Legend of the Five Rings: Cartographers! Game has started!

[Rain Yupa]

Mongooseh

Yay!

xX_Terei_Xx

Yay!

BegrudginglyGood

WhimsicalXellos

Yay!

Paidi tou Selini

Maybe?

Okay, as I wrote in the Token Guild Introduction Thread...

Rain Yupa

I had a couple other games; Jade Legacy and the Destroyer War, both Legends of the Five Rings. The first game has suffered because the party is split into two halves, both important to the storyline, and one half has stopped posting; the other, all my files and maps for it is on my desktop which I'm having trouble getting to work, and I'd be effectively starting from scratch unless I get it working.

I'm considering dropping both and rerunning a L5R game for

Mongooseh

Paidi tou Selini

xX_Terei_Xx

BegrudginglyGood

Rain Yupa

Destroyer War was the file-intensive one I can't currently access. That has nothing to do with you guys. I had gone on my vacation, gotten back, GOT hired, moved across the country, and started a new leaf here. However, my desktop didn't handle the drive well, probably because it's over 10 years old. This is completely my blunder, mainly due to circumstances somewhat out of my control.

I can probably fix it, but I've been leaving it alone and using my laptop for now. I got it to boot up and run once, then after shutting down it didn't start up again. I don't know how much it has in her, so the next time I get her to boot up I'm backing everything up. I just need time to do it. Once I save all my important files, THEN we can talk; though I think it's probably grown stale by now anyways, hence why I'm thinking of just ending it.

The biggest worry I have is, "If I replace it with a new L5R game, what do I run for it?" I don't like making a game without something mapped in my head ahead of time. Though that could be better resolved once I know the clan breakdown.

Thing is, I don't have any plot currently in mind.

Ms. Terei, Ms. Good, you two were VERY patient with Jade Legacy, and I feel I let you down due to inactivity of half the party.

Mongooseh, Ms. Selini, you two wanted to play something DIFFERENT in Jade Legacy which I would have let you after the current chapter, which never finished for aforementioned reasons.

All of you where involved in Destroyer War, which I described above why that one might have fallen through by now.

Which then leads me to the possibility of replacing them with one brand new game, for the five of you. MAYBE

Joseph Severn

Probably Yay

if he wanted in badly enough; however, from the Token Guild Intro Thread, I can't tell how interested he would be.

There's a problem though: I have no plot immediately in mind to replace it with.

I would not be inviting anyone BUT you lot to play, and no one else can ask. If anyone decides "no gracias", there would be no replacement for that player.

What this boils down to, is the following: Assuming Rank 1, everyone above, please answer me if you would be interested in playing, and if so, what Clan you want to play most. They needn't be different or similar. I haven't decided between 3rd ed or 4th ed yet for L5R, because now I have enough 4th ed L5R books to allow lots of options.

Plainsfox, if you read this, I'm not sure where you stand. You haven't been posting in Settlers + I haven't seen you online much, so I was hesitant on quoting you. If you're REALLY gung-ho about it, we can talk, but for now you're not quoted. With the exception of the new guy, everyone above has been around for awhile and I trust them not to vanish. I hate having games die, it wounds my muse.  

[Gender Ender]

My interest would be kind of contingent on the premise and so forth. sweatdrop

I'll freely admit L5R isn't my best system (I prefer Legends of The Wulin usually), so I'd only really come in on this if you need somebody to round out the party.  

[Rain Yupa]

Never heard of it! I can guess the general setting premise by the name, but what's it about?

But yeah, I'm a firm believer that a game/storyline can be tailored for what the players want. For example, in D&D 3rd edition, if you have a party with a Ranger, a Druid, a Cleric with nature domains, a barbarian, and a Fighter who uses his spare feats for naturey stuff, then the players obviously want naturey stuff to do, even if you had intended to orient your plot a certain way.

L5R is also one of those systems where you don't really need "party rounding". It encourages but doesn't mandate character wellroundedness, so a party of al bushi could still be courtiery enough to do a social plot, etc.

But yeah, if I get, say, lots of Scorpion courtier and lots of Crane courtiers and maybe a Dragon courtier, then obviously people want political intrigue! If we get all Lion and Crab bushi, then the players want some fierce Shadowlands army to fight! Mostly Shugenja? Search for mystical relics! That kind of thing.

If it's a diverse party of all walks of bushido, then I'll plan accordingly and make a pitch. You can wait til then to show interest or back down, doesn't bother me none.  

[xX_Terei_Xx]

I'm still interested, since I never got to play ; v ;/

I would like to try a Phoenix bushi this time~
Edit: A mysterious, "let all the women flock to me" kind of Phoenix bushi  

[Gender Ender]

A'ight, we agree there then. I'm all about party tailoring (or I wouldn't be running a FATE game).

Legends of The Wulin is about crazy-go-nuts Kung-fu Movie stuff; it's got a lot of chinese philosophy stuff in there (integrated with the rules interestingly). It's a Wuxia game- so you can be a doctor, a courtier, a scholar, a priest....all of whom probably know Kung-fu, one way or another.

Rules-wise, you combine an External style, like Destiny Cloud Fist, and an Internal Style, like Fox-Spirit Song; so you can have a lot of variation in the way you fight.

There's also a lot of stuff about manipulating people's Chi, putting it out of balance (or keeping yourself IN balance).

So, Wuxia, once again. If L5R is Kurosawa, Legends of The Wulin is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  

[Rain Yupa]

I'm thinking of 4th edition, though I'll houserule in some 3rd ed skill insight bonuses. The move from Theology to Courtier upset me. Also, all of them will probably be in the 25 year span after the Destroyer War.

Possible plot hooks:

1.) It is the topaz championship. You are not participants, but you are MENTORS to the participants. One from each of the nine major clans will be represented, which means you'll each have to be from a different clan (oh boo hoo). What are you willing to do to help your clanmate win?

2.) The daughter of the Daidoji Daimyo is due to wed the son of the Shosuro Daimyo, though she is in love with the son of the Hiruma Daimyo. You must escort her to her arranged wedding in Scorpion lands. THE THREE MOST NINJA FAMILIES ARE INVOLVED. WHAT WILL YOU DO? WHAT WILL YOU DO?

3.) You are all young samurai who have yet to find a spouse. Things are in disarray after the chaos of the Destroyer War, and all clans are still trying to take stock of who they've lost and who remains. You are all lower echelon buke. Go, find a spouse in a matchmaking festival!

4.) The slaughter that resulted from the Destroyer War has resulted in the realm of Toshigoku gaining a foothold on your realm of Ningen-do. You must go around and searching for dimensional breaches to seal them up, before the carnage of the last war echoes into more chaos.

5.) Fu Leng and Kali-Ma both fell in an epic battle that left a second festering pit to Jigoku in Scorpion Lands. A Scorpion-Crab alliance has resulted, and a new wall is being built to quarantine this pit. However, Kaiu projects are not built in a day (that's why they last). You need to keep the workers safe while they build, and trust me, nobody puts Jigoku in the corner.

6.) The rampaging hordes of the Destroyer have wrecked havok all over Rokugan; no corner remained untouched. You are cartographers (or their escorts) hired to create up-to-date maps for Imperial use. Go forth, and explore! Rediscover the lands of your ancestors! (Note: I've played this campaign IRL, and it was fun; this will be a team effort to explore!)  

[xX_Terei_Xx]

Rain Yupa

3. Get your butts married

HAHA AMG For whatever reason, this one reminds me of my playing style in Fire Emblem: Awakening. I've been going around trying to get everyone to S rank supports. Maybe we can increase our love in battle? lol
I vote this one. ovo/

I kind of like 4 and 5, though....  

[Paidi tou Selini]

Rain Yupa

I'm thinking of 4th edition

Well... I was interested. Until I saw this. I don't know if I want to "steal" a whole new set of books (because I certainly can't afford to buy them) and learn a whole new system when I haven't even had much chance to play the one I already know and like. Especially since, by the way you described it to me before, 4e sounded more restrictive anyway. Even though it makes me incredibly sad to say this, I'll probably have to pass on this one.  

[Gender Ender]

How different is fourth edition from Third Revised?

Most Humble Edit of No Consequence:
Okay, downloaded the fourth edition, looking it over now just on the off chance.
Productions values are through the roof, damn.

Most Obsequious Edit of Little Merit:
Read it over, looks straightforward as far as I can tell. I'd be down to play if there's room- I like the sixth idea there, with the cartographers.

Got like, five characters concepts, but the top one is probably Tsuruchi Archer.  

[Rain Yupa]

Paidi tou Selini

Rain Yupa

I'm thinking of 4th edition

Well... I was interested. Until I saw this. I don't know if I want to "steal" a whole new set of books (because I certainly can't afford to buy them) and learn a whole new system when I haven't even had much chance to play the one I already know and like. Especially since, by the way you described it to me before, 4e sounded more restrictive anyway. Even though it makes me incredibly sad to say this, I'll probably have to pass on this one.

Joseph Severn

How different is fourth edition from Third Revised?

Most Humble Edit of No Consequence:
Okay, downloaded the fourth edition, looking it over now just on the off chance.
Productions values are through the roof, damn.

Most Obsequious Edit of Little Merit:
Read it over, looks straightforward as far as I can tell. I'd be down to play if there's room- I like the sixth idea there, with the cartographers.

Got like, five characters concepts, but the top one is probably Tsuruchi Archer.

Okay, 4th edition is by no means mandatory. Can run it in third too. Makes no difference to me, I have the books regardless.

Also, 4th edition is nearly identical to 3rd edition. The main differences off the top of my head are:

• Healthy has more wounds in a rank than Wounded - you can take the first hit better in 4th edition, which I like anyways.
  
• The Raise requirements for some of the combat maneuvers are different.
  
• The school abilities are different for the most part.
  
• The mastery abilities are different for the most part.
  
• Honor is on a 0-10 scale instead of 0-5.
  
• Kata are easier/less complicated.
  
• Less free raises are thrown around so no ridiculously high rolls. (Ms. Selini, this is what I meant by "more restrictive". After playing it, it's a fine system; some of my 3rd edition houserules are actually 4th edition rules).
  
• Armor TN is higher, so its harder to hit and to be hit.
  
• Starting character points are 40 instead of 45.

Beyond that, it's nearly identical. If you know how to play 3rd edition you know how to play 4th edition. You wouldn't even need new rulebooks, I could just tell you applicable differences.

But, like I said, by no means mandatory. If it's overwhelming support for 3rd edition rules, then we'll use 3rd edition. I just figured you guys might want to give it a try. The difference between 3rd and 4th edition D&D are HUGE and across the board. The difference between 3rd and 4th edition L5R are minute, and more of a "fine tuning" than anything. Think 3rd edition D&D to Pathfinder.  

[Gender Ender]

Having previously used 3rd Revised, I approve of pretty much all the changes they made in Fourth, so I'd support using that.
I also have the books either way, but yeah, having more first-hit survivability is nice and the new schools and such are very cool.  

[Rain Yupa]

About the cartographer game that I had played... what the GM did was have a basic grid drawn out on paper, and tore a bunch of index cards in half, and each of us got an equal share (GM included). We each wrote down one landmark for each quadrant on each card, then the GM shuffled them into a deck. As we explored (and had plot per quadrant), he'd flip over the next one. None of us knew what would come next. At my instance at later chapters, we made more cards (only a couple) than there were quadrants so there would be no guarantee on any card.

So we (imperial cartographer escorts) would explore and do yojimbo-y stuff while the Miya cartographerized the area. The GM did it as a GM challenge for himself, but it was also fun having a little say in how our adventures went.  

[Plainsfox]

Well, I talked with Rain, and assuming activity on my part, I get to join you guys smile

Version Preference: 3rd above 4th, but it's not a deal breaker.
Concept preferences in order:

1,3,2,6,5,4

Character wise: I'm looking at several concepts
Phoenix Shugenja or Bushi
An Ikoma
An Imperial Shugenja
A Dragon Bushi
A Unicorn Shugenja  

[Paidi tou Selini]

Well... I don't want to seem like I'm overreacting. I guess if people really want to play 4e I still kinda want to play. My biggest issue is that the whole reason I wanted to switch characters in Jade Legacy was to play the Tamori/Mirumoto combo with BG, and that doesn't exist in 4e.

Concepts: They all sound really interesting, but I guess to keep the votes from being spread out all over the place I'll second the vote for #6.

Characters: Tamori Shugenja if 3e, Kakita Duelist if 4e.