Post by emeralddragon on Apr 17, 2017 5:08:50 GMT 10
This post is still subject to being edited, however a dedicated post is needed at this point.
Overall rule: The GM can and will overrule these rules if someone has done something broken. His own knowledge of the books is not perfectly intimate and thus he accepts he may miss something important.
XP:
Characters will start with 45 character points and 85 XP with a LIKELY 10 more for backstory. (As long as you give me something to work with you are fine) Yes this is less then I initially said, however I was a little generous the first time. Insight Rank 4 characters are not allowed.
ACCEPTED RULEBOOKS
All rulebooks are accepted, however certain events in Imperial Histories 1 and 2 did not happen, and as such, use caution in taking any ability from those books. Any further exceptions or bans are listed below.
A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY
This document uses the terms “restricted” and “banned” in numerous locations. These terms are defined as such within this document:
Banned: These mechanic cannot be used for a player character, no matter how much the player begs, prods, or bribes the GM Team.
Restricted: These mechanics, while not open for widespread use on player characters, can be obtained with express written permission of the GM (aka me). Typically permission is granted when a player shows reasonable effort on their part as to why their character should be allowed to have a particular restricted mechanic, or if they are using a less broken version of the Restricted mechanic. The granting of permission to use restricted mechanics on player characters is fully under the GM’s discretion, and players wishing to have their characters have a restricted mechanic must contact the GM at the start of character creation to see whether or not permission will be granted.
Skills:
All players must start play with either a Game, Artisan, Preform or Acting Skill. You are Samurai, and even if you do not understand art, your education would have included something of the Left Handed path.
Try to keep rank 1 skills to a reasonable level. I will not set an exact maximum number, but understand if over 2/3 your skills are rank 1 you will need some sort of justification for this.
The following changes have been made to skills:
1) The following new skills exist
a) Pilot (Bugei Skill, Int based) Covers flying crafts, be they in space or the upper atmosphere,
Emphasizes include Space, Atmosphere, Combat
Mastery Abilities (3) You can use full attack stance while Piloting a small vessel.
(5) The Character gains +5 to the total of any Piloting roll, made as part of a Cooperative or Cumulative roll.
b) Drive (Merchant skill, Int based) Covers land and Water Vehicles
Emphasizes include Hovercraft, Walker, Wheeled.
Mastery Abilities (5) Gain +5 bonus to any check made for rough terrain or driving exceeding the safe speed of the Vehicle.
c) Computing (High Skill, Awareness Based.) Covers any use of Computers or such devices.
Emphasizes include Research, Programing and Hacking(Considered a Low Skill).
Mastery Abilities (5) The Character gains a +5 bonus when attempting to hack into a system or program.
d) Firearms (Bugei Skill, Reflexes based) Guns of various types
Emphasizes include Sidearm, Rifle,
Mastery Abilities (3) Reloading is a Free Action instead of a Simple Action.
(5) Shooting into Melee is now has a -5 to the attack roll penalty instead of -10, whether its your own or friendly. Missing Attack TN by 10 or less still has a chance to hit allies.
e) Artillery (Bugei skill, Reflexes based) Firing in ship to ship combat.
Emphasizes include Fighter, Bomber, Canon.
Mastery Abilities (3) +5 to any piloting or drive roll made while firing inbuilt weaponry.
(5) +5 to any coordinated attack roll on another vessel.
2) The following skills are changed:
a) Engineering is now a Macro Skill covering various types of engineering. It also now has the Emphasis 'Repair'and the Mastery ability (3) Gain 1k1 for any roll made to a repair roll with inadequate parts or equipment. It is still considered a Craft Skill for the Purpose of effects that target craft skills
b) Lore: Anatomy no long exists.
c) Medicine has the new Emphasizes Anatomy, Drugs, Surgery (Low Skill) and Poisons (Low skill) to represent developments in medicine. Please note: Increased medical knowledge has not decreased peoples dislike of unclean things such as blood. In fact those who study medicine in any great degree almost ALWAYS end up working with Eta due to the nature of their work, in the same way Shugenja who deal with the dead do. This is to the point that the word Surgeon is often used as a was to say Maho-tsukai in polite company.
d) Sailing no longer exists as a skill.
e) Horsemanship and Kyujutsu are considered 'High skills,' for any ability that effects high skills. The traditions are almost lost to Samurai, but those who choose to persue them are in many say considered artists, and dedicated to the art of war and peace their ancestors practiced.
3) For the Purposes of School Skills:
a)Any time you see Sailing or Horsemanship, Substitute for Drive OR Piloting (Players choice)
b)Any time you see Kyujutsu, substitute for Firearms.
Honor/Status/Glory:
A character’s starting glory and status may be adjusted by the GM if they feel it is necessary for the character’s position, duties, or other story reasons. A publicly-accessible thread managed by the GM and locked so that only the GM can comment on it will be posted to the OOC Sub Forum with the official record of each character’s current Glory and Status. This post shall be periodically updated throughout the duration of Winter Court.
Should you preform an act that would increase your Glory/Honor, Please PM me with a link to the post. Its not always easy to keep track of minor increases.
For players overly concerned about their character’s Glory and Status, please send a PM me with your concerns and they will help you as much as they can with your questions. For those simply trying to fill in their character sheet, the following can be used:
Glory: Samurai start out with Glory 1.0 at Insight Rank 1 and increase by 0.5 Glory each time they increase in Insight Rank up to 3, then 1.0 for every rank after 3. This is to reflect that reaching Insight Rank 3 is not uncommon, but gaining skill beyond that starts to truly make you a unusually skilled and thus famous Samurai. All other castes (such as monks, for example) continue to be affected by modifiers to their Glory as per the 4th Edition core rulebook.
Status: Samurai start play with a Status of 1.0. Those with prominent duties may have their Status increased by me. And as above, all standard modifiers to Status remain to monks and other non-samurai characters.
Families and Minor Clans:
The Chuda, Kokujin, Goju Ninube and Kakita families are banned. (And doesn't it feel wrong to put the Kakita beside those Spider)
The Minor Clans defunct in 1200 are likewise banned.
New families for the Clans will be posted in latter posts in this thread.
SCHOOLS AND PATHS
Schools and paths that come with Horses in Starting Gear can choose to to start with a Speeder, or fighter.
The Matsu Beastmaster School is no longer avalible to the Matsu family and is now a school of the Fox Clan, called the Kitsune Animal Savior School. It is not linked to Lions exclusively anymore either.
Any School technique that mentions Horsemanship/Sailing, please convert to Drive or Piloting depending on your chosen focus. Likewise any School technique that refers to the Kyujutsu skill, substitute for Firearms.
Due to the amount of Paths and Advanced Schools in the setting, it is possible further paths are Banned or Restricted. Please do use Common sense and if unsure, ask. The GM reserves the right to say a path doesn't fit with the setting. In addition new paths and Schools will be created and like new families will be added to this thread as they get made.
Any School that would come with a Horse (For example the Utaku Battle Maidens, instead starts with a Speeder), or, with GM permission a Starfighter.
The Following Schools are banned:
Dark Moto Cavalry
Goju Ninja
Chuda Shugenja
Ninube Shugenja
Free Ogre Bushi
Tsuno Ravager
Ogre Mage
Tsuno Soultwister
Order of the Five Rings Monk
Hantei Bushi School.
The Following Paths are Banned
The Blood Speaker Technique.
The Nameless Ones
Order of the Stone Crab
Chrysanthemum Conspirator
Any School or Path that mentions the Gozoku is restricted, unless the player can explain how they have access to techniques almost 2000 years dead. Likewise the Kenku Bushi is restricted unless you are specifically taught by a Kenku.
All Advanced Schools are restricted, however compared to all other mentions of restricted in this list, it is easier to get into. An explanation and approval is still required.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Characters may have a maximum of 15 XP spent on Advantages and may have a maximum of 10 XP in Disadvantages.
Additional Disadvantages can be taken for no XP gain.
All Advantages and Disadvantages listed in allowed rulebooks are available to characters except as noted herein.
The Following Advantages are Banned: Forbidden Knowledge (Lying Darkness, Gozoku, Gaijin Pepper, Bloodspeaker cult). The Shosuro-Ikoma alliance has done its job and in the eyes of the entire empire the first two events did not happen. As for the Bloodspeakers and Iuchiban, history does record the events happened, but Iuchiban is believed by almost all historians to be an Eta who defied the Celestial Order.
As for Gaijin pepper, first due to the actions of the Daidoji, and then latter due to the development of more advanced weapons, such knowledge became redundant.
The following Advantages are restricted: Allies, Different School, Forbidden Knowledge (all others), Great Destiny, Multiple Schools, Spy Network, Touch of the Spirit Realm.
The following Disadvantages are restricted: Dark Fate, Dark Secret, Sleeper Agent
, Gaijin Gear.
The following Disadvantages are banned: Hostage, Sacred Weapon (Black Steel Blade),
Modified Advangtages/Disadvantages
Any use of the Allies advantage must be discussed with the GM, if only to determine the type of person your ally is, the nature of your relationship and the political power of your ally.
Lord Moon's Curse: The connection between Lord Moon and the various other Moons in the universe is poorly understood, however what is known is that the curse applies to the rise and set on Full Moon Night of your Birth planet's Largest Moon. The curse is not avoidable while in space, but NEITHER will you arrive in a system and suffer the curse due to just arriving at the wrong time.
Gentry: Due to the rarity of powerful ships, the Gentry advantage considers the following things as equivalents.
Large or important Satellite: Provence
Small or Minor Clan Satellite: City
Katana or Tetsubo class Spaceship: Town.
Light Cruiser or Carrier: Large Village
Smaller vessels come under their own advantage.
Gaijin (Alien) Gear: This advantage is banned to all but the Tortoise and the Unicorn. Should you choose to take it, GM discussion will be required to work out the nature of the Alien technology you have acquired.
Bitter Betrothal: If this Disadvantage is taken in regards to another player character, you must obtain written consent from the player of that character.
Blackmail: May only target another player character with the written consent of the player of that character.
Blackmailed: The character who blackmailed you, if a player character, must themselves possess the Blackmail Advantage, where their Blackmail Advantage involves your character.
Blissful Betrothal: If this Advantage is taken with another player character, both characters must have the Advantage and both players must mutually consent to their characters having such a relation.
Dangerous Beauty/Lechery: Always apply to non-player characters. In regards to any use to the seduction rules require express consent for player characters.
Fame: This Advantage may be taken up to 3 times.
Sage: This Advantage works as normal, except it does not grant any knowledge at all whatsoever, in any fashion, on any subject that falls under the Forbidden Knowledge Advantage.
Shadowlands Taint: This Disadvantage may be taken no more then twice.
Sworn Enemy: This Disadvantage may only be purchased at character creation in regards to another consenting player character. You are required to obtain written consent from the other character’s player.
New Advantages:
Sacred Weapon (Gyushi Blade), 5 Points: (3k2 Katana) Forged by the smith-priests of the Gyushi, each blade is a minor nemuranai that reflects the ego of its wielder. One who strikes with a Gyushi blade adds their glory rank to their attack roll and infamy rank to their damage roll.
Rapid Response unit (2/3/5): Speed is critical in the Empire of Emerald Stars, and while finding the way home is always doable, some select few are given the privilege of not having to trust Samurai traders or merchant vessels. The 2 point version gives you access to a Speeder, enabling you to move across a world quickly. The Three point version give you access to a Fighter produced by the massive Unicorn shipyards, an unusual vessel that can manage to make a jump or two using a Water Nemuranai rather then a Shugenja. The 5 Point version gives you access to a small multi person combat Freighter, and Shugenja Navigator, likely of Silkworm origins. Be aware you do not own these ships, they are your families ships and their loss could lead to significant consequences.
Technophile [Mental] (3 Points): The Character is surprisingly technically savey when it comes to Computers and similar technology. They gain 1k0 to those rolls.
ZERO-GTRAINING [PHYSICAL](2 POINTS) The character has a +0k1 die when acting in a zero-g atmosphere or trying to resist the vertigo weightlessness.
New Disadvantages:
Cybernetics [Phsycial] (4 Points, 5 for Crab): The Kuni have developed Cybernetic replacements for certain conditions, most commonly used for injuries. While the pressure of the more militant and practical clans has kept it legal, the Isawa have spent considerable political capital trying to get it declared Blasphemy with no success thus far. However, while the Emperor has remained non-committal on the issue on the Dais, declaring that the technology shall be trailed till its effects on the Empire and the Faith of Rokugan is known many in the Empire are, and will treat you accordingly. In addition, some consider it in defiance of destiny and thus could manipulate the results of duels, and finally some Shugenja have worked out how to disable such things, sometimes to the great pain of the user.
Mechanically its considered the Disturbing Countenance disadvantage with two additional drawbacks. The first is some do not believe your duels are valid and the second is that a Shugenja in combat may use the kami to disable such a feature temporarily. It would be unusual way to spend a spell, but it can be done.
ILLITERATE [SOCIAL](2 POINTS)The character cannot read and not write. This creates quite a few barriers in modern society -no newspapers, no road signs, and NO computers.
ZERO-GILLNESS [PHYSICAL](2 POINTS)The character has a -0k2 die when acting in a zero-g atmosphere or trying to resist the vertigo weightlessness.
SPELLS
All shugenja spells listed in all available rulebooks are available, except as noted herein. For those unclear on the shugenja spells listed in Imperial Histories 2, this notice also applies to all shugenja spells in Chapter 2 of that supplement.
Maho spells are of course banned. While the Internet supposedly contains prayers that could be used in such a manner, no honorable Samurai would ever look them up, let alone consider anything futher. Obviously the Jade Magistrates watch such things like a hawk, especially with the Day of Thunder just past.
EQUIPMENT
While the Empire is largely divided on the Kinetic melee weapons vs Radiant Melee weapons, mechanically these weapons work the same, with ONE exception. Both weapon types will have a Kata that the other cannot use, representing Samurai applying their unique qualities to their fighting style. Said Kata will be added latter.
Remember that Perception is added to the DR as unkept dice.
Ammo:
The Empire is commonly served by 4 different types of ammunition, somewhat a result of the Kinetic vs Radiant split, but also due to the different types of enemies the Clans fight.
Radiant Ammo (essentially Lasers): The Standard in most clans, Radiant Lasers work by overpowering the energy field of the armor, allowing the laser to pass through. Its main downside is it cannot be imbued with a sacred substance, making it less effective to not effective on Supernatural foes. (2k3 damage)
Explosive Ammo (Essentially Bolter rounds): Invested by the Kaiu in response to Motonari's campaign, Explosive ammo is designed to penetrate the target's armor before detonating. The round, often filled with a small amount of Jade, did significant damage to anyone or anything tainted. These explosive rounds are propelled out of the weapon using Magnets to hypersonic speeds, undodgeable even by the fastest spacecraft. Unfortunately the energy of Radiant armor causes the rounds to detonate early, greatly weakening its effective use against armored Bushi and many spacecraft. (2k4 damage, 2k2 against Radiant targets)
Sonic Ammo: The backup round on almost any weapon in the Empire, Sonic ammo isn't really ammo at all. Instead, using almost pure electronics the weapon issues a burst of sound, aimed to stun or incapacitate the target (2k2 damage, cannot kill target)
Thunder Ammo: An invention of the Mantis Clan, modifying the spell behind the Storm bottle, it is favored by the Tsuruchi. Able to modify how the Energy of the Angry Air and Fire kami are channeled, the weapon can unleash the high damage of the Explosive round, or the armor penetration of the Radiant round. Its adoption by other clans is hindered by Mantis unwillingness to share the techniques behind the weapon, and the attitude of many clans to intentionally angering the kami, repeatedly over the course of a battle. The Phoenix have on more then one occasion implied the weapons are walking on the edge of Blasphemy. (Able to choose either the effect of Radiant or Explosive Ammo as a Complex action in combat.)
Weapons:
Standard Sidearm
The standard sidearm to most Samurai and often coming in pairs. The Most common Radiant variant is made by the Dragon and known as the Twin Radiants, while the Crane make the most common Explosive variant, the Daidoji's Kiss.
Keywords: Samurai, Small
DR: Use standard Ammo DR.
Range:100'
Standard Rifle:
The Second most common Samurai weapon in the Galaxy after the Katana, the Akodo Arms Indomitable X32 remains the most popular Radiant variant, while the Tortoise Clan Produce the Hyobe Mark 5, the explosive variant, which has an unfortunate habit of falling into the hands of Ronin.
Keywords: Samurai, Medium
DR: Add 1k0 to Ammo DR.
Range:500'
Marksman's Rifle
Certain circumstances require specialized weapons, and while their are a large variety in existence, the sniper rifle is the most common. Convinced by its use in Trade, the Tsuruchi developed the Distant Thunder Model rifle for the Yoritomo to sell to the Radiant Market, however the Soshi's Sting usually sees larger sales, even to those who would traditionally favor Radiant weapons, recognizing the ease of Radiant energy to be seen, and thus the sniper eliminated compared to Explosive rounds.
Keyword: Large
DR: Add 3k0 to Ammo DR.
Range: 1000'
Special: Must spend a round in Centre Stance before each shot and can only make called Shots.
Heavy Assault Rifle
The paramount Anti-Oni, Anti-vehicle weapon in the galaxy, the most common Radiant model, "The Riddle of Fire" are made by the Agasha labs, while the Kaiu make the Forge Devastator-class Siege Weapon for the explosive market. The heavy weapons are difficult to aim accurately and shooting into Melee with this weapon is ill advised.
Keywords: Large
DR: Add 3k0 to Ammo DR
Range:400
Special: Shooting into Melee causes a -15 Penalty, instead of -10. If your roll is under Armor TN by 15 or less, or exceeds armor TN by 5 or less, the large radius of the round is a risk to any in melee range.
Miscellaneous Mechanics:
Heritage Table rolls are allowed however you get only ONE roll, which must be rolled by the GM. That way, you all get my bad luck equally If the Fortune of Dice deems that your ancestors have gifted you a bad heritage, nothing can change that.
Ancestors are Restricted, with them being allows on a case by case basis, depending on how broken they are. It is worth noting that I RP Ancestors, so its possible under particular situations they may aid you more then they normally would....or they may HINDER you more then they normally would.
Increasing Insight Rank does not automatically increase School Rank, instead you must contact your clan for such things, or find an instructor. Through the mystical powers of being a learned and enlightened Samurai, should you find a teacher, you will learn the technique in 1 day, but you must at least put some effort into getting further training. (Don't worry...'some effort' wont be hard).
For mechanics which can only be used a set number of times per session, one session is CURRENTLY set to 1 RL week. Depending on how fast we progress, that may increase or decrease.
Overall rule: The GM can and will overrule these rules if someone has done something broken. His own knowledge of the books is not perfectly intimate and thus he accepts he may miss something important.
XP:
Characters will start with 45 character points and 85 XP with a LIKELY 10 more for backstory. (As long as you give me something to work with you are fine) Yes this is less then I initially said, however I was a little generous the first time. Insight Rank 4 characters are not allowed.
ACCEPTED RULEBOOKS
All rulebooks are accepted, however certain events in Imperial Histories 1 and 2 did not happen, and as such, use caution in taking any ability from those books. Any further exceptions or bans are listed below.
A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY
This document uses the terms “restricted” and “banned” in numerous locations. These terms are defined as such within this document:
Banned: These mechanic cannot be used for a player character, no matter how much the player begs, prods, or bribes the GM Team.
Restricted: These mechanics, while not open for widespread use on player characters, can be obtained with express written permission of the GM (aka me). Typically permission is granted when a player shows reasonable effort on their part as to why their character should be allowed to have a particular restricted mechanic, or if they are using a less broken version of the Restricted mechanic. The granting of permission to use restricted mechanics on player characters is fully under the GM’s discretion, and players wishing to have their characters have a restricted mechanic must contact the GM at the start of character creation to see whether or not permission will be granted.
Skills:
All players must start play with either a Game, Artisan, Preform or Acting Skill. You are Samurai, and even if you do not understand art, your education would have included something of the Left Handed path.
Try to keep rank 1 skills to a reasonable level. I will not set an exact maximum number, but understand if over 2/3 your skills are rank 1 you will need some sort of justification for this.
The following changes have been made to skills:
1) The following new skills exist
a) Pilot (Bugei Skill, Int based) Covers flying crafts, be they in space or the upper atmosphere,
Emphasizes include Space, Atmosphere, Combat
Mastery Abilities (3) You can use full attack stance while Piloting a small vessel.
(5) The Character gains +5 to the total of any Piloting roll, made as part of a Cooperative or Cumulative roll.
b) Drive (Merchant skill, Int based) Covers land and Water Vehicles
Emphasizes include Hovercraft, Walker, Wheeled.
Mastery Abilities (5) Gain +5 bonus to any check made for rough terrain or driving exceeding the safe speed of the Vehicle.
c) Computing (High Skill, Awareness Based.) Covers any use of Computers or such devices.
Emphasizes include Research, Programing and Hacking(Considered a Low Skill).
Mastery Abilities (5) The Character gains a +5 bonus when attempting to hack into a system or program.
d) Firearms (Bugei Skill, Reflexes based) Guns of various types
Emphasizes include Sidearm, Rifle,
Mastery Abilities (3) Reloading is a Free Action instead of a Simple Action.
(5) Shooting into Melee is now has a -5 to the attack roll penalty instead of -10, whether its your own or friendly. Missing Attack TN by 10 or less still has a chance to hit allies.
e) Artillery (Bugei skill, Reflexes based) Firing in ship to ship combat.
Emphasizes include Fighter, Bomber, Canon.
Mastery Abilities (3) +5 to any piloting or drive roll made while firing inbuilt weaponry.
(5) +5 to any coordinated attack roll on another vessel.
2) The following skills are changed:
a) Engineering is now a Macro Skill covering various types of engineering. It also now has the Emphasis 'Repair'and the Mastery ability (3) Gain 1k1 for any roll made to a repair roll with inadequate parts or equipment. It is still considered a Craft Skill for the Purpose of effects that target craft skills
b) Lore: Anatomy no long exists.
c) Medicine has the new Emphasizes Anatomy, Drugs, Surgery (Low Skill) and Poisons (Low skill) to represent developments in medicine. Please note: Increased medical knowledge has not decreased peoples dislike of unclean things such as blood. In fact those who study medicine in any great degree almost ALWAYS end up working with Eta due to the nature of their work, in the same way Shugenja who deal with the dead do. This is to the point that the word Surgeon is often used as a was to say Maho-tsukai in polite company.
d) Sailing no longer exists as a skill.
e) Horsemanship and Kyujutsu are considered 'High skills,' for any ability that effects high skills. The traditions are almost lost to Samurai, but those who choose to persue them are in many say considered artists, and dedicated to the art of war and peace their ancestors practiced.
3) For the Purposes of School Skills:
a)Any time you see Sailing or Horsemanship, Substitute for Drive OR Piloting (Players choice)
b)Any time you see Kyujutsu, substitute for Firearms.
Honor/Status/Glory:
A character’s starting glory and status may be adjusted by the GM if they feel it is necessary for the character’s position, duties, or other story reasons. A publicly-accessible thread managed by the GM and locked so that only the GM can comment on it will be posted to the OOC Sub Forum with the official record of each character’s current Glory and Status. This post shall be periodically updated throughout the duration of Winter Court.
Should you preform an act that would increase your Glory/Honor, Please PM me with a link to the post. Its not always easy to keep track of minor increases.
For players overly concerned about their character’s Glory and Status, please send a PM me with your concerns and they will help you as much as they can with your questions. For those simply trying to fill in their character sheet, the following can be used:
Glory: Samurai start out with Glory 1.0 at Insight Rank 1 and increase by 0.5 Glory each time they increase in Insight Rank up to 3, then 1.0 for every rank after 3. This is to reflect that reaching Insight Rank 3 is not uncommon, but gaining skill beyond that starts to truly make you a unusually skilled and thus famous Samurai. All other castes (such as monks, for example) continue to be affected by modifiers to their Glory as per the 4th Edition core rulebook.
Status: Samurai start play with a Status of 1.0. Those with prominent duties may have their Status increased by me. And as above, all standard modifiers to Status remain to monks and other non-samurai characters.
Families and Minor Clans:
The Chuda, Kokujin, Goju Ninube and Kakita families are banned. (And doesn't it feel wrong to put the Kakita beside those Spider)
The Minor Clans defunct in 1200 are likewise banned.
New families for the Clans will be posted in latter posts in this thread.
SCHOOLS AND PATHS
Schools and paths that come with Horses in Starting Gear can choose to to start with a Speeder, or fighter.
The Matsu Beastmaster School is no longer avalible to the Matsu family and is now a school of the Fox Clan, called the Kitsune Animal Savior School. It is not linked to Lions exclusively anymore either.
Any School technique that mentions Horsemanship/Sailing, please convert to Drive or Piloting depending on your chosen focus. Likewise any School technique that refers to the Kyujutsu skill, substitute for Firearms.
Due to the amount of Paths and Advanced Schools in the setting, it is possible further paths are Banned or Restricted. Please do use Common sense and if unsure, ask. The GM reserves the right to say a path doesn't fit with the setting. In addition new paths and Schools will be created and like new families will be added to this thread as they get made.
Any School that would come with a Horse (For example the Utaku Battle Maidens, instead starts with a Speeder), or, with GM permission a Starfighter.
The Following Schools are banned:
Dark Moto Cavalry
Goju Ninja
Chuda Shugenja
Ninube Shugenja
Free Ogre Bushi
Tsuno Ravager
Ogre Mage
Tsuno Soultwister
Order of the Five Rings Monk
Hantei Bushi School.
The Following Paths are Banned
The Blood Speaker Technique.
The Nameless Ones
Order of the Stone Crab
Chrysanthemum Conspirator
Any School or Path that mentions the Gozoku is restricted, unless the player can explain how they have access to techniques almost 2000 years dead. Likewise the Kenku Bushi is restricted unless you are specifically taught by a Kenku.
All Advanced Schools are restricted, however compared to all other mentions of restricted in this list, it is easier to get into. An explanation and approval is still required.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Characters may have a maximum of 15 XP spent on Advantages and may have a maximum of 10 XP in Disadvantages.
Additional Disadvantages can be taken for no XP gain.
All Advantages and Disadvantages listed in allowed rulebooks are available to characters except as noted herein.
The Following Advantages are Banned: Forbidden Knowledge (Lying Darkness, Gozoku, Gaijin Pepper, Bloodspeaker cult). The Shosuro-Ikoma alliance has done its job and in the eyes of the entire empire the first two events did not happen. As for the Bloodspeakers and Iuchiban, history does record the events happened, but Iuchiban is believed by almost all historians to be an Eta who defied the Celestial Order.
As for Gaijin pepper, first due to the actions of the Daidoji, and then latter due to the development of more advanced weapons, such knowledge became redundant.
The following Advantages are restricted: Allies, Different School, Forbidden Knowledge (all others), Great Destiny, Multiple Schools, Spy Network, Touch of the Spirit Realm.
The following Disadvantages are restricted: Dark Fate, Dark Secret, Sleeper Agent
, Gaijin Gear.
The following Disadvantages are banned: Hostage, Sacred Weapon (Black Steel Blade),
Modified Advangtages/Disadvantages
Any use of the Allies advantage must be discussed with the GM, if only to determine the type of person your ally is, the nature of your relationship and the political power of your ally.
Lord Moon's Curse: The connection between Lord Moon and the various other Moons in the universe is poorly understood, however what is known is that the curse applies to the rise and set on Full Moon Night of your Birth planet's Largest Moon. The curse is not avoidable while in space, but NEITHER will you arrive in a system and suffer the curse due to just arriving at the wrong time.
Gentry: Due to the rarity of powerful ships, the Gentry advantage considers the following things as equivalents.
Large or important Satellite: Provence
Small or Minor Clan Satellite: City
Katana or Tetsubo class Spaceship: Town.
Light Cruiser or Carrier: Large Village
Smaller vessels come under their own advantage.
Gaijin (Alien) Gear: This advantage is banned to all but the Tortoise and the Unicorn. Should you choose to take it, GM discussion will be required to work out the nature of the Alien technology you have acquired.
Bitter Betrothal: If this Disadvantage is taken in regards to another player character, you must obtain written consent from the player of that character.
Blackmail: May only target another player character with the written consent of the player of that character.
Blackmailed: The character who blackmailed you, if a player character, must themselves possess the Blackmail Advantage, where their Blackmail Advantage involves your character.
Blissful Betrothal: If this Advantage is taken with another player character, both characters must have the Advantage and both players must mutually consent to their characters having such a relation.
Dangerous Beauty/Lechery: Always apply to non-player characters. In regards to any use to the seduction rules require express consent for player characters.
Fame: This Advantage may be taken up to 3 times.
Sage: This Advantage works as normal, except it does not grant any knowledge at all whatsoever, in any fashion, on any subject that falls under the Forbidden Knowledge Advantage.
Shadowlands Taint: This Disadvantage may be taken no more then twice.
Sworn Enemy: This Disadvantage may only be purchased at character creation in regards to another consenting player character. You are required to obtain written consent from the other character’s player.
New Advantages:
Sacred Weapon (Gyushi Blade), 5 Points: (3k2 Katana) Forged by the smith-priests of the Gyushi, each blade is a minor nemuranai that reflects the ego of its wielder. One who strikes with a Gyushi blade adds their glory rank to their attack roll and infamy rank to their damage roll.
Rapid Response unit (2/3/5): Speed is critical in the Empire of Emerald Stars, and while finding the way home is always doable, some select few are given the privilege of not having to trust Samurai traders or merchant vessels. The 2 point version gives you access to a Speeder, enabling you to move across a world quickly. The Three point version give you access to a Fighter produced by the massive Unicorn shipyards, an unusual vessel that can manage to make a jump or two using a Water Nemuranai rather then a Shugenja. The 5 Point version gives you access to a small multi person combat Freighter, and Shugenja Navigator, likely of Silkworm origins. Be aware you do not own these ships, they are your families ships and their loss could lead to significant consequences.
Technophile [Mental] (3 Points): The Character is surprisingly technically savey when it comes to Computers and similar technology. They gain 1k0 to those rolls.
ZERO-GTRAINING [PHYSICAL](2 POINTS) The character has a +0k1 die when acting in a zero-g atmosphere or trying to resist the vertigo weightlessness.
New Disadvantages:
Cybernetics [Phsycial] (4 Points, 5 for Crab): The Kuni have developed Cybernetic replacements for certain conditions, most commonly used for injuries. While the pressure of the more militant and practical clans has kept it legal, the Isawa have spent considerable political capital trying to get it declared Blasphemy with no success thus far. However, while the Emperor has remained non-committal on the issue on the Dais, declaring that the technology shall be trailed till its effects on the Empire and the Faith of Rokugan is known many in the Empire are, and will treat you accordingly. In addition, some consider it in defiance of destiny and thus could manipulate the results of duels, and finally some Shugenja have worked out how to disable such things, sometimes to the great pain of the user.
Mechanically its considered the Disturbing Countenance disadvantage with two additional drawbacks. The first is some do not believe your duels are valid and the second is that a Shugenja in combat may use the kami to disable such a feature temporarily. It would be unusual way to spend a spell, but it can be done.
ILLITERATE [SOCIAL](2 POINTS)The character cannot read and not write. This creates quite a few barriers in modern society -no newspapers, no road signs, and NO computers.
ZERO-GILLNESS [PHYSICAL](2 POINTS)The character has a -0k2 die when acting in a zero-g atmosphere or trying to resist the vertigo weightlessness.
SPELLS
All shugenja spells listed in all available rulebooks are available, except as noted herein. For those unclear on the shugenja spells listed in Imperial Histories 2, this notice also applies to all shugenja spells in Chapter 2 of that supplement.
Maho spells are of course banned. While the Internet supposedly contains prayers that could be used in such a manner, no honorable Samurai would ever look them up, let alone consider anything futher. Obviously the Jade Magistrates watch such things like a hawk, especially with the Day of Thunder just past.
EQUIPMENT
While the Empire is largely divided on the Kinetic melee weapons vs Radiant Melee weapons, mechanically these weapons work the same, with ONE exception. Both weapon types will have a Kata that the other cannot use, representing Samurai applying their unique qualities to their fighting style. Said Kata will be added latter.
Remember that Perception is added to the DR as unkept dice.
Ammo:
The Empire is commonly served by 4 different types of ammunition, somewhat a result of the Kinetic vs Radiant split, but also due to the different types of enemies the Clans fight.
Radiant Ammo (essentially Lasers): The Standard in most clans, Radiant Lasers work by overpowering the energy field of the armor, allowing the laser to pass through. Its main downside is it cannot be imbued with a sacred substance, making it less effective to not effective on Supernatural foes. (2k3 damage)
Explosive Ammo (Essentially Bolter rounds): Invested by the Kaiu in response to Motonari's campaign, Explosive ammo is designed to penetrate the target's armor before detonating. The round, often filled with a small amount of Jade, did significant damage to anyone or anything tainted. These explosive rounds are propelled out of the weapon using Magnets to hypersonic speeds, undodgeable even by the fastest spacecraft. Unfortunately the energy of Radiant armor causes the rounds to detonate early, greatly weakening its effective use against armored Bushi and many spacecraft. (2k4 damage, 2k2 against Radiant targets)
Sonic Ammo: The backup round on almost any weapon in the Empire, Sonic ammo isn't really ammo at all. Instead, using almost pure electronics the weapon issues a burst of sound, aimed to stun or incapacitate the target (2k2 damage, cannot kill target)
Thunder Ammo: An invention of the Mantis Clan, modifying the spell behind the Storm bottle, it is favored by the Tsuruchi. Able to modify how the Energy of the Angry Air and Fire kami are channeled, the weapon can unleash the high damage of the Explosive round, or the armor penetration of the Radiant round. Its adoption by other clans is hindered by Mantis unwillingness to share the techniques behind the weapon, and the attitude of many clans to intentionally angering the kami, repeatedly over the course of a battle. The Phoenix have on more then one occasion implied the weapons are walking on the edge of Blasphemy. (Able to choose either the effect of Radiant or Explosive Ammo as a Complex action in combat.)
Weapons:
Standard Sidearm
The standard sidearm to most Samurai and often coming in pairs. The Most common Radiant variant is made by the Dragon and known as the Twin Radiants, while the Crane make the most common Explosive variant, the Daidoji's Kiss.
Keywords: Samurai, Small
DR: Use standard Ammo DR.
Range:100'
Standard Rifle:
The Second most common Samurai weapon in the Galaxy after the Katana, the Akodo Arms Indomitable X32 remains the most popular Radiant variant, while the Tortoise Clan Produce the Hyobe Mark 5, the explosive variant, which has an unfortunate habit of falling into the hands of Ronin.
Keywords: Samurai, Medium
DR: Add 1k0 to Ammo DR.
Range:500'
Marksman's Rifle
Certain circumstances require specialized weapons, and while their are a large variety in existence, the sniper rifle is the most common. Convinced by its use in Trade, the Tsuruchi developed the Distant Thunder Model rifle for the Yoritomo to sell to the Radiant Market, however the Soshi's Sting usually sees larger sales, even to those who would traditionally favor Radiant weapons, recognizing the ease of Radiant energy to be seen, and thus the sniper eliminated compared to Explosive rounds.
Keyword: Large
DR: Add 3k0 to Ammo DR.
Range: 1000'
Special: Must spend a round in Centre Stance before each shot and can only make called Shots.
Heavy Assault Rifle
The paramount Anti-Oni, Anti-vehicle weapon in the galaxy, the most common Radiant model, "The Riddle of Fire" are made by the Agasha labs, while the Kaiu make the Forge Devastator-class Siege Weapon for the explosive market. The heavy weapons are difficult to aim accurately and shooting into Melee with this weapon is ill advised.
Keywords: Large
DR: Add 3k0 to Ammo DR
Range:400
Special: Shooting into Melee causes a -15 Penalty, instead of -10. If your roll is under Armor TN by 15 or less, or exceeds armor TN by 5 or less, the large radius of the round is a risk to any in melee range.
Miscellaneous Mechanics:
Heritage Table rolls are allowed however you get only ONE roll, which must be rolled by the GM. That way, you all get my bad luck equally If the Fortune of Dice deems that your ancestors have gifted you a bad heritage, nothing can change that.
Ancestors are Restricted, with them being allows on a case by case basis, depending on how broken they are. It is worth noting that I RP Ancestors, so its possible under particular situations they may aid you more then they normally would....or they may HINDER you more then they normally would.
Increasing Insight Rank does not automatically increase School Rank, instead you must contact your clan for such things, or find an instructor. Through the mystical powers of being a learned and enlightened Samurai, should you find a teacher, you will learn the technique in 1 day, but you must at least put some effort into getting further training. (Don't worry...'some effort' wont be hard).
For mechanics which can only be used a set number of times per session, one session is CURRENTLY set to 1 RL week. Depending on how fast we progress, that may increase or decrease.