okay so I'm just starting up learning how l5r works and i wanted an obsidian sword so that time spent in the shadowlands wouldn't melt my sword like jade would.
but I'm looking through the book and looking online, i can't seem to find anything that talks about how Crystal/Obsidian/Jade work in game? or how much one costs?
Is there another book? or is it all just fluff?
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>i wanted an obsidian sword so that time spent in the shadowlands wouldn't melt my sword like jade would.
Do you want insanity and taint? Because that's how you get insanity and taint.
id love insanity and taint, just point me to where it tells me how many seconds i have till i go murder the party in a blind rage over a cookie
of course I'm being whats the word, whatever. i don't really wanna go insane and tainted, i didnt know it tainted you, i knew it made you go a little bonkers after awhile.
First off, L5R isn't the kind of game where you can just get your hands on an obsidian or jade or crystal infused sword. Those things are rare. Really rare. and most of them are sitting in the armories of high ranking daimyo or Imperial scions. If you're going into the shadowlands, a finger of jade to protect yourself from the taint is all you need.
If you somehow got your hands on an obsidian sword, it would not protect you. Obsidian works exactly like jade in terms of *damage*, in that it bypasses supernatural reduction. But it does not protect you from the taint whatsoever, and it itself is prone to becoming tainted and then tainting you further. There is untainted obsidian that won't negatively affect you, but it's hard to tell the difference and it won't stay that way for long if you expose it to the taint.
Also, a finger of jade really is enough for most people going in there. It'll last a week before degrading and that's more time than a person could reasonably stay there anyway.
You can't sleep in the shadowlands, even if you find a safe place (Good fucking luck), fires barely burn at all, and there is absolutely nothing safe to salvage in terms of food or water and no way to purify the unsafe stuff that is available.
Unless you are part of a massive Crab push that can carry its own supplies, you can't carry enough potable water to stick around for long, even if you could protect it from the taint indefinitely.
A "typical" Jade weapon won't rot in the Shadowlands, part of the enchantment that locks it into steel prevents the rot.
Obsidian acts like a lightning rod, drawing the taint to you, so carrying an Obsidian weapon will get you the Taint quicker. Obsidian in general doesn't rot in the Shadowlands.
Crystal has no protective qualities against the Shadowlands Taint, but does provide protection from Lying Darkness if you are playing in an era where it still exists. It also doesn't rot in the Shadowlands.
Cost in koku for weapons made of the sacred substances doesn't exist as they are so rare as to be considered priceless. That is why you can only purchase them with exp, which represents it being tied to you in some way, like an inheritance.
As far as piercing defenses. Jade beats nearly everything. Obsidian penetrates most Shadowlands but is useless against the Lying Darkness. Crystal penetrates the Lying Darkness, messes with ghosts, but is spotty against the Shadowlands.
1e's Book of the Shadowlands, Bearers of Jade, and Way of the Shadow have the best info on all three.
Actually, a "typical" jade weapon either will rot as normal, or will rot very slowly, but won't protect their bearer (Such as the Inquisitor's Strikes made by the Phoenix). Jade weapons that don't rot at all and protect their bearer as normal jade are uniquely rare.
Your point about protection stands but the rest does not.
Inquisitor's Strikes specifically never rot (Complete Exotic Arms Guide pg 9-10 and has never been contradicted in newer sources), which are as close to a typical jade weapon as you can get. There are only four Jade Katana and since they still exist it is safe to say they don't rot. Chikara, the original Ancestral Sword of the Crab, was infused with jade and didn't rot and is the only one I am aware of that provides protection vs the taint as well, but it was an Ancestral Weapon so it is weird like that.
All that is left is mundane stuff like studding a tetsubo with jade, Jade Arrows, and dusting weapons with jade powder, all of which are unenchanted and as such their jade acts normally as protection and rotting.
>Inquisitor's Strikes specifically never rot (Complete Exotic Arms Guide pg 9-10 and has never been contradicted in newer sources)
Yes it has, and I'm going to trust 4th edition over anything from the d20 version.
It rots slowly, but it does rot.
And yeah, those jade katana are the ones I'm talking about when I say that a weapon that does both is uniquely rare.
And when I say "those" jade katanas, I'm talking about Chikara, Kakko-Fudo, and possibly Kishu and/or Hiko.
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I didn't see an L5R general so I guess this will do.
Never played the game before but it looks like I will be in a week or so. I intend to make a Matsu Berserker and would welcome any advice on how to optimize for maximum ass-whoopin.
In return, have a related picture
Normally for a bushi, Agility>Reflexes>Earth Ring>Void>Strength>Mental stats, but a Matsu berserker wants to be in Full Attack at all times, which means you want to get Perception to increase your Water ring. Consider getting it to 3 for increased speed and 10 more Insight.
Keeping dice is worth 2 to 3 times more than rolling dice, but don't neglect skill ranks. Try to be attacking with at least 6k3. Katanas and tetsubos are the best weapons, but anything that does at least Xk2 is viable, if not optimal.
Honor matters a lot to a Matsu both for roleplaying and for mechanics, so try to keep up with that.
Also, don't neglect Etiquette and an artsy skill or two. Poetry is pretty good for most characters. You can't smash everything you come across.
Kinda weird then that Matsu get +2 strength if it's worthless for fighting.
I was going to use a nodachi, whatever the giant sword is called.
Is there a desired spread so to speak for exp? Between stats and skills I mean.
Oh, it's not worthless, it's just at the bottom of the priority list.
Agility makes it way easier to hit most things you'd want to hit, Reflexes makes it way harder to be hit, Earth makes you less likely to die in 2 hits, and Void is good for everything, but Strength only really adds 1k0 to your already fairly good damage. A katana does 5k2 with 2 strength, so making it 6k2 isn't really worth as much as adding 5-6 to your attack roll average or improving your own Armor TN by 5. Having it at 4 already is fine, just try to avoid bringing it to 5 until you've covered the rest of your bases.
I usually try to get a couple skills to 3 and then bring up my stats to boost the Rings and get Insight, but it's up to you. Seriously start with Agility and Reflexes 3 though. Agility at the very least.
Noted! Thanks for the advice.
Are there any advantages/disadvantages that are really good or really bad to take mechanically?
Crab Hands is pretty good for all bushi, since you can fight with any weapon you happen to have
Large would help you really maximize damage, but is a bit pricey
Leadership is neat, but helps your allies and not you. Cheaper for a Lion.
Sacred Weapon is particularly good for a Matsu, because it counts your Honor as 1 higher while carried, which improves all of your honor keyed Techniques in the long run
Strength of the Earth is really good
Virtuous is good for the same reason
Brash can be pretty bad depending on GM, but it's worth more to a Lion
Low Pain Threshold is pretty bad
Momoku is really bad
Permanent Wound is really, really bad, since that's your Healthy tier filled up permanently
Touched by the Void is really, really bad if dev posts are taken as errata and applied, because it stuns you *before* you get any benefit, which seriously fucks you.
Be aware that being the most honorabru person in the room is often very difficult to maintain, so be careful about how much you invest in having top honor.
Virtuous is good for the same reason as Sacred Weapon, is what I meant to say.
You want your Kenjutsu skill at 3 to start off, and then at 7 as soon as you can without skimping on Earth ring, Agility, etc.
>A katana does 5k2 with 2 strength, so making it 6k2 isn't really worth as much
Rolling more damage dice means more chances for dice to explode. It also means that if you can possibly get past ten rolled, you can start bumping up your kept dice - which is either 'go large or go home' kind of proposition. Matsu/MatsuB start off with 4 Strength.
I was already looking at Strength of Earth, and probably Wary too, Sacred Weapon looked cool as well.
Any auto-include skills? I was going to take defense and the dueling skill as my two free ones.
Etiquette, unless you are going out of your way to play a rude bumpkin. Since this is your first character, I wouldn't recommend it.
Defense is good for if you get the shit kicked out of you and have friends who can help you out. Iaijutsu is also good, since carrying a katana (And you will be carrying a katana, even if you use a no-dachi) implies being able to use it.
>probably Wary too
This is better if your GM is inclined to look at your (dis)advantages and riff, rather than just stick purely to RAW. You'll be raising your Water ring anyway, which means you'll already be good in that area.
Great Destiny and Luck are generally really good choices, though.
>I was going to take defense and the dueling skill as my two free ones.
I'd recommend Athletics as your default 'physical stuff + throwing' skill. Defence and Iaijutsu not so much if you're staying in character for a Matsu - the former is for cowards, the latter for cowards who hide behind the Kakita mon.
Also worth noting that your school skills don't matter so much to Matsu bushi, unless you take Prodigy.
Hey now, the Lion have duelists too. It's honorabru, therefore they participate just as much as everyone else.
>Hey now, the Lion have duelists too
Of course the Lion do. The Matsu just happen to have a fuckhuge feud with the Kakita, and it's not as common for them to pansy up and agree to do things the Crane way.
Which reminds me;
>(And you will be carrying a katana, even if you use a no-dachi)
I love the Ichiro. Totally giving no fucks about insults, duels, carrying a katana, etc - right up to the point where they go for the duellist's jugular.
Dou you want to play a Matsu for some particular reason other than BERSERKER FUCK YEAH?
So we'll go Strength of Earth, Virtuous, Great Destiny for Advantages
Disadvantages will be Lost Love, Bad Fortune, Sworn Enemy and Overconfident.
The rest I can dump into stats and rings?
So, Athletics and Iaijatsu for free. Etiquette at at least 1, Kenjitsu up to 3. Anything else?
Nope, pretty much want to be the slightly crazy always-ready-to-fight character
Some kind of art so you don't look like a tool in formal settings. There's a minor recurring theme of Matsu who practice Ikebana, but you could also do poetry or acting or play an instrument or something like that.
Other than that, Hunting, Lore: Lion Clan, Meditation or Tea Ceremony, and Investigation are worth considering, and then it's basically whatever you think would be good for the character.
Try Himura family Crab bushi R1 -> Crab Berserker R2. They start sturdier and with less excessive strength and don't depend on high Honor.
These are good picks. Here are a few I've seen that tend to get tons of use.
Athletics - Running, Swimming, Climbing, and with mastery the ability to ignore some difficult terrain.
Investigation - Noticing stuff is pretty good.
Kyujutsu - The best ranged skill
Etiquette - The Social Defense skill. Every character should have it.
Meditation or Tea Ceremony - Void Recovery is very nice to have.
An Artistic Skill - Samurai should be masters of the pen and sword. And it gives your character something to do in their off time.
>Some kind of art so you don't look like a tool in formal settings
Kemari is a good compromise.
>An Artistic Skill - Samurai should be masters of the pen and sword. And it gives your character something to do in their off time.
Tea Ceremony falls under this as something cultured to attempt to master.
Other skills;
Hunting - survival knowledge and sport for more martially minded samurai, this combines well with Kyujutsu.
Perform - drums are a good Lion choice.
Lore: Bushido & Lore: Heraldry - depending on the GM, these can be as important as etiquette.
>Try Himura family Crab bushi R1
Himura family but Hida school. It's been a while.
Go or Shogi would work as well as they are connected to battlefield strategy.
True, but I think people are conflating Akodo Lion with Matsu Lion.
Stereotypes don't have to be universal. There's no reason a Matsu couldn't pick up stuff from the Akodo or Ikoma.
Quite a few Matsu are tacticians as well though. Sometimes it is good to play a little against type.
Stereotypes aren't universal, but we are talking about a setting where what you're going to be is largely determined by your family at age 7, altered somewhat by who you're betrothed to (also likely to happen at a young age), and what clout your family brings to place you in more prestigious positions.
It's ok to not play against type, and even revel in sticking to type. Rokugani samurai not only prefer it, they respect it.
Samurai are supposed to be well rounded, and battlefield strategy is something literally every Lion understands at least a bit. A Lion who plays Go is playing to clan type, if not family type. Your average Matsu berserker still has at least 1 rank in the Battle skill.
The ideal of a samurai is well rounded and pure of honour.
>battlefield strategy is something literally every Lion understands at least a bit
Yes, Battle skill, as you said.
>A true Matsu has no fear of death, and as such the Techniques imparted by their sensei embrace absolute, unwavering commitment to battle. Although this leaves the Matsu vulnerable to an opponent’s attacks, the philosophy behind the Techniques is that an opponent who has been defeated has no opportunity to retaliate. It is for this reason that the legions of the Matsu family are so feared on the battlefield: how can one defeat an enemy who does not care if he lives or dies, so long as you are defeated first?
>The Matsu would never deny the effectiveness of Akodo generals, but the Akodo way is so concerned with exactness and perfection that oftentimes the Matsu bristle and rage, demanding a simple charge in place of elaborate maneuvers. Matsu herself often bristled at Akodo One-Eye’s methods even as she followed him unswervingly, and this same mixture of rivalry and admiration is played out a thousand times in every modern Lion army.
Et cetera.
>The combination of this philosophy with rigid traditionalism makes the Matsu a rather touchy family. They are passionate about everything, hurling themselves into battle or court debate with equal ferocity. A Matsu never walks tentatively into any venture, no matter how long the odds, instead plunging in headlong with teeth bared and swords drawn—or ink-brush in hand, as the case may be. They do nothing lightly or casually or quietly.
Like I said before, there's a minor running theme of Matsu practicing Ikebana. Literally arranging flowers. One playing Go to get a better understanding of their core duty is not a stretch, nor is it playing against type.
>One playing Go to get a better understanding of their core duty is not a stretch, nor is it playing against type.
It's not much of a stretch, but the exacting and precise Matsu with a focus on tactics is twisting their type towards Akodo.
Not really. The Akodo don't have a monopoly on tactical acumen, even within the Lion Clan. There are Matsu and Ikoma generals and officers at all levels. Whenever a Matsu or Ikoma Lord decide they want to have a shitty slapfight war with a neighbor, they don't go running to the Akodo to lead it for them.
Not really. The Matsu even had a boxable Tactician in the Lotus era.
> the Matsu bristle and rage, demanding a simple charge in place of elaborate maneuvers
Yeah, really. I didn't say they have a monopoly, so pull your head back from trying to paint what I've said as working with absolutes.
A keen mind, but still the guy to whom charging forward to fuck shit up is the mainstay of tactics. That's standard Matsu. All perception and strength, no subtle maneuvering.
There's a difference between having simple tactics and being a complete idiot. The Matsu do not reject Akodo's teachings and they don't reject tactical positions. Playing Go is not an Akodo thing. A Matsu who plays Go is not a wannabe Akodo.
Being uncomplicated and perceptive of what your opponent is attempting, then foiling it with direct attacks is not being a complete idiot, nor is it being particularly tactical.
It's also not the only thing a Matsu is capable of doing.
It is the standard thing they will do.
But it's not the only thing they will do. They are completely capable of doing other things.
They regularly will not consider the other things, in favour of their favourite thing.
Here's a permanent link to the new Discord:
Features a bot,
Looking for group section,
Lots of resources,
And morrreeee!
Just remember that LION STRONGK
LION PRIDE
WORLD WIDE
>the Lion have duelists too
Yes, they're called 'generals'
Lions duel with armies.
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They also accept duels before battle starts, but you're right.
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>Kakita beat by a morimoto
PftHahaha
OP here, id like to bump this again. I've been helped a little, but its seems this is more like l5r general now so here ya go.
I'm running a Hiruma Bushi as a not!Ranger driven to defeat the shadowlands. What should my skill/stat focuses be? It seems like the stuff I need is all over the damn place.
Stealth, Hunting, Lore: Shadowlands, Kyujutsu, Heavy Weapons, Kenjutsu. Agility, Reflexes, Perception, Earth Ring.
That is almost everything, I'd add Investigation, Athletics, and maybe Horsemanship as well.
Investigation and Athletics sure, but Horsemanship is pretty worthless for a Crab. Horses get tainted just as much as anything else and they tend to not tell you about it until they've grown fangs on the back of their neck and are trying to bite your hands off.
The Moto can tell you how much of a bad idea taking a fucking horse into the Shadowlands is.
this is what I figured, and what I actually have (sans heavy weapons). I'm sitting on:
EARTH
Stamina: 2
Willpower: 3
AIR
Reflexes: 3
Awarness: 2
WATER
Strength: 2
Perception: 2
FIRE
Agility: 3
Intelligence: 2
and:
Athletics: 3
Hunting: 2
Kenjutsu: 3 (Katana)
Kyujutsu: 2
Lore - Shadowlands: 2
Stealth: 3 (sneak)
Investigation: 3
I need to know what to increase first. I feel like bumping earth ring to 3 should be my first stop, followed by Fire and Air, and THEN increase skills. But thats like a 36 EXP investment right there.
Definitely get Earth 3 first.
If the game this character is for is not exclusively a shadowlands excursion sort of game, I'd suggest dropping Investigation by one or two points and using the XP to get some more basic skills like etiquette.
>etiquette
He's Anti-social, Aesthetic, and Driven. He's pretty much reliant on the group courtier for anything diplomacy wise. Which is fine, because he seldom communicates in anything other than grunts and two-to-three word sentences.
I guess you could say he's real crabby
tfw no lion gf
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Anyone have a general link (i.e. Mega) to book pdfs for download?
Fasetious.
Otherwise known as a dumbass, dipshit, dumbfuck, retard, or idiot. Just to name a few.
Decided to help you out since thesaurus.com didn't have anything on the word. Not that you have the intelligence to look, as see by the post...
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Is this unacceptable art for a character? I feel like Rokugan has had paler characters in official art, and I fluffed it as explaining his pallid completion coming from exposure to the Shadowlands. As for his hair, well, plenty of people in Rokugan have or dye their hair white for no reason.
This time with the actual fucking picture
If you're going to troll, can you do it with some finesse?
Okay, Veeky Forums. What would you consider Shiatzu? Artisan? Or Perform?
>Shiatsu is a form of Japanese bodywork based on the theoretical framework of traditional Chinese medicine.
Medicine.
>troll
I forgot to post the image I know who you are.
She didn't tell you to stop, you should have kept pumping
>I forgot to post the image
That would be relevant if I replied before you posted the image.
And you posted like an hour and half after he posted the image. Methinks it is you who are the troll.
Here's a permanent link to the new Discord:
Features a bot,
Looking for group section,
Lots of resources,
And morrreeee!
>L5R
>thinking you're allowed to have anything cool, at all, ever
>Laughing_John_Wick.jpg.gif.7z.bat
>You can't sleep in the shadowlands, even if you find a safe place (Good fucking luck), fires barely burn at all, and there is absolutely nothing safe to salvage in terms of food or water and no way to purify the unsafe stuff that is available.
I mean you say that, but the Crab have set up permanent facilities in the shadowlands.
Because they're the crab and fuck you and your shit.
Shinsei's Last Hope and various nezumi dens are explicitly non-tainted areas. The Hiruma lands had to be burned to a crisp to get rid of the taint and don't have any kami or kansen at all.
The shadowlands proper is not a place an individual or small group of individuals can stay in for long.
It's a square pic you're trying to fit into a round game, while saying stuff like "plenty of people dye their hair white for no reason".
So you're either trying to find a pic that doesn't fits, or you're too lazy to type "l5r art" into a search engine and pull out something that fits. At the same time, you're showing off how you're too lazy to actually learn the setting.
Deflecting won't change that.
Does anyone have a high res or uncompressed version of the Atlas of Rokugan?
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oh look, a faggot
any old fags or L5R loremasters here?
i have a pressing question:
WHERE the fuck did Cris Dornaus go?
she was a cool artist, not the best, but i liked her style.
she did get overworked by AEG.
just asking.....
I found this abandoned website, last updated in 2001...
She's my favorite L5R artist too.
Samurai are pale because tans are for peasants.
Those few who dye hair white tend to have a specific reason to do so.
If you've spent enough time in the Shadowlands for it to impact your appearance you're probably also Tainted.
she goes by Christina McAllister
she does modern gypsy stuff and coloring books....
she probably smokes more pot than all of /mu/
The best