FATAL & Friends 2016-19: Bad Rules and Hidden Jewels

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Vox Valentine: May 31, 2013; Solving all of life's problems through enhanced casting of Occam's Razor. Reward yourself with an imaginary chalice.

Alternatives are what happens when you put a normal person through a regimen of torture, occult exposure and technology to transform them from human to superhuman. Lasting effects include severe mental trauma, physical trauma optional, and not even worth the effort of trying to transform them to begin with considering some of the results you get. The book never goes into what makes the Bayonet Troopers, it's just speculation that they're Alternatives.

Also Children of Men does get a mention under media to inspire you but not No Blade of Grass.

# ? Aug 11, 2016 09:01

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# ? Apr 18, 2024 15:09

Bieeanshee: Aug 21, 2000; Not keen on keening.; Grimey Drawer

The Last Train (Cruel Earth over here) seems a likely inspiration for Post-Apocalypse themes too.

# ? Aug 11, 2016 22:32

Traveller: Jan 6, 2012; WHIM AND FOPPERY

Legend of the Five Rings First Edition

Seriously not a spell you guys

It's a prayer! Totally different!

Book of Air time! This is the magic and religion chapter. Ginawa wakes up suddenly under the rain, surrounded by the remains of the Scorpion magistrates. His sword seems to hum in satisfaction! He panics, cries and generally flips out until Hijiko arrives to the scene of the carnage, as well as a mysterious newcomer - Isawa Tadaka, a Phoenix magistrate. Tadaka realizes what's going on and starts a ritual to cleanse the disturbed Ginawa's soul from his evil blade's influence, and after some creepy chanting he gets Ginawa to let out fiery light from his eyes, chest and mouth ( :stare:

) before falling unconscious. Hijiko is still catching up, but she thanks Tadaka for what he has done and then they engage in light conversation. She doesn't really know much about shugenja, and he is only too happy to explain... until Ginawa wakes up and presses a dagger to his throat. Hijiko rebukes him, Ginawa lets the shugenja go, and they all decide to head back to Ataka while the Phoenix keeps the Iuchiban blade and the ronin sulks. Some thanks!

The Celestial Order is how Rokugani believe the universe is structured. Everything has a pattern, from seasons to human life, and thus fortune telling is a popular pursuit. People reincarnate over and over: in each life, they have a dharma (their 'duty' in this life, that they're not supposed to shirk) and kharma (the soul's energy, which makes the soul progress until divinity through each reincarnation) Religion in Rokugan does not have much of a formal structure. The Emperor is the nominal head, but each Clan has its own religious structure. In the heavenly Celestial Order, at the top there is Amaterasu, the Lady Sun, followed by the Children of the Sun and the Moon, the original Kami, and then come the Fortunes, gods of sorts that are the object of most people's prayers. Fortunes are further divided into the Seven Fortunes of Good Luck (Daikoku, Ebisu, Benten, Bishamon, Fukurokujin, Jurojin, Hotei) and the Lesser Fortunes, which are usually mortal men and women elevated to Fortune rank by Emperors because of their deeds. Ancestors are also worshiped, particularly each samurai family's founder.

Shugenja! They are more than just sorcerers. They are priests that teach rituals, preserve the names of the Fortunes, measure time and are generally the most educated class of the Empire. Shugenja learn how to communicate with the Fortunes and kami, and carry school-ciphered scrolls with the appropriate rituals and chants. Shugenja magic creeps out some of the peasantry, because it is too close to maho (black magic) for them. Maho is an ugly thing that requires the maho-tsukai ("servant of magic") to pledge their name to an oni and shed blood to acquire arcane power. Maho is a capital crime in Rokugan, and not even a samurai's family will defend them if caught performing it. Peasants settle for their own "magic," fortune-telling through astrology and throwing stones and coins, as well as random superstitions that may or may not work.

Swolezard. Considering how Rings work, mental swole has to come with physical swole to power magic.

Shinsei! Many shugenja see wisdom on the words of the little man and turn to a monastic life, shaving their heads and living in isolation. There are many versions of "Shinseism," integrated with the veneration of the Fortunes and kami, and one of the most recent teaches that only facing the temptations and evil of the world can true wisdom be found: this is Shintao, and has become popular among the samurai caste. Monks are treated as heimin peasants, and lose their position once they assume their new role. In theory, at least. Shinsei teaches that the soul must be released from its ignorance, greed and passions. Only by excising those vices from the soul can illumination be achieved. Those who do so are called noshin, and are worshiped somewhat like Fortunes but in a much simpler, less formal manner. Weakness comes from focusing of the material instead of the spiritual, the flesh is only temporal and so on. One of the "radical" aspects of Shinsei's teachings is that anyone can achieve enlightenment, if they so wish.

Magic objects are known as nemuranai or "awakened" objects. (It literally means "(that which)does not sleep") These are rare, a ronin isn't going to find a warehouse of +1 katana anytime soon. Plus, technically all objects are "magic" because they all have a spirit. Nemuranai are all ancient and not deliberately created (except when they are, heh) but their spirits are awakened through their proximity to those of great honor and glory. Each is unique and must be treated respectfully if the character doesn't want to hit a streak of bad luck. Ghosts are mentioned here for some reason as souls that have not received a proper burial and wander the world of the living with some purpose, either good or wicked. But more information on the GM chapter for those!

Shugenja magic can influence and alter the world around a shugenja through the power of the elements and the Fortunes. It cannot bring the dead back to life; dealing with corpses is maho. It cannot create life either, and it cannot influence the tides, the moon or the stars. Shugenja are not "spellcasters", they just know how to speak to the Elements and the Fortunes, and get them to listen. So now let's talk about how shugenja cast spells! :haw:

Spells have a TN and an Element, and to cast one the shugenja must have the relevant spell scroll and roll the relevant Ring + their School Rank. A shugenja may try to cast spells of any given element as many times as their Ring rank. For every night of restful sleep or two hours of meditation, they recover one "spell slot." Spells can be further manipulated through Raises: each spell explains what exactly happens with the use of Raises. Greater range, more targets, more damage, etc. Some spells are Rituals, designed so that more than one shugenja can help casting it (though a single shugenja can cast Rituals alone) These helpers add their School Rank to the dice the primary caster rolls, but they still keep only their own Ring. Some spells with a continuous effect require greater or lesser Concentration: some can be maintained with ease, and some require the shugenja to stay still and focus on the energies being released. If a shugenja maintaining a spell is hit or otherwise disturbed, they must make a Willpower roll against a TN that varies depending on the required concentration. Each spell also has a Mastery Level, that regulates how long it takes to copy a spell scroll as well as a shugenja's ability to take the spell as an innate ability, no longer needing to have the spell scroll. Their Ring + School Rank must meet or exceed the Mastery Level and spend 3 XP (or 3 CP as an Advantage in chargen), and if the shugenja has a mastered spell's scroll and uses it they get a Free Raise. Spells can be cast carefully (double casting time for a Free Raise) or hurriedly (Raise to reduce casting time in 1 action)

Spells time! There are no Void spells, for now.

Basic
All of these spells can be used with all elements.

Sense: the shugenja can sense a material or object made of the element. Gold in a mountain, drinkable water, a particular scent.
Commune: the shugenja talks with the sleeping spirit of an object. The answer depends on the shugenja's politeness and the nature of the questioned spirit, they usually can only respond to simple questions though.
Summon: the shugenja summons a fistful of the element, taking it from somewhere else in Rokugan. Casting time depends on just how far away the element is, so good luck summoning water in the desert.
Counterspell: the spell is cast against a target shugenja using the opposite element they are casting (Earth vs Air, Water vs Fire). Success raises the target shugenja's spell TN in 5 per raise. This spell can be taken instead of one of the shugenja's school spells at chargen.

Earth
These spells deal with resistance, resolve, and health.

Benevolent Protection of Shinsei: Ritual, prevents any creature from entering a 30-foot radius circle around the shugenja unless it succeeds at a contested Willpower x 5 roll vs the shugenja's Void + the casters's Ranks. The range is multiplied tenfold in a temple, and the shugenja's Void counts as 3 higher to ward evil away from a temple.
Calling the Elements: Ritual, weeds and brambles pop up from the ground, hindering movement.
Courage of the Seven Thunders: Ritual, the target takes 3 less damage per round per shugenja participating in the ritual, and a further 3 less damage if they're attacked by a Shadowlands-tainted creature. This spell doesn't work if the target isn't part of one of the Seven Great Clans because of reasons. Maybe they're missing KAMI GENES.
Earthquake: Earthquake! All actions are at -2 in the area of the quake and they may take damage from things falling on their heads or something. The center of the quake is "any point the shugenja can see clearly."
Earth's Stagnation: the shugenja uses the target's own Earth to slow them down. -1 die to any physical action, plus an extra -1 per raise. Base TN is only 5, so rack up those penalties! Focused concentration, though.
Elemental Ward: Any spells cast against the target have their casting TN increased in 5, plus an extra 5 per Raise.
Fires from the Forge: any man-made item or piece of gear is repaired back to its original state. Any magic the object had is lost.
Force of Will: The target suffers one less die of wound penalties.
Hands of Jurojin: the target is healed of disease and poison. The casting TN depends on the virulence of the malady and how long it has been left untreated, but ask your GM about it.
Immortal Steel: Ritual, this spell can only be cast once on a metal weapon. It raises its DR in 1 permanently, so a 3k2 katana becomes 4k3. TN 30, though.
Jade Strike: DR 3 against a Shadowlands-tainted creature. Also known as "how Crab shugenja say hello"
Sharing the Strength of Many: Ritual, the target gets an additional die to roll per shugenja participating in the ritual. Lasts ten rounds by default!
Strike at the Roots: TN is the target's Earth x 5, if successful all Earth rolls they make are made as if their Earth is 1. This doesn't change their Wound levels.
Tetsubo of Earth: all elements have a spell that summons an elemental weapon. It has a DR of 3 and uses the same skill as the physical weapon. This is the Earth version. A Raise can be made to change the weapon type.
Tomb of Jade: TN of the target's Earth x 5, if successful the target's skin becomes jade and they cannot move. Then, it's shugenja's Earth + School Rank versus the target's Earth. Each time the target fails, they take a DR of 2 as their Tainted flesh becomes jade. The shugenja can only maintain this spell a number of rounds equal to their Earth, and after using it the shugenja's Earth is reduced to 1 for that same number of rounds.

Eat, uh... earth cobwebs? Let's go with that.

Water
These spells deal with cleansing, clarity, and transformation.

Bo of Water: Water's weapon spell.
Blessing of Purity: Like Hands of Jurojin, but instead of a variable TN it has a fixed TN of 10 and then the target must succeed at a TN 10 Honor roll. The shugenja gets a free Raise in a temple to Amaterasu and can attempt to remove evil spirits, but then the Honor roll is contested by the spirit's Earth.
Calm Mind: if successful, the target is rid of fear and other mind-altering effects.
Castle of Water: creates a moat of water around the shugenja. The water is completely normal and drinkable.
Heart of Nature: the shugenja establishes a bond with an animal, that will generally be friendly to the caster and become violent if they come to harm. The caster can make an Awareness check to tell how far the animal is. It used to be a "secret spell of the Unicorn Clan."
The Path to Inner Peace: target heals a Wound Level, they heal an extra Level with Raises. The spell only heals Wounds, so if you somehow end taking 17 damage and with an eye torn off you'll just heal the damage but keep an eyepatch.
Reflections of Pan Ku: caster's sight becomes blurry, but they can see shimmering around magic items.
Reflective Pool: cast on a pool of water, the shugenja may see an area they are familiar with. No sound, though.
Reversal of Fortunes: target may reroll one unsuccessful roll for the duration of the spell (10 actions)
Sympathetic Energies: caster may transfer 2 Ring points from one target to another. TN is Target Ring x 5, lasts 3 Rounds. Rings or Traits cannot be reduced to less than 1.
Torrential Rain: make it rain! Visibility is reduced to 1 foot (!) and all actions are at -3 dice.
The Ties that Bind: caster may get a vision of an item or person they're seeking, up to one mile (more with Raises). They must be familiar with the item or hold something belonging to the person.

Mirror, mirror, who is the HOLY gently caress IT'S A DRAGON.

Fire
Fire spells have to do with destruction, flames, and insight.

Amaterasu's Anger: a flash from the shugenja blinds everyone around them if they fail a Reflexes roll against the caster's Fire x 5. Blinded people have a dice penalty equal to the caster's Fire.
Amaterasu's Blessing: Light! Lasts 1 minute normally, can be increased with raises (with 7 Raises it lasts a month)
Biting Steel: target weapon rolls an extra die for attack and damage. If the subject is rolling ten dice already, an additional die is kept instead.
Evil Ward: the caster draws a symbol on the ground, and Shadowlands creatures that approach within thirty feet burn (DR 2) as long as they stay in range.
The Fires that Cleanse: both caster and target are engulfed in flame. DR 5, caster takes half as much damage as the target. Anyone in 10 feet must make a Reflexes + Defense roll at TN 20 or burn like the caster.
Fires of Purity: target rolls and keeps an additional die for all rolls. It lasts a number of rounds equal to the target's Honor.
The Fire from Within: Fireball! More raises means more targets. DR equals the caster's Fire.
The Fury of Osano-Wo: target building is hit by lightning until it collapses. It needs a full hour of casting at total concentration, so it is of little use in sieges and such. Much larger buildings can take just partial damage.
Heart of the Inferno: Huge fireball! DR is 6 to everyone in a ten-foot area, with a Reflexes + Defense TN 15 roll to save for half damage. The caster must burn the spell scroll to cast it.
Inflame: the caster sets something on fire. If the item is held by someone, the TN is their Water x 5. By custom it is not used against enemy shugenja's spell scrolls, doing so is cause for a blood feud!
Katana of Fire: Fire's weapon spell.
Wings of Fire: fly away, nerd. Target may fly at Fire x 5 feet per round. Additional raises are necessary if the target is heavily burdened.

"Okay you're just being a dick now, Isawa-san."

Air
Air spells have to do with motion, illusion, storms and manipulation.

Accounts of Shorihotsu: this spell reveals what some other shugenja is casting. TN is target spell's Mastery times five.
Benten's Touch: target may keep an additional die in social Awareness rolls.
By the Light of Lord Moon: caster can see items that are deliberately hidden: traps, false bottoms and so on. Merely hiding from view (like putting a sword in a jar) doesn't trigger the spell. But isn't that hiding? Magically hidden stuff takes a Perception + Shugenja Lore roll against the spell's Mastery x 5.
Call upon the Wind: target flies through the air. The shugenja controls the flight, not the target. Unwilling targets can resist with Earth x 5.
Cloak of Night: the caster conceals a target item of a character. It must be something they can carry without using both hands. Very noticeable things (a screaming baby, the Emperor's crown, etc.) can increase the casting TN.
Command the Mind: Oooh! Two rolls: casting against the target's Willpower x 5, then the target has to roll Perception against the shugenja's Air x 5. If they blow this roll, the caster may implant a thought that the target will believe as their own. Subtle suggestions are good, wildly different thoughts will be unconvincing.
Echoes on the Wind: caster may leave a message in a place that will be heard by a designated person (or just anyone), as if the shugenja were whispering in their ear. Raises can be made to increase the length of the message. or to make it repeat indefinitely.
Essence of Air: the shugenja lowers all their Rings to 1 except Air. They become imperceptible unless they do something that could be witnessed (opening a door, talking, picking something up) This gives a potential witness a Perception roll against their Air x 5. Even then, losing track of the shugenja even for a moment makes the spell kick in again. It takes full concentration (so they can walk, but slowly) but Raises can be made to reduce the concentration level.
Know the Mind: caster may read the target's surface thoughts. These are usually vague impressions, but they can use Raises to dig in deeper. The GM can decide that this is a very confusing experience for the target, perhaps stunning them.
Know the Shadows: the caster melds into the shadows (TN to see the target or attack them at range is increased by 5 plus Raises) There needs to be shadows of some sort, casting the spell under direct sunlight is no good.
Mists of Illusion: the shugenja creates a very convincing static man-sized illusion. Awareness roll at TN 15 to realize the illusion. Raises can make the illusion move, increase the number of illusions, and so on.
Nature's Touch: the shugenja may ask one question of an animal, and understand the answer.
Quiescence of Air: Silence, 5' Radius, centered on the caster. This will ruin any further spellcasting for its duration.
Secrets on the Wind: caster can hear things in an area they're familiar with, as if they were there. Range is 10 miles + Raises, with Perception rolls necessary for soft or indistinct sounds.
Tempest of Air: the caster blows air at the target. Missile attacks from the target are not possible, and if they fail an Air vs Earth roll the target is knocked off.
Way of Deception: magical disguise. It's ruined if touched, and a Perception + Shugenja Lore roll can discern the illusion but without revealing who hides under it.
Whispering Winds: the shugenja can tell if the last thing the target said was a lie. TN is target's Intelligence x 5, but this only tells what the target feels about the truth of their statement. Raises can be made to tell how big the lie is, or even the objective truth regardless of the target's beliefs.
Wind-Borne Slumbers: Sleep. Target must succeed at an Earth vs caster's Air x 5 roll or go to sleep. They wake up if someone approaches within a foot or if they are damaged.
Wind-Borne Speed: Target is sent away at (caster's Air x 10) feet per round. Watch out for dense forests.
Wind's Distractions: Wind spirits harass the target. The TN of anything they do is at +5 per spirit bothering them (more spirits can be summoned with Raises), or +10 for shugenja trying to cast.
Yari of Air: Air's weapon spell.

The shugenja is totally holding wind here, hurr hurr. _{it is a fart joke}

Next: GM advice! The wonders we'll see! The blatant lies! The actually cool things!

Traveller fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Aug 11, 2016

# ? Aug 11, 2016 23:33

Alien Rope Burn: Dec 5, 2004; _{I wanna be a saikyo HERO!}

I'm not sure there's ever been a clear explanation of what shugenja do and how it works, it makes playing them a little tough.

# ? Aug 11, 2016 23:55

Traveller: Jan 6, 2012; WHIM AND FOPPERY

They're wizards. The game may pretend otherwise, but they're wizards.

# ? Aug 11, 2016 23:59

Vox Valentine: May 31, 2013; Solving all of life's problems through enhanced casting of Occam's Razor. Reward yourself with an imaginary chalice.

Every time I glance at the word "shugenja" without fully reading it, my brain substitutes the word "Juggalo" for some reason. Skimming that post was very interesting, if confusing.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 00:04

Covok: May 27, 2013; Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.

Alien Rope Burn posted:

I'm not sure there's ever been a clear explanation of what shugenja do and how it works, it makes playing them a little tough.

Taking a guess, they probably use onmyodo, but through a filter.

Basically, you bind the spirits of nature, which exist in everything because animism, to do your bidding. You do this through elaborate ritual and knowledge of arcane arts.

So, wizards.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 00:37

Mors Rattus: Oct 25, 2007; FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

The latest edition has declared that all spells are essentially specialized ritual prayers - and, as a result, it is technically possible to use the basic Commune spell to get any spell you want by praying really hard, it's just stupidly difficult.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 00:43

The Lone Badger: Sep 24, 2007

Covok posted:

So, wizards.

But with fancier robes.

Do shujenja have awesome hats? This is important.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 00:46

Alien Rope Burn: Dec 5, 2004; _{I wanna be a saikyo HERO!}

Traveller posted:

They're wizards. The game may pretend otherwise, but they're wizards.

Well, yeah. That's what I mean. It wants to write them as shamanistic (except for the Isawa) but mechanically they're wizards. Also there's the weird thing that they require scrolls in the RPG which is almost never actually true in the fiction...

It's mostly just really inconsistent is my point.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 00:47

Mors Rattus: Oct 25, 2007; FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

The Lone Badger posted:

But with fancier robes.

Do shujenja have awesome hats? This is important.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 00:47

Covok: May 27, 2013; Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.

Alien Rope Burn posted:

Well, yeah. That's what I mean. It wants to write them as shamanistic (except for the Isawa) but mechanically they're wizards. Also there's the weird thing that they require scrolls in the RPG which is almost never actually true in the fiction...

It's mostly just really inconsistent is my point.

Well, they might mean how onmyodo use paper magic. Like, animating paper dolls or capturing spirits in paper or sealing off areas with paper or etc.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 00:52

Traveller: Jan 6, 2012; WHIM AND FOPPERY

Covok posted:

Well, they might mean how onmyodo use paper magic. Like, animating paper dolls or capturing spirits in paper or sealing off areas with paper or etc.

Well, there is something like that, and it doesn't involve shugenja at all!

# ? Aug 12, 2016 00:54

Davin Valkri: Apr 8, 2011; Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

Covok posted:

Taking a guess, they probably use onmyodo, but through a filter.

Basically, you bind the spirits of nature, which exist in everything because animism, to do your bidding. You do this through elaborate ritual and knowledge of arcane arts.

So, wizards.

That sounds more like Pokemon trainers than D&D wizards.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 02:18

Adnachiel: Oct 21, 2012

Part 4: How to Kill a Rapist's Mood

Two days later, Lucita is on a date with Enrique Torres. For some reason, Torres thinks this is good moonlight date walk material.

quote:

After dark, Potomac Park seethed with a seedy, largely unseen nocturnal life. Beguiling hustlers, some as lewdly beautiful as a Toulouse-Lautrec painting, shared prowling space with sultry-eyed transvestites, while hordes of Washington's homeless -- panhandlers, the indigent, the mentally-ill -- camped in cardboard boxes or snuggled next to garbage bags in the denser regions of the park. Thieves and pickpockets reconnoitered in the park after a night's work and those in disfavor with the Mob were brought here to be roughed up or to take a bullet through the ear. Not a place for a romantic stroll unless some hardcore kink was on the night's agenda.

Eh, I don�t see it.

Lucita is rightfully caught off guard by the suggestion and almost asks him what the gently caress he�s thinking, worrying that it might be some sort of trap. But she goes along with it anyway, partly assuming that he just doesn�t know the area, partly because she wants to see if he actually is setting her up, because I guess Lucita has a thing for getting out of obvious traps.

quote:

"Should I be worried?" she teased him as they left the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after attending the ballet. "I've heard of men bringing unfaithful wives and lovers to the Park at night to murder them, but if that's the case, then I'm afraid you have reversed the natural order of things. Unless, of course," she'd added slyly, "you've a bent toward necrophilia."

Torres, who is fluent in English, doesn�t get her sly little masquerade breach. When she finally asks him why he chose the park, he tells her that another art collector he had been doing business with talked about all of the awful poo poo that goes down in the park at night, and it made him skeptical and curious. Lucita feigns being scared and worried, but he insists that everything will be okay because he�s armed.

You can probably already guess where this is going.

While they wait for a cab (all of which (read: one) speed past them because no one wants to pick people up in the middle of the night), Torres starts trying to make out with Lucita. She thinks it�s �tiresome�, but goes along with it because she has a job to do. Eventually, when it�s apparent that they�re not going to get a cab, she insists that they just continue walking. They go back and forth for a bit talking about how it�s dangerous but he�s armed but she�s not afraid because he�s armed (what?) but D.C. isn�t Madrid and yadda yadda.

They make out some more. The book talks about all of Torres� different smells that Lucita smells (including his blood) and mentions that he is also the Spanish ambassador and was once a museum director. I�m guessing Taylor had just decided to make him these things at this point because that seems too important for neither Lucita nor the Council of Ragnarok to not bring up during their meeting. It also probably makes Cordelia�s plan to get him deported useless. Being an ambassador, he probably has diplomatic immunity.

They go back to discussing his art deals, during which he mentions that he is trying to work out a loan on a piece for �the Prado� with the collector; a sculpture with some possibly religious subject matter. He refuses to tell her more about it there.

quote:

She snuggled closer. Wondering how many brandies it would take -- or how many orgasms -- to get him to talk more freely. She didn't have a lot of time. And the night still felt wrong. Like a vast, obsidian ocean whose currents had shifted almost imperceptibly, whose flow was altered by the passing of something treacherous and stealthy, the shadow of a shark passing just above her, like a cloud.

Torres tells her that if she spends the night with him, he will take her to church the next day so she can meet the collector. He�s a man of God, you see. One that has made Torres open to �certain ideas�.

One of which is carrying a cross and a metal stake along with his gun.

Lucita feigns confusion, asking him what damage a simple cross and stake could possibly do to monsters, if they existed. Torres insist that such things ward off vampires, and begins to tell her about how he learned that vampires exist and form organizations just like humans do. One in particular, the �Sabbath�, wants to reveal themselves to humanity and take over the world.

With all the self-control she can muster, Lucita pretends to be completely neutral to the new information and presses him for more details on how he learned such things. But before he can tell her, some literal gangbangers show up and beat the poo poo out of him. Another grabs Lucita and forces her to suck his dick, and punches her in the face when she doesn�t comply immediately.

It�s at this point that the �no pleasure from sex� thing is pretty much thrown out, since the book points out that the sudden change in roles from what Lucita is used to arouses her.

quote:

She looked up at him, memorizing his features, not to describe later to the police, but for future fantasies.

quote:

Hunger clawed at her throat. And arousal, for though the victim role she'd been assigned in this impromptu drama was not the one she generally preferred, its very suddenness and unfamiliarity made it powerfully exciting.

After a paragraph long description of her attacker and various smells, another guy joins in, cuts off her skirt, and enters her from behind. There�s a picture for this.

:nws:

http://imgur.com/W8AVing :nws:

Woo.

She gets into it, which confuses and pisses him off.

quote:

"gently caress you, bitch. You getting raped, you understand? Your lover-boy, he gonna get raped, too. We kill you if we want to."

�Umm, EXCUSE YOU, we�re trying to cause you mental and physical anguish here! OMG stop enjoying it! Argh!� :rant:

Also, do any of the criminals in D.C. know how to use copulas?

God drat, this book...

Meanwhile, Torres gets beat up some more and the rest of the gang members try in vain to rape him.

quote:

One of the thugs had his dick out and was trying to gently caress Torres in the mouth, but the man was lashing his head from side to side, teeth gritted, making high-pitched, keening sounds in the back of his throat, like a child refusing medicine.

Lucita isn�t concerned about him and ultimately decides that the shared experience and guilt of him not being able to protect her will create a bonding tool and get him to talk easier.

More rape, more smells, more punching, some mentions of Lucita�s sire boning her, then Torres gets shot and killed. Lucita doesn�t react until she drinks from one of the dude�s dicks, then she lashes out and beats the poo poo out of them in a �scene� that consists entirely of one sentence.

quote:

Pausing only long enough to relieve the wounded man of his knife and thuggish TEC-9 pistol, she followed a jogging trail that, with luck, would lead her out of the park miles away from where the cops would be investigating the carnage here.

Lucita conceals herself with Obtenebration and jogs away until coming to "The Awakening", a statue at Hains Point. (Sometime after this book was written, it was moved to the National Harbor.) At which point, a werewolf attacks.

quote:

The lupine hurled itself upon her from behind the giant's upraised arm. A huge and muscular beast, ears pinned tight to its skull, lips drawn back in a hideous grin. For perhaps the first time, she had a taste of what her victims must feel when they saw her fangs and felt their own flesh penetrated.

Scared, but also really good? You�re not a Giovanni, Lucita.

Except it�s not a werewolf, because after the two fight for a while, it turns into this.

quote:

The beast spun faster. From its torn flesh, spines began to sprout. Its muzzle shortened, squashing back into its face. The massive canine torso narrowed and flattened, turning into the squat shape of a horned lizard. Its ragged crimson mouth lolled open to reveal two sets of gleaming teeth.

Spoiler: She�s fighting Sascha Vykos. Taylor doesn�t say it�s Sascha, and Sascha�s name doesn�t come up at all in this scene or the preceding chapters, but the caption on the picture in the next chapter gives it away.

:nws:

http://imgur.com/N0Govzi :nws:

Good job, guys. Also, what's with the war paint? Did she wear that for the date?

She manages to slash out one of Sascha�s eyes, but it start redistributing its flesh to block the other. They go at it some more, it throws the knife at her and indicatea that it knows who she is.

quote:

"Moncada's bitch!" the thing hissed, as its razor teeth clamped down across her arm.

Eventually, deciding that she�s too wounded to continue, Lucita turns herself into a mass of shadows and jumps into the Potomac.

quote:

The dark water seethed around her as it absorbed some of the blackness conjured from her soul. Black as oblivion, black as annihilation, black at the heart of the thing that still paced the bank in confusion, snapping and clawing at shadows.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 02:22

Count Chocula: Dec 25, 2011; WE HAVE TO CONTROL OUR ENVIRONMENT
IF YOU SEE ME POSTING OUTSIDE OF THE AUSPOL THREAD PLEASE TELL ME THAT I'M MISSED AND TO START POSTING AGAIN

Hostile V posted:

Alternatives are what happens when you put a normal person through a regimen of torture, occult exposure and technology to transform them from human to superhuman. Lasting effects include severe mental trauma, physical trauma optional, and not even worth the effort of trying to transform them to begin with considering some of the results you get. The book never goes into what makes the Bayonet Troopers, it's just speculation that they're Alternatives.

Also Children of Men does get a mention under media to inspire you but not No Blade of Grass.

The Bayonet Troopers are clearly the grown up 'Are you my mummy?' gas mask kids from Doctor Who. Which is cool, the world needs more weird British horror games. I wonder if you can somehow sneak The Kill List, the original Wicker Man, Utopia (the British trippy conspiracy show) and the Kid Miracleman massacre in there, but that might be over-egging the pudding.

Is there an Evil Margaret Thatcher analogue in there? All British satirical horror needs one (and Korean train-based horror too, thanks Snowpiercer).

# ? Aug 12, 2016 03:51

Wapole Languray: Jul 4, 2012

Chapter 3: Magic

Magic in Talislanta is built off of a variation of the game's standard skill system, with some additional rules already covered. This chapter is meant to cover specifics of Orders, Modes, and creating Enchanted Items. In short: Modes are essentially magic Skills, they�re what you roll and define the mechanical aspect of your spells. Orders are the narrative category of Magic, what flavor or style you practice. This does have mechanical effects, generally in the form of bonuses to certain modes or some modes not being available at all, but it is mostly for narrative effect. I�ll also be incorporating some additional information and rules from Codex Magicus, which is a 4th Edition supplement about magic, the Talislantan Multiverse, etc. These rules are optional, and I don�t like some of them, and some of them are actually useless because they didn�t think the book through very well, but it does add some very useful new mechanics and fluff. This Chapter I�ll split into four posts, Covering Modes first, then Orders, then Enchanted Items, and finally the Codex Magicus stuff. So let's get started!

Before we actually get to the Modes though, first some general rules of magic:

Mechanically Freeform, Narratively Defined While the magic system is very free-form and allow you to make up spells on the fly, in the narrative magic is a highly-defined system in-which a competent mage will know hundreds to thousands of discrete spells. So even though you thought a spell up on the fly, your character always knew it and that spell is a set thing in his spellbook.
Modes are specific to an Order Basically, if you have more than one Order, such as both Wizardry and Witchcraft, each would have their own separate ranks in every Mode. So the Attack Mode in Wizardry is a separate skill from the Attack mode in Witchcraft, and when you cast a spell you have to choose what Order you�ll be casting it with.
Things Modern Magic Can�t Do This�ll get covered more when I get to the Setting, but in clif notes version: There used to be your semi-standard Ancient Magical Civilization called the Archaens back in the day, they got apocalypsed to death, you know the drill. The Archaens were masters of magic, but modern day mages have to do with stuff wither made after the Archaens were wiped out or stuff salvaged from what they left behind so there�s lots of stuff magic can�t do anymore. The main things are: you can�t return the dead to life so no Resurrect spells, you can�t make life either. So no homunculi or golems or any artificial life. Modern magic can�t affect time or causality either. And the biggest deal is you cannot blend or mix Orders or Modes. So, no combining an Illusion with an Attack to make an invisible fireball, or mixing Aeromancy and Pyromancy to create a magical MOAB or something. Obviously though if you find some ancient lost tomb in a distant monster-infested ruin that has a lost Archaen spell, well� there you go. Codex Magicus actually has several kinds of lost Magic for GM use, so I�ll cover it then.

Modes

First up is just a quick overview of the mechanical parts of the mode, and what a spellcaster can modify to customize their spells.

Area It�s area, how big an area the spell affects. Noteworthy, a spell with no area affects a single point in space, effectively no area at all.
Duration How long an effect lasts. Spells with no or �Instant� duration last just a moment then end.
Casting Time How long it takes to cast the spell. If you do anything besides cast the spell while� casting the spell automatically fails. Unless otherwise specified the default is a single round.
Range It�s how far away you can affect things with a spell.
Resistance How the target can resist or defend against the spell. If nothing specific is listed, then the target can Dodge the spell as they would a physical attack.

Okay, now for the MODES!

Alter

This mode is what you use to buff and debuff things. It�s about altering the abilities and stats of a target. Basically, if it�s a number you can change it up, though each type of number has some special rules. Each alteration is classified as a Specific or Broad alteration with different effects. Specific Alterations increase the Spell Level by 3 for level of that stat you change, while Broad increases it to 5 Spell levels per point of change. In short these are:

Skill Level Specific Alteration, can�t go below 0.
Attribute Broad Alteration. If an attribute is lowered to -7 or below, that character flat out becomes incapable of doing anything that uses that attribute. Someone with -7 Dexterity literally cannot move without falling flat on their face, -7 Perception is blind, deaf, and numb, etc.
Damage and Protection Ratings Specific Alteration. Increases to Damage Rating can be applied to Unarmed attacks, and Protection to skin and normal clothing. You can�t reduce either below 0.

Now, if you want to Alter something that isn�t represented in mechanics, like making someone more attractive or how much others respect them the GM just assigns a value of 1 to 10 based on what they think the target�s �rank� in that quality is, and treat it as a Specific or Broad alteration from there. This is specifically allowed to mess with abstract qualities not just physical ones.

Now for other limitations and rules: For every extra person you want to affect with the spell, you get a -1 to the casting roll. The base duration for any Alter spell is 1 minute, with a -1 penalty per additional minute. And all Alter spells are Touch range. You can�t cripple a guy from the next county over, you gotta slap skin to do it. So if you want to affect a bunch of people, they all have to be touching in a giant magical conga-line. Last thing, Alter spells don�t stack, only the highest level spell affection a specific quality applies, any lower level spells don�t work and higher level spells overwrite the weaker. This is so you can�t just cast +1 Combat Rating ten times to become a combat monster with an easy spell. Depending on your Order there may be additional limitations to this mode.

Attack

This is your kill dudes Mode. You use this to reduce something�s HP, and it does nothing else. This one�s a lot simpler than Alter. You do 1 HP more damage per spell level, the default range is 50 feet with a -1 to the roll for each additional 10 feet of range. Ranged Attack spells don�t have a duration, so no persistent damage effects. If instead you want to do something like make a fire-sword for melee combat, then the melee spell lasts for 1 round per Spell Level and uses an appropriate Weapon skill to hit with instead of the Mode which is just used to make the weapon or start the effect. By default they have no area, but you can increase the area of effect for a -1 to the roll per foot of radius. You can�t specifically target multiple things, just use area attacks.

Conjure

This mode allows the spellcaster to create material objects from magical energy. Each Spell Level can increase the mass by 10 pounds and amount by 1 cubic foot. Default range is 50 feet, with -1 for each additional 10 feet, duration 1 minute with -1 per extra minute. As you can see a lot of the modifiers are standardized between modes, for easy memorization.

You cannot conure living stuff, just inanimate objects or substances. The caster has to be familiar with the substance or object, at the least knowing what it looks like. Creating an exact or convincing replica of an existing object may be subject to an additional penalty at GM�s discretion. When the spell duration ends, the object vanishes, returning back into magical energy. The exception is magical consumables, as their effects still persist. Conjured water still holds off dehydration, magic food satisfies hunger, etc.

Defend

Defend is used to protect against attacks. Specifically, it is used to absorb damage from an attack. A Defend spell absorbs twice its Spell Level in HP before being dissipated. Defend spells last 5 rounds at minimum, unless they are destroyed first. Each additional round of duration is a -1 to the casting roll. There are two kinds of Defense spells, Auras and Barriers, with different modifiers for each.

Aura�s are your classic magic shield. They affect a single target and surround them with magical protection. Unless hidden by an Illusion spell, aura�s are always visible to the naked eye, though what it actually looks like depends on the Order. They are always air and light permeable, so the target can see and breath through them, and they do not protect against blinding light, poison gas, drowning, etc. You cannot have multiple auras on a target at one time, if a new one is cast then the one with the highest HP remains. While in an aura, the target is immune to Critical Wounds.

Barriers are your magical wall or whatever. They can be any simple shape the caster desires, namely a flat surface, cylinder, cone, and dome or sphere. This is where you get your walls of fire and such. Barriers are a lot tougher than Auras, and have a Protection Rating equal to the Spell Level. In exchange, they are immobile, and must be fixed or supported, and cannot just float in the air disconnected from a solid surface. They can prevent the all physical intrusion though, including light and if desired air depending on the nature of the barrier. They cannot stop non-offensive magic though such as Illusions.

Heal/Harm

It�s healing. Recover HP, cure diseases, repair objects. 1 HP recovered per Spell Level, and you can cure diseases as long as the Spell Level is higher than the level of the Disease. There are several pre-made diseases in the GM chapter, and of course you can make up your own.. Heal spells are all Touch range. Spellcasters can actually use Heal to harm people by causing wounds and disease at 1 HP of damage per level of the spell or by inflicting a disease at the level of the cast Spell. The reason this is worse than attack is that all Heal spells can only affect a single target at Touch range, and have no area of effect.

Illusion

Magic Illusions, pretty simple. Base modifier stuff is: 50 Foot range, _1 to roll per 10 Foot of range, duration of 5 rounds -1 to casting roll for each additional round., you get the idea. Now, for fancy Illusion specific stuff! The basic Level 1 Illusion creates an illusion that affects a single sense, of low magnitude, and does not move, and lacks any specific details. For 3 additional Spell Levels you can add one feature:

One additional sense affected, such as sight and sound, or scent and taste.
Motion or animation, so that the illusion moves through space. You have to be within the spell�s range to move it. You can tie the movement to a target, for example to create illusionary clothing.
Precise details or complex elements. Copying an individual�s appearance, creating actual text instead of a page full of lorem-ipsum, just making an illusion a lot harder to see through.
Magnitude of the illusion. This is based on what the illusion is, and this scales, with 1 additional feature making the illusion �loud as a shout, as bright as a torch, as big as a humanoid�, while 5 Feature magnitude is �Loud as a hurricane, as bright as the greater sun, as big as a ship�.

Illusion�s can be broken either by casting a Reveal spell, or with a successful Perception Attribute roll both against the level of the Illusion as the Difficulty. Success means that you know the illusion is suspect or unnatural, though it generally does not dispel the illusion completely.

If you want to blind someone with illusory light or something similar, it�s considered to be a ranged attack roll separate from creating the illusion itself. This is specifically for blinding with illusory light, though I see no reason it couldn�t be used to deafen someone with a booming noise, nauseate them with disgusting smell or taste, etc. Per the rules it�s a -7 penalty to the ranged attack, and the effects last for 3 rounds with an additional +1 round for each magnitude feature added to the spell. This� seems poorly thought out. I�d use the duration of the effects, as there�s nothing wrong with that, but just use modifiers as normal for a ranged attack.

To make something invisible is a starting level 10 spell, level 13 if you want to be invisible and move as well.

Illusion�s can be cast while Scrying, giving them effectively infinite range in combination with the Reveal mode. That�s the one what does scrying you know.

Influence

Charms and mind control magic. Influence spells have a maximum range of 5 feet, and last 1 round by default. When affected by an influence spell, the target obeys a single simple instruction from the caster transmitted directly into the subject's mind. The command should fit in a sentence of less than 5 words it looks like. The subject can�t do anything that it can�t naturally do or that it doesn�t know how to do, and won�t do anything that involved directly harming itself IE: no commanding people to slit their own throats.

Increasing the spell level makes it harder to resist the spell. When someone is the target of an Influence spell, they can make a Willpower roll, with every 2 Spell Levels amounting to a -1 to the Willpower roll. The subject will remember everything that happened during the spell, but if the casting roll is a critical success then the subject thinks everything was their own idea.

Move

Spells involving� moving things. This involves things like Telekinesis, levitation, that sort of thing. Move spells basically act the same as a Strength roll, with a base Move spell affecting up to 100lbs, and increasing as +1 Strength per 3 Spell Levels. You can also boost the speed of moved objects from a base of 10 foot per round, make it area of effect, and increase the duration above the base 5 rounds. Range is the standard 50 feet.

You cannot move an object while performing multiple actions, though you can leave it levitating or similar while you do other things. Move can both hold and lift things, and can even attack as a Grapple, though they cannot be restrained or moved in addition to the attack. Magician�s can also use move to perform mundane tasks at a range, such as fighting with a floating sword, or writing with a pen from another room. This is done with whatever applicable skill fits the action, the spell merely allowing the object to move.

Reveal/Conceal

This is for supernatural senses, detecting spells, scrying, that sort of thing. See through walls, detect lies, find hidden doors, you get the idea. Base conceal spells are effective up to 50 feet, and last for 1 minute. More powerful spells are used to defeat both mundane and magical attempts to conceal the desired information.

Scrying is given special note: When scrying you have a range of 1 Mile per spell level, it requires the caster to look into a reflective surface, and can�t automatically �go to� a specific spot unless the caster knows the location. Magical senses do not work when scrying, only sight and sound.

Conceal is the Reverse of Reveal, similar to Heal and Harm. Conceal spells are used to hide things from normal or supernatural senses. The protection is specific, making a single lie harder to spot, protecting from scrying, blocking magical senses, etc. It cannot be used to make something invisible though, that�s Illusion, but it can make something more difficult to see than otherwise.

Summon/Banish

Calling up things from another dimensions! What exactly depends on the Order, but Elementals, Ghosts, Demons, etc. are all possibilities. The level just determines how powerful the summon is, giving them an ability level equal to the Spell Level. Summoning requires a number of rounds equal to the Spell Level, and the summoned being sticks around for a base of 1 minute.

If cast correctly, the summoned being appears and will either answer any 3 questions it knows the answer to, or to perform a single specific service for the summoner. A failure still summons the creature, but it is unrestrained and can just do whatever it wants.

A mishap straight rips a hole in spacetime, letting things from another realm into the material plane uncontrolled. It lasts for one minute per Spell Level, and the book specifically asks the GM to make it very very nasty.

The reverse of Summon is Banish, and is used to send extradimensional things back home. The Degree of Difficulty is the target�s Ability Level, and takes 1 round per Spell Level to cast.

Transform

Transmutation, transmogrification, animation. Spells that change the nature and form of something. The level of the spell required is based on how different the starting form and the end result are.

Trivial Change: Level 3 Changing something into another of the same species and sex, minor changes to appearance of inanimate objects.
Minor Change: Level 5 Same species, but significant change in appearance, keeping an object's substance the same but changing the shape.
Major Change: level 10 Changing something into a similar species, minor unnatural alterations like feathered hair, scaly skin, etc, changing an object into something of related material, IE lead to iron.
Radical Change: Level 15 Change a living thing to a completely unrelated species, transmute a material to an unrelated substance like water to sand or stone to wood.
Total Change: Level 20 Change something inanimate to into something animate or vice-versa.

Transformation affects a single subject at a time. Subjects retain their mental abilities regardless of the form. The new form just gets an Ability Level based on the Spell Level of the Transform spell cast. To turn into a specific creature the spell has to be equal to that creature�s Ability Level, and cannot increase the creatures Ability Level beyond it�s normal maximum.

Ward/Hex

Ward allows you to place specific defenses on a target you can touch. Wards are cast at minimum Spell Level 10, and cannot be cast any lower. A ward will make the target completely immune to that specific effect. You can have multiple wards active that protect against different types of effects, though you can�t have more than one ward that effects the same type of effect.

The things you can protect against with ward are:

A single specific type of weapon. You can protect against Greatswords specifically, not all swords period.
A single element. Fire, Ice, Lightning, Heat, Cold, etc.
A single Thieving Skill, such as Deception, Forgery, Legerdemain, Sabotage, etc.
A single Mode, regardless of Order. It is not possible to Ward against Wards.
A single type of creature, such as a specific species of animal, race of humanoid, or type of extra-dimensional being like Demon or Elemental. Specifically this prevents the target being from being able to touch the person or item, or pass through a warded portal or doorway. If a warded person intentionally touches the specified creature, the ward is broken.

Wards last a base of 10 minutes, and are always visible as a sigil or sign that can be read by those who know magical scripts. Warded items are considered to be enchanted items.

You can also reverse a Ward to make a Hex, which causes the target to take double damage from the specified source. If the source is also an attack, the attack is harder to defend against, the defender getting a -1 penalty to defense per 3 Spell Levels for the Hex.

Woof! That�s all the Modes finished! Next time we get into the more fun and fluffy part of magic! Orders!

# ? Aug 12, 2016 03:52

Vox Valentine: May 31, 2013; Solving all of life's problems through enhanced casting of Occam's Razor. Reward yourself with an imaginary chalice.

Count Chocula posted:

The Bayonet Troopers are clearly the grown up 'Are you my mummy?' gas mask kids from Doctor Who. Which is cool, the world needs more weird British horror games. I wonder if you can somehow sneak The Kill List, the original Wicker Man, Utopia (the British trippy conspiracy show) and the Kid Miracleman massacre in there, but that might be over-egging the pudding.

Is there an Evil Margaret Thatcher analogue in there? All British satirical horror needs one (and Korean train-based horror too, thanks Snowpiercer).

Nope, Mags is nowhere to be seen. I get the temptation but honestly I find it to be as unnecessary as Super Competent Reagan as a bad guy. The British PM of the Government Faction is explicitly mentioned to be Harold Macmillan and a Tory government. I suppose if you really wanted to a younger Thatcher could be kicking around somewhere but that's kind of hewing too close to "tee hee, alternate timeline!" for my tastes.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 04:03

Traveller: Jan 6, 2012; WHIM AND FOPPERY

Legend of the Five Rings First Edition

Badabing'd by non-existent ninja

No! The tiny ninja!

Time to wrap this up with the GM section of the book, the Book of Void! And also time to wrap up this loving RPG fiction. Ginawa and the gang go to report to the daimyo Ataka, and they're served rice while they wait. Ginawa demonstrates poor table manners! Hijiko and Tadaka disapprove, -1 point. When they see Ataka, Hijiko starts talking but Ginawa interrupts her with his account of the Scorpion's treachery. Hijiko gets understandably pissed, and by now she's had enough of Ginawa to the point of almost raising her sword - but Ataka gets her to pipe down, quickly. Tadaka confirms that the arrow that killed the Crane general had been manipulated with Air magics. Ataka ponders on this, then starts talking to Hijiko about her complaints over Ginawa and--- he shuts up. Because he just got a lethal dose of shuriken in the back! Ninja! Ginawa is the only one able to react to this: Hijiko loses her cool and starts sobbing, while Tadaka is paralyzed with unexplainable fear. Ginawa is reluctant to draw his sword again, but realizes he has no choice... and then the point of view changes to the real world, because this is all an ongoing game of Legend of the Five Rings! :o:

Hijiko's player has just blown her Willpower roll to resist the ninja's fear magic, and she decides to try a Honor roll in spite of the GM's warning that she'll lose a full rank if she blows this. She spends a Void point, and succeeds! Tadaka's player is not so lucky. Ginawa rolls for control of himself now that he has his blade, and makes it! The ninja is nowhere to be seen: it's a Contested roll and Ginawa has to beat a Perception roll of 30. ("It's a ninja! They're trained for that kind of stuff.") The player and the GM roll off, and boom! Ginawa spots the ninja and tells Hijiko about it. Initiative rolls are made, Ginawa's action comes up... he throws the Iuchiban blade at the ninja. Everyone shuts up in disbelief. It'll be a very high TN, the GM says, but that's okay. Ginawa will use a Void Point!

This is the GM section. It starts with practical advice, assuming that it's the GM's first time running L5R, or even any RPG at all. It says that running Rokugan is a true challenge, since it's not a traditional fantasy scenario where players play thieves and rogues wandering the country in search of dungeons and random adventure. No, this is a highly ordered society, and PCs will be at the service of demanding lords. So! First of all, it's good to listen to the players. Do they want a punchy game? Do they want a talky courtier game? Once the GM gets the idea, they can start limiting the character options to fit the type of game the players want. Some clans may be left on the side, that sorta thing. Picking a theme for the game helps: war, questing, exploration (of the Shadowlands, to be precise), mystery, romance, tragedy...

wat posted:

A classic twist of mystery is murdering the characters themselves. Making them wake up with poison in their lips and only ten hours to find the killer (to get the antidote) is a classic twist of the mystery murder.

The character's role in the events must be considered as well. A simple answer is making them soldiers under a daimyo, but that gives them little control. Ronin have freedom to go wherever and serve whoever they want, but they have little reason to stick together and issues of internal loyalty can become dangerous. Ronin need a reason to stick close: maybe they're all siblings, or servants to a murdered lord. PCs can be courtiers in the Emperor's court, trying to get ahead of the other clans. There's spies and ninja to deal with, ronin bandits stealing gold for bribes, and more. And everyone can use a bodyguard. Probably the easiest way to get multi-clan parties together is making them magistrates of the Emerald Champion: they have authority, a broad mandate and a reason to go on Imperial roads solving trouble, dealing with bandits and monsters and so on. There's some classic plots to reference once theme and role are set. Rescuing the princess, defeating the evil warlock, taking down the tyrannical dictator, redeeming the lost friend. All of which happen in Star Wars! Clever, isn't it?

That's it for the GM-as-author. Once everyone is at the table, the GM-as-referee comes up. Keeping the fast rules in mind (pick a TN, assign Trait + Skill, roll) is foremost, everything else is just personal style. Oh, I guess we don't need this whole book after all! There are two GM types: the "dice" GM that lets the dice roll where they may, and the "story" GM that only uses the dice as a guide, if anything. The game leans towards the story GM, though it does mention that the GM having absolute control of the plot is a disadvantage as much as a boon. Most GMs fall somewhere between both extremes, but whatever the case is: be fair. Don't start changing the rules under the players' noses. They'll lose their trust in you, you will lose your authority, and the game will be the worst for it. The GM-as-narrator is the one that makes the game come to real life. Don't tell the players that the daimyo is mad and yelling: get mad, and get yelling. Describe things using all five senses. Change your voice depending on the NPC that you are playing at the moment, use the NPC's appropriate body language. Think of the scenes you have in mind, and how you will talk and move during them. Make action scenes fast and exciting; make mystery scenes slow and threatening. And remember: if you're a beginner, tell that to your friends. Do your best, and they'll understand if you gently caress up.

And now, cheat! All GMs cheat. Seriously! If one of your players gets it in their head that they want to throw their wakizashi at the Emperor and you can't get them to reconsider? Describe how the Emperor is wounded and now the PC is surrounded by fifty angry samurai (that you didn't know existed until a couple of seconds ago), and now the PC is without a weapon. Oni just murdered one of your favorite PCs with exploding dice behind the screen? Shake your head, and describe meekly how the oni beat the crap out of the PC, leaving them with 1 wound. It's cheating, but it keeps the PC in play, and it keeps the player having fun. Sometimes players will try to remember the correct etiquette for a given situation. You can make them sweat with skill rolls, assume their characters know how to play things out, or let other players kibitz OOC so that everyone knows how to act. But hey, in the end some players might just not get proper etiquette even when it's fundamental for the plot. That's why the PCs have the relevant skill: so that players don't need to. Some players with more RL charisma love acting out court scenes, but as long as they aren't hogging too much spotlight letting them act can be fun to watch. And it's unfair to expect players to know how to act socially if you don't show them proper customs, particularly in a society as strict as Rokugan. Show them how NPCs talk to the Emperor, make them flashback to their first tea ceremony. Using etiquette gives flavor to the game, even if it can feel like a hurdle.

Show proper etiquette or you'll get fifty of these fuckers in your face.

There's also some fluff on advanced GMing techniques: narrating prologue and epilogue "cutscenes" to get the players interested in the plot, showing side scenes ("as you guys track down the oni that stole the ancient sword of the Crab, Hida Kisada valiantly fights off an army of the Shadowlands, wondering if you'll make it!") and flashbacks. Sometimes this will require some cooperation on the players' part since it'll require them to ignore information you'll give when playing, though. Using the physical environment
where you are playing the game also helps: turn off the lights and use lamps and candles, get a Noh music CD, serve Japanese finger food. But, whatever you do, do not bring a real sword to the game. It's bolded, in fact. Just don't, no game is worth getting actually hurt. Live action roleplaying is becoming more and more popular, and there will be a L5R Live Action supplement in the future, but two guidelines are present: NO TOUCHING and NO SWORDS. Which really, just makes sense.

We get a list of important NPCs now from all clans. Hida Kisada is the head of the Crab Clan. He's way past retirement age but with no signs of wanting to quit the job. He thinks Rokugan needs a strong leader, and the "old man" (the Emperor) isn't cut for it. Maybe the Crab should take up that post. His son Hida Yakamo is the stereotypical Crab warrior: large, brutish, and arrogant. He is not pleasant and feels no reason to be - the rest of the Empire lives because of him and he is owed respect for it. The Crane has Doji Hoturi, son of the Clan daimyo and an unabashed womanizer suddenly thrust into a position of power after his father became the Emerald Champion. His sensei, Kakita Toshimoko, runs the Crane fencing school. He is a guy that loves partying, hitting on the ladies and having a good time, but becomes ice cold when in a duel and grows really sad for the people that he has to cut down. The Dragon has Togashi Yokuni, the Clan Champion, who has never been seen without his ancestral armor. People have never even seen him eat or sleep, and only a few have talked to him but no one remembers his voice. Mirumoto Hitomi is a surprisingly scrutable Dragon - she is angry as hell, having seen Hida Yakamo kill his brother unfairly in a duel. She is very good with a sword, and only thinks of avenging her brother. The Lion has Akodo Toturi, chief military advisor to the Emperor and a great general, but less good in the political arena: recently a Crane general took Lion lands and the Emerald Champion (a Crane) consolidated their wins in court. He is thoughtful and considerate. Matsu Tsuko is the head of the Matsu family, a fiery and brash woman that hates how the Crane is pushing the Lion around and thinks Toturi is not fit to lead the clan. The Phoenix has Shiba Ujimitsu, the Clan daimyo whose authority only reaches the safekeeping of the Phoenix clan. He has MYSTERIOUS DREAMS. Isawa Tadaka, our buddy from the Ginawa story, is a rising star with a strong (almost unhealthy) interest in the Shadowlands and ways to defeat them. The Scorpion has Bayushi Shoju, Clan Champion and a guy that knows a shitload of secrets over a shitload of people; and Bayushi Kachiko, who is probably not a developer's pet character or anything. The Unicorn has Shinjo Yokatsu, a man that feels uncomfortable with Rokugan even though he rules his clan, and Otaku Kamoko, leader of the Battle Maidens, an all-women shock cavalry force. Finally, we see two ronin: Dairya is one of the most notable masters of iaijutsu and kenjutsu in Rokugan, wandering the land and killing samurai and bandits alike; and Ginawa himself, who could have been a Lion, a Scorpion or something else entirely.

Nemuranai! The game tells us that the more magic items are in PC hands, the less magic they really are. The campaign loses realism and combat loses importance. But if only one or two PCs get nemuranai, the others may get envious. Nemuranai should be treated like characters. Each is ancient, perhaps even a family ancestor spirit. Treating them correctly may unlock abilities no one knew about, while mishandling them will make characters lose their advantages. Enchanted swords have a long history in Rokugan, since they are ~*the most perfect weapon*~ and all An enchanted sword can have a higher DR (4k2, 3k3, 4k3 or more) and other abilities like rerolling all 1s or substituting them for the wielder's Fire rating or whatever. And then it's on to specific examples. Bloodswords, also known as "Kenchi" are what our man Ginawa had in his story. There are rumored to be four ofthe suckers. Bloodswords have a rank that starts at 1 and grows by killing as many people as their rank, so a starting bloodsword needs to kill one man to go to rank 2, two to go to rank 3 and so on. Every time a bloodsword rolls for damage, any die that rolls less than the rank can be rerolled. However, any time the wielder faces a tense situation they must roll Willpower against the bloodsword's rank x 5 or flip out and attack until they can make another Willpower roll to sheathe the blade. Crystal katana are made because of Crab experiments on using crystal against the Shadowlands. Apparently, purified crystal has a deleterious effect on Tainted things. Crystal weapons have a strength that goes from 1 to 5: when a tainted creature approaches, the crystal can repel them by making a roll with their rank against TN 15, while the creature rolls against the crystal's strength x 5. Success, and the crystal repels them. If they ever come into contact, the crystal makes another contested roll, dealing its strength as DR on a success. Ancestral swords are the most famous of Rokugan, owned by the Seven clans. We get an example of two: Bitter is a sword made by a Dragon shugenja/samurai/weaponsmith (aren't shugenja already samurai?) that deals extra damage to low-Honor characters but makes the wielder flip out even in inconvenient situations when facing them; and Honorable, its companion shortsword that has a DR equal to the wielder's Honor and is kept by the Dragon for honorable, painless seppuku. Other objects include Crane good luck origami, a ring that may or may not be used by non-existent ninja, a couple of matched rings of Scorpion make used to spy on people, an Unicorn bonsai tree that makes anyone that focuses on it very tiny, and a mirror that lets people challenge each other to MIND DUELS.

And now, Ninja! Who don't exist and players should not read any further. Also, there's no information for making ninja PCs because they are too powerful and unbalancing. Anyway! Ninja are experts in espionage and deceit. No daimyo will ever admit to using ninja, but every last one of them have considered using their skills. The ninja "clan" is related to the Scorpion but are effectively independent. All the way back in the early Empire, the first Hantei asked his brother Bayushi to build a spy network that would secure his dynasty's possession of the Emerald Throne, with the proviso that betraying his trust would mean the end of his line. Bayushi agreed and the NINJA CULT was born, from humble origins (pay a guy to watch and report) to detailed espionage and infiltration training. By the time of Hantei X, there were rumors that the Scorpion spies were using black magic to achieve their goals. The Emperor called the Scorpion Champion of the time and asked him to explain himself; the Champion instead said that the network would be immediately dismantled. Suspicious, the Emperor ordered all the ninja to present themselves to the Emerald Champion for questioning. Only about one in five did, and they were all put to death for black magic use - including the Scorpion Champion's own brother, Aramoro. It was assumed that the spy network was put down for good, but instead they went underground and became truly invisible. The Emerald Champion was killed an exact year later, with his hands and head cut off - the traditional punishment for warlocks. Now the ninja are an independent organization: they recruit from the peasants and are friendly with Scorpion, but they are not the same. The three main ninja families are:

Bayushi: the oldest and with the most ties to the Great Clans. They are no longer directly related with the Scorpion Bayushi, though it is rumored that they take Bayushi samurai children for training.
Goju: the ninja shugenja. If they are not butt-deep in black magic, they are true masters of illusion.
Ninube: masters of disguise and infiltration. They are raised with several identities instead of one from childhood.

What a dashing non-existing fellow.

Ninja are not super martial artists. They are not good fighters, but they can distract and confuse a whole group of people and make their getaway. It is rumored that their mundane abilities prepare the ninja to accept dark magics, or maybe they drink Oni blood! The truth may never be known, and is probably irrelevant. After another warning to keep ninja away from players, we get some rules to make ninja. First, pick a Family, just like Clan samurai. Bayushi get +1 Reflexes, Goju get +1 Intelligence, Ninube get +1 Awareness. The Bayushi Ninja school (+1 Agility)] has as skills Acrobatics, Acting, Defense, Explosives, Sleight-of-Hand, Mimic, Poison and any 3 Ninjutsu. Many of these are ninja-only. Ninja get specializations for their skills, but it's not clear how they work. Ninjutsu, for instance, is the skill to use any of the ninja tools of myth (hidden blades, climbing claws, yawara sticks and so on) and is a single skill for all of them. The skills usually have greater effect than those available to samurai: Disguise, for instance, gives the ninja a full new persona per rank, while Shinobi (ninja Stealth) lets the character hide in plain sight and has any would-be observer roll Perception against the ninja's Willpower + Shinobi. Their Rank 1 technique is Distraction: it is a special maneuver that raises their TN to be hit in +10 or +20, but increases the TN of anything the ninja tries to do in +10 or +20 as well. There are three sample ninja NPCs: Bayushi Aramoro is named after the legendary ninja, and is the Scorpion daimyo's brother. There is a tradition in the Bayushi samurai that the second-born son is offered to the Bayushi ninja, apparently, He is tall, strong, the chief of security of the Scorpion palace, and in love with Bayushi Kachiko, his sister in law. Goju Ededei is an ugly little man, a shugenja ninja with a sinister reputation and the Disadvantage to prove it - but no one can associate it with him, since he's a loving ninja. He takes a single eye from each of his kills, and keeps them in magic jars for his collection. Ninube Hirariko is an infiltration expert with four identities, including the favorite geisha of the Crane daimyo. Spooky! Also, a later sourcebook called "Way of Shadow" will let us play a ninja campaign, the book says.

This is a gigantic lie.

Creatures! Here we get your actual monsters and the like. Monsters get Rings, an attack roll, a damage roll, a TN to be hit, and Armor which works differently from PC armor: any die that comes up less than the monster's Armor is treated as a 1. They have much simpler wound levels: a goblin gets 6- -1 and 12 - Dead, for instance. Monsters can also cause Fear (Willpower roll against the Fear x 5, those who fail cannot use Void Pointsa and must ignore all dice that roll under the Fear rating), have Multiple Attacks per round (self-explanatory) or have Invulnerability (mundane weapons only cause 1 Wound of damage, only crystal, jade or nemuranai weapons may harm them properly and evil GMs can decide that only one of those can do so)

Goblins are Fu Leng's attempt at making men. They're twisted mockeries of humans, dumb and hateful. They're used by oni as cannon fodder, and throw themselves recklessly into combat. Some of them are larger and slightly smarter: they are known as warmongers and serve as their leaders in combat. Yorei are ghosts, with all sorts of powers. They cannot be touched if they do not wish so, and pass through solid objects, but they cannot move through jade - even a jade coin can pin them in place. The most common ghosts are gaki (blood drinking assholes), shi-ryo (ancestor spirits, sometimes helpful and sometimes hateful), ubume (the ghosts of women that died in childbirth, they cannot move on until their child is 'born' and that needs someone to hold the spirit child as they grow heavier and heavier in their arms), and goryo (vengeful spirits that want to take their killers to justice, or torture them endlessly) Shapeshifters, known as "hengoyokai" by the Rokugani, are spirits able to take a physical form. Most take animal shape, but they can also be trees, flowers or pretty much anything, even humans. Kitsune are tricksters and consummate liars, but are generally benevolent. They like to make fun of humans, but they mean them no harm. They can be very attractive to the opposite sex, and there are many tales of foxwives that fall for men. Kumo are not nearly as nice: they are a race of giant spiders that prefer to keep their own company and eat whatever they catch on their large webs.

Apparently, these ugly dudes "breed like rabbits."

Ratlings or Nezumi are a race that lived in what is now the Shadowlands, before Fu Leng's fall. Their civilization was destroyed in the chaos, and have spread throughout Rokugan trying to survive. They are not affected by the taint of the Shadowlands at all, and Crab samurai learn their language and use them as scouts. There are stats for regular ratlings, ratling 'bushi' and ratling 'shugenja' (they use blood for their rituals, but it's not maho) They sometimes use weapons and armor looted from dead Crab warriors. Ogres are Fu Leng's second attempt at creating life. They are much stronger and tougher than goblins, but still not too bright. They are the easiest of Fu Leng's creatures to find in Rokugan proper, since they do not move in large groups and can get past the Crab defenses easily. Zombies can be created by warlocks attaching a porcelain mask to a corpse and invoking a lesser evil spirit to take control of it. Humans that die in the Shadowlands also rise as zombies.They are super tough, but they have no real will of their own. They lose one limb per Wound level they lose and if they lose their head (or a called shot is successfully made) they go down in a heap. But they only have a single Wound level with 60 Wounds, so I guess by RAW they'll never lose bits without a called hit!

Sneaky is not always evil, or Scorpion-y.

Kenku are an ancient race of crow-men from the time of the Naga. They can use weapons and other objects, and are very inquisitive and curious. They teach things to those who seek them out and are worthy, love shiny things, and many kenjutsu masters of old have had kenku as their sensei. Their understanding of the universe also lets them cause spell-like effects. Kappa are small humanoids that like to trick travellers to ambush them and feed on them. They have a small indentation on top of their head that they must keep full of water at all times, or they become helpless. They're strangely polite even to their victims, though. Pennaggolan are a type of vampire, a flying head trailing intestines and guts behind it. They squeeze the life out of their victims before feeding. They can pass for humans but need to use their natural shape when feeding, and their intestines become full of blood when they do so. They get around this by soaking them in vinegar, which speeds their digestion process.

Oni are the most dangerous creatures in the book, servants to Fu Leng himself. All Oni are invulnerable and have all sorts of powers. They are evil spirits granted physical shape by Fu Leng's will or by black magic. When an Oni is summoned, they take the name and part of the essence of a participant in the ceremony. The oni is bound to this person, but as time passes they absorb more and more of their chi until the human being loses itself and the oni takes everything. When this happens, the Oni is free and can do as they please, including the ability to produce lesser spawn of itself. There are four oni described here: Kyoso is a vaguely feminine demon that attacks with great beams of power as well as spells. Three times per round, too! And when they hit with their unholy fire, the target must make a Void roll against TN 10 or lose one Void Point, or fall unconscious if they have no points. Shikibu are orange dwarfs with blue beards that can recover their shape if they are destroyed by taking over a nearby corpse; they like fighting near properly prepared "meat stores" because of this. Akuma are horrible beasts that destroy entire villages for kicks. When they hit with their flaming tongues, they leave burning saliva that causes 1 die of Wounds per round until doused with vinegar or alcohol. Tsuburu are giant living gullets that don't even bother moving around: they teleport and devour humans whole, loving the death rattles they hear inside their stomachs. Strength vs Strength roll to catch someone, then they swallow them up and the poor bastard takes 1 die of Woudns per round until they get help. So yeah, watch out for these puzzle boss assholes.

Pretty elegant for a walking TPK.

Now it is time for the usual introductory adventure! The Ceremony of the Samurai is an adventure meant for new characters, players and GMs. PCs go to the Topaz Championship in the city of Tsuma, a championship meant for young samurai about to go through gempukku. They may earn honor, or die trying. Fun! Characters should know each other from childhood or have a reason to stick around together: maybe two traveled together to Tsuma, meeting a third on the way who was friends with the fourth, and so on. When the characters are on the road, they meet an old man who will try to get away and let the noble samurai pass, only to fall in the nearby river. Perception against TN 15 to notice that the local cranes were not bothered by the sudden splash... the old man is Megumi, the Fortune of Heroic Guidance, and is testing the players. They are not penalized if they leave the man be, but if they help the 'old man' will thank them profusely and offer a free tea ceremony while answering questions about Tsuma and the Topaz Championship. Megumi is carrying a katana, which should be illegal for a peasant to carry: he will only say that he is "keeping it for his master." He also make boiling tea just from mixing the contents from two small pouches: TN 5 Herbalism roll to realize this should not happen, but Megumi will brush it off. A successful Tea Ceremony roll for each PC (TN 9) gives one Void Point. But wait, why would they be missing Void Points this early into the adventure? Whoever went first to rescue Megumi will be offered the katana or the coffer he is carrying: they must perform the proper gift-giving ritual (rejecting it twice, accepting it at the third attempt) or the gift will disappear after the old man is gone. The katana is of exceptional make, 5k2, while the coffer has one spell of the GM's choice. Megumi will let the PCs stay at his home while he is outside: he will transform into a crane once the PCs have lost sight of him. Later, the PCs will meet Yasuki Jodeiga, a Crab peddler. If the PCs peruse his wares, they must roll Awareness against Jodeiga's 6k3 Commerce roll or leave his stall half a koku poorer and with some small useless trinket. SOCIAL SKILLS.

Tsuma is a Crane city, but it has holdings belonging to other Clans as well. One is a Scorpion "tea house" that sells some kickass sake and serves at the Scorpion's clandestine HQ in the city, while the other is an Unicorn trading house full of rare foreign goods. There's also a temple to the Seven Fortunes and the Kakita kenjutsu school, as well as Megumi's flat, but little else of interest to PCs. The day before the tournament begins, the Emperor arrives by boat! It's a great event with all the required pomp and spectacle. He has Lady Bayushi Kachiko, beautiful and with "non-traditional" clothes, with him. His son is also coming with him: a veteran Crab samurai will elbow one of the PCs and note how "Squid-sama" is showing up. The PC can try calling the Crab out on his insolence, but they will probably get their rear end kicked and at any rate it's only the word from a child against that of a veteran warrior. There are some rumors of the Lion and Crane going to war, the Emperor refusing to abdicate for his son and so on. Also there is a young Scorpion bushi, Bayushi Sugai, who will be the PCs' nemesis this adventure.

And then it's off to the Tournament itself! It comprises several different tests. Each character must score five points to complete their gempukku, and only those who do can enter the third day iaijutsu competition and the fealty ceremony that follows. Those who fail must try another gempukku ceremony next season. The PCs and the other contestants will be under the watch of their superiors, so they better be on their best behavior. The tests of the first day include Sumai (contested Sumai roll), Heraldry (TN 20 Perception + Heraldry roll), Athletics (several Resistance or Agility + Athletics rolls through an obstacle course; Bayushi Sugai has laid guide ropes for him and traps for the other contestants like bags full of loving 2k1 damage angry wasps), before a two-hour break. Then it's on to Horsemanship (Horsemanship rolls to move through an obstacle course, then attack rolls to strike with a sword and with an arrow at targets) and an Etiquette quiz (Etiquette/Law/Lore: Bushido rolls against TN 15, the GM is encouraged to introduce aspects of Rokugan's society using the answers of this quiz) So far, so good!

And now it's time for a cutscene. :sigh:

The PCs are invited to dinner with all the bigwigs. Mostly the youngsters will be left alone, since the bigshots all have important stuff to discuss, including Badger Clan Champion Ichiro Akitomo. When PCs are about to leave, they are joined by fellow competitor Otaku Shiko, and they have a nice night walk, interrupted by swordplay sounds. Hm! The PCs go to check this out, and they find five corpses, including Ichiro Akitomo. Bayushi Sugai shows up with a bloodied katana, asking what's going on. See, the Lion wanted the Badger as ally in their fight with the Crane, but the Scorpion hosed this up by sending Sugai and Bayushi Aramoro to murder the Badger Champion, ruin the Lion's plans and dishonoring the Crane for failing to protect him. Sugai did his job but was actually surprised by the PCs, and tries to intimidate them into complying with his orders. Shiko doesn't trust him one bit. Eventually they all go to get some guards, and everyone is questioned. Sugai says that he heard the fighting, saw the killer get away, and managed to kill him before he did. There are no other witnesses, and not even Sugai could have killed six men on his own, so even though it's obvious to people that he is involved somehow they must let him walk. Except that Shiko says a little too loud that Sugai has to be the killer, a duel is instantly arranged to keep appearances, and the poor Unicorn is legally murdered by Sugai.

The PCs get to do nothing during all of this. It's a tutorial scenario, see.

Next day, no one even brings up the incident. The first test of the day is the Arms test: characters are squared off and they fight with any melee weapon they choose (the training weapons used only keep one die for damage). It is the second most prestigious test of the Championship. Then it's time for Poetry (the players themselves must compose a 5-7-5 haiku on a subject chosen by Kachiko, then make a skill roll); Court (like the Etiquette contest, only with the Court skill); and a two-hour break. The last tests of the day are Go (as in, the board game - Perception + Battle rolls), Archery (TN 10, 15, and 20 Archery rolls; Sugai will sabotage the PCs' bows, so the GM is supposed to secretly add 5 to the TN and just shrug when they fail, TN 25 Perception to notice the sabotage) and Hunting.

Oh boy. Hunting.

The PCs have four hours to go into the nearby woods and find 3 Tsu Fish eggs. Tsu Fish are amphibious fish whose eggs are considered a delicacy. Now, PCs can help each other here (though the GM does not have to point this out) since everyone can win this test. The TN to find the eggs is 14 for Perception + Hunting. Actually getting them requires an Agility + Stealth roll against TN 16 to keep the Tsu Fish from flipping out (they hit like a truck in a swarm), and Agility + Athletics against TN 13 to climb the trees and take the eggs from them. So far, so good!

And then the PCs are ambushed by ronin hired by Sugai. They are more than the PCs and they have a shugenja ready to cast Wind-Borne Sleep. The ronin have no stats. If the PCs hand over the eggs? Fine. If no? They die, and the GM rolls time back because it is a learning experience. No sense in fighting when there is no honor to win in it. They'll have to save appearances claiming they failed to find the eggs, while Sugai and the Scorpions enjoy a yummy egg dinner that night.

Next day: PCs that have their five points are good. Those who don't, poor bastards. If they happened to be Matsu? See, Matsu Tsuko had pulled aside all Matsu PCs and NPC at the beginning of the tournament and told them that if they blew this, they had to seppuku to cleanse this taint. Yeah. This ceremony is very formal and solemn, but as a small consolation the player may make another PC equivalent to the one they're losing and they get all the XP for the adventure. Hope you didn't want to play that PC anyway! :sigh:

The final test of the day is the Iaijutsu tournament. This is the greatest test of skill in the tournament, and it is solved as a knockdown series of iaijutsu duels. There is no time to rest or recover Void Points or Wounds between duels, but the swords they use only keep a single die for damage. After everything is said and done, the successful character get to perform a fealty ceremony for their clan. Banzai!

Also, Megumi shows up, reveals himself as a Fortune, and says that the PCs are "the chosen ones" before loving off. :wtc:

The winner of the Championship gets 4 koku, an exceptional katana (4k3), 10 Honor points and 8 XP. Second place gets a fine katana (4k2), 3 koku, 10 Honor points and 6 XP. The rest get 1 koku and 4 XP. After that, we get a list of the VIPs, the other contestants with their stats, including Sugai, poor Shiko, and some loser ronin called Toku.

There is a probability table after this, handy to know just how hard will making a TN 20 roll be for a PC rolling 5k3, several maps of castles and buildings, and a geography list. Do you want to visit places like Toshi Ranbo Wo Shien Shite Reigisaho (the City of Violence Under Courtliness) or Otosan Uchi (the Imperial Capital)? There you go. The Japanese never gets any better. With the credits, a reading list that includes the Book of the Five Rings and Eiji Yoshikawa's Musashi, John Wick announcing he will marry Jennifer on New Year 1998 :3:

and some quick reference pages, that's it!

This poo poo makes my eyes bleed.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 05:07

Halloween Jack: Sep 12, 2003; I WILL CUT OFF BOTH OF MY ARMS BEFORE I VOTE FOR ANYONE THAT IS MORE POPULAR THAN BERNIE!!!!!

I just wanted to say that I miss responding to a lot of stuff that's being covered, but I never thought so many fascinating games would be getting coverage at the same time--Fragged Empire, Talislanta, Runequest, and Glorantha.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 05:30

Young Freud: Nov 26, 2006

Count Chocula posted:

The Bayonet Troopers are clearly the grown up 'Are you my mummy?' gas mask kids from Doctor Who. Which is cool, the world needs more weird British horror games. I wonder if you can somehow sneak The Kill List, the original Wicker Man, Utopia (the British trippy conspiracy show) and the Kid Miracleman massacre in there, but that might be over-egging the pudding.

I saw the Bayonet Troopers as being also the mutant "Snorks" from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games. Of course, I think the STs from Cold City are a reference to this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUemv6hW2S8

Anyway, the bizarre tableau from that Miracleman issue, with the sky raining severed hands and chess set made from breasts, would be something that could fit in with Hot War. Cults like that seen in The Wicker Man would probably also start cropping up with the more bizarre things going on, people abandoning Christian or secular worldviews for older and/or alien gods due to the reality breaking down and the influence of the Incursors.

Count Chocula posted:

Is there an Evil Margaret Thatcher analogue in there? All British satirical horror needs one (and Korean train-based horror too, thanks Snowpiercer).

There were quarterly add-ons to Hot War from the Contested Ground page on DriveThruRPG that brings up disgraced politician John Profumo and Enoch "Rivers Of Blood" Powell, so that's probably the closest you'll get.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 05:35

Vox Valentine: May 31, 2013; Solving all of life's problems through enhanced casting of Occam's Razor. Reward yourself with an imaginary chalice.

It's also briefly mentioned that Irene Joyce's husband looked a lot like Clement Attlee.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 05:51

Halloween Jack: Sep 12, 2003; I WILL CUT OFF BOTH OF MY ARMS BEFORE I VOTE FOR ANYONE THAT IS MORE POPULAR THAN BERNIE!!!!!

Count Chocula posted:

Is there an Evil Margaret Thatcher analogue in there?

Also, does the game contain wet water?

# ? Aug 12, 2016 14:16

Doresh: Jan 7, 2015

Wapole Languray posted:

Chapter 3: Magic

I really love how Talislanta does the whole gameplay and story segregation when it comes to magic.

"Of course I knew this spell the whole time! I spent years studying every spellbook I could come across. I just didn't have to use it until now!"

Bam, already solved D&Ds problem of filling around 1/3 of any book with spells. Plus the player gets to come up with ludicrous and/or oddly specific spell names every time he casts something "new".

# ? Aug 12, 2016 21:23

hyphz: Aug 5, 2003; Number 1 Nerd Tear Farmer 2022.

Keep it up, champ.

Also you're a skeleton warrior now. Kree.; Unlockable Ben

Oh god, I actually ran that L5R adventure.

I think one of the PCs won the katana.. then tossed it away because the rules of honor in the book say you have to use your grandfather's sword and they'd already been hosed by the "follow etiquette or everything disappears" stuff earlier in the adventure.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 21:54

Wapole Languray: Jul 4, 2012

There actually is a big bunch of spells for every Order, but that's also more for players to start with before going into gonzo spell customization. You aren't really intended to customize and fiddle with every spell you cast, instead you should create a few "base" spells for each Mode to use, and modify from there. Also, no character starts knowing every Mode, and many Orders have banned Modes, so it's really easy to keep track of what rules you care about.

By the way, how is my coverage of the book so far? I'm trying to really sell this sucker, but don't want to bore everyone to death before we ever get to the setting. Which is 2/3 of the book.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 21:55

Speleothing: May 6, 2008; Spare batteries are pretty key.

Young Freud posted:

Technically, a female pelvis can seat more than one but the others have got to be really small.

Hostile V posted:

Fun fact: a human pelvis can basically only seat one human (y'know, basically you from the waist up) so joke's on you, edgy DIY home improvement vampire who wanted a loveseat swing to snuggle upon their loved one while also saying "hello world, I am a loving psychopath, gently caress subtlety and gently caress the Masquerade, call the cops on my rear end if I left the curtains open again".

Hostile V posted:

For my own mental security and to spite this Vampire book, I'm gonna take the high road and imagine Wednesday and Pugsley Addams just having a blast in the backyard.

Is the joke here that none of you know what a sex swing is?

# ? Aug 13, 2016 03:27

Kavak: Aug 23, 2009

Speleothing posted:

Is the joke here that none of you know what a sex swing is?

I know it needs to be larger than a human pelvis. :colbert:

# ? Aug 13, 2016 03:32

Rand Brittain: Mar 25, 2013; "Go on until you're stopped."

Speleothing posted:

Is the joke here that none of you know what a sex swing is?

It's the thing that really messed up my Amazon search results when I tried to look for a regular swing that can support an adult's weight.

# ? Aug 13, 2016 03:46

Vox Valentine: May 31, 2013; Solving all of life's problems through enhanced casting of Occam's Razor. Reward yourself with an imaginary chalice.

Speleothing posted:

Is the joke here that none of you know what a sex swing is?

The joke here is that a human pelvis is an awful structure for a sex swing.

# ? Aug 13, 2016 04:00

Young Freud: Nov 26, 2006

Hostile V posted:

The joke here is that a human pelvis is an awful structure for a sex swing.

The joke is that a woman's pelvis has evolved to hold a developing fetus up until birth. Hence, why I said they had to be really small humans, like baby small.

# ? Aug 13, 2016 04:09

The Lone Badger: Sep 24, 2007

Is anyone planning a FaF of the Savage Rifts someone mentioned earlier? It sounds kinda interesting.

# ? Aug 13, 2016 04:09

Robindaybird: Aug 21, 2007; Neat. Sweet. Petite.

Also given the purpose of a sex swing, a human pelvis would be extremely uncomfortable to sit on for long periods even if you fit.

# ? Aug 13, 2016 04:21

Alien Rope Burn: Dec 5, 2004; _{I wanna be a saikyo HERO!}

The Lone Badger posted:

Is anyone planning a FaF of the Savage Rifts someone mentioned earlier? It sounds kinda interesting.

People have asked me and I'm not planning to, given I'm already neck-deep in classic Rifts reviews at the moment, but I posted some quick impressions on it over in the Palladium thread. Overall, it's generally positive, has better rules and more robust character choices, but also has a lot of (IMO) unnecessary random tables and combat can get really rocket-taggy, even for Savage Worlds.

# ? Aug 13, 2016 16:31

Falconier111: Jul 18, 2012; S T A R M E T A L C A S T E

Alien Rope Burn posted:

People have asked me and I'm not planning to, given I'm already neck-deep in classic Rifts reviews at the moment, but I posted some quick impressions on it over in the Palladium thread. Overall, it's generally positive, has better rules and more robust character choices, but also has a lot of (IMO) unnecessary random tables and combat can get really rocket-taggy, even for Savage Worlds.

That is the most terrifying thing I've ever heard. I've ran Savage Worlds exactly once because I had to start fudging roles just to keep my party from insta-killing minibosses with random exploding dice. And speaking of insta-killing...

GURPS FANTASY II

6-2 � MORE MONSTERS

These new steroids are amazing but man, do they ever have side effects.

Headless look kind of like normal humans except for, well, having no heads and faces in the middle of their chests. Unlike normal humans, headless aren�t intelligent in any meaningful way. The only way they deal with the outside world is through violence against anything moving; animals, monsters, swaying, waterfalls, the gods. They don�t think about it, or anything else; they just use any weapons they had in life � or pick up boulders or trees � and use them to beat the poo poo out of things. Though headless can�t communicate in any way, they do gather in small groups and like to go a-rampaging, often targeting and destroying villages.

Headless are created when gods smash someone�s head through their body; the Kikavos and Gakox Pezep are prone to this. If they do have shamanic powers, they can�t use them and can�t even let off random sparks like boneless. Survivors of headless encounters might begin to fear crowds, develop delusions that their chest is growing a face, or begin emphasizing their individuality to irritating extents.

Headless represent mindless violence. A headless-equivalent approaches all problems with aggression and force, only for it to backfire when an attack goes wrong. Those who resemble headless in mind leave a trail of destruction in their village like headless in body.

The second-worst elves in the book.

Ever heard of a redcap? No? Then how about a serial killer? Heightless are both. A few come from people smashed flat by gods. Unlike most monsters, however, most heightless originate as Madlanders. Occasionally, a Madlander will get away with murder. Such people, when they realize no retribution is coming, and even if the original murder was an act of passion, start to feel the impulse to kill again, and usually eventually succumb. As they transform into a proper serial killer, they begin to consider themselves geniuses and physically shrink (usually to something between 3 to 1 feet in height); eventually, they�ll have to flee the village before their neighbors realize exactly what they�ve become.

Heightless don�t kill humans for any emotional reasons (though murder does help them survive). They consider it an art form, choosing victims based on some twisted pattern and torturing them in some deeply hosed-up pattern before they finally expire. Heightless are solitary creatures, though if they do run into other heightless they�ll usually companionably share stories of serial killing before heading on their way; their most common �social interactions� are with people who won�t be capable of them for very long. In fact, these �social interactions� are vital for heightless � as long as they kill at least two humans a year, heightless can only die in one way. Sometimes this way is a standard way of ending a life, but other times it�s something just plain weird; the book gives beetles crossing their left boot or getting hit in the face by a robin�s egg as examples. Otherwise, damage won�t affect a heightless in any way, shape, or form. The standard way of getting rid of heightless otherwise is to wrap it in a net and through it somewhere it can�t escape long enough for it to expire in human style because a lack of murder took away its immortality. For reasons unspecified by the book, all heightless wear felt caps they dip in the blood of their victims (redcaps lol). Also unspecified is what they do if they encounter other monsters, which would be nice to know.

Psychological damage from a heightless usually hits a whole community, as heightless themselves aren�t particularly scary-looking but they tend to target multiple people. They�ll grow scared and angry, often forming witchhunts against innocents. Those who somehow survive a heightless attack will likely suffer PTSD. Most don�t; heightless are scary. Becoming a heightless significantly boosts a character�s physical skills and wildly boost their mental skills; though I won�t get into how and why this works here because gently caress GURPS�s mechanics, but trust me, this makes them plenty dangerous in encounters when added to their, you know, invincibility.

In the villages of the Madlands, no person is truly irreplaceable. The heightless back up this notion by attempting to refute it. From a heightless�s point of view, they are geniuses and ordinary people like ants; to ordinary Madlanders, heightless are insane sadists. Elevating yourself above others through skill and intelligence, though our culture often prizes it, is dangerous and destructive in the Madlands.

God, eyelid muscles are just the worst.

However, of all the monsters in this chapter, skinless are probably the most dangerous � not because they�re deadly in combat (though they are) or they have shamanic powers (though many do), but because they combine both of those with a human intellect. Skinless lack, well, skin; their muscles are exposed to the open air and encircled by pulsing arteries and veins, and many have bags of glistening fat that hang off their bodies :barf:

. Skinless remain as smart as they were in life after they transform (though they do tend to develop [usually controllable] singular obsessions) and they still have all the physical needs of a human being, unlike almost every other monster on the list. However, the probably need more iron because their bodies leak a steady stream of blood from exposed muscle and veins. This leads to a slow, constant source of pain that makes them eternally irritable and resentful of more comfortable humans.

Skinless, again like humans, gather with other skinless and form social structures. They tend to gather around charismatic leaders who organize their troops in whatever method pleases them, often leading them in raids against human villages and sometimes trying to form vast skinless empires. In the warm(er) months, these communities live in makeshift camps and hunt in the surrounding forest; in the winter they go into caves and hang out near fires because cold makes them sluggish and exacerbates their pain. Skinless groups often have access to shamanism, whether obtained from the god that killed them or taught and passed down by other shamans (they are the only group in the Madlands that openly teaches shamanism), but they do have a unique form of magic � skinning. Skinless can capture humans and conduct a ritual in which they ritually skin their victim, taking their epidermis whole. If they manage not to go into shock (easier in-game than in real life) they become a skinless! Yay :neckbeard:

! A slightly altered version of the ritual can take the victim�s skin off for use as a disguise before the victim goes skinless/dead; however, if the person dies, the skin melts into disgusting goop, and someone who goes too long before completing the skinless transformation in this way will go crazy from pain.

Though some skinless are born this way, most are either created by the gods (their skin gets eaten off, burned off, magicked off, etc.) or through social dysfunction. Being too self-centered, whiny, or easily offended can turn a person into a skinless, I guess because selfishness is bad? I don�t see the connection. Those that fight skinless and make it back to the village might begin to suspect others are skinless in disguise, suffer psychosomatic pains, or start to think their skin is about to peel itself off of them and wander off.

Most monsters deal with individual issues, but skinless reflect the moral collapse of a community. A skinless community is the dark reflection of a Madlander village; cooperation is replaced by domination, prudence by heedless exploration of shamanism, creation by destruction. The foul acts of the skinless are a warning against any weakening of the bonds that hold Madlander society together.

Wolverine�s healing factor finally went too far.

Soundless are called soundless because they move without making a sound :pseudo:

! If someone is torn to pieces by a god, those pieces will eventually form into soundless; if someone becomes too withdrawn and refuses to share anything with the community, they�ll start growing grey fur and eventuall literally fall apart and scamper off into the wilderness. Each �individual� is actually six separate creatures: the torso, the head, and the four limbs; these are all equal parts of the colony and, unlike many monsters, targeting the head doesn�t do anything to the rest of the group. Soundless hunt humans, and they hunt in a pack; when they can catch a person unawares, they use one grown-in poison sacs to paralyze the victim and eat the poor fucker; bloated and sated, the group makes its way back to a lair to rest for a few weeks before they go on the hunt again. But what happens if you manage to kill a pack member (pack members can be killed more easily than other monsters)? Well then, that pack will hunt you down, paralyze you, and replace the body part you destroyed with your own, giving the new pack member first crack at it :shepface:

.

Soundless in combat aren�t insanely tough; their chief threat is the fact that they automatically succeed at stealth checks and can paralyze you in combat (it takes weeks to full recover from it). Survivors of such encounters might feel like they�re being followed or like their bodies are about to actually fall apart.

Soundless represent subterfuge. A sneaky, dishonest person is a threat to their community as they hide and appropriate its resources for themselves. A soundless hunts men as a liar hunts resources; both can cost the village dearly in times of want

A weightless on a cloudy day._{_{This is the laziest thing I've done in this review. Yet.}}

Weightless are the saddest and least threatening of all Madlands monsters. In the right light, weightless look exactly like ordinary people. In the wrong light, they are revealed as spectres with no ability to interact with the world. At any one time, a weightless can influence two senses but not the three others; you can see and hear them, or smell and taste them I guess. Except one of the five senses is touch, so :v:

. Some weightless go nuts and try to hurt ordinary humans, but most remain sane(ish) and only want to talk to others and be less lonely; sadly, Madlanders shun them because they can�t tell the difference and can�t trust them to tell the truth. Most weightless end up wandering the wilderness in forlorn depression, eventually seeking out a god to kill them (or at least turn them into another monster).

Most encounters with weightless leave no psychological trauma in the encounterees, though some people might lose touch with one of their senses. Many weightless are created when a god completely obliterates someone, but philosophical types can accidentally enweightless themselves through the following line of thought;

The Madlands don�t make any loving sense.
Therefore, the Madlands don�t exist !
Therefore, I don�t exist !
Therefore, my body doesn�t exist anymore .

Though philosophers aren�t necessarily as harmful as other monsters, unnecessary introspection can be. While a philosopher can contribute by discovering helpful new ideas (like a weightless can provide important information), they can also spread bad ideas (like a lying weightless) or just spend too much time thinking to contribute properly (like a weightless just floatin� around the countryside moping). This sin isn�t as great and terrible as the others, but it still ain�t good.

Alright, the monster section of the chapter is finished, but there�s still more to Chapter 6 before we reach Chapter 7 (in my opinion, the climax of the book). There isn�t a whole ton more in there, though, so it should be a short update.

Next time: Did you know that seals can talk? And also cast spells?

Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 17:58 on Aug 13, 2016

# ? Aug 13, 2016 17:53

Young Freud: Nov 26, 2006

Alien Rope Burn posted:

People have asked me and I'm not planning to, given I'm already neck-deep in classic Rifts reviews at the moment, but I posted some quick impressions on it over in the Palladium thread. Overall, it's generally positive, has better rules and more robust character choices, but also has a lot of (IMO) unnecessary random tables and combat can get really rocket-taggy, even for Savage Worlds.

I might have to check my copy, because I got it about a week ago, and some of the stuff you mentioned that already feels changed. Like. I don't recall "Lords of War" replacing "Men-at-Arms", but remember they used M.A.R.S. (Mercenaries, Adventurers, Rogues, and Scientists IIRC) to describe the non-heavily augmented character frameworks.

# ? Aug 13, 2016 19:20

Alien Rope Burn: Dec 5, 2004; _{I wanna be a saikyo HERO!}

I love the monsters in Mad Lands save for the "and suddenly, a redcap". Maybe it's just because I can't picture them without a isles accent of one sort or another...

Falconier111 posted:

That is the most terrifying thing I've ever heard. I've ran Savage Worlds exactly once because I had to start fudging roles just to keep my party from insta-killing minibosses with random exploding dice. And speaking of insta-killing...

The Glitter Boy murders everything. The Pinnacle rep at GenCon was "yep, working as intended" but told me the updated monster file made some of the monsters tough enough to take a hit from it. Well, I'm looking at it, and the toughest monster still folds in one average hit, as far as I can tell. There are certainly more drawbacks to using it, but it makes the Palladium version look like a popgun.

Young Freud posted:

I might have to check my copy, because I got it about a week ago, and some of the stuff you mentioned that already feels changed. Like. I don't recall "Lords of War" replacing "Men-at-Arms", but remember they used M.A.R.S. (Mercenaries, Adventurers, Rogues, and Scientists IIRC) to describe the non-heavily augmented character frameworks.

Well, I was referring to the Cyborg, Crazy, Cyber-Knight, Glitter-Boy, and Juicer being referred to a "Lords of War", where they were originally "Men-at-Arms". There's some overlap with the Headhunter (or "Cybernetic Techno-Warrior") being M.A.R.S. even though it was originally Men-at-Arms, but the majority of the old classes under that classification are under Lords of War. Well, except for the old Coalition classes, which have been excised entirely... though it would take very little effort to clawhammer them back in if you're into that sort of thing.

# ? Aug 13, 2016 19:53

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; After a Speaker vote, you may be entitled to a valuable coupon or voucher!

Yeah Savage RIFTS seems to be taking the attitude of "most Coalition forces would just be these classes using that equipment, and incidentally why are you so hot to play a bunch of loving Illinois Nazis?"

Also, "Lords of War" sounds way cooler than "Men at Arms." I'll illustrate.

Man-at-arms:

Lord of War:

# ? Aug 13, 2016 21:29

Bieeanshee: Aug 21, 2000; Not keen on keening.; Grimey Drawer

I'm seeing Nick Cage in Savage RIFTS, screaming 'Not the D-Bees!'

# ? Aug 13, 2016 21:47

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# ? Apr 18, 2024 15:09

Falconier111: Jul 18, 2012; S T A R M E T A L C A S T E

Bieeardo posted:

I'm seeing Nick Cage in Savage RIFTS, screaming 'Not the D-Bees!'

Alien Rope Burn posted:

I love the monsters in Mad Lands save for the "and suddenly, a redcap". Maybe it's just because I can't picture them without a isles accent of one sort or another...

Eh, they do play the magical serial killer aspect of the heightless in the book a lot, especially the "fiendish intelligence". They also get any advantages they have doubled, so a generally likeable fellow gains serial-killer charm :v:

By the way, I never thanked you for sharing Mad Lands's origins origins. Thank you for sharing Mad Lands's origins.

# ? Aug 13, 2016 21:55

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