Welcome to the game Fumimaro.  ;)

So that makes the current lineup:

1 Kakita; 1 Kakita Bushi (Ukyo)
2 Dojis; 1 Doji Courtier (Naruhime) & our 2nd Kakita Bushi (Fumimaro)
2 Daidojis; 1 "Soshi" Shugenja (Sakura) & 1 Daidoji Yojimbo (Sachi) [at least I think that's right for Sachi]
1 former Asahina; 1 Osano-Wo Monk (Musashi, me! ;)

Does that look right?

Heh.  Someone else said they were making a Daidoji Yojimbo, so I changed myself around.  Went with more of a duelist bent.  :)

Oh?  Who was that?  Did I miss someone?

I thought I listed everyone on the Cast List but maybe we're missing someone from the Discussion thread?

That would give us 3 Duelists... at least Sakura & Naruhime will have their pick of champions should either of them get challenged to a duel by a bushi.  ;)

Who is waterproof salamander?  That was the one mentioning Daidoji Yojimbo.

Not an issue.  I have a great ability to protect someone now, given I have a chance to watch people for a while.

Actually, I like the different ability the build gives me.  Slightly different methods, but potentially good ones as well.  :)


So that makes the corrected current lineup:

1 Kakita; 1 Kakita Bushi (Ukyo)
2 Dojis; 1 Doji Courtier (Naruhime) & our 2nd Kakita Bushi (Fumimaro)
2 Daidojis; 1 "Soshi" Shugenja (Sakura) & 1 Daidoji Duelist (Sachi)
1 former Asahina; 1 Osano-Wo Monk (Musashi)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:08, Wed 07 Feb 2007.

Well, since we're all bein' this obvious, here's Sakura's background story. There are a couple minor changes (i.e. she now has some spells as innate abilities), but overall it works.

BTW, Musashi-San I realized that Sakura also needs to learn a few Kiho. As for Void exercises I wouldn't think you need instruction for that (though it is a GM call ...). I think it would be more like leading through exercises, similar to the way that a Personal Fitness Trainer would help by leading through exercises.

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Daidoji Sakura (Shosuro Kasumi)
Part I

Daidoji Shinkenichi stopped his steed at the crest of the hill. The small village ahead of them was nestled in the mountains and seemed to be of little value. The Daidoji family had given this village to a lesser vassal to govern because it was considered to be too insignificant to be governed by a "true samurai".

So why were bandits attacking.

Shinkenichi cautiously peered into the horrible sight. The village burned brightly into the night, the stench of flesh rising to meet the patrol. Those bodies that were not consumed by the fire littered the street, Samurai and Eta lying together in a gruesome quilt of death. The bandits roamed the streets, pillaging and plundering, but a small group concentrated itself on the stream side by the city's center. The bandits were laughing and chattering, taking turns jabbing their sticks at something in the center. Shinkenichi's eyes widened at the spectacle -- the "something" in the center was a very attractive Crane Samurai-Ko. Though drastically outnumbered, she was doing her best to fend them off with her Naginata. It was clear to Shinkenichi that she was alive because they found her amusing. When the bandits tired of their little game they would undoubtedly find a more dishonorable way to bide their time ...

Shinkenichi called on the wind spirits to aid in their silent charge and the small band of Daidoji crashed into the Bandits with all the fury of a hurricane. The bandits were soon routed and Shinkenichi's troops pursued them with vengeance. Now at the center of the town, Shinkenichi got his first look at the young girl who was moments ago being so brave. Her chestnut eyes peered out from under her grime-covered face.

"Doumo Arigatou Gozaimashita" she said bowing low.

Shinkenichi didn't have to ask about her family. As the sole survivor, he knew that her family was dead. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with her, but he instinctively knew that her beauty would come to good use for the clan. Perhaps they could arrange to have her married to a minor Imperial ...

"Think nothing of it" he replied sympathetically. "What is your name?"

"Sakura" the girl replied quietly.

"Well, Sakura-Chan, take what you need. We'll be departing shortly. When the small group finally departed, no one noticed the shadowy figure steal off toward Scorpion lands ...

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shosuro Kaze walked into Kyuden Shosuro and bowed low to his lord. The mission had gone well -- no one had ever suspected that the "bandits" were actually Scorpion samurai. "My Lord" he began, "Kasumi has been inserted with the Daidoji."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Daidoji Sakura
Part II

Sakura sat in the garden listening to her adoptive family argue her fate as her younger brother practiced his Kata. Such things were normally quite interesting to the children being affected, but Sakura had long ago lost interest in the ritual arguments. Her uncle, the eldest of that generation, and her father had been playing court games trying to get her to follow the path that they had chosen for a couple years now, and the game had grown boring for Sakura. She was now far behind in her studies and no matter what they chose for her she would be too busy studying to be of any real use. While others her age were already assisting the professionals, Sakura was being kept too busy showing off for prospective husbands. It seemed that marriage was the only thing the brothers agreed on. Both wanted to use her beauty to make her part of the Imperial Family.

It would give them better connections.

Sakura sighed softly as the ritual argument began afresh. "She will be a Courtier!" her father boomed. "Nonsense!" her uncle retorted, "with her voice she must be with the artisans!" This year, once again, her training would suffer as she was shuttled back and forth between the Academy and Courtiers in between the many meetings with powerful prospective husbands.

"Good Morning!"

The voice of her uncle, Daidoji Yamanoke, the youngest of his generation, cut through the garden like a bell. Of all the brothers he was the most likable and the most respected. He had attended the Asahina Shugenja school and, unlike the others, had taken their pacifistic spirit as a position of strengh.

"Yamanoke!" her father demanded, "what is your opinion of the matter? Which will provide a better husband for Sakura -- courtier training or artisan training?" Yamanoke chuckled at the question and sat down on the grass with them.

"It seems to me" said Yamanoko watching Sakura, "that her skills will be secondary to her beauty." The two older brothers grunted their disaproval at the suggestion.

"Every advantage counts!"

'Look at that' Sakura thought to herself, 'something else they agree on.'

A servant came running up to Sakura, a large pouch in her hand. Bowing low, the servant gave the pouch to Sakura and scampered away. A slow smile crossed Sakura's lips as she regarded the pouch. 'the debate ends today' she thought to herself as she drew a scroll from the pouch. Sakura stretched the scroll out so that she could easily read it and then she began to sing softly, communing with the kami of air. Air spells were easy for her. She almost didn't need the scrolls, but she had yet to completely memorize the spells.

'soon. I'll have them memorized soon ...'

Visibly perplexed, Yamanoke looked over at his niece as she sang. The air kami seemed to dance and sway before her as she sang, hanging on her every breath. Yamanoke concentrated on her, attempting to drown out the arguments of his brothers. Yes, she was indeed communing with that kami ...

"She is a Shugenja" Yamanoke interrupted calmly.

"What!?!" The surprise that his brothers shared was obvious and genuine. "There is no way that I can allow her to train with the Kami!" Sakura's father shouted. "What good would that do us in the courts!?!" retorted his oldest brother.

"You both misunderstand me" Yamanoke replied still staring at Sakura. "I did not say she should be a shugenja. I said that she is a shugenja." It was then that the older brothers noticed what he was staring at. The wind appeared to be dancing with her soft voice, carrying leaves and dust upwards and dropping them in time with the music. The elder brothers' jaws dropped.

"I have never seen this kind of magic" Yamanoke continued, "she seems to come by it naturally." Yamanoke then turned towards his brothers. "I assure you, brothers, this will come in quite useful. A girl of this talent may even interest the Seppun Shugenja Academy."

The older brothers stared after Sakura a bit longer. The Seppun Shugenja Academy. The sole magical protectors of the Emperor himself. The only ones that were able to wield magic freely in the presence of the Son of Heaven. Such power had been considered unattainable and undreamable in this little corner of the family.

Until now.

Sakura's smile widened to one of joy. They had never asked her what she was good at, they had all assumed that she was untrained. It was true that she had a natural affinity with the air kami, they understood each other very well, but she was not, as they believed, "untrained".

'So much the better' she though to herself, 'it makes my cover that much more believable. But there is one downside to all of this.'

A bit sad, Sakura looked upward as she sang, focusing on the hawk soaring above her. It had always given her a sense of freedom when she worked with the falcons. Now that the family had come to a decision, they would no longer be arguing. That meant she could no longer sneak off and help train the falcons ...

"Yamanoke, why don't you tutor her?" her father asked politely. "Maybe she can catch up and then attend the Asahina School with you."

"Sure. I'll start right away."

There was silence from the oldest brother. The air was thick as the two stared at their oldest brother. Finally Yamanoke broke the tension. "What did you do, brother?"

"I kind of promised to send her on a small errand in a couple weeks ..."

'Of course' Sakura thought to herself as she watched her brother. 'That's so typical of him ...'

Not that's it is important but by Daidoji Duelist, do you mean Sachi is from one of the Daidoji bushi schools or did he attend the Kakita Bushi School?  I'm just curious.  ;)

I imagine (if most of the PCs are roughly the same age) that if Ukyo, Fumimaro & Sachi all attended the Kakita Bushi School (ie. the Kakita Dueling Academy) then they would most likely know each other pretty well (ie. being peers & probably sparring partners).

In fact... if Sachi met & traveled with Musashi around the Empire while Sachi was on his Musha Shugyo, then perhaps it was Sachi who introduced Musashi to Sachi's old "school chum" & fellow duelist Ukyo (thus being the catalyst for linking Musashi with Ukyo as Ukyo's "advisor")?

Just an idea to consider.  ;)

Ronin Duelist...but Sachi is no ronin, hence just duelist.  :)

However, I might entertain the idea of Sachi having attended the Kakita bushi school before going on his Musha Shugyo.

I am not sure though, would that require me to find 10 cp for the Multiple Schools advantage?  If so, it would likely drop me to rank2 for a while.  Though, it IS a likely path and would give some nice benefits too.

If it doesn require Multiple Schools, I will be taking a closer look at it.

Well seeing as the Ronin Schools don't require the Different School Advantage, I could see where they wouldn't need the Multiple School Advantage either (but you're right, there's nothing in the book one way or the other about Multiple Schools vis-a-vis Ronin Schools).

After all, the Ronin "Schools" aren't technically really "schools or dojos" in the formal sense but rather individuals who either teach themselves or find a fellow ronin to pass on the techniques.

Given the Musha Shugyo, it would make sense that Sachi would pick up "ronin habits" & training since he wasn't home & couldn't train at the school dojo.

It would be interesting to see how your old school chums react when Sachi returns with "heretical" dueling techniques/instructions.  ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:59, Wed 07 Feb 2007.

The more I think about it the more I like that idea.  Watching some Cranes go into a state of shock over Sachi's fighting style sounds... fun.

If, I can get some input from the GM on the Multiple Schools question, I'll be finished up pretty quick.


Sachi is 24.  How old is Ukyo?  It'll help know how Sachi and Ukyo knew each other I think.  It may be that Sachi left before Ukyo was fully accepted or that they knew each other as equals...

I like the idea of knowing some of the other characters, makes things easy to begin with.

Now that Sakura is "basically finalized" I can tell you that she is Soshi Shugenja (1) and Shosuro Deceiver (2,3; advanced school). Which is why she needs a lot of Void. She's also going to be ... hmmm, "fortifying her spirit", which I'm sure that Mushashi can help with.

As for connections: Sakura has traveled around a lot, mostly attending O-Miai (meeting a prospective spouse for an arranged marriage). So she could quite literally know anyone from practically anywhere.

BTW, Musashi-san, I don't suppose that you know the Death Touch Kiho, ne?

Now would any peaceful, non-threatening Sohei of the Fortune of Fire & Thunder know so dangerous and deadly a Kiho?

Or rather... would he be apt to admit to as much?  ;)

The thing is, I'm not really sure yet what Musashi can really "instruct" aside from the Jiujutsu (at least given the way the Instruction skill reads in the L5R 3rd Ed book).

For instance, in order to teach School Techniques, I have to have an Emphasis in that School (or possibly even in the Technique)... this works similarly to the requirement that I can only teach skills for which I have an Instruction Emphasis (in Musashi's case that's only Jiujutsu).

I may need to have a Kiho Emphasis or a Temple of Osano-Wo Emphasis in order to actually teach them.

However... I'm uncertain about something.  I know that Clan Schools are VERY touchy about the idea of teaching "outsiders" their Techniques.  How would a Monk Temple feel about teaching things like Kiho to those outside the Order (especially a martially oriented Order like Osano-Wo)?

Didn't one of the Shinsei Monks get martyred in Rokugan's past because he refused to demonstrate his unarmed combat techniques for the Emperor (the Crane Emerald Champion refused to strike down the monk and instead committed seppukku... leaving it to a Crab to strike & kill the monk)?

Well, to question 2 the answer is yes -- but he refused to demonstrate the techniques because they were invented specifically for peasants and he didn't want the Samurai Caste to have them.

For question one, I'm afraid that's a GM call. One would think not, but in real life Japan religious techniques are a closely guarded secret -- especially among the Vajrayana (Mikkyo) practitioners.

Or perhaps as rivals.  ;)  I hadn't decided on an age for Ukyo yet, so I'm flexible.  Depending on when he left, perhaps they were both training in the Kakita Dueling academy until Sachi left.  Until then they were peers and equals, havign the same sensei, but they always had a healthy, friendly rivalry going.  Sachi leaves for his... whatever it was (don't remember the term and it's not on the page I'm typing this on :) and so Ukyo is left wondering who is truly better.  Then he comes back with these "unclean" fighting techniques suitable only for Ronin, and he is made to wonder even more, which is better... the "pure" fighting style of the samurai schools, or the catch-as-catch-can ronin techniques.  Perhaps Ukyo almost feels slighted, that they were not able to graduate together and prove once and for all who was better.  Perhaps he is driven to beat Sachi and show that the pure samurai techniques are better.  :)  One more Disadvantage!  lol... I dunno, this was all off the top of my head and totally subject to change... :P

Ooh, me! :-) Haven't had a lot of time to create a char yet, but I'm nearly there.

I'm still thinking about a Harrier with a Path or two somewhere too, but likely I'm sticking with the Yojimbo. I'm interested in what our GM has to say about Multiple Schools for Ronin Schools too though. There are some nice possibilities there.

I forgot to look that up ... there's something about Clan Samurai taking MS with Ronin Schools in either the Erratta or in the book, but I can't remember the details ...

Here you go, though the GM may choose to change this since that is his right:

Can Clan-Afflicated Samurai take the Ronin technique's with out the diffrent schools advantage? The book isn't to clear on this matter.

Clan-affiliated characters may choose to study at a ronin School at the time of character creation without having to take the Different School Advantage. If they wish to change Schools after that, they must take Multiple Schools. Ronin may move freely among the bushi Schools as they like, perhaps resulting in a Bushi 2/Duelist 1 or what have you.

Ronin Schools are intended to represent a number of basic, fundamental styles that exist within all major fighting styles (for Clan samurai), and that may be studied independantly without the need for a dojo or sensei (for ronin). They also allow you to make that Hiruma Yojimbo you've always wanted, even if there's no Yojimbo School among the Crab.

They are, like much of 3E, a toolkit to use as you see fit in order to create a more varied and appealing character.

Quick question for the GM: since we're starting off at higher Insight Ranks, does that mean (since it's a GM call) that we start off with higher Status as well?

yes, of course ^_^
your Status, Glory, and Honor go up at the same rate as your Inisight Rank

Hmm... nice.  So status, glory and honor all go up by 2.  I'll have to take advantage of that i think.  :)

Speaking of Honor (Duty), I thought y'all might like to see Sakura's "Duty List" while we're being public:



I would anticipate party members at level 3, with Musashi being more like a 2.5, assuming that they knew each other well enough before hand for Sakura to have developed Loyalty for them.

Hmm ... maybe "Close Monk Friends/allies" should be 3, and the others bumped down a notch?

I hate to break it to you, but I'm fairly sure any Heritage rolls made after the first one are essentially re-rolls. It's not an addition, you get the one Heritage from your last roll and all the previous Heritage rolls are expunged.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:28, Fri 09 Feb 2007.

No I do not believe that is how it works.  The 1st Heritage roll is "free"... however the 2nd & 3rd Heritage rolls cost CP.  It would be like spending CP on Advantages.

At least that's my understanding, if you're willing to spend CP & risk getting bad rolls... then you get to keep all that you roll.  In this case Ukyo lucked out with 3 good rolls.

So theoretically I could have any number of ancestors who all wrote an influential book on my Clan's philosophy and consequently gain any number of points of Honor and any number of Free Raises on Social Skill Rolls with my Clan?

I really don't think that's right. I'll try to dig up a clarification from one of the developers though.

Edit: forgot the max three times limit, but the point essentially stands.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:14, Fri 09 Feb 2007.