/l5rg/ Legend of the Five Rings General

Easy. With the initiative bonuses, the Scorpion is probably going first. Going first means you get to be a stance dancer. Be in full defense every time your opponent could possibly be attacking you, be in Full Attack and feint every time you swing because it only requires a single raise.

Don't you have to pick a stance at the start of your turn? So you'd at best be able to alternate full defense and full attack.

Yes, but you can also delay your turn and keep your original initiative on the next turn.
So it goes something like this
TURN 1: Full Defense or Defense (So you can activate kata) or Center (If that helps you
TURN 2: Delay until after your opponent(s), then at the start of your turn, switch to Full Attack and swing. You were in Full Defense during their turns.
TURN 3: switch to Full Defense and don't delay your turn. You go first, they attack you while you're in Full Defense.
TURN 4: See Turn 2
TURN 5: See turn 3

Of course, the counter to this is for everyone else to also delay their turns. It makes it so that the only person who actually gets to act is the person who is dead last in initiative, and then the next round starts.

And the counter-counter is to have a slow as fuck (Remember, you can always choose which dice you keep. Keep 1s and 2s on your initiative roll if you want to go dead last) teammate who doesn't delay, so the stance dancer has a solid base to land on as they plummet down through the initiative count.

Interesting.

That doesn't seem like a viable counter to a Berserker's damage potential though.

And then you end up in a retard mind game slap fight as the stance dance-slowbie team try to make the enemy team make the wrong choice on their final chance to delay or take action.
If they all delay again, the slowest character can also delay and be the sole actor. If they all choose to interject at the last turn, but the dancer delays, the dancer gets to dance down the list as intended.
You end up with this stupid poker face fantasy samurai combat where nobody wants to attack first.

If they can't hit, they can't damage. Someone who actually has the Defense skill can be really hard to hit in Full Defense. 6k3 will average an extra 13 onto their Armor TN, and it only goes up from there as they get more skilled and get better Reflexes (Which also add a flat 5 at all times).

So I've played about 20 sessions and read the entire core book. I'm thinking of running a game but I'd like to read more. Where can I find more material to read for GMs?

>Do you take inspiration from Akira Kurosawa or other Jidaigeki movies?
Yes. Rashomon and Seven Samurai are obviously great inspiration. I'm not familiar with other movies though.

>Have you included any famous movie samurai into any of your games?
I will probably include characters based on real samurai.

>Do you consider The Last Samurai by Tom Cruise the shittiest Samurai movie?
It was really bad but I'm sure there are worse films.

Assuming 4th edition, Emerald Empire, the Book of [Element] series, Great Clans, Secrets of the Empire, Enemies of the Empire, and Imperial Archives are good general resources, and I recommend reading them in that order.
Imperial Histories 1 & 2 are good for looking deeper into different parts of the timeline, along with some alternate histories and the Atlas of Rokugan is good for looking at different specific places.
The Way of [Clan/faction] series from 1st edition are also good for fluff.

mediafire.com/folder/c7tfqff9sqp71/L5R

Because until Gen Con there isn't a lot to talk about. Until we know what FFG is going to do L5R is in a Holding Pattern.

How to run COMFY L5R?

>how to run [MEME] L5R?
Start by describing [MEME].

Here's a permanent link to the new Discord:

discord.gg/nvVX9Wb

Features a bot,
Looking for group section,
Lots of resources,
And morrreeee!

Playing a Mirumoto Bushi, 1st Edition. How do I maximum Dragon, boys? Stats below.

2 Air, Reflexes 3.
2 Earth, Stamina 3.
3 Fire.
2 Water.
2 Void.

3 Kenjutsu, 3 Defense, 3 Meditation, 3 Lore (Shugenja), 3 Athletics, 2 Iaijutsu, 2 Lore (Bushido), 2 Poetry, 1 Archery, 1 Etiquette, 1 Investigation, 1 Calligraphy.

Strong start, bump up earth to 3 next chance for wounds

Anything past that? I'm trying to fit the Mirumoto "ascetic warrior" schtick, since that's fun and different from the Hida bushi I'd played before.

Also trying to be mechanically good, since roleplay can be backed up by good rolls.

>1 Investigation
Take Nazodo instead.

>This is a special version of the Investigation skill, available only to Dragon characters. This skill operates exactly as the Investigation skill, but characters with Nazodo can also use this skill to solve puzzles, riddles, and logic games. Nazodo is also effective when attempting to understand omens, portents, and other natural conundrums. This is a high skill.

Just like real samurai combat

Agility, Reflexes, Earth, Void. If you're set on being ascetic, then you don't need intelligence, as much as spirituality. Ditto for duelling, skirmish, etc.

Archery, Defense, Kenjutsu, Meditation, Shugenja Lore, and any 1 skill are your school skills. Shintao is your goto religion skill. It's also required for traits beyond 5. Etiquette is necessary. Calligraphy I would take an interest in during the game, then learn it.

Mirumoto ancestor allows you to use your second rank technique straight away, (which means a second attack straight away) for the cost of 15xp.

Don't have Mirumoto as my ancestor, and we've already started.

Any numbers I should shoot for with Agility and Reflexes? Any rings I should get above 3?

Depends on your GM, your group, and what they're rolling.

>Don't have Mirumoto as my ancestor, and we've already started.
Then get to being pious.

Why do you give such vague advice user-sempai.

Because

You are truly a Dragon.

I understand what I must do.

lynks.se/probability/
Start here and consider what TNs you want to beat.

Your GM will likely adjust their campaign to challenge the PCs, so what you "need" is relative to what the GM decides and where the group average is. This is why standard suggestion is not to go too high, lest you be smote by the GM, or a monster meant for you goes for someone else and annihilates them.

Can someone give me a quick summary of what happened to the clans after the last Toturi Emperor died, i mean both internally and interact with the rest of the empire?

I'm thinking of making a Unicorn bushi but i forgot if it's possible to make such a character that is decent off a horse and capable to stand up to bushis of other clans.
What is your favorite clan? I like every clans for different reasons but i admit i have a preference to the Unicorn despite not being able to say why

Moto Vindicator or Moto Bushi are the first options that spring to mind.

>favourite clan
Dragon since day 1.

I like the Crab, mainly because they're fairly straightforward in their goals and they have a cool design. Second favorite is the Dragon, because enigmatic monks and samurai are always fun. Third favorite is probably Unicorn.

Least favorite is probably Otomo, because they're assholes. Least Scorpion have a reason and don't hide behind "we're Imperials!"

Probably it's secretely Lion because I like alpha honoraburu samurai. But I've never tried one because everyone in my table seems to dislike them GM included. Also the blond hair thing is extremely dumb.

The Otomo have a duty. Prevent the great clans from uniting against the Throne.

Have you tried playing a Toku instead?

Aren't those cheerful monkeys and shit? That's like the opposite of what I want.

Funny, that's not how I think of them, but apparently it's the fact of it.

Is Nazodo still a thing in 4e?

>decent off a horse and capable to stand up to bushis of other clans.

Utaku mounted infantry

Nope.

4e unified the skill list. No more clan specific skill variants.