Rainy Days are here again - Another L5R 4e Campaign?

[Rain Yupa]

Raganui Minamoto

... Rain, does that rank problem apply to Himura since... ya know, Kraken? Or was that just poor wording on your part?

Also, how old is the Kraken?

The Kraken Clan has one family, the Himura family, with one school, the Himura Bushi School. As such, it is listed under Unlimited, and since you guys are all part of this Clan, you don't have to take different school to take your own school.

As for the age, I estimate ABOUT 20 years, give or take a few. Enough for you to be born right after its conception (your parents joined then got biz-ay!). Since most samurai when they complete their gempukku are in their late teens, that'll give you a good gauge about how old you all are.

Mind you, I'll leave it to your discretion about when your parents joined. GENERALLY it's unheard of for a samurai to have permission to leave their lord's service to join a different clan (except for marriage, of course!), except when something very new happens and warrants such political shifts. Such as the creation of a minor clan. So if your parents showed up later than the first couple years (and probably meaning you were already born), you'll need to cover why in your background.

Brotherhood Monks and Ronin are, of course, exempt from this. Ronin probably join Minor Clans all the time when they want something a little more than being lordless. It's probably remarkably easier to join a Minor Clan than a Great Clan.

I also strongly encourage all of you to consider one or both of your parents being formally ronin :3  

[Raganui Minamoto]

Sounds good. So, who all here is officially full on Himura aside from me?  

[Plainsfox]

I am. Paidi is too. Donno about Pupsage.  

[Raganui Minamoto]

Cool. Wonder if we three should work out some sort of backstory, since we probably knew each other.  

[PupSage]

I am making a Himura ... though the Willpower bonus does nothing for me.  

[Raganui Minamoto]

Everyone's Himura! Well, then I'll present the basics of my character.

Himura Gendo's father was previously a ronin before joining the Kraken and his mother was from the Dragon. He's a bit quiet, has dark hair, and is a large man (both tall and muscular). His weapon of choice is a Naginata, though he prefers to work on his weaponsmithing, or sometimes even poetry.  

[PupSage]

Himura Aya is a Bayushi Courtier. Her parents are formerly of the Crab and Scorpion Clans respectively. Both were courtiers who fell in love at court, but neither wished to leave their clan for the other. When the Kraken clan started up they took the opportunity to retire and solidify their union. In time they had three daughters, Aya was the middle child of these.

Some things happened that have been discussed with the DM and she left to seek out training. She found it within the Dojo of Lies, and when the time came for her final test they assigned her a mentor in the colonies. Once her training finished and she graduated, she returned to Megumi Tempi and developed a reputation as one of the more eligible bachelorettes on the island.  

[Rain Yupa]

Rain Yupa

Himura Family: +1 Willpower

HIMURA BUSHI SCHOOL v0.1

• Benefit: +1 Awareness
  
• Skills: Etiquette, Iaijutsu, Investigation, Kenjutsu (Katana), Any one High or Bugei Skill, Any one Merchant Skill, Any one Artisan Skill.
  
• Honor: 4.5
  
• Outfit: Light Armor, Sturdy Clothing, Daisho, any 1 weapon, Traveling Pack, 3 koku.

TECHNIQUES
RANK ONE: UNQUIET OCEAN
A Himura is quick to action when honor and duty demands it. You add your Honor to all initiative rolls. In addition, when in an iaijutsu duel, the number of raises you can make is limited by your Void Ring or your highest Artisan skill rank, whichever is higher.

RANK TWO: TERROR OF THE SEAS
The Himura can prove their valor before a duel as well as after. Before an iaijutsu duel, you may attempt a TN 15 Awareness/Artisan roll in a public setting. Success grants you a Free Raise to your next Void/Iaijutsu (Focus) roll that day. For every 2 raises successfully called on your Artisan roll, increase the number of Free Raises earned by 1.

RANK THREE: APEX HUNTER
Owing to their Kitsuki heritage, a Himura is a good judge of character. Add your Investigation skill rank to all Awareness/Iaijutsu (Assessment) rolls. In addition, add the difference of your Honor Rank and your target's Honor Rank to all damage rolls, if yours is higher.

RANK FOUR: FROM THE DEPTHS
The Himura strike only when necessary, but do so with unwavering confidence. You may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action while using weapons with the Samurai keyword.

RANK FIVE: RELEASE THE KRAKEN
When confronting a Himura, an opponent is easily overwhelmed. While in an iaijutsu duel, add your Etiquette skill rank to your Reflexes/Iaijutsu to strike your opponent. In normal combat, if your attack roll exceeds an opponent's Armor TN by 5 or more, you may spend a Void Point to gain a number of Free Raises equal to the number of intervals of 5 in which you exceeded the TN, which may immediately be used for Maneuvers as if you had called Raises normally before your attack was rolled.

Also, I think I officially need input on this.

This is complete garbage, start over?

Rank X sucks and I would never use that?

You should make a Courtier school, not a Bushi school?

Not enough things for non-duels?

Too much focus on dueling?

It's v0.1 for a reason!  

[Paidi tou Selini]

Well, like we discussed, a dueling courtier school could be fun (and unique, though not too farfetched considering the Kitsuki courtiers do combat stuffs too). That definitely has my vote.

If everyone still wants it to stay bushi I still must beg that the designed focus be a choice between Artisan or Perform. sweatdrop  

[Plainsfox]

I think that we're happy with it for the most part. Small suggestion.

In line with Paidi's request, I too suggest that it be either perform or artisan.

My other suggestion is that the perform and artisan skills required for the school be tied to the perform or artisan taken as the school skill.

EG I take a character with Artisan: Skrimshaw as my school skill. I keep that skill at 1 for most of the game, but later get Perform Oratory to 7. Since Artisan: Skrimshaw was my choice of skill, that's what my school techniques que off of.  

[Raganui Minamoto]

I'll agree with Plainsfox on this point. It makes my idea better, since I think speaking a haiku before a duel would be a perform: oratory instead of an artisan: poetry.  

[Rain Yupa]

Raganui Minamoto

I'll agree with Plainsfox on this point. It makes my idea better, since I think speaking a haiku before a duel would be a perform: oratory instead of an artisan: poetry.

... but... but a haiku is poetry! That's precisely what Artisan: Poetry is! sweatdrop

Perform: Storytelling would be regaling someone with a fairy tale or mythological tale, like Aesop's fables, or telling people about something you experienced or witnessed first hand. Oratory would be more akin of giving an actual speech, or perhaps some more long-winded stories (Homer's Iliad or Odyssey, for example).

See Oratory, for example. (Another example of Oratory in use: Bard!)

The exception, as I see it, would be for Perform: Poetry, is to recite existing works, rather than create your own. In that case, it is precisely NOT Artisan, since you are using someone else's poems to entertain others. Lore: Poetry would be good for knowing lots of entertaining, famous, or obscure ones, and Perform: Poetry would be doing them justice retelling them.

My intention when making it Artisan: Poetry, is that Himura made himself (very slightly) famous during his day by telling a good poem or other form of artistry before dueling, basically as a way to sway the crowd of observers in his favor. While that could very well be something Performy, I assumed by the description I was given that he was making his own poems, rather than reusing existing ones?

BUT... it is your school after all, not mine. I'm simply trying to put into mechanics what you think it should be. I'm totally fine adjusting it to be Artisan and/or Perform. But I won't use Perform: Poetry as a school rank ability, because I'll be darned if I let any of you prequel a duel with "There once was a man from Nantucket" >_<  

[Paidi tou Selini]

So does that mean there could be an Artisan: Song? Since songs can be original too?  

[Rain Yupa]

Paidi tou Selini

So does that mean there could be an Artisan: Song? Since songs can be original too?

Well, ANYTHING can be original. As mentioned in a previous example, Craft: Weaponsmithing or Armorsmithing. A smith can make a piece that's completely decorative and ornate, basically pretty to look at, but absolutely nonfunctional in normal combat: It would fall apart easily, be paper thin, be completely unbalanced. That would be more of an Artisan than a Craft.

But say, making up a fictional fairy tale to tell some kids. That would still be perform, not artisan. Because it's meant purely to entertain, rather than to be aesthetic.

Original songs would still be Perform, but Perform is still a High Skill. But the closest thing I can think of that would be an example of an artisan would be our equivalent of singing the national anthem, done by a skilled performer at the opening of the World Series or Superbowl or something. Yes, I know that in this case, it's actually the opposite of original. But it's not done to entertain, it's done to inspire patriotism. In a normal musical number, if someone stumbles on a lyric, people will gossip about it but the rest of the song can be recovered and still be "okay", and other songs afterwards might make a few forget it. But a gaffe during an anthem? Completely unforgiveable, people will hate you for it, you effectively ruined it. The same probably goes for gospel choirs.

While one can argue that any song can be art (at least the good ones, I assume. Skrillex dubstep is not art >_<), it ultimately boils down to what you're trying to convey, and how you're trying to convey it.

So I'm not against there being a Song version of artisan, I can't actually think of a Rokugani example right now, so you'll have to actually convince me of one. It has to be something that can be 'displayed', so to speak? Or, rather, a more accurate way to explain it is "a song that's not in any way entertaining, but still inspires people".

EDIT: Another way of describing Artisan vs Perform for music would be that Perform would convey an emotion that would be shared by any who listen to it, so they can all connect on a personal level. Artisan for music would NOT convey any emotion, but challenge those who listen to it to decide what it means to them personally. It would have to make them think to enjoy it.

EDIT 2: Sorry about any contradictions or confusingness about this. Artisan is supposed to be artisan and perform is supposed to be perform and you guys are trying to blur the lines and I'm doing by best to oblige while honoring the intentions of the system itself sweatdrop Maybe I should retract my comment about poems about gaijin from Nantucket being perform over artisan? Maybe just make it an Artisan LOW skill... that could work.....  

[Plainsfox]

Don't worry about it. It's clearest as it's originally written. The problem is that we don't realize that artisan is MAKE while perform is do. Perhaps Paidi will be happy if her character composes a song before a duel instead? ><