Legend of the Five Rings General

>>51055464
Holy shit that image is weird. His face is so fucked up.

>What do you feel is the most new player friendly clan/school combination ?

I have three picks for the first time players

Hida bushi for those who want to smash stuff cause it requires less diplomacy. Because Crab.

Isawa shugenja for those who want to cast stuff (in an easy way they just have to choose what element they like no complciated bullshit like poitions or using spell slots for stuff). And also you can easily be quiet in diplomatic circumstances because Isawa shugenja is introspective.

And Tsurughi archer, for those who want to trade and also dps from afar. Also, less diplomacy because Mantis.

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>>51055464
>What do you feel is the most new player friendly clan/school combination

Doji/Kakita Iron Warrior, Akodo/Ikoma Bushi or Berserker, Moto/Ide Battle Maiden.

>a trap waiting for new players when joining a more experienced group

Everything non-Bushi, especially the Artisan Schools. Also True Ronin in general.

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Hello fellow samurais !

I am that kind of DM that has tons of ideas for new schools and minor clans but can't fucking balance that shit rulewise. And it's killing me inside because I like my ideas.

Would you help me find some coehrent and balanced rules, especially for the Minor Clan I'm trying to create for my campaign ?

I'll add details about lore in the next message cause typing is hard

>>51056104
Ok next message

The Neko Clan (Dunno if a cat Clan already exists, but they don't in my campaign)

Doji Mai was born from the main branch of the doji family, second to her brother who was destined to take the lead after their parents died. Her origins and her beauty made her a favorite of the Court even before her gempuku, especially when she revealed to be of exceptionally good company (not in a sexual sense, she is just a darling to be around).

She always felt the manipulation of the Court wasn't for her since she had such a strong will to be honest and nice to all guests and samurais. Her family predicted she would not be very efficient as a courtier since she was so nice and naive, so they started to look for a a good match early on.

Surprinsingly, it wen pretty well for her because her parents found an agreement to marry her to the future heir to the Akodo family's head, who happened to fall for the charm of the lady he was bound to marry.

He was a honorable fighter and a brilliant strategist, who carried the same values of honesty and honor as she did, and even if he wasn't her 'true soulmate', she appreciated him and felt it was her duty to fill her role as well as possible.

So she became a good wife, taking care of the samurai's lands like no one before her, using the Crane knowledge to organise their home and make the house prosper. She always received her guests with the warmest welcome and even if she was known to be kind of gullible, she knew when to listen to the advice of the Akodo family about who to trust and who not to.

Life went on for a while and her husband took the role of daimyo for the Lion's Clan. However, war was menacing because of a disagreement between the Crane and the Lion about some lands one had apparently stolen from the other.

Unfortunately, even if Akodo tried his best to avoid conflict, he eventually got no other choice when the Crane insulted him publicly, leading to war.

1/2

>>51055464
Running a crane campaign, players will probably be wardens or generally soldiers along the crab border. At a certain point I'm sure there will be a hot pursuit into crab lands and into some crab village. Can one expect those peasants to be armed like in other (closer to the wall) parts of the Crab? Are they legally speaking all off duty budoka/ashigaru, which is the justification for crab peasants being allowed to have (non samurai) weapons? And finally, what would the typical armaments of peasants in crab villages be. Spears seems like a simple classic, but are bows too dishonorabru for such people to wield?

>>51056372
Mai was worried and torn appart between her origins and her husband, but she remained calm and prepared the city in case something went sour during the conflict.

Her predictions were right, unfortunately. Her husband was wounded and sent back to their home to heal, and the Spider Clan to advantage of the lack of army and the injured daimyo to try and invade the city.

However, Mai did not let go easily. This was her home, her land, and her duty was to protect it whatever the costs. The protections she had prepared and the ashigaru she had recruited started organizing the defense against the Spider : all this time in a Lion's bed had helped her get a grasp of what strategy was.

She held the siege for weeks, rationning the food and water, sending coded messages to cities nearby, using every ressources she could to protect the land.

Eventually, warned by her notes, troops came to the Lion's capital to break the siege, while her exhausted counsellors and herself defended the castle itself from intruders.

The city was saved, but unfortunately, her husband had died from infection a few horus before the city was liberated.

She was about to shave her head and go live the rest of her days in a monastery for failing to protect her husband, when the Emperor granted her the right to establish elsewhere and create a Minor Clan, which would represent her sense of duty and her kindness after her.

She chose to name it the Neko Clan, to represent her ties to the ferocious Lion and her devotion to her home.

>>51056535
The Mai family, which descended from Mai herself and the ones she first took under her wing.

Since then, the Mai are known to be the best spouse in the Empire, even if not of high status, because of their devotion to their role and their loyalty towards the Clan which they adopted once they are married.

There you go.

I thought of them as courtiers with a starting pool of skills that goes a bit like this :

Courtier, Etiquette (Conversation), Sincerity (Honesty), Tea Ceremony, Commerce, Battle, one high skill

And I thought of the +1 being
+1 Awareness for the Mai family, since they inherited the founder's foresight

And +1 Willpower for the school, since loyalty and honesty are their most important values, they should be able to follow them

Waddya think ?

>>51056696
Which techniques would they have?

>>51056451
I think farther away from the Wall, Crab peasants only have access to peasant weapons for plausible deniabilury purposes, it's just that unlike most peasants they're actually trained in their use.

Anons, I'm thinking that the second rank of the Mantis Brawler is too weak. For those who don't know when you do a feint you can sacrifice 5 extra damage for a +5 to your Armour TN, or +10 if you're in the floor.

I was thinking to give the bonus automatically if you succeed with the Feint. Is it to powerful?

>>51057575
There's the rub : I've been thinking about it for a while and I can't seem to find anything interesting.

I thought about a technique that gives you bonuses to convince (or make an ally of) someone if you welcome him in your home

one that gives bonuses to your party if you spent at least half a day preparing a fight in advance

>>51057610
Oh and I thought about a part of the level one technique that autamatically gives you the "Blissful Betrothal" advantage, allowing you to take other linked advantages from the start

>>51056451
Those peasants can be expected to be armed. Legally speaking, the Crab actually just have a law saying that peasants can have weapons (Or don't have a law saying that peasants can't have weapons, it's not really clear). There are a few examples of what the peasants have in some of the short stories. For the most part, it's just weaponized tools that they keep close and a handful of real spears and polearms that they keep in the back of closets and sheds. Bows could also be possible, but it seems more likely that those would be given to ashigaru over peasants.
Peasants are armed for the express purpose of being able to hold their own against small bands of raiding goblins while waiting for ashigaru or samurai to come and clean up. They don't need or have a lot of heavy duty weaponry, just small things.

>>51056451
>>51057685
And here's the actual piece of fiction, from Kakita Nanmaru's collected "Letters From The Wall".

"I am under orders to carry weapons," a heimin told me today. "These are yours if you please, but the bakemono come after us sometimes, because we are easy." Her hair brushed the floor as she showed me her sai without looking at her face. Her friend had a kama.
"You think you can defend yourselves?" I asked.
"Oh, no, no, Kakita-sama, the samurai defend us. We cannot be samurai. But the bakemono, the ogres... if they get food, they can stay some time. So..." She shrugged.
"But they only give you small weapons for small enemies, so all is well?" I was being sarcastic.
Her friend gave her a glance, and they showed me wehere they keep the nunte. "Please, Kakita-sama, it lets us reach them before they reach us."
I could not believe it. There is no law here. The Crab would pluck the stars from teh sky if they thought they could burn the Fallen God with them.
"You don't think of anything else?"
"Never."
She stared in my eyes. This heimin woman has killed before.
Yet she spoke the truth.

[Ed: A Nunte is basically a sai on a stick with one of the prongs facing backwards.]

>>51055464
Ok so I'm trying to make a Yorimoto Bushi that excels in using a katana and a nunchuck in his off hand.

Would rising the Juijitsu skill to 3 mastery: Damage of all unarmed attacks is increased by +1k0 include a nunchuck since Mantis emphasis improvised weapons, does this include a peasant weapon like the nunchucku?

Also what would be a good ring stat for the build?

>>51058241
The munched goes with staff, doesn't it?

>>51058241
Nunchaku are staves so no it wouldn't.

>>51057654
Also bonuses when fighting within lands that belong to you (since you prepared traps and/or know it way better than you opponents)

>>51057685
>>51057813
This is quite useful. Essentially I was thinking of having the players trace "bandits" in a hot pursuit by the border and they end up in a crab village. As they ask question, they notice more or less all the heimin grabbing various weaponry (but not attack straight away). Sure, your patrol of six are all samurai, but those are half a hundred mean looking heimin. And then they can try to handle things diplomatically, to find out more or just to bow out with grace. Or you know, try to fight their way out.

Never see people recommend Crab Clan based schools. There a particular reason for that? Is there a stigma? A mechanical thing?

>>51057610
>>51057654
>>51058410
If you're doing a Courier I wouldn't go for fighting bonus. The clan animal is a cat, isn't it? Cats are supposed to be animals that protect your home and shit. Then maybe you could do courtiers with bonus when they are in their court, the lions court or when they are defending someone. Sorta like lawyers.

This is the best I have, maybe if you told me more about the clan I could come up with something better.

>>51058740
I don't know, I'd like to see them as people who can actually defend their home (and there are courtiers who can fight, especially the Lion Ikoma) as much as taking care of it.

>>51058805
They can fight, but you don't give them the bonus to fighting on the School techniques. I say it because if someone isn't interested in fighting he will find them useless.

>>51058900
That's why I thought of an all party bonus (so they don't actually fight)
That means they take the time to prepare the fight, get traps done, organize troops, prepare the strategy and then the party has a bonus but they don't have to directly fight.

>>51058939
I guess that the final saying depends of your idea of them. Also, I like your idea.

>>51058962
Thank you ! It's the first time I attempt to create a minor clan.

Do wasp members not carry a daisho? Seems like it would carry some serious tensions with all other samurai if they don't. But would it be cause enough for random samurai to pick a fight with a wasp? Or do they just ignore them, like ronin.

>>51058721
>not recognizing the Hida love

>>51058721
People recommend Hida all the time. The others somewhat less so I guess, but I see the Yasuki and Hiruma fairly often too.

>>51059458
Love the Kaiu school though. It's a really interesting approach of the game.

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>never played L5R before
>decide to be a normie and look up information on YouTube
>maybe someone who is knowledgeable of the game can offer insight into lore and such
>"HEY WELCOME TO ME AND MY THREE GAY ASS FRIENDS PLAYING THIS ADVENTURE SUPPLEMENT"
"GENERAL TSO'S CLAN LOLOLOLOL"
"I'M GOING TO MAKE A PERSON FROM THE LO MEIN FAMILY XDDDDD"

I want to die.

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>>51059621
There's always a way out from the shame.

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>>51059642
I have prepared my death poem.

"Winter snows outside
My fingers are numb from cold
OP is a fag."

Guys, what are the circumstances required for a gozoku like conspiracy to appear. A bunch of ambitious clan champions who think the emperor is weak? Seems a bit blasphemous

>>51059473
The Kaiu school is the only Crab school that doesn't always work out mechanically (Although the Kuni Witch Hunter often has problems from a story point of view). The things it specifically focuses on are not always relevant and it's not well rounded enough to just tough it out as a normal bushi or artisan. It is really great when it works though.

>>51059741
It can also be that something bad happens and the Imperial government really publicly fucks up when responding to it, leading some to think that maybe it needs some aggressive restructuring. Not everyone involved in such a conspiracy really hates the emperor or anything, they just think that the people in charge clearly shouldn't be due to obvious incompetence.

>>51059741
Pretty much anything can give the green light. Only lesser people care about "blasphemy" and stuff like that - people who can pull a conspiracy don't give a flying shit unless their interests dictate otherwise.

Don't be mistaken, Rokugan is a pretty darn anarchic place.

>>51060169
That's what I meant : I like usual functionnal schools as much as anyone but I have a fondness for those who are specifically good at one precise thing that isn't your usual "cut stuff with katanas" or "lie very well".

The Kaiu, the Ide and the /tg/ Minor Octopus Clan come to mind.

>>51060270

Speaking of, how do you think our clans stand up in the big homebrew mix /tg/?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ne1gbmkmr70rbhb/Court%20of%20the%20Minor%20Clans.pdf?dl=0

I at least think, like this guy, the Octopus are good.

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Fuckin' weebs.

>>51060419
I like all of /tg/'s except for the butterfly, because it's completely busted (Intentionally, but still). I like the other ones on paper, but haven't gotten to actually play around with them to see how or if they work out in play.

>>51060270

As the maker of the Octopus Clan I am glad someone liked them, though I note /tg/ changed up most of the school skills. I like what they did though.

I'd like to try and test it out in game some day.

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>>51060469

>>51060419
The Butterfly is OP shit. The Rank 3 technique is by far the most powerful technique in the game. With it you can easily lock most bushi out raising forever. Whoever wrote that should commit sepukku and his family should have to commit sudoku.

>>51060518
Hey there you !

I made an Octopus NPCs for my campaign earlier today before working on the Neko Clan and I was pretty happy with it, even if it's a bit magical realm-y.

So yeah, I like it ! i'll probably use it some times more

>>51060497

I like the concept of the Butterfly school. I think though it needs to be nerfed closer towards having more monk and courtier things - so its a bushi school with its one trick, but a really good one.

>>51060552

Magical Realm is fine with Octopus- but its not all about that. They're a good school for moving around in urban settings.

You'll have to tell me how they work mechanically, I note /tg/ gave them rather wordy mechanics, but I guess that's the price of being so specialized.

>>51056696
>Since then, the Mai are known to be the best spouse in the Empire
... No, that would be the emperor's traditional brides, the Doji.

>>51060702
Well I took the mechanics from 1d4chan, unchanged, and since I didn't try her yet in game I can't tell you what I think about it, but it looks pretty balanced to me. And not THAT wordy.

>>51060749
Nah. Doji can't even protect their home and are dishonest bitches.

>>51060497
>>51060524
>>51060627

You know... it is our clan.

We can just nerf rank 3.

It also feels redundant given that Rank 2 is already giving you a defensive bonus.

>>510607
It's our clan, but I don't feel comfortable messing around with the mechanics of something I didn't personally work on.

>>51060776
>Nah. Doji can't even protect their home and are dishonest bitches.
>insulting the emperor's choice
Nice knowing whoever publicly voices that opinion IC. They're not going to survive it.

>>51060776

The things that stand out to me on a glance over.

Rank 1's Glory gaining thing might need a cap to prevent farming glory - particularly since its supposed to be a more modest, in the background clan.

Rank 2's bonus to doing Forgeries could get MASSIVE. I'm wondering why it doesn't just count the skill you are Forging in. i.e. just adding your Calligraphy Skill to faking someone elses calligraphy. It adds in everything.

>>51060874
Nobody voices it but everybody knows only Bayushi are less trustworthy than Doji in Court.

>>51060879
>Rank 2's bonus to doing Forgeries could get MASSIVE

Yeah but as a GM I would interpret it as : yeah, you did better than him. By completely highjacking the style of another artist. And yeah it's nicer but most people in the room know you didn't get that out of your soul.

>Rank 1's Glory gaining thing might need a cap to prevent farming glory

I had problems dealing with characters who got Glory too fast before and I've solved it pretty efficientely so far by reducing their Glory every week they don't do something outstanding. Since my group likes taking time to developp their homes, skills and spells, it happens fairly often.

>>51060918
>can't tell if troll or just basic bitch
Yeah ... nah.

>>51060983

That's not really how the rules for that Rank 2 are explained or worded. Its just that you get to roll up a potential mass of skills for a big load of numbers. It makes more sense if its just using the skill you are Forgery.

>>51061033
>being this much of a bitchboy for the Crane.

I can't tell if this is kayfabe or being stupid.

>>51061414
That generally wouldn't be worth it for the Void Point.

>>51060781
And it having Void as its bonus stat...there only two schools in 4e that have it, the Togashi Tattooed Monk and the Mirumoto Taoist Swordsmen. Personally based on the backstory of the clan I'd give the school Reflexes. Also I'd dump the redundant Tea Ceremony skill (they already get Meditation) in favor of Lore: Maho-Tsukai or Lore: Theology (if you want to avoid a Low Skill) again based on the clan backstory. Lastly I'd change the name as it really isn't a duelist school as it has very little to do with actual iaijutsu duels, it just uses it to power its R3 tech.

R1. Kinda crappy, ditch the Center Stance restriction and it becomes a pretty good Minor Clan tier technique and relatively unique as static bonuses are fairly rare in 4e.

R2. A good fluffy Minor Clan tier technique.

R3. Eliminate the raising to force additional raises, give it a duration, I'd say "During the reaction phase the Target may end this effect by making a Void roll vs result of the Awareness/Iaijutsu (Assessment) roll, if they fail then this effect ends at the end of the next round's Reaction Phase," and make it a once/encounter tech.

R4. Standard R4 SAA. Nothing to see here.

R5. A more restrictive version of Kakita 5 as you don't get a simple action (meaning you can't move or do anything else) and it costs a Void. A good Minor Clan tier capstone.

>>51060863
Why? It is obviously busted mechanically. With a fairly trivial roll it can permanently lock someone out of one of the primary game systems. The core idea, raise manipulation, isn't bad, there have been several techniques throughout the game's history that have done exactly that. It is just this particular one is something that is beyond the ken of anything else in L5R 4e. It is on par with 1e Kakita Artisan or 3E Ronin Duelist (not 3ER Ronin Duelist which actually fixed the school).

Who would you rather dick: the bayushi slut who knows that one weird trick with her tongue, or the crane virgin who will probably accidentally use teeth?

>>51061581
How likely is my death to hurt my clan in a way that advances Scorpion interests?

>>51061505

Then maybe it should not be worth the Void Point.

Worth testing but I can see already the dizzying heights that could be used for.

>>51061604
If it's not better than what literally any human can already get with a Void Point, then there's no reason for it to be part of the Technique at all.

>>51061414
As an aside, you don't lose Honor (or Glory or Status) for using Merchant Skills. You only lose honor for using Low Skills. As such, the last sentence of the Tako R1 Technique literally does nothing.

>>51061604
>>51061618
It could be made into a flat bonus equal to the relevant skill that is added on top of the 1k1 you normally get for spending a void point.

>>51061550

Exactly, there's no reason we can't fix it. The Lore seems alright, and lets you play something that's like a bit more elegant version of a Taoist Swordsman.

Anyways, my two cents - I agree with most of the rank changes but I think it would be nice if the school could keep the Void Point, even at the price of nerfs elsewhere, as its a unique thing for a school to have (honestly I'd like to see the school as a Courtier focused around Meditation and tea, but that's just me, I suppose No-Thought cuts are more engaging).

If you look at the Book of Void, in the creatures section, the butterfly is seen as being one of few creatures connected to the void. I assume this was where the clan was extrapolated from.

>>51061681

An interesting point.

>>51061662

I'd have to check, but don't the Yasuki and Yoritomo Courtier skills mention not losing Glory or Honor for use of Commerce? Maybe commerce got confused for all merchant skills.

>>51061722

You can encourage buying a high Void Ring without actually giving it flat out.

>>51061722
I'm not convinced.

The Taoist Swordsmen comes with a Disadvantage (Ascetic), effectively has a dead rank (it's Rank 3 is completely obsoleted by its Rank 5), and generally has an Armor TN of 5 less than its counterparts because it encourages not wearing armor. That is a high price for that 6 free exp.

The Togashi Tattooed Monk is mucking around with God-Blood. Shit's cray-cray so it gets its pass.

>>51061964

Oh well, I'm sure if we looked for ways to find similar levels of nerfs to the Taoist Swordsman we could.

But I'm fine with having a balanced and play-testable school at all, regardless of how it is reached.

>>51061844


I suppose we can still make it a Void focused school without giving it Void. It does use Center stance plenty.

It's not directly relevant to Schools, but it should also be noted that the only Family to ever get +1 Void was the direct line of Hantei. Toturi got Willpower and Iweko never had mechanics because there's only been one in the timeline that 4th ed covers.

>>51061817
They do, but again it literally does nothing. If you look in the Honor, Glory, and Status section (pg 89-91 Core) and at the beginning of the Skills section (pg 133) there is nothing about losing honor for using Merchant skills. Just that you might get funny looks for engaging in them, but that is it.

>>51062099
It's probably worth leaving in as an extra signal that they really just don't give a shit about participating in mercantile activities, where most other samurai at least pretend to not care at all.

>>51062049
Unlike Toturi, Iweko has the mandate of heaven and became divine after assuming the throne; I wouldn't be surprised if her line also gets Void.

>>51062191
Nah, Iweko's line gets -1 to all stats due to her tragic curse of retardation.

>>51062503
I think you mean AEG's writers. You don't blame the creation for the sins of the creator.

>>51062619

No, but we blame the creators for a retarded creation.

>>51062043

Ok /tg/ I made some edits to the Butterfly clan school.

>>51063772
Counter-change, on the Rank Three Tech, I changed the last line "until the start of YOUR next turn." This makes it usable as it would do nothing if it was until the start of their next turn as you normally don't make attacks and thus can't make maneuvers out of turn.

>>51061596
They at least want one valid heir from you they can use to press claims.

>>51063910

Good catch

>>51063452

Speaking of writing and retardation, I just looked at some new fluff changes.

What in the living fuck happened during Onyx Edition?

>>51063957
Scorpion sounds fine then. At least I might avoid ninjas and maybe my compliant nature can make be a long term asset. There's no way out of it when the Doji set you up to die publicly on a Kakita blade.

>>51064049
Nothing, it didn't make it out. The end of Ivory went double full retard because AEG was squeezing the last jewgolds out of its fanbase before selling it off to FFG.

>>51064140

It seems more like they tried to break the setting before handing it to FFG, jesus.

>>51064158
Hopefully FFG rolls back to a less retarded time for a reboot. And hopefully the Spider goes the way of the kebab and gets removed.

>>51064179

Oh man, a massive time rollback would be sexy as fuck.

Hey /tg/

I see you're pretty good at coming up with minor clans so I wonder if you could give a piece of advice for something I'm thinking of for a next campaign.

I'm looking to do a minor clan that is based around remnants of the Hantei line - probably formed from some minor vassal family of the Hantei who are butthurt their bosses are gone. In the post-Hantei Rokugan they'll be mostly a courtier family and be involved in a lot of plots and such since they are suspicious of these new Emperors.

I was thinking of calling them the Oshika (stag) Clan, and I was thinking that, to give players something more active, and to play up on their idealized heritage, they'd have courtiers who are good at competitions, particularly hunting and maybe dueling.

Basically the idea is to get some potential haughty antagonists/allies who offer some more active challenges around court.

But aside from a name and a general concept I don't have much - I wonder if /tg/ has any recommendation? If it turns into something good I'm happy to put it with the others for all to use.

>>51064380
There's a large amount of Otomo who have traceable Hantei blood. I'm actually fairly sure that there's a few who had more claim to the throne than Toturi did in the end. Not sure if that's really something any later Emperor would want to make into an MC though you know?

>>51064520
There are probably also a lot of High Status Doji with significant Hantei blood as well. It has been noted in many sources that the Doji intermarried with the Imperial line fairly heavily, that is why they have a higher incidence of Epilepsy.

>>51064380

I'd cut out any actual connection to the Hantei line, and up the hunting role.

Maybe they used to be hunt organizers for the Hantei and were allowed to form a vassal family? And then at some point afterwards, helped out the Toturis and were allowed to make a minor clan.

Make them a courtier clan but give them some bonus to athletics, hunting and kyujutsu - maybe a bonus to using bows if its in a relaxed setting with time to prepare.

>>51064380

Wasn't the stag like the unofficial Hantei animal? I don't know if it would be seen as proper as to use it for a clan symbol, even after the Hantei are technically gone.

>>51066430

>I wonder if she's writing about me in her diary

>>51066715
No, its just about that sexy Mirumoto swordsman the Dragon ambassador has guarding them. He's built like a brick shithouse, but the shit is sexy and the bricks are ladyboners.

>>51066750
The Kitsuki family description in Great Clans talks about how plain their family tends to look, and says "there have sometimes been great romancers among the Dragon, but they are seldom Kitsuki." The Tamori are curt and reclusive, and the Togashi are weird and unsettling, so it stands to reason that the "great romancers" mentioned are typically Mirumoto.

So I'm making a Mantis pirate and thought it would be cool for him to have a falcon or osprey instead of a parrot. I have 1 point in Animal Handling. Should I raise it?

I read it takes 10 hours of intense training for it to even scout let alone attack. Our first game is going to be in the tournament, would that give me enough time to train it?

>>51067269
Yes, raise it. Basically that is your skill you will presumably be rolling to keep your falcon focused on tasks and not flying off after the first sexy fish it sees. Plus even if your GM doesn't challenge you on it much you can use it proactively as a PC to train animals and hopefully get generous 'gifts' of koku from samurai for helping teach war animals or horses.

>>51067371
is 2 fine or should I go for the full monty with a 3?

>>51067494
Always end on an odd number if you can, since that's where skill bonuses come into play. So go for 1 or 3.

>>51064179
They mentioned the colonies when they announced taking over, so my bet is on 'no'.

>>51061453
It's just you being stupid, mate. Courtier 101 is trading favours and making friends, with an eye for getting the better side of any deal. Fucking with people and being repeatedly untrustworthy is how you get replaced. The Scorpion & Crane apparently know it better than you do.

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Monkey Clan still best clan I am the law ook ook aah aah

>>51068135
Its noted that despite their reputation, Scorpions are considered top tier waifus because if they married you into the family, they probably want you to succeed and if the clan wants you to succeed than that waifu will be 100% loyal and also fucking terrifying for anyone that fucks with you

Do not fuck with the Scorpion Waifu. That's how basic bitches get merc'd.

>>51062049
Don't forget that literally every Brotherhood Monk also gets +1 Void as a "family" bonus.

hey /tg/

Since you were so useful with my last homebrew I wonder if you'd want to take a look at the rules I have set up for a possible campaign NPC or two. I'm still tinkering - if you like I can throw the full lore and such up on 1d4chan but its a little much to post all at once.

Harinezumi Bushi
Benefit: +1 Perception
Starting Honor: 3.5
Skills: Spears OR Polearms, Kyujutsu, Hunting, Investigation, Defense, Lore (Nature), Any 2 Bugei Skills
Outfit: Sturdy Clothing, Ashigaru or Light Armour, Yari, Daisho, Traveling Pack, 3 Koku

1st: Way of the Hedgehog: You gain +1k0 on attacks with Spear and Polearm weapons. As well, when making a re-roll on a failed Investigation roll you may reduce the TN penalty by your Hunting skill ranks.

2nd: Maintain the Distance: When wielding a weapon with the Large Keyword you gain a bonus TN against attacks from weapons with the Small Keyword, and Unarmed Attacks, equal to your Earth Ring x 2.

3rd: Purity of Intention: You may add your School Rank in Unkept Dice to Earth Ring, Stamina and Willpower rolls.

4: Deliberate Attacks: You may make attacks with weapons with Spear and Polearm weapons, and all weapons with the Samurai Keyword, as Simple Actions

5: Spines of the Hedgehog: When an enemy makes an attack against you while you are in the Full Defense Stance and fails to hit, you may immediately spend a Void Point to deal Xk1 damage to them, where X is your Earth Ring. This damage ignores Reduction.

>>51069537
Some of them get it as a school bonus, too. (Hoshi & Shinmaki)

>>51070149
Why does this school teach spear and polearm techniques, but not train its students in both?

>>51070149
I guess you should clarify that Rank 5 only works against melee attacks.

Otherwise, it is an OK Minor Clan School. Good job.

>>51066430
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMlu7ZleclI
>1:14

>>51070574
Fucking useless ninja

>>51070149
I like it, though I agree with >>51070348
about the spears and polearms
Maybe replace one bugei skill to choose with it.

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>>51070149
>Hedgehog clan
>not sneaking in any memes
C'mon, man...

At least tell me they wear blue.

>>51055464
>Feel free to suggest more links, such as a good trove.

Here:
>http://www.mediafire.com/folder/c7tfqff9sqp71/L5R

For a Yoritomo Bushi, hows a 3 on Earth and Air with 3 in strength and 3 agility?

I have rank rank 3 for Athletics and Kenjutsu with a emphasis on katana

>>51071384
Thanks anon, I was just looking for something like this. Any general tips for good sourcebooks from before 4th edition?

>>51071440
Sounds like a decent starting point.

>>51071646
The old build only had 3 to Earth and 3 to strength, agility and awareness.

But I had Rank 3 for Athletics, Investigation Iaijutsu and Kenjutsu with a emphasis on katana

which one's better

/bump

>>51071749
You may want to go with Reflexes over Awareness on a combat-focused bushi, and Air 3 is far less useful than Water 3.

If there will be courtly shenanigans, do you have the obligatory rank in Etiquette? Intimidation? Sincerity?

Any decent sourcebook for finding out the various gempukku tests of the school? If it helps, especially curious about the daidoji iron warrior/scouts

>>51072248
Great Clans, maybe also Emerald Empire.

>>51072201
>do you have the obligatory rank in Etiquette? Intimidation? Sincerity?
I have Etiquette and Sincerity at lvl 1. I'll go get Intimidation but I wouldn't loose honor since I'm a Mantis correct?

>>51072248
The Daidoji get a crane tattoo on their wrist on the day they graduate their gempukku. Not sure what the test actually is, but the post-graduation tattoo is pretty much ubiquitous.

>>51072284
You're Mantis. If you're worrying about losing honour, then something has gone wrong.

>>51072248
The old Way Of X books went into detail on gempukku ceremonies. (though they're all somewhat biased and propaganda-ish)

>>51072201
I got animal handling so should I focus on awareness then?

>>51072505
Oh and I got Fortunes and Winds and they both have awareness so that's why I put emphasis on them.

>>51072366
Most traditional gempukku simply test each child thoroughly on all school skills and demonstrate they can operate in the expected environment. Bushi schools will have combat trials and maybe a wilderness or mock battlefield segment. Courtiers of some clans have to go do a fake court, while others just have an oral exam. Shugenja need to cast spells while under pressure and of course do written theology tests. The Isawa have the best one since they make a show of it, the young shugenja who graduated the last year casting show off spells to distract the testing kids who need to do all their spellcasting while under duress.

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>>51072248
Emerald Empire, chapter 2.

>>51056036
She duels. That's what Cranes do. She'll cut you in half in a noble, honorable way.

So in regards to the crane, while I couldn't find anything specific about the gempukku tests of the Crane in Way of the Crane, the great clans, emerald empire or Secrets of the crane, it is true what >>51072921 says that they basicly test their skillset. So for a daidoji scout I figure you might, for example, have a survival test in the wilderness for x amount of days while other students or actual scouts try to hunt you down. The daidoji iron warrior one could be a much more standard gauntlet of various weapons and maybe some exercise where you simulate being a yojimbo and have to keep your "courtier" alive.

>>51074435
>daidoji rider
That's pretty cool. Got any art of male riding daidoji? Or Toritaka in general? Just discovered these discount witcher bad boys, they seem pretty neat.

>>51074472
If you're interested in the Toritaka, you should know that they are still available in full after they join the Crab. Nothing actually happened to their School, and both the Kuni (Who have always trained Toritaka born as shugenja for as long as Falcon have been around) and Hiruma work together with them enough to develop alternate ranks based on their specialties.

Anyone got a high resolution version of the Atlas of Rokugan map of the entirety of rokugan?

>>51070348
>>51070462

I figured that it was perhaps nice to let someone pick the way they went, and wanted to leave room for taking Kenjutsu if you wanted, but fair enough point. Good catch on Rank 5 as well.

>>51071009

I don't find most memes particularly funny, and the less Sonic in our world the better.

What is it like playing in a high IR campaign?

>>51079387
Rocket tag.

It's not a huge deal, but I reverted some of the changes to the Cormorant Clan on 1d4chan. Very few families have Reflexes as their family bonus, so I moved that back to the school and Intelligence to the family.
Also, every school should have a starting honor value that ends in .5 so that starting characters don't immediately lose a rank in the event that they go down a little bit.

>>51079431

GM wants to run a high IR campaign with a focus on romance (!).

Not really sure what kind of character to create as details are still forthcoming.

>>51079855
Focus on romance probably means something courtly. That doesn't actually limit what kinds of characters you can play much, although most bushi are going to be of the yojimbo/duelist variety unless they were thrown into the deep end with no warning. Like the one randomly selected Crab soldier who gets sent to the Imperial Winter Court every year to remind the rest of the empire what's really going on down South.

>>51072505
>>51072538
Still no.

Earth 3 is necessary. Agility 3, ditto. Water 3 will make you faster & stronger. Reflexes 3 is your 'I don't want to tank all the hits' starter choice.

Get Void 3 before you get Awareness 3. Spend a void point when you do important social stuff. Use Tea Ceremony to get it back.

>>51080695
Agility 3 should be higher on priority than Earth 3. You can survive while being fragile. You can't hit shit with Agility 2.

>>51081659
>You can survive while being fragile
It's far easier to get ganked by a random dice explosion or two with Earth 2, or just whittled down by a few hits. 38 vs 57 wounds.

>>51081659
I'd even put Reflexes 3 higher than Earth and Water 3. Not getting hit is how you survive being fragile.

My priority as a bushi generally is....

Don't leave Chargen without em

Agility 3
Reflexes 3

Early Purchases

Earth 3
Awareness 3
Water 3 if you got half of it as part of family/school
Intelligence 3 (purely for Insight purposes)
Void 3
Strength 3
Perception 3

>>51081729
You really can't fight effectively with Agility 2. I'd rather be fragile and able to fight than a useless lump of hit points for the first 3 or 4 sessions.

>>51072248
The dual d20/roll and keep book Way of the Samurai had excellent detail on different gempukku ceremonies and other information for specific dojos. More specific information than the general bits usually included elsewhere.

>>51079913

I've honestly only ever played bushi characters and male characters to boot. Maybe I should make a Matsu Lion's Pride character?

>>51081814
>Earth 3 is necessary. Agility 3, ditto.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ditto
They're both necessary. You are giving yourself a much greater chance to get all your shit pushed in at once if you don't go with Earth 3. L5R is a lethal system.

>>51082907
They're both important, but you should still get Agility first.

>>51082974
If you're playing a combat focused bushi, you get both. Straight off, you get both.

>>51055464
unicorn is good for new players, you can say "im a unicorn" when you dont understand weird rokugani customs

shugenjas are a trap, they are the most complex "class" to play and imply a good understanding of rokugani custom and religion

also, highly political clans like the crane and scorpion are not a good idea

>>51083703
>when you dont understand weird rokugani customs
At some point in the timeline you kinda have to let that go. Otherwise you're the equivalent of an Asian heritage guy born in a white country, who replies, "Vely Solly, no unnerstan Engrish." to avoid uncomfortable situations. And they're justified in saying, "Motherfucker, you were born here."

Easier to play Crab if you want to justifiably be bad at etiquette. Or Lion if you can remember seven things to base all your actions off.

>>51082160

Go for it!

>>51084551
Anyone remember where in 4e it talks about samurai-ko and onna-bugeisha becoming more common?

>An unmarried woman will wear kimono with very long flowing sleeves, often reaching the knees or even dragging on the floor, whereas a married woman’s sleeves are shorter (but are still considerably longer than a man’s).
Also; just noticed this. Clearly most l5r art shows women who have been married 3-4 times.

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>>51084907
Because L5R card art is so accurate to the setting...

>>51084907

What exactly is a maiden's foxtail supposed to look like? A topknot? A ponytail?

>>51085237
It's a mixed bag, but this is something that's shown in if not no art, then very close to it.

>>51084187
It's not that the Unicorn still don't know Rokugani manners, it's that they still have their own traditions of behaviour and follow them; traditions that are typically a little closer to what a player might consider normal. Even though the Unicorn samurai might them self know Rokugani manners, that separate standard if behaviour let's the player get away with not knowing them.

I also think you overestimate how familiar a Unicorn samurai who's never left their clan's territory would be with outside ways. Many samurai go their whole life serving only within their ancestral holdings, and until you leave, you probably don't actually know a whole lot.

>>51055464
I wan to convert 7th Sea to Legend of the 5 Rings 4e.

What tips can you give me?

I'd like to make a samurai that fights like Mugen in L5R. As someone with no experience in the game or setting how would I do/play this?

>>51086624
Hare clan bushi.

>>51086624

Look to the Hare, Monkey or Mantis clans. There's also a very specific Scorpion Bushi School, Sword of Bitter Lies, that is something like that.

>>51086830
>Sword of Bitter Lies
Dark Sword Of Bitter Lies, and they're more about being lucky than skilled.

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>>51084187
>Or Lion if you can remember seven things to base all your actions off.

This is a trap. Those seven things have some crazy logical loopholes, and the more you think about rules-as-written and rules-as-they-are, the more confusing it gets. and then don't even start with the eighth thing aka the On/Face.

>>51087979
Of course there are loopholes. You won't follow Bushido perfectly, but you have to try.

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>>51088477
Actually, following Bushido perfectly, rules-as-written, is a somewhat simple thing to do, but it will result in highly unconventional (by setting standards) character interactions that are not for the feint-hearted.

Being the equivalent of an ice-cold no-nonsense moral steamroller who never compromises has its charms, but it is surely a quick way to become public enemy #1 and being at Infamy 10 is a tough situation.

>>51088576
That's failing at Bushido.

>>51088632
it's not you failing at Courtesy, it's everyone else failing at being honorable!

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>country is bordered by literal hell dimension wasteland where rape essence constantly assails the one armed fortification that prevents it from spreading and filling everyones souls and anuses with weaponized evil
>everyone shits on the crab and squabbles like retards

like, I could understand if no one had seen a fucking goblin for decades, but raids are a fucking monthly thing almost.

>>51056036
>>51073398

Turning sociopathy into a useful and productive trait that is good for society is a long standing Crane tradition. Why do you think the Scorpions hate them so much - the Scorpions are at least wearing fucking masks and have "The Emperor told us to do it" as an excuse.

Cranes are just fucking crazy.

>>51088710
It makes slightly more sense in other centuries, but yeah, during the time periods covered by the card game it's full-blown retarded given what frequently goes down.

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>>51088632
This >>51088674 anon is right. As long as you conduct your moral steamrolling with humility and respect, you are good to go. It is not your problem if others are shit... I mean, it is, because you must deal with their shit and make it not-shit as per Duty and Honesty demand it, but it isn't something you should take at the heart. Even if they disagree with your assessment.

>>51088710
Most raids rarely get past crab lands even if they get past the Wall. The Daidoji family and the Falcon are the only two non-Crabs who regularly deal with shadowlands stuff outside of crisis situations, and they're both on board with the Crab's duties. Also the Scorpion once they get the second pit, but then they're too busy dealing with their own hell hole.
The thing is that, even after a major incursion that makes it deep into the empire, nobody wants to talk about it because it's distasteful to the extreme, which means that in 20 years, none of the young adults who are starting to take over for their parents or grandparents know a damn thing about it other than a vague understanding that it happened.

Quick question : I see everywhere mentions of executions everywhere, executions for this, for that, banishment too, people made ronins and stuff...

But do jails exist in Rokugan ? For what crime are people sent to jail ? Where are they, what is life in there like ?

>>51090927
Not really. There are short term cells that peasant enforcers can use while waiting for a samurai magistrate to show up and pass judgement, and a very rare few get their own purpose made prison (Iuchiban), but judgement is swift and usually brutal, and samurai in particular can't really be made prisoners for cultural reasons. House arrest is a thing, but being so openly dishonorable that you'd try to run away puts you into the range of seppuku or execution, depending on what they think you did and whether they think you'll actually go through with it and not just try to run away again.

>>51090991
Even samurai pows are typically treated more like involuntary guests than actual prisoners.

>>51091019
Exactly, house arrest. Might not be your own house though.

>>51091031
>>51090991
House arrest then. So you're watched over by guards I guess ? People follow you around ? Are you assigned a 'servant' whose role is actually to tell on you everytime you do something 'wrong' ?

>>51091075
At first, probably all of those things.
If you don't cause any trouble and don't make attempts at escape or smuggling weapons/messages, they'll probably loosen up a bit. Servants who tattle if you do something wrong will always be the case, however.

>>51091089
I'm trying to make a scenario in which someone in 'house arrest' succeeds to plot for his freedom from the inside, what tools could he use ?

Could the servants be bribed ? Maybe coded messages to his allies.

What's your go to excuse for allowing some large scale warfare to happen between clans?

>>51091387
Insults. You can pretty much guarantee a little war if someone who ranks around provincial governor status insults someone else who is ranked around provincial governor status and then doesn't stick around for the duel challenge. It won't even impact the clans or families at large, just the two provincial lords duking it out and whoever they can get to help them.

>>51091387
There are generally two:
- Miscommunication/misunderstanding, when the Clans in question think that the other is into something very-very bad and they should stop them before things go awry.
- Ambition/greed, when the Clans want to get the same thing and it is precious enough to worth a war.

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>>51088710
Two reasons...
The Crab are unmitigated assholes. They are obnoxiously rude, greedy and duplicitous (despite screaming how loudly they hate schemers, and everyone else in Rokugani). The Crab guard the empire (except when they don't and instead join the demons to raid it) and take every opportunity to tell everyone else that non-crab are shit because they haven't fought a thousand cocked rape demon this week (which almost no Crab have fought either, they just heard about it from a guy who read about another Hida's Ancestor's vision, most have just sat on the wall taking pot shots at Goblins or raided the Asahina lands.), and they go into grotesque detail.
Secondly, the Crab don't do their job very well. Infiltrator demons get through all the time. Even Goblin raids. This would be forgivable if the Crab were stretched to limit. They aren't. They keep several armies off the wall and have plenty of spare troops to routinely invade Crane lands. While shadowless beasties are on the loose.

But these are both symptoms of the same disease that afflicts the clan. The Crab aren't honourable. Thier moral weakness makes them more susceptible to both the temptations of hell, and sundry vices. A Crab clan with virtue would be different. Effective and respected. They wouldn't insult everyone else at every opportunity, sending merchant filth as their delegates. They would fall to the taint less often. They would expend their resources to do their duty, rather than envy other's their resources and throw tantrums when they don't get enough adoration. Which would get them more aodration. Rokugani love stoic badasses fighting a doomed war. They eat that shit up. All the Crab desire could be theirs if they were not consumed by sin.

>>51092928
Almost entirely wrong.
>The Crab are unmitigated assholes
Yes
>They are obnoxiously rude, greedy and duplicitous (despite screaming how loudly they hate schemers, and everyone else in Rokugani)
Not really. Rude for sure, greedy and duplicitous, not so much. The Yasuki go max jew to get resources the clan needs to fight its war.
>The Crab guard the empire (except when they don't and instead join the demons to raid it)
Literally only happened once.
>which almost no Crab have fought either, they just heard about it from a guy who read about another Hida's Ancestor's vision, most have just sat on the wall taking pot shots at Goblins or raided the Asahina lands
Nope, most wall crab have seen and helped fight at least one or two oni, and the Asahina don't get raided all that often.
>Infiltrator demons get through all the time. Even Goblin raids.
Infiltrators are exactly that. They sneak in. All the manpower in the world can't prevent something wearing a soldier's skin that is not currently hostile from getting through. Goblins tend to get in through the tunnels where traps have already been expended and have yet to be reset. That is also a manpower issue, since only so many people actually know how to reset traps.
>This would be forgivable if the Crab were stretched to limit. They aren't.
They often are.
>They keep several armies off the wall and have plenty of spare troops to routinely invade Crane lands.
They keep three armies on or immediately behind the wall, one army in the interior, and one half-strength army in reserve. They don't actually have the time to go attack the Crane regularly. There's a reason why it's a big event when it happens and the Daidoji can and do regularly travel to the wall to help out.

>A Crab clan with virtue would be different. Effective and respected.
They don't follow the rules of etiquette because those actually get people killed. If you politely ignore a failure on the wall, people die.

>>51088674
>>51088871
You haven't stated how you're "moral steamrolling" beyond saying that you're "moral steamrolling", so whatever.

>Bushido is comprised of seven Virtues: Courage, Compassion, Courtesy, Duty, Honesty, Honor, and Sincerity. These virtues are held to represent the proper way in which samurai should live and serve their lords.
You conveniently forget that last part when you talk of Bushido. Serve.

>It is not your problem if others are shit
Yes, it is not, so long as you comport yourself properly. Then again, you haven't defined whether you're talking about your clan, other clan, your superiors, etc. Some will be more your problem than others.

>it's not you failing at Courtesy, it's everyone else failing at being honorable!
If you can't keep your face and maintain courtesy, it's always your failure.

>>51088710
They aren't that common, and rarely penetrate into the empire itself. Talking about it is not done, so unless you were involved, you know just about jack all - and maybe picked up some misinformation, too.

>>51092928
If the Crab did any of that, they'd fail completely. Nobody in Rokugan proper wants to hear about a stoic badass who fights things that are taboo to even think about. They care about stoic badasses who fight other Rokugani and that's about it.

People who show respect to the Crab receive respect from the Crab. The Unicorn and Mantis both have good relationships with the Crab because they can mutually see past each other's problems. Clans that turn their noses up at them get nothing but rudeness in return.
Lies are for Scorpion and Oni.

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>>51093090
The Yasuki define the Crab in courts.
Yasuki greed is Crab greed.

The one even where the Crab marched beside the Oni should have been their last mention in history. Although I should have clarified that individual Crab fall to the taint most often (due to proximity) and are thus most likely to become lost.

Where do you get the idea that most Crab in courts are wall Crab? Also, most wall Crab have only seen an Oni during select eras, most of the time it is noted that there is little coming out of the shadowlands. Well few big threats.
Also, most histories note a constant state of conflict between the Crab and Crane... Asahina lands are most convenient. Unless Crab have time for long strolls with their forces...

The infiltrators would be more forgivable if the empire didn't always have an example of some inenpt or insane Kuni witch hunter running around disrupting peasant celebration or laying false accusations while those infiltrators run amok.

Goblin incursions are unforgivable. The tired lie of the stretched Crab line is given the lie by the full reserve army and additional forces besides. The Crab army is fuck all huge. Yet in every bit of fiction they have someone "wall essential" whom they can spare to puts around in court.

The courtiers should not be the wall warriors.

Actually, it's more author assassination of Crab character. Taken as written, they aren't too bad. But all their fiction makes them obnoxious twats.

>>51093418
>The one even where the Crab marched beside the Oni should have been their last mention in history.
Mentioning the context surrounding that event is important.

>>51093418

>The one even where the Crab marched beside the Oni should have been their last mention in history. Although I should have clarified that individual Crab fall to the taint most often (due to proximity) and are thus most likely to become lost.

Yeah, because that's managed to stop the Phoenix when they do it once a generation.

Wait. People give a shit about cardgame lore? I thought we all agreed that AEG writers are hacks and constantly ruin the clans and setting.

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>>51093203
The Mantis have good relations with the Crab due to shared history.
The Unicorn are the only Rokugani as filthy and obnoxious as the Crab. They're the two kids at school who refuse to bathe and thus have to sit with each other. Oh, and there's the whole Moto Tsume thing where the Pony clan fucked up so hard they gave the shadowlands a clan and spend centuries sucking Crab cock to apologize. Fortunately, the ever pragmatic Crab needed a knob polishing and sent the Hiruma to learn how to sneak from Clydesdales...

>>51093484
Well, to be fair, Rokugani was shitty not-japan from Wick at his most poorly researched Wickiness from the start.
It can be saved, but the fiction fits the setting.
Both shitty and ill conceived.

>>51093418
Still almost completely wrong.

>Yasuki greed is Crab greed.
If they actually got what they needed, maybe they wouldn't have to be so greedy. Most of their land is blasted waste. They're food negative. Armies need food, the wall needs armies.

>The one even where the Crab marched beside the Oni should have been their last mention in history.
And then what? The Crane move down to take over? Hah. If the Crab were removed after that point, the border between the Empire and the shadowlands would push up all the way to the Spine of the World within months.

>Where do you get the idea that most Crab in courts are wall Crab?
Who said anything about courts? But yeah, a non-yasuki (And even many Yasuki) Crab in court has probably done some time on the wall, since every Crab is part of the military and most of the military is on or beyond the wall.
>Also, most wall Crab have only seen an Oni during select eras, most of the time it is noted that there is little coming out of the shadowlands.
Little does not mean nothing. There are always small attacks. Wandering oni, ogres, and goblins move North all the time. Most are beaten easily because it's just one or two small ones at a time.
>Also, most histories note a constant state of conflict between the Crab and Crane... Asahina lands are most convenient.
A constant state of conflict that allows the Asahina to have the least fortified and most beautiful lands south of the Spine of the World, and that allows entire units of the Crane's premier military force to freely enter Crab lands on their way to help at the wall. It's tension, not warfare.

>The infiltrators would be more forgivable if the empire didn't always have an example of some inenpt or insane Kuni witch hunter running around disrupting peasant celebration or laying false accusations while those infiltrators run amok.
Name one. There are plenty of inept Inquisitors and legions of inept Emerald Magistrates. Witch hunters are disruptive, but rarely wrong.

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>>51093467
By all means justify how using demons to conquer the empire isn't a betrayal of the only damn job the Crab had?

>>51093476
Once a generation?
Let's see the list boyo.

>>51093418
>Goblin incursions are unforgivable. The tired lie of the stretched Crab line is given the lie by the full reserve army and additional forces besides. The Crab army is fuck all huge. Yet in every bit of fiction they have someone "wall essential" whom they can spare to puts around in court.
Goblin incursions almost never leave Crab lands. The Crab would need literally millions of soldiers to watch every single bit of the wall at all times. Their logistics are good, but not that good, especially when a lot of times they can only get what the Yasuki can buy. There are always going to be gaps, and then the land behind the wall is very sparsely populated because it's a blasted wasteland with no farms to speak of. And they usually only send one randomly selected soldier from the wall to Imperial Winter Court as a tradition to represent the real bulk of the clan.
>The courtiers should not be the wall warriors.
Most of them are Yasuki, who are not welcome in many parts of Rokugan. The Hiruma have a tiny vassal family of courtiers, and there's a cabal of crippled wall veterans who have an affinity for it. Everyone else has to be active wall warriors because that's the only thing the Crab have left once you count out the Yasuki and their tiny number of non-yasuki courtiers.

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>>51092928
>>51093418
>>51093488

Either you're a Spiderfag who's assblasted about Daigotsue not getting his dick sucked enough, or you literally don't know anything about the Crab.

I bet you're one of those faggots who thinks the Crane can do no wrong either.

Maybe you're a gaijin infiltrator?

>>51093550
How about the time they let Fu Leng out.

These posts are bait meant to stir people up, or you're just an ass.

0/5 you got no ass.

>>51092928
Crane detected.

>>51093747
He actually just sounds like a Crane, or maybe a Lion.

>>51093108
>You haven't stated how you're "moral steamrolling"

It is exactly how it sounds: you play your cards straight and never, ever accept that grey areas might exist. Everything is either right or wrong. The former is accepted, the latter is either "rightened" or eliminated.

If you are honorable, then you are automatically right, and thus anyone who disagrees with you is wrong at which point you have your two options.

>You conveniently forget that last part when you talk of Bushido. Serve.

Serving can take up strange forms. You have the two options even if your lord is found in the wrong. And if the "rightening" fails, then you must serve by saving him from himself.

>If you can't keep your face

Face is not part of the Bushido (in fact, it directly violates Honesty), and as such it is irrelevant when it comes to honor.

>>51093418
>>51093550
>comes up every thread
I'm not answering it this time.

>>51093629
>And they usually only send one randomly selected soldier from the wall to Imperial Winter Court as a tradition to represent the real bulk of the clan.
Most often, it's someone whose injuries permanently prevent them from wall duty.

>>51093418
But the Yasuki are of Crane stock. They just went full jew and jumped ship.

>>51093814
Nah, that's something else. Heavily injured guys tend to get relegated to courtiers (And the best of them join the Severed Hand), but the Crab actually have a tradition of sending a random soldier from the wall to the IWC. They draw lots.

>>51092928
Something similar can be said about literally every other clan, so I can't really get the point here.

>>51093550
Oni no Akuma
Oni no Tadaka
Most of the Elemental Council on the Second Day of Thunder had embraced the Taint.
Kinyue's Blood

>>51093877

What is with the Crab's obsession with drawing lots to go do embarrassing things?

>>51093785
Despite your continued insistence on how things work, there are highly honourable characters within the setting that don't behave as you outline. Which means you've missed something, somewhere in the process.

>>51094019
Because they aren't going to get volunteers for embarrassing things and lots are an easy way to show that it's fair for everyone. Yeah, it sucks that you get to play the girl in this upcoming draw-lot-play, but anyone laughing at you now could end up doing it next time.

>>51093877
>Heavily injured guys tend to get relegated to courtiers (And the best of them join the Severed Hand)
Yes. What makes you think they send capable soldiers when these guys are available?

>>51094097
The fact that they literally send a randomly selected wall crab every single year like clockwork.

>>51093974
The whole Snake Clan falling almost immediately after calving off from the Isawa.

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>>51093759
>>51093759
Crane are always trying to start shit.

Hopefully there's some writing that'll put some penalties on the Crane for being top-tier assholes and trying to dick everything over all the time. Same with the Scorpion.

>tfw all of this is premeditated by the Imperial families to make sure they never rise up against the current Emperor/Empress.

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>>51094097

>>51094367
... Just one? You realise there are more Winter Courts, right?

>>51094057
Dude, my very first post here >>51087979 makes the distinction between Bushido-as-written and Bushido-as-implemented. Obviously, I assume that the is quite a difference between the two and while I speak for the former, canon only has examples for the latter (as nobody in Rokugan follows Bushido-as-written for reasons that should be quite obvious at this point, and this is a canonically admitted fact).

>>51094498
There are lots of courts that happen during winter. There is ONE "Winter Court", and that is the court the emperor/empress goes to.

>>51094498
I'm talking about the Imperial Winter Court. The big one. The one that matters. The only one that gets capitalized W and C.

>>51094557
Nah. Winter Court happens at each kyuden, and the """ONE "Winter Court"""" is the Imperial Winter Court.

>During most of the year, the Imperial Court is located in Rokugan’s capital where the Emperor resides. During the winter, however, the Emperor traditionally leaves the capital to spend the season with a chosen clan, which becomes the host of the Imperial Winter Court for that year.

>>51094545
They all get capitalised. It's Winter Court. The one with the emperor gets to be called 'Imperial'.

Point is, the Crab send one guy out at random to a Winter Court to understand the difficulties they face within Rokugan, but they have better prepared samurai for courtly duties.

>>51094745
No, they send one guy at random to the Imperial Winter Court. That section there >>51094367 is specifically talking about the Imperial Winter Court where the emperor himself is and where the Imperial Chancellor sends out blank invitations to. Not a random Clan level or Family level court.

>>51094793
I didn't say a random court. I said a random guy. I also said they have other samurai for actually getting shit done.

>>51093522

To be double fair, Rokugan as portrayed in, say, 4e, is a pretty solid setting and miles above something super Wick-ed like older Rokugan or Thedas.

>crab defense force comes out

I'd enjoy someone shitting on all of the clans, though. You learn more about something by its failures more than its merits.

>>51095390
If most of what you post is complete lies, then of course you're going to be called out for it.

>come to the /l5rg/ to get some interesting discussion about universe and politics of the Winter Court and rule balance
>come to see 50 new posts
>only bait and people answering bait

shit senpai

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So when was the last time the Lion got to do something cool?

>>51097279
t-t-t-t-the c-c-c-c-c-card g-g-g-g-g-g-game w-w-w-w-w-will f-f-f-fix it..... right guys???

>>51098027
The card game is going to bring in a big ol' wave of people who have absolutely no knowledge of the setting aside from what FFG feeds them.

>>51097847
Never, the Lion are not allowed to have nice things because early on they had a powerful blitz deck that triggered AEG so hard that they still would fuck over the Lion when they won story prizes.

>>51097279

Well what did you want to know? It'll be good to get away from this nonsense anyways.

>>51095106
So I'm someone who never read the past editions of L5R.

What did John Wick do?

>>51099971
Just his normal "PCs aren't allowed to be special and if they ever ever have delusions of being special smack them down like the dogs they are attitude."

>>51100038
He sounds like he posts on /tg/.

>>51100063
C'mon. Don't lump us up with him.

>>51100063
He definitely had a thing for making players work for whatever they got, punishing mistakes and anything he saw as an abuse equally.

Also, he did a piss poor job on explaining any context for Play Dirty, where he basically gave advice on being That GM. People took it as written and crucified him for it.

>>51099971

No ronin allowed.

>>51100328

In what context does making advantages do the opposite of what they are supposed to make any sense?

>>51101107
I'm not defending anything he's done, but /tg/ definitely has a blinding hate boner for the guy. Heck, 2 years ago he got Play Dirty 2 funded through KS, so at least a few rpg masochists like the smell of his shit.

The game they were playing made it all but impossible to actually kill a PC - essentially, indirect methods had to be found.

The group had just finished a CoC adventure and wanted to see Wick 'kill' their characters in this other system.

The whole thing was an iron man challenge to see who could 'survive' longest.

>>51099971

John Wick is your usual "It's the 1990's and I know nothing about Japan aside from memes" guy.

Also, literally all female scorpion NPCs from his time in writing are based off characters he, his wife, and his girlfriend(who the wife was aware of) all used to ERP with all the time on their forum roleplay and LARPs and stuff.

I'm sure if you hunt around, you can still find old Wick livejournals about how his writing about Bayushi Kachiko is some of the most erotic writing he's ever done.

Also, Wick is one of the most vocal proponents of the adversarial GM style. And wrote a setting where NPCs regularly order PCs to commit suicide for social faux pas. Think about that for a while.

>>51101342

So he's not a dick, just really stupid?

>>51101342

From what I understand, most of /tg/'s hateboner is more from the fact that reports on people meeting him indicate he is someone whose pretensions far outstrip their actual knowledge, which his writing style and statements seem to indicate as well.

>>51101747

Really stupid people who are really full of themselves tend to be dicks.

>>51101809
I'm sure that's somewhat true, but /tg/ loves feeding on itself when it comes to Wick.

A bucks night where someone played the surprise role of Kachiko becomes >>51101574, etc.

>>51102247

It's not even us, really.

Blame Something Awful, they're the one who've had a "Wick General" thread for over a decade.

So there's a whole skill set in Games - have these ever been important in anyone's campaign? Any clans specialize in them? Any weird minor clans focus on them that I haven't heard about? Do samurai in Rokugan ever go full /tg/ neckbeard over go or shogi?

>>51103792

There's a whole Akodo courtier school dedicated to games.

If you're playing a social game, it's a good skill to pick up, particularly in Winter Court scenarios where people are dying to pass the time.

Every clan has their favored type of game. But games of strategy are often very popular among military types, since they are a method of teaching fundamental concepts of war.

>>51103792

If /tg/ was a clan we'd be the Cock clan. With a big Cock as our mon. And we'd constantly lose at Shogi against the Akodo.

>>51103792
As a GM I make my players use them a whole lot, because I try to make the most of their particualr talents.
The Mantis is often using Commerce, Animal Handling and Winds and Fortune
The ishiken-sen Isawa is always using Go and Tea Ceremony as meditation tools
The Crab uses his artisan skills to repair armor and weapons almost each session and often makes stuff for the group

There's always a way of making the skills useful (and not broken) for the group. And that makes them feel special. Which I like.

Also Kaiu School > Everything else (when it comes to skill usage)

>>51099356
Oh hi there
Well I'm solo brainstorming my future campaign right now and I know in advance that it will include at least three weddings (one not inculding the PCs and which is already written as a scenario)

Which means the two (or three) (or even four god dammit my players must really hate already married characters) will take place during the campaign and will include my PCs. Two of them are Kitsune twins (female) and I thought about celebrating both weddings at once. The other two possible weddings would be a Doji and an Ikoma (both male)

Here's the thing : how to make these not redundant and interesting ? What intrigue could developp before, during and after the event ? Should I skip them ? I wouldn't want to because I like sessions that can create social links between the PCs and the NPCs, making them more interested in their characters' life...

>>51105286

You're going to have to give more info than that. Who is being married, and which of them are PCs? Are these arranged marriages or ones of allowed love? If they were arranged, what was most considered - suitability, politics, money? What do the parents think? Are there big political changes that could happen for either family? Is there anyone who wants to stop the weddings?

>>51105235
>Also Kaiu School > Everything else (when it comes to skill usage)
I quite like Bayushi Bushi / Bayushi Ancestor / Prodigy for skills. Or Ikoma Bushi + Prodigy, but Ikoma Bushi is a bit too good.

>>51105342
The thing is they're not engaged to anyone yet, arranged marriages are not yet being arranged (and that's kind of the point of the next scenario in fact, find a good spouse in a Winter Court).

For the two Kitsune twins, their family don't care at all about status or money or anything - and they that as a not important family of the Kitsune, they won't get 'good' spouses in the common sense of the word, so the instruction is to find a spouse that they like.

For the Doji it's a bit more complicated. He is the second son of his family and the first one was married to an Akodo of high status to maintain peace between the two clans, so he is the one that will inherit the family's name : he needs to find a wife that is not of higher status but will in some way be beneficial to his family (Like a beautiful Scorpion that will give him beautiful kids, a rich Mantis woman, a Crane gifted with incredible talent in art etc...) so his parents will be hard on him about that : no fussing around with girls 'he likes' if they do not fit the right model.

For the Ikoma it's less obvious : his family is full of honor and he will have to marry but he is not really happy about it - he likes his life of freedom (and his court romances). So I know the character will try to find what wife is 'best' in the sense of "which one will fuck me senseless and let me drink and kiss geishas on my free time" so there can be a conflict between him and his family about the bride.

>>51105410
Iget why you like those but for me the Kaiu Scool is the most 'useful' when talking about skills, cause they can be used in so many ways and in so many situations when the PC can be a little inventive.

>>51105449

Well if its not arranged you don't need to get too panicky about it yet. Basically just make up a few interesting NPCs and put them in the next Winter Court - if they players like any of them they can keep in contact. Just make sure in this NPC list are at least two that fits the Doji character's needs.

Once you have interesting NPCS, then go and fluff out what those NPCs own families think about marriage. And then let the shenanigans begin.

Fun things you can do to mess with players is make one NPC designed to be attractive to multiple ones of them so they compete with each other, add in NPCs that already have competitive or dickish suitors ready to duel, add in NPCs with very meddlesome relatives etc. etc.

>>51104026

I'm honestly surprised they didn't use all the zodiac symbols for clan animals. Where's my Goat (so I can say I am GOAT) and Rooster (for cock joke) clans?

>>51105464
I'm not a fan of the limited use of their techniques, and the skills they actually get use out of in standard play. Defence, Engineering, War Fans isn't much, and you can cross off Engineering if your GM has qualms over what you do with it.

>Battle, Craft: Armorsmithing, Craft: Weaponsmithing, Defense, Engineering (pick one Emphasis), Lore: Architecture, War Fans

>>51105499
You're right I shouldn't get stressed out.

I've made some NPCs already, kinda destined to the Kitsune, all kind of shy and nature-loving to fit their needs.

For the Doji I've made :
- One Kakita artisan who herself is not that beautiful but makes asonishing art
- One Yorimoto courtier who got rich in not too subtle and legal ways but stayed outside the radar of the law and is not filthy fucking rich
- One breath-takingly beautiful Bayushi who, you know, is a Scorpion, plus she is known for her playful fucking shit up in Court
- One Taku (Octopus Clan) artist who... Well. She is 'known' for her kinda shitty paintings of mountains and lakes. But she is actually the best erotica artist there is (paintings, sculptures, poems, shibari). But that reputation is more discreet.

(and I already thought of making the Ikoma and Doji fight for a lady, especially the Scorpion and Octopus ones which will be interesting to the Ikoma)

>>51105526
As a GM I tend to authorize unorthodoxe use of skills if it fits the character and the way they learned to use it.
I'll allow a Lion to use Battle (Mass Combat) to play Go if he doesn't have any Go (he will have a higher ND though)
Like I would allow a Kaiu to use his Engineering and Craft in unusual ways since their traning is basically : use everything you have (and it's not much) to make traps for Onis.

>>51105569

Well you seem to have that all figured out, what else do you need from us? Just make sure you have a brief idea of the NPCs parents - obviously don't waste time on them until more interest is shown.

Also make sure to put in a rival or two for the lulz.

>>51101574
>literally all female scorpion NPCs from his time in writing are based off characters he, his wife, and his girlfriend(who the wife was aware of) all used to ERP with all the time on their forum roleplay and LARPs and stuff
Don't forget he totally fucked a friend of his who was in Kachiko cosplay at his bachelor party.

>>51105591
I need love like everyone does

No seriously I just wanted to make sure these stories wouldn't be boring for my players "too much talking not enough slaying onis".

>>51105605
>writer has weird sex life
>writer uses his characters to put in his universe
>"oh lord that's terrible"

good fucking grace kid grow up it's how all writers do it. and weird sex life is non-relevant.

>>51105584
>use everything you have (and it's not much) to make traps for Onis
It's not Vietnam-esque traps in the same way as Daidoji Harriers, though. Kaiu build fuck off grinding wheels of spikes and other permanent installations of death, as well as siege engines.

>>51105617

You know their players better than us.

>>51090521
>nobody wants to talk about it because it's distasteful to the extreme,

You know what else is distasteful? Wasting the lives of the Emperor's subjects and the sons and daughters of the clans needlessly when they could have lived and won even more glory for their family than their no doubt heroic and not at all horrific and miserable deaths already did.

>>51105631
Honestly his wife to be apparently knew so I am not going to judge his sexcapades but I love telling that story when talking about how he self inserted as Bayushi Yojiro or whoever. That one junshin who that entire weird cosplay sequence was in emulation of an experience he had with Kachiko

All things told good on him for living his dreams and all, but that makes for a weird ass self insertion moebius loop right there.

Is there a clan whose autism is based around cooking? Because if not I vote that to be the focus of the fictitious rooster clan

>>51107316
I don't think there is, and even if there already is one, eh, it's your headcannon do whatever the fuck you want with it

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>>51107373
great because i'm envisioning:

The Rooster as a minor clan subservient to the Crane, whose duties and specialties relate to all things domestic and for the care of homes.

Rooster wives are demure and gentle providers, perhaps not as elegant as a great clan lady like the Crane or beautiful and deadly Scorpion, and perhaps a bit plain, but lovi

ng and talented in home management, cooking, and child rearing. Rooster artisans are excellent decorators, furnishers, and cooks (/ck/ joke, co/cks/).

Rooster samurai are excellent guardians, trained in siege as well as urban combat, and are known for their martial arts involving innocuous weapons that would not dishonor the host for being drawn or possessed in their home, such as fans, pipes, tanto, and jitte (drawing/using your sword in someone elses home was a tremendous dishonor)

Like the bird, the Rooster is master of his 'house' and will fight ferociously to defend it. But he is also domesticated, mastered by his greaters, not wild and free. His wings are short and will not carry him far alone, and his spurs are sharp but will not cut deep like a Lions claws or a Cranes beak. His feathers are pretty, but not beautiful like the elegant crane or stiff and useful like the Hawks.

>>51107483
As a Rokugani symbol the rooster is also an important effigy for good luck, as well as protection from evil spirits due to his association with Amatseru. I can imagine this being a focus for Clan Shugenja and priests - utilizing charms, spells, and feng shui to ensure a houses protection from evil

>>51105569
Your NPCs all sound pretty good, and if worst comes to worst, your players can always marry each other.,

>>51108061
Thank you
It would be weird to have a snob doji marry a Kitsune though.
Or a drunken Ikoma marry an Utaku.

How do you deal with players who don't seem to understand the role of duelling? Namely, the Kakita assholes who think they can win any argument ever with a duel.

In the previous edition, you had Art of the Duel, which plainly stated that most Clans wouldn't use iaijutsu except in cases where it involved legal matters, and a Crab was just liable to request a sparring match for dishonoring him and bash your pansy white head in with a tetsubo. Strictly speaking, the Dragon don't use iaijutsu at all, and the most famous duel in the history of the Empire was iaijutsu versus regular old kenjutsu. But in this edition, they kind of glance over that whole part and just say that if you're from the same family there may be different types of duels, which kind of doesn't make sense, because if that were the case the Crane really would win any argument ever since they could just request duels all the time.

I always thought the entire point was that a Scorpion didn't give a fuck and would give up face by declining, a Crab would ask you to wrestle him, a Lion would just send his army against you, a Dragon would fight you with swords, and so on. Iaijutsu duels were reserved for specific legal matters that couldn't be solved otherwise.

>>51107483
That sounds like a pretty big Minor Clan, with several schools. what would be their level of influence within the empire ?

>>51108224
I would say give them just one school, the shugenja school focused on blessings and auspicious home stuff, and then give them a prominent alt rank 2 focused on cooking that most of them end up taking.

>>51107830

The rooster is usually seen about being about good luck, and health They're probably a courtly family that's good at both games of chance and physical skill.

>>51108223
>Namely, the Kakita assholes who think they can win any argument ever with a duel.
You explain to them that Rokugan does not hold shitheel gamer mentality in high regard.

While they maybe can initiate a few duels and royally fuck some samurai's shit up when that samurai is expecting things to be more civil, it's considered rude and disruptive if they can't avoid resorting to duels to solve their social encounters. Enough so that court invitations will stop being given to those PCs, which means their lord's reputation will be tarnished. Or the other clans will start bringing their *better* duellists in to teach the impolite upstarts a lesson.

Or they don't, and maybe someone eventually has the idea to get the PCs drunk, then gank them in an alley - after all, reputations have been ruined by some assholes who couldn't see another course of action than dragging other samurai through the mud.

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>>51108223
We actually like dueling over mundane matters. The real chance that any guy can draw a sword on the character really makes the player think twice about what he wants to say/do. You know, living three feet from death and all that.

>>51108858
Which would be fine if all bushi actually could perform somewhat decently. But given the nature of iaijutsu, it heavily favors very specialized characters who are generally less useful in "real" fights. A Crab or a Lion may be legendary badasses, but they don't have any access to decent iaijutsu buffs outside of highly specific advanced paths that may or may not even be in the 4th edition anymore. So it's basically "be a Kakita/Mirumoto/Ronin or eat shit because you're actually a competent fighter rather than a play fighter".

Duelling has always been problematic, even in the card game, precisely because it seems specifically created to allow Those Guys to bypass all the mechanics regular characters have to deal with and force everyone else to play their game instead.

>>51109511
Meh. You can always change the rules, like allow Stance changing in duels, nerf dueling bonuses, or do something along these lines.

By the way, only the Kakita has meaningful bonuses for dueling. The Mirumoto "bonus" is a fucking joke.

>>51109511
It's worth noting that there's a big performance difference between a duel to first blood and a duel to the death. A Crab with a good Earth score may not win first strike, but he can probably tank it, after which things turn in to a skirmish and become more reasonably winnable.

>>51109773
Mostly lurker who would love to play and is trying to figure out the game a little: if you aren't a duelist, can't you have someone stand in for you? And don't duels need your Lord's approval anyway?
It seems like there are a lot of non mechanical reasons to avoid them

>>51107483
They could be like the Oriole clan, instead of making blades they cook food for the imperial family and others who can afford them

>>51110205
If you're not a bushi and don't carry your katana around with you, then you can call for a champion to duel in your place.

>>51110205
>And don't duels need your Lord's approval anyway?

Only duels to death need the Lords' approval.

>>51110249
What if you _are_ a bushi? Dishonorable to have a stand in?

If challenged don't you have the right to ask for unconventional duels?

>>51110205
Duels to first blood are usually done unapproved (with the assumption that the appropriate lords will approve it after the fact) so long as the duel is about some personal-scale issue.

>>51110295
>What if you _are_ a bushi? Dishonorable to have a stand in?

More than dishonorable, it just isn't done. It's an insult to everyone who trained you, and the lord that allows you to wear a katana.

>If challenged don't you have the right to ask for unconventional duels?

Not really. Both duelists can agree to a non-iaijutsu contest, but if an agreement can't be reached, then the contest will be iaijutsu.

Also, I'm used to the 40k threads. I make one newbie post here and five people jump in politely explaining how stuff works.

Is this tg?

>>51110341
Don't trust them, they're as fake as Scorpion courtier, smiling at you and tempting you with their voice soft like honey, right before they slit your throat.
The only solution facing those being a tetsubo to the face.

>Crab rules

>>51110321
Are duels necessarily immediate? Suppose I'm challenged by someone I know I can't beat in a duel, but am salty about the affront to my honor.
How bad is it to send an assassin?

Maybe not even to kill, just to injure enough to make a problem for duelling

>>51110341
The quality and politeness of posters in a thread is inverse in relation to the number of people who care for the subject. Anyway, if you have the time, read Emerald empire, I think it touches on most setting specific questions.

>>51110398
>Crab rules
You mean Yakamo Rules. No one else could have gotten away with that in foreign provinces, and not with any clan but Dragon of that era.

>>51110442
You can postpone a duel for say a year, but it's extremely bad form never to show up, you'll be remembered as a coward and you'll be shaming your family too. As for sending an assassin, I mean, you can theoretically do that, but it's not going to look good. Honestly, sending an assasin to kill your opponent would be exactly the kind of thing a Bayushi nemesis would do to make you look like a fool. By that same estimate, you really shouldn't do it.

>>51110295
>What if you _are_ a bushi? Dishonorable to have a stand in?

Not necessarily. If you are considerably higher Status then you will dictate the rules, and can name a champion no problem. Same if you are otherwise limited in your ability to accept challenges, like you are physically crippled or fill some sort of very important position. You might also have the choice to name a champion if you are a "pseudo-bushi" like a scout or a magistrate - in this case you have an excuse for poor swordsmanship so its ok to have a champion.

>>51110463
Not to kill them--if it's a duel at dawn and my opponent was injured in the night and would therefore be disadvantaged does it still go through? Or is it postponed, etc?

>>51110493
You could always injure yourself and lie. That way you don't have to send assassins and shit and you can still postpone it.

>>51110460
Yakamo only got away with his shit because Togashi specifically allowed it. I always wondered what was Togashi thinking there by the way. It was like he -wanted- to fuck over poor Hitomi and had no other reason for letting Yakamo get away than pure malevolence. But that's Togashi for you, I guess.

>>51109773
Depends. Strictly speaking, using armor in a duel is frowned upon (even the rules are really vague on what "against your opponent's normal Armor TN" means), and unless you have the Crab duellist advanced path that makes you extra tanky in a duel, you're unlikely to be able to take a katana strike that will probably have a couple of free raises and a void point spent on the damage roll for good measure without being severely injured (plus the fact that an Earth Crab is unlikely to have Reflexes/Iaijutsu at high values, so between shit attack stats and wound penalties he's effectively eating two attacks before he gets to fight "properly." And he still doesn't get to use his favored weapon if he invested in tetsubos.)

>>51110295
Nope, you're a warrior, so you're expected to handle your own fights even if it's horribly skewed in the other guy's favor. That's the problem with duelling in general. Even if you're the greatest Akodo/Hida/Mirumoto warrior in all the lands, you still have to fight that Rank 1 asshole Kakita on his own terms and probably lose because he sunk all his points into one specific otherwise useless skill. Hence why my group has had a long-standing house rule of "remove iaijutsu entirely" because seriously, fuck iaijutsu.

>>51110517
Or alternatively if you're a bitch, injure/poison yourself (not to the death) and pretend he sent you assassins.

>>51110493
It would be highly suspicious though. Shamefurr disspray and all that.

>>51110442
Postponing for too long is considered dishonorable. And sending someone to cripple your opponent is a viable strategy if you're the Scorpion type who is more flexible about matters of honor, but most wouldn't even consider that sort of thing. Especially since you'd be well on your way to seppuku if you got found out.

Which is why the Lion have developed the strategy of "don't accept duels and send armies instead". Like the time they sent a bunch of dudes to torch a Crane estate because the Crane was harboring a ronin wanted by a Lion daimyo. They can't challenge you to a duel when they're on fire.

So basically, the solution to a matter that will inevitably end in a duel is to kill the dude before he can challenge you, and then apologize and/or explain why you were justified.

>>51110547
Actually, something like even a 8k3 damage from a katana will barely scratch an Earth 3 bushi, putting him roughly into -5 on average, less with Strength of Earth and/or natural Reduction. And I don't even start with Earth 4.

>>51110656
-5 on already shitty attack stats essentially means you get a tiny chance to hurt the Kakita before he gets to hit you again and put you in huge negatives. Sure, you can still beat him, but that doesn't change the fact he still more or less gets two free attacks while you don't get access to your armor or main weapon.

Also, kata in duels are weird. While the kata rules state they may be used at any time, the duelling rules clearly state you may not take any actions not outlined in the duelling rules. You could activate it ahead of time, but that could be considered cheating, much like using kiho or shugenja buffs.

>>51110547
Flip side, though--if some asshole low level character kills or cripples someone important on a duel does that resolve the situation, or is there retaliation?
My understanding is that "officially" everything is over and done with and unofficially someone is likely to be stabbed to death and left in the mud

>>51110656
This is assuming the kakita calls no raises for damage on the strike. Keep in mind he gets a free raise on the strike for every extra 5 (or 3) he beat you on the focus roll.

>>51110873
The point is that he can do it. Not to mention that according to Rokugani law he is correct and anyone who keeps pursuing the grudge is a criminal. Which is fucking retarded.

>>51111000

Remember though that Rokugani law isn't our conception of law. Its mostly just (enforced) social conventions to keep the noble society functioning. Yeah, under the law someone big and powerful being humiliated might not technically be supposed to harbour or pursue a grudge but 1) they might get revenge anyone, relying on their wealth and prestige to avoid consequence or 2) they can get revenge in less obvious ways - such as causing that lucky duelist to get socially and financially blacklisted, or putting pressure on that duelist's superiors to make life sucky for them. Sure you just rekt that Kakita, but his aunt totally has dirt on your daimyo who is suddenly telling you that you are now being honoured with the promotion of posting to buttfuck nowhere on the edge of Unicorn lands.

What the hell is sturdy clothing and can anyone post up an image?

>Earth 3 Forest Killer ronin
>Kakita wants to duel
>I don't even have a single rank in iaijutsu
>Needs to inflict 30 points of damage to even cause a -2 penalty

Problem, Crane?
>

>>51110534
Ok, here's the deal. Togashi KNEW Yakamo was going to be the Crab Thunder. If Satsu killed his dumb ass in a normal Iaijutsu duel, like he was completely capable of, then the Empire would be destroyed. So Togashi told Satsu what would happen and let Satsu make the call to take One for the Team. Mirumoto Satsu is one of the great unsung heroes of the Empire for that.

page 11. someone make a new thread.