L5R General

Here we see a Courtier, a traveling Ronin, a Shugenja with her panda spirit companion, all riding on a Tank possessed by the soul Yoritomo.
This marks the start of the first official adventure in the new FFG Rokugan setting.

Anyone see this?
twitter.com/SteveGHorvath/status/840398044751380480

There is a L5R beta floating around PAX this weekend.

Is that Those Who Hunt Elves?

I guess we should call them /u/nicorns now?

I want to believe.

That is the CMO of Asmodee North America.
So it'd be really fucked up if he is lying.

Who cares about the card game, tho

Anyone with taste? RPGs are for losers.

Lets say I wanted to run a light hearted, comfy game of map makers. How much interest would there be?

Depends what you mean by comfy.

Going from town to town, documenting the terrain and building, and solving episodic problems while under going a character arc.

And what sort of Rokugan are you using for it?

Probably the quiet periods, like 9th Century

And what sort of player are you looking for?

The kind who can make it regularly

That's all?

This is what happened in Japan too. In fact, the Emperor himself did that a lot.
The position of Tenno wasn't a life-long one because it was equally a religious and political one; it was akin to being like the Pharoh's of Egypt where you weren't actually allowed to have a personality of your own outside the tightly regulated and prescribed behaviors of the Tenno. Most Emperor's would step down after two to five years due to the stress of constantly being observed and all of their behaviors pre-determined by what the Son of Heaven is supposed to act like.

Most actual political authority was in fact determined through the Emperor's extended family among the Kuge rather then the Tenno himself as most of the time what he could and could not do was extremely ritualized and restricted.
It wasn't until the 19th century that the Emperor's of Japan began to really wield power in the way we generally consider Emperor's to wield.

To detail it further, the only families generally allowed to marry the Emperoer belonged to the Fujiwara Clan, to lock-in political power amongst the Kuge and that section of them.
Oh, and the Kuge were not how Rokugan explain them to be. In fact, as long as you're using Japanese characters it's actually impossible to be both Kuge and Buge; there WERE no samurai who were Kuge.

So wait, the Otomo family thing wasn't made up?

No, it wasn't.
In fact, a lot of how the Kuge work in Rokugan (a small group of families intermarrying and keeping Imperial power in as small a group of families as possible) is rather accurate to life with some names changed around.
The major difference is pretty much everything about the samurai class themselves, a lot of which wouldn't be determined until well after the Emperor's were kind of neutered politically.
Historically speaking the samurai and Emperor have always been at odds.

Okay, something's been bugging me and I figure here's a good place to ask it. What would the names of the Great Clans be in Japanese? Like, not the animal names in English but the Japanese versions?

Depends on the timezone and what you're using to connect everyone.

A lot don't translate well.
>Lion: "Shishi"
This is a really rough one; the usual way to say lion is "raion", which is the Japanese pronounciaton of the English word. A better name would be "Shishioh", which means something pretty close to "Brave Lion Ling".
>Crane: "Tsuru"
>Scorpion: "Sasori"
>Phoenix: "Suzaku"
Another rough one, but the mythical Chinese Vermillion Bird is pretty close to the Phoenix, and you prounoncs it's name "Suzaku" in Japanese. It's actually an uncommon but not unheard of male name in Japan.
>Dragon: "Ryuu"
Again, kind of not a great one. It's a relatively common male first name in Japan, same as Suzaku.
>Unicorn: "Ikkakuju"
Again, the proper version would be the Japanese pronounciation of the English word, but you can also call them literally "One-horn Horse", which this is.
>Crab: Kani
>Mantis: Kabocha
>Spider: Kumo

Spider and Mantis included for completeness sake.

It's worth noting that the Unicorn Clan used to be the Ki-Rin clan in universe, and Ki-Rins are sometimes deer like chimera monsters and sometimes unicorn-like beasts with a lightning motif.
I don't think what the crap Rokugani Ki-Rin are like has ever been established.

A good alternate for Phoenix would be "Houou", which is the Japanese name for the mythical Fenghuang bird, the Chinese equivalent of the Western Phoenix.

The problem is that I think the immortal fire bird is a thing that really exists in Rokugan and what the clan is named after.

I realize; at which point the Unicorn would be just called "Kirin" rather then "Ikkakuju".
The Japanese pronounciation of the Chinese ki-rin I pretty straightforward.

Except that the Unicorn used to be Ki-Rin in universe. Shinjo named her clan that and then renamed it after her new boyfriend after they left the Empire.

Agree on every point.

That's why I play ronin.

>kabocha

but that's pumpkin, user

you're thinking of kamakiri

In that case, "Houou" is better then "Suzaku". Suzaku is specifically the name of the Chinese Vermillion Bird, which is kind of similar but different from Fenghuang.

See, this is the problem with Japanese.
Kabocha DOES mean Crab, as it's primary definition. But if you spell it differently or use it in a sentence it means "pumpkin".

...

Sorry, Mantis, not Crab. Blegh.
It's pronounced "Kumonga", not like "Kabocha".

Kamagiri isn't really a good name for it; it's like saying "T-Rex" instead of "Tyrannosaurus rex"; it's not a proper name and is a colloquialism.
"Kamagiri" means literally "scythe-killer".

l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Ki-Rin_Clan
>In 442 after Shinjo was lost in lands far from Rokugan her only living son, Shinjo Yonaru, became the new leader and decided to shift the Clan's name.

's what my dictionary uses, but that doesn't mean a whole lot.

Like I said; Japanese is a pain in the ass.
Stuff like why four is an unlucky number and shit like that.

I think I recognize that one: "four" is also spelled the same way as "death", right?

No, pronounced the same.
It's spelled differently.

Isn't Kumonga a Godzilla monster?

Yeah, actually, a giant spider.
It's a combination of "Kumo" (Spider) and the English word "humongous" (monga) the way they spell it.

LMAO one of my party paladins basically encountered OP's pic in a recent campaign, and went full autist. We were visiting the palace of a local hedonistic warlord who tried (and for the most part succeeded) tempting party members as a reward for killing a band of trolls that had been harassing his village.

He said hello to the harem on the bed, then took the food table and the mead and dragged it into the corner. He had to pass two strength checks to do this BTW. Having wedged himself in the corner, he began eating and drinking. He offered none of it to the women. Whenever one of the women would try to start a conversation, he would ignore them and keep eating. Eventually, he ran out of food and wanted to get up to go to the sleep. He then failed his strength check and spent a cold, lonely night trapped by a food table, watching a bed full of women performing salacious acts upon each other.

It turned out for the best, because the warlord was really a daemon trying to ensnare the souls of the party (huge surprise, I know).

Umm...wrong thread?

Apparently not, just unrelated anecdote.

Sounds really neat. Hit me up if you decide to do it.
Sam Hall #4464

Not wrong thread, just reminiscing b/c our DM used OP's pic as reference for the scene.

...

>genzoman art

Arguments about his appropriateness for L5R aside, I really don't like his coloring style.

Yeah, it looks like it belongs in a weeaboo MMO. It kills me that my PC's namesake got Genzoman art when he got carded.

Well, it's not even that, it's... I dunno how to describe it, actually. Everything's too brightly lit and too shiny and the coloring just really irks me.

The unnatural creases in the fabric and the way the light reflects off of it makes every outfit he draws look like it's made of latex.

But... I'm a social darwinist edgelord and I play Lion...

>Lions are for SAMURAI WERE HONORABLE AND DID NO WRONG weeaboos
>Lions do most of the wrong in the setting
>They aren't even so honorable most of the time just angry and filled with shallow pride

Eh?

Well, mostly it doesn't help that the Matsu are hot-blooded morons who do things like dismiss supporting the sans family in the Clan and ignore the advice of the Ikoma and such.

Okay, this pic reminds me; is there any way to make an Utaku who is actually half-decent with a sword and who isn't 100% reliant on being mounted?

>battle maiden ever not on a horse
What are you fuckin' gay?

The Calm Heart Duelist technique from Strongholds of the Empire could do it; aside from some minor Iaijutsu bonuses it allows you to make Complex Attacks with a katana or wakizashi, even while in foot. It's less versatile then the "with any weapon at all while mounted" but allows you to attack twice in situations where your horse isn't around.
Most of the other Battle Maiden techniques have at least SOME utility in foot, so you should be okay if you sink plenty of points into Kenjutsu.

That said, you'll still always be a bit more effective mounted.

Thanks, that works.

Not him, but he could also be indoors, in a city, in an alleyway or narrow space, in a fortress or castle, in a dangerous but nominally social situation, or any combination thereof that precludes the player from be mounted while combat starts.
It's the old "Paladin's mount in the dungeon" problem from classic D&D; there will be plenty of situations where your horse will be well away from you so if you're too heavily reliant on it then you might be screwed.

That said, most Battle Maiden techniques have some usage off a mount, they just get better while ON a mount.

You could always go with Shinjo bushi, instead of trying to force the Utaku into something it doesn't fit.

I thought about that, but this gets what I'm looking for. Thanks anyway.

>look at all these buzzwords I can fit into a single post

Great work senpai desu

In that case, you might also have considered the Serpent Hunter path, or homebrewing a similarly focused hunting group.

For real though, L5R is one of those few settings and games where I have an honest to god interest in each faction. I think there's something interesting and cool about each of the clans in L5R, including the minor ones. The only one I really don't feel anything for is the Phoenix, mostly because I don't feel they necessarily fit the Empire with their bullshit pacifism. But they still got their redeeming feature with the Shiba Yojimbos who are pretty cool.

Firstly, Shiba are perhaps one of the three best samurai families in that they are exemplars of actual samurai virtues them...whatever else the other Clans and families are into that makes them act like semi-autistic weirdos all the time.
Secondly, the Phoenix are the SHITTIEST pacifists of all time. They've waged war just as much as any other Great Clan and when they DO go to war they go full natural disaster no survivors shit on whoever they fight with huge amounts of magical overkill.

It's like they pretend to be pacifists just to be smug and when you call them on it they set literally everything on fire in a fit of pique before apologizing for it afterword to the burn victim ward survivors they leave behind.

Who are the other two?

I agree with this post.

Fuck the Phoenix.

But then again the fuck do I know the Scorpion are my favorite

Mirumoto and the Daidoji, aka "the Boring Sidekick" Families of their respective Clans that don't fit into their Clan's overall aesthetic or style.
All three are really mundane and boring but are 100% devoted to their superiors and are even willing to do some morally questionable things at time because sometimes that what they're ordered to do.
A lot of that other stuff they talk about in L5R is kinda overwrought bullshit; total and absolute loyalty is THE most important and stressed part of Bushido most of the time, and being quiet and inobtrusive but very competent when called upon is how a good samurai was generally supposed to act.
Most quotes in the Hagakure that don't have to do with how dying is noble are about loyalty and how important it is.

I like the Shiba anyway because the long-suffering yojimbo paired with his increasingly crazy wizard asshole boss silently bearing his crazy wizard shenanigans is always amusing to me for it's comedy gold value.

As my group liked to say;
>"You can always tell the Shiba-san from the other Phoenix's in the room because he'll be the one scowling in the corner holding a bucket in case his Isawa-san gets too excited and lights on fire again."

And the vast majority of Scorps aren't ninjas, it's just the dumb stereotype associated with the clan.

It's funny how the best part of those clans is the part that doesn't fit into their cultural straightjacket.

>It's funny how the best part of those clans is the part that doesn't fit into their cultural straightjacket.

Part of the issue is the way L5R is designed versus the way actual Buke culture actually worked.
In L5R each clan has an extremely distinct "hat" that they wear that affects everything from how they dress to how they look in the art to how they're portrayed in the fiction almost all of the time, largely because doing so makes them more distinct as factions and makes people like or dislike them more and thus drives competition between them in it's admittedly CCG-driven setting. Even if (especially if) the way they'd act actually goes against traditional Bushido values they'd still act that way because their hats are affectively stapled to their head.
If it were more realistic most of the Clans and families would NOT have distinct methods of dress, would NOT have distinct cultures, would NOT have a stereotype beyond "samurai", and the fandom for the game would have waned because in the end a the factions you choose would look pretty much exactly the same and their actions would be far more determined by whatever Lord was in charge of each one, which would then change as soon as he was replaced.

Fancy and distinct styles that show how extra special and different from other groups you are pretty much completely goes against the grain of being a samurai but it's also the thing that kinda drives the fandom and attracts them to the game.

>As my group liked to say;
>>"You can always tell the Shiba-san from the other Phoenix's in the room because he'll be the one scowling in the corner holding a bucket in case his Isawa-san gets too excited and lights on fire again."

I approve of your group.

>Mirumoto and the Daidoji, aka "the Boring Sidekick" Families of their respective Clans that don't fit into their Clan's overall aesthetic or style.
I'd dispute that. They're neither boring, relegated to being sidekicks, nor misfit within their respective clans.

They aren't LITERAL boring sidekicks.
They just aren't foppish Social butterflies, wizards, or monks covered in more ink then a newspaper.

I wouldn't say they're metaphorical boring sidekicks, either. Though as the rpg and ccg has changed in waves, perception has changed by the same process.

There have been arcs within the ccg where niten samurai have been far more prevalent in common and successful decks than tattooed men. If you think on 1e core, there was literally no other choice than bushi or shugenja - Mirumoto were definitely sitting in the spotlight then. Even in the setting, the Togashi mostly cut themselves off from the world (very few Togashi * very few worldly Togashi = next to no Togashi in most of the empire) while the Mirumoto run the clan.

Personality-wise, who are the Mirumoto?
>easily the most practical family of the Dragon, at least by their clan’s standards – other samurai, by contrast, often find them mysterious or strangely poetic.
Sounds like a variation on the Dragon aesthetic or style to me.

We could go over the Daidoji in the same manner, but I'd rather go get food.

I do too.

...

please stop

I wonder if that dude offering to run an L5R game was serious.

Guess he didn't see enough interest

I was interested but I was too busy trying to see what he wanted out of prospective players, rest in fucking pieces.

Yeah the problem is getting communication going, and dealing with flakes.

>Hagakure

Is this the thing that was so loathed in its time its writer was kicked out by his own lord because said writer was considered an embarrassing crazy old man?

I'm interested, especially for more information.

I just want to play a game, any L5R game. It's been on my list for years. RichterRaf #8242

No, Tsunetomo left of his own accord after refusing to commit suicide and follow his master to death since his master had openly spoken of distaste for the practice. When there was disagreement over his master's successor he became a hermit wrote his book.
It definitely wasn't popular when he was alive, but eventually it became THE Bushido book to the samurai.

...

>Scorpion courtier not also a hot slut
Fail.

Wednesday at 10am there is going to be live stream of the new L5R LCG from GAMA. This will be the first real gameplay info we'll get on the new game.

boardgamegeek.com/thread/1743847/bggs-livestream-game-demo-schedule-gama-trade-show

So, that kid in black with the pale skin I wanna say is Fu Leng, but also the kid sitting next to Onnatagu is being checked out by the Lying Darkness, which supposedly tutored Fu Leng...

>the kid sitting next to Onnatagu is being checked out by the Lying Darkness
Bayushi.