/l5rg/ Legend of the Five Rings General

>What Minor Clan is the best Minor Clan?
Ox.

>Why is it Monkey?

Did Toku ever get kicked out of his clan because he totaled an Utaku horse? No. He was rolling around in shit with the other fucking peasants.

>Do you allow custom minor clans?

No. For the same reason I ban Monkey. Too snowflakey.

>>51497468

>Do you allow custom minor clans?

I'm in a living campaign, so we allow them if they got founded in our timeline, which already has all of the Imperial Archives clans. We've had a couple founded.

FRO was a mistake.

>>51498054
Kolat detected.

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>>51497468
>What Minor Clan is the best Minor Clan?
Badger.
>Why is it Monkey?
Fite me.

>>51500620
How so?

What are some good ideas for a one-shot of L5R?

>reading through Legacy of Disaster
>"if there are less than six players at the table you should adjust the combats slightly"

Less than SIX PLAYERS? Of course there's less than six players! What fucking universe are AEG living in that they think you can get fucking 7 people together to play fucking L5R?

>>51502506
The same one where you can expect to play a ccg tournament with 20/30/40/50 people.

>>51502554
Fair enough.

>>51502506
Those are for Con games

>>51502626
I guess that makes sense.

>>51497468
>What Minor Clan is the best Minor Clan?
Boar
>Why is it Monkey?
This calls for a duel.
>Do you allow custom minor clans?
Never had to deal with one yet, but I'd allow it provided I read the fluff beforehand and any mechanics that the player might want to use.

>>51501403
Not >>51500620 but I've been hearing horror stories from my friends about how it's turned out for them. Stuff like it's basically turned into softcore ERP, there are no consequences for doing shit, ridiculous tone policing even when people are going out of their way to be polite, and other stuff.

>>51502847
I jumped ship before FRO8 truly got underway; thought it was going to be more pbp, and didn't consider that a game about gossipy courtiers who talk behind each others' backs would attract people who gossip and talk behind each others' backs OOC.

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>>51502210
Try these:
>Murder! (Players try to solve a murder, Cluedo-style)
>Winter Court! (Courtiers go through a contest of skill.)
>The Magnificent Samurai (If there's not enough samurai, you call it that. Survive several waves of bandits, with foreplanning and oratory skills!)
>Sanjuro (With wits and cunning, you help a woman escape a large mansion, filled with guards.)

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>>51504906
>The Magnificent Samurai (If there's not enough samurai, you call it that. Survive several waves of bandits, with foreplanning and oratory skills!)

Oh boy we did this once and it was glorious! The village was kinda out of the Empire's official border, so both the villagers and the bandits only had very rudimentary ideas about what samurai could do - they essentially assumed that samurai are just better-trained mundane warriors.

We abolished this silly misconception during the first wave, when our band of four (magistrate, bushi, courtier, artisan) killed one-fourth of the bandits (~200 dudes) without breaking a sweat (or taking a single Wound for that matter). After that, our main concerns were:
>Calming down the terrified villagers who were convinced that we were slaughter spirits who wanted to turn their lands into our blood-soaked ceremonial grounds
>Managing the disposal of dead bodies
>Tricking/forcing the now obviously reluctant bandits to attack the village despite their non-existing odds
>Introduce the ways of the Empire to the backward village

It was fun, even with the expected story themes turned inside-out.

>>51497468
I always thought the Dragonfly and the pre-Mantis Moshi were the most interesting minor clans.

What is the Realm of Animals like?

>>51506453
It's Rokugan without any hint of civilisation, and a whole bunch of animal spirits that look like animals.

>>51506492
But are the animals intelligent?
I'd like to make a character who ended up wandering into that Realm and managed to get back to home eventually after meeting some of the spirits.

>>51506507
Yes and no. They're animalistic nature given form, and the realm will exert a measure of influence on foreigners that remain there for any length of time. All realms do. In this case, it will cause you to behave more and more like an animal, until you simply remain there.

>>51506778
HM maybe I should think of a different realm for my character to wander into.

>>51506778
That's only if you integrate yourself. Just wandering through won't affect you (much), especially if you are actively trying to leave once you realize something is wrong. If you happen to find the untamed wilderness fascinating or beautiful, then you will get affected by it.

>>51508400
And even if you do willingly stay in Chikushudo, its Jealousy (Which is extremely weak compared to most realms) wears off in a week or two.
Basically
If you end up there and then leave, nothing happens
If you end up there and willingly hang around (It is a very nice, naturally beautiful place, but there's no magical compulsion) for weeks or months, you will very slowly start to change into a generic animal spirit, removing yourself from the normal kharmic cycle. This change will be reversed within days if you leave the realm (or are dragged out) before it is completed, although there will be permanent, mild remnants of the change, such as new birthmarks, or thicker facial hair.

>>51508400
>>51508588
Then what would be the worst realm to wander into; ignoring Jigoku and the realm of Slaughter.

>>51510008
Sakkaku's inhabitants are all either huge jerks or grumpy orochi. You're in for a bad time Jealousy or no.

>>51510249
I imagine the realm with the Gaki would be worse.

>>51510008
It should be noted that all involuntary Controls can be resisted exactly like the Taint, because that's all that the Taint really is.

Going down the line

Chikushudo is safe enough as long as you don't willingly stick around.

Gaki-do won't exert any control as long as you don't interfere with its role. Interfere and it will drop the Control hammer, making you roll an ever increasing Willpower roll to resist every single minute. Luckily, the type of gaki you get turned into will quickly finish punishment and get reincarnated. That's still functional death for you. Also, the denizens of the realm are dangerous and disgusting.

Jigoku's Control, also known as the Taint, will fully corrupt you within seconds, jade or no. If you could somehow survive that, you'd find that the realm itself isn't actually that dangerous. It's formless and bland. Good luck actually doing that though.

Meido does not exert control on visitors, because anyone interfering with Emma-O's work gets ejected by him directly. It's boring, but you could hang around if you really wanted to. Nothing there but waiting souls and the big man himself though (And his little helpers in later eras).

Maigo-no-Musha has no functional control for outsiders, and is the waiting room's waiting room. Possibly even more boring than Meido.

Sakkaku's control starts up within the day and tries to make you more like the things that live there. Self-restraint and acting "appropriate" start to be less and less important as you get more and more influence in you. This doesn't last long once you leave the realm, although there can be permanent remnants.

Tengoku's Control is absolute and unresistable, but not exerted unless you cause trouble. If it wants you to do something while you are there, you do it. End of story.

Toshigoku is extremely dangerous, with a Control that starts to affect you within the hour. It can be resisted, but not for long. Goes away if you leave before getting fully corrupted.

>cont

>>51510513
Yomi exerts influence to stop guests from being disruptive, but that's it. Toe the line and it leaves you alone. Its denizens don't want you sticking around for too long, because you're supposed to be trying to get here through a mortal life, but they're honored ancestors, so they'll just ask you to leave politely and firmly when your visiting time is up.

Yume-do is visited every single night by every sentient mortal and immortal from all realms. Everything from the lowliest maggot gaki to the Celestial Dragon dreams, and they all dream here. If you get here through means other than sleeping, you can voluntarily take its Control and become a Yumeji for ever increasing power over your own dreams, and eventually even other people's dreams. Do this and you start to lose connection to your old realm, which manifests as sleeping way too much. Do this way too long and you lose connection to your old realm entirely and fade away as lord of your own disconnected dream realm. At this point, you could start to poke into other people's dreams, but why bother?

And then there's the mortal realm itself. Anything that ends up here becomes mortal, then dies and goes to Meido, where they get shuffled along to wherever they go.

>>51510513
>>51510628
This stuff is strictly out of character knowledge. The Rokugani themselves know about all the realms, but don't have many details about the ones that aren't directly related to reincarnation.

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Have any of your characters had to commit seppuku?

Remember, it's not shameful to say they did. To die in the name of one's lord is the highest honor a samurai can attain.

>>51510513 >>51510628
Are the other nation's aware of these alternate realms?
Like I'm pretty sure there's a version of Egypt, India, and the Middle East somewhere around Rokugan.

>>51512307
Once.
But this act was more of a protest against an admittedly retarded Clan Champion and a way for my character to leave the group as I could no longer play.

>>51512371
Possibly, but what happens to dead gaijin is a complete mystery to Rokugan and has never been explained. The not!romans have a god of war that suspiciously resembles Akodo, but there's really not a lot of information on non-Rokugani religions.

>>51512371
Theology is weird; it's shown that the Gods of the Ivinda are real, but how they fit in Rokugani cosmology is also strange. Not to mention all the eerie similarities between Yodotai theology and that of Rokugan.

>>51512371
From everything that's said and read, it's implied that the one true creation of the world really was the Nothing making things, Amaterasu and Onnotangu making the world and all it's inhabitants, and making the ten Kami.

The Yodotai describe their gods "falling from the heavens" but unlike Rokugan thinks that they simply died on impact. Their spirits and the descriptions of said gods also sound remarkably similar to the elemental kami and the God kami, respectively.

Shinsei is also implied to have went to the Ivory Kingdoms and helped to establish their own philosophies under a different identity.

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>>51512307
My very first character had to commit seppuku because her Shadowland Taint went though the roof. She got the Paneki treatment: her second chickened out and the Taint resurrected her as an intelligent undead (to be exact, her mutation was the "you can't die lol" one).

>>51512410
That sucks.

>>51512694
That sucks even harder than the first one, because to be denied seppuku (and to have your second chicken out) is like, some kind of mega sin. At least you tried to commit it before you became a Lost.

...well, I mean, you're a Lost now, but you tried. Your second's a little bitch, by the way, considering the deep personal importance that being a second implies.

>>51512694
That seems to be several handle sizes too many.

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>>51512883
Actually, given the relative size of Kanpeki and his massive meaty hands, it's not that far off from the handle size of a nodachi used by a normal man.

It's definitely not the most ridiculous nodachi in fantasy.

>>51512883
Looks like a Nagamaki to me.

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>>51512883
It's a nagamaki. Basically take a naginata, but equalize the blade and handle lengths. Also, it's misclassified by the game as a polearm even though all evidence suggests that you wield it like a katana with way more leverage.

>>51512926
It's definitely like at the exact 50/50 mark between a sword and a polearm.

>>51512926
Huh, looked like a nodachi to me.

Thanks for the correct, anon.

>>51510513 >>51510628
Is this control function where the Touch of the Spirit Realms advantage comes from?

>>51512835
>Your second's a little bitch

She was hunted down, killed, then reanimated as a zombie so that she could share my character's fate to some extent.

The funny thing is that the whole story was set up by a Daigotsu dude who wanted to marry my character but was friendzoned early on. He thought that turning his waifu into a Lost might improve his chances (it did btw) and sent some kansen at her second to fuck up the seppuku ceremony.

>>51512948
Yes, but surviving manuals and supposedly authentic martial arts all treat it like a sword in terms of basic movements and stances and whatnot.

>>51512307
No, but another player's character had to.
We were playing the 1e Topaz Championship adventure, and his Lion was utter garbage at literally everything.

Shamefur Dispray.

>>51512960
>Daigotsu character killing your character to fuck her

I can't say I'm surprised by this, considering that Shadowlands characters, even at low levels of Taint, tend to be insane by the standards of any... well, sane person.

He didn't think through not being able to have kids with you, did he? Or is there some maho ritual I'm not aware of that can knock up a zombie?

>>51512958
Kinda. Touch of the Spirit Realm generally means that there's a bit of that realm stuck in your soul somehow. Maybe you were there for a while before reincarnating and it stuck, maybe your mom passed by a little hole in reality when she was pregnant, maybe it's just a fluke. The advantage could also represent being descended from a slumming Fortune in some cases. Emma-O is known to take a vacation from sorting souls to go start a mortal family every few centuries, and Touch of the Spirit Realms: Meido would be a good way to represent being related to that.

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>>51512923
>>51512926

It is the Hantei ancestral sword, a no-dachi (pic related).

>>51512979
I didn't know if you fucked up badly at the Topaz Championship, you had to kill yourself to preserve your clan's honor. I thought that was just a joke between me and some friends from my first game.

The more you know.

>>51513024
If you fuck up really badly at any formal event, you might have to seppuku to cleanse the shame. But being that shit at your own gempukku either means you really are some kind of super failure or your standards are way too high even for a samurai from a family with high standards.

>>51512993
The Daigotsu dude was an intelligent undead too. Turned out that undead-on-undead relationships tend to have quite a leeway in certain aspects like procreation and producing heirs.

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>>51513093
A zombie wanted to bone your character, so he fucked up your seppuku so you'd also become a zombie, so that a zombie could bone a zombie.

I fucking love this game.

>>51513002
I used it to represent my character's inhuman ancestry; his grandfather escaped from Gaki-do before the War of Spirits.
All his decedents will bear the sin of Gaki-do for eternity.

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I feel like this is the least shit and argumentative general on /tg/.

Thanks for being cozy, L5R.

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>>51513174
Just wait till our >>female bushi faggot shows up, the "Can samurai be gay?" retards, and retard clan partisans (current flavor is "Crab suck at everything forever") show up. Then the thread will degenerate into shitflinging and general retardation.

It has the blessing of being a smaller game, so it doesn't get the virulent shitposting that D&D or 40k get.

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Did anything happen during the reign of Hantei XXXIV?

>>51513123
>A zombie wanted to bone your character, so he fucked up your seppuku

He also sent my character (and the party she was part of) to the Second Festering Pit that directly resulted in her receiving shitton of Taint. But I guess him overreacting like this was understandable, because his rival was a Hida, so the stakes were actually pretty darn fucking high.

>>51513255
But the answers are right there in the books. To all of those questions. (Samurai-ko exist, no one cares if you keep it secret, and worst clan is Shadowlands).

>>51513285
Well, he lost a lot of political support when he tried to force everyone to be more pious and ascetic, and then he retired after a bunch of monks convinced him that you can't force everyone to seek enlightenment that hard.
Also, the most important development in the arts the Crab ever saw was invented in the Draw-Lot Plays.

>>51513299
My 1st game took place in a setting of Rokugan where the Iweko line has continued to the fourth, Daigotsu's deal with Iweko I didn't make the Taint voluntary (because the evil realm of evil will disobey things that tell it to stop being as evil), and the Spider Clan are under constant watch by the Kuni and Kitsuki for the first sign of them being shits.

I mean, hey, GM is free to make their own Rokugan as they want, and I wasn't complaining.

>>51513255
Two daughters. Eight sons.

Of the daughters:
One fucked her brother while he was pretending to be a unicorn.
The other founded the worst (real) clan to ever exist.

what the fuck, Ameterasu?

>>51497468
>What Minor Clan is the best Minor Clan?

Sparrow
It's really too bad they'll never have good mechanics.

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>>51513345
>invented in the Draw-Lot Plays

I regret not making a Crab.

>>51513395
Incest isn't that uncommon in real life mythology, so hey.

Hantei also wanted to bone Doji, so.

>>51502210
The Challenge / Focus / Strike files from Kaze No Shiro.

>>51513395
>One fucked her brother while he was pretending to be a unicorn.
Nah.

>In 153 the Kami Shinjo was lured to the Oasis of Spirits from where she returned pregnant. She spoke little of it, but she had five shapeshifting children, who used to feel most comfortable in the figure of their father, a shimmering white steed with fiery halo, a Ki-rin.

>>51513255
>i'm gonna eat this fucking kids.
>why is fu leng so creepy.
>doji stop pouring us tea this is the fifth cup.
>i have to pee. will that flood the world?
>why doesn't my wife put out anymore.
>bayushi what the fuck are you doing.
>hida stop stepping on akodo's feet.

>>51513255
Okay so the kid in red and black is obviously Bayushi, but why is he summoning some sort of demon?

And... who is Hida fighting?
Ryoshun?

>>51513717
That's probably Akodo, considering they were the most martial of the kami.

>>51513717
>>51513735
https://www.l5r.com/2012/12/12/10k-card-the-celestial-court/

Lord Moon and Lady Sun sit in the Celestial Court over seeing their young children. Lord Moon’s blade rests behind him, he is stern and cold. Lady Sun gazes out on her children, reserved but interacting with Doji. Behind them you can see scenes of the world of what has been and will be.

Doji and Bayushi. We initially thought to pair Bayushi with his twin Shiba but the two have so little in common that it is easily shown visually. So we had Doji and Bayushi participating in their parents’ court as their descendants would for generations to come. Doji serves her mother tea learning the ways of etiquette while Bayushi notices and curiously reaches out at a strange shadowy flicker that his father lets go unspoken.

Hantei and Akodo. The two argue angrily as children do over their toys much like they will fight over the Empire in the last duel of the Kami in years to come.

Hida and Ryoshun wrestle for fun. Both bigger and rougher than their other brothers we imagined a wrestling contest not mean spirited but of pure brotherly competitiveness in a sumai style.

Shiba and Togashi. The spiritual children, the two brothers meditate and contemplate the universe at their fingers. We chose to obscure Togashi’s face as this has been the general nature of him.

Fu Leng and Shinjo. Perhaps my favorite in the illustration. Fu Leng appears as his sister Shinjo always remembers him, conjuring little creatures for her amusement. We see a Fu Leng before he was twisted into a monster, back when he lived to make his sister clap with glee. The brother and sister play and draw together forming memories strong enough that Shinjo would one day venture deep into the Shadowlands to try and reason with her little brother who had gone mad.

What would have happened if Fu Leng never became the evil monster of the Empire?

>>51514098
He would still be even more dickish than Bayushi. Fu Leng had a habit of being a little shit even before he fell.

>>51514098
If he'd stayed around with Shinjo, things might have actually been happy for them both.

Even the other Kami, who didn't remember their fallen brother, were surprised by how evil and twisted he'd become and mourned him appropriately.

>>51514109
In an addition to what I said in >>51514182 he'd probably still be a dick.

He was so much of a dick he trolled the Lying Darkness.

>>51506114

... How does this happen? What edition? What insight rank?

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I'm not sure about Uikku guys...

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>>51514260
Where is the new Uikku? Without his prophecies we are blind to the future...

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>>51514098
I blame Togashi, the biggest dick of all the Kami. Fu Leng had a good hiding place from his hungry hungry daddy and Togashi led Shinjo to it and Lord Moon followed them.

It would have been baller as hell if Hantei and Fu Leng tag teamed Lord Moon and became Bros of the Throne. Fu Leng would have been the Magic-vs-Magic and Hantei the Steel-vs-Steel. But no, Togashi had to ruin it all.

>>51514343
Celestial Order. It had to happen.

The Order isn't fair, but if you break it, bad shit happens.

>>51506114
>our band of four (magistrate, bushi, courtier, artisan) killed one-fourth of the bandits (~200 dudes) without breaking a sweat (or taking a single Wound for that matter)

You have a shit GM.

>>51514368
If they had a Mirumoto, it'd make sense.

Otherwise I'm not seeing how they pulled it off, or if it's just an exaggeration.

>>51513672
>>hida stop stepping on akodo's feet.
Akodo is to the right of Hantei. They're arguing next to a ball. That leaves Hida's wrestling partner to be Ryoshun.

>>51514290
Wasn't there a couple new prophets?
I think you had a Dragon and a Fox prophet.
Not that it matters prophecy has to be like the worst power.

>>51502847
Hmm... Not that guy or the other one, but that's a little disappointing, especially since they always had a hard ban on anything ERP-like. And I'm saying that as someone whose character last game knocked up another PC, without having things get lewd. I'm not sure what you mean about 'tone policing' though, since they always had a lot of focus on the high level of etiquette and such that's required when samurai interact though.

But I haven't played the newest game yet either so don't know what things are like this time, first hand (I was in 3, 5, and 7... or something like that). Still thinking that maybe I should resurrect my cold hearted ninja who karate chops people in the neck though.

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>>51513078
I just checked, and it's a plot thing.
In addition to him being a total fuckup, that is.

>>51516816
Not so much a plot thing as a Matsu thing.

>>51514243
>>51514368
>>51514395

Homebrew combat system + IR3 Mirumoto Bushi who could make 14 attacks per turn. But the kill count was somewhat evenly distributed because fantasy samurai versus mundane bandits is obviously a very poor match-up for the latter.

>>51521441
Wow. So not even mook rules; your group just went full on wuxia ham.

>>51521655

It is actually a combination of the two: non-samurai combatants have considerably worse fighting stats, while samurai (all of them, not only the bushi) has access to some pretty darn bonkers techniques. Obviously, samurai-on-samurai fights tend to be far less glorious and more like an elaborate, tense match of technique and tactics.

What's the worst thing you've ever come across in a group?
Either like the worst character or worst plot.

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I am a complete newbie to the game who is preparing their first character, a hotblooded and overconfident Kakita Bushi who is less than enthusiastically welcome in Crane Lands due to his propensity to shag around, and all together un-crane like cocky (ok, cocky IS cranelike) and gar (this isn't) attitude. The "Unexpectedly Bro Duelist" is what I was going for. Peasants love him due to his easy going and forgiving nature, which also earns him no favors among his clan.

How'd I do, stat wise?

Traits are:

Daredevil (Mental) : Cost -3 : pg 147
Hero of the People (Social) : Cost -2 : pg 150
Dangerous Beauty (Physical) : Cost -3 : pg 147
---
Black Sheep (Social) : Bonus 3 : pg 156
Lechery (Social) : Bonus 2 : pg 160
Brash (Mental) : Bonus 3 : pg 157
Overconfident (Mental) : Bonus 3 : pg 161

>>51498793
Expand on how you play a "living campaign".

>>51522078
One person refuses to play anything other than a shugenja, and his last two characters haven't even been completely human.
They aggravate me.

>>51522267

Go with Awareness 3 instead of Strength 3, the rest is good.

>>51522397
ok. Any reason why? I'm clueless, I just assumed str 3 would be good to hit things harder

>>51522410
oh NM it's so I can raise my Air ring to 3 isn't it, duh

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>>51522267
Also is it a bad thing I got my character art from 'Cute Boy Swords for Fujoshi's: the game'?

I don't think anyone else has figured it out yet.

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>>51522410

Strength is actually pretty useless as a Trait. That +1k0 damage won't do much, it isn't even half as important as having +0k1 on Social Skills and Assessment rolls (or Air 3 for that matter).

For the future, improve Void to 3 ASAP, then go for Perception 3 and Investigation at Rank 2 or 3. This is pretty much the "essentials" package for your character, you should consider other improvements only after these are done.

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>>51522500
>strength is unimportant

CRANE DETECTED.

>>51522500
that all makes sense, but why Investigation?

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>>51522518

Well, unless you are exploiting Grapple or go full-Ono (or want a Water-abuse build). But that's advanced tactics I wouldn't recommend for a first player.

>>51522529

It is the Skill to tell if someone is lying, spot ambushes, extort information, and find stuff in general. It is not a Skill you will always use, but when you will need it, you will need it A LOT.

Otherwise, Tea Ceremony is also a good Skill. You might consider improving it to Rank 3 when you hit Void 3.

>>51522078
This one player who plays every single fucking character no matter it's clan/family.

Rich female assassin who hates people who are friendly.

Every single time.
Every single school/clan/family combination.

>>51522445
If that's the art you used, you have excellent taste so I don't think it's a problem.

>>51522386

Club with about 50 people in it. Every club meeting represents one season. Every character spends each season doing a thing in a place. Some of that leads to full adventures, sometimes it's mass battle, sometimes it's nothing, so that people don't need to hit every meeting. If there's no adventure, you still might get a skill increase if you spent the winter practicing poetry or whatever. The less skills you have, the more likely that is.

All the GMs communicate to keep things coherent, and over time it produces an alt timeline. Ours split off when Iweko got crowned, and then we had a timeskip of about 20 years so we could do our own thing. It's nice. If you end up founding a vassal family or a minor clan, you get exclusive rights to play characters from the ruling line unless you want to open it up to someone else, and people need to ask before making a non-ruler in it. There's a homebrew system to represent rulership. You can control the ruler of your group as an NPC if you want your active character to be lower-ranking. Most people in that position do that and play the ruler's heir.

In a scale of 1 to 10 how much do you hate the following:
- Mantis Clan
- Spider Clan

1 being "I feel the people who like them should always have a space in the game universe as a great clan" and 10 being "FFG reboot better pretend these never existed".

>>51522078
http://big-metto.net/RP_Wiki/index.php?title=Doji_Nanako

picture was Ion from Tales of the Abyss.

>>51522801
>Has a club with over 50 people playing L5R

How I wish to be you.

>>51522642
Sounds like we have a similar problem >>51522389

>>51522807
3 (still fucking salty about the Fox)/8 (they have a place as NPC villains but nothing else)

>>51522807
>Mantis
4. They get a bad rap because of favoritism, and are dicks, but all the great clans are dicks.

I feel like they should be retooled from less YARR SAMURAI PIRATES to 'Minor Clan Mafia'.

>Spider

10

>>51522807
I'd give Mantis clan a 6 at the most.
I kind of like what they do and how they were formed from a bunch of minor clans.... I just wish they hadn't replaced some of the unique minor clan cultures and replaced it with 'Sea fairing and pirates".

Like the Moshi and Kitsune.

>>51522844


Start small. Play it in public, make it look cool. We had an advantage is that we started with about a dozen card players in the club, so there was interest. Then we gradually introduced people until most people played the RPG, so of course the rest had to try it and see why everyone else liked it.

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>>51522807
>Mantis Clan

7 - They shouldn't be a Great Clan and have all that attention forced on them.

>Spider Clan

4 - The basic idea is good, but the execution needs a rework.

>>51523032
hold up son I think you got your numbers reversed

>>51522807

>Mantis
3. Lots of potential, but like with everything else, AEG messed up the scale and execution. Should've let the families keep their customs and make the whole Mantis clan really tense internally. Make it so the Yoritomo are always worried about rebellions. After all, they proved that you can raise your station in life. Maybe those nice individual families want to take their place? The great clans would be more likely to accept the Mantis if they all thought it was going to explode. After all, if they're a great clan, they can invade to pick up the pieces.

>Spider Clan
7. As a clan, it is dumb. As a ronin group or a network of spies that pretend to be real samurai and spread subversive ideas, it is neat. All plot associated with it is dumb.

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>>51523111

The Mantis Clan needs more work. You pretty much need to rehash their whole history from the onset of the Clan Wars (pre-CW can stay. it isn't that bad).

The Spider just needs to have a better hold on being the caricature of the Empire.

>>51523158
Problem with the Spider as a great clan is that is in essence, a new faction built over the infiltrator Spider clan.

Old time Shadowlands supporters hate that the taint is taboo and not in the front of the Clan.
Old time players hate them because the setting changed in Destroyer War and made Hell a place you can negotiate and have political clout over (which funnily enough happened throughout the history of the card game with no in universe explanation.)

The actual great clan of the Spider never got a chance to developt or shine. You got one fucking timeline forum post telling what happened when they ascended and went to the colonies and some pseudo-canon shit in WC4 and that's about it.

And then immidiatly after that they held the voting path things and the majority of old time shadowland players voted for ending the Spider as a great clan thing in favor of a setting where their factions reigned, which was probably the dumbest voting question you could ask a player base.

"Vote here to remain a Great clan. Or vote here to have an entire setting dedicated to you lol".

tl;dr

Spider Great Clan never got a chance and that makes me sad because I enjoyed the Second City box set as well the little lore we got as them as a great clan.

>>51523207
>Hell a place you can negotiate and have political clout over

Ironically a very Asian theme, and pretty fitting with the setting IMO

>>51523158
>Charicature of the Empire

A Meritocracy led by elected officials?

>>51522807

Mantis: 2

I really like them as a great clan but the individual families need more focus/separation. It's a compelling part of them, that they are formed from several families that don't have the same long history as fellows in the same clan that other clans have. Each has developed it's own culture.

Spider Clan: 7

They really don't deserve to be a proper 'great clan' or even an officially recognised clan. They should only call themselves that as a horrible parody of the clan system. Still, the individual families/schools are fine and cool.

>>51523207

>(which funnily enough happened throughout the history of the card game with no in universe explanation.)

Honestly, they could have explained that very easily if they wanted. It's less 'Social standing' for them and more 'Deception/pulling strings'. You lose all your honor and get taken out of the game? You've become so overt and have lost so many allies that the Great Clans team up to stomp your ass into the dirt in a coordinated action.

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Newbie from >>51522267 here again. I made the suggested changes, tapping up awareness over str, will do the suggested boosts after I get the Points for it.

Some setting questions:
The first, which is actually relevant to my character - it says during musha shugyo (warrior pilgramige) a character is considered Ronin. Is this the same as playing a RONIN character, with all the ass that comes with it? Or is this a good way to play a character whose not entirely tied down to his clan holdings - it would be entirely thematically fitting for my Black Sheep samurai to "ask" to go "on a pilgramige" and for his lord to "allow" him to "depart" get the fuck out as a stopgap measure before genuinely punishing him for being a trouble making retard (I don't envision him as doing anything particularly bad, he just has outrageous behavior for a Crane, exemplified by his traits).

Next:

I read the background lore, and it seems like the Shadowlands or Fu Leng is nearly destroying the Empire like twice a century - if not them, the Bloodspeaker. Between the three (and occasionally the Gods deciding to fucking kill everyone for being retarded), I have to ask - how does any sense of normalcy exist? How in the fuck can people, even in lands far away from the Crab, go on thinking that the Taint and the danger it represents is far away and contained? Like I can understand why people might not like the Crab or want them to be powerful - because the Crabs are assholes (like every other clan), but that kind of willful stupidity seems impossible even for honoraburr samurai - especially since the whole of the Empire always seems to survive by dropping it's bullshit at the last second? How have they not developed a good way to prevent the Emperor from being kidnapped/killed/corrupted for the umpteenth fucking time? SENGOKU JIDAI WHEN? TOKUGAWA DID NOTHING WRONG

How much do we know exactly of the gaijin?

>>51523303
"Should we help the Crane?"
"No."
"These demons haven't offended anyone yet, all they did was kill and burn thousands of innocent children." said the Crane bushi.
"Oh look that Crane claims that giant mass of tentacles offended his lord! They have no honor these BEASTS FROM HELL let's all help them!"

>>51523390
Legend of the Burning Sands bro, shit ton of information of Gaijin there.

There is also more info on even more gaijin sprinkled here and there.

>>51523419

Thanks mate!

>>51523349
Some of it is bad writing, but it's also considered impolite to discuss things that might tempt other samurai into the sin of Fear. For most of their history the Crab are actually pretty successful at keeping the Shadowlands out, and in fact are so successful that most other Clans don't think it's all that necessary,to aid them. Especially because the Crab act like thugs most of the time in the courts of other Clans and because the Crab never stop asking for resources.

Also, it's the fault of the Crane.

>>51523439
The Second City Box Set has also information about the Ivory Empire in timeline sensitive manner.

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>>51523349
also i'm checking the wiki HOW THE FUCK IS THERE NO DOG CLAN?

There should at LEAST be a minor clan for every month, and goddamn Dogs are like, important and shit, especially in Japanese Myth!

>>51523510
Ronin are represented by the wolf, and >implying Wick ever did any fucking research

>>51523510
>Japanese
Did you know that the very fact that you are playing clan bound Samurai, how the court structure work and the role of the Emperor have more in common to certain Chinese dynasties than it ever did to Japanese culture, political structure or myth?

Rokugan ain't Japan, even if you can default to it if you are confused/stumble into something not dealt with the books already.

Some "animal clan" decisions make sense in universe but not much outside of it, like the fact that it exists a Lion Clan or a Crab Clan.

The Chinese Zodiac exists in our world due to the Chinese love/appreciation to certain animals, the ecology of Rokugan isn't like Japan's or even China, it has it's own things.

For instance, Lions exist and there is even a school dedicated on trainning them.

>>51523278
>>51523139
>>51522913
>>51522859
I've been working on rewriting a lot of Mantis lore the game I'm about to run for my group, with a focus on making the cultural influence betw een the families run both ways instead of from Yoritomo out. Paste relsted: http://pastebin.com/Az17k5dH.

>>51523349

A character undertaking the musha shugyo is considered ronin in a way that he/she supposedly has no clan ties either way. so he is not really ronin, just a "clanless samurai". And yeah, it would be fitting for your character.

And the people of the Empire are kinda stupid and really-really ignorant. An the higher you go in the hierarchy, more stupid and ignorant they get.

>>51523554
>Wick
Part of me wishes to hate on the decisions he did like not making a Samurai game about ronin and the struggle of the lower castes in Fantasy Feudal Japan.
Part of me loves the setting anyway for being fantasy Japan with several Chinese elements in it, in particular the idea that the Hero is the one preserving the status quo, like Liu Bei in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

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>>51523581
Even considering Rokugan isn't Japan, Inugami are powerful and benevolent spirits, and the only spirits to prefer human company to other spirits.

There is a Dragon clan, major
There is a Lion (Tiger) Clan, major
There is a Kirin (horse) clan, major
There is a Hare clan (minor)
There is a Boar clan (minor)
There is an Ox clan (minor)
There is a Monkey clan (minor)

The Scorpion should rightly be Serpent, would Rokugan even have Scorpions outside of the burning wastes?

The remaining months without a coinciding clan are Dog, Rat, Rooster and Goat. Rats and Goats are obviously low animals (Nezumi not withstanding) and it's obvious why they wouldn't be a Mon.

Given their symbology as things of protection and spiritual power, there's no reason not to have a minor clan for Rooster or Dog.

Goat could be replaced with the Serow, an animal regarded as a symbol of japan, a very important source of sustenance and fur in the northern climates.

Rat? IDK, a secret not-Clan maybe like the fucking Spider

>>51523760
There is a snake clan alrea-

[USER WAS PURGED BY THE PHOENIX CLAN FOR THIS POST]

>>51523799
>>51523760
Spider Clan here Chuda are br-
[USER WAS FORCED TO BECOME A RONIN FOR THIS POST]

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>>51523812
>>51523799
Ah, I see. So there WAS a Snake Clan who totally were not wiped out

Still leaves Dog, Rat, Rooster, and Goat.

>>51523860
>That feel when you love the Snake clan but they the most cucked faction in the game

>>51524669
which snake clan do you like, though

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>get the l5r book because I'm interested in Japanese-style fantasy
>starts with the origin of their gods
>literally just a retelling of Greek Mythology

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>>51525912
>L5R = Japanese

I'm gettin' real sick of this meme.

>>51526013
Is it not supposed to be based on Japan? Because the Katana, Japanese terminology, Kimono, and the fact that the intro to the game in the book says "this is primarily based on Japan" kind of made me think so.

>>51526245
It's based on Japan as seen by a western who kept mixing Chinese things into it, in the early 90's followed by almost 2 decades of players moving the story in insane ways.

See this as a fantasy setting inspired by Japan.
Think of this as "Avatar" but instead of benders you got Samurai of all different kind of crazy flavours.

>>51523860
There are innumerable 'lost' minor clans. Most is them simply for mundane reasons.

>>51526245
L5R is Oriental fantasy for Americans.

>>51497468
>>What Minor Clan is the best Minor Clan?
Came here to nominate the Bat

>>51526329
It's still super goddamn lazy to have the fall of the kami just be a retelling of the story of Zeus and Kronos. I get that it's not a hugely important part of their world but it's the first real bit of world-building we get in the book.

I was just hoping for something Oriental in my Oriental fantasy.

>>51526468
Wait until you get into the Unicorn or Dragon haha.

>>51526468
Funny, I used Oriental in the pejorative meaning of 'prejudiced western outsider interpretations', but you seem to use it to mean legitimately Asian.

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>>51526438
Everybody, do the Bat dance!

>>51522807

Mantis - 1. They get a minor hate point for the stupid Fox stuff but its hard to get too mad for that. They used to be maybe a 2 or a 3 but most disgruntlement has faded. I feel they have enough going on to stand as a Great Clan now.

Spider - Eh I'll go for 8 for at least some way to shuffle them out of the bizarre position they are in.

>>51522590
A badger bushi starts with 4 strength out of the gate, which means you can default to "BOULDER SMASH!" 90% of the time. An Ono would be downright OP, but perhaps more fun is crit fishing with a Dai-Tsuchi, especially with the badger school techniques and heavy weapons rank 7 mastery. Plus you get to suplex anything, which reminds me of the time where my badger bushi used the (still alive) body of a thug as a bludgeon to kill another.

>>51512307
oh, boy. I've had to serve as second to three sepukkus this last campaign. I'm the only original PC left in the party.

>>51526677

Has anyone else had a Badger Bushi take the Strength in Arms kata?

I had a player do that once with an Ono. That was horrifying. I still have flashbacks.

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>>51497468
>What Minor Clan is the best Minor Clan?
Badger. Guardians of the tomb of Ryoshun and all that.
>Why is it Monkey?
Unfortunately, as I'm playing in an alt timeline where Toku got deaded before he could found a clan, I haven't met any.
>Do you allow custom minor clans?
Depends. I don't allow them to be made just as a single character's backstory, however, I've had PCs found them on two occasions.

>>51504906
>>51506114

I did a Magnificent Samurai plot line set during the Great Famine.

Players thought they were just playing Magistrate in a shitty village at first until communication started to shut down and the hungry peasants and bandits started circling it.

>>51497468
My first l5r character was a Sparrow so it's a clan I love revisiting.
I also enjoy the Monkey and the Hare, though I've never played a Hare character.

Anyone want to pitch a Hare samurai concept? Maybe I'll scratch that itch.

>>51526560
Funny, you interpreted it wrong.

I'm fine with western interpretations of a caricature of Asian culture. But I do like something Asian to be there in that world and not just do a find-replace for western myths with Asian words. A world where Amaterasu is Rhea and Tsukuyomi is Kronos and is not actually Oriental fantasy. It's just Western Fantasy that's harder to pronounce.

It's not like Shinto myth is that much more complicated. Two major gods fucked a bunch, had a bunch of kids, the wife died in labor, the husband goes to the underworld to save her. She's already eaten there and so cannot come back. Lighting a torch to see her against her wishes, he finds out she's a terrifying rotting corpse now and he skedaddles. Angered she sends an army of monsters after him and he blocks the exit to the underworld. He takes a purification bath from how creepy it is, and in the process from his eyes come the Moon and Sun dieties, and from his nose comes the Sea diety. And the sun is the emperor's great great great great great great great great great great great grandma.

>>51526732
What the fuck did everyone do? I'm curious.

>>51526948
>Funny, you interpreted it wrong
You would have to be specific as to what 'it' is, out of the possibilities, but seeing as I didn't interpret, I'll hazard saying 'nope'.

>>51527378
Is it really necessary to argue semantics in a l5r thread?

Smells like a Crane player in here.

>>51527393
> he doesn't think Dragon, Mantis, Phoenix, Scorpion, or Unicorn would argue semantics
The Lion might not, but that's mainly because Matsu.

>>51527440
>Dragon
They would start semantic arguments but never end them with a clarification.

>>51527378
You used "seem to have."

I was using Oriental the same way you were.

>>51527440
Why did you lump the Mantis or the Unicorn with the others? No mention of the Crab either?

>>51527781
Would the Crab and the Mantis really care about semantics?

>>51527795
Their merchants probably do when they're jewing people out of their wealth and/or supplies.

>>51527795
>Would the Crab and the Mantis really care about semantics?
My first thought was N-O but the more I think about it, I would argue that they would. I mean the Crab alone argues with the Lion what honor really means.

>>51527781
Because the Mantis care enough about semantics to claim they're just taxing other seafaring Rokugani and any unclaimed land belongs to them, while the Unicorn care enough about semantics to claim the Ujik-hai and their gaijin magic ways were legit Rokugani when they returned.

>>51527877
Everyone argues what honour really means. If that's enough, then there's no one left to claim they don't care about semantics.

>>51527914
The Tanuki Clan never argued about honor. They just wandered around in the woods while drunk and recorded whatever bullshit they saw so that the Emperor could be up to date on the latest woodland events.

>>51527953
Everyone who matters.

>>51527965
The emperor never argues about honor because whoever he could theoretically argue with is wrong.

>>51527965
>Implying
Scorpion stronk
Scorpion gives a negative amount of fucks about honor.

SCORPION PRIDE
WORLDWIDE

>>51527984
The Scorpion argue that their underhanded tactics are honorable because it's their job. In most eras, the other great clans argue against that idea with varying amounts of vehemency.

>play samurai game
>kill some dude who attacked me with my katana
>say "I cut his head and take it as trophy"
>everyone super horrified like I'm That Guy

Ok, so this is Rokugan and not Japan and there's no headhunting. But fuck japanese samurais were headhunters how I'm supposed to know that rokuganis aren't if you don't tell me? The only one who looked sympathethic about my situation was the DM (ironically she's the only one with actual knowledge of Japan beyond being a weeb).

>>51528005
Except they have low honor in most of their schools by default - Which means they don't perceive themselves as honorable, meaning if they are arguing about being honorable is just another of their lies.

>>51528043
Actually, there is headhunting in Rokugan, explicitly, your group just doesn't know what they're talking about.
Doing anything else to a corpse is a big no-no (Aside from respectfully taking their gear to either display as a trophy or return to their honorabru family at a later date), but taking heads is fine and dandy as long as you minimize your contact with dead flesh by using a bag.

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Papa Daigotsu says:

"Heresy's a-ok!"

>>51528085
I guess it wasn't the appropriate context for it then, or that the DM removed it to appease her western audience.

>>51528138
>the DM removed it to appease her western audience
Bingo.

>>51528085
>Doing anything else to a corpse is a big no-no
Technically, you're supposed to cremate it and not leave a body, because corpses readily available for maho is the biggest no-no.

>>51528381
Well, that's not something *you* are supposed to do. That's for the local eta (Or Kuni, at a stretch) to handle.

>>51528396
>The last ritual of every samurai’s life is their funeral. These, like everything else in Rokugan, follow a strict protocol. By Imperial Law, all bodies must be cremated. Traditionally, a funeral takes place four days after death, and those four days are fi lled with prayers, as well as the burning of special scrolls fi lled with “last words” which are the final parting words of the living to the dead. The body is anointed and purifi ed by eta, then kept in state with an honor guard until the day of the cremation itself. Special foods are prepared on that day, and relatives and friends gather to observe the funeral pyre, which is also blessed by shugenja and monks. Once the body has been burned, even more prayers are spoken, to speed the spirit of the departed on its journey to the afterlife. The immediate relatives gather at the pyre and use special chopsticks to remove the remaining fragments of bone from the ashes – these are placed in a crematory urn, which is kept in a place of honor for 35 days before finally being buried, an event accompanied by a final round of prayers, chants, and blessings.

Only the lowest of ronin and bandits are left for eta. Shugenja will preserve a corpse from decay and possession until they can be properly attended to, or hold an impromptu ceremony when proper observances are not possible. If not a shugenja, then a monk, and if not a monk, then a samurai.

>>51528381
Decapitation actually stops most forms of maho that would affect a corpse. Cremation was just easier for the powers that be to force into law and tradition than "chop the heads off every time".

>>51528490
>The body is anointed and purifi ed by eta
Eta touch dead bodies. Nobody else does willingly If it's moved to a cool, dry place to stop rot, it's by eta. If someone needs to turn it over or move it to work out a cause of death, eta are the ones who actually do it while the investigator observes.

>>51522807
Mantis (Naval Great clan) - 1 (Split the Yoritomo in to multiple families: Wako pirates, Thunder Shugenja, and a shipwright family)
Independent Centipede (Sun worshipers) and Kitsune (Spirit Animal masters) Minor Clans - 1
Mantis Clan (Minor Clan eaters) - 10

Spider (Dark Samurai) - 1 (Crab and Scorpion kinda abandoned many of their bad guy traits over time)
Spider (Tainted Monsters) - 10
Shadowlands - 5

First time playing L5R, have some experience with 5e and SR. I want to play the Bancho from Osaka. How do I do this?

>>51528537
You don't need to touch a body to cremate it via spell, and spells are used to stop rot.

If anyone else need move a body, then they will do so without touching it.

>>51528952
Shugenja are not common enough to be everywhere a body might be.

>>51529002
Also, not all shugenja have rot stopping spells or burning fire spells.

>>51529014
You could even say that most shugenja don't have rot stopping spells. Fire is more common, although even then, not all damaging fire spells are suitable for actually burning a body to ash.

>>51528944
>I want to play the Bancho from Osaka. How do I do this?
Describe what you want to do without using 'Bancho' or 'Osaka'.

>>51529002
Which is why others will have to deal with them outside of towns, while village samurai will either have to call for a shugenja or ask a nearby monk.

>>51529014
>>51529037
IIRC it's a 1st rank spell. Short of elemental deficiency, should any shugenja request the correct spell scroll from their family's libraries, they can cast it.

>>51529192
It's a first rank spell when you might only have 1 spell allotted to you in that element (0 if you're deficient, of course). Your family's catalog of spells is not freely given out. If it was, you wouldn't be drip fed three spells per rank.
And even if they did just give you any spell you wanted whenever you wanted, "Well, my sensei has it on a shelf on the far side of the empire, let me just pop over there and get it, be back in a month." is not helpful when you need it here now.

>>51529147
I want to be a sorta dumb tough guy who isn't super good at social niceties (but doesn't just shit the bed) but is really good at defending his friends and hitting bad people hard. Not necessarily a nice/good person, but a good heart.

Everyone else in my group is talking about beautiful sword dueling and being courtesans etc. so I figured I'd fill a different niche.

>>51529304
Crab bushi.

>>51529192
They call eta.
Unceremoniously burning a body where it fell is not a funeral, it's a maho countermeasure when you've got nothing better. Eta are literally kept around to handle corpses. Even your greentext says that eta are the ones to actually anoint the body. Whoever officiates the funeral doesn't touch it directly. They stand over it and recite whatever needs to be recited and then ignite the pyre.

>>51529192
It's actually a 2nd rank Earth spell that is keyword tagged as Imperial. Imperial tagging doesn't mean that it's exclusive, but it's not universal by any stretch of the word. Some shugenja need to be rank 3 just to have a hope to even learn it.

Why are you people such flakes. Everytime I try to run a game I get a ton of responses, then like half make characters, and half of them show up to game day. Most don't bother showing up for the third session.

>>51529771
That's just /tg/ homie.

>>51529304
>>51529315
Furthermore, go Hida Pragmatist if you aren't confused by the school system and splats are avaiable so you can literally be a bully and fuck shit up with your fists.

>>51529771
Run Topaz Championship.

I guarantee that you will have /tg/ by the balls. Ok not really, but the ones who actually show up will be with you for life.

Topaz Championship is love.

>>51529816
The first game I got from /tg/ was Topaz Tournament.
The GM bailed after the first session by deleting the entire campaign and his account.

>>51529846
Guess something went super wrong.

>>51529890
Not that I could see. Everyone was on time, the session went smoothly and without arguments, we agreed on the next game day and then poof, gone sometime during the week.

>>51529846
Moto Doug, right? I was in that game too. Just keep trying; I eventually managed to get a solid group of /tg/ people, and I know other groups have formed similarly. Persevere, anon.

>>51530168
Oh, I found another group eventually, after being just a bit too late to join two or three other games between.

fucking beeposters

>>51530313
Bee Clan best clan.

>>51529258
>Your family's catalog of spells is not freely given out
When you are tasked with preserving or cremating a body, it is negligent and stupid for you're superiors to not give you the spells required for the task at hand. It will be done.

> drip fed three spells per rank
The scrolls you request and are granted. Spell research and further requests or requirements are not included in that limit. Also not covered are reasons for spell memorization when spell scrolls only need be held while casting.

The difficulty of spellcasting is in being precise in recurring the prayer, not some gamified notion of spell limits.

>>51530346
incorrect.

>>51530378
>When you are tasked with preserving or cremating a body, it is negligent and stupid for you're superiors to not give you the spells required for the task at hand. It will be done.
It's a rank 2 earth spell. Good luck posting rank 2 or higher shugenja everywhere for that express purpose.
> it is negligent and stupid for you're superiors to not give you the spells required for the task at hand.
"Sit here and facilitate funerals" isn't a normal position. Also, making do with what you have despite it not being up to the task is a time honored tradition in Rokugan, because being assigned a role comes with the implication that you can handle it with what you already have (Which is why there are so many worthless magistrates without any legal training). Most funerals make do with excessive amounts of perfume and/or not leaving the body to sit for more than a day or two.

>The scrolls you request and are granted.
Yes. The ones that you have to specifically ask for. Most shugenja won't specifically ask for that rank 2 earth scroll that has nothing to do with their normal duties.
>Also not covered are reasons for spell memorization when spell scrolls only need be held while casting.
You memorize so that you don't have to hold the scroll to cast.

Spell limits are not inherent to the actual magic system, but to the social system surrounding it. They don't give every shugenja a copy of every spell they could possibly use. They give them, on average, a dozen or so spells over their entire lifetime and expect their shugenja to make do with that and importuning. Because spells are secrets, even if they are open secrets. They're almost all hidden behind ciphers and copies are not made willy nilly. The only exceptions are Path to Inner Peace and Jade Strike, which are freely spread by humanitarians and anyone worried about taint problems.

>>51530346
>>51530380
>>51530313
SHARK CLAN MOTHERFUCKER

GIVE US LAND SO WE CAN PAAAAARTY! AW YEAH!

>>51497468
All minor clans are shit.

t. The Lion Clan

>>51532382
Don't you have a seppuku to second? Fucking lion posters man...

>>51529304
Crab are so bancho it hurts

>>51534036
Daidoji Iron Warriors could also work as banchos.

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>>5153412
Daidoji bancho have magnificent pompadours and jealously defend the honor of their hair.

Crab Bancho are interested In settling personal fueds, making money (to send to the clan), and chilling with their bros.

Dragon Bushi can stop time and punch really fast

>>51529304
Hida Crab or Moto Unicorn

>>51522807
>Mantis

-2, they're pretty fucking great, the only issue is that some uptight lorefags might complain when i make them a great clan but don't canonize anything that came after or during or immediately before the clan war

>Spider
20, they're absolutely fucking stupid and anyone who likes them is an edgelord to end all edgelords

making them anything more than just a bunch of spooby shadowlands badguys for crab to fight is an asinine decision

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>>51534495
>Mantis
>they're pretty fucking great
My man

>>51534495
>Mantis
MCA was pretty fucking great. Mantis were just riding on their coat tails while slathering everything Yoritomo green.

>>51528048
Yeah, I'm pretty new to L5R but my interpretation is that Scorpions value Duty more than Honour, and take on dishonour upon themselves because it is their duty.

>>51535628
Duty is the ONLY Bushido tenant the Scorpion value, they call it LOYALTY, and that is exactly the way they percieve it. The problem is they suffer from Alpha Legion syndome - the ruse has taken on a life of it's own, and they now act like dicks not just to be a foil, but because they now enjoy being dicks.

>>51535712
>tenant
Tenet.

>The problem is they suffer from Alpha Legion syndome
The problem is that people retain OOC knowledge and apply it to IC decisions. Scorpion regularly do sneaky things, but that doesn't mean Rokugan by and large know about it, and even when they do, most of the Scorpion's sneakiness is being applied for the benefit of Rokugan.

Way Of The Scorpion has a good example of helping an unhappy arranged marriage work, by secretly getting both spouses to realise they don't have to kill themselves and can keep a lover on the side without the other minding. The Scorpion involved had to get one of the betrothed interested in a Scorpion geisha to make that true, but it all works out for the immediate future, and that's what they're really there for, day-to-day. Helping smooth the way for samurai to keep being samurai when "muh honour" isn't going to cut it.

Also; the Scorpion motto is "I Can Swim". That is still supposed to surprise people in Rokugan. If you perpetually have the Scorpion Winter Court delegation doing the backstroke in the communal hot springs (etc), it will not.

Whats a good resource for names? It's Kakita Newfag again, I figure my Samurai is the kind of kid who would choose a 'new name' for his Warriors Pilgrimage. What are some good weaboo fightan name resources?

>>51535930
The Scorpion are necessary only because Rokugans ass backwards ridgid social structure makes them necessary. Bushido could do fine without them if the Rokugani weren't such dense fuckwits. Their refusal to change is what makes the Scorpions existence obligatory.

>>51536021
Just look up some basic names in Japanese.

Or, look in the book.

>>51536649
Is it obligatory, since he's from the Kakita family, that his name be Kakita (X)? Or is that reserved for true nobles/big wigs?

>>51536021
http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/miscellany/names.html

>>51537044
Officially, yes, that's how it works. Within the Kakita family will be different bloodlines and vassal families, however, and between each other they will use distinguishing names - vassal family names, village names, etc.

>>51537089
So, he can basically just be "random japanese name" (X), but to outsiders he'll be Kakita (X)?

>>51537119
Yep. To be clear within the clan as to where he's from, he might use Kakita (X) no Random, but outside the clan the Kakita name is more important and relevant to other clans, unless you want to say they should remember your specific and obscure origins.

>>51537171
How does a Warriors Pilgrimage affect this? It's my understanding Samurai are required to abandon their identity during this period and not betray their origin, at least not openly.

>>51537199
Musha Shugyo will necessarily mean not revealing anything but your chosen adult name (there will be many, many other samurai with the same name) or a false name. Most samurai will still retain a personal seal or documents for emergency use, though using or revealing this would end the secrecy of their warrior pilgrimage and make continuing difficult.

>>51522267
Take Benten's Blessing instead of Dangerous Beauty, it's the same cost for you and far, FAR better.
You can't really be a black sheep Kakita and be trained as a Kakita bushi, you will not be able to attain any further school techs like that.
You really want at least one Ring at 3 at chargen, Air (especially for Kakita) and Earth are optimal. Earth 2 -> 3 is +50% survivability, pretty much mandatory for any bushi.
Brash and Overconfident with 2 Willpower = a very dead samurai in 99% of cases. Just a warning that the dice will be against you and force you to shame yourself, which is not something you want to be doing in Rokugan.
You may or may not know, but any use of the Temptation skill will hit your honour immediately, and though you have no techs that key off it like the Matus of Utaku, you do use that to resits fear effects.

Plead with your DM to raise starting xp to AT LEAST 50. 40 is just a complete joke unless you're starting pre-gempukku are the Topaz Championship, you cannot make a halfway complete samurai on the recommended 40xp.

>>51526753
>Once per Turn while wielding a Heavy Weapon, you may use your Strength Trait instead of your Agility for an attack roll.
This doesn't seem bad at all, am I missing something?

>>51538083
Imagine would you, a Badger bushi you is being cheesey. They've ignored ability, and boosted strength, so they're maybe sitting on Strength 6. Instead of rolling with an ability ring of 3, now it's a strength ring of 6. So they're gonna hit you, and when they do they'll be rolling with an Ono 8k3 BEFORE any skill or school bonuses.

>>51538944
Once per turn. For the xp investment the average Hida bushi is putting out more hurt per round, and will be far better rounded and higher IR.
I'm not saying the Badger wouldn't put down a bandit every round, but he'd better hope nobody decides to attack him back, try to scare him or, Kami forbid, talk to him.

>>51537969
>>51538989
This whole "I rolled some dice and and talked to you now you have to commit ritual suicide" thing is kind of blown out of proportion

>>51539054
Potentially, depends on your group and the games you play. If you shit the bed in front of someone important/someone who is actively wanting you to fail, the consequences can be pretty severe. It's part of the setting for a reason.

FUCK

I really want to run or play L5R but no one in my regular group is willing to step out of their Western European fantasy comfort zone.

>>51539054
>This whole "I rolled some dice and and talked to you now you have to commit ritual suicide" thing is kind of blown out of proportion
It's been with the game since 1E complete with corebook examples - well, not actual forcing into seppuku, but a sample character had to roll Honor because a Scorpion NPC had successfully Seduced him with a roll and he was out of options.

>>51539761
You just described a lot of /tg/, my friend.

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>>51497468
>What Minor Clan is the best Minor Clan?
Fox clan.
>Why is it Monkey?
Sparrow would be better than Monkey.

Bump-u.

>>51497468
Always surprises me when one of my player's art is in a thread, let alone a thread starter.

>>51502506
I try to keep my games to 4 players plus me, given the large amount of people who'd like to play in the setting. There's just a huge GM shortage it seems.

>>51502210
A few Scorpion/Ninja have to infiltrate the castle of a Lion Samurai and steal his newborn son to take as a hostage. The party has to work in cohesion without being caught working in cohesion, and they have to fake Bushido as best they can while still upholding it whilst doing an unsavory thing. One player replaced a guard, one player is the yojimbo of a visiting dignitary (the fall guy for the plot), another is a courtier who has been in the castle all winter, and another is the shinobi expected to carry the child out of the castle.

Worst case scenario, everyone throws off their costumes and plays a deadly game of hide and seek against the Lion Samurai and his soldiers. Can make for a fun little blood bath and enforce cooperation, Especially if you've got players who want to be ninjas. More fun with players who know the setting and know how rare a session this might be.

A more honorable scenario might be attempting to prevent this from happening as soldiers in the castle, trying your best not to accuse many other samurai of being shinobi infiltrators.

>>51523510
>no Dog Clan
I always like having my ronin have a Chinese Zodiac angle to them, like they're playing at the importance of the Great Clans. A big bad guy in one of the campaigns I ran was an explosives expert Kakita Duelist Ronin who fashioned himself in garb with Roosters on it.

>>51523760
I'd make the Goat a Minor Clan that serve as border guard and envoys to the Yobanjin tribes. Have them live in the borderlands of the Dragon/Phoenix. Officially they're meant to watch the border and signal the Great Clans of invasion; but they get involved in the affairs of the heathens and use ringed swords/crossbows.

>>51523510
Because dog is eta class in Japan.

>>51523760
>would Rokugan even have Scorpions outside of the burning wastes?
Woodlands have scorpions too - often more poisonous than the standard desert dwelling ones.

>>51544343
>I'd make the Goat a Minor Clan that serve as border guard and envoys to the Yobanjin tribes.
There's already a Clan for that, minus being envoys and getting involved in Yobanjin affairs.

>>51544343
>>51523760
>Dog
Could be a small shugenja sect, like the Salamander. Founded during the First Rise of Iuchiban, they are tasked with hunting down those who would practice the brutal rituals of creating inugami. Creating such a powerful spirit requires the use of blood magic and hateful ritual, and those maho-tsukai tend to corrupt the spirit towards wickedness if they can.

The Dog Clan would be trained in anti-maho tactics, perhaps coming to eventually be made up of surviving untouchable Chuda Shugenja (for their dogged loyalty). Over the centuries they have begun to gain the favor of freed Inugami who serve them benevolently. They'd be very small, but they'd be an asset that are brought out for important investigations.

Likely no land to call their own, and their true purpose obscured by the Otomo, making them just look like lay priests when they wander the Empire.

>Rooster
I still like the explosives angle I've used. Make them a small Clan associated with the Seppun and the Otomo, built for routing out gaijin influence and imprisoning those who have snuck within the lands of the Empire. Red headbands for the uniform. Maybe make them deal specifically with foreign heresies, like Rhumal Cults or whatever they worship in Thrane and Merenae. They're the people who burn those places down when a direct assault might cause unwanted attention.

>>51544420
Fair enough, though the Yobanjin have gotten pretty involved in Rokugani affairs at times; on down-low or lore-wise unimportant levels. Giving them some spotlight by having a clan built to watch and manipulate them could be fun for a game set in the north.

>>51544419
With scorpions, it's size more than habitat that determines how deadly the venom is. Big scorpions make more use of their powerful claws to catch and crush their prey, and sting to stun or stupefy. Little scopious are much weaker physically, and develop more aggressive toxins to compensate for their ineffectual claws.

>>51544398
No. Dogs were untouchable in a certain part of japanese history not because they were unclean like eta, but because the emperor made a decree to protect them.

Considering the symbolism of wolves in Rokugan, a Dog Clan would probably just be a really big otokodate that got legitimized somehow. Or, like the early Spider and Hawk clans, it's not a "real" clan, but calls itself one anyway in an attempt to make it real through general recognition.

>>51544508
I had envisioned a Dog Minor clan as Yojimbo for hire famed for their loyalty and persistence, but Maho Hunters is good too. Isn't that niche taken by the Hare however?

Rooster suggestion:

Minor clan of Shugenja devoted to blessing beginnings and ensuring new construction and projects are feng shui and OK with the spirits. Clan Shugenja focus on clan level shit, Rooster Shugenja are the ones who help farmers build a new barnhouse or foot bridge by placating the spirits and blessing new construction. They also double as the record keepers for all those shrine births that are recorded at every shrine and naming day but never really collated by anyone. Rooster records are the closest thing to a census in Rokugan.

>>51554308
Goat clan suggestion:

First make it Ram, because goat just sounds silly. Ram is a minor bushi clan that builds, maintains, and man's border watch towers and way stations in areas the great clans do not care to expend the effort or manpower. Seldom seen in groups, when two rams cross each other's path they have the curious greeting of bowing close enough together the tops of their heads touch. It is considered poor form to knock someone out by bowing too quickly.

>>51554346
Clan Dog suggestion:

Clan Dog is not really a clan, but in actuality a band of Ronin who have come together for mutual protection and support in the hopes of one day being recognized and readmitted into their place in the celestial hierarchy. Dog Ronin are an ecclectic gathering of Yojimbo for hire who will serve any wealthy enough and willing to sponsor them, and devote their loyalty to that sponsor utterly. Even to the point where, should two Dog Ronin meet on opposite sides of a conflict, they will respectfully greet and then kill each other. A Dog is only loyal to its master. Taking the symbol of a dog is meant to both invoke an image of loyalty and utility, as well as humility - the humble dog sits at his master's feet, a dog of war is nothing but a tool to be used. These Ronin hope that their combination of determination, honor, and humility will earn them the acceptance of the Emperor or a clan leader to be allowed to become Samurai proper once more, though few ever achieve this goal for obvious reasons. Most never rise above the drudgery of being a personal bodyguard to wealthy merchants who lack a great clan sponsor

Doesn't playing a custom clan sort of defeat the purpose of playing this game? When thinking of a samurai story, the whole Clan as Allegiance and being part of something bigger is a HUGE theme that this game's mechanics drive forward. That's one of the reasons why I love the Crab clan so much. They have a unity through suffering.

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Okay, /tg/.
Stat this man.

>>51554308
>>51554346
>>51554425
I don't have my books with me right now so I can't work out any school bonuses for these right now but I'm thinking

>Rooster
Auspicious Beginnings: Once, during the first round of any skirmish or encounter, the Shugenja may bless the action of any one ally (initiative 1k0 buff? ATK 1k0? Dmg? Any of the above?). This may only occur once per encounter, and only during the first round.

>Ram

Way of the RAM abilities should involve being able to deal with difficult terrain effectively, and to deal damage at reach and otherwise confound an enemies ability to move. +1 Willpower. Base skills: kenjutsu, kyojutsu, athletics 2(climb), craft: carpentry, Investigation, Defense, any 1 skill.

>Dog
Way of the Dog should be similar to way of the pheonix or daidoji bushi, giving bonuses to protecting others. However instead of soaking damage or playing well with magic they should center around detecting ambushes, grappling, pinning, and disarming

Awareness +1. Kenjutsu, Kyojutsu, jiujustsu, investigation, hunting (tracking), defense, athletics, any one bugei or low skill.

>>51554858
Ronin, based on his performance in the movie pretty high level, skills in kenjutsu, Kyojutsu, etiquette, stealth, athletics, investigation, intimidation, defense. Ex kakita Maybe?

>>51554858
Possibly clan samurai background, most likely bushi, at least insight rank 3 with SAA.

Alternatively, just decently skilled ronin playing in a campaign where NPCs are all very low rank.

>>51554954
>>51554963
I'm pretty sure the film at least heavily insinuates the Yojimbo is a 'real' samurai as opposed to the many Ronin in the area who are just thugs with swords, so definitely ex clan. In the context of the film this is during the deterioration of the samurai, so he's likely from a clan that simply no longer exists under Tokugawa. In L5R terms he'd be a samurai from a minor clan that got wiped out and has learned to survive by his wits.

>>51555213
>In L5R terms he'd be a samurai from a minor clan
More likely a great clan samurai of a vassal family, if you believe the insinuation is legit, rather than angling to be treated a certain way.

Question: Would you consider cooking an Artisan skill, or a Craft skill?

>>51555680

It is listed as a Craft Skill.

>>51555680
>In addition to being soldiers and priests, samurai are the epitome of culture, and as such an occupation as an artisan is regarded by many Clans as a noble and honorable pursuit.
There's nothing wrong with cooking, but it's not something to hold in esteem next to bonsai, origami, sculpting, etc. You might be able to make a case for arranging cooked or raw prepared food as an art, though that might still be sculpting or something.

>>51555924
>>51555680

>You might be able to make a case for arranging cooked or raw prepared food as an art

Obviously, the answer is this:

Cooking is not an Artisan skill, except for Sushi.

IT EVEN INVOLVES USING A FUCKING KNIFE

>>51554644
Not any more than playing a regular minor clan member. Just because you made the faction and inserted it into the setting doesn't make your character the head of it. A character from a custom clan is still a member of a clan.

>>51555924
A skilled craftsman can be held in just as high regard as a skilled artisan. Weaponsmithing is a craft and doing useful things (Meaning any craft) is a noble pursuit as long as you spin it right.
There's a sidebar somewhere specifically about high-end chefs, and a lot of times they're samurai who are highly valued for their skill. The role also includes being the first line of defense against poison (Although few people will say that out loud) and being the go-to guy for minor health problems.

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>>51557772
Found it. Samurai chefs aren't as common as I thought, but still.

if 40 EXP is still low, whats a good EXP level to represent not-shit/experienced or at least fully trained Samurai for new characters?

>>51559473
40xp gives you samurai that are just out of their gempukku or haven't done much at all since becoming adults. It took my last character about 40 more XP on top of that to hit rank 2
However, if you compare a standard 40xp character to, say, an ashigaru or other peasant, they're insanely competent. If it's really not enough, 10 or 20 xp more should be.

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>>51559682
>However, if you compare a standard 40xp character to, say, an ashigaru or other peasant, they're insanely competent.

That's an overstatement. While a 40xp character will have the upper hand against an ashigaru, he will be grossly disappointed if he expects a mook fight and he probably won't be able to end the fight without getting a few wound ranks.

In my experience, a starting character can take up to three ashigaru, but that's gonna be a really harsh fight. Four ashigaru will rape your average starting bushi, unless he/she is some sort of meta fighter build (like a stance dancer or a min-maxed tank).

>>51559979
An ashigaru is like an 6xp character with no family bonus and no school.
They've got 2 in every stat and a 3 in their main weapon skill and that's it.
Armor TN 18, Attack at 5k2, damage at 4k2, 38 wounds, no advantages. Two or three could easily take a courtier or non-combat shugenja, but they're not going to be beating a bushi without a serious numbers advantage.

New L5R Discord Server perma link,
https://discord.gg/Yr9AS

>>51560120

They actually have Strength 3 (but Awareness 1 and Intelligence 1) and 2 Ranks in relevant Skills (Athletics, Intimidation, Jiujutsu, Yarijutsu, and IIRC Hunting and Knives too). So if your GM feels like you deserve it, he can beat your sorry ass with a single ashigaru and grappling (unless your character is also good with grappling).

The 2 in every stat and Weapon Skill 3 is the Budoka btw.

>>51560231
That's honestly not better, since 4k2 is even less likely to hit a lightly armored bushi with reflexes 3.

>>51560231
Only if the ashigaru can hit first. He probably can't, and the wound penalty he's going to be getting will make his Jiujutsu/Agility roll unlikely to hit, even with the loss of armor bonus to TN.

>>51560246

5k2 damage will hurt you bad tho. A good way to deal with an ashigaru is to hit him with your katana and spend a Void Point for the +0k1 damage, but trading Void Points with ashigaru at a 1:1 rate is kinda embarrassing to be honest.

You are worse-off with fighting an ashigaru than fighting a courtier most of the time. Let's sink that for a moment.

>>51560326
5k2 will hurt you bad IF it hits.
That 18 armor TN isn't going to be helping the Ashigaru when you swing in with a 5k2 (Averaging 19) and bring him down to Hurt (+10 to all TNs) and he has to roll a 30 (6% chance on 4k2) to hit you.

Courtiers, on the other hand, learn the Defense skill so that they can be as hard to hit as possible while someone else hits back for them.

>>51560231
Where'd you get those stats?

>>51497468
New L5R Discord Server everyone!
Has a bot, lots of resources, a looking for group section, and mooorrreee
https://discord.gg/cTtfa

>>51557772
>A skilled craftsman can be held in just as high regard as a skilled artisan
They won't, though, and weapon/armour smithing is considered sufficiently different from other craft skills to warrant mention. If one takes no notice of such things, then one is left in the odd position of holding poison crafting in high regard.

>If artisans are tasked with producing items that are considered abstract and beautiful by the people of the Empire, then craftsmen have a duty to create things of practical value.
There's always going to be a difference in perception. Think on the assumptions you would make about someone who studied to be a doctor, then became a nurse.

>>51561955
Poison crafting is explicitly a Low Skill. Read down a few lines from your greentext.
>While crafting is not as honorable and noble a profession as being an artist, it is still highly valued and looked upon without stigma.
A samurai who is a regular craftsman is not going to be stigmatized. There's probably going to be an expectation that they are widely skilled, but it's not going to make someone a black sheep.

>>51559979
>While a 40xp character will have the upper hand against an ashigaru, he will be grossly disappointed if he expects a mook fight
There are literally 'mook rules' for ashigaru (etc) who aren't anything special.

>>51563043
Read it again. That's the point.

Anon is saying craftsmen can be held in high regard, when craftsmen are judged based on their craft. Weapon & armour smiths are held in high regard when they approach skill levels that make their work artisanry, poison crafters are held in low regard, other craftsmen are ignored unless necessary.

>>51564095
Except that's wrong.
Craftsman are judged based on their craft, yes, but so are artisans. Weapon and Armor smiths are literally utilizing High Skills, which puts them exactly on par with artisans, who also use a High Skill.
Low Skills are not appreciated by most and cannot be used openly because they're highly dishonorable or illegal. Literally look at the entry for the skill. Sub-skills marked with # are high skills that peasants do not have access to, possibly on pain of death. Sub-skills marked with * are low skills that hit your honor and might be illegal.
Craft skills in general do not have a stigma attached to them. Poison making has the stigma of being a low skill and being directly connected to something that is extremely illegal.

>>51564095
Weaponsmiths and armorsmiths literally perform semi-religious functions. Rokugan holds those in extremely high regard. Other craftsmen, aside from poison, which is marked as a Low Skill, are "highly valued and looked upon without stigma". Highly valued. Highly. Valued.
A samurai could be a fucking shoemaker and nobody would think twice about it.

>>51563043
>A samurai who is a regular craftsman is not going to be stigmatized.
Watch Twilight Samurai for a great example.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0351817/

>>51564203
Merchants aren't stigmatised, but we're not talking about merchants, and I'm not talking about samurai who dabble in learning practical knowledge, but the reasons that will bring about a samurai truly taking up a craft. Those will create stigma, because samurai do not simply decide to be craftsmen.

>>51564352
That's an entirely different issue, in that a samurai will have problems taking up anything that isn't their duty full time. Even samurai artisans usually have other duties related to court.

>>51564160
>Craftsman are judged based on their craft, yes, but so are artisans
Artisans may be judged based on the quality of their works, but crafting is judged less honourable than high skills.
>crafting is not as honorable and noble a profession as being an artist

All Artisans are noble artists, the epitome of culture, and their efforts are honourable pursuits. Craftsmen are regarded less highly than that, which means a samurai who chooses crafting over artisanry isn't going to receive the same glory purely by dint of that choice.

>>51564406
While artisans do have other duties, they're also more likely to be given more leeway in practising their art vs performing their duties, because the stuff artisans produce is the best kind of PR for their daimyo.

Contrast that with craftsmen, who produce things that are functional and useful, but don't help win any courtly popularity contests. Their daimyo already has merchants galore to produce that shit, and is going to want them to stay on top of their duties. There will be exceptions on both ends - but they're not the norm.

>>51564464
>All Artisans are noble artists, the epitome of culture, and their efforts are honourable pursuits. Craftsmen are regarded less highly than that, which means a samurai who chooses crafting over artisanry isn't going to receive the same glory purely by dint of that choice.

Unless that craft is put towards artistic/aesthetic purposes. A potter who specializes in making beautifully glazed tea caddies for ceremony use will be just as respected as an artisan that specializes in bonzai.

Part of the divide is that artisan skills have only artistic (high) uses while craft skills have more mundane utility in addition to artistic uses.

>>51565582
I would put it that the potter who specialises in artistic pottery is in fact practising a craft skill and an artisan skill.

>>51565637
No. It is just calling raises to make it more artistic while still being functional.

>>51565691
I disagree. Also, when creating something that requires more than an insignificant amount of time and skill, Shawn Carman would ask for multiple rolls with different or alternating attributes. I don't see utilising different skills to be that different.

>>51565750
That's a pretty huge difference.
Strictly speaking, raw has you roll an increased TN for something that is more objectively valuable. The crafting rules are garbage, but they basically follow the same rules for raises without actually saying as much. To make it prettier and more objectively valuable, you have to roll a higher number and you fail if you roll less than the new, higher number, even if you would have passed the lower, original number.

>>51565750
That is a complex skill check usually done when the GM wants to have a chance of multiple points of trait failure in order to prevent min/maxing.

You do not need to roll Artisan:Sculpture and Craft:Masonry to make an aesthetically pleasing 5ft section of wall.

>>51565825
>That's a pretty huge difference
Well, yes. If you limit the creation of aesthetically pleasing things to raises, then only those with high Void or Great Potential will create aesthetically pleasing craft objects, regardless of their actual skill in creating aesthetically pleasing things.

Still, it's not too dissimilar from asking for Strength + Craft:Weaponsmithing one day, then Intelligence + Craft:Weaponsmithing the next, or Stamina when the forging process calls for continued and unrelenting effort beyond normal hours.

>Strictly speaking, raw has you roll an increased TN for something that is more objectively valuable.
Strictly speaking, RAW has you roll against an increased TN to create something that is more difficult.

I'm not sure where the rest of your ideas come from, would you care to reference them?

>>51566044
>Well, yes. If you limit the creation of aesthetically pleasing things to raises, then only those with high Void or Great Potential will create aesthetically pleasing craft objects, regardless of their actual skill in creating aesthetically pleasing things.

Which is how it should be. Only Kakita Blacksmiths with Great Potential or high Void can create Kakita Blades.

Improved crafting rules appeared in Secrets of the Empire I think.

>>51566242
>Only Kakita Blacksmiths with Great Potential or high Void can create Kakita Blades.
Unrelated to using a specific wrapping pattern on a standard blade, engraving pretty things on the saya, and so on.

>Improved crafting rules appeared in Secrets of the Empire I think.
Extended, but I wouldn't say this is 'improved'.

>Signature: This weapon bears a unique signature stamp, identifying it with its creator. Raises: 2

>>51566347
>>51566347
>Unrelated to using a specific wrapping pattern on a standard blade, engraving pretty things on the saya, and so on.

Which would be covered by 1 or 2 raises. A Kakita Blade is 4 or 5 raises in comparison.

>>51566745
>A smith of a clan that possesses a Sacred Weapon (as per the Advantages in the L5R 4th Edition Core Rulebook, page 152-153) may attempt to make one using a Craft: Weaponsmithing roll. The smith must create the appropriate Excellent Quality weapon with 7 Raises (6 Raises for a Kaiu smith)

I still consider the two unrelated. A blade of superb craftsmanship != an attractively decorated blade.