/L5RG/ Legend of the Five Rings General

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Is an Isawa Tensai with Rise X the most broken thing in the game?
Can you do more with less xp?

>How do you like your youkai?

Weird and beyond human description. Folktales are heavily played for being simple rationalizations of what are far beyond mortal comprehension, with reality being high-octane insanity fuel most of the time.

For example, while the Yuki-Onna is described as a beautiful young woman in a snowstorm, the actual truth is that the entity one would call the 'Yuki-Onna' IS the snow (and the snowstorm) itself, being a grey goo like creature that assimilates (and thus gains the ability to replicate from its own substance) anything that gets lost in it. The young woman thing is just peasants trying to give a humanly distinguishable shape to this spirit.

>Party is tasked to banish a karakasa mozo
>Literally expect a living paper umbrella
>Whatcangopossiblywrong.jpg
>Get mind-raped by an eldritch abomination

Ghost hunters tend to have a very interesting life around here.

drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Pd3r0rloClRVMydnRGbWlIUUk/view

Thank you.

Would you also happen to have a copy of Naishou Province (l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Naishou_Province_(RPG)) that has working bookmarks?

Tfw no group

>>exactly tfw sick of GMing l5r rpg

Start one. And when you say you're a shit GM, everyone is set first. Consider the things you know are bad and try to avoid them. Talk with your players. And most of all, read the rulebook and practice by running sessions. Sucking at something it's the first step to being sorta good at something

How does the ideal Rokugani lady express her emotions? Does she calmly endure them while keeping a straight face, or does she blush and express her embarrassment openly? Are ladies expected to be cool and restrained, expressive and emotional, or some balance of the two?

Also, any recommended reading for someone RPing a samurai lady?

Crane ladies are the "ideal", and they're supposed to remain ostensibly unflapped while dropping clues about how they actually feel if there's someone present who they want to know that, or dropping "clues" about how they "actually feel" if that kind of manipulation would be useful.

A bunch of clans don't care about that nonsense, though, and their ideal ladies will naturally be different.

Pic related is supposedly the ideal Rokugani woman. So all lady-like most of the time, but puts bitches to the sword when it is needed.

Read the Tsudao stories, and you will get the idea.

What edition is the book, and is it an adventure? I skipped out on 99% of adventures because I hate running things I didn't write.

dropbox.com/s/anew605iegxkeeg/Naishou Province.pdf?dl=0

Samurai are expected to be cool and restrained regardless of what may or may not be dangling between their legs.
Being boisterous and loud is seen as a "male" thing, but it's really more of a "I don't give a fuck and can get away with it" thing for peasants, very high ranking samurai who really don't give a fuck anymore, and Crabs.

>very high ranking samurai who really don't give a fuck anymore, and Crabs

...and Lion, Mantis, Unicorn, Isawa, Daidoji, Mirumoto, and Seppun. In fact, the "quiet ones" should be in minority all things considered.

You mean Matsu,Yoritomo, Moto, and a minority of Mirumoto.

Most Lion, Mantis, Unicorn, Phoenix, Crane, and all Imperials are not known for being boisterous and loud. Don't mistake restrained for antisocial. They all have appearances to keep up, and acting "proper" for their caste is a big part of that. If most samurai allowed themselves to regularly be loud and boisterous, geisha houses wouldn't be such a lucrative sector of the economy.

No, I know what I meant. Honorable mention goes for the Yogo (they are loud with angst, I dunno if that counts) and the Kakita (haughty =?= boisterous) or the Crane in general (I dunno if over-dramatic counts as loud).

>If most samurai allowed themselves to regularly be loud and boisterous, geisha houses wouldn't be such a lucrative sector of the economy.

Most samurai visit geisha because they want some calm and quiet, not because geisha houses do shouting competitions.

No, most samurai visit geisha houses because it lets them completely drop their facade of stoicism without any dishonor. They can talk freely and show emotion without looking like a fool as long as they do it with a geisha and not other samurai.

Nah, it isn't about stoicism, just escaping the 24/7 drama that is samurai life. Pretending that you are a special snowflake and doing all in your power to prove it all the time is quite exhausting, so it is natural that people drop by so they can be just random dudes with swords.

This is why the Crane form the overwhelming majority of the geisha house customer base: being a special snowflake is literally their Clan philosophy, so they are under even more pressure than normal.

Pretty much the same thing. Going to a geisha house lets you cut loose socially and just shoot the shit without worrying about whether the pretty girl you're talking to is going to blackmail you later because you said something wrong.
A samurai can be boisterous at a geisha house. The geisha "aren't people", so etiquette doesn't *really* apply when they're the only ones around.

>A samurai can be boisterous at a geisha house.

Technically, a samurai can be boisterous wherever he wants to be boisterous. It isn't even too risky because there are three families in the whole Empire who give a fuck (Doji, Bayushi, Otomo). The real problem is being good enough to win the drama competition and those three families being kinda relevant all the time.

Bump to stay order of sudoku

>Lion
Way of the Lion would be a good read. Lion women were stone cold killers, Matsu not included. (hot blooded killers)

It was an adventure for the fourth edition that was exclusively released at GenCon 2012.

Thank you.

I've been tempted to run something from the older editions but I haven't been able to find all of the materials for the first edition.

I have all but adventures really, if you want to hit me up somehow I can give you pdfs

mediafire.com/folder/c7tfqff9sqp71/L5R
mediafire.com/folder/xpa768hxwcezl/RPG#2nbbe1kyny4qo

/l5rg/ was on top of this shit before. Not that hard to dig into the archives for old OPs.

I'm about to play my first game of L5R. Anyone got advice?

And yes, I'm one of those guys who finally managed to escape 3.5/PF.

In your opinion, what would I need to run a comprehensive first edition campaign?

>comprehensive first edition campaign
What does that even mean?

Anyone have the pdf of Atlas of Rokugan? I literally just found out it even got one, I didn't expect jack from FFG till 2018 on the RPG front.

The atlas hard copy was released by AEG, but never released as a pdf. FFG are just following up, rather than releasing their own content.

So...copy? Anyone?

Guess not, mate.

Check the archives at 7chan, you may need to go back a while though.

Would I need anything more than the core rulebook?

Ah!
Get Roleplaying In The Emerald Empire and the "Way of [Clan]" books. (Crab, Crane, Dragon, Lion, Mantis, Phoenix, Scorpion, Unicorn ... but there's also Minor Clans, Naga, Ratling, Shinsei, Wolf/Ronin - and Shadowlands)

Bearers Of Jade (Second Book Of The Shadowlands, but keep it apocryphal or else you'll have issues), Silence Within Sound (if you like John Wick & Die Hard ... also errata, iirc), Otosan Uchi trilogy, City Of Lies (GM guide, Player guide, Location guide), and Winter Court trilogy are also useful.

The Way Of Shadow is a trio of adventures that tie together and can be strung into another campaign, not a genuine "Way Of" book.

I will go look for a trove containing these books. Thanks!

See , maybe.

Hoo boy.

So:
>Remember that you are samurai, not adventurers. You have duties and shit.
>Read the book of Earth in 4E Then, reread it again.
>Read your clan's way of/secrets; Though the mechanics aren't relevant to the newer editions, the fluff certainly is.
>If you're playing IRL, listen to the GM to get an idea for the level of sans/samas you'll need.
>Remember - it's like Japan, but it's not Japan.

drive.google.com/file/d/0B_YUlI4RPylqb1pOOTM0aE00QU0/view?usp=sharing

Definitely the Way of the Clans series. A lot of information is in those books that at later editions is pretty much the base.

To add to what said, don't forget that you're in the GM's interpretation of Rokugan, so if you disagree with him that's alright, but his interpretation will be right in his game. Some people forget that.

I need to get back into l5r at some point, never really got a chance to explore much of Kakita Saito's personality before the game withered up from player hemorrhaging.

You are a samurai of honor and refinement, user

How do scars affect perception of Samurai? Given how Rokugan views blood and stuff, woyld a samurai with ba ton our facial scars bee viewed as dirty or a badass warrior?

Like everything else it probably depends on the clan. I expect the Crab would look upon them more favourably than a Crane might.

Unless it is some really horrifying shit (like goes down to the skull/bone or is surrounded by disfigured/badly healed flesh), a scar is considered badass and totally honorrabru dispray.

I once played a Phoenix bushi who lost half his face to that kind of grotesque injury from a shugenja accident. He wore a Phantom of the Opera style half face mask and everyone assumed he was a Scorpion who married into the Phoenix unless he took it off.

Just realized I'm missing third edition's Emerald Empire, anyone have that? I didn't find it in the files people have linked.

Okay, it looks like our GM wants to run an Onyx Empire campaign. Any ideas for the setting? We want to avoid 1k Years of Darkness, but we are open to suggestions.

Also, I'm digging up my not-quite-Lost Battle Maiden Duelist Yomanri Archer for the campaign, my very first L5R character. Those are some good feels /l5rg/... good feels indeed!

Why not 1kYoD? It's better than the later timeline canon and doesn't have to use the "dream" framework.

Kanpeki with Big Dad Daigotsu would probably have a different plan than Fu "JUST" Leng. Especially considering the post-Fu Leng stuff like Shourido and all this Lord of Jigoku thingie going on (among others).

Oh, and speaking of which, we are going to be servants of the Onyx Throne, not Iweko loyalists.

Did 3e even have it? I have 4e and 1e, but no 2e or 3e.

Yep, I am looking at my hard copy. Catalog number is AEG 3204.

So, and I realize I may get righteously shit upon for this, I'm playing a Ronin because I figured that everyone else (Crane, Crab, Lion, Scorpion) would be butting heads and I figured being Peace-Keeper of the group would be wise.

Am I already fucking up?

Not if your GM is generous with letting you get techs and you can RP well with the fact you'll be forever in a lower social position (unless you get an Emerald Magistrate appointment) You'll still mechanically lag behind but better than no school all day erry day

It doesn't matter who you are, much like Veeky Forums someone will always shit on you. It's unavoidable.
That said, as a ronin, you aren't honor bound to agree or disagree with any sides of any squables. Pair that with the fact that as a group, the players should try to get along, and you should be fine.
Just make sure that your loyalty to the party leader (player or not) is unquestioned.

In setting, if you try anything a real samurai doesn't like, there's little to no repercussion for them killing you. If the local magistrates feel like you're lingering in town longer than they're happy with, they might even welcome it.

Even the attitude of the Dragon, who allowed a ronin town to be set up in their lands, is best summarised as, "I'll mourn the lot of a ronin when they're dead - not before."

So be prepared for a lot of samurai to not give a shit about who you are or what happens to you, if they know what you are before they know you.

What if, by tragic cock-up, I'm the party leader?

All the better, but unlikely to happen

. . . huh. I thought Ronin were still regarded with only a slightly lower level of respect as the rest of the Samurai caste. Guess they really were the first murder-hobos.

The problem is that my Ronin is a Paragon of Compassion, so I'm pretty sure I'm fucked if I see another Samurai beating a commoner, eh?

... I'm still higher than a peasant, right?

Yes. Though you may be far poorer, no samurai will deny you the inherent rights of your caste for fear it would call the entire celestial order into question.

But you have no lord, so you lack a lot of protections as well. If you gank Akodo Fuckwit, his lord Akodo Halfwit has been slighted as well as inconvenienced. If you gank a ronin, you're only in the wrong so far as the nearest Imperial Magistrate gives a shit.

Then the party listens to you. A Lion may take this as a slight, where a Crab may see this as a chance to serve someone who earned their title.

Individual ronin can be more highly regarded based on their actions, but the general opinion of them tends to be poor. Most think along the lines of "He probably deserved whatever made him Ronin", while many assume "bandit first, samurai second".

If the Lion is a bitch about it, remind him his clan is the only real meritocracy outside the Kaiu Wall. Either fall in line, soldier, or get off the ride.

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>Crane sluts are made for dishounoring

...

Nah bro, that's the Scorpion

Implying seduction is necessary.

I wonder if I could get the party's Crane maiden to dress up in that Scorpion outfit when she goes to visit her cousins at Kyuden Bayushi.

Masks aren't a Scorpion monopoly. Just wearing them at all times is where it gets weird

Probably.
If they're her cousins, then she obviously has Scorpion heritage. And while she might not always wear a mask, it is a tradition of her ancestors. Nothing wrong with dressing like a Scorpion when you're half-Scorpion and are in a Scorpion holding. Maybe wear all Crane colors with a prominent Crane mon though, just to keep things clear.

Or a Crane themed mask.

Yeah, that would work. You have to show that you're respecting the traditions of your bloodline, but also clearly have the most loyalty for your true Clan.

...

My favorite part is that Fu Leng is practically doing a Heisman pose

Double-sided tape.

I can't bring myself not to play anything but Monks and Ronin.

>...I'm still higher than a peasant, right?

Technically, you are on the same level as an ashigaru (peasant conscript) or a budoka (peasant warrior). While samurai will pretend that you are higher up because it is convenient as per , they will always have the option to fall back to technicalities if you misbehave (whatever it entails) or if they don't like your face.

Like, you can be lynched by a mob and nobody will give a flying shit. Another extreme situation is if you really piss off a samurai, he can demand (or force) you to drop your daisho and become the peasant you are.

>Another extreme situation is if you really piss off a samurai, he can demand (or force) you to drop your daisho and become the peasant you are.
No, they really can't. Ronin are samurai and absolutely nobody can change that. Even if the Emperor himself said "That guy is just a peasant", it would be interpreted along the lines of "That guy was *always* a peasant" rather than "That guy used to be a samurai, but is now a peasant".
Questioning the right of a samurai to be a samurai is unthinkable, because it calls into question the right of samurai children to inherit the caste from their parents, and the entire celestial order in general.

>"That guy was *always* a peasant"

Yeah, this is gonna be the thing if the situation arises. The other samurai will simply say that you are just an impostor. Since nobody can vouch for you and tell otherwise, the offender will be automatically right and you get fucked.

It is the negative of a peasant picking up a daisho and declaring himself a samurai/ronin, like Toku. Same shit, just in reverse.

That's a serious allegation that would require a lot of concerted effort from multiple high ranking samurai. If they're caught trying to de-samurai someone, that's literally blasphemous in the eyes of most samurai and their political enemies will tear them to fucking shreds. So yeah, they could try to do that, but the amount of effort and inherent risk would be too much. Better to just have a ronin you don't like killed or driven off.

You can vouch for yourself and then the burden of proof is on them. "I witnessed your parents fucking twenty whatever years ago and neither of them were samurai" is stretching it even for Rokugan's testimony only legal system.

And since most ronin are not born that way, there's also all of your ex-clan's records, the Ikoma records, and the Brotherhood of Shinsei's birth records.

>You can vouch for yourself and then the burden of proof is on them.

That's a ronin's word against a Clan samurai's word, so it is still game for the samurai. Unless the ronin carries his birth clarification papers around all the time, and said papers are 100% secured so that they won't be dismissed as forgery.

Just imagine the situation:
>Being an average dirt-poor ronin
>Samurai steps to you and tells you he knows you are a peasant impostor, so drop your daisho before he cuts your head off
>You say 'no' I guess? But he is a true samurai, and you are a dirty ronin, so he is still "righter" than you
>What do?

The only way this can end well for the ronin if said ronin is just a fake!ronin, so a real samurai on a warrior's pilgrimage or some other shit.

>What do?
Accuse him of blasphemy and then challenge him to a duel on the spot. If he backs off, call him a coward and leave the area. If he doesn't, cut him down.

I can't think of a single example of a ronin being demoted like that. Plenty of peasants getting their grubby hands on daisho and dying as ronin (Including some sample premade PCs in earlier editions), but nothing in the reverse.

>"I witnessed your parents fucking twenty whatever years ago and neither of them were samurai"
Seems like you're putting a wee bit too much thought into supporting testimony, when the setting itself ... doesn't.

If one makes a claim, then it stands as a samurai's word. Either another samurai contests the claim, which escalates into a duel, or a higher status samurai counters it simply by being more right.