I love Legend of the 5 Rings, or more accurately I love its setting of Rokugan. It is not an attempt at authenticity to feudal Japan, rather it's a gloriously technicolour pan-asian mishmash running entirely on vibes. Real samurai were mostly horse-archers during the time they were militarily significant but Rokugani samurai have a cult of the sword because that's what Kurosawa and anime taught us. I love it because it's inauthentic, imaginative and wide-eyedly romantic. It also happens to be eminently GLOG'able due to its School system. Here I render a few of my favourites, in the fashion of Deus-ex-Parabola's 5e conversions.
Samurai
You have a number of Void Points equal to the highest of your Wis or Xha modifiers (in a proper Rokugan game I'd probably replace the usual six attributes with the five elements, but this will do for purposes of general OSR compatibility) plus your School Rank (i.e. your Templates in Samurai Schools, you don't get any Void Point increase from following strange dishonourable ways of other classes). You can spend Void Points to add +d6 to any weapon attack or skill roll taught by your School, if you have trained in multiple schools (rare, but it does happen) you can use this on them all, some School techniques give other options for spending Void Points. The maximum number of Void Points that can be spent in any one round is equal to your School Rank. You get any used Void Points back after you sleep a full night.
Samural Schools are categorised as either Bushi, Shugenja, Ninja or Courtier, plus occasionally some weird ones like Artisan. For now I will just be covering Bushi, who are Fighting Men and as such never fumble with conventional weapons. Maybe I'll do Shugenja if people like this.
 |
| I will not fail. |
Crab Clan: Hida Avenger
You are a warrior in a clan that hasn't been off a war footing in over a thousand years. You guard a wall that seperates the Empire from a literal incursion of hell into the material plane. Not for you is learning how to elegantly kill a man in one stroke after staring at eachother for five minutes or how to attain oneness with the universe through meditation on the sword. You drilled in full armour until you collapsed from exhaustion, then recovered your stamina listeing to lectures on military philosophy, siege tactics and monster recognition, and when that was done you drilled again. Eventually you did not collapse, and you were ready.
Skills: Athletics, Tactics, Shadowlands Lore, Intimidation.
Weapons: Sword, Bow, Hammer, Mace, Greataxe
Starting Equipment: Light or Heavy Armour (your choice) with slate grey lacquer, hardwearing clothes, katana & wakizashi, one heavy weapon or polearm that is part of the School's weapon groups, furoshiki, a finger-sized bar of jade, 3 koku (about 10gp each).
+1 Attack and +2 HP per Template, the Crab Clan are tough and seasoned soldiers.
A: Way of the Crab, The Mountain Does Not Move
B: Two Pincers One Mind
C: Hida's Rage
D: The Mountain Does Not Fall
A: The Way of the Crab
The crab is not encumbered by his shell, neither are you. You can do everything except stealth in heavy armour as well as you could without, even swimming. When wielding a heavy weapon, any damage rolls below your School Rank+1 are treated as being equal to it.
A: The Mountain Does Not Move
You reduce all damage by your Con modifier or 1, whichever is higher. This is counted against each attack made against you, and even applies to psychic or spiritual damage.
B: Two Pincers One Mind
You can make two attacks per round when wielding your School's weapons. Any penalties to your attack rolls - such as from hostile spells, exhaustion, difficulty or darkness - are reduced by 2 points.
C: Hida's Rage
At this rank, you have learned to channel a portion of the legendary berserker fury of the Clan's founder. You may allow any enemy in close combat with you an attack of opportunity against you, in return you get an additional attack against them this round.
D: The Mountain Does Not Fall
Spend a Void Point to ignore being stunned, dazed, fatigued, subject to magically induced emotions, or the need to sleep for 8 hours (obviously, you don't regain any Void Points if you don't sleep).
 |
| For the coward there is no life. For the hero there is no death. |
Crane Clan: Kakita Duellist
You remember that crack up page about killing a man with one stroke? That's these guys. The Kakita family are descended from (and bear the name of) the literal greatest swordsman who ever lived - and by the Kami did he know it. The Crane are however at heart not a warlike clan, their power is in the realm of politics, fashion and money - damn near every Empress in history has been a Crane and they practically designed Rokugani high culture from the ground up - art styles, poetry, cuisine, dress sense, all the things that make a Rokugani distict from the gaijin beyond. As such, you weren't trained for the battlefield but for the court - to win honour duels on behalf of a Doji courtier according to the precepts of Kakita's foundational text, The Sword. Does this make you any less deadly than the Lion or the Crab? Oh, goodness, no. Not at all.
Skills: Etiquette, Heraldry, Any three artforms of your choice; ikebana, poetry and painting are popular.
Weapons: Sword, Bow, Spear.
Starting Equipment: Light armour with sky-blue lacquer, fashionable clothes, katana & wakizashi, any 1 other weapon, furoshiki, hair bleach, 10 koku.
+1 to Attack and +1 to Defence per Template, the Crane are precise and careful.
A: Way of the Crane, The Speed of Lightning
B: The First and Last Strike
C: Strike From The Void
D: Strike With No Thought
A: Way of the Crane
You act as a "third side" during initative, rolling on your own with a modifier equal to your School Rank. If your initiative is higher than your opponent, you may add the difference to your damage rolls.
A: The Speed of Lightning
You are immune to ambush, and still act as normal during a surprise round.
B: The First and Last Strike
Kakita taught that any fight could be won with a single blow - and should be. You may choose to hold your attack back to the end of the round during the spellcasting phase, if you do then your attack can be interrupted - if you take damage you must Save or lose your attack. If you succeed, however, your damage is doubled - including the bonus damage from Way of the Crane, if any. This is typically done in a iaijutsu strike where you unsheathe your sword, strike, flick it clean and resheathe it in the same motion - a fighting style both wildly impractical and unbearably cool.
C: Strike From The Void
You can now spend Void Points on damage with any School weapon. Not everyone knows this, but when you do so your weapon counts as having a magical plus equal to your School Rank for purposes of bypassing supernatural resistance.
D: Strike With No Thought
A true student of the sword needs no technique, he simply acts as the sword demands. You get an attack of opportunity against anyone entering melee with you, a number of times per round equal to your School Rank.
 |
| Defy Definition |
Dragon Clan: Mirumoto Niten
If Kakita was the stamp from which all people judge a swordsman, Mirumoto was the guy who completely broke the mold. Win every fight with one strike? Then why am I wearing two swords? He thought. Like all Dragons, he had a bad habit of flying in the face of all established wisdom and somehow still winning regardless. So was the Niten style created, wielding both katana and wakizashi simultaneously, emphasising fluidity and practicality over stance and technique. The Mirumoto are also the Kakita's primary rival for title of best duellists in Rokugan. Combats between the two families are usually tense and have surprising outcomes - it was Mirumoto's son Hojatsu who finally defeated Kakita, though he too died in the act.
Skills: Athletics, Magic Lore, Meditation, Theology.
Weapons: Sword, Bow, Any one weapon group of your choice.
Starting Equipment: Light armour with green lacquer, tough clothing, katana and wakizashi, any one weapon, furoshiki, copy of Niten, 5 koku.
+1 to Attack and Saves per Template, the Dragon are uncanny and perceptive.
A: Way of the Dragon, Calm Amidst Thunder
B: Strong And Swift
C: Furious Retaliation
D: Heart of the Dragon
A: Way of the Dragon
When wielding the katana and wakizashi simultaneously you may riposte any attacks that roll 1+School Rank on the d20, immediately making a counterattack and adding your School Rank to your damage on a hit.
A: Calm Amidst Thunder
When you fight an opponent in simultaneous initative with you and your damage would kill him, his damage is not applied to you even if it would hit. You may also make a double attack when wielding the katana and wakizashi simultaneously, but if your damage does not kill your target they get a free attack of opportunity against you.
B: Strong And Swift
Niten is not a set of instructions to follow, but a map to be explored - in a thousand years of study, there is always something new to find. You may now attack twice per round when wielding School weapons. Furthermore, attempts to perform special maneuvers like trips, pushes, disarms and the like are made with a bonus equal to your School Rank.
C: Furious Retaliation
You gain advantage on all attacks against anyone who has dealt you damage within the last round.
D: Heart of the Dragon
The Dragon is everywhere and nowhere, his claws and teeth and scales are all around you. You may now spend Void Points to gain additional attacks on a one-for-one basis. You can do this even outside of your turn in response to an attack against you, in which case you count as being in simultaneous initative with your attacker.
 |
| Duty, Honor, Leadership |
Lion Clan: Akodo Bushi
The Lion are among the most traditionalist clans in Rokugan and their fighting style shows it. While other schools teach elaborate specialised techniques and compare their swordsmanship to painting or caligraphy, the Akodo family drill the foundations of kenjutsu and military theory into their students again and again in a fashion more like hammering nails than high art. Who cares about complicated tactics and showy "secret techniques"? Just strike exactly as you intended, repeat until dead - a tactic that works every time. The Lion's way is the way of victory, and if you have any doubt as to the efficacy of their simple, traditional ways, just ask to whom the Emperor has trusted the bulk of his legions to command - perhaps it would be better to call it the Lion's share.
Skills: Athletics, Tactics, History, Heraldry.
Weapons: Sword, Bow, Spear, Polearms.
Starting Equipment: Light Armour with yellow lacquer, conservative clothing, katana and wakizashi, any one weapon, furoshiki, tessen, 5 koku.
+1 to Attacks per Template, +1 to Damage on A, C. +1 to Defence on B, D. Lions are fierce and natural warriors.
A: Way of the Lion, Strength of Purity
B: Fangs of My Fathers
C: The Hand of Destiny
D: The Final Lesson
A: Way of the Lion
You critically hit range expands to 19-20, this stacks with any other effects that expand critical hit range. If the system you're playing in doesn't usually have double damage on natural 20 attack rolls, you still do - tell the DM I told you so.
A: Strength of Purity
The wicked man fears the blade held in the hand of the righteous. You add your Xha modifier to damage against creatures of supernatural evil, chaotic humanoids and foreigners (unless the Emperor permits their presence on Rokugan).
You can make two attacks per round when fighting with your School weapons. The first blow is yours, the second from you ancestors - it still does minimum damage on a miss (1 per damage die plus your Strength and Damage modifier, usually), even to targets that have magical resistance to your attacks.
All things are predestined, there is no such thing as luck. At the start of the day you recieve a number of d20 rolls equal to your School Rank - note down the results, these can be used to replace any of your own attack rolls or the attack rolls of anyone else within 10' of you. If you wish you may spend Void Points during your morning meditations to gain additional rolls.
There are no failures. Your attacks now deal a minimum of your School Rank damage, even on a miss. Furthermore, you have advantage on your next attack made after a miss.
 |
| Choosing between two evils is still choosing evil. |
The Shiba are unusual in many ways, unlike all the other kami-descended families they are subservient to the Isawa clan who are descended from a human hero - arguably the greatest mortal man in history, having single-handedly elevated the practice of magic from simple divinations and blood rites to the elemental glory of the shugenja's art but merely a man all the same. In a clan that espouses pacifism as the highest ideal they train for war. With the Phoenix way of war focusing on the judicious application of their unmatched magical power, the bushi of the Shiba clan concentrate on defending their vulnerable shugenja cousins so they can invoke their spells in safety. Intensely spiritual, devoting as much time to mastery of the self through the no-mind technique, the Shiba produce warriors with the aspect of monks and the purity of fire.
Skills: Athletics, Etiquette, Magic Lore, Theology.
Weapons: Sword, Bow, Spear, Mace.
Starting Equipment: Light Armour with red lacquer, austere clothing, katana and wakizashi, any 1 other weapon, furoshiki, oil lamp, 5 koku.
+1 to Attacks and Void Points per Template. Phoenix are focused and spiritually strong.
A: Way of the Phoenix, A Single Life
B: One With Nothing
C: Everywhere and Nowhere
D: The Purity of Fire
A: Way of the Phoenix
Mastery of "no-thought" sharpens your sensitivity to the Void. Your Void Points now count as d8s, and return to your pool on a roll equal to or below your School Rank.
A: A Single Life
Understanding your place in the universe makes it easy to sacrifice your life for another. You can attune yourself to another person by spending a Turn in shared meditation with them, thereafter until the next dawn you may intercept any attacks directed against them using your own Defence as long as you remain within 10' of them. At a cost of a further Void Point you can also intercept hostile spells and other effects that require a Save.
B: One With Nothing
Whenever a spellcaster (even an enemy) in your immediate area loses a Magic Die to a roll of 6, you gain a Void Point - these can exceed your maximum but are lost at the next dawn if unspent. When you lose a void point on a roll of 8 a spellcaster of your choice in the immediate area gains a Magic Die.
C: Everywhere and Nowhere
Flowing with the Void, the bushi can now attack twice per round with any School weapon. You can strike incorporeal beings as if they were solid, and your weapons count as having a magical plus equal to your School Rank for purposes of damaging supernatural enemies. If you spend a Void Point this becomes an actual magical plus to attacks and damage for a number of rounds equal to the d8 roll.
D: The Purity of Fire
Your spirit burns so brightly it is nearly inextinguishable, surely all heavens and earth will fall before a warrior with such purity does. When you are subject to an attack that deals multiple damage dice, or multiple successful attacks in a single round, you may spend a Void Point to reduce the damage you take by a number of dice equal to your School Rank to a minimum of 1.
 |
| I can swim. |
Scorpion Clan: Bayushi Ambusher
The Bayushi clan's version of the Frog and Scorpion aesop has a different ending. If the Crane are the Emperor's left hand, and the Lion his right, then the Scorpion are his under-hand. The Kami Bayushi was less idealistic when it came to human nature than the rest of his brothers and sisters, and knew that an empire ran by people devoted to honour would inevitably fall to those without. So he chose to play the villain to spare the others the shame of having to dirty their hands, recruiting thieves, spies and assassins into his new clan. The shadow-people of the Empire, to do the things that tarnished their own honour so that others didn't have to. To be mistrusted, so others would have an example of what not to live up to. No clan is more maligned, has fewer allies or more enemies.
And yet, they still keep swimming.
Skills: Athletics, Etiquette, Stealth, Dissembling.
Weapons: Sword, Spear, Dagger, Chain.
Starting Equipment: Light Armour with black lacquer, dark clothing, katana and wakizashi, any 1 other weapon, furoshiki, personalised mask, 5 koku.
+1 to Attacks and Surprise Rolls per Template. Scorpions strike fast and from the shadows.
A: Way of the Scorpion, Pincers & Tail
B: Strike At The Tail
C: Above & Below
D: Pincers Hold & Tail Strikes
A: Way of the Scorpion
Tied initative always breaks in your favour, when initative is in your favour you gain a bonus to your Defence and Attack rolls equal to your School Rank.
A: Pincers & Tail
You have a Tail Die of d6, which is dealt as unmodified automatic damage to the target in combat with you that has the lowest HP. This represents a multitude of probing jabs, kicks, thrown stones, pommel-clonks and shivvings you deal alongside your usual attacks to cull the weak. If this damage kills a foe, it may be rolled again against the next-weakest a number of times equal to your School Rank.
B: Strike At The Tail
If an opponent is stronger than you then first, take away his strength. When you successfully perform a maneuver to trip or disarm an opponent, you may immediately make an extra attack against them.
C: Above & Below
When you attack, do so from unexpected angles. You may now attack twice per round, futhermore your Tail Die increases to d8.
D: Pincers Hold & Tail Strikes
When you hit the same opponent with both your attacks, you may make a third. If you spend a Void Point on this third attack, the opponent who survives must Save or be stunned for 1 round by the psychic venom of your attack.
 |
| One cannot capture the wind |
The Kirin Clan spent eight centuries outside Rokugan, scouting the surrounding lands for external threats. When they returned, riding from the West through the Shadowlands like an invading army, it caused one of the biggest upheavals in the Empire's history, as their ancient territories held in trust by other clans were once again ceded back to their old masters. What's more, though they had done their best to preserve their Rokugani traditions, time and extremity had led to the now Unicorn Clan having picked up a number of odious foreign customs like eating meat, leatherworking, and some decidedly unconventional fighting styles.
Skills: Athletics, Riding, Gaijin Lore, Hunting.
Weapons: Sword, Spear, Bow, Polearms.
Starting Equipment: Heavy Armour with purple lacquer, rugged clothing, katana and wakizashi, any 1 other weapon, furoshiki, quality riding horse, 10 koku.
+1 to Attacks per Template, +1 to Initative on A, C. +1 to Defence on B, D. Unicorn warriors strike like the wind and are gone before foes can retaliate.
A: Way of the Unicorn, Dance of the Blade/Yomanri
B: Four Winds Strike
C: One Spirit
D: Dancing With The Fortunes
A: Way of the Unicorn
Most Unicorns learn to ride before they can even walk. On horseback you add your School Rank to Defence and Damage. Your steed uses your Defence score.
A: Dance of the Blade/Yomanri
You learn one of the techniques the Unicorn picked up on their long sojourn;
- Dance of the Blade: In response to an attack against you, once per round you may make your own attack roll; if it exceeds your foes' roll their damage is reduced by d6.
- Yomanri: Traditional Rokugani archery holds that the loosing of an arrow should be instinctual, meditative, letting the arrow find its way. Gaijin think it's better to just aim. You can delay an archery attack until the end of the round, like declaring a spell. If you do, and are not interrupted by an attack, your shot automatically hits.
You may now attack twice per round. You may make a move action between attacks without provoking an attack of opportunity.
C: One Spirit
The bond between you and your steed is now on an almost spiritual level. You can bond with a horse by investing a Void Point in the animal, which remains invested for as long as you choose to maintain the bond. While invested, your steed responds to even complex commands with human-like intelligence and you can perform impressively improbable feats of horsemanship like mounting your steed while it is galloping full speed or fighting proficiently while hanging sideways on the saddle. Your bonded steed will never fumble an athletic feat like jumping a fence and the damage multiplier for charging with a lance increases to x3 while riding it.
D: Dancing With The Fortunes
Unicorns are famously lucky, they had to be to survive 800 years of self-imposed exile. Once per round you can spend a Void Point to reroll a die (any die, including damage) rather than gain a bonus to your roll, even critical failures.
No comments:
Post a Comment