behavior of Path to Inner Peace. If this is done, it is also recommended the GM completely disallow the use of higher-Mastery healing spells such as Regrow the Wound and Peace of the Kami.

Wick really does enjoy subverting expectations.

>>49516991
Getting rid of quick and easy healing does give injuries and maiming more impact.

>>49517025
It also discourages combat as the go-to solution, although I'm not sure how well that would actually with L5R considering that's what your samurai exist for. Unless you're playing a courtier-centric game, I guess.

>>49517458
It discourages combat for frivolous purposes, but you'll still have situations you can't resolve without cutting a samurai. Also makes medicine / wound treatment / anti-infection relevant, if you're going full grit.

>>49517581

Besides, the combat rules are already pretty brutal as it is.

>>49511047
underrated post

>>49514061

Arn't there whole schools focused on been "the healer"

>>49517931
Not really.
The Isawa, Asako, Kitsu, and Kuni all have distinct and respected groups that focus on it (And there's a group of ronin shugenja who focus on healing), and every shugenja school has healers, but there's no school that has it as a main focus.

>>49517940
The Monkey Shugenja school's tech is a bonus to healing spells based on your earth ring.

>>49518586
The Monkey shouldn't even have a shugenja school.

>>49518586
The Monkey never count for anything because they're the fucking Mary Sue Minor Clan.

>>49518946
The Fuzake family were ex-Kuni who joined up... for whatever reason.

>>49519556
Exactly why the Monkey shouldn't have a shugenja school.
The Fuzake were a bunch of random ronin shugenja (Fuzake himself was an ex-Kuni with battle medic training). They shouldn't have been able to pull together a cohesive school. Plenty of other clans and families have shugenja, but can't pull a school together. For example, the Falcon have enough shuggies that it's an established fact that they send them to learn with the Kuni, and they only got an alternate rank after they joined up with the Crab.

>>49514834
Shugenja should be benign supporting characters (pretty much healers) and not OMGFIREBALL tier murderhobos BUTWITHMYSTICISMOMFG.

What are some things I can do to befriend a party of cold, distant samurai PCs?

>>49520922
Introduce one of their siblings or cousins, and then use that as a vector for introducing other characters, since they're more likely to be nice to family, and to people that their family like. Maybe you bring in a PC's sister, and then introduce her fiancee, and your party is obligated to make nice with him because she's going to marry into his family and the PC will presumably want it to go well for her.

>>49521106
Sorry, I should have clarified that I am one of the PCs. None of them have shown the slightest interest in my PC, and my attempts to be friendly are brushed aside or met with insults. I suspect they do not trust her.

>>49521168
Some camaraderie should develop naturally as you go through shit together. You don't give the same cold shoulder to someone who saved your life or vice versa. Although to be fair, samurai do tend to be stiffer than usual simply because it's the safe stance to assume when dealing socially with others out of fear of fucking up.

>>49521168
What Clan/Family/School/Honor are the PCs?

>>49522111
I'm not sure exactly what the players honor scores are but I can estimate.

Crab, Kuni, Kuni Shugenja, 4 honor
Dragon, Kitsuki, Kitsuki Investigator, 6 honor
Phoenix, Asako, Isawa Shugenja, 5 honor (my pc)
Unicorn, Horiuchi, Utaku Battle Maiden, 8 honor

>>49522834
>The Crab, the Dragon, and the Unicorn hate the Phoenix

This can't be solved realistically. Talk with the players and your GM to have some sort of plot-device to get them together.

>>49522911
The Dragon are typically pretty buddy with the Pheonix, it's just the Tamori and the Agasha who have problems with each other. The Crab and the Unicorn are definitely issues, though.

>>49522970
The Kitsuki will also have problems with Phoenix holier-than-thou traditionalism. Especially if it is the usual hypocrite kind.

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>>49522911
>>49522970
>>49523132

Could you trust your Mantis waifu to be loyal while you're away, or if you're the lesser spouse while they're away?

>>49523402
Yeah, Mantis are often pretty faithful.

Moshi are supper traditional and pious, and fidelity is a core traditional value.
Tsuruchi are typically good about that stuff too, since the Code of the Wasp is big on Honesty and Loyalty.
Kitsune are reclusive and unlikely to seek out a liason.
And Yoritomo are more likely to marry for love than other families, so you're odds are good she actually likes you and isn't just playing a role.

>>49523588
This rouses my pee pee.

>>49523907
i think you're backing the wrong waifu
this >>49525226
is what instills a mighty fire within a real mans loins

>>49525226
i just wanna ram a sword down that tsuba.

i dont know why

>>49480919

thats otoyomegatari I think

if that's true, those is bro and sis

>>49527747
That Crane trained his whole life to defeat the Mirumoto Ninten style. His whole life he spent training to bat away two swords instead of one. When the time of his vengeance came, little did he expect the Dragon to practice proper iai, something he was not prepared for.

>>49528215
Snackreligious.

bumpin.

If you could remove any one realm which realm would it be?

>>49530495
I like pretty much all of the realms. But if I had to pick one, it'd be Maigo no Musha.
I like it as a concept, but it represents the stupid metaplot and is therefore the least likable realm.

>>49530495
>In the “classic” cosmology, there are only three realms outside of Ningen-Do: the Celestial Heavens (Tengoku), the Realm of Spirits (Chikushudo, Sakkaku, and Yume-Do combined), and the Realm of the Dead. (Meido, Yomi, Toshigoku, Jigoku, and Gaki-do)

>>49446249
That's a funny way to spell Monkey.

>>49532628
Toku was a joke that went on far too long. Fuck the Monkey.

>>49532677
Toku had everything handed to him on a silver platter, but him and the Monkey Clan isn't as bad as some other characters because he's not really relevant to L5R at large.

>>49532869
You're not wrong, just fuck him anyway.
I habitually play in pre-second day of thunder eras so I can avoid a lot of the stupid shit I dislike.

Bump.

If you had to mate with a spirit of a realm, which realm would you choose?

>>49535263
Meido. Koumori are pretty benevolent, and since they aren't from Chikushado, I don't have to worry about my kids being wild and animalistic. Kitsune are nice and all, but I want normal kids.

>>49535538
But wouldn't a Meido spirit make you wait forever for it? Or would they just never finish...?

>>49532869
>Toku had everything handed to him on a silver platter

This is true to pretty much every other major character in the era. Except the ones who would have deserved it, like Toturi.

>>49535563
I mean, a human spirit consigned to Meido certainly would, but Koumori are the guardians of that realm, and have to be active in their duties. I don't think they themselves are as lethargic as their charges. I mean, the Bat Clan is canonically founded by a half-koumori human, so it's not like there isn't precedent.