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I'm gonna be honest I just really wanted to talk about my new, and first ever, L5R campaign that I had been running with some friends and ask for advice and ideas. I also have some Japanese map packs for dungeondraft which I used to make an onsen map and a dojo map a few years back if anyone remembers that. If people have any maps they'd like made if you can give me a general layout and what you want in it I'm happy to trade maps for L5R stories and advice. Have a map of a spring.

To answer the TQ my favorite moment in my game so far happened a few weeks ago. I'm running an Emerald Magistrates game. I understand that's a bit overdone for a lot of the old hands but it's new to us so it doesn't feel stale. Anyway the PCs were sent to observe a wedding between members of the Lion and Unicorn clan which had been ordered by the Emperor to stop a war. In retrospect this might have been a bit too important for them, but oh well. They became aware of a plot by members of the Moto family to stop the wedding by ambushing and killing the Lion wedding party, but didn't want to scupper things by just coming out and accusing them of foul play. Particularly since all they had to go off of was some spying by the scorpion player they didn't want to own up to. So instead they thought about it for a bit, and then one of them asked me if there were any shrines nearby they could possibly convince the wedding party to divert to in order to pray. Decided there was a shrine to Hotei, so they avoided the ambush by convincing the bride to go to the shrine to pray before her wedding and thus changing the travel plans that the Moto had been working off of to plan the ambush. They still had to deal with the Moto later, but it bought them time and I was really happy that my players were trying to engage with the setting since none of them are really as into L5R or Chanbara or Jidaigeki as I am. So it showed me that they have been paying attention to the setting/engaging which made me happy.

>>92476101
For their next adventure I'm thinking of sending them to investigate a bandit gang that has proven too illusive for the local clan magistrates to deal with. Perhaps one that operates along the border between multiple clans. I was planning to base it off of the Red Scorpion Gang plotline from Usagi Yojimbo. I really don't know what to do past that though. I don't really have a very well thought out long term plan for the campaign I've just been throwing episodic stuff at them. In the long run I considered doing a succession crisis where different clans are all backing potential claimants to the throne when the Hantei dies unexpectedly with no clear heir, and I've laid some groundwork for that, but I'm not really sure how to go about doing that in game and I'm not sure if that would be fun.

I know my players will want politics and intrigue, even though I'm terrible at them it's what my play group likes so I have to try and muddle through. And Rokugan is a great place for politics and intrigue, I just know I'm not that great at it so I worry if I'll be able to pull it off. Anyone got any advice or suggestions for politics and intrigue? Either for the overall campaign and a more overarching story, or for smaller adventures?

As an alternative to the succession crisis for a larger overarching plot to the campaign I also considered cribbing from the rise of the Spider Clan. Figured there could be a conspiracy of tainted ronin or a blood speaker cult that was trying to legitimize by doing the whole "stop attacks we ourselves caused for goodwill and glory" thing and that this group could act as the ultimate antagonists for the campaign. None of my players know anything about the spider so they wouldn't be able to meta game.

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Unrelated to either my campaign, or maps, apparently we're getting an L5R video game and it looks like they are trying to bring back the Clan War miniatures game as well. Exciting news. I was really worried they were just gonna pour all their efforts into Adventures and L5R would be killed by another attempt at becoming a dnd derivative. I can only hope that we still get the rest of the books for 5th edition L5R, but that's probably not happening unfortunately.

Has Ege Studios lost the ability to make L5R 5th Edition?
They made Tomb of Ichiban for Adventures in Rokugan (D&D 5E compatible) but not for their own house system.

>>92476725
Adventures in Rokugan is their current push as far as RPGs go. 5th edition seems to have been abandoned as far as I can tell. Which is what I was afraid would happen when Adventures was announced. The 5th ed Scorpion and Unicorn book are never happening and they've completely forgotten/abandoned their promise to complete 5th ed.

>>92476725
>>92476725
Unicorn Book is coming out by the end of the year, so no

>>92476868
You got a link to the announcement for that? I seem to have missed it.

>>92476878
Sadly, no. A guy I play online with said It would be called Children of the Five Winds, and was due Q4 2024

>>92476898
Huge if true. I'll hold out hope for it then.

>>92476814
Even if we didn't get the remaining books they promised, would it really be that bad?

>>92475966
Reminder that Mantis is the best clan

>>92477679
I literally never got around to playing 5e, so ...
But if they don't complete the set, where would they put all the Dragon clan schools they didn't put in the Dragon clan book?

I don't know if it's me being retarded or the book is genuinely written badly, but sometimes I struggle with 5th ed rules.
>read book in order
>rules referenced multiple times several chapters prior to their mechanics being explained
>when they are explained it's a very specific mention of one mechanic, have to flip back and forth before you have a clear idea how things work
>sometimes it's not even that clear
It's even worse because some hints of the basic layout are similar to the 40k books by FFG, but then some things are switched, so some rules are not where I expect them to be. Some stuff is still pretty obscure, but luckily it hasn't come up in game yet.

Having fun anyway due to the game being very friendly to the "let's keep the game flowing one way or another" approach I usually have, but sometimes it's hard.

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I decided to rank all the spells in 4E from the core book for a kind of optimization guide. I had fun with it.

Any news about the 5e unicorn book?

>>92478489
I don't really get Mantis fans. What's the appeal? Is it literally just fond memories frok when they were the studios favorite?

>>92479769
I take it you are running 5e currently, what is your party and what adventures have they been on thus far if you don't mind me asking?

>>92479769
The book is a little poorly written, but the rules aren't terribly complicated. You'll grok them over time.

>>92478868
Yeah that was some bullshit. Dragon fans got absolutely robbed.

>>92481173
Being pirate samurai is cool. Being the underdog clan that has to work their way up to becoming accepted rather than just starting off as one of the Emperor's beloved is cool. Being the custodians of the forest where hot kitsune wives looking for husbands live is cool.

>>92481696
Hoovering up minor clans and ruining their uniqie flavors isn't cool.

>>92481696
The Kitsune thing wasn't originally part of their balliwack.

>>92481173
Pirates are cool, they're as wealthy as Cranes but lack the Great Clan baggage, they get early access to lightning magic (objectively the best kind), they share Crab genetic predisposition to being huge, they have a tradition for dual wielding without the cliche of it being katanas like Dragons, what's not to love?

>>92482092
>>92482168
That's why the edition change was so great for them, back to being a minor clan and other minor clans haven't been subsumed.

>>92478868
>where would they put all the Dragon clan schools they didn't put in the Dragon clan book?
This has always been a bit nonsensical as for the other books, you'd have one school for each clan (bar some exceptions). Dragons haven't been robbed, they still have lots of schools, around the same amount as everybody else. Sure they might be "missing" (whatever that means in that context) some schools compared to the previous editions, but it has never been "X schools in X book". There's still no Kakita Artist despite the Crane Book being done for instance...

Still the WotW schools are a whole nothingburger / unappealing stuff but that's another point almost.

>>92479845
Nice. Very nice. You argent from JC or is the name a coincidence?

>>92483917
I think you kind of just summed up why I don't like them. They have too much going for them.

>Minor Clan, get to thumb your nose at great clan players and claim underdog status
>Very wealthy, suck it Crane
>Get to ignore social conventions and be stronk, suck it Crab
>Get awesome and powerful unique magics, suck it Pheonix
>Get to have dealing with Gaijin, suck it Unicorn

And so on and so on. They basically are a mash up of shit that should be cool and it feels like they have few downsides and what downsides there should have been to their position got handwaved away so they won everything. It's kinda fucking annoying.

>>92480698
Unicorn clan book this year and Scorpio clan until the end of 2025. They talked about it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3gaxKECF9s

>>92484215
Neat. What are your thoughts on clan wars and the vidya game?

>>92476191
>>92476101
Have you browsed the Courts of Stone book about Court politics and intrigue? It's centered around formal occasions, but you can easily extrapolate to get regional politics or else.
Currently I'm doing something close to what you think of doing, but later in the future. Basically the start of the campaign is a month or so right after the end of succession crisis and the winners have to deal with the fallout and the pacification. The winner's alliance is shaky and formed of people not so fond of each others (Crab, Crane, Unicorn) so they have to learn teamwork, they all try to get the lion's share while the loser's are already trying to get back in the game, so lots of tension, but the war is over, so everything is sorta frozen at the same time.

I'd say the basic point for politics is a simple case of "Conflicting interests" that shouldn't devolve into violence as it can too easily become an answer. In my case where we are (winter side court), the Crane Daimyo wants to avoid the formation of a new Great Clan, but the volunteers for Great Clan status (four minor clans) are all not really sure about who get preeminence among themselves and are in-fighting), but there's a nutcase artist who is set on pissing on the Crane Daimyo's court despite being a guest of honor, but the Crab don't care about that and want to sort a Yasuki - Asahina border business. A fairly simple thing, with a myriad of unintended complications because of personal flaws is an idea. I prefer to write characters and ask them why they'd fuck things up in a court, some stupid love story that people mistake for a grave conspiration, some very real conspiration but the stakes aren't so high (two families are fighting for the same heirloom but it's lots of ado about not much).

>>92476191
>For their next adventure I'm thinking of sending them to investigate a bandit gang that has proven too illusive for the local clan magistrates to deal with.
I was also planning a semi exploration campaign centered around an "advent calendar map" to simulate a fog of war. The Magistrates are sent to a fairly remote region because "bandits", but the Great Clan is eating itself and doesn't do its job. But then some peasants are completely vulnerable and dependent on the PCs, opposite to that some peasants have formed an ikki and are borderline rebellious, opposite to that some peasants have hired distressed Mantis samurai to help (tots not on Mantis ground), and then you had some more problems on their plate and you ask how they are going to deal with all that with their precious authority and a bunch of lend ashigaru. Probably they're going to have to take lead so you have to keep stuff in reserve.

For instance, depending on your group composition, they are in a land where they don't know the kami, they don't know the precise common laws and culture, do they apply the law and only the law or try to follow a loose line. Are the peasants and the rest going to influence their way or should they re-apply the celestial order at any cost, etc. Play Honor/Righteousness against Compassion.

And then the end point is gathering and stabilizing enough of this mess to actually confront the fairly sizable band of bandits and ronin (power of friendship and all the jazz).

>>92484162
Bruh you could make a list twice as long for any Great Clan.

>>92484446
My point is they basically steal the selling points of a lot of other clans rather than having unique selling points of their own.

>>92484482
>complaining that pirates steal stuff
Anon,,,

>>92484326
>>92484428
I read courts of stone once, but I don't remember it well. I'll revisit it. Thank you for the suggestion. Party composition is a Kitsuki, a Kakita, and a Yogo.

I'm currently running a 4e campaign, and, after reading the old 1e adventure The Hare Clan, decided I like it and want to run it. Trouble is I'm running a standard Emerald Magistrates game, and I can't think of a decent excuse for my PCs to actually stay in Shiro Usagi and participate in the battle when they find out about the incoming siege by the Scorpion. Any ideas?

>>92484712
Scorpion ninja and or samurai are blocking the road and killing anyone who tries to get out in order to prevent word of their attack from spreading. They can't leave cause they'd just get killed.

>>92484297
I gave a lot of thoughts to your question, I searched about both, if I got it right, the game will be an iddle battle mobile, not sure they will be able to compete in the largest market, China, the board game hopefuly will be better than 3D printed miniatures. I just wanted them to have enough IP value to keep releasing RPG books, but I doubt after the Scorpion clan, unfortunately.

>>92485330
Even if the board game and the vidya are successful wouldn't that just encourage them to put more money into those? I don't know that it would translate into them continuing to support an RPG which it really feels like they are trying to jettison.

...I wish the card game hadn't died.

>>92485373
Seems to be the case, but the IP is so rooted to the 90s that I doubt it will be able to survive, they had the opportunity when they reset the timeline and everything, but when Asmodee decided to shake things up for an acquisition they lost the momentum, specially during the pandemic, what a waste, they could probably grab new players by the hand with the amount of people at home eargerly trying to find things to do with their friends far away.
The card game death was such a blow of confidence that I doubt people will give a second chance to them.

>>92476191
So my groups story arch is going off the Scorpion coup too, but personally I am focusing on the kuni and their allegience with the shadowlands.
One of my player is a hida, who is serving as a middleman to the wall for a kuni.

He really hates everyone who does not help the wall, and I have slightly turned him on the maho path with some hints and some goals he could achieve.

So go with something like this:
What are your clans? What is their personal goals?

You have a scorpions, is he a full emerald magister or still shoju loyal? Who is his closet allies or party within his own clan? Shoju, Hametsu or even the Yogo?
Try to feel out what drives each characters and make the overarching story about that.
Having players have slightly different preference improves it too, but for now I would say don't let them back a different claimates, instead let them want different things off their favorite claimmates

Weirdest part of 5ed is that the main known minkr clans have not been in any books which implied that they would receive their own books:

Mantis were a pdf.
Kitsuni would make sense for unicorn book, Cat for the scorpion book.
Sparrow, Hare, Oriole and Wasp are the biggest minor clans but have no attempt to be made.

So I believe that would have been the book after the scorpions

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>>92485671
The Scorpion player really hasn't given me much to go off of for what they want. I wouldn't say they are particularly loyal to the idea of the Empire or the Emperor over their clan, but they don't seem terribly loyal to their clan either. Both my Scorpion and my Crane players are a bit hard to plan around. The scorp player just wants to be an artist and do puppet shows and the Crane player wants romance and relationship drama. Which I am trying to provide but which doesn't really hook into anything bigger than their personal concerns. I need to figure out a way to get them more invested.

My dragon player is great though. He is taking it all very seriously. Don't get me wrong I still like my other players it's not that they are doing anything wrong, the Dragon player is just my favorite so far because he's engaged the most. I'll need to spend a bit more time throwing hooks at them to see what they bite on, maybe talking with the players ooc to figure out what would work best.

Unrelated news here's a map of the first floor of a little Village Inn. Not terribly happy with it, not sure what could be done to improve it. Open to suggestions.

>>92485747
The minor clans they did choose to include were certainly interesting choices. Nothing wrong with Badger for instance, but they aren't what I typically think of first when I think of minor clans.

>>92485501
Card game death is what killed it for sure and there is no way they bring it back. The card game was giving them a lot of momentum and keeping people engaged and bringing them in to the IP in a way rpgs usually don't. Especially not niche interest RPGs. I feel like the vidya and the board game are hail mary attempts to get some new fans.

>>92484162
>hey basically are a mash up of shit that should be cool
As much as it probably pains longtime L5R vets to admit, the vast majority of newcomers to the IP are in the "I like the trope of wandering ronin" boat, so they gravitate towards Mantis BECAUSE they share a lot in common with the characters in the Japanese-inspired media they are familiar with. The Great Clans are for the people who already have their foot in the door, but the setting honestly needs something like the Mantis to get the normies interested. It's like when a game (be it tabletop or vidya) includes a character that is clearly a well-rounded and enticing pick for newcomers, while the pros will know to go with something that might have more drawbacks or complexity.

>>92485957
I completely agree with you and I actually have no idea why they decided to kill the card game in the first place, for me a card game is a lot more profitable than RPGs, better yet miniatures, they have such a good niche to explore, the game have a lot of flaws but it's a good world to use for the western audience, too bad they think too much about a broad reach for the IP, the mobile game market for example as far as I know it's mostly chinese, so they are going to launch a very basic game that wouldn't survive a day in China, well... I truly hope somehow they make things works, I like the 5e system and the ideas that can be explored using the old lore and other ideas that can be mixed.

>>92475966
I've wanted to run a campaign for the longest time, but my group is hesitant to try new systems. I'm finally starting to wear them down, so I think at least a few will join, but I'm starting to second guess my idea. I'm planning on making them Emerald Magistrates to let them pick their clans freely, and have tension between themselves, as they love that, but my plans heavily involve Blood Magic and Shadowlands shit. I'm thinking it wouldn't make sense to have the Shugenja be Jade Magistrates would it? I also feel like it would tip off a chunk of the campaign, as I'm aiming to start off as typical problems and encounters and slowly descend into the darker parts. Any ideas/advice would be cool, not sure if I can just have the Shugenja switched over to Jade?

>>92487017
there's no reason an emerald magistrate can't be a shugenja.

if you're screwing with taint make sure to hammer home how big of a deal it is unless you're playing post-spider taint castration. also if playing during the jade shortage, make sure to play that up.

instead of going straight to maho/bloodspeakers it could start with just shady affiliated characters leaving breadcrumbs, doing other illegal things
then eventually end up w/some adjacent thing like a zombie (also lets you use fear, which can be really nasty) before actually introducing a mahotsukai

>>92487017
Technically Jade magistrates didn't exist for a long time. Emerald magistrates can absolutely get caught up in dealing with that if you set it in a period pre jade magistrates existing. Alternatively Jade magistrates still need bushi and courtiers to aid them, so if they were some jade magistrates yoriki that would also work.

>>92486938
Well depending on how they do with Clan War we may get miniatures yet, so perhaps that will save them.

>>92486547
I'm not a long time vet though. I only found out about L5R like two years ago at most. I just think its really cool. I am admittedly a massive Chanbara/Jidaigeki fag, but even so I gravitated pretty quickly to the great clans. Mantis never really appealed to me at all. I do understand what you are saying though, it is something that has more mass appeal with most americans and weebs.

>>92489171
another part of it has to do with the adjustment curve new players have to the rigid social rules of the setting. if you're a mantis in sympathetic company, you can be more flexible with it

>>92489412
Fair, but that is just a barrier to entry in general.

>>92486547
>As much as it probably pains longtime L5R vets to admit
Doubt.
>the setting honestly needs something like the Mantis to get the normies interested.
Most people go to Dragon first, and a fair portion stay there.

The people who want to play a fox spirit, knight, cowboy, immortal servant of Emma-O, etc either find something more grounded or want to play D&D instead.

>>92489951
>Most people go to Dragon first
Huh? I would have thought a lot of people would go Crab honestly. Why would you say new people would go to Dragon?

>>92487167
>unless you're playing post-spider taint
Note that the taint went unchanged. For a brief period the signs of being tainted were controlled for nefarious purposes.

But if you're going to do something with the taint, I'd sooner suggest stealing from Rokugan 2000's history, where the Dragon clan took a ritual for the manifestation of the fire dragon (aka nuclear bomb) to the festering pit and sealed the portal between Jigoku and Ningen-do. Leaving only the Kitsuki and a few others within the empire.

>>92489961
Because every time there's been hard numbers, it points to most people going to Dragon first.

>>92490031
But...why?

>>92490111
Anyone who knew about Miyamoto Musashi beforehand, alchemy, actual detectives who use evidence, tattooed magical monks, they have Togashi still backing them up, and they're closer to a modern perspective than most clans.
But more likely because their clan symbol is a fucking dragon and their samurai wield two swords.

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>>92490111
to LARP as the greatest warrior in history

>>92490013
Was this one of the alt histories and if so which book was it in?

>>92485788
Nice little maps, though I found big maps are are also good to have, as you can then better plan them move around in the city.

>>92485788
If they are new to to the settings, I found an interesting idea is to do a short side session of around 30 min at the beginning of each session to be fun.
A dream to their youth, which can be used to introduce new concepts, hint at the resolution of the story or show some themes.

So my best rec for how to set up your overrarching story is to introduce three key players slowly (atleast in two different groups).
>Shika Marriage Handler (Deer Clan), who meet the players in a town and has a one on one session with each player; focus on personality and combatitlity hereby. Suggest that she is looking for a candidate for either your most eager player or least eager player.
>A powerful and cunning Otomo Family member who does show how powerful good marriages can be. Make him cold but not useless, he is very loyal to Hantei and can give them great benefits but all is very calculated and proper.
>Two characters: Dragonfly Minor Clan who is very friendly and personable. Use the Dragon to tie him in, showing small thematic facts (Have him have a glass sword, have him try to charm a very high standing lady who is very much attractive to him).
>If the guy above is established and known introduce the Monk Leader: A monk who works for the court, influencle not really like a monk but a bosterious man. If they investigate they found out he is a minor clan samurai who became a samurai after his love died. Let your players pierce together themselves that he is a dragonfly. Do not give too many hints.

When the players are known and more importantly have a recognizable trait for your players, your story can begin.
A major player dies (emperor is a bit heavy, I would prefer either a major daiymo (Ashanin of the crane) or minor clan)
So there are three parties: A marriage for compability, a marriage for power and a marriage for love.

>>92491005
Hare clan would also be useful as the goal clan.
If you the place of story, (which hopefully you have introduced the heir earlier to the group) tell them that he is unmarried and how important marriage can be to power a weak ruler.
As the ruler is new, he is asking for consultation from the magister as his father always respected the party.

The marriage candidate I would introduce as new characters as that decrease the chance of them just picking one.

From here you will probably have a major story on how this is achieved, as a long play, either make them themselves be recognized as great match makers, let them support the new daiymo in the following story, double down on what makes them most engaged (maybe they dislike Otomos for cutthroat ways to do things), or make the death of the father more mysterious (at the end of the wedding feast a Lion Shugenja is asked to summon the father spirits, who appears in chains and splits blood towards the throne of the heir).

This can make the two losing sides try to discredit the newly married daiymo. But players investigated it will find a maho evidence and (if hare clan) that the family sword was hidden beneath the throne)
Story goes from there.

>>92491087
Sorry Fox Clan.
So if they dislike marriage and scheming go for the black scrolls.

>>92490922
https://lowfierce.com/kazenoshiro/Rokugan2000/l5r2k/l5r2k.html

>>92485788
>The scorp player just wants to be an artist and do puppet shows
So this is my own Crane player, though she is a bit more invested in her official courtier job than yours as it seems, but the core of her character is centered around being an artist.
So if you wanna play politics, throw a master puppeteer in his way and let everyone wonder if he just enjoys wooden puppet, I've made my own master artist a shugenja on the side so players are really wondering if the renown artist isn't also a wicked magical manipulator on the side. And then decide everything later, let them toy with it and decide which is better, if there's really something going on or they are just seeing ghosts.
For the Crane romance, I've that as well in my court, just a good old "people who shouldn't fall in love with each other do exactly that" can always work, it's not the easiest subject to treat though.

Usually, I take their passion and roll them in the story. They took "gourmet", there's going to be a highly political banquet; "painting", then you make one of the important NPC an artist with a lot on his plate, etc. Make the side stuff into the main stuff.

If the scorp want to puppet shows into glory, give him room to succeed and fail, political stuff and intrigues are interlocked with fame and glory so use this. Give him an artistic rival and suggest he may be tied into the political nonsense going on.

>>92490381
>Laughs in Kamiizuni Nobutsuna

>>92486547
Anecdotal, but within my own friend group, only one dude has gravitated towards the Mantis, and that's NOT cause of the pirates. He finds the bounty-hunting dedicated bowmen of the Tsurichi/Wasp to be more interesting than the head since they act more like the "wandering ronin" type than their head family does.

>>92493161
Literally who?

>>92494248
Founder of the Shinkage-ryu and arguably the most important sword masters of the history of Japan.
But then, there was no novel about him in the 1900s, which is basically the only reason why Musashi is known today.

>>92494527
So much of history really is just ancient memes and propaganda.

>>92491005
>>92491087

The little maps are easier to upload. I tried doing some bigger ones but I can't get them compressed enough to post. I can try some medium maps if anyone has requests.

Doing some dream of youth/backstory session could be interesting. If you wouldn't mind could you elaborate on how you do that with your players? What it looks like?

Thank you for the suggestions about the marriage plotline. I think I can work with that.

>>92493050
Yeah I'll need to give the scorp an opportunity to swing ar the fences. Ive been dangling romantic entanglements for the crane player so they are happy at least. It really is the scorp I'm struggling with the most.

Maybe a competition for some daimyos patronage or something.

>>92481173
Same reason people liked the spider clan, some people just love to be the "anti" faction of the setting. The one that makes no fucking sense and actively works against the theme. Perpetual special child syndrome.

>>92498029
I never actually saw anyone play spider. Any of you ever have a spider player at your table? How'd it go?

>>92498941
I used to know a guy who played Lost & then Spider in the CCG, and some other guys whose favourite characters were Spider. But never in the RPG - the only time I tried it was online with an all Spider game. Won't surprise anyone ... Everyone had different expectations on what that meant, and it died before it ever lived.

The 4e Spider sohei isn't hard to de-Taint and homebrew into a regular sohei.

>>92497942
So my introductionary session I did a session for the gempukku of around 20 minutes for each players, mainly to show the culture of each clan.
So the kitsuki received a riddle, where the crux was that the solution does not matter instead the way to present it matters.
The crab went beyond the wall and had the first oppurtunity to see the horror and make some friends.
The Falcon I tried to show that while other see samurai, there is lots of magic hidden behind it. (He entered an inn which was a good as new, but when he left is was decreptid).

In my first few session I picked a player (usually someone of my friends who hasn't done much yet) and said when he goes to sleep he reminds himself of his youth.
So I did it in the beginning and then went someone went to make food, I said to another character the same.
So Sins of Regret:

For the dragon katsuki he thought back to his first winter court, where a angry and cloth mask wearing scorpion insulted his lord who (also angry) took the duel. I inteoduced the idea of duels, and luckily there was a young scorpion who helped my player to diffuse the duel.
But the duel happend, and right before the duel the dragon saw the other (helpful) scorpion smile.
The scorpion died and the scorpion thanked him.
This shows that sometimes not all advisor are looking for your best interest.

The Falcon was sent to help a small manor beset by elemental imbalance, so he tried to figure out.
But when he took interest in the squirrel in a tree he realized that the squirrel were a family and by making the squirrel family reclaim their love for each others, he realized that elemental balance can come from family.
Plotpoint in Sins fo regret (Also he did not realize that in Sins of Regret).

The past should hint at things in the story

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>>92498029
Crane fingers typed this post

>>92496421
Musashi absolutely was a strong swordsman and master considering especially the end of his life which is more known, but he is still a strong master in a large sea of strong masters. Swordsmen weren't really a rare thing in the early Edo era.
Kamiizuni is recognized because he was basically a shonen character, beating lots of recognized strong people in duels and having them join him and learning his style, sometimes people of way better lineage who have zero reason to pretend. Shinkage-ryu ended up being easily the most influencial style of swordsmanship in the Edo-era, the shogunate official style for a time and the base of countless other famous schools like Jikishinkage-ryu for a start. And all of this at least is traceable and traced while for a time, Musashi was more known for his paintings (which doesn't mean he wasn't an important figure in terms of swordsmanship, just not to the extent he is thought of today).

Nobutsuna is probably the inspiration for Kakita obviously... especially the official trainer of the shogun bit.

Then again, all this knowledge really is just some niche stuff which isn't so critical in the first place, but you can't say Musashi is the strongest with impunity.

Then again, this

>>92498029
mantis got too much special treatment but actually have a place in the setting and aren't memey edgelords that fuck up the lore by just existing. the venn diagram between the two types of player has the merest sliver of overlap if any

>>92501020
Why did they ever think spider was a good idea?

>>92501479
i think there are kernels of good ideas in there, like co-option and political corruption/temptation as a shift in strategy instead of what the shadowlands have always done. lost/tainted samurai following daigotsu and others was always okay but the idea that they would be accepted into the empire, and as a major clan no less, is preposterous. and then they somehow immediately got involved in everything while everyone shrugged their shoulders.

Spider clan info has always missed the value of Spider in actual lore and mythology. In China they have been said to have invented writing. The Weaver Woman is a common figure in mythology and lore. Patience, persistence, cunning, seeing the biggest picture for plots and schemes...

Having the Spider Clan founded and ruled by a male is antithetical to almost all spider species where the female is larger, more powerful, and dominant.

But then, at our table, we don't burden ourselves with someone else's ill-fitting canon and the self-imposed dogma from game writers who fail to achieve the targets they set for themselves.

>>92484482
Their main defining trait is being pirates, which is unique among all the clans.

>>92503580
Also insect-themed samurai armor looks dope, better than Lion manes.

>>92503597
Lion manes are awesome. The Crab suits looked rerarded in their art and the stylized mantis armor wasn't much better. At least lion armor was actually funtional armor.

>>92503637
>Lion manes are awesome.
Maybe if there were wars during the winter. Imagine fighting a war during summer with a fur cape draped on your neck and back. Awful...

>>92503637
Maybe it's the way they're drawn but they always look like straw to me.

>>92503799
You know, it's probably pretty good a fair bit of the time. If they're fighting the Dragon in mountains it would be a godsend, and it's probably a little helpful if they're contesting Beiden pass. The Unicorn plains get a lot of sun but I bet they have a fairly cold wind out of the north a lot of the time. It would only be fighting toward the Crane coast that I would expect the mane to be truly awful.

>>92503799
that's far from the least practical thing in the setting with stripperella outfits and armor

>>92504925
Unlike the manes, those outfits make me feel VERY comfortable.

>>92504925
At least you could move in the stripperella outfits. Some of the stuff we see male crab bushi in is absurd enough I'd be amazed if they could waddle and get their hands over their head.

>>92484712
Horses are easy to poison.
>bushi have legs too
The roads and trails leading away from the castle will have skirmishers, bandits, and desperate commoners crawling all over them. You'll have to decide what might best convince them to turn back be it arrows from concealment, night-time ambushes, or a peasant massacre waiting to happen.

>>92504979
Thats the secret crab technique, they hit you, and you just fall on them and your armor is so unwieldy they cannot get you off them before one of your buddies comes up and stabs them.

>>92484712
Have it rain heavily for a while and turn the roads to shit. That could give them time to prepare and reason they can't go anywhere.

>>92505108
>implying Crabs ever fall over

Is anyone hiding a good mod for TTS to play with friends that has all of the cards? Or modern support for deckbuilding that doesn't lead to a 404 page. I want to play the game with friends but they hate browser based solutions and signing up for accounts.

>>92505893
I don't know if it's good but there's a tts mod in the OP.

>>92504288
I wanted to argue it could maybe make a decent rain coat for the frequent coastal rains you'd get in crane land, but sodden fur is miserable.

>>92506295
Given the taboo against untreated leather, red meat, etc most Rokugani hold (except Dragon when they're starving, Crab when they're bulking, and Unicorn when it's a day ending in 'y') you'd think the majority would wear some cheaper imitation mane. Those who can afford it would get a real mane treated to repel water.

Talking pre-4th edition, what proportion of players can reasonably be shugenja in a campaign with 5 players + gm? We're not normally murderhobos but 3 out of 5 looks a little high on the shugenja count but it's been a long time since I've had much to do with with L5R so I don't know how fair an opinion that is.

>>92507883
In a group of 5 I say 2 shugenja at most. But I have no real reasoning for that number beyond it feels right.

>>92497942
Also for a scorpion maybe have plots about the inner conflicts.
All are loyal to the emperor, but have different goals.
A Bayushi Daiymo who has powerful allies and force. He is known as the black demon, as he is said to have killed his own brother to gain power.
In secret he is a very honorable man, who does lots of posturing but is very much pushing for change. He believes that doing bad for good, is a thing in the past and strong allies and good work should be what raises the new generations. (mainly as shame for what he did to his brother)

His brother is still alive, working as a Shoshoru actor. He has many disguises and keeps himself in his brother court as a famous artist.
But he is duty above all, he thinks a Scorpions needs to do bad to be good. Evil task for personal goals is horrid, but for the clan all is good.

Then we have a young Yogo, who is leading his own factions. They said that each scorpion can do whatever he wants as long as you fulfill your clans task. He is highly efficient but morally corrupt.

Then we have another Bayushi who is a good follower, but he recently gained power and realized the true purpose behind the scorpions. More importantly he realizes that so many scorpions are pawns for their master and he advocates for more freedom.

Too balance it out there is a Soshi, he is very nice and personally but obvious to everyone he is just a fallguy.


So give your scorpion these info piece by piece, and if he joins a factions, make sure he understands that this is internal affairs.
So he might have personalized task which the rest must be dark about.
Thats the scorpion, you will have to keep even your best friends unknown.
The drug dealer is evil yes, but he is very important for a factions and if the player makes a deal he will help his factions.
How does he release the dealer without the scorpions being seens as behind it?
Have a kitsuki character ask the group who had the idea behind it

>>92507883
Pre-5th edition, shugenja are rare enough that a daimyo will listen to a shugenja's request for seppuku and tell them to go do their job. They'll refuse duels if they don't think the reason is good enough. They'll eat the disgrace rather than lose a shugenja. Shugenja will be clearly identifiable in a skirmish, not on the front lines, and be ransomed back to their clan. (unless they're Crab or Dragon) No one wants to lose a shugenja, and almost every daimyo will extend *some* show of etiquette to avoid being known as responsible for the loss of a shugenja.
In times of (mostly) peace. When you get to heated disputes or shit stirrers like the Mantis are involved, it goes out the window.

Three might be unusual. Then again, three might be considered safer than one or two. Four is right out.

>>92509739
Are they that much more common in 5th? I thought a lot of the background and setting fluff stayed the same other than some gender swaps and a reset so the clan war played out differently. Never really to into 5th lore.

>>92511309
>Are they that much more common in 5th?
No idea, but everything I've heard from speaking to people around and involved with FFG suggests the majority don't like the setting as it existed under AEG, aren't comfortable with people using seppuku in their games, don't like the caste system at all, and so much more.

>>92511413
I mean the people who wrote 5th are cucks yeah, there's a disclaimer every other page about xyz being problematic and how maybe you shouldn't do/use it in your games cause might offend people. The people doing fifth would never have made the setting/game in the first place and seem deeply embarrassed/hateful of it.

>>92511413
It's crazy to want to touch something feudal japanese-ish when you don't want seppuku and a caste system... like, what did you expect? It's like a doctor with hematophobia.

>>92511527
Some 'people' will look at you having perfectly courtly tea party of blood and death & decide they need to ruin it for your own 'good'.
Also Asains are honorary whites who shouldn't be allowed any history or culture or something

>>92511527
A lot of people would like to pretend certain things about the past that sucked were never a thing that could happen or at least not happen today. Instead of interrogating the inhumane level of societal peer pressure that could be put on individuals to the point they accept orders to gut themselves instead of facing further shame and loss of face, they'd rather not make someone even vaguely uncomfortable with depicting suicide at all at the game table. Likewise, rather than confront the fact that people used to be massive dicks to one another and baked in rather loaded justifications for it post-hoc like "he deserved to be treated like garbage because it's his role within society", they don't want to make people uncomfortable with being the repressive element of society stamping on the common man's boot. Nevermind that the legacy of both is still well and truly alive today, with how much shit the kazoku get away with and how abhorrent the suicide rate in Japan is.

Like in many ways I get it, some subjects are just vastly unpleasant to dwell upon when you just want to game with your buddies, but I'd rather a game tells me about the grim reality and then make it clear that I have the option to smooth stuff like that down or exclude it for the sake of my table's enjoyment, rather than take the option entirely away from me and pretend there's something noble about whitewashing the past.

>>92511309
No, that didn't change in 5E. Shugenja are still quite rare.

>>92476814
The Unicorn book was confirmed to be coming Q4 this year. The Scorpion book is not happening because 'The line has lost momentum'

This is a deliberate excuse, because Asmodee considers the line problematic. The unicorn book is full of Gaijin stuff, and assurances of how enlightened and great they are compared to Rokugan.

L5R is dead

>>92511413
>>92511491
5th is shit because L5R was sold cheap over beers at Indycon. There was no great plan for it, only complaints that the TCG wasn't selling, and the opportunity for someone else to do something new.

FFG weren't even going to do an RPG originally, until the LCG tested better than they thought it would

>>92512324
idk. The AEG freelancers then are the EDGE freelancers now. I doubt they had zero ideas going forward. But then there's the weirdness with the 5e original minor clans being very ... multifaceted compared to the rest. And the Deer guy allegedly saying something like "I had to get everything I could in there, because I knew I wouldn't get another shot." The whole thing leaves me thinking they should be doing a wuxia setting. Weapons of the Gods, Legends of the Wulin, Qin. Something other than L5R.
Someone must have wanted to while writing AiR's Yun Feng Guo.

>>92507883
As many as the players want to play. Shugenja are a dime a dozen. If they weren't, they'd start with higher Status.

>>92512597
> The whole thing leaves me thinking they should be doing a wuxia setting. Weapons of the Gods, Legends of the Wulin, Qin. Something other than L5R. Someone must have wanted to while writing AiR's Yun Feng Guo.

AiR was the result of them bringing in second gen Chinese and SEA Americans as "cultural consultants." You get a feeling that they knew making something original would not succeed so they needed to corrupt/destroy the top dog.

>>92512102
Ah hell. We're gonna get whitewashed Arab dindus aren't we?

Fuck AiR. AiR is fucking cancer.

>>92512673
Performing a critical function does not guarantee status, and historically many shaman were social outcasts.

>>92512673
Dumbass

>>92512991
Arab dindus, and a superior Chinese culture that laughs about the backwards Rokugani

>>92514562
They never should have hired chinamen, even murrican chinamen, to write for an rpg based on Japan. There's no way the ethnic grudges don't get involved.

>>92512102
fa/tg/uy Anon spews pink slime without sauce.

We shall dub, thee: Pink Slime Guy. And you matter not here, Pink Slime Guy. For if L5R is dead, then there is nothing left to say. So back to Arby's with thee, sauceless Pink Slime Guy.

>>92514654
I don't need to impress you, faggot.

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>>92513005
I came here to bitch about this and lo and behold, my brother from another samurai mother.
>Beg my DND group to try L5R 5th
>They have become a bit romanticized to it because I tell them alot of the folktales and stories from my time.
>Tell them the system is different than a d20 system, and its RnK.
>Oooooh I dunno anon we REALLY like 5e DND its all we know.
>Sigh, okay, let me at least go look at Adventures in Rokugan
>Open book, immediately hit with modern sensibility shit like LE SEPPUKU IS LE ICKY
>Okay anon, just soldier on
>Stat blocks for fucking nonhuman races
>Entire paragraph UM ASCKHYUALLYing why this is totally okay and people in Rokugan would love to work with Nagas and Nezumi.
>Oh god the fucking class system what the fuck
I can't I just told my party I'd rather just run DND 5e and not bother with AiR. What a massive steaming pile of horse manure.

>>92516114
I literally hid the existence of air from my group because I knew if the dndrones I've been forever gming for for the last 7 years knew it existed I wouldn't be able to convince them to play actual l5r. Finally managed to get them to agree at the end of last year.

>>92516197
I don't want to derail this into anti-DND shitposting, but jesus christ I will never understand peoples ZEALOTRY towards that system and how they're convinced that the d20 system is the end all be all of tabletops.
My wife, god bless her, isn't great with math and numbers. I sat her down and explained how to do rolls in L5R 5th and she understood it in 10 minutes.
How the fuck can the most casual tabletop player Ive ever known understand this "super complex dice system" but it's too hard for my fucking DND party.
I never used to believe in "5e Brainrot" but jesus christ it's infuriating. It's like being friends with someone who only ever wants to eat chicken nuggets and mac n cheese.

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>>92508821
>>92509739
>>92512673
Thank you for the answers, even the one that wasn't quite as well received as the others. Two sort of felt right to me too. When a player says
>Themed all shugenja party
it doesn't sound like the best idea to me unless something like
>We need five shugenja but no bushi to travel into the shadowlands because prophecy/ritual/recover treasure/reason
But aside from that sort of episode I hadn't any idea for a campaign other than the "unlikely group swears brotherhood in the peach grove and travels the countryside to becomes legends" trope. It is supposed to be heroic and it it is Legend but five shugenja just seemed weird to me even though having five players is probably why L5R was suggested.

>>92516114
Getting groups to try L5R is like pulling teeth. Most of my experience is with L5R's 4th edition, and even when they'd tell me up front that they trust me and like the games I bring up that aren't D&D, there's always someone in my groups who just can't or won't give it a shot. I had one guy basically shit the bed as hard as possible on two separate campaigns just because he "couldn't understand how to play as a Samurai". Like, motherfucker, you can understand how to roleplay superheroes, aliens, and multiple nonexistent fantasy races, but not a pretty basic historical archetype with tons of real world examples? I wasn't even being stringent on Rokugani etiquette or anything!

In hindsight I think he was kinda butthurt I was running pretty straight-laced no-magical realm games when everyone else's games were getting weird and fucky/political.

Anyway, as for L5R itself, I had no idea there were any talks about a board game or anything else which is kind of depressing in the sense that I don't think info is really trickling outside of the hardcore L5R bubble that I bailed on when the LCG dropped. Looking at the Monolith board game, it looks interesting and I kind of like the idea of a co-operative dungeon crawler type with named characters I actually remember. It seems reminiscent of stuff like Imperial Assault or Descent just based on the limited advertising that I've seen and I can't get enough of somewhat overpriced IP-based minis-on-a-board games.

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>>92517145
>He "couldn't understand how to play as a Samurai
>I wasn't even being stringent on Rokugani etiquette or anything!
I swear people just refuse to have basic etiquette at a game table. They wanna play their ridiculous wish fulfillment headcanons, and if you put any rules in their way suddenly it's "unfun" it's "bullshit."
I am currently playing a Rokugani samurai in a DnD 5e campaign I'm a part of. Basically a dude from a "far off mysterious land" but Im essentially piloting and roleplaying him as if it were L5R (with some small concessions of course.) My party fucking LOVES him. His stories and actions have made someone at the table cry no less than 3 times. He is my best attempt at Rokugan distilled into one man.
Yet they won't give the actual game a try because "it's not DND."
Give me a fucking break.

>>92517145
Wait it's just a board game wtih minis? Damn. I was really hoping for a full skirmish game when I saw the announcement and the miniatures.

>>92517238
I get that I'm usually the only guy in any gaming group that is extremely interested in the Sengoku period and stuff like that and I know that I've got to dial things down a bit to sell the game and make it less intimidating. I was really going out of my way not to enforce any of the "no real samurai would do this" tenets and to put them in really benign introductory-type situations too. You know, stuff that'd be a happy middle-ground between murder-hoboing/dice-chucking and extreme courtier LARPing in kimonos at a convention center. Now I've got the entire run of 4th edition books gathering dust on a shelf since I've sworn off RPGs for a while.

>>92517680
That's what it looks like, but at least it seems like they're going all-in on making the actual major historical characters from one of the defining "main" eras of Rokugan the playable heroes. I mean, the advertising blurb explicitly said you can play as Hida Kisada or Matsu Tsuko (and apparently Toturi himself). I'd like an actual functional skirmish game too, but it could definitely coexist with a game like this. Hell, Imperial Assault was both an adventure game with leveling and a pretty decent small-unit skirmish game at the same time. I'm sure they're trying the usual "tons of minis Kickstarter" strategy, but I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.

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Mantis clan seems pretty cool. Samurai pirates sounds fun.

>>92517145
I wish the boardgame *wasn't* using big named characters. I'd much prefer a new adventure with new people unrelated to the metaplot over more Clan Wars.

>>92518626
Thing is, CW era is the closest thing they have to a money printer.

>>92518760
I know. I don't like it, but I know.

>>92518104
they had some problems being daddy's favorite for a while but yeah it can be fun to skirt that line of propriety and be the underdogs everyone shits on

>>92517145
I have a friend who treats Genesys like the second coming, but he for some reason disliked L5R and refuses to play it, even though it's a better version of the system he claims to love.

>>92516694
People can be intimidated about learning a new system, and they might be concerned if they learn something else it means less D&D, D&D is socially acceptable, they might feel like they won't get a hard time for playing it, it's mainstream enough to be acceptably nerdy. For normies, D&D is a byword for the entire hobby, if you tell them you play Rogue Trader, Delta Green or Exalted, they might be confused, especially if you start specifying editions.

>>92517238
Now I want to see a hardcore rogue roleplayer react to seeing a Rokugani samurai refuse to handle money.

>>92519122
5e really did them a favor by making them a minor clan again, letting tournament results guide canon is a cool idea but has a lot of pitfalls.

>>92481187
Sorry for the delay, but I have our first combat session under my belt at least. Keep in mind that we're using an alternative view of how clans and schools work in fluff. Clans are political entities, while the "scorpion", "phoenix" and the others are like philosophical views single individuals decide to adopt. This gives me a more Sengoku feel with many major and minor clans dotting the land rather than a few big blobs, and opens the way to have a wider range of schools available. In the classic fluff you would have to jump through hoops to justify different clans working together or have veryone from the same clan, limiting options.

Our group is made up of an Akodo Commander, a Matsu Berserker, an Isawa Elementalist, a Shiba Guardian and a Shinjo Outrider. They all act as either counsellors or important individuals to their lord, even if they're struggling with the notion that they can "nudge" the lord's ideas towards their own in true japanese drama fashion.

The adventure is supposedly one of upwards mobility: they are part of a minor family that's been in a rivalry with another one on the same island. This rivalry had been going on for some time, and after the latest skirmish that drew relatively a lot of blood the Imperial Court basically told both parties to calm the fuck down. The rival family held the advantage but decided not to push it, agreed to an exchange of hostages and kept a hold of the castle, while the PCs family would occupy the town with a port and take residence there. The PCs lord had sent away his firstborn to protect him from the exchange, something that his second son deeply resents now, but that didn't save the firstborn anyway. After the peace agreement was settled he came back, only for him to die of natural causes soon after. So the PCs start with an ambitious, mourning lord having to share what he sees as "his" island with a family he has a bitter rivalry with, and the Court already told him he has to deal with it.

cont.

>>92481422
Yes, that clearly is the case, but the process feels more tiring than it should be because there's a few unclear cases that come up or you have to check back and forth to find something that should have been written somewhere else.
Then there's the odd combat stuff. The Akodo Commander player was a little confused when it was clear that he couldn't damage some mooks because his yari couldn't go through their clothes.
>>92520110
Anyway, things start at lord Morikawa's (the PCs lord) firstborn's funeral, taking place in the castle by gentle concession of the Asakura (rival family) to honour the dead. During the ceremony an unknown outsider comes uninvited, but politely introduces himself as a friend of the deceased and asks for permission to honour him as well. He is then invited to dinner, where the PCs manage to impress him with their manners and wit, so he opens up to them and explains that he knew the firstborn while he was sent away to a nearby castle for "tutoring" (which was the excuse given to send him away). The outsider, Kagetsugu, makes it clear he had a working relationship with the dead, Moritono, and that he was looking forward to working with him again when the chance came. He never told what they actually did in the mainland, anyway. During the dinner, Shigemori (the lord's second son that is still held hostage) remained aloof and close to his captors, something lord Morikawa wasn't too happy with.

The dinner ends and lord Morikawa calls his advisors to tell them the new family priority: he has no heir as things stand now, so he needs to get his only remaining son back in any way possible. Open violence is not an option at the moment, guile would be hard, that leaves diplomacy.

cont.

>>92520212
The Akodo guy (which is the lord's relative with little actual power besides acting as general when needed and, well, being a samurai) puts forward the idea that lord Asakura still has an unmarried daughter. The player meant to say that they could marry her and the second son, but everyone else at the table thought he was offering to do it himself (the misunderstanding would actually go on for a while, making it all even more awkward and hilarious in a way). The lord is rather happy with this proposal since it would mean sending off a relative he doesn't really get along with and getting his son back, so he gives permission to go ahead and send envoys to lord Asakura as soon as possible.

The players start researching texts to find the best approach to write the letter's text in a way that would move lord Asakura (and they end up writing a damn fine letter with some awesome rolling), but while they do so they worryingly stumble upon a mention of some old case in which a rivalry such as the one they're trying to settle ended up in the Imperial Court getting tired of both parties' bickering and disbanding both families, giving the land to other nearby lords. The characters try to look into this and ask Kagetsugu, the cosmopolitan outsider, for some information, After a good game of shogi where the Akodo commander managed to beat him, proving he is not a simpleton, a very impressed Kagetsugu indeed confirms that both their neighbours on the mainland coast, the Takado in the north and the Yoshimura in the south, are watching with keen interest. (They have a rivalry of their own going on in the shadows and both would use the island and its resources and port to gain the upper hand, but this hasn't come up yet). Kagetsugu warns about the Yoshimura clan being particularly interested, and thus dangerous.

cont.

>>92520273
When the letter is ready, the PCs leave the town to head for the castle, and along the road get attacked by what look like random bandits. This was supposed to be the first combat test drive, but in true PC fashion they do something unexpected and just tell the bandits to fuck off, intimidating them. Dice fall, and the bandits turn away and run, leaving behind a poorly written order from someone that wants them to attack the PCs and get whatever they're carrying. This was clearly aimed at getting a hold of the letter with the marriage proposal, but the players are on a mission to deliver it first and foremost, so investigation will have to wait. The shugenja asks the spirits where the bandits have run off to and they say they've gone back to town. Taking note of this, they go ahead with their mission.

They find some Asakura sentries along the road, which ends up in a larger patrol coming ahead to meet them soon after. That patrol ends up being led by lord Asakura's daughter, as things go, and it soon becomes clear that she's not the mannered courtesan waifu some were expecting. She hears the players have a letter for her father and challenges them to a ride to the castle, sprinting away. By now the Akodo player realized he is the one that would have to marry her, so he is not about to look like a whimp. He rides after her and they end up arriving at the same time, something that she grudgingly acknowledges, even if the thing she is most pleasurably impressed by is the fact that he actually broke protocol to ride after her rather than being stuck up like most samurai.

cont.

>>92520356
The players are introduced to lord Asakura, a pretty chill guy all things considered, but still a political mind behind his manners. He is indeed moved by the letter and would have agreed in principle for the good of the land, even if it was written more poorly, but he still has to consider his family's standing, and as things stand now he would lose too much of an advantage by sending his rival's son away in exchange for a marriage where he holds the female side. He then sends the player away with an answer that opens the way for further diplomatic exchanges to refine the details of the arrangement.

Lord Morikawa is satisfied that things are moving forward and basically gives the players free reign to do as they please as long as his son makes it back and the Imperial Court doesn't stamp down on them for going over the line, and when informed of the bandits tells the players to take a look around the town but to not stir up too much trouble by going around in an official manner.

Noble Noeru, the berserker, aside from his love of calligraphy and composition, is also attracted to the less noble art of gambling, since there was little chance to go around cutting heads as of late, so he's the face for the investigation. The town is small but the port and traffic allow for two gambling houses to coexist. There's enough work for both so they each mind their own business, no gang wars or anything, criminality is small game. Noeru goes to his usual place and asks around if there are some good-for-nothings looking for a quick buck. Some of those are always around, and the players also hear rumors that there's a new ronin in town that now acts as a yojimbo. When they meet the small fries to discuss the job offer, one of them turns out to be one of the bandits that attacked the PCs some days before.

cont.

>>92520454

Both Noeru and the bandit recognise each other. The bandit runs, but not as fast as his face hits the floor. He reveals he was working for Takeshi (the other gambling den's boss) when he attacked the players, but doesn't know anything more. He gets sent to prison and the players, eager to wrap this up, go late in the evening to confront Takeshi on his turf. Eyebrows are raised when a bunch of samurai show up, but Noeru is a known gambler and the Shiba Guardian starts drinking so the game of dice quickly resumes. Both Noeru and Daisuke (the Akodo guy) play, while the Shiba dude keeps taking a look around while drinking, and the Elementalist just pretends to follow the game. The outrider, who doesn't like to waste time, goes out of the front door and goes to check the back of the building, and there he meets the ronin guarding the back door.
The ronin knows him by name and knows he is the lord's messenger, so he invites him inside to discuss a business proposal. The akodo guy with the elementalist start looking for him, seeing he's not coming back after a while. The outrider accepts warily, but not warily enough. The ronin, not one for subtletly or beating around the bush, quickly says that he would want to "share the burden" with the messenger, basically getting a hold of the letters en route to and from the noble families. At that, the outrider clearly refuses and makes to leave, but the ronin and his goons try to stop him. Violence ensues.

The outrider tries to move past the bandits towards the door and fails, but poor rolling on the ronin and goons' part means they all manage to just scratch him once, he flows like faucking quicksilver around their blows. The other PCs, hearing sounds of fighting, run o the rescue and quickly dispatch the mooks, leaving the ronin alone and surrounded, back to the wall.
cont.

>>92520731
The intention was to have him die fighting but the players wanted to interrogate him, and some good rolls once again mean that they get what they want (I don't want to impose my "vision" or anything on how the story unfolds, if they want to do something and the rolls support it, and the story isn't completely destroyed by some whacky shit, I roll with it).

The ronin surrenders but asks to keep his weapons. Not all characters agree on how to deal with a ronin, but in the end they let him keep his wakizashi. When questioned he reveals that he is a disgraced samurai that used to be under Yoshimura until his lord sent him away after an argument, so he got to the island in hopes of getting his hands onto some juicy info about the ongoing rivalry that could be helpful to his former lord, and use that info to buy his place back into the clan.

And this is where we are now, with the ronin imprisoned into the berserker's house to keep a close eye on him rather than send him to jail along with the few mooks left alive.

>>92515095
Does your display of self-serving rimjobs impress the folks on Reddit?

>>92516694
>I don't want to derail this into anti-DND shitposting
Before 5e, L5R as I knew it through general opinion was considered to be on the side of anti-D&D rpgs because setting & lore. Now, because people pay no attention to half of that shit and only look at the mechanics, it's considered 'more D&D' than L5R 5e.

>>92481173
Yoritomo's a pimp and I like the Tsuruchi, plus I always liked preying mantises as a kid.

>>92520055
Mantis becoming a great clan wasn't tournament based. It was always part of the (awful) plan.

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>>92481173
>Underdogs and proud of it
>Pirates are cool
>Their ascension to Great Clan in the old status was basically Yoritomo having nuts the size of cannonballs
Might be a broad over-generalization, but it's like taking the gruffness and physical swagger of a Crab and combining it with the underdog/underestimated status of Scorpion.
You're a bunch of punks with a chip on your shoulder

>>92523850
That honestly only works for the Yoritomo, it doesn't do much for the minor clans that were forcibly absorbed to be part of the Mantis

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>>92486547
As someone who started their absolute love for L5R as a Mantis, I'll both agree and disagree.
I'll agree that the Mantis, to an extent, represent the more western literary ideals that alot of people who enjoy tabletops gravitate towards. The underdog, the chip on the shoulder, etc. But I think just pigeonholing them as "The Softball Clan to get normies interested" is baloney. I think people liking their aesthetic is way more of a selling point than anything else.
>The pros go for something with more drawbacks and complexity
Bitch huh. You are a minor clansman. Almost everyone sans Crab see you as glorified thugs. That IS your drawback. That when you walk into a bar any Lion or Crane can and will tell you to sit down, shut up, and be humble, because "you're not worthy of speaking to me."
And besides, while it's anecdotal, I see WAY more normies and newcomers gravitate to the "heheh sneaky dickhead" of Scorpion or the "stereotypical one with the universe" Dragon than Mantis.
The only clans that I think would ever deserve "Veteran Player" status are Lion and Crane.

>>92519992
L5R uses a simplified version that doesn't have a few of the dice. He's probably unhappy cause there aren't triumps and whatever the other missing dice is.

>>92523935
>The only clans that I think would ever deserve "Veteran Player" status are Lion and Crane.
I'd say Lion and Crane are perfectly acceptable clans for a new player with a freshly gempukku'd samurai. You give them their seven general rules with some pointers, a general outline of their allies & enemies, and a protip that it's honourable to be polite to everyone (especially your enemies) but you don't need to give them a fair chance unless you're being super polite and honourable.
Then while they're still figuring things out, you let them say how closely they want to cleave to etiquette as they do a thing - then walk them through what should look like and let them digest.
All the while, you let them ask questions.

>>92520110
>>92520212
>>92520273
>>92520356
>>92520356
>>92520454
>>92520731
>>92520762

Hot damn that's awesome. Thank you for sharing anon. I think I'm definitely gonna need to make the clans less monolithic.

>>92524025
>Seven General Rules
What are those?

>>92525699
Not him, but I restated the tenets of Bushido in a shorter and more direct form for my group, which I think is helpful:

>Compassion
A samurai is strong, and must protect and guide those beneath him. It is unbecoming to abuse one's lessers.

>Courage
A samurai is a warrior living three feet from death at every moment, and must be bold in the face of hardship and danger. It is unbecoming to shrink from what is necessary because of fear.

>Courtesy
A samurai is a paragon of civilization and must treat others with the respect owed to them. It is unbecoming to breach the social protocol that binds the Empire together.

>Duty
A samurai is a servant to his Lord, his Family, his Clan, and his Emperor, and must deliver good and faithful service to those above him. It is unbecoming to shirk or fail in a task that a samurai is given to accomplish.

>Honesty
A samurai is a pillar of virtue, and must speak truthfully when he speaks at all. It is unbecoming to deceive by word or deed.

>Honour
A samurai is his own judge, and must live a life of virtue not because he is commanded, but because he believes in virtue in his own heart. It is unbecoming to hold oneself to a lower standard than others.

>Sincerity
A samurai is firm in his conviction, and must commit absolutely to every word and deed. It is unbecoming to act with less than one's full resolve, or to act other than as one has spoken.

>>92526641
You have Honesty AND Sincerity but no Justice / Righteousness (義 gi)...?

>>92526641
Compiled together and spoken aloud, this sounds a lot a great Samurai version of the Marine's Rifle Creed.

Bushi Pyle as a Rōnin? Full Lacquered Yoroi.

>>92527197
Honesty and Sincerity are not the same, and anyway I went with the basic seven from 4e core. L5r rolls righteousness into honour and justice into honesty most of the time.

>>92524161
Thanks, writing it all down like this puts into perspective the amount of stuff that happened. We usually can meet to play just once in a blue moon and for a couple of hours so sometimes I tried to nudge things forward, it would have gotten quite frustrating soon with little to no advancement. This month we can actually manage to meet weekly so I want to use it to the fullest and possibly finish this first arc, probably with the wedding if things keep going like this. I have enough stuff to keep playing after or move in other directions for now, I'll see what the players come up with. I find it's more interesting to go with the flow of their reasoning rather than saying "No" all the time until they hit the right track. It keeps the going smooth, even if I remember not to allow them to get everything they want, or every idea they have to be the "right" one. I feel that the system works very good for this approach, and Opportunities make them keep agency in unexpected ways, so it's even more fun for me as well, it means I don't have to just read them a plot.
As a basic example, my original plan if things got bogged down at the beginning was having the second Asakura son starting a plot to make a coup due to his resentment and conviction that the Asakura rivals were actually the better choice to rule the island and finally form an official clan. I might still introduce that later, or recycle the idea in another context. I'd also love to start introducing character sessions or arcs but for now the play time doesn't allow much side tracking. Another surprise was none of the players rolling a ninja, that would have made things interesting but potentially more convoluted as I'm still getting to grips with all the rules, and that avoided having to spend half the session to follow a ninja going around alone.

All in all we're having good fun.

>>92527695
The second MORIKAWA son, got the wrong name there.

>>92527211
>Full Lacquered Yoroi.
Full Metal Kimono was the phrase used for Bearers of Jade style games back when.

>>92526641
We aren't allowed to call it honour any more anon. We have to call it integrity or respect.

https://www.legendofthefiverings.com/asians-represent/

>>92528285
>English names and asian surnames
Opinion even more disregarded than usual, I care not for what they have to say, I make my own setting anyway.
>In keeping with the new lore presented in Adventures in Rokugan
Ah, so that's what this all is about.

>>92528285
I'd tell you to eat a dick, but you'd probably enjoy it.

>>92528285
>https://www.legendofthefiverings.com/asians-represent/

I'm absolutely certain that L5R is going to die due to those "consultants."

>>92528745
I just want the last two books to come out, then they can crash and burn.

>>92528745
It was already dying. But they certainly aren't helping.

>>92528778
I'm satisfied with what's been released, I don't need any more 5e material to enjoy my campaigns.

>>92529035
Oh for sure we already got enough material to work with for a lifetime, it was more a matter of closure. Then they can crap out any kind of shit for their sidegame and their consultants.

>>92529035
I hold out hope that the books do come out and there is something of worth in them. May be silly but one can hope.

>>92529083
Aren't we still missing some stuff though?

>>92530936
Yeah - a scorpion book with no scorpion schools, and a unicorn book with no unicorn schools. fuckn lol

How detailed are the parts of the world outside of Rokugan?

>>92533140
Not very, to put it mildly.

>>92533140
what i do in this case is to combine it with the 7th sea setting. in any case, that was the original plan back in the 90s, i think, and it works better. i think.

in any case, found this adaptation of 7th sea to l5r 4th edition rules, if anyone interested.
http://ninjasensei.wikidot.com/printer--friendly//7th-sea-l5r-adaptation

>>92532400
Which Scorpion and Unicorn schools would be "missing" from the 8 we already have?

>>92530936
That's why I said that I'd like the last two books to come out.

>>92533140
The Burning Sands got a supplement in 3rd Edition, so there is good stuff there. For a time, 7th Sea was in the same world, so you can check that out too

>5e
Is the Fire ring overpowered or is it just me?

>>92534490
In what way? I just started but I think that most if not all rings can be good depending on the situation, and of course the character involved.

>>92534562
The passive bonus seems stronger than all the other ones.

>>92534570
You mean the bonus success on strife? That can backfire quickly, and you need opportunities to crit and use skills anyway. And most importantly, you can't just spam a fire ring approach to every check, it's the GM that tells you what ring to use depending on what you want to do and how.

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>>92511527
>It's like a doctor with hematophobia
Makes for an interesting character quirk and a source of dramatic tension.

>>92511839
>how abhorrent the suicide rate in Japan is
Since it's higher in places like Finland, United States and, despite their excellent chocolates, Belgium which aren't noted for their Japanese cultural influences you might need to find a better explanation for suicide rates than legacy of Japanese culture as a reason for high rates. Suicide is a cultural artefact so every country that has suicide has it as a legacy of cultural attitudes.

>>92535451
Do you want your writers having dramatic tension over whether they write the setting or not?

>>92535593
I was making a casual cultural reference with which it seems you are not familiar.

>>92534570
First, you need to achieve success on a check without strife symbol bonuses for the bonuses to count.
Second, boy is it easy to overestimate yourself and go into compromised state by trying to get as many successes as you can.
It's good in combat for expendable minion NPCs charging in a group in round one at a PC though, that's for sure.

>>92535569
If we're looking at the modern day, you're not wrong, cause things like the state of mental health care, social isolation, financial pressure and general attitudes regarding suicide are definitely far more notable factors to suicide rate than just vague cultural memes. But I've heard there is still a bit of romanticism around particular ideas in modern day Japan, like the idea of a single sacrificial act to avoid a lifetime of shame or even to cleanse someone of their current dishonor, which is the root idea of where we get things like the kamikaze units during WWII or the ritualistic seppuku. I do figure this is the kind of shit that I'd be better served looking to a cultural anthropologist to ask than dicking around on 4chan about, though.

Still, in regards to L5R, I do still feel it's a shame that rather than include a section explaining the historical context of seppuku and how it can affect your game, they'd rather just keep the option away, since it's an aspect of the samurai culture of Rokugan that was intertwined with the general romanticism of sacrifice and honor pervading the game. But, well, such is life.

>>92535569
I think he meant that it was a result of societal pressure in general rather than a specific japanese influence. More or less ritual suicide was common among many cultures, the romans used to "fall on their swords"

>>92511839
Such "people" should be disregarded. I hate this internet-influenced culture that allows any moron to stir up shit somewhere in the world and find someone that will resonate with them on the other side of the globe until all the retards start screeching. When the world was smaller you just told the first fucker to fuck off or stay silent and it ended there. Now they start screeching so loud that they get whatever they want every time. That's "How not to raise a child 101".

>>92533962
Another Yogo school.

>>92536671
>Such "people" should be disregarded.
They're steering the boat.

>>92538015
They're doing it now, yes, because the damage is done. I'm happy to know that it's not going to influence my group any time in the future.

>>92538237
They're the same people that were involved before.

>>92537089
In each of the two books!
Absolute Perfection, make them both Shugenja as well.

>>92533962
I don't get it; you think there's no niches left available to fill?

>>92539627
Yes. They've only ever had one school in previous editions. It's their turn.

>>92539908
People love to moan about WotW having no Dragon schools while every book before had one and as if it was some sort of terrible thing if there was not yet another slew of schools being done, but I'd say that though WotW were just lame, we have, for the most part, more than enough schools. Sure there may be some niche's to fill but I'll let you tell me what they are...
I do know that my new players have been quite put aside by the overwhelming number of schools with what is often difficult to understand differences often in lore and use, though it's certainly possible to ease them into each choices. I don't think that more schools are really needed, but I understand they are like the toy in the cereals.
New minors clans schools would certainly be nice.

This whole seppuku and honor stuff is pretty hilarious as I was considering the idea of having the captured ronin either commit seppuku alone during the night or go visit the berserker and ask him to assist in the ritual. I fear that would stop the game in its tracks though, the players still want to bring him in front of their lord for further questioning, they might feel it's a dick move to stall them. Depending on how things go in the questioning I might have him spill the beans and then commit seppuku to atone. He failed in everything he set out to do after all.
But knowing my players tend to do some unexpected shit they might very well offer him a place under their lord, make him become a monk or who the fuck knows what.

>>92533962
For Scorpions I would say Soshi are kinda missing, so I would propose Soshi Magistrate.
As Scorpion has no Artisan school, I would then proposea Bayushi Artisan.
Bayushi Coordinater who can find connection and and plan big events.
Mainly focused on finding people for certain events (mercenary, artisan, actors).

Unicorn would need a Shinjo and a Iuchi.

>>92541948
Its for my autism.
Also I just like having 2 schools for the clan + 1 for each clan as it makes closer to the point that wr have 2 schools per family.
If each family has 2 schools it is easier for a player to show ehat a family does without letting them look one-dimensional.
>>92485747
Fox Clan, Cat Clan, Sparrow, Hare, Oriole, and Wasp are missing.
And I would also like for each minor clan to have 2 schools, Dragonfly is unlikely, but others might have space for one.

>>92541948
>I do know that my new players have been quite put aside by the overwhelming number of schools
Sounds like you should be limiting their opportunity for analysis paralysis, but not that they should be the use case for everyone else.

>>92543011
Nta it did hit my players a bit as well. I feel like all the schools can be a bit intimidating to someone coming off dnd.

>>92544648
I found it easier if you said it was like "Subclasses" For some reason that translated things easier for them.

>>92536365
>I do still feel it's a shame
Agreed. If they're worried about triggering people then the violent death rate isn't that far behind suicide in OECD countries so it's a bit hypocritical to allow players to go around killing everything but themselves.

>>92536611
>ritual suicide
That's a key difference isn't it. Belly cutting is a ritual suicide, not an escape mechanism due to mental illness, even if falling on one's sword was an escape mechanism to avoid capture.

>>92545882
As it usually happens it looks like a ridiculous double standard where you can have all sorts of violence but calling someone names or using the wrong word is somehow worse.

>>92546376
That's a nice way of describing the state of affairs.

>L5R thread
>not dead after 15 posts of stupid memes

What the hell is going on

>>92547024
Dunno, but either >>92546376 & >>92546845 are fags of the same variety, or there's more than one person here who say they can't into honour.

>>92547037
What gives you that impression?

>>92544797
>>92543011
Yeah of course it's the role of the GM to explain and make it less scary, besides if you go Clan -> Family -> role, then the amount of schools is in fact perfectly manageable, but when a newbie open up the file and see the hundreds of "subclasses" and that they have to choose one from the get go and that it's admittedly quite important, it's at first, quite intimidating.
All of this to say that we're hardly lacking in at least Great Clans schools imo.

>>92491005
>Shika Marriage Handler (Deer Clan)

Into the fucking trash it goes

>>92547112
>All of this to say that we're hardly lacking in at least Great Clans schools imo.
Not that "we don't have enough GC schools" has ever been the thrust of it. It's almost always "there are still old ideas (maybe new ideas, if the writers are good) that could stand to see page time in a new edition".

>>92547024
I don't know but I like it. I think it's just been long enough since we had one that we've got a hankering.

>>92547954
Yeah sure, that's fair. I've started the rpg with 5e, so I'm not all familiar with the former schools, though for instance, I was a bit surprised that Kakita Swordsmith wasn't just Kakita Artist for instance.
Then again, genuinely, which old ideas aren't implemented yet?

>>92549307
A surprisingly hefty number. 4E and 3E had both additional amount of schools and things called "Alternate Paths". Which let you slot in a new skill or other thing to add onto your school training.

Of actual schools for example of the Crab we're missing the Hida Pragmatist, the actual Hiruma Bushi, and the Kuni Witch Hunter.

>>92549307
>Then again, genuinely, which old ideas aren't implemented yet?
How many schools are there for the Kitsuki?

>>92550248
One, should there be more? What would it be? Five other families have only one school...

>>92550233
Arguably aren't these mostly covered by titles, Witch Hunter is found in Shadowlands for instance. What would the new "Hiruma Bushi" do that the Core version doesn't? What is the difference with Hida Bushi?

I think also that this "insistance" (strong word I know) on more schools should be kinda tempered by the "create your school" mechanics in Path of Waves which is fairly straightforward (if tedious when it comes to the curriculum) and quite nice in such a game.
After all, you can ever only play one guy at one time so the relevancy of a hundred schools and some more (we're around a hundred as of now) is slightly lost on me. That's really not what I look for primarily in a new book as if given around 7-8 new schools, I'd need two new campaigns to play these and I've already my hands more than full with my own.

I do agree that coming off the core book, stuff like no Scorpion Bushi, little amounts of monks, shinobi and artisan was a bit sad, but as of now, new schools is really not what seems the most interesting or important.
It can't hurt for sure but then...

>>92550402
The funny thing about that little amount of monk thing was that the Kuni Witch hunters were the monk type for the Crab given their usage of offkilter methods.

Titles do work, but its a bit wonky in execution.

>>92550402
https://l5r.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Schools
https://l5r.fandom.com/wiki/Dojo
We've had this slow drip conversation around here before, and if you want to go through what existed previously ...

>>92550585
Titles are weird as fuck.

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>>92528285
>Americans represent

4E for life. I'll keep my d10 system. I have a bunch of new players and I gave them a tutorial Topaz Championship. Winter Court will be fun now that the training wheels are off.

>>92553615
Post a recap anon.

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>Want to begin my adventures into honoboru samurai weeabo land
>Already have two other games going and no l5r groups anywhere nearby
>Of the two games I got neither would even consider l5r
pain

>>92554768
Condolences. It took many many years to convince my play group. Best of luck.

>>92554768
You will make it anon, it took me years of keeping the embers alive while I had a no games period, but now our group is back with some sort of regularity. We had one shots of Eyes Beyond the torchlight to start again simple, then tried Troika out with another player as GM, now we are playing L5R as the first "real" campaign and one player wants to try out some D&D setting (yeah I know, D&D and on top of it 5e, but at this point I want to give it a chance, I'm just happy that we're back at the table and he seems to be looking forward to it)

So keep preparing anon, get material for a one-shot ready, you'll never know when the chance will come, but it will come in handy sooner or later.

>>92553615
>4E
Too much caster supremacy for my liking.

>>92558304
How so?

>>92558961
Not him, but Rank 6 spells blow the fuck out of Rank 5 techniques, a character gets several of them, and can learn more depending on the GM. For example.

>>92559078
AEG let writers get too complacent with the idea of offending the kami and keeping the fiction entirely in line with the setting (pretending for a moment they had a clear image in mind), but 4e isn't lacking in rules for purity, piety, and divorcing yourself from worldly concerns. They're optional in terms of game mechanics.

>>92559078
Even rank 1 spells blow the fuck out rank 5 techniques.

>>92559637
And of course they get master casting. The ability to save spell slots.

>>92560313
Not in 4e.

>>92560358
Ah you are correct. It was from "Little Truths" that I was thinking of it from. Not core L5R 4E.

>>92553615
I've never played 4rth. Found out about the game after 5th was out and that's what I could find books for. But I've since acquired pdfs of 4rth. What's it like? Can I get the tldr if that's not too much to ask?

>>92562662
It's the most iteratively revised version of OG L5R. In some ways this has polished the game to its best possible form, but in others it stripped off the paint.

>>92562662
it lost a few of the niceties from 3e, and ronin got the nerf bat a bit too hard, but it's streamlined better.
it can definitely be broken on its back with some busted builds though, and on the other hand plenty of paths require some nudging from the GM or a scenario/campaign styled around it. some are just straight up ass.

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Has anyone ever made a homebrew Honor mechanic that's not a giant pain in the ass? Honestly turned me off GMing 3/4e a decade or so ago. Shit, probably closer to 2 decades now...

>>92565759
How are you doing honour that it filters you?

>>92566788
Back when I was running it, I was doing it by RAW for 4e. It wasn't that I couldn't grasp the concept, it was just a big pain to actually apply it during sessions.

And from what I've looked up, nobody actually runs it by RAW. Which is an indicator that it's a bad design.

>>92567857
Some don't. But 'RAW' is a malleable term here by official intent, when you apply changes likewise can be changed, and I never said you couldn't grasp the concept. I find doing it at the end of a session works better. Everyone comments on what stood out to them before any changes are made.

>>92562939
What are some of the ways the paints stripped off?


>>92564574
Are the lost niceties from 3rd related to me metsphorical stripped paint the other anon mentioned? What niceties were lost?

>>92570152
After the wonky power curve of 3e, they fixed 4e by effectively (even if not literally) setting an arbitrary upper boundary and lopping off anything higher than that. Leaving everything that was underpowered to deal.
Then there's pointless pages of weapons that fail to differentiate themselves, while the heavy weapons and kenjutsu skills (ie; the ones that make for rolling more dice more often) make weapons that use them a nobrainer of a choice.

>>92570272
So I take it spears or bows weren't very good then.

>>92571972
Spears aren't. Bows are pretty good in their niche, and some schools are especially good with them.

>>92571972
spears can be okay if the GM tries to actually mechanically implement the concept of reach via rulings, but most wont as L5R combat is often pretty abstract.
but yeah there's only one real good tech involving spears that i can recall and it's specific to the crane

>>92571972
>>92572885
wait i forgot there's an obscure lion-specific spearman school that's alright, but most of what it does can also apply to polearms which just hit harder

>>92572919
I gather that the other pole arms are heavy?

>>92573257
polearms, spears, and heavy weapons are all separate skills for whatever reason. heavy arguably has the best mastery bonuses

>>92573298
The only issues with heavy are narrative related. Most don't let you take heavy weapons into most Rokugani courts (Barring Crab).

In 5e, are there any good ways to inflict Disoriented on someone in a fight? I made an Infiltrator with the intention of using Veiled Menace to at least be not-garbage in a fight, but now I can't find a way to even use the fucking ability. What am I missing?

>>92571972
Bows with the +0k1 arrows are great because archers are meta.

>>92573579
Not much, inflicting status is really not that easy. The only thing I've found to inflict Disoriented is some ninjutsu technique you'd need your GM to homebrew because it's in Courts of Stone and thus the Shosuro can't take it as is but certainly should.

You can also use poison and Deadly sting but well...

Then probably the easiest is to make people suffer falling damage which always grants the Disoriented condition or way worse. I would assume that a throw, even a major ippon seoi nage style throw could be a range 2 fall.

But that's one reason why techniques are really hit or miss, activation might be really dicey and unrelated with the rest of the rules. Some are totally redundant with basic opportunities too so...

>>92573883
Well nuts to me I guess. Thanks.