L5R: Shadow, Silk, & Steel
"The only box that can hold a secret is a coffin." -Little Truths, The Way of the Scorpion
Please read at least both the Gameplay and Character Creation sections. Important information. Particularly important stuff will be bolded. Like this.Premise
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It is a time of celebration, as all of Rokugan welcomes the ascension of a new Emperor, Iweko Seiken, or Iweko II. Twenty Festivals are held, culminating in the coronation ceremony for the ascending Son of Heaven. Many samurai (and even peasants) from all clans have been relieved from their duties in order to properly celebrate the coronation.
You are not one of these samurai.
No, even in times such as this, all must play their part. Peasants still work the rice fields, that they may feed an empire. And thousands upon thousands of samurai must keep to their duties, for the sake of their empire, their clan, and their families.
You are, in fact, doing work for your empire. When it is required, all clans are willing to assign samurai to aid an imperial representative--often in exchange for a favor. An Emerald Magistrate, and a Scorpion, Bayushi Asuka, has petitioned the aid of several groups, and you are one such person who has been sent to offer assistance.
Bayushi Asuka's residence is in the Scorpion village Shimomura, Frost Village, located on a high plateau, and it is on a major travel route between Scorpion and Crane lands. While a prosperous holding with many fine establishments, it is very unlikely that an Emerald Magistrate requires your help in enjoying fine meals and drink--no, she requires the clans' aid for something important.
You are not one of these samurai.
No, even in times such as this, all must play their part. Peasants still work the rice fields, that they may feed an empire. And thousands upon thousands of samurai must keep to their duties, for the sake of their empire, their clan, and their families.
You are, in fact, doing work for your empire. When it is required, all clans are willing to assign samurai to aid an imperial representative--often in exchange for a favor. An Emerald Magistrate, and a Scorpion, Bayushi Asuka, has petitioned the aid of several groups, and you are one such person who has been sent to offer assistance.
Bayushi Asuka's residence is in the Scorpion village Shimomura, Frost Village, located on a high plateau, and it is on a major travel route between Scorpion and Crane lands. While a prosperous holding with many fine establishments, it is very unlikely that an Emerald Magistrate requires your help in enjoying fine meals and drink--no, she requires the clans' aid for something important.
Important, please read.
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L5R RPG is dice based, and the only dice used are d10s. As this is online, I will be doing all rolls behind the scenes. L5R RPG uses a keep and roll system. As players, you won't need to worry about the breakdown, but in practice, it works like this; every skill corresponds to a certain trait. Kenjutsu (skill with a sword) is governed by Agility. Say your Agility is 3, and your Kenjutsu skill rank is also 3. For an attack with your sword weapon, (I will) roll 6 dice, keeping 3. Your trait is the base margin of competence, and your skill rank is how refined you are with that skill. 6 dice are rolled, but only 3 are kept for the total of your roll. No more than 10 d10s can be rolled for any skill, combat, or damage roll, and no more than 10 can be kept. Any 10s that are rolled will "explode"; that die is rolled again, with that 10 being kept and added on to the total of that die. If I roll 5 consecutive 10s on one die and then roll a 6, congratulations, that single die is 56. I will automatically keep the highest of your rolled numbers, with some exceptions; if you specify you want to deliberately fail (for whatever reason), or do less damage. But big daddy DM, why would I ever want to keep lower dice for damage? Maybe for RPing purposes, if your character is kindhearted, or most likely, for DUELS. Dueling in Rokugan is very refined. If you strike first, congratulations, you win. But if you seriously wound your opponent, cripple or maim them, or outright kill them, it is a very serious offence. It indicates a lack of restraint. Debilitating an opponent directly hinders the use their lord will get out of them, and the worth of their life. Horrible things will happen to you if this happens.
On that note, please don't roleplay recklessly. There is a very rigid code of etiquette in Rokugan--I will go easy on all of you initially, because there are many nuances, some of which I will describe down beloooow, but please avoid the obvious. Don't (openly) commit murder. Don't assault anybody. Don't deliberately and blatantly insult a high ranking samurai. If you do something worth punishment, I can and will issue the appropriate consequence, be it a lord demanding an apology, receiving a challenge to a duel to first blood, a duel to the death, or if the insult or offence is great enough, outright execution. I can and will do these, so please, roleplay responsibly. If you die in the RP as a result of regular ol' combat, or perhaps some unintentional, inadvertent offense given, okay, that's fine, you die, but I will allow you to make a new character from scratch. But if you roleplay like an idiot, jumping around, slapping your bum, backhanding samurai and mooning the emperor, and get yourself killed on page 1, you will not be allowed to rejoin the RP. Beyond that, OOC in hide tags or spoilers, yada yada yada, no godmodding, you know the drill. Please don't make me kick. I don't want to, but I will if you make me.
Stick to one action per post in combat, please. Unless you reach the school rank where you can make an attack as a simple action, only one attack per post, please.
On that note, please don't roleplay recklessly. There is a very rigid code of etiquette in Rokugan--I will go easy on all of you initially, because there are many nuances, some of which I will describe down beloooow, but please avoid the obvious. Don't (openly) commit murder. Don't assault anybody. Don't deliberately and blatantly insult a high ranking samurai. If you do something worth punishment, I can and will issue the appropriate consequence, be it a lord demanding an apology, receiving a challenge to a duel to first blood, a duel to the death, or if the insult or offence is great enough, outright execution. I can and will do these, so please, roleplay responsibly. If you die in the RP as a result of regular ol' combat, or perhaps some unintentional, inadvertent offense given, okay, that's fine, you die, but I will allow you to make a new character from scratch. But if you roleplay like an idiot, jumping around, slapping your bum, backhanding samurai and mooning the emperor, and get yourself killed on page 1, you will not be allowed to rejoin the RP. Beyond that, OOC in hide tags or spoilers, yada yada yada, no godmodding, you know the drill. Please don't make me kick. I don't want to, but I will if you make me.
Stick to one action per post in combat, please. Unless you reach the school rank where you can make an attack as a simple action, only one attack per post, please.
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If you're challenged to a duel, you've probably offered insult, intentionally or otherwise. There are two types of duels; duels to first blood, and duels to the death. The former are far more common, the latter, far less. A duel to the death requires the permission of both the challenger's lord, and the challenged's lord, because their lives don't belong to themselves. They may be too valuable to their lords for them to allow risking their life in a lethal duel.
All duels are highly ritualized. The area is prepared by a shugenja, and overseen by somebody of higher status. The institution of dueling is held sacred, so don't try to offer insult by, say, offering to fight the duel bare handed or something. Your life will be forfeit. Shugenja (which you won't be playing as), courtiers, and monks aren't expected to champion for themselves--but if you wear a katana, it is expected you will fight your own duels. (Monks will never wield a katana or even touch one. Monks are technically peasants. If a monk takes up a katana...not good.) Bushi are expected to fight their own duels, but anyone of insufficient skill can request a champion, either from among their companions, or from their family.
Iaijutsu is the skill of dueling, but the phases of dueling each require a different trait. There are three phases to a duel; Assessment, Focus, and Strike. Assessment uses Iaijutsu and Awareness, as you size up your opponent, looking for any weaknesses. Winning the assessment phase, you can learn information about your opponent's prowess, and possibly get a bonus on the next phase if you beat them soundly. Focus uses Iaijutsu and Void, as you assume your stance, center yourself, and hone your instincts to hit them first. Whoever wins Focus by 5 or more strikes first. If you win by a large margin, you get a bonus on your strike. Strike is Iaijutsu/Reflexes, and is your ability to actually hit your opponent.
In a duel to first blood, the first person to wound his opponent is the victor. The Celestial Heavens have effectively granted them the victory, acknowledging their cause is just. To significantly injure, maim, cripple, or kill your opponent with your strike shows a major lack of restraint, and to injure a lord's samurai in lawful duel is a great crime, and extremely dishonorable. To strike your opponent after they have already struck you first, in a duel to first blood, is extremely dishonorable.
On your focus roll, if you and your opponent tie, or neither of you exceed the other's roll by 5 or more, a kharmic strike takes place. You both attack simultaneously. If one misses, the one who hits wins. If both hit eachother, it is considered a draw. The Celestial Heavens have intervened. The matter is dropped by both parties.
All duels are highly ritualized. The area is prepared by a shugenja, and overseen by somebody of higher status. The institution of dueling is held sacred, so don't try to offer insult by, say, offering to fight the duel bare handed or something. Your life will be forfeit. Shugenja (which you won't be playing as), courtiers, and monks aren't expected to champion for themselves--but if you wear a katana, it is expected you will fight your own duels. (Monks will never wield a katana or even touch one. Monks are technically peasants. If a monk takes up a katana...not good.) Bushi are expected to fight their own duels, but anyone of insufficient skill can request a champion, either from among their companions, or from their family.
Iaijutsu is the skill of dueling, but the phases of dueling each require a different trait. There are three phases to a duel; Assessment, Focus, and Strike. Assessment uses Iaijutsu and Awareness, as you size up your opponent, looking for any weaknesses. Winning the assessment phase, you can learn information about your opponent's prowess, and possibly get a bonus on the next phase if you beat them soundly. Focus uses Iaijutsu and Void, as you assume your stance, center yourself, and hone your instincts to hit them first. Whoever wins Focus by 5 or more strikes first. If you win by a large margin, you get a bonus on your strike. Strike is Iaijutsu/Reflexes, and is your ability to actually hit your opponent.
In a duel to first blood, the first person to wound his opponent is the victor. The Celestial Heavens have effectively granted them the victory, acknowledging their cause is just. To significantly injure, maim, cripple, or kill your opponent with your strike shows a major lack of restraint, and to injure a lord's samurai in lawful duel is a great crime, and extremely dishonorable. To strike your opponent after they have already struck you first, in a duel to first blood, is extremely dishonorable.
On your focus roll, if you and your opponent tie, or neither of you exceed the other's roll by 5 or more, a kharmic strike takes place. You both attack simultaneously. If one misses, the one who hits wins. If both hit eachother, it is considered a draw. The Celestial Heavens have intervened. The matter is dropped by both parties.
A Bayushi higher ranking than you; Bayushi-sama.
A Bayushi lower ranking than you, a friend, or if you want to insult them by implying familiarity ; Bayushi-san
A Bayushi daimyo and/or Clan Champion; Bayushi Nitoshi-dono (full name, plus -dono).
A Bayushi ancestor returned to Ningen-do, or Bayushi himself returned (either, especially the latter, is incredibly unlikely); Bayushi-kami.
Also, yeah, this game is hyperlethal. Court intrigue is deadly, but as you're all newcomers, I'll go easy on you until you learn more. Combat is deadly, and realistic. If you are run through with a katana, you've been run through with a katana. You're not about to get up and run a marathon, and place first. Injuries will stack up, making it harder and harder for you to succeed on skill rolls and attacks, eventually, potentially leading to your character passing out, receiving a crippling injury, or outright dying.
Same goes for your enemies, too. As they stack wounds, they will find it harder to hit you. ... ...With some very rare and sinister exceptions. But you won't have to worry about that. For now.
Setting
L5R wiki http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Legend_of_the_Five_Rings_Wiki
Map of Rokugan http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/File:Rokugan.jpg
Map of the World http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/World/Planet_ ... nd_Rokugan
Rokugan is a fictional kingdom, heavily influenced by feudal Japan, China, Korea, and incorporates other elements from many asian, and some european cultures.
General Terms
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Daisho; the pairing of a katana and a wakizashi, the symbol of one's being a samurai. A daisho must be treated with the greatest respect and care, as they hold both the honor of the wielder and their ancestors, and the soul of the wielder and their ancestors.
Clan Champion; the undisputed leader of their respective clan. They command all within their clan, and all samurai within that clan owe them complete obedience. If a clan champion wages war against another clan, then their clan goes to war. Most of the time, clan champions are also the daimyo of their respective family.
Daimyo; the head of their respective family. Daimyos command a great amount of respect and loyalty.
Eta; a peasant of extremely low birth, not even considered human. Dirty. Uncivilized. Ech.
Heimin; a peasant of only moderately low birth. Farmers, merchants, craftsmen. They're not people, but at least they're not eta.
Kyuden; a Kyuden, such as Kyuden Bayushi, is a castle, or more accurately, a palace. They are home to the elite of Rokugan--usually, clan champions and daimyos.
Clan Champion; the undisputed leader of their respective clan. They command all within their clan, and all samurai within that clan owe them complete obedience. If a clan champion wages war against another clan, then their clan goes to war. Most of the time, clan champions are also the daimyo of their respective family.
Daimyo; the head of their respective family. Daimyos command a great amount of respect and loyalty.
Eta; a peasant of extremely low birth, not even considered human. Dirty. Uncivilized. Ech.
Heimin; a peasant of only moderately low birth. Farmers, merchants, craftsmen. They're not people, but at least they're not eta.
Kyuden; a Kyuden, such as Kyuden Bayushi, is a castle, or more accurately, a palace. They are home to the elite of Rokugan--usually, clan champions and daimyos.
The Fall of the Kami, and the birth of the Emerald Empire
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At the beginning of the universe, there was Nothing. Through its own fears and regrets, beings of great power were brought into existence. Amaterasu, the Lady Sun, and Onnotangu, Lord Moon. They gave names to all they created, such as Ningen-do, the mortal realm, and all other spirit realms they created. The divine couple bore ten magnificent children, whom Amaterasu loved above all others--even Onnotangu. Lord Moon grew jealous, and saw that his children would rival his own power. He eventually devoured his children, one by one, but after each was consumed, Amaterasu fed him poisoned sake. By the time he was about to eat the last of his children, Onnotangu was so delirious that Amaterasu fed him a stone, and Amaterasu spirited away her son, Hantei, having him train with the elemental dragons so that he might defeat his brother. Hantei and Onnotangu fought a mighty battle, resulting in Hantei cutting open Onnotangu, and his siblings falling from the Celestial Heavens. He, too, fell into the mortal realm of Ningen-do.
Amaterasu wept tears of Jade and Crystal for her lost children, and Onnotangu bled corrupt Obsidian, all their divine substances raining upon Ningen-do. Where the blood of Onnotangu met with the tears of Amaterasu, the first humans were created.
Eight divine children found themselves in the mortal realm. The first to be eaten, Ryoshun, had died before he could be saved, but would then serve as a guide for the dead in the spirit realms. Fu Leng had fallen far from his siblings--where he crashed, he tore a hole between Ningen-do and Jigoku, the realm of evil. His siblings would not know it for some time, but their lost brother would slowly be corrupted by the forces of darkness.
Those eight who remained in Ningen-do saw tribes of men and women scattered across the land, with no leaders or direction. These divine children, the Kami, held a tournament to decide who would rule over these lands. Hida, the strongest of them, was the first to fall, to the speed and cleverness of his sister Shinjo. Shinjo faced Bayushi, but was no match for his ruthless cunning. Bayushi then faced his twin brother Shiba, but apparently lost to Shiba's wisdom and patience. Shiba was outmaneuvered by sister Doji. Doji then faced Akodo, but Akodo had studied her technique as she fought, and soundly defeated her. The final duel was between Akodo and Hantei. It was the most incredible display of swordsmanship the world had ever seen. Akodo, fueled by battle, raised his sword to end his brother's life, but Hantei angled his sword, shining the light of the sun into Akodo's eyes, and his soul. Akodo realized what he was about to do, and stopped. He also saw that Hantei could have defeated him at any time, but Hantei would not shed his brother's blood. Such honor, skill, and compassion humbled Akodo, who fell to his knees before his brother, now the first Emperor of Rokugan, Hantei. Their brother Togashi did not even compete in the tournament, as he already knew what the outcome would be.
Hantei's siblings wandered the world, creating the banners, and gathering followers under them. Hida founded the Crab. Shinjo, the Ki-Rin Clan, later known as the Unicorn Clan. Bayushi founded the infamous Scorpion Clan. Shiba founded the wise Phoenix. Doji founded the graceful Crane. Akodo brought together mighty warriors under his Lion banner. Togashi drew together the enlightened Dragon Clan.
Families were founded and lands were claimed, but Rokugan found itself under siege by monstrous forces of oni, goblins, ogres, and other monstrosities, tainted and twisted by the evil of Jigoku. The Kami were shocked to discover that this force was commanded by their lost brother, Fu Leng. Fu Leng, now twisted by the dark powers of Jigoku, waged war against his siblings. It was only with the timely arrival of a wise man known as Shinsei that the clans gathered seven mortal champions, one from each clan--known together as the Seven Thunders--that with Shinsei's guidance, they did battle with Fu Leng, and defeated him and his forces.
Amaterasu wept tears of Jade and Crystal for her lost children, and Onnotangu bled corrupt Obsidian, all their divine substances raining upon Ningen-do. Where the blood of Onnotangu met with the tears of Amaterasu, the first humans were created.
Eight divine children found themselves in the mortal realm. The first to be eaten, Ryoshun, had died before he could be saved, but would then serve as a guide for the dead in the spirit realms. Fu Leng had fallen far from his siblings--where he crashed, he tore a hole between Ningen-do and Jigoku, the realm of evil. His siblings would not know it for some time, but their lost brother would slowly be corrupted by the forces of darkness.
Those eight who remained in Ningen-do saw tribes of men and women scattered across the land, with no leaders or direction. These divine children, the Kami, held a tournament to decide who would rule over these lands. Hida, the strongest of them, was the first to fall, to the speed and cleverness of his sister Shinjo. Shinjo faced Bayushi, but was no match for his ruthless cunning. Bayushi then faced his twin brother Shiba, but apparently lost to Shiba's wisdom and patience. Shiba was outmaneuvered by sister Doji. Doji then faced Akodo, but Akodo had studied her technique as she fought, and soundly defeated her. The final duel was between Akodo and Hantei. It was the most incredible display of swordsmanship the world had ever seen. Akodo, fueled by battle, raised his sword to end his brother's life, but Hantei angled his sword, shining the light of the sun into Akodo's eyes, and his soul. Akodo realized what he was about to do, and stopped. He also saw that Hantei could have defeated him at any time, but Hantei would not shed his brother's blood. Such honor, skill, and compassion humbled Akodo, who fell to his knees before his brother, now the first Emperor of Rokugan, Hantei. Their brother Togashi did not even compete in the tournament, as he already knew what the outcome would be.
Hantei's siblings wandered the world, creating the banners, and gathering followers under them. Hida founded the Crab. Shinjo, the Ki-Rin Clan, later known as the Unicorn Clan. Bayushi founded the infamous Scorpion Clan. Shiba founded the wise Phoenix. Doji founded the graceful Crane. Akodo brought together mighty warriors under his Lion banner. Togashi drew together the enlightened Dragon Clan.
Families were founded and lands were claimed, but Rokugan found itself under siege by monstrous forces of oni, goblins, ogres, and other monstrosities, tainted and twisted by the evil of Jigoku. The Kami were shocked to discover that this force was commanded by their lost brother, Fu Leng. Fu Leng, now twisted by the dark powers of Jigoku, waged war against his siblings. It was only with the timely arrival of a wise man known as Shinsei that the clans gathered seven mortal champions, one from each clan--known together as the Seven Thunders--that with Shinsei's guidance, they did battle with Fu Leng, and defeated him and his forces.
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Great Clans: AEG does it best! http://www.l5r.com/the-clans/
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The Shadowlands lie far to the south of Rokugan, far from the eyes and thoughts of most samurai--though never from the Crab, who constantly guard Rokugan against hordes of goblins, ogres, tainted samurai, and more. It is a place of evil and death, spawned by the place where Fu Leng fell, and tore a hole into Jigoku, this particular location being known as the Festering Pit of Fu Leng. A second Festering Pit was created much later, on Scorpion land, which is also heavily guarded and monitored.
It's not so much the threat of death that evokes terror as one thinks of the Shadowlands--it's mostly the Shadowlands Taint. The touch of Jigoku. As it was when the taint first came to Rokugan, so much as a drop of tainted blood, or spending any time in the Shadowlands can risk damnation. Very real damnation. Upon death, most ascend to the Celestial Heavens, to be judged for their deeds, and reincarnated appropriately. Those who are tainted have their connection to the Heavens severed. Those who are tainted are doomed to have their soul sent straight to Jigoku. Picture hell. Now picture it worse. Now picture it even worse, plus add tentacles, disease, and madness. The taint was originally nonconsenual--spend time in the Shadowlands or get hit with tainted ichor, your soul would burn until you submitted to the taint. (Which was very hard to do, even for hardened samurai, because pain hurts.) But with the creation of the Spider Clan, taking on the taint is now only purely voluntary--supposedly.
Many battles were fought--Fu Leng arose again, and was defeated once more--, new clans and families established, and even new celestial deities rose to station. A conversation between Shinsei and Hantei, as recorded by Shiba, became the Tao. Shinseism is widely practiced, many samurai studying Shinsei's teachings to become Enlightened. Amaterasu and Onnotangu were replaced, and their replacements replaced yet again--the Dragon of Jade is now Lady Sun, also known as the Jade Sun, and her twin the Obsidian Dragon is now Lord Moon, or the Obsidian Moon. Two new major clans established themselves, along with many minor clans. The Kharmic Wheel keeps spinning.
Samurai men and women are regarded more or less equally. About half of the samurai warriors, or bushi, are actually female--female bushi are usually referred to as samurai-ko. While there are some different expectations placed on women, usually only in court settings (a female must speak more softly than a man, she must walk slower), female bushi are regarded and respected as much as male bushi. Some families of Rokugan are even matriarchal--the Matsu of the Lion Clan were founded by a fierce woman, and so, the female Matsu are expected to lead dangerous head-on charges, while male Matsu may have less expected of them. The Utaku of the Unicorn Clan are renowned for their Utaku steeds, the finest warhorses of Rokugan. Men of their family are often required to provide the feeding, grooming, training, and regular care for the steeds, while Utaku women are the only samurai in the empire granted the honor of riding Utaku warhorses into battle--though any woman who mistreats or injures her Utaku horse can expect to be banished from the family, if not outright executed.
Peasants in Rokugan aren't people. Samurai are people, and people are worthy of respect. Monks aren't samurai, but they represent Enlightenment, wisdom, peace, and so on, so they are treated with respect and leniency. But peasants aren't people. Heimen, what most peasants are, are half-people. They are geisha, artisans and smiths, merchants, farmers. They do what is needed for the operation of the empire, and their services are valued by their lords, but if a peasant offers sufficient insult to a samurai, their life is forfeit. Beating or killing a lord's peasants without sufficient reason is essentially property crime. Eta are scum. They are not human. They do the jobs no samurai would be caught dead doing, nor would even a heimen stoop to their lows. Eta collect trash and clean the streets. Eta collect corpses, examine them, and dispose of them. Dead flesh is never, ever touched by a samurai or a heimen, it is unclean--but eta can and must do this. Magistrates will sometimes employ eta to torture and extract confession from criminals. For a magistrate or any other samurai to touch flesh and blood is dirty, but eta can do that.
There are the Kami (now long since dead or otherwise departed), the founders of Rokugan, but there are also the kami. Elementals. The kami generally exist in harmony, their balance allowing life to thrive in the areas where they dwell. Shugenja, who are essentially priests, may often entreat the kami to use their powers--either for combat purposes, or perhaps for creating food, blessing a shrine, cleansing a building of spirits, or to many other ends--not necessarily moral ends.
As I previously glossed over, religion is a pretty big part of Rokugani life. In theory, there are three religions, but in practice, most Rokugani devote themselves to all three. Ancestor worship is important to all samurai--the recognition of those that came before them, and died to make their family better. Those descended from Kami will also, naturally, pay respects to their respective divine ancestor. Shinseism is the (usually lifelong) pursuit of Enlightenment, a state of greater understanding of the universe, and of elemental balance. Most pursuers of Enlightenment study the Tao, Shinsei's teachings, and there are many orders of monks devoted to such an end. Finally, Fortunism. There are thousands of divine beings with no small amount of power, whom samurai and peasants alike pray to daily, out of respect and for blessings and favors. The Fortunes, or the Thousand Fortunes. There is a fortune of housewives, a fortune of fishing, fortunes of winds and rains and thunder. There are seven major deities, the Seven Fortunes, who are considered to be the most powerful fortunes, and are the most frequently invoked and worshiped. Benten, Bishamon, Daikoku, Ebisu, Fukurokujin, Hotei, and Jurojin--respectively, the fortunes of Romantic Love, Strength, Wealth, Honest Work, Wisdom and Mercy, Happiness, and Longevity. Naturally, the Lady Sun and Lord Moon are revered, as well, in their own ways. It is a very difficult thing to be a nonbeliever of any such pantheon in Rokugan--the fortunes do grant blessings to people. Quite regularly, in fact. But they will also impose curses. Those who offer insult to the heavens, or who do not respect their ways, can expect crops to wilt and die, can expect commercial interests to fall flat, or their love life to take a hit. The worst, most unrepentant sinners can simply be struck dead, or worse--upon reincarnation, take up a lower form. Being reborn as a samurai, or a samurai of higher station, is the spiritual goal of most. Insults upon the heavens can result in one reincarnating as a leech, or a fly, or a malevolent spirit.
Maintaining etiquette in Rokugan is never straightforward, and always expected of a samurai. A samurai always maintains their on, their face. You may laugh, but don't show your teeth. You may smile, but not too broadly, and don't show your teeth. A samurai doesn't openly weep. A samurai doesn't wear the face of anger. To lose the picture that one is completely serene, to lose face, is to dishonor oneself, and insult everybody who sees it. There are very, very few exceptions to when a samurai may lower or altogether drop his or her on, but the most common opportunity is spending time with a geisha. A samurai can bring a geisha into their room, and weep to them about how scary being a bushi is, or laugh and smile about all those good times. Because a geisha isn't a true person, so it's alright. A samurai can't even express such emotion with their spouse. Again, with a few exceptions.
On isn't the sole aspect of etiquette, though, oh no. You wait to be acknowledged by a samurai of higher station. You bow to them--lower than they need to bow to you. You engage in polite conversation. The Rokugani equivalent of "how are you?" is "have you had rice today?". Samurai, upon entering a holding, will usually present themselves to the lord, or head-man, as it's only polite. When entering the presence or court of a higher ranking samurai, a lower ranking samurai must surrender their katana, as being in the presence of an official, armed, is seen as a threat. Contrarily, going to meet a great enemy, unarmed, is a significant insult, implying that one's enemy is not a threat at all. Gift giving has its own traditions. A gift is offered, and the recipient politely declines such a generous gift. The gift is offered again, but oh no, I am unworthy of such a gift. The gift is offered a third time, and oh, very well, it would be insulting to refuse such a generous offer. And it would be rude. For either party to shorten or withdraw the offering of a gift is a great insult. And never, EVER, touch another samurai, and NEVER EVER touch their daisho.
Food is good. Food is great. Rice is a staple food. Fresh fish is a delicacy. Vegetables are lovely. Red meat is REALLY NOT OKAY. Red meat is "unclean". Samurai may hunt boar and such for sport, but they don't eat the meat. They might give it to eta to eat. Eta aren't people. Although, ahem, Unicorn picked up eating red meat as a tradition from Gaijin. And Dragon, supposedly, sometimes eat "mountain tuna".
Bushido is paramount to the life of a samurai. As first laid down by the Kami Akodo, there are seven virtues of Bushido that every samurai *must* adhere to.
Compassion. A samurai does not fight for himself, alone. A samurai has a duty to protect others, regardless of clan, or station.
Courage. A samurai does not cower and refuse to act, nor does he blindly rush into danger. A samurai uses respect and caution to do what must be done.
Courtesy. A samurai is not cruel. Respect, even for one's enemies, is what separates men from animals, and a samurai's true, inner strength becomes apparent during the most difficult of times.
Duty. A samurai takes responsibility for what he does and says, and remains true to those he is sworn to.
Honesty. A samurai speaks truly, and seeks true justice. There are no shades of grey. There is only right and wrong.
Honor. A samurai is the only judge of himself. Your decisions reflect who you are. You cannot hide from yourself.
Sincerity. A samurai says something and he does it. There is no "promise" or "word given". Nothing will stop him from completing what he must do. Speaking and doing are the same action.
While many clans often do, and indeed, must, set aside tenets of bushido in order to serve their clan, and their empire, all samurai strive to follow bushido as best they can. To follow bushido is to live a good and worthy life, and its reward is the lack of fear for reincarnation. To eschew bushido is to cast aside what makes one a samurai.
It's not so much the threat of death that evokes terror as one thinks of the Shadowlands--it's mostly the Shadowlands Taint. The touch of Jigoku. As it was when the taint first came to Rokugan, so much as a drop of tainted blood, or spending any time in the Shadowlands can risk damnation. Very real damnation. Upon death, most ascend to the Celestial Heavens, to be judged for their deeds, and reincarnated appropriately. Those who are tainted have their connection to the Heavens severed. Those who are tainted are doomed to have their soul sent straight to Jigoku. Picture hell. Now picture it worse. Now picture it even worse, plus add tentacles, disease, and madness. The taint was originally nonconsenual--spend time in the Shadowlands or get hit with tainted ichor, your soul would burn until you submitted to the taint. (Which was very hard to do, even for hardened samurai, because pain hurts.) But with the creation of the Spider Clan, taking on the taint is now only purely voluntary--supposedly.
Many battles were fought--Fu Leng arose again, and was defeated once more--, new clans and families established, and even new celestial deities rose to station. A conversation between Shinsei and Hantei, as recorded by Shiba, became the Tao. Shinseism is widely practiced, many samurai studying Shinsei's teachings to become Enlightened. Amaterasu and Onnotangu were replaced, and their replacements replaced yet again--the Dragon of Jade is now Lady Sun, also known as the Jade Sun, and her twin the Obsidian Dragon is now Lord Moon, or the Obsidian Moon. Two new major clans established themselves, along with many minor clans. The Kharmic Wheel keeps spinning.
Samurai men and women are regarded more or less equally. About half of the samurai warriors, or bushi, are actually female--female bushi are usually referred to as samurai-ko. While there are some different expectations placed on women, usually only in court settings (a female must speak more softly than a man, she must walk slower), female bushi are regarded and respected as much as male bushi. Some families of Rokugan are even matriarchal--the Matsu of the Lion Clan were founded by a fierce woman, and so, the female Matsu are expected to lead dangerous head-on charges, while male Matsu may have less expected of them. The Utaku of the Unicorn Clan are renowned for their Utaku steeds, the finest warhorses of Rokugan. Men of their family are often required to provide the feeding, grooming, training, and regular care for the steeds, while Utaku women are the only samurai in the empire granted the honor of riding Utaku warhorses into battle--though any woman who mistreats or injures her Utaku horse can expect to be banished from the family, if not outright executed.
Peasants in Rokugan aren't people. Samurai are people, and people are worthy of respect. Monks aren't samurai, but they represent Enlightenment, wisdom, peace, and so on, so they are treated with respect and leniency. But peasants aren't people. Heimen, what most peasants are, are half-people. They are geisha, artisans and smiths, merchants, farmers. They do what is needed for the operation of the empire, and their services are valued by their lords, but if a peasant offers sufficient insult to a samurai, their life is forfeit. Beating or killing a lord's peasants without sufficient reason is essentially property crime. Eta are scum. They are not human. They do the jobs no samurai would be caught dead doing, nor would even a heimen stoop to their lows. Eta collect trash and clean the streets. Eta collect corpses, examine them, and dispose of them. Dead flesh is never, ever touched by a samurai or a heimen, it is unclean--but eta can and must do this. Magistrates will sometimes employ eta to torture and extract confession from criminals. For a magistrate or any other samurai to touch flesh and blood is dirty, but eta can do that.
There are the Kami (now long since dead or otherwise departed), the founders of Rokugan, but there are also the kami. Elementals. The kami generally exist in harmony, their balance allowing life to thrive in the areas where they dwell. Shugenja, who are essentially priests, may often entreat the kami to use their powers--either for combat purposes, or perhaps for creating food, blessing a shrine, cleansing a building of spirits, or to many other ends--not necessarily moral ends.
As I previously glossed over, religion is a pretty big part of Rokugani life. In theory, there are three religions, but in practice, most Rokugani devote themselves to all three. Ancestor worship is important to all samurai--the recognition of those that came before them, and died to make their family better. Those descended from Kami will also, naturally, pay respects to their respective divine ancestor. Shinseism is the (usually lifelong) pursuit of Enlightenment, a state of greater understanding of the universe, and of elemental balance. Most pursuers of Enlightenment study the Tao, Shinsei's teachings, and there are many orders of monks devoted to such an end. Finally, Fortunism. There are thousands of divine beings with no small amount of power, whom samurai and peasants alike pray to daily, out of respect and for blessings and favors. The Fortunes, or the Thousand Fortunes. There is a fortune of housewives, a fortune of fishing, fortunes of winds and rains and thunder. There are seven major deities, the Seven Fortunes, who are considered to be the most powerful fortunes, and are the most frequently invoked and worshiped. Benten, Bishamon, Daikoku, Ebisu, Fukurokujin, Hotei, and Jurojin--respectively, the fortunes of Romantic Love, Strength, Wealth, Honest Work, Wisdom and Mercy, Happiness, and Longevity. Naturally, the Lady Sun and Lord Moon are revered, as well, in their own ways. It is a very difficult thing to be a nonbeliever of any such pantheon in Rokugan--the fortunes do grant blessings to people. Quite regularly, in fact. But they will also impose curses. Those who offer insult to the heavens, or who do not respect their ways, can expect crops to wilt and die, can expect commercial interests to fall flat, or their love life to take a hit. The worst, most unrepentant sinners can simply be struck dead, or worse--upon reincarnation, take up a lower form. Being reborn as a samurai, or a samurai of higher station, is the spiritual goal of most. Insults upon the heavens can result in one reincarnating as a leech, or a fly, or a malevolent spirit.
Maintaining etiquette in Rokugan is never straightforward, and always expected of a samurai. A samurai always maintains their on, their face. You may laugh, but don't show your teeth. You may smile, but not too broadly, and don't show your teeth. A samurai doesn't openly weep. A samurai doesn't wear the face of anger. To lose the picture that one is completely serene, to lose face, is to dishonor oneself, and insult everybody who sees it. There are very, very few exceptions to when a samurai may lower or altogether drop his or her on, but the most common opportunity is spending time with a geisha. A samurai can bring a geisha into their room, and weep to them about how scary being a bushi is, or laugh and smile about all those good times. Because a geisha isn't a true person, so it's alright. A samurai can't even express such emotion with their spouse. Again, with a few exceptions.
On isn't the sole aspect of etiquette, though, oh no. You wait to be acknowledged by a samurai of higher station. You bow to them--lower than they need to bow to you. You engage in polite conversation. The Rokugani equivalent of "how are you?" is "have you had rice today?". Samurai, upon entering a holding, will usually present themselves to the lord, or head-man, as it's only polite. When entering the presence or court of a higher ranking samurai, a lower ranking samurai must surrender their katana, as being in the presence of an official, armed, is seen as a threat. Contrarily, going to meet a great enemy, unarmed, is a significant insult, implying that one's enemy is not a threat at all. Gift giving has its own traditions. A gift is offered, and the recipient politely declines such a generous gift. The gift is offered again, but oh no, I am unworthy of such a gift. The gift is offered a third time, and oh, very well, it would be insulting to refuse such a generous offer. And it would be rude. For either party to shorten or withdraw the offering of a gift is a great insult. And never, EVER, touch another samurai, and NEVER EVER touch their daisho.
Food is good. Food is great. Rice is a staple food. Fresh fish is a delicacy. Vegetables are lovely. Red meat is REALLY NOT OKAY. Red meat is "unclean". Samurai may hunt boar and such for sport, but they don't eat the meat. They might give it to eta to eat. Eta aren't people. Although, ahem, Unicorn picked up eating red meat as a tradition from Gaijin. And Dragon, supposedly, sometimes eat "mountain tuna".
Bushido is paramount to the life of a samurai. As first laid down by the Kami Akodo, there are seven virtues of Bushido that every samurai *must* adhere to.
Compassion. A samurai does not fight for himself, alone. A samurai has a duty to protect others, regardless of clan, or station.
Courage. A samurai does not cower and refuse to act, nor does he blindly rush into danger. A samurai uses respect and caution to do what must be done.
Courtesy. A samurai is not cruel. Respect, even for one's enemies, is what separates men from animals, and a samurai's true, inner strength becomes apparent during the most difficult of times.
Duty. A samurai takes responsibility for what he does and says, and remains true to those he is sworn to.
Honesty. A samurai speaks truly, and seeks true justice. There are no shades of grey. There is only right and wrong.
Honor. A samurai is the only judge of himself. Your decisions reflect who you are. You cannot hide from yourself.
Sincerity. A samurai says something and he does it. There is no "promise" or "word given". Nothing will stop him from completing what he must do. Speaking and doing are the same action.
While many clans often do, and indeed, must, set aside tenets of bushido in order to serve their clan, and their empire, all samurai strive to follow bushido as best they can. To follow bushido is to live a good and worthy life, and its reward is the lack of fear for reincarnation. To eschew bushido is to cast aside what makes one a samurai.
Character Creation
Lots of important stuff under this hide tag, but the post is huge, so... ...hide tags!
Hidden:
Sorry, but no Shugenja. They're complicated and generally just a pain in the ass, both mechanically and within the social structure of Rokugan.
Don't worry about Honor, Glory, and Status. I will keep track of those myself, and you will gain or lose them throughout the RP as you do what you do. Honor is both how you personally perceive your own honor, and how others see you. Glory is your fame and how easily you are recognized for your deeds. Status is your station, rank, in society. As a bushi, for example, at rank 1, you're essentially a private, while status rank 2 means you're a corporal.
Please see Last Haiku for all major character creation info, here. http://lasthaiku.wikidot.com/ All the character creation stuff is under Book of Earth. It isn't 100% complete--for more info on ronin schools, weapons (and weapons' stats), or anything else you're unsure of, please PM me. I have the core book. I've got allllllmost all the answers.
L5R RPG character creation sounds difficult at first, but honestly, it isn't so bad. First, choose what you want to play. A samurai (and "samurai" includes courtiers (politicians) and shugenja (you're not playing a shugenja though!) of one of the Great Clans, perhaps a ronin, or a monk. You cannot play as a peasant. There are nonhuman races in Rokugan, but you cannot play one of those, either. (They're tricky to RP properly, and it would be too hard to go through Rokugan as one, for the purposes of this RP. Nonhumans are mostly seen [and used] as slave labourers.)
All skills are governed by a corresponding trait--hey, kinda like TES games pre-Skyrim, right? The exact details of how they influence rolls, you don't really need to worry about, but when selecting skills and trait increases, you may want to keep in mind what skill is governed by which trait. All that skill/trait malarky is detailed in Last Haiku. Just look for the specific skill, and it'll tell you what trait governs it. If it says (various), just ask me.
I'll detail briefly what each trait means. Stamina is physical toughness--how many wounds you can take, your ability to resist pain, disease, and poison, and how quickly you recover. Willpower is mental toughness, resisting urges, compulsions, or sometimes, certain spells. Strength directly affects damage rolls, and it's obviously...strength. Perception is the five senses. Awareness is social. It's your base ability to read someone, to gauge a social situation, to be charming or intimidating as suits you. Reflexes...are your reflexes. It partially affects dueling, and affects your initiative roll. Agility is your gross motor functions, kinda. It's your general consistency to be able to swing a sword or staff or whatever, accurately, or to dance in rhythm, or what have you. Intelligence...your smarts. VOID...a little trickier to explain. Your connection to the void is your connection to the flow and ebb of the universe. It affects certain spiritual focused rolls, and affects a portion of dueling.
You have 60 exp to spend on your character, initially.
Taking an advantage costs the indicated amount of exp. Taking a disadvantage allows you to spend the indicated amount of exp on more skills, traits, advantages, or whatever you wish to spend it on. You cannot take more advantages or disadvantages, at character creation, whose total exp cost/award is more than 15 exp. Having more than 15 exp worth of advantages at character creation means you will have a sore lacking of traits and skills. Gaining more than 15 exp of disadvantages may sound nice, to pump more exp into traits, but you will effectively be crippled by the number of debuffs from those disadvantages, at that point.
There are two advantages you may not take, and one disadvantage you may not take; Great Destiny, Sage, and Dark Fate, respectively. Great Destiny and Dark Fate can potentially make you immortal, which is...not cool. Sage gives you rank one in every Lore skill. EVERY LORE SKILL. While many skills have, potentially, many subskills, there is theoretically an infinite number of Lore skills. As well, those wishing to take the Gentry advantage may have no larger than a Village (8 pts.), and their character must be married. Can't have you acquiring vast amounts of wealth, and it really doesn't make sense for any of you to oversee a large village or bigger--at the beginning, you're essentially neophyte samurai, not powerful lords. The marriage aspect? A holding can only be "properly" overseen by the respective lord of that holding, though usually, their spouse oversees the day to day maintenance.
Skills cost exp equal to the skill rank you're increasing them to. If you decide to take up Artisan: Ikebana, it costs 1 exp to have rank 1 in it. To improve it again, it costs 2 exp to raise it to rank 2, 3 exp for rank 3, and so on.
Skills cannot be increased past rank 5 unless I award you enough exp in one shot to buy that rank. The maximum rank a skill can be raised to is 10. At the beginning of the game, you're neophyte samurai. Nobody is a master of any skill...yet. If you complete a harrowing encounter, I may choose to award everyone 6 exp, so someone could then use those 6 exp to increase, say, their Kenjutsu from 5 to 6.
For most skills, at ranks 3, 5, and 7, certain bonuses are attained. There's also a bonus at rank 10, but...none of you is reaching rank 10 in anything for a looong time. I will keep track of these bonuses myself, so you needn't bother.
You can purchase an Emphasis within a skill for additional benefit. Emphases cost 2 exp each. Emphases are indicated in brackets, in the manner of Kenjutsu (Katana). Having emphasis in a particular focus of a particular skill means any 1's in the relevant skill roll are rerolled. If a reroll results in another 1, it is not rerolled again.
All traits start at 2 by default. Traits other than Void cost exp equal to the next rank times 4. Say you have a 2 in Intelligence. Increasing Intelligence to rank 3 would cost 12 exp. Increasing it again to rank 4 would cost 16 exp.
Increasing Void is different. Because increasing Void directly increases your insight, it costs more to increase. Increasing your Void costs exp equal to the next rank times 6. Say you have a 2 in Void. Increasing Void to rank 3 would cost 18 exp. Increasing it again to rank 4 would cost 24 exp.
Rings are the elements. One's ring rank is determined by both traits under that ring. If you have 2 Stamina and 2 Willpower, your Earth Ring is 2. If you have Stamina 3 and Willpower 2, your earth ring is still 2. If you have both Stamina and Willpower at 3, your Earth Ring is 3.
For monks using Kiho, you must meet or exceed the Mastery Level to be able to learn it and use it. Mastery Level is your school rank plus your relevant Ring rank.
Ninja being portrayed in a mystical or supernatural fashion may purchase Kiho, but at twice the regular cost.
Your inventory is determined by your school. You will have certain weapons provided, certain choices of armor, or extra weapons, along with a quantity of Koku, and your traveling pack. Your traveling pack can include a number of miscellaneous items of varying use and value, but be reasonable with what you include in there. Think, I don't know, chopsticks, a daisho stand, a handkerchief, a cooking pot, sake.
Don't worry about Honor, Glory, and Status. I will keep track of those myself, and you will gain or lose them throughout the RP as you do what you do. Honor is both how you personally perceive your own honor, and how others see you. Glory is your fame and how easily you are recognized for your deeds. Status is your station, rank, in society. As a bushi, for example, at rank 1, you're essentially a private, while status rank 2 means you're a corporal.
Please see Last Haiku for all major character creation info, here. http://lasthaiku.wikidot.com/ All the character creation stuff is under Book of Earth. It isn't 100% complete--for more info on ronin schools, weapons (and weapons' stats), or anything else you're unsure of, please PM me. I have the core book. I've got allllllmost all the answers.
L5R RPG character creation sounds difficult at first, but honestly, it isn't so bad. First, choose what you want to play. A samurai (and "samurai" includes courtiers (politicians) and shugenja (you're not playing a shugenja though!) of one of the Great Clans, perhaps a ronin, or a monk. You cannot play as a peasant. There are nonhuman races in Rokugan, but you cannot play one of those, either. (They're tricky to RP properly, and it would be too hard to go through Rokugan as one, for the purposes of this RP. Nonhumans are mostly seen [and used] as slave labourers.)
All skills are governed by a corresponding trait--hey, kinda like TES games pre-Skyrim, right? The exact details of how they influence rolls, you don't really need to worry about, but when selecting skills and trait increases, you may want to keep in mind what skill is governed by which trait. All that skill/trait malarky is detailed in Last Haiku. Just look for the specific skill, and it'll tell you what trait governs it. If it says (various), just ask me.
I'll detail briefly what each trait means. Stamina is physical toughness--how many wounds you can take, your ability to resist pain, disease, and poison, and how quickly you recover. Willpower is mental toughness, resisting urges, compulsions, or sometimes, certain spells. Strength directly affects damage rolls, and it's obviously...strength. Perception is the five senses. Awareness is social. It's your base ability to read someone, to gauge a social situation, to be charming or intimidating as suits you. Reflexes...are your reflexes. It partially affects dueling, and affects your initiative roll. Agility is your gross motor functions, kinda. It's your general consistency to be able to swing a sword or staff or whatever, accurately, or to dance in rhythm, or what have you. Intelligence...your smarts. VOID...a little trickier to explain. Your connection to the void is your connection to the flow and ebb of the universe. It affects certain spiritual focused rolls, and affects a portion of dueling.
You have 60 exp to spend on your character, initially.
Taking an advantage costs the indicated amount of exp. Taking a disadvantage allows you to spend the indicated amount of exp on more skills, traits, advantages, or whatever you wish to spend it on. You cannot take more advantages or disadvantages, at character creation, whose total exp cost/award is more than 15 exp. Having more than 15 exp worth of advantages at character creation means you will have a sore lacking of traits and skills. Gaining more than 15 exp of disadvantages may sound nice, to pump more exp into traits, but you will effectively be crippled by the number of debuffs from those disadvantages, at that point.
There are two advantages you may not take, and one disadvantage you may not take; Great Destiny, Sage, and Dark Fate, respectively. Great Destiny and Dark Fate can potentially make you immortal, which is...not cool. Sage gives you rank one in every Lore skill. EVERY LORE SKILL. While many skills have, potentially, many subskills, there is theoretically an infinite number of Lore skills. As well, those wishing to take the Gentry advantage may have no larger than a Village (8 pts.), and their character must be married. Can't have you acquiring vast amounts of wealth, and it really doesn't make sense for any of you to oversee a large village or bigger--at the beginning, you're essentially neophyte samurai, not powerful lords. The marriage aspect? A holding can only be "properly" overseen by the respective lord of that holding, though usually, their spouse oversees the day to day maintenance.
Skills cost exp equal to the skill rank you're increasing them to. If you decide to take up Artisan: Ikebana, it costs 1 exp to have rank 1 in it. To improve it again, it costs 2 exp to raise it to rank 2, 3 exp for rank 3, and so on.
Skills cannot be increased past rank 5 unless I award you enough exp in one shot to buy that rank. The maximum rank a skill can be raised to is 10. At the beginning of the game, you're neophyte samurai. Nobody is a master of any skill...yet. If you complete a harrowing encounter, I may choose to award everyone 6 exp, so someone could then use those 6 exp to increase, say, their Kenjutsu from 5 to 6.
For most skills, at ranks 3, 5, and 7, certain bonuses are attained. There's also a bonus at rank 10, but...none of you is reaching rank 10 in anything for a looong time. I will keep track of these bonuses myself, so you needn't bother.
You can purchase an Emphasis within a skill for additional benefit. Emphases cost 2 exp each. Emphases are indicated in brackets, in the manner of Kenjutsu (Katana). Having emphasis in a particular focus of a particular skill means any 1's in the relevant skill roll are rerolled. If a reroll results in another 1, it is not rerolled again.
All traits start at 2 by default. Traits other than Void cost exp equal to the next rank times 4. Say you have a 2 in Intelligence. Increasing Intelligence to rank 3 would cost 12 exp. Increasing it again to rank 4 would cost 16 exp.
Increasing Void is different. Because increasing Void directly increases your insight, it costs more to increase. Increasing your Void costs exp equal to the next rank times 6. Say you have a 2 in Void. Increasing Void to rank 3 would cost 18 exp. Increasing it again to rank 4 would cost 24 exp.
Rings are the elements. One's ring rank is determined by both traits under that ring. If you have 2 Stamina and 2 Willpower, your Earth Ring is 2. If you have Stamina 3 and Willpower 2, your earth ring is still 2. If you have both Stamina and Willpower at 3, your Earth Ring is 3.
For monks using Kiho, you must meet or exceed the Mastery Level to be able to learn it and use it. Mastery Level is your school rank plus your relevant Ring rank.
Ninja being portrayed in a mystical or supernatural fashion may purchase Kiho, but at twice the regular cost.
Your inventory is determined by your school. You will have certain weapons provided, certain choices of armor, or extra weapons, along with a quantity of Koku, and your traveling pack. Your traveling pack can include a number of miscellaneous items of varying use and value, but be reasonable with what you include in there. Think, I don't know, chopsticks, a daisho stand, a handkerchief, a cooking pot, sake.
Hidden:
Name: Matsu Ketsuo
Clan: Lion
School: Matsu Berserker
Earth: 3
Stamina: 3 Willpower: 3
Water: 2
Strength: 4 Perception: 2
Air: 2
Reflexes: 2 Awareness: 2
Fire: 3
Agility: 3 Intelligence: 3
Void: 2
Skills: Athletics, Battle, Heavy Weapons, Jiujutsu, Kenjutsu 4 (Katana), Kyujutsu, Lore: History, Etiquette, Investigation, Sincerity
Advantages: Heartless (4)
Disadvantages: Brash (4)
Inventory: Heavy Armor, Daisho, Tetsubo, Traveling Pack (Blanket, Chopsticks, Coin Purse, Daisho Stand, Finger of Jade, Sake Cup), 5 Koku
Personality: Matsu Ketsuo had an abusive childhood, which is incredibly rare in Rokugan. That, coupled with the brutality of Matsu training, has hardened Ketsuo into a very angry young man.
Background: Matsu Ketsuo has just recently passed his gempukku, and became a man in the eyes of society.
Age: 15
Appearance: 5'8", incredibly muscular for a 15 year old. Black hair kept in a top knot.
Clan: Lion
School: Matsu Berserker
Earth: 3
Stamina: 3 Willpower: 3
Water: 2
Strength: 4 Perception: 2
Air: 2
Reflexes: 2 Awareness: 2
Fire: 3
Agility: 3 Intelligence: 3
Void: 2
Skills: Athletics, Battle, Heavy Weapons, Jiujutsu, Kenjutsu 4 (Katana), Kyujutsu, Lore: History, Etiquette, Investigation, Sincerity
Advantages: Heartless (4)
Disadvantages: Brash (4)
Inventory: Heavy Armor, Daisho, Tetsubo, Traveling Pack (Blanket, Chopsticks, Coin Purse, Daisho Stand, Finger of Jade, Sake Cup), 5 Koku
Personality: Matsu Ketsuo had an abusive childhood, which is incredibly rare in Rokugan. That, coupled with the brutality of Matsu training, has hardened Ketsuo into a very angry young man.
Background: Matsu Ketsuo has just recently passed his gempukku, and became a man in the eyes of society.
Age: 15
Appearance: 5'8", incredibly muscular for a 15 year old. Black hair kept in a top knot.
Hidden:
Name:
Clan:
School:
Earth:
Stamina: Willpower:
Water:
Strength: Perception:
Air:
Reflexes: Awareness:
Fire:
Agility: Intelligence:
Void:
Skills:
Advantages(if any):
Disadvantages(if any):
Inventory:
Personality(you can choose to simply express it through gameplay):
Background(ditto):
Age(between 12 and 24, please):
Appearance:
(IF KIHO USING MONK)Earth Kiho:
Water Kiho:
Air Kiho:
Fire Kiho:
Void Kiho:
Clan:
School:
Earth:
Stamina: Willpower:
Water:
Strength: Perception:
Air:
Reflexes: Awareness:
Fire:
Agility: Intelligence:
Void:
Skills:
Advantages(if any):
Disadvantages(if any):
Inventory:
Personality(you can choose to simply express it through gameplay):
Background(ditto):
Age(between 12 and 24, please):
Appearance:
(IF KIHO USING MONK)Earth Kiho:
Water Kiho:
Air Kiho:
Fire Kiho:
Void Kiho:
And again, please, don't hesitate to ask me any questions you might have. I am here to serve. There is a lot to L5R, and to the RPG, and I might well have glossed over or entirely missed something.
This RP will begin relatively soonish, I promise you. While I'm writing this, I'm also writing for my Elder Scrolls themed D&D campaign irl, so, keep that in mind. XD I'm working as fast and as hard as I can.
If people aren't interested anymore or have been scared off, that's okay. I can adapt and improvise for a small party, or a party of 1, as it presently stands. Or just flood it with friends from irl because I want to start and finish a RP on here, goddamnit. 
