Legend of the Five Rings

File: 2VUs9VV.jpg (161KB, 767x994px) Image search: [Google]

161KB, 767x994px

Crane a nice, but the time I made one he was a total Crab fanboi.

>>50901569
I'm a forever GM by choice with this game, but some of the most fun I have is with Crane since everyone has a lot of stereotypes about them. I mean everyone has a lot about everyone, the clans are kind of racist against each other like that, but players all have very strong feelings about the Crane. Playing up or subverting things is kind of fun sometimes.

So this game is about samurai and a myriad of other eastern things?

Can I become a punchy character, like a brawler/wandering martial artist?

If so, I'll learn this game.

>>50901643
It's pretty much only about fantasy samurai (Fantasy has to be emphasized because of the sheer number of people who come into this looking for historical accuracy), but there are also monks that are playable, and you can be punchy either way, although the monks are far punchier by default.

File: tattoos mothafucka.jpg (428KB, 800x527px) Image search: [Google]

428KB, 800x527px

>>50901643
It is about being samurai in a highly fantastical setting that bears surface trappings of Japan (and China weirdly in some ways) but is about as culturally accurate as playing a game set in the Forgotten Realms is going to teach you about being a knight or about the pre-Islamic middle east if you do Al Qadim.

That being said, its pretty fun and making people fight to the death over slights of honor is a joy as a GM.

>Can I become a punchy character, like a brawler/wandering martial artist?
Yes. Several different kinds from sohei to weird mystic mountain buddhists to drunken pirates.

>>50901592
I had a fair bit of fun coming up with Kakita Saito.

Stereotypical crane prettyboy, had a bangin' hot arranged wife to look forward to once it was time for the marriage. Then one day he gets it in his head to wonder WHY the crab are like they are, so he petitions his daimyo to go on one of those musha shugyo thingies. Travels to crabland, starts getting an idea of what's going on, but he still doesn't have the complete picture.

So he volunteers for the Wall. He spends most of the time not dying by virtue of the crab managing to stop gribblies before they finish killing him. This gains him the attention of a particular oni who keeps having his 'easy kill' stolen from him. The increasingly cockblocked oni ends up developing an unhealthy fixation, to the point of basically announcing himself with a "1v1 ME FGT" whenever he shows up for another go at the crane.

Eventually Saito manages to not die for long enough to finish his tour on the wall, thanks the crab for their hospitality, and makes his way home with a faceful of scars, a crippled leg, a firm understanding of why the crab don't waste time with niceties, and the undying emnity of Bron-do the Mutilator.

Also his arranged wife is pissed that her prettyboy crane husbando is all scarred up now, but he's planning on asking his daimyo to get him a thicc crab waifu instead.

>>50901691
>>50901698

Excellent. I'll learn this system, and possibly join that one anon's game if I make something he'd want in his game.

>>50901818
Sure. I'll be around till this thread dies at least probably. The core rulebook for 4e isn't hard to find on the right websites. We play on skype as the chat medium and use r20 for rolls and visual stuff I can throw up and leave for reference. If you have a skype name, share it and I'll get to you and we can talk if you want.

File: bayushi nitoshi is best nakado.jpg (2MB, 3501x2484px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 3501x2484px

>>50901798
>Breaking off an arranged marriage
I hope he likes her family being mad forever.

Also is Bron-Do a Brando joke?

Anyone willing to explain, what the more important rings for bushi, shugenja and courtier are? Or should I just go with the rings their skills are used with? Dumb question I know, but I can´t really wrap my head around that.

And since reading Imperial Histories on the Togashi Dynasty I´ve been trying to come up with an animal for Ryoshun. Is there an canon example for an animal anywhere?

>>50903365
It isn't just rings, its the traits. Bushi need agility for melee or reflexes for shooting, and Earth as a ring for not dying.

Courtiers run on Awareness, but also benefit from Perception and Willpower depending on your skill make up. Int based courtiers are also a thing but I've yet to see one played effectively.

And shugenja should always have their primary elemental ring for their school high, but then do secondary rings in whatever since spell versatility is good. You get spell slots based on your rings so if you don't know ANY water spells but have water 3 you just are wasting that.

>>50903365
Bushi can use any physical trait, but especially Agility and Reflexes. Both Earth ring traits are important to boost your ability to not die and resist diseases and mind effects.
Courtiers need Awareness above all else, but also need Willpower and Intelligence to resist other courtiers and not look like a tard. Raising Reflexes also helps them stay alive in a fight, which makes the Air ring most important.
Shuggies need whatever ring is attached to their primary spells and then whatever ring is attached to their second best spells. Everyone can use Void, but it actually translates to more spells per day for shuggies.
Speaking of Void, getting it to 3 is what brings you above the 20tn threshold to consistently regain Void Points from meditating or tea ceremonying, which exponentially increases the number of VPs you have per day as long as you can get a half hour of peace and quiet.

>>50903365
Courtiers will want a strong Air Ring (Primarily Awareness) with a side of Fire and/or Earth (For Intelligence and Willpower respectively). Most instances of social interaction will require awareness, but the others do occasionally come up. Perception is probably the least useful mental trait for a courtier, unless you are dealing with the Scorpion. Coutiers have little use for any of the physical traits unless things have gone very wrong.

Bushi vary wildly, and your investments may change based on what sort of bushi you are playing. For you standard bushi you want to invest in Agility, Reflexes, and Earth. At the least a Bushi character should probably have an Earth Ring of 3, as Earth 3 grants you 50% more Wounds than someone with Earth 2, and often allows you to stay in combat for more than a single round. It's also generally agreed that a high Reflexes keeps you in the game longer, since you are harder to hit. As a duelist you want a high Air Ring and a high Void, since you utilize both Awareness and Reflexes. As a yojimbo or strategist or magistrate etc you probably want to invest in Perception in addition to your standard bushi traits (Earth, Agility, and Reflexes)

Shugenja are special - The Rings you want to invest in depend entirely on what element you are focusing on. To further this situation, Shugenja utilize skills significantly less to perform their duty, giving you free reign to focus almost entirely on Rings. An Air Shugenja wants Air, an Earth Shugenja wants Earth, etc.

It should also be noted that Intimidation is actually errata'd to be linked to Willpower, not Awareness by default. So the rare Earth Courtier is actually somewhat more viable, if likely dishonorabru as all get out.

>>50903365
>>50903570
>>50903822
>>50903927
Let's run through all of the Rings and Traits.

Earth - Increases your Wounds. Invaluable to anyone who wants to not die.
Stamina - It rarely comes up on it's own and does not govern any skills. Its usefulness varies wildly. It may come up for things like long term physical exertion or resisting poison and status, though these are just as often resisted by an Earth roll.
Willpower - According to the errata it governs Intimidation. Outside of skills, it is used to resist torture and mind effects, which come up more often than you might like.

Air - You get to add it to your TN in defense stance. The ring's traits are some of the most useful.
Awareness - Used for almost all social things. It's also used for all art stuff and sometimes investigation rolls related to social things. It can be useful for anybody, and helps in a duel.
Reflexes - Governs shooting and evasion, making it a single Trait powerhouse for any warrior. It has a heavy impact on dueling and governs iaijutsu strikes, allowing you to potentially make melee attacks, shoot, and dodge with the same Trait.

Fire - Does it even do anything?.
Agility - This is the trait that governs almost all attacks. It has the added bonus of stealth and sleight of hand which are often ridiculously useful.
Intelligence - This one depends on your GM. It governs Lore, most Craft skills, and Medicine. It's usefulness depends entirely on how useful these skills are in your game.

Water- Governs how far you can move.
Strength - Athletics and melee damage. Athletics is okay but when you need it you need it. If you are investing for damage, going beyond 3 Ranks is rarely worth it.
Perception - When you need it you REALLY need it. It is mostly just used for investigation, which you will use constantly.

Void - Lets you do anything better. Void 3 is a great investment, but the cost and ability to restore void points makes investing more dubious.

>>50904248
No, Fire as a ring does not do anything because Agility and Intelligence are both really strong traits.

>>50904248
>Fire - Does it even do anything?.
If you're a shugenja, sure!

File: number 10.jpg (57KB, 844x561px) Image search: [Google]

57KB, 844x561px

>>50903365
The Badger Clan are the ones who guard his tomb, so I've always associated him with them

>>50904421
The Badger clan is a myth.

>>50904450
They pay their taxes every year!

>>50902173
>Also is Bron-Do a Brando joke
If you meant Brawndo, then yes

File: seppun toshiken, the seppun who was really a kakita.jpg (22KB, 400x302px) Image search: [Google]

22KB, 400x302px

>>50905206
The Bran Dao, the way of Brando!

File: Imperial_Histories_(RPG).jpg (268KB, 597x800px) Image search: [Google]

268KB, 597x800px

Question for all you anons: Have any of you used the alternate timelines/events from the imperial history books? If so how did it go and what happened.

>>50904248
That's a pretty good summary. The only addition I'd add are a small explanation of Honor, Glory, and Status.

Status - Social Rank. A higher status character is able to ignore many social combat effects from a lower status one, but he is not outright immune to lower status characters.

Glory/Infamy - Fame. How recognized a character is. Often goes hand in hand with Status, but not always. For instance the Emperor without his retinue is generally a fairly low glory character.

Honor - L5R's version of Alignment. Unlike D&D's alignment it is on a sliding scale and easily rises and falls. In addition it helps provide resistance to mental effects and under a commonly used optional rule be used to Re-Roll failures.

>>50907048
Slightly. I've taken cues from some stuff in there, but my present game is set 100 years after the Destroyer War in a future that takes cues from how the next era began but was less dumb.

This is mostly because my last game was a bit meta about dealing with, during the Destroyer War, if the Empress's call at the end was right. In the end the PCs helped shape a similar but different future. I stole some shit from the Togashi Dynasty and Iron Rokugan, and it has worked out pretty well so far. Nobody has rioted at least.

>>50904450
>>50904510
Boar clan, anons.

>>50907145
>he is not outright immune to lower status characters
Kuge are outright immune to social efforts of buke, while higher status get to ignore lower status in all but exceptional situations, or if their equals/betters pay attention to the lower status samurai.

Ay, /tg/, got a question.
I'm planning a campaign based on the City of Lies.
I have:
>Gambling Rings, legitimate and illegitimate
>Geisha Houses and their loose women
>Open and closed Opium trading
>Fire Gangs waging a secret war with a weakened Kolat
>Trading Fleets being slowly infiltrated by the Spider Clan
>Usurpation of power through clan, allegiance, and bloodline.

What else should I add?

>>50901499
I'm pretty conflicted on that because there are three of them tide at the first place.

First there's Scorpion because why not be edgy as hell, justifiy yourself with 'being the ennemy from within' and get filthy rich and powerful by being a total cunt ?

Second there's the Phoenix because the research for knowledge above all is a great theme for a character in my opinion (I personally mostly play Isawa, mostly just for the appeal of playing an ishiken-sen because fuck you)

And then there's the Unicorn, because they seem like rather nice people who explore a lot, like their horses and their aimins, honest and good workers... And also they have cool courtiers, I love the Ide school that lets you win in court by being overtly blunt about stuff.

>>50909279
>I love the Ide school that lets you win in court by being overtly blunt about stuff
Honesty and direct speech, but also good with social expectations and not giving offence.

>>50909355
Yeah that's what I meant

>>50909194
Oni. You should always add some Oni.

>>50909355
I played an Ide before, my version of social combat was beating my opponents to death with public acts of kindness. Making it known far and wide just how much I have sincerely helped them to the point that if they took action against me it would look like a dramatic betrayal the court would love to dive on them for.

It actually worked quite well honestly.

>>50910632
Death with a smile!

File: Akodo.jpg (14KB, 275x183px) Image search: [Google]

14KB, 275x183px

>>50901691
It is also important to mention that 'fantasy' in the 'fantasy samurai' stands for 'historically inaccurate' and not 'preternatural badass'. You can get supernatural stuff, but those come from the setting and not from being a samurai.

Don't expect epic shit like soloing an oni, shrugging off maho with pure willpower, or cutting through hundreds of ashigaru with ease (be warned, the third or fourth ashigaru will fuck you good). You are really just a mundane dude with some extra training and a pretty good sword.

>>50910632
Love it

>>50910763
>You can get supernatural stuff, but those come from the setting and not from being a samurai.
I mean, that's arguable. As a samurai, you have a strong chance of being descended from a god, along with having an intrinsically higher position in the sacred Celestial Order. And humans are inherently supernatural in Rokugan-- that's what Void use is, basically. And then samurai like Togashi ise zumi or any shugenja are also magical from the get-go.

You're tight that it doesn't amount to Naruto-tier feats of nonsense, though.

>>50911083
>As a samurai, you have a strong chance of being descended from a god, along with having an intrinsically higher position in the sacred Celestial Order.

Neither of these things are exclusive for the samurai. You can be commoner-born and be a descendant of a god (like the celestial Dragon's daughter), and snatch a higher position in the Celestial Order despite being a dirty peasant (Toku anyone?). Same goes for Void-usage and monks/shugenja too. These are setting-specific deals and not samurai-specific. The only samurai-specific supernatural thing I can think about is ancestor guidance.

And personally, I miss supernatural feats that would clearly put samurai above the common cut. A samurai (regardless of profession!) should be an unavoidable game changer in every situation, not just a glorified commoner with a technique or two duck-taped on him for good measure.

>>50911244
Toku-likes, newly discovered shugenja, and undiscovered divine children pose kind of a chicken-egg problem, in that the reason they get to advance is stated to be that they were always samurai, and no one knew about it until now-- and metaphysically, that may actually be true and not just sophistry.

Monks are definitely a weird edge case, I grant you, but my argument wasn't "there's magical stuff only being a samurai can get you", it was that simply being a samurai can in fact get you magical stuff.

>>50901499

The Dragon are best because they understand honor in addition to having it. Other clans scream at each other for being dishonorable, but the Dragon know that the way of the Crane is not the way of the Scorpion. Why, then, should Crane honor and Scorpion honor be the same? To each clan falls a task, and that service determines the details of that clan's honor.

Of course, the others are too unenlightened to realize that they must study all types of honor to understand honor as a whole. And that comprehension is Dragon honor.

>>50911344
Yeah, samurai can get you magical stuff, but you won't get it because you are samurai but because magical stuff exists in the setting and you can just waltz in and pick it up for use (just like pretty much anyone else).

>>50911387
>tips kabuto

>>50907048
Played the Iron Rokugan setting, it was dope but quite counter-productive because of the shitty firearm rules. Instead of having samurai drama with progressiveness beating tradition we had our Kaiu Engineer hitting Glory 9+ and everyone else being maximum comfy because they had actual meaningful contributions to society instead of starting pointless blood feuds over petty matters 24/7.

The other game was in the Shadowed Throne setting, searching for Iuchiban's hearth with based Toku. The party also participated in the Battle of Toshi Ranbo. It was overall a pretty boring campaign because the setting is kinda bleak.

>>50911083
>You're tight that it doesn't amount to Naruto-tier feats of nonsense, though.

I mean a rank 5 mirumoto can kill like four people a turn and high ranking shugenja can literally summon hurricanes. So it can get its own special brand of violently absurd.

Oh and let's not forget the Kakita artisans in 1e and the Master Artisans where that tech got shoved in this edition, even if they put in some common sense power limits in it in 4e

I'm hopefully getting my first campaign soon (3E since the GM prefers the cinematic action possible with the 3E schools).
Since the GM prefers social/political games, I'm not all that worried about combat that much, but I want a quick check on the background.
Kitsuki family, Mirumoto school. She was training to be a yojimbo for her twin brother who was going to be a Magistrate. Along the way, she also got betrothed to someone she really liked (no idea on their clan yet, but I'm thinking Scorpion) and ended up pregnant before the wedding. On their way to a meeting between the two family daimyo, they (PC, brother, betrothed) traveled with a Miya Herald, and got ambushed by a Lion her betrothed had ticked off during some court event. A pair of vicious duels (and her own duels against some hired ronin brought along to prevent her from being champion for the others), and her betrothed is dead and her brother crippled. And the Miya did nothing (huh, he's kind of a coward).
So now the Miya family Daimyo gets involved, with a message from the Lion that their precious boy was never there, it was just some ronin pretending to be him, and the cowardly Miya Herald gets ordered to marry her as penance.
Current Day, she has been ordered with some excuse that requires her to go adventuring, with her child left at home with a step-dad that can't bear to look at him, and an oath to take down that damn Lion. And oh yes, she's been getting prophetic dreams and did I mention that she's really short?
Yes, everything is represented by advantages/disadvantages.
One of the things that I'm wondering is this: Imperial Spouse says that the spouse joins your clan. But in this case, would it make sense for the Miya family daimyo to offer a place to her in his family instead?

File: warriors02.jpg (97KB, 700x512px) Image search: [Google]

97KB, 700x512px

I was thinking this for >>50914040

File: warriors05.jpg (83KB, 700x512px) Image search: [Google]

83KB, 700x512px

>>50914265
or this

So if you were going to be the only player in a campaign where shit would be all story and rp intense and about you, what kind of stuff would you like to explore in rokugan?

>>50914320
A group of ronin trying to conquer gaijin areas for the Empire. Includes an eventual Iron Empire era as they adapt enemy weapon tech for their own.

>>50914040
A clan samurai marrying an imperial joins the imperial family instead, unless through their own exploits they have somehow risen to have a higher status than their spouse-- for a starting character, that's pretty much impossible.

As for backstory, the Kitsuki are the Dragon family most involved with keeping an eye on the Scorpion, and historically there's a fair bit of bad blood between them based on Kitsuki penetrating or being victimized by (typically to prevent them from penetrating) Scorpion plots. Obviously not every Scorpion is a schemer, and not every Scorpion schemer is malicious, but it's still an odd situation, and you should flesh out the backstory on your betrothal-- why did your families arrange this particular marriage? It's not out-there enough that you would have to justify it to be allowed to play at the average table, but it is absolutely fertile ground for something interesting to have happened, and interesting things in your backstory are a good foundation for roleplay and a gift to your GM.

Fight-wise, samurai getting attacked by bandits on the road are under zero obligation to duel the bandits, and that's exactly what this Lion would be making himself by leading a bunch of ronin to attack travelling samurai, let alone samurai travelling with an Imperial. This would be a skirmish more than anything, and if the Lion survived, he would be a wanted criminal. The Lion as a clan could claim that he was not in fact there, but as an Imperial, the Miya's testimony would take precedence, especially if he kicked it up the chain and his superiors got involved.

The only Mr. Lion might not make himself a criminal by attacking is if he had a pre-existing blood feud with the scorpion, but both families involved have to get their daimyo's permission or that's illegal too, and you would have to have a doozy of an inciting incident.

>>50914040
>, I'm not all that worried about combat that much
>still playing a Mirumoto
The rape train has no breaks anon, remember that. Praise niten

>>50914601
I've only ever played the 4e version, just how ridiculous do Mirumoto get in 3e?

>>50914320
Either court drama with a courtier of any clan or a Scorpion infiltrator if I was in the mood for tactical espionage action and intrigue.

>>50914562
Thanks for the pointer on the imperial family situation - so she would now be Miya Sakura instead of Kitsuki Sakura (still need to create the lineage name, which is what we're using to distinguish bloodlines in the families).
As for the Scorpion marriage... My first thought is there was a childhood incident at a winter court (the books never mention children, but I think a courtier taking their partner and kids along to winter court for exposure to politics happens a lot) where she discovered that he couldn't lie. Or had a hard time doing so. There was probably youthful idealism and him turning himself into his clan rep for not being able to lie (imagine a scorpion kid saying "I can't lie! What use does the scorpion have for me?" and tell me that the Scorpion doesn't need somebody like that for their twisty plans), and then it blossoms into love and marriage arrangements (there might have been a Crane involved. A short Kitsuki growing into a dangerous beauty marrying a scorpion? Who can't lie? Perfect. Beautiful. I must write poetry about it).

AS for the Lion, he probably either used some very dishonorable information on some very dishonorable actions committed by some very honorable people to get away with it, or he went Ronin. Or something. I might have to change it around a bit (A Lion moonlighting as a Ronin to take down dishonorable people like any Scorpion he sees? Maybe.)

>>50914911
I feel the need to make this Lion an HONOROBURU mass-murdering Edgelord.

>>50915042
>Lion an HONOROBURU mass-murdering Edgelord.
>HONOROBURU mass-murdering Edgelord.

Glib reply of a pillow book writer, I thought that was what all lions were

>>50909194
Remove Spider.

>>50914649
They get a second attack at rank 2, at rank 4 if they kill a target they get an extra attack (no limit on number of attacks if you keep making kills), and at rank 5 they get a third attack. With the ridiculous bonuses available 3e each one of those attacks will have the Extra Attack Maneuver tacked on so a minimum of 6 attacks/round. That is an out of the box Mirumoto Bushi, they also had a handful of silly as fuck paths like the Crazy Mirumoto Mountaineer (Rank 3) that let's you dodge attacks.

We used to call Mirumoto Bushi, Cuisinarts for a reason.

All that pales before the outrageous power of Lord One-Shot the Ronin Duelist.

>>50914649
They're essentially the most broken school of that edition, in your favor. I've heard some people argue it got nerfed too hard in the 4e shift and suggest it is the worst school out of the core book bushi selections, but I think those people are faggots. Its still pretty strong and able to pump out attacks, the problem is it does shit for you as a duelist now compared to the Kakita who are all about that shiznit.

Actual worst school in the 4e core for the GC is the Bayushi, due to some poor flat value effects you get and a trivially beaten higher rank status inflictor. Everyone else is pretty fine, desu fampai

>>50915280
>>50915268
But even a Mirumoto 3e Bushi pales before a 1E Kakita Artisan.

>>50915331
Even Fu leng himself pales before a 1E kakita artisan

>>50915331
Well yes, there's no way to beat immortal gods who can travel in roving bands to summon gods and Emperors to command your death while the jesters destroy your honor score with their japes and jibes.

File: Soshi_Yoshihara.jpg (777KB, 1357x1000px) Image search: [Google]

777KB, 1357x1000px

>>50914320
Something like in one of my previous games: hunting down a big conspiracy by violently ousting every participating lord, one-by-one, until the conspiracy is reduced to nothing. All this while being a member of a party that is strained by character differences. So lots of violence (both armies gutting each other on the battlefield and quiet face-offs/battles of will) and badassry themed around infighting.

>>50914911
>(still need to create the lineage name, which is what we're using to distinguish bloodlines in the families).
Vassal families are a thing, and the format for that would be Miya Sakura no (or kara? I forget which is right) [INSERT NAME HERE] when you're talking to people outside the Family/Clan and [INSERT NAME] Sakura to other Miya. Canonically there's not a lot of vassal families but I think a perfectly reasonable home modification is saying there's a fuck ton but nobody outside of the big Family really gives much of a shit unless you're into genealogy.

>>50914562
>A clan samurai marrying an imperial joins the imperial family instead, unless through their own exploits they have somehow risen to have a higher status than their spouse-- for a starting character, that's pretty much impossible.

Technically true, but that doesn't mean you'll be allowed the imperial name. More common will be that you're marrying a disgraced imperial, who will be low status enough to take your name.

>>50914040
It's kinda snowflake-y, purely by how many exceptions to the norm you're stuffing in there.

>>50915331
Being that Lord One-Shot hits his stride at Rank 2 even the 1e Kakita Artisan gets smoked by virtue of needing to be rank 3 before the Artisan begins his summoning shenanigans.

>>50915612
I think he's looking for a distinguishing name for a particular lineage of a Family, rather than a vassal family thing. Vassal families are basically to Families as Families are to Clans; each vassal family has its own distinct duty it performs in service to the larger Family, and maintains its own structure in the same part-of-but-separate deal Familes have going on with their Clan. Like, the Raikuto vassal family serve the Hiruma and are allowed to carry the Hiruma name, but are not fully Hiruma themselves, whereas among full Hiruma, the lineage of Hiruma X is distinct from the lineage Hiruma Y even though they share a common ancestor, and both are distinct from and not even related to the lineage of Hiruma Z, who are descended from some other samurai to swear fealty to Hiruma himself forever ago. None of these lines are members of a vassal family, but should still be distinguishable in some way.

>>50915280
>I've heard some people argue it got nerfed too hard in the 4e shift and suggest it is the worst school out of the core book bushi selections, but I think those people are faggots.
It can't be the worst school, as that place is occupied by the Suzume. Did get nerfed harder than necessary, though. The ATN bonus is shit at every rank, and dual wielding is an action penalty disguised as a bonus.

>Actual worst school in the 4e core for the GC is the Bayushi, due to some poor flat value effects you get and a trivially beaten higher rank status inflictor.
Bayushi get some decent paths, including the second best luck technique behind the tattooed orders.

>>50915280
doesn't speak much of optimization but my favorite character was probably a 4e bayushi bushi. Shit was pretty batman cash.

>>50915765
>I think he's looking for a distinguishing name for a particular lineage of a Family
Use their retained farmlands or ancestral village/city/province.

>>50911344
>and metaphysically, that may actually be true and not just sophistry.
Directly because the Emperor has pope-like powers and can change destiny and the heavens by simply declaring it. Things that were once inherently wrong and immoral (Like cremation) become the only right way to do things when an Emperor says so. Entire new deity equivalent beings literally pop up overnight because the Emperor declared a recently dead person to be a Fortune.

>>50915642
Per the Imperial Spouse advantage in 4e core, "...your family has arranged for you to be married to a minor member of an Imperial family. Your spouse was not of high enough rank to warrant taking an Imperial name, but there are benefits all the same. You gain +0.5 Status...".

Starting characters have Status 1, which becomes 1.5 on taking the advantage. The status table list the average Imperial samurai as Status 3, which is still pretty low, all things considered-- it's below a revered sensei or the very lowest clan magistrate, for example.

The lower status spouse always transfers fealty to the family of the higher status spouse, so even with the boost, the average pairing will have the clan samurai moving over to the Imperial family.

While a demotion or two might put the spouses on parity or tip the clan samurai over higher than the Imperial one, the fact that the marriage comes from an advantage suggests that the Imperial spouse is not so disgraced as to be embarassing, and the fact that the marriage itself provides status to the clan spouse suggests that the Imperial spouse is still of a higher status rank than their clan partner.

I suspect what happens is that the clan samurai spouse swears fealty to their new Imperial spouse's family, and then just keeps their original name.

Are all Kakita Bushi graduates of the school in Kakita dueling academy? Seems like the academy doesn't have that many students. Presumably there are smaller dojos that churn out similarly iajutsu focused students around the clans lands?

>>50916155
You have the gist of it. There are many Dojos in Crane lands that teach the Kakita Bushi school, but there is only one Kakita Dueling Academy and it is a fairly exclusive school.

>>50916182
That makes sense. Thank you anon. Also correct to assume that most Imperial heirs are trained at the Kakita dueling academy?

>>50916155
There are many dojo that teach the school. The academy itself is the most prestigious of the lot (Similar to the Hida or Akodo war colleges) but the school itself is not exclusive to that particular dojo/campus.

>>50916205
The emperor's firstborn traditionally is, but any further kids tend to go straight to the Otomo Bureaucrat school or somewhere else based on high level politics and favors, and the tradition is not binding law or anything like that.

>>50916205
Yeah, most are. Though not all of them. Naseru for instance never trained as a bushi. In 3e he's stated as a Bayushi Courtier 3/ Otomo Courtier 1/Naseru's Snowflake Path 1

>>50916237
Man, must kinda suck being a Kakita duelist and imperial heir, knowing no one would ever dare duel with you, because that would be dishonorabru. There's a good story in there about one of them sneaking away on a Musha shugyo. Bit like like the dunk and egg short stories from ASOIAF.
>>50916273
>naseru snowflake path

So has it ever happened that an imperial heir was a shugenja? Where would s/he be trained?

>>50916050
Yes, and all things considered, marrying a disgraced imperial would be an incredibly rare situation - second only to being considered worthy of marrying into an imperial family as a status 1 scrub samurai.

>>50916331
>So has it ever happened that an imperial heir was a shugenja?
Nope. It's actually something of a plot point (Or it would be if there was a plot related to it) that no Hantei has ever, ever manifested the ability to speak to the small Kami.
But if they were, they'd probably train with the Seppun, who are considered the most pious and traditional of all shugenja families, or the Isawa, who are the "best" shugenja with the strongest understanding of metaphysics. Depends how much ass kissing the Phoenix can do, I suppose.

>>50916331
The Hantei line has explicitly never had a shugenja. That's actually the origin story for the Salamander Minor Clan; the guy who will become the founder is at a spellcraft contest, loses to his future wife, and makes a comment about the Emperor being able to do better-- and the Emperor, who is watching, goes " No Hantei has ever been a shugenja in a thousand years," and Salamder promises to dedicate his life to finding out why.

And then the Toturi and Iweko dynasties have been too short to see if the trend continues.

>>50916331
Sezaru trained at the Isawa Tensai School. Now that I think about none of Toturi's little chucklefucks trained at the Kakita School. Tsudao and Kaneka were Akodo Bushi.

>>50916389
>>50916407
Fascinating. And do we know what the implication is that there have been no shugenja hantei emperors? In a timeline where they are around, would it have any unusual theological significance, or otherwise?
>thanks for answering all my dumb questions anons

>>50916488
>In a timeline where they are around, would it have any unusual theological significance, or otherwise?
that is, significance if there was a shugenja heir born

>>50916488
The shugenja gift can vanish from a bloodline; Agasha Kitsuki was a shugenja of the Agasha line, but he neglected his magic and focused on other pursuits so hard that his descendants stopped being a shugenja family. I suspect that if Hantei ever had the gift, his own focus on being the first and best Emperor he could be withered it down to nothing.

>>50917091
>The shugenja gift can vanish from a bloodline
Unless you're talking ic, it's more accurate to say the kami are fickle and will stop paying attention to you if you stop doing the things they like.

>>50916407
>And then the Toturi and Iweko dynasties have been too short to see if the trend continues.
Well Toturi Sezaru was one of the most powerful shugenja of his age but also a total crazy person, so maybe it is for a good reason the Imperial line doesn't produce many/any.

>>50915642
> It's kinda snowflake-y
I did tried to tone it down (since my last couple of RPs were with people who told me that I needed to make snowflakey OP characters with lots of drama attached). I'm still figuring out the details, and a lot of the implications change depending on which details I use. But the basic structure is there:
>Twins where one has a dream and the other swears to defend them
>low enough in the birth order to not have to marry for politics
>gets engaged to someone she loves
>gets pregnant before the wedding
>ambush where beloved dies and imperial bystander does nothing
>bystanders Imperial family forces him or a relative to marry her to make up for the honor loss
>adventure time begins

>>50915612
>>50915765
>>50915852
I am looking for Lineage VS Vassal name. I remember reading a discussion of this on the AEG forums a few years ago, and I think the distinguishing factor was vassals used NO between the names and lineages used KARA. What was interesting was when the vassals had vassals. Oh, and the lineage name could be
>Ancestor that swore fealty
>a place the lineage holds
>your own name if your lord gives you permission to create a new lineage within the family.
So her name would be Miya kara [lineage] Sakura, and the deciding factor is if she takes her husbands, or if the daimyo makes her lineage more important than the husbands.
>Random name example: Miya kara Yukimura Sakura
If she married a vassal family, say Satoshi, she would be
>Miya no Statoshi kara Yukimura Sakura

>>50916050
We're playing 3e, which only gives GM arbitrated suggestions for Imperial Spouse.

>>50918087
Things I didn't notice until after this post: the Kitsuki have a vassal family named Sakura. Who get Forbidden Knowledge (Lying Darkness) and Heartless.
Which I am not going for.

>>50918153
Given how Sakura is the most common name for baby girls in the setting, don't worry about it. People will know the difference.

So I'm trying to figure out this Rokugani evidence thing.

So if there's something that superficially would indict someone (such as the presence of a personal piece of clothing at a crime scene), and a ranking samurai corroborates that evidence with his word, it's trusted?

And similarly, even if one samurai claims it's true evidence, but a higher ranking samurai says it isn't, then the higher ranked samurai's word is taken?

And in cases without evidence, it's a comparison of merely their respective words?

With the only system-breaker being a duel to show who the Kami truly favor?

>>50918273
>So if there's something that superficially would indict someone (such as the presence of a personal piece of clothing at a crime scene), and a ranking samurai corroborates that evidence with his word, it's trusted?
This is the only sort of evidence that will beat word. Like if you find someone's personal katana stained in blood at a crime scene. Also obvious enough to get in: Finding a piece of clothing that is clearly enough to indict someone from a clan but not necessarily someone specifically.

Anything fancier than that is basically bullshit and unusable unless you sell it hard to the daimyo

How does one make a shungeja's spell casting.... Interesting?
Right the person has no real power other than being able to see/speak Kami and politely request their aid.

>>50918409
Play up the visual effects as they pray to the kami.

>>50916441
Sezaru was a phoenix though, and his mother was the (worst) Oracle of Void. It only makes sense that he'd train there.

>>50918500
I want to make the prayer/act of devotion different.
Or maybe give them a different type of spirit they can talk to? Like.... someone who prays to animal spirits would have a different way of communing.

>>50901499
I like Crab the best because I'm basic and also because if you really think about it they're an entire Clan of Doomguys.

I like my Crab bushi in the game I'm in too, and other people say he's pretty alright. So I'm doing good with the Crab so far. Need to get character art of him.

>>50918409
>>50918592
or do you think this would be too much of a snowflake trait? Like normal spellcasting isn't good enough for them or something like that?

>>50918799
This. Each family is supposed to have its own style as is, thus the affinity/deficiency thing. Just fluff shit up more with what's there, don't make anything new. It isn't needed.

Any FFG rumors?

>>50918927
I'd still be following that!
I'm talking about the fluff behind the casting. Right like say I make a character who spent all their time in an important temple dealing with impressive temple kami.
How might that effect the way they cast spells?

>>50919064
>Right like say I make a character who spent all their time in an important temple dealing with impressive temple kami.
>How might that effect the way they cast spells?
They still are praying. I legitimately don't get how that would be different given its still a Rokugani kami. The Iuchi praying sometimes in foreign tongues and cadences is more unique since it is genuinely different

>>50918943
The RPG is going to use Snowflake dice like Star Wars. You'll need sets for each element.

>>50916488
It's not really that significant. Plenty of bloodlines have few to no shugenja. Hida, for example, have almost no shugenja in their bloodlines without an outside bloodline mingling.

>>50920264

I think all of the shugenja-focused families were founded by mortals, too. If I was going to make a big deal out of a shugenja and the Hantei, I'd probably say that a shugenja from the Hantei line was less legitimate because it proved he was closer to mortality than the divine bloodlines.

>>50920477
Yeah, pretty much. I dunno that anyone in-setting would actually make that claim (Although some people might work it out and keep it to themselves) because it would probably be seen as insulting to the Kami and the kami at best.

I think the reason why none of the divine bloodlines have it natively is that the Kami could already speak to spirits and other divine beings by virtue of being divine beings themselves, while the shugenja gift is specifically a mortal being able to commune with one particular kind of spirit. Hantei Genji could probably talk to the elemental kami because he's a half-god. But it's not the same ability that shugenja have and it faded away as the bloodline's divinity was diluted.

>>50901643
yes

the togashi tatooed monk are the punchiest school of the game, also, very fun to play, i recommend

>>50904206
really?, man, that nerfed the yoritomo courtier

>>50920155
wait, ffg is doing a fifth edition? with gimmick dices? i didnt hear that from FFG or alderac

>>50920876
Yes its going to do 5e, no we don't know if it'll use gimmick dice or not the first news on the new card game is coming in 2017 and the RPG they say they are going to do as well but it is coming second.

>>50920876
FFG bought L5R in its entirety. They're definitely making an LCG next (Soon to be this) year and an RPG of some sort after that. Literally no information is available about the RPG and very little is available for the LCG.

>>50921041
We're waiting for gencon to hear anything more than 'lcg 2017'.

>>50901499
Here's a challenge for /L5RG/
How would you run L5R in regards to the Onyx Dawn document? http://www.kazenoshiro.com/2016/08/02/the-dawn-of-onyx-edition/
TL;DR for what they had planned for Onyx Edition:
The 3 ancient seals holding Jigoku back from Ningen-do were broken by the Spider, shit went down, and now Rokugan has evacuated to the Colonies creating the Empire in Exile because now Rokugan is the Shadowlands. Plans are being made to take it back. Eventually. Maybe.
Interesting thing of note: looks like the Mantis are a minor clan again. No news on what happened to the other clans that were once Mantis.

What sort of games would you run? And can /tg/ get shit done and make this setting change awesome?

>>50921060
the last I heard the game will be launched /at/ gencon.

>>50921599
Throw everything in the trash after the Four Winds. The game went so full retard after that that it made silly shit like the Crab allying with the Shadowlands and Doji Shizue's adventures seem downright sane.

If you want to include not!India, pick up the threads from the Four Winds that got ignored, like the Mantis helping the Maharajah fight a war against dark cultists or maybe some more on the ginseng trade.

>>50918273
>So if there's something that superficially would indict someone (such as the presence of a personal piece of clothing at a crime scene), and a ranking samurai corroborates that evidence with his word, it's trusted?
This most simplistic form of evidence ('your thing was used in a crime, you must be guilty') is always the initial accusation. Then you either confess, are placed under house arrest until the dishonor forces a confession from you, or they torture you into confessing.

>And similarly, even if one samurai claims it's true evidence, but a higher ranking samurai says it isn't, then the higher ranked samurai's word is taken?
Highest rank samurai willing to state The Truth within the relevant chain of command rules.

>And in cases without evidence, it's a comparison of merely their respective words?
It's always a matter of testimony and status.

>With the only system-breaker being a duel to show who the Kami truly favor?
Or finding ways to sway higher status samurai.

>>50918799
Have you read the Command spell, or Secrets of the Empire?

>>50921771
>the Crab allying with the Shadowlands
This one makes sense before the player base turned the crab quite so rabidly one note.

>Doji Shizue's adventures
This, however, can be safely discarded.

>>50907048
Played in an Iron Rokugan game, currently on Hiatus. We have a fairly permissive GM as well. The party ended up falling almost entirely on the progress and synthesis side of things. Even my character, who is the biggest traditionalist, accepts progress because that is what the Empress wishes, and serving the will of the Empress is the duty of Samurai, so the loss of standing and influence of Bushi in society doesn't bug him at all.

The net result is that a substantial amount of the conflict has been defused. There are still problems, but a climactic final confrontation between old and modern does not seem forthcoming any time soon.

The party: Various specialists and experts drafted to work for Kaiu Daigoro, the Empress's chief engineer of the rail project.

Me: Hida Bushi, and Kaiu Daigoro's only grandson. Present solely due to nepotism. While possessing manners and refinement atypical of your stock crab, still deeply unpopular for speaking his mind and calling out hypocrisy when he sees it. He has Enemy (Various) because when he becomes aware of one, the situation tends to accelerate to people dying.

Yasuki Courtier: An unabashed scoundrel and markswoman, but absolutely brilliant. Got the ear of the Empress by winning the marksman's gambit (gun version of archer's gambit), and knowing how to speak Merane. Cucked the Otomo family when she created a bureaucracy exam which most of them couldn't pass. Once got the empire to pay her to steal Lion territory.

Kakita Artisan-trained Doji: Cousin to my crab. Painter. Poet. Playwrite. Pervert. Invented a new method of woodblock painting that made movable type possible. He invented it because his erotic woodprints are super popular. Now peasants have wank material AND access to the Tao. People's revolution might happen.

Shiba Bushi: Genius smith saddled with a mediocre Shugenja. Invented a technique to mass produce bulletproof armor. Only member of the group to be universally liked and respected.

File: laughter.jpg (40KB, 600x480px) Image search: [Google]

40KB, 600x480px

>>50923193
>blackened teeth

So that the rotten and missing ones are less noticeable!

>>50924727
>He has Enemy (Various) because when he becomes aware of one, the situation tends to accelerate to people dying.
Sounds like a variation on Imperial City Stigma.

>>50924727
>Invented a technique to mass produce bulletproof armor. Only member of the group to be universally liked and respected.

I wonder why...

>>50925043
Because she played her role in the social order and didn't challenge it by speaking truth to power, creating porn, or grubbing money.

>>50921599
I see Rokugan in this kind of scenario as united, but tense. They have a clear goal in mind, so the question is how to execute it. Building a war machine big enough to do the job likely occupies much of exile-Rokugan's resources. They're not stupid, of course. Lots of investments in the infrastructure of exile-Rokugan are necessary to make this happen. Most of the inter-clan conflict will be small scale. Individuals who subordinate the greater good to their own selfish desires will always exist. The Clans themselves will have different ideas about how to prosecute the mission, but will likely keep themselves from falling into their worst excesses, given how clear and present the danger is.

Four broad campaign ideas:
1. Preparation. A good opportunity for courtiers to flex their muscles as they try to make sure the war machine they need to build gets built.

2. War: A dramatic battle of normandy style invasion to gain a toehold back into Rokugan. After that is accomplished, slow and measured pushes to expand that territory.

3. Hold: After a beach head is established in old Rokugan, there's a lot of effort in building the area up. It can't just be a reskinning of a Crab 'Wall' game. Supply lines are too long and potentially too thin. You don't just have to hold a barren piece of land to prevent incursion, you have to make sure that the toehold becomes as self sufficient as possible. A campaign to retake Rokugan is going to need many such forward bases.

4. Mystic bullshit: Lets be honest, this is Rokugan, and a problem as big as this isn't going to be solved by throwing dudes at it, otherwise the Crab would have solved this problem over a millenia ago. Instead, its going to take mystic bullshit.Though obvious answer seems to be slapping those 3 ancient seals back on, and forms the strongest lead for whoever gets tasked with dealing with the problem. But it might be that there are other solutions, or that this solution simply won't work.

>>50921771
What would history would you create? Presume an ending year of 1200. (four winds ends,what, 1166? Shit, that is way too much crap taking place over that little time)

File: Honor-and-Treachery-Sample-Art-3.jpg (59KB, 600x424px) Image search: [Google]

59KB, 600x424px

>>50921599
I would go for the "Onyx Empire is Best Empire" route and portray the Onyx Empire as the better of the two sides. Yeah, shit might be weirder and edgier in the Onyx Empire, but at least it is not filled with narcissistic hypocrites who can't tell apart their heads from their asses. It is Daigotsu's Shadowland after all, and the City of the Lost was a pretty cool place all things considered.

Then, we have the Empire in Exile. It would be like the Emerald Empire during the Second Day of Thunder but without people to hold it together like Toturi. The Clans are at each others' throats as they go from crisis to crisis, their meager resources are wasted, and their very identities are torn apart as they fumble around. The Crab is going Kisada, the Lion is paralyzed by not!Tsuko and her shitfest, the Crane is wasted and one leg in the Onyx Empire either way, the Dragon is impotent, the Scorpion is pretty much non-existent, the Phoenix is neck-deep in Maho fuckery, and the Unicorn is getting Kolat'd again.

Cue in the players going from the chaotic but "good" Empire in Exile to the orderly but "evil" Onyx Empire, and have your random samurai drama about 'duty' versus 'reality'.

Hello there everyone ! Glad to see you all here.

I need ideas for my next big NPCs, whom will be a Yorimoto merchant who specializes in taming and selling exotic pets from the Iron Islands to rich samurais and his sister who is a bushi and is the one who actually goes in the jungle and captures the exotic animals alive for the taming.

They care deeply about each other and even if they are seperated a lot by the exploring of the latter, they always celebrate when they come together to exchange the animals.

The brother is more excentric and fun to be around, even though his ego tends to take a bit too much place
The sister is much more quiet in public but is never dull when talking about what she does for a living.
They both love the creatures they capture and care about and try to avoid killing animals as much as possible.

What family could they have ? More brothers or sisters ? What could be their parents like ? What animal should each have ?

I was thinking parrot for the courtier and a laughing falcon (an exotic bird of prey who eats snakes) for the bushi.

>>50926193
Based on the "Echoes of Thunder" story from Onyx Dawn, and "Dawn" from http://www.kazenoshiro.com/2016/11/04/onyx-edition-epilogue/ , they might be going with that. But so far looks like AEG was thinking about a major timeskip. Makes sense, since they would only have to release just new cards instead of constantly updating old ones.

>>50925805
That would be pretty cool, especially if you bounce between "Squads of cross-clan bushi sent out to do X" and the Daimyo rules from Secrets of The Empire.

My current take? the Emerald Exiles have fallen to shit, with the grandkids of the refugees fighting between themselves over creating New Rokugan or taking back a homeland they have never seen. (old vs new). The Onyx Empire currently sends attack troops through the jungles and mountains that seperate the former colonies from the old shadow lands, and also sends infiltrator squads to cause havoc and convert more to their cause. (Need more resources? We got you... Just allow us to taint you...), while dealing with resistance movements among the populace.
Meanwhile, the Yobajin are fleeing both north and south, the Yodotai are looking at both like "You might be tasty... But those demon things might give us indigestion", and the old gaijin trading partners of the Tortoise are very worried. Cue Rokugan having to beg for trade from the gaijin to support themselves and paying with mercenary service - but only with samurai that have learned how to use guns.

>>50926780
In such a situation, is keeping true to the identity of Rokugan worth letting everyone you know dieing?

>>50924763
I always assumed it was a contrast thing. Like the red cochineal used by aztec women.

>>50926193
>Shadowlands
>good

FOUND THE SPIDER-FAG, RAISE YOUR BANNERS.

>>50926193
Why is evil in quotes?

You know Jigoku is the Japanese word for evil, right? The Taint isn't good, unless you're some weird fucker who thinks Satan powers at the cost of your sanity because you can't tow the line and act like a normie is fine.

>inb4 "but being a fuckhead is normal"

File: The_Sacrifice_of_Tsudao.jpg (815KB, 2400x1800px) Image search: [Google]

815KB, 2400x1800px

>>50927106
You gotta admit, the City of the Lost was a pretty dope place until Iuchiban ruined it, and it was literally in the middle of the Shadowlands (not exactly a civilization-friendly place).

Yeah, you are now ruled by asshole daemons and their edge-lord followers instead of asshole dragons and their drama-queen followers, but that sounds a lot like a sidegrade for me.

>>50927238
The dragons are assholes, but they're assholes in the "we run the cosmos, and that shit is stressful" except for the Onyx Dragon, but he's a god damn weirdo, and generally want life to prosper and generally be pretty alright. It's not an easy life, and it might not even be a happy life, but you can at least go to sleep with some comfort in knowing you have a reasonable chance of dying of old age.

Jigoku, meanwhile, couldn't give a fuck about you and eventually makes you go full retard and start killing things, like your friends, family, and other such fun shit.

That's the thing about the Spider philosophy - on paper, it sounds perfectly reasonable, and it has a lot of Western ideals like self-determination, independence, all that good shit. The PROBLEM is that it's espoused by literally evil people with edge in their veins who, let's be entirely honest, would probably make up a good chunk of 4chan's userbase if 4chan existed in that setting.

I'm content to have dragons and drama-queens, you can DEAL with that.

>>50927167
>Why is evil in quotes?

The same reason good is in quotes. Jigoku IS evil, but at least it doesn't pretend otherwise, and that's appreciable. Daigotsu&co might be assholes but they are honest about it and don't expect you to see it any other way. Not like Tengoku&co who are also assholes but expect you to firmly believe otherwise, and will throw a fit and kill you if you disagree.

>>50927345
>I'm content to have dragons and drama-queens, you can DEAL with that.

The problem is that you really can't. If shit hits the fan then you are screwed, because the dragons and their drama-queen followers are calling the shots and you can do nothing against it. You can't just pick up a weapon and fight your way out of the mess.

As you said, Jigoku, on the other hand, doesn't give a flying shit about who you are and what place you supposedly have in some weird-ass system. If you get the guts, then you are more than welcome to forge your own way however you see fit.

The only real difference is that with the dragons you end up being ignorant, negligent, and vain - with the daemons you become cruel, crazy, and spiteful.

File: Yodotai.jpg (948KB, 1800x1367px) Image search: [Google]

948KB, 1800x1367px

Are there any other known non-Rokugani cultures beyond the ones in the burning sands and the ivory colonies?

>>50928930
Thrane and Merenae, but they are mostly dead due to a magical MAD situation.

>>50928930
I love how intense bottom left wolf is. Like, they all serious business, but that wolf is like "you don't want to fuck with me, white boy."

File: showimage.jpg (223KB, 427x600px) Image search: [Google]

223KB, 427x600px

>>50929217
I like the tiger on this card. I think he's there because the guy writing flavor text mentioned a tiger, but the guy doing the art wasn't told about it and they just photoshopped a tiger in to get it to the printers.

>>50927345
>it's espoused by literally evil people with edge in their veins who, let's be entirely honest, would probably make up a good chunk of 4chan's userbase if 4chan existed in that settin
>not posting on /jgk/ right now
New lostfags are the worst

>>50929189
It took me a while to realize their zombie pox is the in universe black death happening. They'll be fine in time.

>>50929217
>Beware the ides of march she said
>Bitch please, I am the Wolf of March street

>>50927345
The PROBLEM really is that it's injecting western ideals into a game about eastern ideals. No man is an island. Trust the bureaucracy.

Anyone know a good L5R character sheet on Roll20?

>>50931936
No. The one on roll20 is garbage.

>>50926193
>not filled with narcissistic hypocrites who can't tell apart their heads from their asses.
I think you'll find that the vast majority of "social" oni are narcissistic and a depressingly large number of them literally can't tell their heads from their asses because those are actually the same fucked up tainted organ.

>>50927345
>>50931598
The actual problem is that all that shit it espouses is literally a lie because all of them end up as Jigoku's slave. It's a philosophy of self-determination and independence that puts you on the fast track towards lobotomized taint-slave, with literally no self-determination whatsoever.

>>50926193
>Daigotsu's Shadowland
Daigot-Sue should have had the decency to die when Tsudao killed him, before the writers decided he was the guy to do everything.

>>50932479
Yeah, the taint is literally Jigoku as an entity laying a complete and total claim to your mind, body, and soul. Jigoku is jealous and aggressive enough that it tries to insert its own control into other realms (Which is why there's a shadowlands at all). Even the "dark lord of Jigoku", whoever that may be at the time (Fu Leng, Kali Ma, Daigotsu), keeps their full faculties at its whim. Most people who get tainted either lose their mind because Jigoku doesn't need that or get their mind overwritten by an pseudo-oni imposter. And either way, they only act as Jigoku wants them to act.

>>50932585
Not quite; Fu Leng could beat back the control of Jigoku, while Daigotsu literally became the master of Jigoku. K-Ma I gave even less of a shit about, so won't get into.

>>50933052
Fu Leng was dropped like a rock when Jigoku was done with him. K-Ma was also dumped when Jigoku found something better.
Daigotsu is complete and total bullshit through and through. Absolutely nobody should be able to overpower the will of a spiritual realm from within, and definitely not one with such active, aggressive control.

>>50933113
> dropped, dumped
That's a matter of withdrawing support, not overriding willpower.

>>50901499
I never played the CCG, why does everyone hate Spider Clan?

>>50933725
in the beginning there were nine kami who fell to ningendo.

Hantei, who became the first emperor, the seven who started the original clans, and Fu Leng, who fell too hard and broke a hole into the spirit realm of scat fetishists.

Fu Leng (who always had a grudge against his siblings) is "corrupted" by Jigoku, and declares war against the new emerald empire. After over 1000 years of trying to genocide the human race and cover the world in shit, Fu Leng's son decides that all the other Kami got clans so it's only fair that he gets a clan. Thus the Spider were born.

>>50933725
It's the mary sue clan that consists of players who want to be the exception that do not fit into the story. Once that mary sue clan was the mantis and their quest for great clanhood, then it become the spider

>>50933725
They completely broke some of the very well established setting concepts, including some metaphysics, and they were given extreme amounts of favoritism by AEG, up to the point that the most recent arc was going to be completely dominated by the Spider. Rules were bent in their favor, like not being a valid target of another clan even though they were a full faction that was able to target other clans themselves, and getting inflated victory points for easy achievements with reduced difficulty thresholds.

>>50933816
>After over 1000 years of trying to genocide the human race and cover the world in shit, Fu Leng's son decides that all the other Kami got clans so it's only fair that he gets a clan.
You forgot the part where they got accepted as a legal Great Clan on par with the others, despite being on the other side of an ongoing, genocidal theological war. The only time Rokugan was not at war with Jigoku was the brief two or three decades between the kami falling and Fu Leng getting his shit together enough to march North. Rokugan has an entire Great Clan dedicated to militarily fighting this, and not one, but five (Emerald Magistrates, Jade Magistrates, Phoenix Inquisitors, Scorpion Blackwatch, and Kuni Witch Hunters) different religious police organizations dedicated to wiping it out, and it still became a legal great clan and still managed to hold that status after literally every condition of the deal was broken. Daigotsu didn't stay dead, the taint was still spreading but wasn't detectable, and not all of the Spider's visibly tainted members left for the colonies.

>>50933816
>nine kami
And Ryoshun.

>Fu Leng's son
Hantei's descendant.

>all the other Kami got clans so it's only fair that he gets a clan
Never mind that he has an empire, and that there's a whole world beyond Rokugan.

File: hiruma_silence_by_inna_vjuzhanina-dagpdyi.png (830KB, 900x675px) Image search: [Google]

830KB, 900x675px

>>50933816
>Fu Leng's son

Daigotsu is Hantei's mega-great-son, not Fu Leng's. Fu Leng only has a daughter (from a Doji chick btw) who was killed by Daigotsu's waifu.

>>50933830
>>50933832
>Being a mary sue
>Breaking established setting concepts
>Receiving extreme favoritism
>Being a bad thing in Rokugan

I guess you guys hate literally every official L5R story ever. Maybe except some of the early Four Winds ones.

>>50934017
>I guess you guys hate literally every official L5R story ever.

I know I do.

>>50934017
>Being a mary sue
>Breaking established setting concepts
>Receiving extreme favoritism
>Being a bad thing in Rokugan
you forgot >Receiving extreme favoritism as an entire faction for every single arc after being introduced
The Spider have been dominating the CCG since being introduced, and have slowly been dominating everything else.
Even "Can do no wrong" Toku and his Monkey had the decency to stop being relevant after his own little arc was done.

>>50934053
>Even "Can do no wrong" Toku and his Monkey had the decency to stop being relevant after his own little arc was done.

Aren't you forgetting about the Crane? They have literally never done anything wrong as a clan.

>>50934070
Nah, they've done plenty wrong, they just have good PR.
The Monkey, meanwhile, are literally the best at everything they put their mind to except expanding as a political entity. They're the best at being honorable and staying that way, they're the best bushi and also the best at making friends in court. Their saving grace is that they're tiny, irrelevant to the overall setting, and stay that way.

>>50934098
Name me a single thing that the Crane has done wrong.

>>50934113
Gozoku.

>>50934136
1. Created the foundation for the Otomo and expanded the powers of the imperial families, without which the setting would have devolved into feudal style clan on clan war nonstop, which is bad.

2. Was dissolved because of a Crane.

>>50934182
The Otomo are not good people and fail to prevent the setting from devolving into feudal clan on clan warfare every time it happens. Many times, they intentionally provoke it, along with inciting problems literally just to throw their own weight around and establish that they've got the biggest balls in court.
The actions of a single crane does not reflect on the clan as a whole (Or else I'd just have said "Harriers" and left it at that).

>>50934237
They do provoke war, but only when the clans are fat and they want to go to war anyway. The Otomo's job is basically the Scorpions, keep everyone in line. Without them, Rokugan would have fallen long ago.

>>50934113
They bypassed the Crab in smuggling repentant Lost into the Empire, establishing the way D would smuggle in the pre-Spider.

>>50934268
>They do provoke war, but only when the clans are fat and they want to go to war anyway.
No, they actively break up friendships and alliances and make life worse for everyone who isn't themselves or the Emperor.
The second and third Yasuki Wars would never have happened if they hadn't fabricated an entire lineage for that sole purpose.

>>50934113
Pretty much everything Doji Hoturi was involved with except the Day of Thunder. The Harriers. Gozoku and Gozoku II: Usurping Boogaloo. Yajindin. Doji Shizue.

>>50934017
>literally every official L5R story ever
There are some great l5r stories that don't touch on any of those things.

>>50934716
Like the Tanuki Clan. All they ever did was confuse one emperor, amuse another, and piss off a third in absentia.

>>50934679
>Yajinden
Don't be dissing Yajinden. The story team never got around to fucking his story up, last check.

>>50934742
Yajinden is a great villain. But he is definitely a sin of the Crane. The fact that despite him being totally evil he still embodies much of what the Crane hold most dear.

>>50934804
In the sense that he's a source of regret, shame, dishonour, etc for the Crane, sure. But the Crane as a clan didn't push in bad directions or receive uncharacteristic writing for a ccg arc or anything because of him. They just truck on as the clan with good pr.

So I'm a Hida Bushi in the roleplaying game (4th edition).

Do you typically increase a ring beyond rank five? Which stats should I focus on?

>>50936211
It's very rare due to costs and lethality.

Generally you want to focus on agility, strength, stamina, and willpower. Then reflexes 3 for ATN. Perception to 3 after those, for the increased movement.

>>50936211
You can increase a ring beyond 5, but it's really not likely to happen due to ever increasing XP costs.

>>50936285
>>50936260
I've seen players do it for their primary attack trait (and Void if they didn't get Great Potential with the skill they most intended to use), since knowing you can raise six times and still maybe even hit is sickeningly tempting to some people.

>>50936260
>>50936260
Up to a certain number? I'm going down the Hida Berserker path for IC reasons, so I got Earth to 4 first.

>>50933988
Ryoshun was dead before the fall, having been in Onnotangu's belly the longest. I don't think he counts.

Tsuruchi best clan

Rokugan would work better as an Island or a peninsula.
That's a fact.

>>50936480
Its physical size is nonsensically small. The place is about as big as two UKs according to the Atlas of Rokugan. Can't we just say 'in land area it is comparable to Japan, but less long'? That'd be half again as big and allow somewhat better for the wide ecological and bio diversity you see in it.

I mean nothing is stopping you from ignoring that especially if you don't have the Atlas and just scaling it up a bit in your own head, I just find it stupid that's the last official word you know?

File: 7th-Sea-Map-Combined.gif (517KB, 1102x689px) Image search: [Google]

517KB, 1102x689px

>>50936530
John Wick can't into maps. At least Rokugan isn't as retarded as Theah from 7th Sea.

>>50936762
The 2e map looks less unnatural but is still dumb. But at least it isn't as ugly

>>50936909
If you turn it sideways, Theah is godzilla. The Syrnthe did it.

>>50936953
Fucking syrne

>>50937695
that fucking prophet uikku. I bet he was a syrne!

>>50939655
>Accusing honored Uikku of being a filthy non-human
I bet you're the Syrne, hiding your people's tracks

>>50939869
>Defending a strange boy with knowledge beyond his years and prophecies that must be fulfilled, but must also be thwarted to save the Empire
>Exactly John Wick
>I bet the Syrne were Wick's idea too
>He always has a self-insert. They are always dead. And strange.
>Uikku is Dead and Strange. The Syrne are Dead and Strange.
>Wick retcons conspiracies into settings by using them to explain inconsistencies
>7th Sea came after L5R
>The Syrne are the people behind Uikku.

>>50936762
I'm almost speechless by how bad this world is... Is this fucking real. Did someone actually get paid for this?

So I just watched Ran (by Kurosawa) which is basically King Lear but in medieval Japan.

So now I want to make a scenario about succession after a leader's death.

I thought about three ways of doing so :

In the Lion clan, along the lines of the Antigone story, with to twin brothers of opposing temper and the brother of the fallen Daimyo fighting for the throne.

In the Scorpion Clan, with the Bayushi family leader being dead with no official designated heir (and he probably did it on purpose the silly bastard, he loved to fuck with his family), a bastard son, a little sister that may be too inexperienced and a weird cousin who may be a bit too much into knowing dark secrets.

Or within the Crane Clan, much more in the family dramas sort of way, with adultery, drugs, trafic and a really cheesy forbidden romance, were every contestant has done something bad and are all bizarrely not interested by the responsibility (the mission being then to find the least idle one and convincing him of taking the job)

What do you say ?

File: tumblr_odiy4p6ELq1sazby5o1_1280.jpg (134KB, 600x900px) Image search: [Google]

134KB, 600x900px

>>50941342

File: 1481840331986.jpg (392KB, 800x566px) Image search: [Google]

392KB, 800x566px

>>50941409

>>50913859
4 ashigaru/round is as good as one gets. No defeating a whole platoon with one hit "because they are low-powerlevel"

>>50941482
You could potentially learn the technique ogres use to cleave through multiple opponents ...just not in a standard game.

>>50941618
In what sort of game exactly can you learn an Ogre's technique ?!

File: 7th sea 2e.jpg (462KB, 2448x1584px) Image search: [Google]

462KB, 2448x1584px

>>50940469
Yep, it is 1e 7th Sea's map. 2e isn't as bad, they got rid of that silly as fuck river splitting the continent.

>>50943144
An awesome one?

File: Kitsuki.png (36KB, 200x200px) Image search: [Google]

36KB, 200x200px

Does anyone know of any place I could find some good riddles or koans that would fit L5R? I'm playing a Dragon and I'm terrible at coming up with that sort of thing on my own, so I need ideas :<

File: Almost!Rokugan.png (593KB, 1015x612px) Image search: [Google]

593KB, 1015x612px

>>50936530
It is because the original idea behind the Rokugani geography is pic related. It actually fits as per the distances given in the Atlas of Rokugan, but it is bullshit anyway.

>>50944443
As it is I think that the Rokugan as sized in the Atlas would fit like 10 inside China there.

>>50944443
>Southeast Asia is the Shadowlands
Is this some kind of Vietnam War joke?

File: Dragon Vassal.jpg (198KB, 540x710px) Image search: [Google]

198KB, 540x710px

>>50941482
>4 ashigaru/round is as good as one gets
>I had a Mirumoto Bushi once who could potentially kill 14 enemies at Insight Rank 3

Welp

>>50944355
Look up actual Buddhist koans, it shouldn't be hard to find some.

>>50940869
I feel like these ideas would be better if you switched the clans they are centered around up a bit.

Have the intrigue plot feature the Lion Clan. Make it so that the dead family leader trusted his kids to handle the inheritance honorably, but the kids are too suspicious of each other. Also afraid of a bastard son on the side trying to plot his way to power, and afraid the weird cousin may be too ambitious for his own good. They all have a paranoid, "I know this kind of plot is base and dishonorable, but if I don't do it, they will do it to me" mindset

Give the Scorpion the more militant secession with two twins with opposing tempers and the brother of the fallen Daimyo. The Daimyo's brother however has very powerful friends and the twin brothers are threated to be wiped out completely through brute force if they can't manage to trust, work together, and keep to the duel-leadership from Antigone

How do I obtain cute yojimbo bf?

>>50946276
Be non arrogant Isawa?

>>50946366
Be kind thoughtful Utaku ?

And like all Utaku, tighten your mighty thighs around his head as often as possible

How original is re-making the Sengoku Jidai as the main intrigue of your campaign?

>>50947451
Why don't you ask the Clan Wars, Four Winds, and Race for the Throne arcs of L5R?

File: Torn-Asunder-Sample-Art-2.jpg (66KB, 600x442px) Image search: [Google]

66KB, 600x442px

>>50947451
There is an alternate setting, the Shattered Empire, that has this. So not very original.

>>50946276
You have to hit the sweet spot of being a middling-low importance courtier or shugenja on a middling danger assignment. If you're too important, they'll send a grizzly veteran who is really competent. If it's too dangerous, you might get more than one security guard, which means someone else will probably catch you making moves on their colleague.
But if you're only kinda important, and the mission is only kinda dangerous, you might get a fresh faced yojimbo, who is probably male in a generic interpretation of Rokugan.

>>50947899
>they'll send a grizzly veteran who is really competent.
By which I mean they'll be really competent, but in no way cute and not at all interested in you as a person.

>>50944906
>Welp
That's because the Mirumoto rape train had no breaks in the past.

>>50947597
>>50947847
By Sengoku Jidai I mean the conclusions;
>some genius warlord (I'm still unsure about what clan he should be from) wins the war thanks to an organised army of peasants and smart uses of teppo
>is betrayed and killed by his most loyal lieutenant
>another lieutenant takes control of the whole Empire
>leads a huge campaign against Shadowlands, that ends up as a huge failure
>dies of a strange disease, Sekigahara occurs, etc

>>50947910
Isawa Tadaka would disagree.

>>50948103
>leads a huge campaign against Shadowlands, that ends up as a huge failure

This is where the timeline would likely diverge from mirroring Sengoku. Shadowlands now have access to guns and they steamroll the weakened rokugan.

>>50948103
>leads a huge campaign against Shadowlands, that ends up as a huge failure

It should be
>Sends his pacified enemies against the Shadowlands and gets them butchered to the last man

>>50948168
>Shadowlands now have access to guns and they steamroll the weakened rokugan.
I would disagree. The shadowlands really doesn't have much in the way of manufacturing capability, and scavenged blackpowder would have a very high chance of being tainted (In the sense that it has been contaminated) or possibly not working right even if it's clean because nothing burns well down there.
And then, even if you did get a bunch of working guns and ammo and powder, the number of shadowland beings that could actually use one would be negligible. Goblins would have a 50/50 chance of even bothering to load it, and then a 50/50 chance of loading it ball first, powder second. Most oni and lost either don't have working hands or don't have the mental capacity to use weapons at all. Even some of the oni that do seem to use weapons popped out of the hole with their weapon already in hand and can't actually pick up another one.
And then it's canon that the Kaiu were always interested in cannons and put a shit ton of them on their wall in any alternate setting with rokuguns, which means the shadowlands would be rolling in on volleys of 10k10 damage (That tends to completely ignore Reduction of any kind) operated by masterfully skilled cannon crews on top of a solid stone wall.

>>50948302
The gaijin fleet from the Battle of the White Stag ended up in the Shadowlands' grasp and they had all kinds crazy-ass corrupted cannons when they returned as well as monsters crewing their ships.

>>50901643
The classical punchy "class" are the monks, but my personal favorite are the Mantis Brawlers, guys who fight using the Drunken Fist martial art.

I had one in a game who basically acted always like an idiot but had contacts in the Scorpion and a personal spy network. Fun times.

>>50944355
What is Buddha?

>>50944355
The wiki and the Way Of The Dragon should be useful for a few ideas.

>female bushi

lol

File: Lets fork.jpg (176KB, 428x600px) Image search: [Google]

176KB, 428x600px

>>50949749
Too bad Hiroshimoot got rid of your (you)s.

>>50949813
(you)

>>50951620
The worst part is I had a subfolder in my reaction images about (you). All that careful collection, rendered a historical artifact that newfags won't even get in a year or two.

Which is kind of cool I guess, really. Its a slice of our e-culture in a bottle.

>>50952237
I still enjoy my (you)s thanks to custom CSS.

but for real though, it still displays (you) for me. I didn't even change anything. What gives?

>>50952287
Have you refreshed the page at all today or yesterday? Because it won't kick in until you do that.

>>50952237
You can get your you back by writing a line of code somewhere in the settings

File: Emperor-Meiji[1].jpg (284KB, 1135x600px) Image search: [Google]

284KB, 1135x600px

How would you make a campaign based on the 19th century Rokugan, inspired by the event of the Boshin War?

Lewd.

>>50952944
I think there's an AU of Rokugan set five centuries ahead of the current storyline, where the clans have grown fat and corrupt, the Shadowlands have stopped to the point a yearly Five Goblin Winter is declared for sport, and foreign powers are making Rokugan more decadent and corrupt, with a trio (known as the Three Old Men) are basically setting Rokugan to self-destruct so they can pick up the pieces to exploit everything.

Your characters are supposed to basically help Rokugan get it's shit together and smoothly transition into modernity while still keeping it's cultural roots.

File: onyxempirestrikes.jpg (83KB, 750x422px) Image search: [Google]

83KB, 750x422px

>>50926193

>lawful evil empire
>chaotic good people in exile

File: daigotsu_kanpeki_onyx_by_diegogisbertllorens-da34uyz.jpg (161KB, 1041x767px) Image search: [Google]

161KB, 1041x767px

>>50955961

The Empire in Exile (or the Emerald Empire in general) is closer to neutral evil desu.

>>50956283
Spiderfag detected.

File: Second_Day_of_Thunder.jpg (297KB, 1800x1350px) Image search: [Google]

297KB, 1800x1350px

>>50957909

The Spider is clearly Chaotic Evil. At which point the real question is whether you favor the cynical hypocrisy of NE and the false sense of security it brings, or you feel like you have the balls to fuck the system and go full CE.

File: daigotsu setsuko.jpg (96KB, 900x600px) Image search: [Google]

96KB, 900x600px

So if you had your druthers with the setting but had to keep all the dumb decisions made at the end of the Destroyer War, how would you have handled the Spider as a GC if you absolutely had no choice in the matter?

Because the best option I saw so far was the one that wasn't taken in the final AEG kotei, where the Daigotsu worshipping leadership tries to make them turn on the Empire and the bulk of the clan go 'nuh uh' and side with the rest of Rokugan out of loyalty to the throne who had given them recognition.

>>50958832
I'd strictly keep them out in the colonies. Yeah, they have ambitions, but the potential consequences of being caught in mainland Rokugan should be enough to keep them running their little fief out there.

>>50958832
Have the Scorpion wiped out by the Second Festering Pit, then make the Spider their stand-in with the Scorpion reduced to a Kolat-like decentralized network.

Trying to get into L5R RPG and wanted to know what are some pros and cons from each clan. What are some stereotypes of the clans and their players.

This is your chance to recruit a newbie to your favorite clan...

>>50959966
1) Everybody is assholes
2)The Fox are only pretending to be Mantis
3)Everybody in the Mantis faking at their being a Great Clan
4)Minor Clans are the Best, especially the Fox, Wasp, and Centipede.

>>50960045
Why the hate for the Mantis? They may not be the best clan but they´re trying. Or has it something to do with the story fiat I heard about?

>>50960082
People tend to hate the Mantis because they assimilate a bunch of neat minor clans and most official art and story stuff erases their individual styles and overwrites them with Yoritomo Green. It was cooler when it was the minor clan alliance. They had a real "underdog that can actually get shit done while still being an underdog" feel to them.

>>50960082
AS >>50960130
said.The Mantis would have been cool if AEG had given a long enough storyline break to actually build their forces without the flat-out theft they did. But no, they needed 5 campaigns worth of world-ending threats over a period of about... 5 years. It's like one of the American adaptations of animu, where it was built for one season of plot, but the show demands more seasons, so they keep adding on bigger and bigger threats with breaks that might be a few years in-story.
And the story fiat is that apparently somebody at a tournament won a "name your prize" game and demanded that the Fox join the Mantis.
Some people say he came close the nxt year to demanding that all the Minors join the Mantis Clan.

Assuming it's in an era where the Hantei rule, what happens exactly if the Emperor lone heir dies, and the emperor himself is really old and not too far away from death
In theory you just dig up the Emperors brothers children in the Otomo family, but I feel like there would be some serious actual power struggles. Would it be a plausibel setup for an all out clan wars?

>>50960329
>In theory you just dig up the Emperors brothers children in the Otomo family
This is exactly what happens. They all join the Otomo, who keep them close at hand so they always have an abundance of spares.

>but I feel like there would be some serious actual power struggles. Would it be a plausibel setup for an all out clan wars?

There could be if several candidates have been fostered out to or made close friends in different clans, but for the most part, the Otomo have that on lock down.

>>50960363
Alright. I might actually combine this with a reimagined version (a less retarded one) of Shojo and his "coup" for a campaign. You know, make it about subterfuge and not marching an army into the capital.

>>50960082
>>50960130
>>50960181
I was actually thinking of making either a Lion or Mantis PC.

Can Yoritomo Bushi dual wield a katana and a knife? Or is it only peasant weapons?

>>50959966
>Pros

If you became interested in L5R because of samurai, the Lion Clan is the place for all traditional, bushido-loving samurai

If you want variety, the Lion offer the stoic honor-bound Akodo, the aggressive head-strong Matsu, the diplomatic Ikoma, or the scholarly/other-worldly Kitsu.

Just like how a good, well played paladin makes a great player, a Lion character is great when played well

Not the Crane

>Cons

If your GM isn't running a good vs evil game, the Lion are probably the bad guys

All paladin stereotypes apply here. Lawful Stupid is a problem

I've never seen it played, but the Mary Kitsue family is special snowflake bait

>>50959966
Crab. We've got big burly musclemen, lithe scouts, the best engineers and craftsmen in the country, shugenja who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, and the jewiest merchants this side of the Tortoise, and it all interlocks to create a war engine that has been protecting Rokugan for over 1000 years* and is only outclassed by the Lion and Unicorn because it can't be brought to bear internally*. We're also the least likely to care about your background and give Ronin a fair chance at honest, if dangerous and dirty work, and even the potential to join up in full when we need extra help.
Downsides are that the Crab are not polite. Even the Yasuki are pushier than most people, and the stereotype for the other families is that they're too busy running a war to be nice (Although the Kaiu make an effort to be bare minimum polite if they aren't busy at that moment). Of course, it's completely possible to make a Hida, Hiruma, or Kuni who tries to not offend everyone around them, but the stereotype goes the other way.
A lot of people like the Crab, but some of the fans are really insufferable.

*Except that one time when we forgot what we were supposed to be doing and steamrolled right up to the capital alongside an allied shadowlands horde.

>>50959966
Gross oversimplifications, but:
Lion or Crab is perfect for a first time character because it requires no real finesse or deeper understanding of the setting to play. By definition you are a rabid warmongering asshole who either is obsessed with war because of muh bushido, or you are obsessed with war because of muh Wall. Unicorn also is a decent into character since they are basicly alien to the setting and nobody expects those savage assholes to behave like civilized people (read; people who know about the rules of the setting). Mantis are also this to a lesser degree.
If you are feeling a bit more comfortable in the setting, check out the Crane who are you classical diplomats/duelists, or if you are really good at playing "the token evil guy of the team", Scorpion. And if you want to play a magician, go for Phoenix. And if you want to play as Jedi monks, go for the Dragon/monks.
Basicly, all clans are good and have interesting aspects, and while they generally have on stereotype that characterizes them there are so many families, sub families, schools and specialisations that you can play any archetype in any clan.

But not the spider. Fuck the spider. Always.

>>50959839
What if the Scorpion became the Spider, under the influence of the second pit?

>>50960497
>make it about subterfuge and not marching an army into the capital
What do you think happened before he marched an army into the capital?

>>50959966
ok, lets do this

crab: seen as brute, takes no shit from anyone. Call people's bullshit. Not interested in politics. they have hell in their backyard so more concerned with that.

crane: beautiful, created the system of politics and justice, so very good at it. low military power, prefer to rely on imperial authority to defend themselves. great artists. very rich

dragon: mystics from the mountains. introspect. often hesitate to act on events. mystic tatooed monk. focus on the weird interpretation of tradition like 2 sword, spells in potion form and justice by evidence.

phoenix: MAGIC MAAAAGIC!!! seriously, the best magician in rokugan. knows about it so tend to be arrogant about it. tend to like peace and is ready to impose it by force (fire) if necessary

lion: tradition and bushido. huge military and tend to find reasons to attack clans with weak military so that they dont let themselves go. best tacticians in rokugan. hold a grudge easy. takes matters of honor seriously

mantis: pirate ish samurai, earn great clan status by holding the empire hostage, composed of a bunch of different ex minor clan.

scorpion: empire's designated villains. love their job. lying, assasination, poison. surprisingly good at entertainment stuff. totally no ninja in the scorpion *wink wink* WAY more open about being dishonorable than the crane. will still duel you if you say that they are dishonorable. have a loyalty fetish

unicorn: left the country a long while, came back. cavalry power house. loves horses. treat peasant particularly well. not totally accepted by natives because they bred with ntive tribes outside of rokugan.

spider: tainted clan of evil. worshipping the god of evil openly. screams that they are totally legit you guys and not just preparing to splode the empire in the end

i dont like the spider.

minor clan, like sparrow and monkey: flavorful, mostly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things

ronin: mostly bandit and canon fodder

>>50961334
>crane: beautiful, created the system of politics and justice
Actually, the Scorpion are the most responsible for modern (Meaning after the first few centuries) justice. They created the legal precedent about magic not being admissible, they worked the most to reform the judgement system to the modern magistrate model, and they tend to police things the hardest when they aren't ignoring their own illicit operations.

>>50961424
And the move to testimony based justice (Testimony of a high enough rank can override evidence) is, apparently, because of the Kolat making it easier for their agents to hide.
The Kitsuki get away with evidence based justice is because if they collect the evidence, it's considered their testimony.

>>50961424
http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Saibankan

it was mostly him and the emerald champion doji hatsuo helped quite a lot making people accept his weird new way.

i do stand my point, crane mastered the face part better.

scorpion are better at finding ways to ignore the justice system

>>50961275
Some pretty stupid shit where he teleports a clan army into the Capital through "stealth". There was no way he was going to win once he takes over the city by force. A use of subterfuge in the leadup does not take away that the plane in itself was retarded beyond comprehension and no amount of blood sword manipulation could explain something so blatantly foolish

How do I make the spider clan a non-retarded great clan?

>>50961566
You don't. The spider are antithetical to Rokugan as a setting. A non retarded version of the Spider is probably the Scorpion, and they are pretty retarded in their own right (I say that with a lot of love)

>>50961739
This.
The Spider are tolerable early on when they're a faux minor clan that is trying to be legitimate by working in areas where they won't be called out for their bullshit. Recruit some ronin under the guise of being a nice big otodake, help out some peasants and tell them the Spider Clan is the reason why they don't have a bandit problem anymore, set up shop in an abandoned fort way up in the mountains, ect.
It's when they actually move into the open and get legitimized that they become shit.

Do the clans and schools mirror or resemble any D&D 5e classes mechanic wise?

>>50961881
No. They really don't. Not unless you really abstract them.
In fact, I'll try to.

>>50961881
No.
Well, some of the Bushi Techniques probably resemble a few specific Warmaster Fighter options, but shugenja don't get or cast spells like D&D magic users (Instead, they get a number of spells based on their combined stats, and casting times are based on how advanced the spell is), and there's not really anything equivalent to courtiers. Maybe a handful of isolated Bard abilities, but nothing worth mentioning as a codified "this is the same" statement.

>>50961930
>Instead, they get a number of spells based on their combined stats
I mean spells per day here. The number of spells they actually get is based on rank, but kinda unlimited since they can cast anything they have a scroll for and comprehend.

Is there any good Clan quiz out there?

>>50961881
>>50961903
Clan functions like race without stat bonuses, and informs the cultural base you're working from
Family actually gives you a stat bonus
There are only three classes:
>Fight things with a sword (Bushi)
>Fight things with social maneuvering (Courtier)
>Fight things with magic (Shugenja)
Every clan has its variations on these classes, and there is almost no way to multiclass, even between variations. Sword and Magic do not cross over. Ever. Each variant has a list of skills you auto get one point in, and a list of coll things you can do as you level up.
But, you are not restricted in your skill choices, so you can generate overlap in abilities, or give yourself options that fly in the face of stereotype (like a paladin learning how to rogue)
Examples from my upcoming game
>Dragon Clan, Kitsuki family, Murimoto Bushi school. Skills overlap to allow Courtier style actions. Atypical character from the fact that due to stat bonuses, I should've gone with Murimoto family and different advantages/disadvantages for maximum rampage.
>Crane Clan, Doji family, Doji Courtier. Seems simple, but she takes after her Bayushi mother and nobody expects a Crane to underhand like a Scorpion. Atypical in that character concept could've bowed down to stats and been a Bayushi Courtier who presented against type.

>>50961881
Yup. Clans are Races with Families as Sub-Races. Schools are Classes and you progress through them almost the same way too (you advance in "leaps" tied to your character level).

>>50962022
>Dubs of Truth

Thanks anon, your post was very helpful.

I'm actually interested in making some type of bushi. Are there certain clan/family/school combinations that help them excel in certain roles?

The only ones I understand (correct me if I'm wrong) is the Hida Bushi are great tanks, Matsu Beserker DPS and Tsuruchi Archer are ranged DPS.

Moto Bushi is a cavalier type and Akodo Bushi is a type of warlord.

Does the Yoritomo Bushi excel in anything other then being a swashbuckler type?

>>50962129
The Akodo Bushi is a combat generalist, not a warlord. It is probably the most versatile bushi school.

>>50962019
There was. The others are shit. The best way to do it is not go "Oh, I meet X% of Clan Y's Stereotypes, I'm them." No, figure out which clan has core values and methods that match your own.
Or that you can live with.

>>50962129
Most schools were made for a family, because your character doesn't really get to choose what they want to do - it was decided for you, and families have duties to their clan. Sometimes you have input, and sometimes politics gives you a different path. But it's always the story that you want to tell with your character.
I've noticed that it really seems like most L5R players build their PCs for story, not stats.

>>50962129
Yoritomo Bushi Techniques are pretty widely applicable. They don't have any penalty to fighting with bad footing (Whether that's a moving ship deck, slippery rocks, or anything else), have a flat bonus to hit (Fairly standard for bushi), and then they can fight with two light peasant weapons (What this actually means is that they can fight with two kama).
Their later techs don't hinge on them doing anything special in particular. They repeatedly reduce the target number needed to hit their enemies, get SAA with Samurai and Peasant weapons, get a big bonus to their armor TN if they move which they can sacrifice to Knockdown for free, and their ultimate technique lets them spend a Void Point to do massive damage.

>>50962234
Well, with 4th edition, things are balanced well enough that you can play almost anything and not feel too weak compared to other players. It's not perfect, but it's good enough.

Can a member of the Buke caste accept/participate in a duel, if they're technically lower than a ji-samurai?

Ashigaru is what I mean, since, technically, they're considered Samurai.

>>50962789
I don't think so. They're Buke, but they aren't samurai. The only ones who might even have a little bit of training would be the rare Budoka whose situation has potential to be promoted to Ji-samurai, and even they probably wouldn't until it actually happens.

>>50962789
Ashigaru are not considered samurai, but are heimen who, due to their duties, have been granted permission to carry certain weapons when in the service of a samurai.
Ashigaru could technically accept duels, but only from another Ashigaru, and only with the permission of the samurai that they serve.

>>50962827
>>50962832
Really? I thought the Celestial cycle denoted Samurai as 'Those who fight':

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

Namely the bit about how the Samurai caste is divided into Kuge and Buke.

And what happens if the Samurai he serves is a coutier, and the Samurai wishes to have a 'stand-in'? Would the Courtier have to accept the duel 'standard', accept the duel but list 'Ashigaru' as the acceptable weapon, or something else?

>>50962958
Samurai is a social caste. The lowliest ji-samurai is above even a highest ranked ashigaru, and only samurai can use swords legally. Ashigaru are above other peasants because they are Buke, but not by much, and they don't have any of the rights, privileges, and duties given to samurai.

>And what happens if the Samurai he serves is a coutier, and the Samurai wishes to have a 'stand-in'?
Then he better get himself another samurai. If he's part of a court team, his clan probably sent at least one duelist or yojimbo who can do it. If not, well, he better just ask for help from anyone around and hope someone takes up his cause or concede defeat.
>Would the Courtier have to accept the duel 'standard'
Usually this
>accept the duel but list 'Ashigaru' as the acceptable weapon
This probably works if the courtier has enough clout to get away with. If he doesn't, the presiding lord will just laugh in his face and tell him to pick a *weapon*.

Also, ashigaru are almost never something you see individually. They're raised as part of military units for the most part. Budoka are personal-servant style peasant warriors, often chosen because they've displayed natural talent despite their lack of training.

>>50961545
Sorry, didn't realise you're retarded. Moving along.

>>50961334
>crane: beautiful, created the system of politics
Just this much, if we're being serious. Soshi Saibankan was the one who brought the Rokugani legal system into the form we know, but there's no *justice* system.

>dragon: mystics from the mountains
That's one family, who amount to 300-500 monks, plus some shugenja who go all yamabushi or whatever.
>often hesitate to act on events
Togashi was circumspect in altering events personally. The Mirumoto are exceptionally pragmatic and after a thousand years of filling in for clan leadership, they're not shy about stepping forward.
>focus on the weird interpretation of tradition
Pragmatic. When other clans seek to maintain form and tradition to the point of being dogmatic, the Dragon seek what works.

>phoenix: seriously, the best magician in rokugan. knows about it so tend to be arrogant about it.
The most widely knowledgeable and generally capable, but other clans have their own specialities in which they surpass the Phoenix.

>>50962827
>>50962789
>Can a member of the Buke caste accept/participate in a duel, if they're technically lower than a ji-samurai?
>They're Buke, but they aren't samurai.
Buke are average samurai, above ji-samurai and able to reach the rank of city governor, but below the royalty of Kuge.

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

>The majority of samurai in Rokugan were a member of the Buke caste.

>Anyone who had not been awarded with land or titles would serve a household, and were typically allowed to bear that house name.

>>50963031
Okay. So, in that case, what are Budoka and what, exactly, are they used for?

I've been using Ashigaru as the catchall term for warrior peasants, and clearly I'm not up to date on my Rokugan knowledge.

I mean, they (Budoka) are clearly not much use for if a Samurai gets attacked by other Samurai since only Samurai seem to have the social moral acceptance to kill other Samurai.

The only occasion where it seems to make sense to have Budoka is if the threat is from the Shadowlands or it's Maho related nonsense.

>>50963177
Because of their training and the nature of the service
they provide for their lords (and ultimately the Emperor),
budoka and ashigaru are considered to be at least nominally
members of the buke. They are most assuredly not samurai,
however, and while their buke status gives them dominion
over other peasants, they are still considered property of their
lord and can be discarded or even killed without reservation.
Emerald Empire, pg 74

>>50963225
Budoka are personal servants. They're similar to ashigaru, but are not mass conscripted, instead serving and being trained by a single samurai. Magistrates tend to have a few of them.
The general use of them is as bodyguards and extra muscle. Yeah, they can't attack another samurai on their own initiative, but they operate with their lord's authority. If you were legally in the clear to fight another samurai (Say, if they're a bandit, or attacking you out of the blue), your budoka is equally in the clear as long as they're in your service while doing it.

>>50963225
>I mean, they (Budoka) are clearly not much use for if a Samurai gets attacked by other Samurai since only Samurai seem to have the social moral acceptance to kill other Samurai.
Even if you take that view, you need a really high average of Rokugani honour (ie; bring the standard honour up to 7.0 instead of 5.0) for a samurai to not use budoka when they're losing a fight or outmatched.

File: shosuro jimen.jpg (294KB, 1041x767px) Image search: [Google]

294KB, 1041x767px

Happy New Year everyone. What are your hopes for L5R in this coming year as FFG reveals their new card game and hopefully gives us some RPG stuff?

>>50960541
>>50962238
What would be a good dual wield weapon for a Yoritomo Bushi? Katana and Wakizashi? Katana and Tanto? Katana and sai? Dual sais? Dual nunchucks or dual kamas?

>>50962197
>which clan has core values and methods that match your own.
Is there a good website that defines each clans' values and methods?

From a newbie perspective all I know is:
Crab: Tough S.O.Bs
Crane: Looks kills
Dragon: Mediation and solitude unlocks immortality
Lion: Honor and ancestors are everything
Mantis: Money, money, money
Phoenix: Knowledge is power
Scorpion: Back hand and sly deals win the day
Unicorn: uh I'm drawing a blank here...

>>50901971
Holy shit can I join too?

GMT+10

>>50909194

Add in Oni. Remove Spider. Additionally having the PCs have to babysit a cousin of someone VERY important who is a bit of a debauchery ridden louse is always fun.

>>50967167
>Is there a good website that defines each clans' values and methods?
The core book is a good starting point. You don't even have to get too far in before it lists the clans and what they (don't) like about each other.

>>50967821
Adding onto that, Emerald Empire, which of course has a lot more fluff about the Empire proper, and the Great Clans, which are, of course, about the Great Clans.

I like L5R's tabletop roleplay system. It handled the lore well, in my opinion - although, admittedly, I never played the card game.

>>50967167
Crab: my life to hold back the darkness
Crane: Haughty and Proud, but afraid to get their hands dirty.
Dragon: rarely seen, quintessential monk-samurai.
Lion: proud, shouts a lot, militaristic, feminist
Unicorn: halfbreed mongols who can talk to horses, mean well even if everyone else sticks their nose up
Scorpion: sneaky cheeki peeki, circles within circles.

>>50968756
>Dragon: rarely seen, quintessential monk-samurai.
Still weird how often people conflate Mirumoto/Tamori/Kitsuki with Togashi when it comes to standard expectations.

>The Mirumoto deal with most of the dayto-day affairs of the clan
>The Kitsuki family often represents the Dragon in court
These guys aren't hiding from the rest of the empire. They're out there negotiating trades to keep the clan fed and doing the politicking everyone else does - albeit slightly differently.

>the Mirumoto, the largest and easily the most practical family of the Dragon, at least by their clan’s standards – other samurai, by contrast, often find them mysterious or strangely poetic.

>>50969143

Friendly and open to the rest of the empire by Dragon standards still means pretty reclusive compared to everyone else. The Dragon needs representatives in court, and it has them. But they don't revel in it the same way that the Crane and Scorpion do. They moderated a lot after the Clan Wars, too. Much more reclusive in the 1000 Years of Peace, since they didn't need to be able to win political CCG prizes.

Same deal with religion. They're not all as purely monkish as the Togashi, but they're still really, really monkish by everyone else's standards. There's a reason that ascetic is the clan disadvantage in 4th edition.

>>50970045
This

What I like about the Dragons : they're religious but pragmatic about it. They're ascetic because they don't need to be rich to serve the Empire, they use both their swords because it's more efficient to fight for the Empire.

File: Hida Yasamura.jpg (189KB, 428x600px) Image search: [Google]

189KB, 428x600px

The best waifu in L5R.