The Many Ends of Rokugan

I co-managed a game store in the heyday of CCGs. I started back there just as the first Magic the Gathering expansions landed: Arabian Nights and Antiquities. While I didn’t dig Magic that much, I tried to push it. I didn't dislike like these games, I'd just dug Jyhad, INWO, and On the Edge more. CCGs had a weird life-cycle in those days. New lines popped up every week. We could generally get some traction for just a few of those. Usually you’d get an early adopter who would bought heavy and brought new people in. That’s how Wyvern, ICE's Middle-Earth, Netrunner, Feng Shui, and Star Trek survived through a couple of expansions before crashing. Part of my job involved spotting and pushing those impressionable folks.

Then I heard about Legend of the Five Rings. AEG advertised in Scrye and elsewhere well ahead of release. I got super-hyped. I knew it had samurai-themed fantasy; a multiplayer component; an evolving limited storyline; and clan-themed decks so players could easily focus on a faction. I pushed hard on L5R- roping in about a dozen players, getting them set up with decks, and arranging for play. But L5R wasn’t easy. It had tricky timing rules, two-deck construction, and the potential for lengthy games. It could lock up hard with more than three players. I kept cheerleading for a while, but it quickly became clear everyone wanted an easier game. I still liked it and felt bad. I bought many players' cards off of them. I wasn't going to play but I wanted to collect. I only kept up through the first several expansions. My enthusiasm had a limit. Lacking players, all I had was the fun of looking through and trying to construct head canon from the color text fragments on cards. Who was Toturi? Why was he attached to the Lion Clan? What was the deal with the Kolat? Why did the clans have non-humans working in their mines?

I’ve been a sucker since then, buying into the CCG again from time to time (and then stopping), picking up all the rpg materials, reading the novels, and falling in and out of love with the setting.

This week the Atlas of Rokugan arrived. And it’s depressing...but maybe not for the reasons you’d assume.

You may know that AEG sold the Legend of the Five Rings license to Fantasy Flight a couple of weeks ago. This isn’t the first time that’s happened, but this feels more final and complete. FFG will have a beta version of a new L5R LCG out for Gen Con next year. Perhaps we’ll see some cool board games in the future. And FFG has indicated that if the LCG does well, they’ll consider doing something with the rpg.

But that means that the Atlas represents the final product for the L5R RPG 4th Edition. That’s too bad. This edition has been lovely and solid. They're best looking L5R products and among the nicest rpg books I’ve seen. The layout team been consistent with the package and text design, making serious use of their existing art assets. It’s also the first edition that embraces all of the setting's history. They shifted metaplot to the back and crafted resources which could be used for any era of play (well, mostly). They came up with new approaches to presentation and themes. The elemental “catch-all” books started weak, but got stronger. The massive Second City boxed set offered a completely new campaign approach. The Imperial Histories volumes encouraged GMs to do new things with Rokugan.

On the other hand it’s also good that we’re finished. The Atlas closes out a solid and complete line. It does lack any good modules, a huge weakness. But there’s enough material to serve any potential gamer. However with no publisher, we'll see how hard it becomes to get these books. Will FFG sell through the backstock? Will PoD be the only source soon? Will it wither?

But that’s not what depressed me.

I’ve run several L5R campaigns, once with Rolemaster, one with Storyteller, and the current game with Action Cards. Before Clan War I painted figures in clan colors and wrote samurai skirmish rules. I love the weirdness of L5R and the balance of social, magical, and physical concerns. That’s despite some serious problems: the way it reduces some of the real wildness and strangeness of the source cultures, the whatev’ smashing together of distinct Asian cultures into a mish-mash, the odd treatment of real world faiths, and the token exoticism of the setting at times. I’ve read Edward Said, and yeah L5R can be Orientalist. I've cringed more than a couple of times. I’ve had to make my peace with that, but I know that’s likely a cop out. My Rokugan’s pretty different as I’ve talked about before. And I hope that I can present a campaign that avoids those pitfalls.

But that’s not what depressed me.

What depressed me were the maps.

Early L5R didn’t have maps. I mean they had maps, but just rough and impressionistic ones. They had a great in-game justification for it. In Rokugan, Imperial decrees had the weight of law. If an Emperor stated or affirmed something about geography: distance, routes, local terrain, it became an absolute fact for future map makers. Contradiction and confusion meant that public maps could only be picture, rather than a guide. In the game material that trickled down to the presentation of places and regions. These existed in relation to one another; landmarks simply lay in an area. But that area remained a board the GM could manipulate easily. Everything was fungible and the GM had room to shift and mold the land. We could steal and swipe, bring in cool descriptions, and fit travel to the scene.

Now we have a sense of distance, a sense of scale. We can measure the miles between locations. Places aren’t empty, ready to be colored in on the fly. Now I know how far it is from Nikesake to Ukabu Mura, what direction we have to walk, what lies between. The imaginative space has vanished. The wave function of fantasy has collapsed.

And it’s so dumb that I feel this way. The Atlas is a gorgeous book and a fitting capstone to the edifice of Rokugan. There’s a huge amount of effort and skill on display here. My only realistic complaint would be that the glue they used to adhere the fold-out map stains the paper. But my phantasmal complaints are many and varied. I had a similar reaction to Numenera. I love the concept: a wild, mutable, and open world of high weirdness and fantasy, meant for exploration. Then I got the core book and found the world already mapped out with nations, races, factions, backstories, agendas. Yeah, I could ignore all that, but it meant throwing away half of the book.

Luckily this isn’t the case with L5R. My players will never see the Atlas. I won’t hang the map on the wall as I’ve done before. From time to time I’ll flip through, hunting for location descriptions, but I’ll studiously ignore the maps. I’ll keep my Rokugan weird and unknown, a place I’m still trying to figure out the stories for. 

L5R's backlist lives on in electronic form. For my reviews of the earliest products and how useful they are for the present edition, see here. 

Samurai Spymaster: L5R Plot Hooks

We're been playing our homebrew Legend of the Five Rings game for a couple of years now. It's a collaboratively-built, season action-based campaign. Because of that and how we've played L5R in the past, it veers away from the core setting canon. I suspect my game looks more like a conventional fantasy game with samurai trappings than most. But as they say, "Your Rokugan May Vary." 

A few sessions ago, our spy master (Oniwaban) spent her seasonal action to map out the various dangerous factions. She put all of her persons and resources to that end and had a remarkable series of pulls. I've been trying to figure out how to present that information in a useful and non-info dump way. Recently I picked up a copy of Cairn in a Math Trade. It has a neat device of player-facing plot points associated with the well known NPCs of the setting. I loved that in the Kaiin Player's Guide. So I tried to do something like that with this material. I'm working on another post more broadly looking at pushing setting.  Below is what I gave Kuni Setsu's player. These are open-ended plot points-- static until the player decides to investigate them or bring them into her work. 

FACTIONS IN THE LANDS OF THE SHIMSAU
The Scorpion Ring

While the Scorpion have a presence here, it is unlikely that what’s visible is all that exists. In fact, that visible part may well be a distraction from other, more dangerous agents and plots. Or not. As you know that the incidents of several years ago left the Scorpion scattered and uncertain. The major Scorpion agent in the area, Bayushi Haruhisa died at the hands of an unknown assailant shortly before the Emperor formalized the Dragon Clan’s control.

The Scorpion Clan trade representative, Sosuro Chiyo, moved up in rank at that time, but did not apparently gain control of the Scorpion network. Who did remains a mystery- but it does not appear to be either of the major Scorpion figures more lately arrived. We have detected connections to several merchants, ties of patronage, and perhaps blackmail. As well, as previously established, one of the major gangs in the capital operates at the behest of Scorpion handlers. Whatever the nature of the Scorpion agents operating here, they seem to be split from the trade interests coming out of Ryoko Owari (mentioned later).

1. An artisan, long suspected of being a secret dupe of the Scorpion organization, recently fled the capitol under cover of darkness.
2. There has been tension and in-fighting between the gangs servicing the opium trade. So far the Scorpion network oddly has not intervened.
3. On a few occasions, figures have been seen working in teams in the northern woods- often spotted with masks. They have vanished before being engaged by our patrols. However, there’s a pattern to their appearances as they’ve shown up near old shrines established by the Kitsu here when the Lion held these lands.
4. An intercepted communication suggests that the Scorpion have managed to place a servant within Governor Doji Yasumori’s household.
5. A master of “medicines” associated with the Scorpion Clan died while travelling through the region, apparently of a stomach malady. However his travel satchel and “herbal” supplies went missing and the Scorpions appear to be hunting for it.

The Unicorn Pathfinders

The Unicorn have had extensive trade contacts through this area for some time. However, it has become increasingly clear that several locations serve as major hub point for Unicorn agents moving out into the rest of the Empire. In particular several traveler inns, hostels, and similar locations serve as cover for these operations. That seems to be restrained in the capitol, Maru Katei. Instead their network operates in the hinterlands, especially the northern forests and the mountains of the West and East. Our Master of Scouts, Toritaka Ataru, has found several hidden trails that may be tied to these, rather than the Lion Clan infiltrators.

1. Scouts have discovered a strange trail in the Eastern mountains. It seems to head off into inaccessible territory.
2. A crafter under Unicorn patronage recently closed up shop and set out to relocate to the village on the border of the non-human Monkey lands.
3. Scouts followed a set of trails which might be tied to the Unicorn network. They came across a ronin who managed to give them the slip in the woods. Their description closely matches Itsura, Ogawa’s former sensei.
4. The Unicorn agents have been agitated and hunt for a Moto who fled here. Given that no word of this has come through official channels, something odd must be involved.
5. One of the few persons we’ve directly associated with the Unicorn suddenly gave up his position and fled to the Suru Ishi monastery. It is clear the Unicorn will not welcome this defection.

Merchants’ Cabal

Even before the time of the Three Armies, the Lion Clan had dealt loosely with the merchants of the region. They provided necessary services and helped keep the rich farmlands of the area running efficiently. The merchants kept their head down and operated as connections between villages. Practicality mattered more to the Lion samurai than other details- though from time to time they cut down someone breaking tradition as a demonstration of the order of the world.

As the battles became more desperate in the area, several merchant groupings worked to cement stability for themselves. They worked quietly- servicing some black market needs- but more importantly taking advantage of want and lack of authority in villages and towns to gain goods, concessions, and future favors. Control by the Dragon Clan gave them even more space to operate. The morel hands-off policy of the Dragon towards the underclass increased their space to operate. Where other clans with stronger trade connections (Unicorn, Scorpion) might move to occupy or control those spheres, the Shimasu and Dragon have not.

1. The merchants have one major nemesis among the Dragon Clan, Kitsugi O-Mugi, the Mistress of Taxes. They have quietly offered a bounty to anyone who can provide damming information regarding her.
2. The Merchants seem to be heavily supporting the Gambaru sumotai school. They have put pressure on the Shotosu school to close.  
3. An old and respected sake brewery in the West region has apparently defied entreaties from the Merchant Cabal. It is likely they will retaliate.
4. The Merchants may have a traitor in their midst. At least two recent shipments intended to evade Imperial scrutiny ended up attacked by Sanada and his men.
5. One of the senior members of the Merchant cabal has secretly been running up large gambling debts. He gambles in many different places to keep this quiet.

The Lion Conspiracy

The Lion have had to rebuild their regional contacts and connections. They clearly believed that any set-backs would be temporary, hence their reliance on infiltrators over more conventional agents. While they engaged in sabotage early on, that has trailed off. Instead we believe that most have returned to the Lion or gone for deep infiltration. The Lion have had to trade off long-running ties of loyalty against not being prepared for this. While you’ve long suspected that “Uncle” Ikoma Daihachi has acts as a spymaster or organizer of the Lion network, it remains difficult to confirm. Particularly over the last year, he’s become even more cautious after his unreported attack.

1. A murder of a merchant in a simple, distant village comes through the Magistrate’s letters. What striking is the mention of that merchant having come into possession of a scroll case matching those you’ve found in other Lion caches.
2. One of the younger samurai in the Eastern province has been given permission to marry a local from a ji-samurai family. However, her groom may be tied to the Lion agents through his father.
3. Several suspected Lion agents, including a Kitsu shugenja were found in the Eastern mountains. Their wounds match your recollection of the weapons of the Tsuno.
4. Matsu Gorosada recently requested travel papers for a member of his clan. Intercepted information suggests this person is a liaison for Lion agents in our region.
5. The medicine which recently saved the daimyo of the neighboring Mirumoto family seems to have come through the Lion network.

House of the Ruby Cricket

While small-scale smuggling has always been a problem, it tends to be scattered. Many assume larger smuggling operations have behind-the-scenes control from the Great Clans. In this area, much of that flows through Ryoko Owari. However at least one smuggling operation exists in our lands outside of direct Clan control. While members of various high families seem to be tied into it, The House of the Ruby Cricket exists as an independent operation for the moment.

How long that’s been the case remains uncertain. The group seems to have arisen from the consolidation of several smaller networks. They operate through this region with connections to the Crab, Unicorn, Lion, and Phoenix lands. More notably, they apparently smuggle goods into and out of the Dragon Clan homelands and beyond. As a criminal organization, they might rightly fall under the jurisdiction of the Magistrate. However the House has an extensive network and they clearly put an emphasis on contacts and information gathering.

1. Rumor has it that some of your Suguremashita Iron has become available via the Ruby Cricket.
2. A pair of travelers who may be Yobanjin have been spotted in the region. How they’ve made it through the road wardens remains a mystery, but they seem to be pursuing someone from the House of the Ruby Cricket.
3. The Ruby Cricket have apparently been moving some gaijin items in recent months, to the chagrin of Unicorn smugglers.
4. A known agent of the Ruby Cricket had an odd reaction when he found himself in the same shop as swordmaster Anbu Utamaru, seeking to escape before being spotted.
5. A courtesan in the Silver Drop “Tea House” has been bragging that two important agents in the House of the Ruby Cricket have been vying for his affections.

Mikoto’s Breath

The number of ronin has increased steadily in Rokugan over the last several decades. Shifts in power, destruction of minor clans, internal dissension, and the exposure of criminal conspiracies all contributed. Many ronin swept into this area during the Time of the Three Armies. The sudden halt to the conflict left them without patrons or coin. The recent destruction of a ronin force in Crane lands has intensified the problem. Some have quietly called for an organized campaign against them, but such a war would bring little honor. Despite their shared interests, most ronin remain scattered and easily set at one another in pursuit of a pittance.

However we believe a network for some ronin exists in the region. How they’re organized and recruited remains uncertain. They operate outside of the other groups mentioned. We strongly suspect they have at least one settlement in the area and may have support from among the clans. Three factors make this group more dangerous. First, their name has been tied to the death of several skilled swordsmen. If they are assassins, they do not use the typical ronin ambush and overwhelm approach. Second, they may have shugenja among their number, but they work carefully to keep that hidden. We do not believe they use Bloodspeaker magic, but the nature is unclear. Three, we believe they have some knowledge and commerce with the yokai.

1. A shugenja bearing the marks and appearance of the Phoenix has appeared a couple of times in the last year in the South. Calling himself Isawa Gobenmaru, conversations with the Clan rep in Maru Katei suggest they have either never heard of him or have disowned him.
2. The recent killing of a retired Dragonfly samurai in the North has raised tensions and signs suggest the involvement of Mikoto’s Breath.
3. The Soshi are said to be hunting a particular ronin warrior who has joined with Mikoto’s Breath.
4. Chibaru let slip that he was targeted for recruitment by Mikoto’s Breath but turned them down.
5. A legendary ronin assassin named Kobukodo is said to be coming to join Mikoto’s Breath to serve as a trainer.

The White Cage

A criminal underground network operating in these northern lands. Usually conventional criminal groups remain restricted to a city or smaller location. Those operating over larger areas usually gain the attention and enmity of clan operatives. How and why the White Cage has survived remains uncertain. They’ve existed long enough to have their own rites and rituals, as well as a strong code of loyalty. They have strong contacts with banditry- not acting as bandits themselves, but instead as intermediaries. Through their network they’ve also been known to hire out to various daimyos as scouts to count forces and assess strengths. Rumor has it that they have some support and connection to some of the more worldly elements of the Brotherhood. It may be that they’ve gathered up some members who have left the order or belong to broken temples. One rumor suggests they have knowledge of the Zokujin and trade with the Nezumi.

1. Bayushi Kenzo, the Emerald Magistrate, may be interested in The White Cage. He captured someone who may be involved and seems to be readying to move them out of the city quietly.
2. Another location, said to have markings of the Trolls, was found ransacked. The unlocking of the site suggests Zokuijin involvement.
3. Agents of the White Cage kidnapped both a Doctor and an Herbalist in the Southern region.
4. Information from our “special allies” suggests that in several places, the White Cage has been using Zokujin to keep old, abandoned shires and other sites unoccupied.
5. A senior person of the White Cage crossed Sanada recently. He’s now a persona-non-grata and on the run. 

Deep End: The Challenge of Bringing New Players in Mid-Stream (L5R Example)

We have a shift coming up in our L5R campaign. One player is heading off to graduate school and another veteran player will be joining us. Bringing a new player into an ongoing campaign can be a challenge. I've been thinking about best practices for that. Our new player, Nick, hasn't played in the Legend of the Five Rings setting before. I gave him a copy of the core book to skim for background. But Sherri suggested I write up an overview of what the game's about- and what the other players are like. I love double-purposing content, so I'm posting that here as well. 

BASIC GAME PREMISE

The party are ranking samurai-class persons in a newly founded family of the Dragon Clan. This family has the unenviable task of establishing a community in lands seized from neighboring clans. Small, uncertain, and with limited resources, the group has to bring stability and secure this region for their clan.

The game play is a mix of investigation, social interaction, fighting, community building, and personal themes. We play using our homebrew Action Cards with the L5R setting (ACL5R)

It is worth noting that samurai social codes and forms play a major part in L5R and other like games. You may have noticed the mechanics for honor, all of the concepts for dealing with rank, etc. That’s important, but I’ll admit I play loose with that. Maybe looser than other GMs in this setting. Those elements are important, but I try to work them gently into the situation- rather than hammering players with mechanics or mistakes. That means I do a good deal of GM translation of player intentions. I’ll also ask for clarifications at times and try to help you figure out what your options are based on the setting.

PLAY STRUCTURE

This is a “seasonal” game, which means that we move the clock forward from time to time. Generally a season will have 5-7 sessions (or so) with the group dealing with plots and events, interacting with NPCs and so on. Generally at the start of a season, I give a roundup of key events for the end of the previous season and the beginning of the current one. The timing on that’s deliberately vague. Then the group meets with their Daimyo and talks about the things he wants accomplished during the season. From that the group sets their agenda, figures out what they can assign to others, and discusses personal tasks they want to undertake.

For the turn of season, we generally talk about what everyone’s been doing when they weren’t occupied with the group missions. Everyone picks a Seasonal action to improve themselves, support their office, or help the family. There’s more on the loose mechanics of that in the ACL5R rules. You can see the the choices the players made for the clan at this post.  

THE NATURE OF THE DRAGON CLAN

So you’ll probably get this form the L5R main book, but the Dragon Clan’s the most ascetic and removed from the day to day affairs of the samurai world- or at least some of their families are. The families are the Togashi, who are the monks and include folks who use tattoo magic. The Agasha who have a tradition of forging and creation magic. The Kitsuki who are investigators. The Mirumoto who are primarily defenders and duelists. Your family is called the Shimasu and your specialty is not yet set. There’s also a minor clan, the Dragonfly or Tonbo, who used to have a stronger affiliation with the Dragon, but your family’s elevation has affected that. Of course not all members of a particular family fall into the archetypal roles.

The Dragon are usually stereotyped as philosophers. That’s often true, but they are still part of samurai culture.

THE FAMILY SET UP

So the deal is that the conflict between the Scorpion, Unicorn, and Lion clans had begun to spiral out of control. In the midst of that, the Dragon acted suddenly and decisively. They seized a middle region between the three clans, primarily taking from the Lion Clan. The Dragon rarely use their forces offensively and rarer still against other clans. As a result, most underestimated their strength. Before their rivals could regroup and strike against the Dragon, the Emperor (also called the Hantei) intervened. The seized lands would now be under the authority of the Dragon. Informally it was made clear that for the next couple of years, no military aggression would be permitted against them. After that, they would have to defend themselves.

To oversee this new region, the Dragon Clan Daimyo, Togashi Hoshi, took the unusual step of establishing a new family. This family would be overseen by the Mirumoto Tactician who had planned and executed the seizure, Shimasu Den. The new family would take the name Shimasu. Samurai who had served with Den from across the clan were permitted to join or be recruited into the new family. As well several ronin and fallen outsiders from other clans regained honor or shifted their role by joining.

The Shimasu are a small family, trying to find their place and made up of a hodge podge of backgrounds. They are connected to the Dragon clan but remain somewhat isolated.

WHO ARE THEIR ENEMIES?

In the broadest sense, Fu Leng and the forces of the Shadowlands are everyone’s enemies. But the Shimasu lands are a fair distance away from those tainted places. Every once in a while, something manages to sneak through. Or they may be called through. The Bloodspeakers are an evil cult of blood magic users. They have cells and cabals of witchcraft, though they can be detected by those who sense Shadowlands Taint. They can be nasty. Additionally there exist non-tainted spirits and creatures who threaten, generally called Yokai. They’re actually a more significant problem in the Shimasu lands.

Three clans border the Shimasu lands. They represent significant threats. The Lion Clan to the South and East resents the loss of a portion of their rich farms and mines. They’re a strong military family and clearly have focused on infiltration and sabotage of the Shimasu. They’re the most likely to eventually initiate some kind of military maneuver. That’s especially troubling because much of the area had been under Lion control for generations. The local populace has a reputation for loyalty- meaning many have fond memories of the Lion or suspicion of their new lord.

The Scorpion lands lie to the South and West. Downriver lies the major city of Ryoko Owari. Smuggling is a major concern here and trafficking in opium. The Scorpion are more subtle, but could also be a military threat. They’re more likely to act to destabilize the province or create a scene at Court. The Unicorn in the north have taken a more cautious approach- though they lost some rich lands to the Dragon. They’re more neutral, but the scattered nature of their leadership does mean that this could change.

More close at hand, the Shimsau family has some rivals within the Dragon Clan. The leaders of family branches closest to them resent the elevation of Shimasu Den. Some expected to be granted a portion of those lands, some dislike the resources given over to a new family. The Dragonfly minor clan especially feels slighted. For generations they have been the ambassadors of the Dragon Clan. When outsiders wished to enter or speak with the Togashi and others, they went through them. Now the Shimsau seems to be another path to contact.

Finally there are other common internal threats: tensions with some monasteries, banditry, etc. In particular the group has faced a dangerous magic-using foe who seems to be investigating ancient sites, from before the rise of humanity.

WHO ARE THE PLAYERS? (STATUS)

The PCs are significant and highly placed samurai in the service of Shimasu Den. Each has an office they manage, as well as a small entourage of supporting staff. There are other samurai in the service of the family as highly placed: advisors, the Governors of the regions, the manager of mines, the tax overseer. Plus there are other, younger samurai of a lower rank within the family.

WHO ARE THE PLAYERS? (ROLES)

Each player has an office.

• Hatamoto (General): Commander of the modest military forces the family has. There’s a garrison in the lead city of Maru Katei. The general oversees that and organizes the patrols. The governors and others have small troops as well, but these are the men most in the field.
• Magistrate: Oversees investigation and prosecution within the family. This involves most of the day to day problems and common enforcement. He’s effectively the top sheriff. There’s also an Emerald Magistrate present who represents Imperial authority.
• Oniwaban (Spy Master): Handles rumor gathering, manipulation, external spying, and internal security. This is a secret role and though most expect the daimyo has a spy master, no one’s sure who it is.
• Onmyoji (Spiritual Advisor): He handles the ritual purifications and ceremonies in the daimyo’s estate. He casts fortunes, interprets omens, and offers spiritual counsel. It’s a little unusual in that this office is handled by a Monk (and a fairly martial one at that) rather than a shugenja.
• Ritual Master: The ritual master oversees events, ceremonies and rituals throughout the region. She makes sure shrines are kept up and that proper rites are held. The choice of a Witch-Hunter is this role is unusual- and has worried some.

We also have key NPCs fill the role of Master of Taxes and Commissioner of Industries. A couple of others have characters filling those roles, but these could be easily replaced by a new PC (with an interesting story resulting).

WHO ARE THE PLAYERS? (CHARACTERS)

Kuni Setsu

Widowed wife of an Agasha; she accepted a role in the new family in hopes of finding peace

School: Soshi Shugenja

Role: Oniwaban (Spy Master)

Flaws: Lost Love (Aspect), Rival, and Dependent

Aspects: Gracious Widow of a Great Hero, Finally Something to Strive For, Least Noteworthy Student of the Soshi School

Trouble Aspect: All the Tools, No Experience

Sherri plays Setsu as the quiet support character. In combat she’s focused on buffing and adding mobility to her comrades. Outside of combat, she plays a behind the scenes game. When she hears about problems she sees if she can quietly assign agents to use manipulation to fix it. She has an interesting situation revolving around her late husband’s mistress’ child.

Kuni Kosunami

Widowed wife of a Kitsuki Investigator; she accepted a role in the new family along with her cousin (Setsu)

School: Kuni Witch Hunter/Shugenja

Role: Ritual Master

Flaws: Sworn Enemy, Nemesis

Aspects: I Know the Darkness, A Crab in Dragon Scales, Obsessive Focus, 

Trouble Aspect: Always Dead Certain

Jacque’s the player who will be leaving the group soon for grad school. She has a pretty aggressive shugenja, mixed with some martial skills. In another system we’d call her a warrior-mage. She’s deadpan and plays her character as a true Crab clan member: most things can be dealt with via force and anything Shadowlands needs to be dealt with first.

Mirumoto Hayato

Respected warrior and commander

School: Mirumoto Samurai

Role: Hatamoto (General)

Flaws: Permanent Wound, Challenged, Fascination: Swords

Aspects: Widow-Maker, the Grinder of Men; Prized Student of Mirumoto Kenichi; Courtesy is Priceless

Trouble Aspect: When You Have a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail

The most classic warrior of the group. Scott plays Hayato as a professional military figure. At the same time he’s also skilled with dealing with the common people (he took some talents related to that). He’s built to be nasty in combat, great on the battlefield, and OK socially when he can bring his aspects to bear.

Tokashi Ogawa

Former ronin now elevated to a position in the Dragon Clan

School: Ronin Bounty-Hunter                                     

Role: Magistrate

Flaws: Cannot Harm Innocents, Fascination: The Ladies

Aspects: Friends in Low Places, I Will Prove I’m Not a Scorpion, Student of Seven Sensei

Trouble Aspect: Nosy

A former ronin who was elevated for his service to the daimyo. He’s the investigator and detective for the group. He’s also an able swordsman. He can handle some of the down and dirty tasks based on his background. Alan plays him well- being willing to plunge into situations he knows will cause him trouble in the long run. But he doesn’t do that in a “let’s mess with crap” way. Instead he plays his character and takes his knocks. Ogawa’s often the default leader in non-traditional situations.

Mirumoto Yamakaji

Retired samurai turned Monk recruited for this new family

School: Ise Zumi Tattooed Monk

Role: Onmyoji (Spiritual Advisor)

Flaws: Rival, Cannot Lie, Cannot Harm Innocents

Aspects: The Mountain Never Falls, The Truth is Always Best, Master of Balances

Trouble Aspect: Not Yet Enlightened

Yamakaji is a former Mirumoto samurai who retired for a time to become a Monk. He was called back into service to act as a spiritual advisor and warrior. He’s striking in that he’s caught between those two poles: wanting to be a representative of virtues and also being a dangerous combatant. In combat he focuses on acrobatics, moving between unarmed and armed modes. Outside of combat he tends to find causes and fixate on them. He’s the key person in dealing with some of the spiritual strife in the region.

WHAT DOES THE GROUP NOT HAVE?

When I first came up with the game, I provided a list of “schools” for the. You can see that list here. If you have any questions about what those might be like you can ask- and you might be able to find out how they’re written in the actual L5R rules by Googling them. I had them each pick out two of those schools they were interested in and then I built the abilities for those. You can see those example schools at the end of the ACL5R rules.

As you’d expect, I build stories to what roles the players pick- so any character type can be worked in. I’ll give you a heads up if I think something would stomp on another players toes.

With Jacque leaving, we’ll be losing one of the two magic users. She’s the more aggressive shugenja of the two, so another shugenja wouldn’t be bad. We don’t have anyone who has taken a Scout or Woodsman-type character. We don’t have a Courtier character; Sherri probably comes closest to that. We don’t have a character focused on dueling; Scott’s filled in a little on that and he has a disad tied to being challenged. We don’t have any kind of crafter or role expert. We don’t have a Kiho-based monk.

Of course Schools really only determine some special abilities, more important’s what personality of character you want to play. We can figure out the backstory for how you’ve become part of the clan later.

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WON’T WORK?

I do have a few restrictions. One, coming from the Scorpion Clan won’t work. That’s based on past history and the way the storylines have spun out. The Lion clans the other major adversary, but it wouldn’t be that hard to work out a reason why you’ve joined. Pretty much most other clans are open. Two, you’ll notice the Spider Clan mentioned in the L5R book- they don’t exist in this setting in that form. So they’re out. Three, no non-human characters (i.e. the Ratlings or Naga). Four, a couple of the Unicorn clan schools are intensely focused on riding and being mounted; that might be a problem in some game sessions.

Lone Wolves, Selfish, and Betrayer archetypes won’t work with this group. Beyond that I’m mostly focused on making sure everyone has a fun niche they want to play out.

WHAT’S THE GROUP LIKE?

They’re primarily focused on cooperation, given that they’ve played together for many years. Usually there’s some planning before operations and actions are taken. They might work at cross-purposes from time to time, but that’s usually to generate drama and create play opportunities. We usually play with open secrets- with the idea that having those out there allows everyone else to play off them. For example, Alan’s character has had an extended affair with a Scorpion agent. The rest of the group doesn’t know, but the players enjoy the chance to put him into increasingly problematic moments as a result.

The group’s generous and plays together pretty well. 

Kingdom RPG: On Fae and Samurai

NOT FOR A HORSE

My copy of Kingdom arrived in the mail a few days ago. I’m a huge fan of Microscope- both as a game as an rpg collaboration tool. Kingdom targets a facet of gaming I particularly love: communities and groups. Players create a community and play through the challenges facing it, called Crossroads. Kingdom's diceless system and collaborative resolution echoes Microscope’s play. As with Microscope I immediately began to think how this could be used to frame or support an rpg campaign. I think it can function more as an expander than a tool, an easy way to explore new areas within an existing setting.

"Kingdom Seeds" make up a little over a third of the core book. They offer an easily adaptable framework (a little like the series pitches from DramaSystem). A few offer fantastical settings, but often they’re more concrete and down to earth. Ben Robbins suggests players begin with the simple and more mundane. His previous advice regarding Microscope really helped game play, so I suspect he’s right about that. When I try Kingdom at the table I’ll begin with something less complex and better known to the player group. That being said I have several existing rpg worlds I’d like to try out Kingdom with, in particular Legend of the Five Rings, Changeling the Lost, Ars Magica, Earthdawn, and even Fading Suns. I know this would only really work with players familiar with the setting. So why do this? It offers a solid and game-able way to explore new facets of these worlds. The simple structure could be used to play a quick and novel game in the setting or look at an area further away. It could also be used as a starting point like Microscope. Imagine playing out the story of a Ars Magica Covenant in Winter and its history. Then players could make up characters for a new Spring Covenant coming in. The group effectively creates the backstory together. You could do that with Microscope, but Kingdom narrows the focus and concentrates on characters and issues of community.

CHANGELING THE LOST

Originally I’d thought to organize this arounda Court within a Freehold. Instead it makes more sense to have the Kingdom be the Freehold as a whole. Players can then have characters from different seasons- a high ranking Winter Lord versus a lowly Summer foot solider. It also means that the players can choose another Court alignment (as presented in Winter Masques). The shift of roles for the players can also represent the change of seasons. A Power who wishes to take on the Perspective role might describe the changing of the days and the shift in control. Players could frame challenges this way.

CUSTOMIZE

Our freehold lies in the city of (choose location). Our city has (but one freehold/another freehold in a different section). Currently the (No Court/One of the Courts) holds dominance over affairs. The Courts themselves (are at each other’s throats/stand apart/grudgingly accept the change of seasons/hold shared council). The Freehold is (bigger than it ought to be for a city this size/balanced and just right in size/unexpectedly tiny). The strictures and control of the Courts are (tight and controlling, affecting everyone’s lives/oppressive from time to time/organized but quiet/loose and often ignored). The protections of the Court mean that (Keepers have been forgotten/the others are rarely seen/we have to maintain our vigil/threats stalk us from every shadow).

THREATS

• Influx of New Changelings from a nearby destroyed Freehold
• A Keeper breaches the Freeholds protections and sets up shop
• Mortals discover and publish some of their secrets
• The Black Market network’s raided by mortal authorities
• Neighboring Freehold demands fealty
• Some agitate for a new set of Courts
• Bridge Burners begin to destroy Hedge Access
• The number of vanishings continues to rise
• Slavers roam the streets

LOCATIONS

• The Goblin Market
• An ancient Hollow
• Wrecking Yard Token Vault
• The Hedge Arena
• The Trod Crossroads
• The Wizened Brewer-run bar
• The favored Dance club of the Spring Court
• The Summer Court’s Underground Parking Garage
• The abandoned strip mall of the Autumn Court
• The night-time playground of the Winter Court
• The basement which houses Radio Free Changeling

CHARACTER SEEDS

Obviously any kind of kith and seeming could work in this setting. Having a diversity of types will make the game stronger. They also offer some archetypes which everyone can work with and play against. A flip through the CtL core book and Lords of Summer will offer some ideas.

• Power: The Winter Enforcer; the Benevolent prince of the Spring Court; The Manipulative Autumn Vizer; the Summer Lord of War.
• Touchstone: The new arrival trying to find their way; the black market fixer who knows everyone; the tavernkeep who hears all the stories; the hedge scavenging street dweller.
• Perspective: The Fairest advocate; the Truefriend Beast; the Darkling who hears the whispers of the dead; the Wizened Oracle

CROSSROADS

• Do we take in the refugees or do we send them on their way?
• Should the Freehold submit to the demands for fealty from our neighbors?
• Should we connect the freehold to the criminal underground for survival?
• Should we eliminate mortal witnesses or attempt to co-opt them?
• Give the Keeper the sacrifices she demands?
• Expand the reach of the Freehold?
• Reorganize the Courts themselves?
• Hunt down all of the fetches?
• Send parties into the Hedge to affect rescues?
• Overthrow the current Prince?

LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS

L5R offers a great and sweeping story. I’ve been running a community-based campaign using Fate. I can imagine running a Kingdom session with an existing family, a new family of a clan, or with a minor clan (new or old).

CUSTOMIZE

We are the (family name) of the (choose) Clan. While Rokugan has been (quiet and settled /seeing ripples of changes /suffering from unexpected events /in the midst of internal conflict /battling against external threats /in a time of chaos and disorder), our family has been (the same /quiet and settled /seeing ripples of changes /suffering from unexpected events /in the midst of internal conflict /battling against external threats /in a time of chaos and disorder). Our family is (small but ancient /tiny and relatively new /just right for our lands /too large for the region we have /expansive across our wide holdings). 

Our family is known for its adherence to the Bushido virtue of (Honesty and Justice /Polite Courtesy /Courage /Honor /Compassion /Sincerity /Duty and Loyalty). Historically our region has been known for its (Mines/Shrines/Forests/Fierce Warriors/Battle Against a Foe/Rivers and Lakes/Skill with Magic/Brilliant Courtiers/Secrecy/Brilliant Merchants/Choose other). Our daimyos have a reputation as (Scholarly /Drunken /Letcherous /Superstitious /Greedy /Obsessives /Moody /Kind-Hearted /Cruel /Choose other) men. Our hated foe and rival comes from (another Clan /the Shadowlands /Bandits /Bloodspeakers /Yobanjin /Ronin).

THREATS

• Imperial Inspection
• Demands for levies
• Bandit Raiders
• Act of Embarrassment
• Peasant Insurrection
• Command to build a (dam/bridge/fortification) for the Hantei
• Starvation
• Monstrous Incursions
• Enemy at the Court
• Clan Rivals threat Invasion
• Increased Taxation
• Plague
• Deadly Swordmaster Challenger

LOCATIONS

• Tea House
• Crossroads post
• Daimyo’s Court
• Entryway of an abandoned temple
• Rice paddies
• Mountainside Shrine
• Local Monastery
• Sake Works
• Dojo Grounds
• A Bridge at Night
• Mill wheel
• Local Geisha House

CHARACTER SEEDS (adapted from Julien Valette’s comment on an earlier post)

Hatamoto / General; Shireikan / Commander; Karo / Seneschal; Gokenin / Estate Manager; Kaishaku / Champion; Onibawan / Spy Master; Onmyoji / Spiritual Advisor; Takumi / Courtier; Yojimbo / Captain of the Honor Guard; Gaikoukan / Diplomat; Daishonin / Records Keeper; Sensei / Dojo Master; Meishou / Minister of Industries; Hangan / Magistrate; Saishu / Ceremonial Master; Eirinsho / Cartographer; Kaikeikan / Treasurer; Hitojichi / Honored Hostage; Haiguusha / Consort; Hakushi / Physician; Daimyo; Member of Daimyo’s Household; Wealthy Merchant; local Abbot; Ambitious Samurai or Ronin

CROSSROADS

• Should we press the people or open the storehouses to complete the project demanded?
• Should we murder the challenger killing our best samurai?
• Should we strike back at the bandits in full force?
• Should we hide our most skilled craftsmen from the Imperial levies?
• Should we negotiate a marriage with our hated rivals?
• Should we engage in smuggling to cover our taxation shortfall?
• Should we put on a grand Winter Court to gain honor?
• Should we kill our honored hostage for the recent affront?
• Should we accept more ronin refugees?
• Should we force the hand of family member who refused/demands to commit seppuku?

The Book of the Yokai

THE NIGHT PARADE

While I love running in my own worlds some published settings click for me. They overcome my desire to create and GM something I’ve come up with: Star Wars, Fading Suns, Changeling the Lost and especially Legend of the Five Rings. Some object to L5R’s mish-mash, but I like its space for play and approach to mixing fantasy and samurai. Of course with a world this big and this many writers you end up with some contradictions. I’ve been hitting those in the recent elements series (The Book of Earth, The Book of Air, The Book of Fire). So I’ve been thinking about how to reconcile those problems and decide what my Rokugan looks like. Right now I’m trying to figure out what the Shadowlands should be in my campaign.

I love the concept of the Shadowlands. It gives a foe PCs can beat, but cannot truly defeat within a campaign. Because Fu Leng’s realm exists as a force of nature that doesn’t feel like GM fiat. Players accept it as an evil to be fought and re-fought. That repetition doesn’t make it any less scary. The Shadowlands contagious nature ought to terrify the PCs. They should dread entering the Shadowlands or even facing the most modest creature unprepared. Infection ought to be at the front of their mind- not only for themselves but everyone around them. They should hesitate after defeating tainted evil within a village: do they now kill everyone and burn the place to the ground to be sure? Any encounter with a Shadowlands creature ought to be uncertain, terrifying, and deadly.

THE TAINTED GAME

But that presents a play problem for me. Legend of the Five Rings is a fantasy game as much as a pseudo-historical game. I have a group that likes investigation, problem solving, social interactions, and fighting. They’re less keen on more classic courtly set ups and problems. They can battle conventional foes: wild ronin, assassins, bandits. But because it is a fantasy game, I want them to fight monsters and the supernatural as well. They’ve battled a released oni and two Bloodspeakers groups so far. So they’ve run up against the question of taint which has several consequences.

1. Fighting Shadowlands monsters isn’t a brave and bold task. There’s little or no honor in such battles. They’re non-samurai status opponents, but more importantly they’re unclean and full of contagion. Anyone ought to stay well clear of a known warrior against the Shadowlands. Taboos about cleanliness prevent the taking of trophies, but I’d like to see players defeat great beasts, gain accolades and be able to tell those stories.
2. Shadowlands taint injects more modern horror and fears into the Rokugani setting. Classical Japanese monster and ghost stories have a mythic quality. They’re cautionary tales. Ghost stories often have a haunted mortal damaging themselves, rather than the ghost directly harming the victim.
3. The Crab serve as a bastion against the forces of the Shadowlands. They take any breach of their defenses as an affront and insult. That makes constant tainted threats hard to square with a campaign set in the interior.

So I want more monsters that aren’t Shadowlands. The books offer some options on that score. Let’s leave aside standard animals and anything with a taint rank. Going from the core book, Creatures of Rokugan, and Enemies of the Empire we have:

Types: Gaki, Ghost (Yorei), Guardian Statues, Kappa, Nue, Orochi, Spirits, Tsuchimon, and Zashiki Warashi.

Intelligent Races: Nezumi, Naga, Ningyo, Zokujin

Races make less useful foes since they’re generally neutral or at least non-evil. GMs could pit the PCs against corrupt versions or use them “as is” with Rokugani xenophobia coloring their perception (not a great or fun choice). The Spirit type offers a better set of options with many interesting variants: Bakeneko, Baku, Houou, Kitsune, Spirit Hound, and Tanuki. That’s a pretty full roster, but these can easily be added to. Since Rokugan blends together many Asian cultures, I won’t feel bad lifting from places like Hero System’s Asian Bestiary

.

Essentially I want to put emphasis on another class of monster. I’ll use the term Yokai since it covers a lot of ground. I want these to be more common foes, connected to local superstitions, without the additional fear of contagion. That’s not a big shift or even a revision, but it does require some rethinking about the setting. I want a background of monsters and creatures closer to that in Usagi Yojimbo, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Dororo, Princess Mononoke, and Matthew Meyer’s The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. In some ways that just means bringing some ideas forward, but it also means shifting some concepts.

Importantly it doesn’t mean eliminating the Shadowlands. I hope that this approach will actually make Shadowlands creatures and the Taint feel unique and dangerous. They will be the terrors that even monsters fear.

WHAT DO THE YOKAI BRING?

It only makes sense that monsters create panic. But fear of Taint brings paranoia, suspicion, and long term devastation. So the general populace must have a means and language to distinguish between the Yokai and Shadowlands. Some of that could come from local folklore. Village elders or local priests might read the signs. Those readings wouldn’t be precisely accurate, but enough to quell fears. More importantly, I’d need to establish to the PCs that this is a reliable method. They should trust locals’ broad assessments about something being Yokai (or Yurei). Beyond that, however, they don’t know much. A particular mineral or sign could offer a more concrete sign. Perhaps there’s a ritual to test for Yokai or a simple divination to assess (like copper dropped in water with a sample from a site immediately tarnishes). On the other hand, I could put the onus on the PCs or authorities- they have to investigate and declare that something’s non-Shadowlands. The practical play consequence would be a population fearful about monsters but not burning everything to the ground.

Mechanically I’d gather most of the non-Shadowlands monsters from the books and put them under the loose category of Yokai. To those I’d add creatures from other sourcebooks and anime- especially the sources I listed above. I could add perhaps a new school or two: Yokai Hunters or experts. The Toritaka used to fulfil this role with the Shinomen Forest. Maybe it could be the speciality of another minor clan? A monk order? A variant Shugenja path? I have to think about that. At the very least a Yokai Expert will make a cool NPC.

I want to put together a random table for generating Yokai. You’d generate basic physical details first: features (huge, furred, human face, multi-limbed, etc), special abilities (flight, shrinking, unusual scent), and attack type (enveloping, blood draining, fearsome visage). To that you’d also generate some kind of unusual behavior by combining a thing (windows, milk, laughter) and a reaction (howling, obsession, blindness). Finally you’d generate a particular sign or symbol by combining effect (uneven, dust, clotting) and placement (windowsills, weather, food). This last could be used as the core clue for PCs investigating an incident.

I could provide a general cosmology for the Yokai. For example they might at root all be Spirits or Kami transformed by an event. Perhaps they had manifested in this world when the original Kami fell from the Heavens. That event changed them and made them into other beings, the Yokai- partially spiritual and partial material. They have an imbalance to them. When destroyed they revert to an elemental state (rock, mud, air, water). That could be used as a means of proving that an attack came from a Yokai rather than a tainted source.

On the other hand, I could also have it that the reappearance of the Yokai connects to some event. That offers an explanation and acknowledges the change, but probably raises more questions than it solves. Maybe they’ve always been around but something has made them more active and numerous? It would probably better just to state the Yokai as a given to the players.

If I want something more mythic I could elaborate on the idea of a Yokai society- with hierarchies and ranks. Natsume’s Book of Friends (and other anime) suggests an organization. Perhaps it could look something like a Fey Court? Some Yokai could be exorcised, some bargained with, and even some allied with. I like this concept as it offers a group for the PCs to play off of. But I don’t want a broad group- i.e. covering all of Rokugan. That brings up the question of a set of spirits subverting the mantle of the Hantei. Instead any court would be local: covering a region, a forest, or a mountain range. I could play with some of the elemental alignments as well. 

WILL OF THE YOKAI

I'll probably give this a try. If I put together those random tables, I'll post them. I like it because I can more easily have classic monsters and fantasy while being able to preserve the horror elements of the setting.  

Seasonal Events and the Clan Campaign in L5R

BLESSINGS OF THE DRAGON

I haven’t written much about my current L5R campaign, but it continues on quite well. I’ve found a few rules tweaks I need to make to the homebrew system but nothing has broken. The players are members of a new family of the Dragon clan, occupying lands formerly of the Lion. The campaign’s set in the Clan War era, following a version of the Scorpion Clan Coup which didn’t exile them (long story). The group built their family in a collaborative session you can read about here. I’ve also written about how this Clan-based campaign works (and how it borrows liberally from John Wick’s excellent Blood & Honor). The campaign takes place over the course of years with players investing in and developing their region. Each season we do a few sessions of adventures and then transition to the next. In between seasons players make choices. I’ll talk more about those picks in another post. Today I want to talk about how I’ve used those break moments as an opportunity to develop history and get story inspiration.

SEASONAL EVENTS

To add variety I developed a system to add events for each season transition. I began by putting together a list of random events- abstract phrases and descriptions more than anything specific. I own several games (Red Tide, Birthright) with random nation event tables. At first I lifted just from those, resulting in about 200 different items. Then I realized that the Legend of the Five Rings CCG has a massive range of descriptive phrases I could borrow from Event and Action cards. It too some time, but I pulled names from an online card manifest. Then I had to go through to weed out duplicates, change overly specific references, and cull odd ones. I ended up with a list of 1000 random events. Some would be pretty easy to figure out: A Plague Spreads, Bountiful Harvest, Bandit Raids. But most of them would require some serious interpretation. Some examples: A Matter of Honor, I Know That Trick, Living Death.

You can see the full list here.

My reading depend on where the event happens. I decided that each season I would make three sets of three event pulls. The first would be “national” events affecting the Clans or the Imperial House. The second would be “neighbors” affecting the families of the clans directing bordering the players’ province. Last would be the province itself which I broke down into ten areas (N, S, E, W, Center, Main City, Significant Site, Retainer Families, Borderlands, Rumors). These are on random tables. For example in the first season I came up with the following results for the transition from Spring to Summer.

NATIONAL

• Phoenix: Last Line of Defense: Over the years, Shugenja have requested the restoration of the office of the Jade Champion. The Phoenix have always blocked that. Oddly they have recently established a new office within their clan with a mandate much like that of the jade Champion, under the auspice of the Elemental Council. Asako Togama has taken up the role.
• Unicorn: Lean Times: Word has begun to leak out that a series of accidents destroyed a good deal of the Unicorn food stores. Combined with the drop in general production from the heartland (GM’s note- as a result of the war which saw the PC’s family taking over certain Lion regions) the Unicorn have been hard pressed. GM Note: This event has had some direct impact on the game, as the Unicorn represent an important potential ally. The group decided they would quietly work to make sure that Unicorn smuggling would be given more room. The Magistrate PC spoke with the Unicorn trade representative about the matter- gaining some obligations from the clan. That an excellent move that the group came up with quite quickly.
• Dragon: Treachery Exposed: Mirumoto Daini declared Mirumoto Harutane as traitor to the Dragon. He and his two sons have been asked to commit seppuku for their treason. He and his eldest complied, but his youngest son, Mirumoto Mishikado fled with his wife (formerly of the Agasha). Harutane is said to have been carrying on treasonous negotiations with the Unicorn, though what exactly happened remains uncertain outside the Clan Champion’s council.

NEIGHBORS

• Lion: Matsu: Destined Enemies: Matsu Tsuko, Clan Champion and daimyo, clashed with Akodo Kage over leadership within the Lion. This has forced many within the family to take sides.
• Lion: Matsu: Light of the Sun Goddess: A minor shrine to the Sun Goddess experienced a visitation from Ameratsu. She appeared and placed a wakizashi within the shrine which gleams like the sun. The Matsu and Kitsu are currently discussing the nature of the visitation. GM Note: I’ve developed this further with the Emperor intervening and declaring that the Matsu must hold a tournament in order to gift the weapon to a worthy champion. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to maneuver the PCs there- but I have a couple of ideas about that.
• Unicorn: XXXXX XXXXX: Skirmishes continue in the lands between the Scorpion and Unicorn. Infiltrators from both sides continue to fight the war, despite the Imperial edict against open conflict. Rumor has it that the Moto found and raided a significant Scorpion site. GM Note: I don’t want to say what the event was- as some of my players read this, but there’s a secret hidden there.

PROVINCE

• Borderlands: Glimpse of the Unicorn: The north has seen a flurry of Unicorn activity- smugglers, infiltrators, and the like. GM Note: I tied this into the earlier national event, suggesting that this came from desperation on the part of the clan.
• Rumors: Malevolent Creed: Stories have reached the main city of Maru Katei of strange travelling monks within the province. They seem to be agitators, speaking quietly and subtly against the Celestial Order. Some suggest they spread a strangely twisted version of the Tao. Exactly who and what they are remains uncertain.
• Central Region: Demagogue: Abbot Matahei, senior monk of the Monastery at Rekiju has been in at Maru Katei visting the shrines and sites related to his order. His monastery, the most important in the province, is dedicated to Fortunism. (GM Note: The players selected a monastery as one of their provincial resources). Rekiju has two major sites dedicated to Bishamon and Sudako. Matahei has been speaking about the importance of the fortunes in the province. In this he has been quietly suggesting that the common folk avoid adopting the more kami and Taoist tendencies of their new Dragon overlords. While he hasn’t made any direct comment on the new daimyo, he could become an irritant.

GM Note: This ended up inspiring a set of episode for the current season. The group has tried to track these strange monks with no great success. More importantly, they opted not to confront Abbot Matahei directly. Instead while nearby, they paid a call on Rekiju and made a positive impression, albeit one laced with the implication that the monks needed to fall into line. They backed that up by uncovering a Bloodspeaker conspiracy to burn the monastery down and increase tensions in the area.

OVERALL

We’ve only had one seasonal transition so far, but the next is coming up fairly soon. I’m usually not a big one for random tables, but I’m pleased with this. It has given me a number of ideas about plots and events for the campaign. In a superhero campaign, I usually offer “news” briefings with lots of plot possibilities the group can pick through. This has a similar function. It also offers a sense of the broader world as a whole. There’s a freedom for me in letting these events determine Rokugan’s current path.