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Seluin posted:Someone will need to refresh my memory, but I seem to recall the Nezumi left the world pretty epically. Apparently some crazy dragons were tearing up the Realm of Dreams and the Nezumi shamans used name magic to allow most of the Nezumi to enter Yume-do while remaining awake and aware. They fought the dragon-things and won, saving the world and beating Tomorrow. Unfortunately those Nezumi who entered the dream realm couldn't return to their bodies so while their consciousnesses lived on in Yume-do as dream spirits their bodies died. Most humans thought that a major plague had wiped them out. The Chipped Tooth tribe hadn't joined the battle so they're still around and most of the other tribes had some survivors who hadn't entered the Realm of Dreams but they were frequently left without any Shaman or Rememberers who could explain what the hell had happened. As a result the larger social organizations that had evolved have mostly collapsed and the non-Chipped Tooth Nezumi have mostly returned to being isolationist scavengers who shun any outside contact.
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May 4, 2011 19:11
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My copy of Emerald Empire shipped from amazon today. I figured it wasn't going to show up at all, so I'm pleasantly surprised.
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May 4, 2011 19:43
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I recall a lot of hate for the nezumi on the official forums... I wonder if that is why they tried to write them out of the setting.
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May 5, 2011 03:06
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Bellicose Buddha posted:I recall a lot of hate for the nezumi on the official forums... I wonder if that is why they tried to write them out of the setting. Why would anyone hate the rats?
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May 5, 2011 03:33
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Bellicose Buddha posted:I recall a lot of hate for the nezumi on the official forums... I wonder if that is why they tried to write them out of the setting. The hate is likely due to ratling decks in the ccg almost always being ridiculously good, usually via incredible efficiency, sometimes due to amazing combos as well as a few really degenerate ratling personalities being keys to other decks. I believe the official reason they were written out was a combo of wanting to focus on the samurai for the (at the time upcoming) Samurai Edition base set of the ccg, as well as dropping to nine factions from ten to make planning expansions and packaging easier, as L5R CCG expansions have always had new decks for three of the factions each expansion, and with ten there was always the odd faction out.
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May 5, 2011 06:02
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Emerald Empire is a pretty awesome book in case anyone was on the wall about it. If you want a book that's incredibly comprehensive on the day to day life in Rokugan, how the society works, the Gaijin cultures, and more information than you could ever need it's the book for you. There are also tables here and there for encounters and some schools at the end of the chapters. It's beautifully illustrated too. EDIT: You should also buy it now while you can because it will probably be impossible to find in couple months, especially if you're outside the US. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 23:47 on May 5, 2011 |
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May 5, 2011 23:39
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RocknRollaAyatollah posted:Emerald Empire is a pretty awesome book in case anyone was on the wall about it. If you want a book that's incredibly comprehensive on the day to day life in Rokugan, how the society works, the Gaijin cultures, and more information than you could ever need it's the book for you. There are also tables here and there for encounters and some schools at the end of the chapters. It's beautifully illustrated too.
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May 6, 2011 04:01
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I can't really say since I don't have that book but if you don't have it, get this one. It's mostly fluff, a little crunch, and it's not very time period specific so it's honestly great for any edition.
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May 6, 2011 04:07
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Amazon's description says that it's got 100 pages of new material in, plus updates to 4e rules for any crunch that was there before. I think it's supposed to be about 3/4 the same though, so mileage may vary.
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May 6, 2011 11:58
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ErichZahn posted:Nah. The Ontario By Night( As an actual (former) story team member, I have no idea who you are talking about. The people who write the metaplot are five (formerly 6) people, unless you are talking about random RPG freelancers who don't do much other than write up their own NPCs for the books or whatever. That said, while I have used the metaplot as taking-off points for different games (for example, setting a game at the beginning of the Four Winds saga, and another game set immediately prior to the choosing of the new Empress), I think anyone who adheres to the ongoing metaplot while their ongoing game is happening is completely insane.
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May 6, 2011 14:47
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) crew and a bunch of owod freelancers edit/brainstorm/contribute to the metaplot.
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Kayumi posted:Amazon's description says that it's got 100 pages of new material in, plus updates to 4e rules for any crunch that was there before. I think it's supposed to be about 3/4 the same though, so mileage may vary. Does the 4e version have 40 pages of statblocks that nobody double-checked? I have the 3e book, and most of it is pretty good, but that was kinda embarrassing. Not as bad as the LBS book doing a find -> replace of "Rokugan" with "Emerald Empire" and thus talking about its inhabitants, the "Emerald Empirei". kidsarejerks posted:As an actual (former) story team member, I have no idea who you are talking about. The people who write the metaplot are five (formerly 6) people, unless you are talking about random RPG freelancers who don't do much other than write up their own NPCs for the books or whatever.
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May 8, 2011 04:12
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Huitzil posted:Does the 4e version have 40 pages of statblocks that nobody double-checked? I have the 3e book, and most of it is pretty good, but that was kinda embarrassing. No, it only has extra schools and a few tables. I haven't noticed any stat blocks. It's mostly a treatise on Rokugan and rules for running larger scale strategy stuff.
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May 8, 2011 05:14
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Which new schools are in Emerald Empire? Do the Yogo get a writeup by any chance?
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May 8, 2011 07:16
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Gravy Train Robber posted:Which new schools are in Emerald Empire? Do the Yogo get a writeup by any chance? The Yogo are listed in the big glossary with a good summary of their family but they are not given stats. I think they'll be in the Great Clans book though. The basic schools: Shinjo Bushi The Ikoma Lion's Shadow [Bushi] Shiba Artisans Doji Magistrate [Bushi] Soshi Magistrate [Bushi] Shinmaki Order (Monk School) Mirumoto Taoist Swordsman [Bushi] Hida Pargmatist [Bushi] The advanced schools: Imperial Scion [Courtier] Minor Clan Defender [Bushi] (Generic Minor Clan) Kobune Captain [Bushi] (Mantis Clan boat captain) The Dark Paragons [Monk] EDIT: Fixed RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 11:25 on May 9, 2011 |
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May 8, 2011 15:46
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RocknRollaAyatollah posted:The Yogo are listed in the big glossary with a good summary of their family but they are not give stats. I think they'll be in the Great Clans book though. The Minor Clan Defender isn't really a generic Minor Clan soldier and it definitely isn't a basic school, it's a generic advanced school for champions of minor clans. I mean the first technique is oriented towards raising Status in the eyes of Great Clan Samurai, not any combat effect (though ranks 2-3 are pretty spicy). If you're considering getting Emerald Empire for the schools it is also probably worth pointing out that the two Magistrate schools are oriented more towards making town guards and assistants to magistrates than training magistrates proper and thus have techniques oriented more towards skirmish combat than aiding investigations. The nature of the other schools is fairly self explanatory if you're familiar with the setting except for the Lion's Shadow, who are the new (and fixed/balanced) version of the Ikoma Spymaster. They're awesome. Though the most awesome thing in the book is probably the Way of the Daimyo appendix (which gives fairly comprehensive but lightweight rules for doing things like becoming a Sensei and devolping a kata or managing your own army/province).
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May 9, 2011 09:54
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LGD posted:The Minor Clan Defender isn't really a generic Minor Clan soldier and it definitely isn't a basic school, it's a generic advanced school for champions of minor clans. I mean the first technique is oriented towards raising Status in the eyes of Great Clan Samurai, not any combat effect (though ranks 2-3 are pretty spicy). If you're considering getting Emerald Empire for the schools it is also probably worth pointing out that the two Magistrate schools are oriented more towards making town guards and assistants to magistrates than training magistrates proper and thus have techniques oriented more towards skirmish combat than aiding investigations. The nature of the other schools is fairly self explanatory if you're familiar with the setting except for the Lion's Shadow, who are the new (and fixed/balanced) version of the Ikoma Spymaster. They're awesome. Oops, yeah, I misread that. The Way of the Daimyo is really good for high level campaigns or if you wanted to do a campaign about the PC's taking over an area and building it up.
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May 9, 2011 11:26
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Huitzil posted:\\ From the beginning of Samurai to the end of Celestial (which is now ending).
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May 9, 2011 17:20
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I'm starting a game of L5R soon, and due to total bullshit I've ended up with eight players:
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May 10, 2011 01:51
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Looks like a fun group. 3 magical priests, 2 bushi who are not what they're pretending to be, 2 varieties of monks from orders that frequently confuse and offend Samurai with their behavior and one diplomat who presumably is going to need to spend all of his time smoothing everything over. I'm having some some trouble imagining what someone would assemble such a group to do. Maybe a ghost-investigating scooby-squad for a Magistrate?
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May 10, 2011 02:29
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Start at a weird mystical martial arts tournament. Seriously, that's the best alternative to the magistrate game for the esoteric classes.
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May 10, 2011 02:45
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The set-up I'm working on has all the non-monks applying for a variety of Imperial positions (the Ishiken has applied to join the Phoenix delegation at Imperial Court, I imagine the others will be interested in positions for the Emerald or Jade Magistrates). They're all shocked when they're accepted/recruited/forced into the Imperial Cartographers, and their first assignment takes them through one of the major festivals, where they'll meet the Monks. Mid-term, after a few months as Imperial Cartographers they'll be met by an Otomo Emerald Magistrate who explains that, actually, the reason they've been forced into the Imperial Cartographers is to build up a believable cover. The Emerald Magistrates have severe concerns for a new trade city that's grown up in the past few years, but every time they send Magistrates in to investigate, they get absolutely nowhere because they're too high-profile. The Emerald Champion himself has sanctioned this initiative: the player characters are being assigned to investigate the city on behalf of the Emerald Magistrates, using their secondary task of mapping it as an excuse to investigate the seedier goings on that have so far been hidden from Imperial scrutiny. In exchange for succeeding at this task, exposing the corruption that the Emerald Magistrates strongly believe is present, they'll be rewarded with the offer of positions in the Emerald or Jade Magistrates.
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May 10, 2011 03:47
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Not sure if anyone knows, but about how long does it usually take for the books to reach DriveThruRPG? I'm still eager to get my hands on Emerald Empire without having to track down a physical copy. Its mostly for the social and cultural material since thats the area I feel least confident in should I ever run a game.
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May 16, 2011 06:37
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A personal question: at what point do you absolutely refuse to continue following canon? I hear that a lot of fans say that everything that happened after the Clan War is non-canon. My personal cutoff is the end of the Four Winds Arc. While there was a lot of stupid poo poo in the Four Winds and Hidden Emperor arcs, I feel there's enough cool moments to balance it out. After Naseru becomes Emperor, though, the story just gets progressively dumber, to the point that it's one of the only things that can still get me to nerd-rage. Well, that and Planescape getting discontinued, but that's a different thread.
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May 17, 2011 01:57
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Most of my setting knowledge was from Clan War through Gold Arc, so I'd probably end up choosing either Toturi's Reign or the period immediately following his death with the Four Winds running around. That being said, I do occasionally like elements from later on in the metaplot. While 4E is pretty much a toolbox, I'm also fine just starting from a roughly clear slate with the current era with Iweko as Empress and glossing over a lot of the stuff that happened prior. The most recent metaplot event involving Dark Naga awakening is kind of silly, but I kind of like the idea of resurgent Naga. Its all theoretical though- I haven't had a chance to run the game yet. Still in love with it, just wish I had a group for it.
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May 17, 2011 02:40
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For me its the entire 12th century shenanigans. There's some parts I do like, those being Toturi's ascension to the throne and the Mantis Clan's formation, but everything else is not my bag. It doesn't help that the corebook just gives Cliffs Notes so the whole Scorpion Coup and the opening of the Black Scrolls reads as "everybody suddenly went stupid." Except the Spider Clan. The way they're portrayed in the book isn't so great, but I love the concept.
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May 17, 2011 02:56
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How cliche and unacceptable are Tournament settings for introductory adventures? I was reading 3rd edition material on the main website, and thought the Tournament of the Emperor's Favoured could be interesting if updated. Its a gathering organised by the minor clans for the purpose of influence peddling and networking with the Great Clans who attend. I was thinking of using it as the basis for an intro session or one shot but with some significant changes (such as moving it from Fox to Sparrow lands, etc).
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May 19, 2011 01:50
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Cliche? A little. Unacceptable? Absolutely not. I've been looking at the Topaz Championship myself; they're a pretty good start/introduction to a game, both rules and setting-wise. And a Minor Clan tournament is a bit different.
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May 19, 2011 04:06
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Yeah when you're playing multi-clan parties you 1 of 3 options. Tournament, winter court, or mysterious benefactor. It's part and parcel of the genre.
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May 19, 2011 06:07
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That's like asking if slaying a dragon is cliche in D&D, sure, but if you're a half-clever gm you can do it fun pretty easy. Aside from the core tourny itself, you have tons of options for trickery and dealings to spice it up.
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May 19, 2011 09:07
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shotgunbadger posted:That's like asking if slaying a dragon is cliche in D&D, sure, but if you're a half-clever gm you can do it fun pretty easy. Aside from the core tourny itself, you have tons of options for trickery and dealings to spice it up. Point taken. This was the material I was going over and thinking about trying to put a different spin on it. If I wanted to move the timeline up to assumptions in the corebook (i.e. Iweko/Spider/Fox-become-Mantis), I was thinking of setting the Tournament in Sparrow lands since (if I recall correctly) Kyuden Suzume is actually a pretty large place with the capacity to host such an event. The current metaplot is that the Spider have been slowly corrupting the Sparrow, which I like the idea of, but I'm having trouble planning out some relatively subtle influences they might have on the proceedings and what their long term plans might be. Introducing evidence of maho and an investigation during the tournament might be interesting, given the presence of the Hare, but it still seems a little too direct. The other idea I had was for some tainted Sparrow and Daigotsu courtiers to be collecting information (for blackmail, etc) on participants in the tournament- subtly manipulating the competitions. It wouldn't be anything that would be too obviously tainted or spider ideally, but enough to spark the character's interest in looking deeper or trying to remove themselves from potential webs and traps. Does this sound like it might be a good idea or should I try something much simpler for a game full of first time players?
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May 19, 2011 19:43
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Sounds good, though you might need to come up with something to do for the great clan players(if you have any) while the minor clans are participating in the tourney.
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May 20, 2011 05:07
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Gassire posted:Sounds good, though you might need to come up with something to do for the great clan players(if you have any) while the minor clans are participating in the tourney. The minor clans are the hosts- they're angling for influence with the Great clans and the players would be there as representatives. Its a fairly minor event, so the prospect of the clans only sparing relatively young and unimportant samurai from their duties to attend seems to make sense. In-between events they'll likely have to deal with courtiers from a half dozen minor clans or so attempting to butter them up, offering gifts, and trying to get them to put in a good word with/negotiate with their superiors at the event. This is the set up of the original module, and I think adding in an element of blackmail and hidden taint influence might give it a spin and/or set them up for a longer story arc. I'm still really looking forward to Emerald Empire though, because while I have a decentish grasp of the setting, a lot of the social and other concerns I'm not that comfortable with yet. I don't know if the scenario above seems plausible. Anyway, its for a group that has no experience with the system or setting so I'll just have to see how it works out.
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May 20, 2011 05:16
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So how does Legend of the Burning Sands compare to Legend of the Five Rings now that 4th Edition is out? Is it still good to buy?
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May 26, 2011 16:44
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They published a free conversion guide, so yeah. It's... interesting. Give it a read.
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May 27, 2011 02:21
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Gravy Train Robber posted:How cliche and unacceptable are Tournament settings for introductory adventures? There is no better introduction to L5R, both setting and mechanics, than a good tournament adventure, and it's literally written right into the setting that Rokugani will hold a tournament at the drop of a hat. Hold tournaments all the time. Hold contests all the time. Gravy Train Robber posted:The minor clans are the hosts- they're angling for influence with the Great clans and the players would be there as representatives. Its a fairly minor event, so the prospect of the clans only sparing relatively young and unimportant samurai from their duties to attend seems to make sense. You don't even need this excuse. The vast majority of the samurai in the empire are rank 1-2, status 1 puds. Even when super powerful people get together, there are flocks of these puds hanging around them, doing their bidding, and you can fit the PCs into very large events that way. When one daimyo says to another, "have your people call my people", those people are the PCs. NinjaDebugger fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Jun 1, 2011 |
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Jun 1, 2011 19:20
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So I'm running an L5R game right now, and having a ton of fun with it. The game lends itself naturally to my DMing style, which is a mystery plot with tons of NPCs. But I have a dilemma. I am awful at balancing encounters. And with how lethal L5R combat is I've been avoiding having much of it, for fear of unfairly killing my PCs. I have Enemies of the Empire, but it doesn't have many stats for human NPCs. Are there any simple guidelines for building balanced NPC encounters? Say I want to make a Rank 2 ronin. Should I just start with a base character and add a certain amount of EXP's worth of stats? How much?
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Jun 2, 2011 08:03
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FactsAreUseless posted:So I'm running an L5R game right now, and having a ton of fun with it. The game lends itself naturally to my DMing style, which is a mystery plot with tons of NPCs. But I have a dilemma. I am awful at balancing encounters. And with how lethal L5R combat is I've been avoiding having much of it, for fear of unfairly killing my PCs. I have Enemies of the Empire, but it doesn't have many stats for human NPCs. Are there any simple guidelines for building balanced NPC encounters? Say I want to make a Rank 2 ronin. Should I just start with a base character and add a certain amount of EXP's worth of stats? How much? Don't stat out the npcs any more than necessary. Decide your rings, your core weapon skills, any important noncombat stuff like investigation and sincerity. Anything more can be decided on the fly. The npc is whatever rank you need it to be, just assume that any missing insight is in skills that aren't relevant, like craft farming or whatnot.
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Jun 2, 2011 12:32
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FactsAreUseless posted:So I'm running an L5R game right now, and having a ton of fun with it. The game lends itself naturally to my DMing style, which is a mystery plot with tons of NPCs. But I have a dilemma. I am awful at balancing encounters. And with how lethal L5R combat is I've been avoiding having much of it, for fear of unfairly killing my PCs. I have Enemies of the Empire, but it doesn't have many stats for human NPCs. Are there any simple guidelines for building balanced NPC encounters? Say I want to make a Rank 2 ronin. Should I just start with a base character and add a certain amount of EXP's worth of stats? How much? Here are some hard and fast rules I use for making L5R encounters: 1) Your average dice rolls a 6. Your average PC has a TN of 30. Ergo, don't let your NPCs keep more than 4 dice, unless you mean for that character to puree a PC. Enemies of the Empire is pretty good about balanced encounters, unless it's an oni, at which point; the playtesters and writers lost their goddamn minds, and gave everything invulnerable. 2) Every good mastermind tests their opponent's abilities; and you should as well. Disposable ninja/podlings/bandits make the PCs feel like their characters are worth something in a fight, while letting you know just what they can do. 3) Have a good understanding of how much each PC can take before they're out of a fight, and be ready to squirrel damage accordingly. I'm not above have a peasant rake a bully PC to death with exploding 10s of heimen rage; but I try not to make a habit of it. There are good samurai deaths, and BAD samurai deaths, right? I recommend making a chart of how much it takes to kill a samurai with an Earth ring of 2, 3 and 4 respectively. 4) Mass Battle is brutal. Suggest the Reserves rank for anyone not made of meat and the Battle skill. 5) Don't give nameless NPCs school ranks and abilities for anything other than initiative. Saves you having to look up schools and play out how an enemy would min/max, and reduces the risk. This has the added effect of letting your players know that when you DO give someone a name, not to gently caress with them, unless they mean it. 6) When you do plan, don't be afraid to give your NPCs sub-optimal builds. Sure, your PCs are tracking down the Order of Venom. It's not much fun when your standard mook has a TN of 38 to be hit, though.
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Jun 2, 2011 16:28
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NutShellBill posted:1) Your average dice rolls a 6. Your average PC has a TN of 30. Ergo, don't let your NPCs keep more than 4 dice, unless you mean for that character to puree a PC. Average pc in 4e has a tn of fifteen to twenty fife, depending on squishiness, until high rank. Keep your npcs at k2; 3 for good ones. Use lots of weak enemies, too, it raises the impact when they take four raises to hit the leader, roll a fifty, and miss.
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Jun 2, 2011 16:51
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NinjaDebugger posted:There is no better introduction to L5R, both setting and mechanics, than a good tournament adventure, and it's literally written right into the setting that Rokugani will hold a tournament at the drop of a hat. Awesome, thanks for the advice. Unfortunately the game fell through before it even started, which I'm still pretty bummed about. Hopefully I'll find a chance to run that Minor Clan tournament scenario another time- some of the groups are pretty awesome. I'm not too big of a fan of the Mantis, but the Fox and Wasp both have some good background and flavour. Monkey clan is a perennial favourite, though mostly because I remember how awful the Toku card was and their determination to develop him. Sort of on that note- I can't help but feel slightly in favour of the Kolat and the concept of Toturi as the mortal man who ascended to the Emerald Throne. The story arc of mortals overcoming the divine- Shinsei, Toturi, Hitomi and Yamato was one of the more interesting in my opinion. As "illuminati"-ish as the Kolat tend to be as antagonists, there is a decent scope for their use as protagonists. Has anyone ever tried running a Kolat game? Theres a bit of material on doing it in Enemies of the Empire, but I'm curious how it'd end up in play.
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Jun 3, 2011 07:53
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