I'm about to start a legend of the five rings game at school and I'm having trouble coming up with a character i like, not stat wise but character wise.
i began working on the backstory and motive but i kept hitting dead ends or what seemed like bland and edgy characters being macho for macho sake.
is there anything that i can look at to help me out? a book on maybe creating better characters?
or at the very least point me to some well done characters/samurai that i can look at?
to clarify, I'm not looking to create something better in terms of stats I'm just looking to create a better thing to role play.
but if it helps I'm a crab clan shugenja kuni
You'd probably have better luck in the general, buddy.
Answer the 20 questions followed by the extended 20? Yeah, people aren't a fan of that one. Other than that, and I've been using this one a lot because the characters just write themselves, use the heritage tables. Depending on edition, they're really good or really okay. I've found 1e to have the best tables, which you could always roll on for inspiration.
I like using the 20 questions. Even if you just keep it entirely to yourself, it can be good for informing roleplaying decisions.
Also, advice that I've always found good is to start by making your character's parents (And in L5R's case, their sensei). The adults around a character as they're growing up should have a pretty big impact on the character itself.
I'll be damned, never met someone who also liked the 20Q's. Most people argue that they're restrictive but they're really just a starting point for characters to progress and evolve from, perhaps just what the character thinks of themself.
He asked me, "You ever fight with knives?"
I shook my head; either I had my swords or I was in the home of someone who held them for me.
"It's not like Kenjutsu. It's messy. The knife stabs you, but the other hand drags you onto the blade. The feet kick your legs to hold you still. When everything happens quickly you'll get cut and you'll get scars. You can wear them here, on muscle and bone," he said, laying his fingers across the outside of my wirst, "Or you can wear them here," he laid his fingers along the inside of my wrist now. I knew a man who had been cut there. He can no longer close his hand.
"A Crab wears his scars on the outside."
I understood more than he knew; they must be strong for those who need them.
huh, I'm sorry i didnt notice, theres almost never an l5r general up when i needed help reading the book
There's almost never a general up at all, and most of the time that there is they're debating something stupid.
self bump
I never found answering the 20 questions as helpful for getting into character as Unexpected Allies. (first, not second)
I actually hadn't looked through that because I knew it was a lot of premade characters (and I didn't really like the 2nd book too much). I'm gonna have to read this now.
Much thank
My advice would be to talk to the GM and talk to other players. A boring concept (Say, a generic Shiba Bushi bodyguard) becomes a lot more interesting if they've got a kharmic tie with the shugenja they're assigned to guard, but the shugenja is married to an abusive control-freak. Suddenly you've got plenty of potential for drama as the two characters try to reconcile their feelings for each other with the weight of their duties.
...That's just an example, of course, but the gist of it is that no character should be made in a vacuum. You should try to have a connection with another PC (or two) and have your GM encourage everyone to do so. The game practically runs itself after you get the ball rolling on inter-party drama.
I don't know how they messed up the second book by such a large margin ... the characters in it just felt dry by comparison.
aww man i wish, but the GM is pretty shit, I'm not going to get into that. its just safe to say keeping the GM out of my backstory is the best idea if i don't want to end up a sex slave or raped or have furries for parents.
but ill look into tying some of the other backstories, thanks
I don't tend to enjoy using premade characters so I don't give reading them much thought other than examples. Creation tips however, I am all over.
/shrug
I don't use them verbatim, so if you can't look at a character writeup and see ideas, then YMMV.
I'm writing a backstory for a character myself and was wondering if it's possible for someone to forsake allegiance to their family at a young age, and swear to another (in their own clan)?
In this case someone who had no magical aptitude leaving a family of Shugenja.
No.
If you don't have any magical aptitude, you'll be enrolled in a different school in your clan (Which costs nothing, mechanically). Your family allegiance doesn't change unless you become a ronin or get married off.
Nah, shugenja families test 'em young. They'd know you're not a shugenja by the time you're 3 or 4, and get you into one of the clan's non-shugenja schools.
Fluffwise, you're still a member of the shugenja family, but probably end up assigned as a temple guard or yojimbo for one of your more magically talented peers. Or you would if PC shenangians don't happen.
>Fluffwise, you're still a member of the shugenja family, but probably end up assigned as a temple guard or yojimbo for one of your more magically talented peers
Or you just end up doing something completely unrelated to shugenja. Families are large, the number of shugenja in even high shugenja incidence families is small, and they still need samurai to do normal samurai things.
Well, in this case it'd be because he hates his family, and they hate him for not being able to speak with the kami like he 'should' be able to.
I'm aware of how things usually are when it comes to L5R characters, but was wondering if anything like this is possible.
A lot of those roles are filled by members of the clan's other families. Leave border duty and patrols to the dedicated soldiers, fill as many of the most sensitive and important roles with your own people whenever possible. Courtier families do the same thing. For example, most of the guards for the Yasuki's jade mines are themselves Yasuki trained in the Hida school.
That would probably be represented by requesting posts away from your Family and just not interacting with them when possible. Take Black Sheep to represent it mechanically. Your parents hate you for being born "wrong" (Even though it's pretty common), you hate the Family for being a bunch of pricks, the rest of the Family hate you for fucking off.
>A lot of those roles are filled by members of the clan's other families
Yes, *within those families*. Each family has their own holdings and provinces within the clan, and has to be able to tend to all their duties without entirely relying on other families. Exceptions exist, but they prove the rule rather than deny it.
>most of the guards for the Yasuki's jade mines are themselves Yasuki trained in the Hida school.
>The Yasuki protect their mines with Hida-trained Yasuki bushi!
Yeah, guy. That's not contradicting saying non-shugenja within a shugenja family fill family-internal roles that aren't shugenja related.
Exceptions are the norm. The Crab-Crane border is guarded almost exclusively by Daidoji and Hida, even though neither family directly controls land on either side (The Asahina and Yasuki do). The Matsu make up most of the Lion's military with the Akodo filling most of the rest. The Shiba handle almost all military matters for the entirety of the Phoenix Clan, and the Mirumoto handle all normal samurai matters for both themselves and the Togashi, up to and including actual rule of the clan.
Every family is large and could mostly be autonomous (Although many would have to change overnight if they were ever cut loose), but they all have centuries upon centuries of interdependence with the other families in their clan that makes them rely on each other to fill roles. Shugenja families do not guard their own borders. They don't patrol their own lands. The Clan's overarching military does, and that's usually filled with people from the other families.
Such as what? Government is usually handled by whoever has the rank, which is usually shugenja. The family daimyo is usually a shugenja. Most governors and internal court goers are shugenja. Their most important holdings that aren't handled by the Clan military are shugenja temples.
Just read more samurai stuff and watch more movies. Last time we played I basically made my character a non rabbit version of Miyamoto Usagi.
To my surprise our DM also read it and boy did he manage to deliver on some comic accurate heartbreak and suffering for me to go through.
Were you actually playing as an Usagi?
It's what gave me the idea. Buddy was explaining all that shit to me and as soon as I heard that name I though, Yeah this happening.
The Crab clan as a whole is a poor choice for talking about Rokugan in generalities, because they're so far removed from Rokugani standards. This makes using them as an example pretty poor form unless you want to get your Crabby smug on.
Ditto clan border military patrols when the topic is family-internal duties.
I mentioned more clans than just the Crab.
But go ahead and give some examples of internal duties that don't involve shugenja. Anything to do with a shugenja family court is going to have shugenja, because their ranking members are mostly shugenja. Their most important holdings are going to be shugenja related temples and shrines. Their military matters are not handled internally. Their diplomatic matters are usually handled by the same ranking shugenja who attend their internal courts.
Commonly? Anything to do with family-internal commerce & merchant patronage, most courtly duties, the majority of military duties in most clans, etc.
>Since shugenja are supposed to be primarily stewards of the Empire’s religious needs, it is often seen as somewhat inappropriate for them to involve themselves in things like commerce, politics, or courtly romance.
>Shugenja are expected to spend a signifcant amount of time each day in prayer, spiritual contemplation, and meditation. Even the most “practical” shugenja such as the Kuni, Soshi, and Yoritomo spend a great deal of time with such activities.
Shugenja aren't just samurai that can cast spells. They're the main (usually sole) way for samurai to how to entreat and properly observe the wishes of unseen realms, unheard spirits, and unlearnt prophecies. They prevent and ameliorate issues that would otherwise arise between mundane samurai and the multitudinous and mostly quiescent spiritual entities they live alongside.
>Shugenja stand apart from all others in the way they interact with Rokugan’s spiritual world and religious beliefs. Where monks are solitary and pursue a personal understanding of the supernatural world, a shugenja is part of the samurai caste, living and serving alongside other samurai. Moreover, because they can hear and speak the language of the kami, shugenja are uniquely aware of the spiritual worlds at all times. They pray not only to Fortunes and ancestors but also directly to the little spirits of the world, beseeching their aid. Shugenja understand events and problems which lie far beyond the scope and perceptions of the average mortal, and interpret these events for the rest of the Empire. They perceive the will of creatures the average mortal does not even know exists. They speak to the dead, to gods, to the souls of every living and non-living thing. And they are never, ever alone.
>When it comes to the Spirit Realms and the afterlife, shugenja alone serve as the conduits through which the supernatural is understood and properly venerated in the mortal world. Shugenja are unique in their ability to channel the forces of the Celestial Wheel. All of this is barely even understood by the rest of the Empire; indeed, many ordinary Rokugani do not truly understand that these other realms even exist.
>All supernatural beings – the little kami, the denizens of the Spirit Realms, the ancestors and Fortunes – have their own agendas. They desire for their will to be comprehended and followed. Their wishes may be selfsh or dangerous, [b]ut regardless of whether their goals are beneficent or hostile, whether their purposes are minor or tremendously important, they can only be truly understood by shugenja. Shugenja are the arbiters, the mediators between all the worlds and spiritual realms.
Yes, which is why those activities are usually covered by other families. External court duties, sure, but even then shugenja are not particularly rare in courts. Internal court duty is going to have a lot of shugenja around. Military is handled by other families. Merchant patronage, maybe, but on the family scale, they really don't need that many and likely wouldn't trust a fresh face to run something that important and on the individual scale, it's handled by whichever spouse runs their household, rather than some third party member of the Family.
If you head into Asako lands, then Shinden Asako is not going to be guarded solely by Shiba-named bushi, and certainly not by Asako shugenja. There will be Asako-named bushi in majority.
Ditto the family-internal bureaucratic duties of the other families will be performed mainly by courtiers of that family, even if they are trained in the Asako loremaster school or even Shiba bushi.
And neither of those would get you away from the shugenja who are the most prominent members of the shugenja families that are more and more densely packed the deeper you get into their family lands. Shinden Asako is going to have a LOT of Asako trained in their own schools in and around it. An Isawa living in Isawa lands and serving anywhere around Kyuden Isawa is not going to reasonably be able to avoid shugenja. If he's a guard, he's going to be watching shugenja come in and out and escorting shugenja here and there. If he's a courtier, he's going to interact with court shugenja and possibly the Family Daimyo (Who is a shugenja). Avoiding shugenja while working in the lands most likely to have shugenja isn't possible.
Leaving your Clan officially is out unless you're married off to another Clan. There IS, however, a way to get the same effect while also ensuring plenty of conflicting loyalties with excelent Drama hooks.
The Disadvantage Hostage, combined with the Different School advantage.
Example Backstory: Isawa Sanchu was overlooked by the Kami. They just weren't interested in the poor boy, to the shame and disappointment of his parents. After a Summer War with the Mantis Sanchu's father volunteered his otherwise useless son to become the hostage exchanged with the peace treaty. At the age of 8 Snachu began living and training with the Yoritomo. At first he was scared, but then as he slowley earned the respect of his fellow students and the occasional word of praise from his Sensei, he became resentfull of the casual way his father discarded him. By the time of his Gempuku Isawa Arata was a Mantis in all but name.
>And neither of those would get you away from the shugenja who are the most prominent members of the shugenja families that are more and more densely packed the deeper you get into their family lands
Doesn't matter about the positions held if duties against are not performed by the shugenja holding the position. Shugenja are less likely to hold those positions, and non-shugenja are more likely to be be prominent in worldly duties.
>Avoiding shugenja while working in the lands most likely to have shugenja isn't possible.
... this just leaves me thinking you're off arguing against some kind of non-point I'm not discussing with only tangential relevance.
We're talking about internal family positions in shugenja families that are not related to shugenja at all. I'm saying they are not common at all and in some cases don't exist. Most of the family's shugenja participate in those duties, the duties are not handled internally at all, or shugenja are involved by coincidence because they're not rare in their own lands.
That comes with the problem that you'll be killed in the event of hostilities between the clans. Depending on the GM, that might just be free points or a guaranteed death or banishment.
You could also just take Different School by itself and be an exchange student. Still would have been with the Yoritomo since the age of 8, but there'd be less Damocles dangling over your head.
Whereas I've already pointed out that shugenja commonly don't fill worldly positions, and that shugenja have their own unique duties that are extensive and unable to be performed by any non-shugenja.
The only thing I haven't quoted is the relatively low incidence of shugenja within Rokugan, but even the Isawa do not consist of majority shugenja, and those mundane samurai *will* have duties within and relevant to their family to perform.
There will be many sensitive or traditional duties that are relevant or important to each family that outsiders (yes, even within the clan) will not be able to perform properly or will require information that the family would prefer not to share.
Those duties will not be filled from other families. In shugenja families, when they are not traditionally shugenja roles involve worldly concerns, incomplete reverence for spiritual matters or purity, or otherwise could impair shugenja functioning in their main duties, they will be filled by non-shugenja.
>Bushido is realized in the presence of death.
>This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death.
>There is no other reasoning.
When crafting stories about samurai the possibility of death isn't always a negative.
Non-shugenja who can't avoid interacting with the shugenja who are still probably directly involved. There is no vacuum where the shugenja do not exist in their own family's affairs.
The family's high level merchant patrons still report to their lords (Who are shugenja). The guards guard shugenja and shugenja temples. The courtiers interact with shugenja who are either raising issues or equally act as courtiers. The hereditary lord positions are filled by bloodlines that are mostly shugenja. The highest authority in the family is almost always a shugenja.
Abuse of the rules generally is a negative though, and Hostage is unfortunately one of those disadvantages that can easily be abused, one way or another.
If there's no possibility that the clans will go to war, it's free points. If they will go to war, the PC probably can't avoid it and is legally honorbound to die.
The only time it might be a fair choice is when the PC could be in a position to defuse a potential war. But in most games, it either never comes up at all (So why even take it?) or it's literally a death sentence (Which isn't fun when there really was nothing you could do about it).
One of my players runs a Kuni.
He plays it like a PTSD ridden mage who lost his unit in the Shadowlands (ordered to flee since shugenjas are precious), now trying to get his mind back on bushido track.
>The highest authority in the family is almost always a shugenja.
>The highest authority in the family is always the Emperor.
This is equally true, and also true for the Brotherhood of Shinsei. (who don't matter to the discussion, but there's a comparison to be made)
Also true is that it matters very little. The Emperor does not get involved at such low levels, and the shugenja in question avoid degrees of worldly concerns.
That's exactly my next character : twins from the Tamori, the younger sister being an exceptional alchemist and the brother who can't speak with the spirits. He then trains under the Kitsuki and values material proofs over everything - becoming a non-believer in gods, an over-the-top edgy atheist.
>The only time it might be a fair choice is when the PC could be in a position to defuse a potential war. But in most games, it either never comes up at all (So why even take it?)
It's something that's potentially more fun to gain in-game. Sort of like how being a ronin is shite if your PC is defined by being a ronin their whole life or never had the opportunity to gain clan techs beyond the first.
Family daimyo can't afford to avoid their family's issues and activities. They're still samurai and still have samurai duties. The same is true for all shugenja. As much as they'd love to cloister themselves away in temples and shrines and do nothing but rituals and scholastic activities, they're all still samurai. They all have duties to perform and worldly concerns to deal with. They all have to get married and have kids. They all have to help the rest of the clan. They all have to act as supernatural troubleshooters when someone thinks they're being haunted or cursed. They all have to march with their armies to tend to the wounded and occasionally call down a lightning bolt or pile of rocks on their enemies.
Shugenja in Rokugan *do* avoid concerning themselves with worldly concerns, so it's up to the GM and group to ensure that this truth has room enough to exist that it's widely understood and accepted - to a greater or lesser degree depending on the family and shugenja in question.
No, they *try* to avoid concerning themselves with worldly concerns.
Just like "all" samurai *try* to follow bushido and *try* to avoid mercantile activities and *try* to avoid being caught lying and stealing and murdering and sending assassins and framing each other for crimes that might not have even happened.
Very few samurai in Rokugan actually get to live up to the ideals they're supposed to, even if they actually try.
And frankly, with the blindness that all spirits suffer, most shugenja can get away with worldly concerns (Especially getting married and running a household, complete with primary financial concerns) as long as they don't make it a major focus of their life.
The difference between every other samurai and shugenja is that shugenja are highly valued and rare. To the degree that shugenja seppuku will be denied outside very exceptional circumstances. While the other examples are important to Rokugani samurai, keeping shugenja functional in communing with the kami trumps both - which means avoiding worldly concerns.
>with the blindness that all spirits suffer
More /l5rg/ meme than anything else. Not worth bringing up.
Something that is objectively true is not a meme. Spirits are notoriously oblivious to the world. It's why magic of any sort is not admissible in legal proceedings. Kami miss important things all the time. In fact, one of the very reasons that shugenja have to stay traditional is that the kami literally think that the modern shugenja are the same individuals that got their attention in the past and if they change too much, they might not be recognized anymore.
>Something that is objectively true is not a meme
Then we can safely ignore it.
Shugenja still have to get married and still have to run a household if they're the less important spouse. They have direct serving roles outside of religious functions. There are shugenja who are courtiers and advisors, there are shugenja who serve in various militaries and as magistrates. Shugenja compete in events like the Topaz Championship.
They are not monks. They are samurai, and they have to act like it.
>if we ignore a major part of the setting, then i'm right
I hope that's not what you're actually saying. Elemental kami don't understand the world of mortals very well. It's a fact of the setting, that even the most pious of shugenja would know. Even impious ones would know it because they would have been told that their magic isn't usable in legal proceedings and have probably observed the kami being oblivious personally.
>I hope that's not what you're actually saying.
Nope. What I'm saying is that I don't agree with your stated interpretation of unstated facts.
>Shugenja still have to get married and still have to run a household if they're the less important spouse.
Shugenja have to marry someone of higher status to be the less important spouse, which means marrying out. No one wants to marry their shugenja out of the Family. That means losing shugenja.
>They have direct serving roles outside of religious functions.
For which their lord is willing to break even their sense of Bushido and keep them serving in dishonour to fulfil their spiritual functions. That's what denied seppuku means.
>There are shugenja who are courtiers and advisors, there are shugenja who serve in various militaries and as magistrates.
Not all shugenja families are as stringent on every single point as the general byline. Asahina shugenja are explicitly stated to cut themselves of from worldly activities and are blatantly pacifist. Phoenix observe similar restrictions. Kuni and Tamori will join bushi on the front lines of battle. Kitsu frequently perform non-combat duties behind front lines, but avoid combat. Scorpion shugenja vary, but Yogo frequently remain apart from other samurai. Moshi are intensely pious, and follow a number of religious restrictions.
>They are not monks. They are samurai, and they have to act like it.
Right up to the point where that bumps into being shugenja. Then everything deforms to keep shugenja being shugenja doing shugenja things.
>What I'm saying is that I don't agree with your stated interpretation of unstated facts.
They're not unstated. They're literally facts that are explicit.
Spirit testimony is not allowed as evidence. Spells are not allowed as evidence. The kami don't understand mortals. These are consistent facts across multiple editions.
>Shugenja have to marry someone of higher status to be the less important spouse, which means marrying out.
It means marrying out of their bloodline. They could marry into a different shugenja bloodline in the same Family (Because most bloodlines aren't directly related), or out of their Family for strong political or social reasons. Marrying one shugenja into a different shugenja Family and/or getting another in return strengthens the two Family's connection, which is important for joint efforts and the defusal of tensions, just like with other samurai.
>keep them serving in dishonour to fulfil their spiritual functions
Doubt. Not letting them kill themselves for self-perceived failures is not the same thing as letting them get off scot free for real failures. Nobody is going to keep the bungling idiot who accidentally poisoned the daimyo or flooded a castle around, even if he can talk to the kami. He's going to get replaced by someone who hasn't fucked up that badly and probably sent off to a backwater where he can clean a shrine until he retires, assuming they don't just ask for sepukku or make him ronin regardless of the normal leniency.
>Right up to the point where that bumps into being shugenja. Then everything deforms to keep shugenja being shugenja doing shugenja things.
No, then you have yet another conflict of loyalties. It's a running theme in Rokugan. You have to stay true to your Family and Clan and School and bloodline and your own honor and your ancestors and in the shugenja's case, also the small kami. Constant conflicts and trying to juggle it all is how samurai roll in Rokugan. Often they fail.
We need to keep one up at most hours. Pity it's a smaller game. Maybe share threads with Traveller?
>Doubt
Mutual.
>They're not unstated. They're literally facts that are explicit.
>Spirit testimony is not allowed as evidence. Spells are not allowed as evidence.
These are facts.
>Spirits are notoriously oblivious to the world. Kami miss important things all the time.
These are interpretations.
>Not letting them kill themselves for self-perceived failures is not the same thing as letting them get off scot free for real failures.
You can call doubt, but I'm calling bullshit on trying to twist that one around to favour Rokugan Your Way.
Just wait for GenCon. L5R will get attention here.
>Share threads with Traveller
In what way are the two even indirectly related? Besides both being relatively unknown?
When Yasuki ancestors who had been venerated by the Crab for longer than the Yasuki had been Crane in their past popped out of Oblvion's Gate and back to Ningen-do, they were still dumbfounded to learn that their descendants were in fact now Crabs.
Kami mistaking shugenja for their ancestors is still fact. Spells working at all because kami don't have the judgement to refuse requests worded just right is still a fact.
Spirits really are oblivious.
Chronological inconsistencies in crossing realms are also fact, as are the ill defined waiting times of the Realm of Waiting. You've provided no definitive proof that those returned ancestors were receiving veneration from their descendants at all before returning to Ningen-do, and (even more difficult to prove) that their relative time between death and returning was equal to the amount of time that passed in Ningen-do.
>Kami mistaking shugenja for their ancestors is still fact.
That proves precise what is stated within the books - that kami are inhuman and perceive reality differently than humans. Which you would as an immortal being focused on a single element. Elemental kami are excellent observers if you know how they think and no one banishes the local kami from a scene.
Excellent observers who still answer the call from shugenja who are literally against the entire celestial order that the kami want to uphold. Because they are excellent observers for certain details.
An Earth kami could tell you exactly when a person walked by, how much they weighed to the nearest .000001, analyze their gait to determine physical oddities, and tell you all about the pattern of scuffs on the bottom of their sandals.
What it couldn't do is recognize that the shugenja asking is literally a kolat conspirator who wants to bring down the entire celestial order, or a maho-tsukai swirling with kansen, or just a mundane villain intent on murder or extortion.
IOW, we can safely stop with whatever you where trying to say about kami, and accept that they're simply inhuman in outlook.
>we can stop with whatever you were trying to say and accept what you are saying
Man, you're annoying.
> Kami miss important things all the time.
Still an interpretation. Elemental kami miss nothing for shugenja who understand their perspective and ask the correct types questions in correct ways, rather than blundering around expecting them to observe, think and respond like people.
>Man, you're annoying.
You haven't stopped being annoying yet.
They miss details like "this shugenja is a kolat", "this shugenja has worldly affairs" and "this shugenja is also a maho-tsukai" except when they're so overwhelmingly obvious that even a spirit couldn't miss it.
Direct from the rulebook
>Air Kami think everything is a game and are impossible to get a straight answer out of
>Earth kami remember everything in precision but are autistic and more concerned with how much someone weighed than what they looked like
>Water Kami can remember clearly, but cannot speak, only communicate in vague images
>Fire Kami can remember things quite clearly and make great witnesses, but give 0 fucks about anything but burning things and usually are angry about being summoned in the first place
>In all cases Kami don't perceive time like we do and telling one mortal from another who aren't Shugenja is meh
Kami are inherently alien. I'm not even sure what people are arguing about anymore.
Nope.
>"this shugenja has worldly affairs"
The rules exist for shugenja's worldly activities and worldly knowledge to cause problems in communing with the kami, and for rejecting the same to assist in their prayers. Sticks and carrots.
>"this shugenja is a kolat"
Religious devotion; sticks and carrots.
>"this shugenja is also a maho-tsukai"
Purity; sticks and carrots.
>It may seem strange at first glance tat the Kolat, who seek to overthrow the Celestial Order, would be able to call on the kami to do their bidding. In truth, however, the kami have no true understanding of human motivations or morals and do not have free will as humans know it. They will obey any mortal who can speak the proper prayers to invoke their aid.
Literally wrong.
So basically Kami are really dumb affectionate dogs.
Pretty much. They're hyper focused dogs that you can talk to. A river kami is busy being a river, it doesn't have the attention span for your mortal shenanigans. It'll notice severe spiritual problems that affect its river, and will respond positively (But silently) to anyone capable of speaking to it in its own language.
Literally right.
>A character who fails to be properly dedicated to his spiritual devotions – skipping over religious duties, failing to spend some time each day in prayer or meditation – can suffer die-penalties in a similar manner to a character who is spiritually impure.
You can be Kolat all you want and they don't care, but you still have to follow the exact same duties prayer, meditation, and veneration if you want the kami to observe your prayers with the same alacrity and devotion.
Skipping religious duties is an entirely separate category to being worldly or against the celestial order. The kolat literally have spells that can only be used for their own goals. Shit like The World Is Truth.
A shugenja who performs samurai duties, meaning directly serving their lord, marrying, running a household, being a magistrate, marching with the army, participating in court, and all that jazz, will not lose their ability to speak to the kami.
One who doesn't show proper respect (Show is the important word, because it doesn't have to be authentic, just sincere) because they focus on all that too much will lose power. The reason why the "worldly" thing was even added as an optional rule was to curtail shugenja players who were acting like wizards instead of priests and ignoring their basic life rituals.
Correlation is not causation, basically.
>Skipping religious duties is an entirely separate category to being worldly
No shit. Did you not read?
> or against the celestial order.
Acting against the celestial order is going to count against devotion to the same. There are few places within Rokugan to turn to where the kami are not present and avoid acting under their gaze.
>The kolat literally have spells that can only be used for their own goals. Shit like The World Is Truth.
Merely an extension of what the kami are capable of at lower spell ranks.
It's a rank 6 spell. Rank 6. As in, you have to be a rank 5 shugenja with an affinity for Air to use it.
The kami are blind to human morals and motivations. They are not omnipotent, and can be tricked, manipulated, and deceived. A kolat shugenja can kidnap anyone, spend a full 8 hours holding the person's head (Direct physical contact, something spiritually questionable) and concentrating on fucking him up mentally, succeed and have the kami do it for him, and walk away still able to cast every single Air spell ever invented by Rokugani.
The kami's gaze is basically irrelevant as long as you aren't screaming obscenities directly at them. They won't know what you're up to or how it's relevant to the world at large. Their place is not to be the morality police. A shugenja can lose their favor by directly or indirectly insulting them through action or inaction, but that's it. Perform a ritual wrong and they might start withholding. Fail to perform rituals at all and they might start withholding. Scream praises to Fu-Leng and the Kansen and they will withhold power. Fuck with them directly in your attempt to overthrow the correct order of things and they might, assuming they even realize what you have done.
Act like a samurai, and they won't withhold. Mutter calls to the kansen under your breath and they won't withhold until your Taint is too high. Think about overthrowing the rightful order of things and they won't.