L5R - Jade Legacy OOC thread

[Rain Yupa]

I'm not sure where everyone has run off to neutral

Would anyone be interested in playing in a smaller game of Legend of the Five Rings (AEG, 3e or 3eR if you have it)? It's one of those games that plays just as well with small groups than larger ones.  

[Keith Valken Lionheart]

I've never played Lot5R. I'd take me a while to... acquire them books. But from what I've heard in /tg/, it's mostly political s**t. I hate politics :/ And from what I've heard from the fluff, the Shadowlands seem so kickass and fun to explore with the whole taint thing and stuff.  

[Rain Yupa]

L5R CAN be political, but it doesn't have to be.

There are basically 3 "types" of Samurai. Bushi (the traditional samurai warriors), Shugenja (the spirital and magical samurai spellcasters), and Courtiers (the skill-focused, talky samurai).

If it was a party with no Courtiers, it most likely won't have much politics in it at all. Heck, if the game was specifically Shadowlands-centered, there really wouldn't be MUCH opportunity for politics. Probably whenever you have to return to Rokugan proper and appeal for aid.

"Help us, we accidentally infected ourselves with Shadowlands taint! Please don't kill us!"
"Now you're just being unreasonable..."

I could even see a game with only 2-3 players here too. I'd want more than 1, but 2 I can do. More wouldn't hurt either, cause it means I could throw bigger, scarier Oni at you guys.

If I were to run the game, it would probably be more of a "paranormal investigator" themed game. Of course, that might mean goblin and gaki would be around, not to mention undead, so plenty of things for HIDA SMASH!  

[Keith Valken Lionheart]

I must admit, the thought of playing a loudmouth Lion Bushi (I mean, what Lion clanner ISN'T loudmouthed and stuff?) and could fit well with what you've in mind, IMO. Then again, playing a Crab Bushi sounds fun as well. That, and dying in Lot5R is cool, since it's honourable!  

[Agent Sinistra]

I'd be interested in giving it a try.

I bought several PDFs of 3rd edition a year or two ago after hearing that it was inspired by Feudal Japan. Unfortunately, I wasn't ever able to find anyone interested in it to play. I'd be more than willing to reread them if you're willing to have me.  

[Rain Yupa]

Oh, I would. L5R is one of those games that looks complicated at a glance, but it's really rather easy.

I was looking at a couple of sites that have online profilers (so far, just Mythweavers and Tangled Web), and neither has one for L5R. I'd probably make a code and have people post their own sheets.

There would be a house rule tweak I would give to character development (via the expenditure of experience points). I will be recording WHICH skills you guys roll, and you can only increase a skill after you've rolled it as many times as your current skill rank. So if you have 3 ranks in Kenjutsu, you need to make 3 rolls with it before I allow you to spend XP to improve it.

This can be negated if you are taught with someone with the Instructor skill, however. But that must be done on downtime (on the road doesn't count as downtime).

Rolls that *I* call for, are the only ones that count in this fashion. So you can make as many Investigation rolls as you want, and learn stuff from them, but only critical rolls will count. I will award/acknowledge development points for your skills if you use them for serious reasons, to further or pursue one or more of your goals, or the story. So, using Athletics to chase down a fleeing bandit will get you development. Using athletics to rush across the courtyard will not.

I'll have a set system of how much XP I reward too. Like in my D&D games, it'll be on the generous side. :3

Experience will probably be as follows: 4 for surviving, 1 for having your honor increase, 1 for having your glory increase, 1 for having your status increase, 1 for the successful use of at least one Bugei skill, 1 for the successful use of at least one High skill, and 1 for the successful use of at least one Merchant OR Low skill. A maximum of 10 XP possible per chapter.  

[Rain Yupa]

So far:

Keith as a loudmouth ______ Bushi.
Sinistra as undetermined.  

[Keith Valken Lionheart]

Rain Yupa

So far:

Keith as a loudmouth ______ Bushi.
Sinistra as undetermined.

I'd probably play Lion Bushi, if this ever gets off the ground.

Also Rain, ENFORE THY LAW ON NONPOSTERS. SACRIFICE BABIES IF YOU HAVE TO, ALL FOR THE SAKE OF PEOPLE POSTING IN SNAKEBEND MENACE.

/capslock  

[Raganui Minamoto]

I don't have L5R. I'll have to look into it. Especially if I get to be some badass despite being unable to use magic.  

[Keith Valken Lionheart]

Raganui Minamoto

I don't have L5R. I'll have to look into it. Especially if I get to be some badass despite being unable to use magic.

Shugenja are the game's mages, though they're more like witches or shamans than actual mages, least IMO. It's more old school hocus pocus than "I DEVOTE MY 34 YEARS OF MY LIFE STUDYING MAGIC" like D&D.  

[Rain Yupa]

Magic is EXTREMELY limited in this. It's nothing you can rely on for extended periods of time. However, Shugenja are just as capable of being fierce warriors as any Bushi, if they trained for it.

But yeah, if you're looking for awesome factor, probably a straight-up Bushi Samurai is your best bet.  

[Anatarei Crimsonthrone]

I played a pretty awesome L5R campaign way back when. My ronin was adopted into the Crane, and I was most successful whenever I did absolutely stupid things I should never have been able to do (good ol' exploding dice... Nothing beats a 69 initiative on a "keep three" roll. Heh...).

I don't have the current stuff at all, though. I own the 3.0 Oriental Adventures book and the Dragon magazine issue that updated it to 3.5, but that's as far into d20 Rokugan as I've got. I'd be kind of potentially interested, but I'm not sure I'd have the mechanics down enough to really be a good choice...  

[Rain Yupa]

This wouldn't be d20, this would be the AEG d10 version.  

[Raganui Minamoto]

I found the 3rd edition L5R... can't find this AEG d10...  

[Rain Yupa]

@ Keith: I had PM'd iDragow on the 7th about Snakebend Menace (which he hasn't received yet). I'd be tempted to post tonight, but I'm losing steam after my only-4-hour sleep last night, so I'll post tomorrow when I have a bit more rest in me. Probably the afternoon after work, regardless of whether or not he's posted by then.

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@ Legend of the Five Rings:

Concerning the system, it's simple to get the hang of, for sure. For those who are unsure, the system involves a combination of traits and skills. The system rolls ONLY d10s, in a style called "roll & keep".

First off, the Traits. Legend of the Five Rings is based off the book written by Musashi in the 17th century. Every person has these rings that influence their capabilities. They are summarized as follows:

AIR - One's Air is determined by the two traits Awareness and Reflexes. One's Awareness is their intuition and empathy, whereas Reflexes is a measure of how quickly one can react to a situation.

EARTH - One's Earth is determined by the two traits Willpower and Stamina. Willpower allows one to focus mental energy and mental fortitude, whereas Stamina is one's ability to endure and heal.

FIRE - One's Fire is determined by the two traits Intelligence and Agility. Intelligence is one's supply of knowledge and how well they can use it, whereas Agility is one's hand-eye coordination as well as how they carry themselves physically.

WATER - One's Water is determined by the two traits Perception and Strength. Perception allows one to notice and understand events around them as they unfold, whereas Strength is the measure of a person's physical power.

VOID - Void is a unique trait, as it is both the trait AND the ring. Void is that little special something, one's Zen or Chi if you were so bold. Void is something which is difficult to harness, but those who do can find themselves able to push the limits of the mind and body.

Every Ring, save Void, is a combination of Mental and Physical traits. Whenever you roll dice, you will always 'Keep' a number of dice equal to your trait (with the exception of damage rolls).

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Next is Skills. Skills determine the categories of one's study, be them the courtly High skills, the combat-focused Bugei skills, the peasant-laden Merchant skills, or the dishonorable Low skills. Some people like to have a broad variety of skills; others like to focus their studies, specializing in a select few skills to the exclusion of all else. The prones and cons of these should be obvious by now.

Skills are generally added to their corresponding Trait to see how many dice are 'Rolled'. So, for example, let's take Kenjutsu, which keys off of Agility. If someone has 3 ranks of Kenjutsu, and an Agility of 2, they roll 5 dice, and keep the best 2. If they had 2 ranks of Kenjutsu but an Agility of 4, they'd roll 6 dice, keeping the best 4.

That's the system in a nutshell. Here's the given examples of what kind of results are needed (referred to as TNs, or Target Numbers):

TN: 0 - Difficulty: Mundane - Physical: Getting out of bed. - Mental: remembering the details of your sword.

TN: 5 - Difficulty: Very Easy - Physical: Striking an immobile target. - Mental: Recognizing a friend.

TN: 10 - Difficulty: Easy - Physical: Carrying half your weight. - Mental: Finding a misplaced item.

TN: 15 - Difficulty: Average - Physical: Lifting your weight over your head. - Mental: Recognizing someone in disguise.

TN: 20 - Difficulty: Moderate - Physical: Scaling a cliff without a rope. - Mental: Finding a well-hidden object.

TN: 25 - Difficulty: Difficult - Physical: Diving safely from a waterfall. - Mental: Remembering someone's exact words.

TN: 35 - Difficulty: Heroic - Physical: Out-wrestling an Ogre. - Mental: Naming all your ancestors in order.

TN: 50 - Difficulty: Impossible - Physical: Shattering stone with bare hands. - Mental: outwitting a Fortune.


Exploding Dice: Critical hits don't work quite the same in L5R as it does in D&D. When rolling for ANYTHING, any 10's rolled "explode". What that means, is that you roll another d10 and add the result to the first one. So if you rolled 4k2 (roll 4, keep 2) and got 2, 6, 7, 10, you would roll a fifth dice. If you got an 8, then you have a 7 + 18 = 25.

If you roll 10, and the follow-up dice is ALSO a 10, that dice LIKEWISE explodes. As long as you keep rolling 10's, you can keep rolling and adding. Most starting Samurai traditionally deal 5k2 damage with a katana, and take 48 points of damage before dying. But on a good damage roll, you can one-shot a fellow Samurai - or be one-shotted yourself.

L5R is a surprisingly lethal system, and without the resources of D&D, all it takes is one ill-timed strike to wipe you from the history books.