Glory of the Emerald Empire (Legend of the 5 Rings Quest)
- Thread starter Winged Knight
- Start date
- Fantasy
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
More appropriately, the hypothetical character would be addressed as Hiruma Toyotomi. In Rokugani society your family is more important than you as the individual, and in fact your power and status as a Samurai comes from your family. As such, your surname is what is said first save amongst very close friends. If you met a stranger, and they were being polite, you would be addressed as "Hiruma-san."
The Torikata family used to be the Falcon clan, a minor clan that was absorbed by the Crab after the Falcons had lost a large pat of their men to a demonic incursion. They live in a remote village in the Hitokage valley, between the haunted forest of Shinomen Mori and the equally haunted Twilight Mountains. Subsequently, they are specialists for dealing with evil spirits and have gifted exorcists. This specialization brings them naturally in close contact with the shugenia of the Kuni family.
That means the Torikata share the reputation of the Kuni, albeit to a lesser degree. People are glad to have them when you have problems with spirits or demons, but otherwise they prefer that they stay away with their forbidden knowledge and their dangerous interests.
Good to know that you choose a higher Earth ring multiplier, but that doesn't really solve the fundamental problem why I don't think playing a character focused on martial skills is really worthwhile: Being a bushi doesn't really improve your survivability. In fact, a Kuni shugenia will probably have more wounds available than most warriors. L5R is literally the only RPG I know where the Wizards can take more punishment than front line fighters.
Additionally, the school abilities of bushi schools are not all that great. Yes, you get to deal more damage, but in this game combat seldom lasts longer than 3-4 rounds and if you need only three strikes to kill your opponent instead of four it doesn't really make that much of a difference.
The only time where the bushi skills are really useful is during mass combat sequences, or when you have to fight several opponents in short order. But on the other hand, being a courtier, engineer or shugenia drastically reduces the probability that you will face this kind of situation.
At last, there is the old problem that combat is the most boring part of any RPG. In principle you just roll dice around until someone drops dead. Therefore I tend to prefer characters who specialize in other things than combat.
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Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
It's certainly a valid opinion on the matter. I'd say the Hida Bushi school is pretty damn good, though, because holy shit those first two techniques make you ridiculously tanky.
Also, that Akodo technique where you can go "I don't give a shit about your armor" is just silly. Personally, I think it's kind of broken.
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The Hida school is certainly better than most at raising your survivability. After all, "standing there and taking it like a man" is more or less the Hida's entire shtick...
That Akodo technique really is a bit broken (although armor is not as important here as it is in other systems). Then again, L5R is hardly the best balanced game ever devised. Just look at some of the Advantages: Elemental Blessing and Enlightenment pay for themselves, Friend of the Elements is also pretty broken. On the other hand, you get stuff Dark Fate or Dark Secret, which are basically open invitations for the GM to kill you, or Momoku which makes your character nearly unplayable, etc.
- Location
- Canada
[X] Toyotomi Hiruma
[X] Hiruma Bushi School
[X] Hiruma Bushi School
GilliamYaeger
M'crazy.
[x] Hiruma family
[x] Hida Bushi school.
[x] Hida Bushi school.
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
We're gonna need more votes, people! This voting session ends at 2:00 p.m. today, my time. So if you've got a Family and a School you're partial to, choose them now.
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- Location
- Third planet from the star named Sol
- Pronouns
- He/They
what's the current vote count?
GilliamYaeger
M'crazy.
Doing a quick eyeball, Hiruma/Hida is at 6 and Kaiu is at 5.
Ewiglebende
The immortal Articuno
- Location
- Seafoam Islands
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- Location
- Third planet from the star named Sol
- Pronouns
- He/They
Changing my school vote to Kaiu.
Orion Nexus
The Storm Soul
- Location
- South Carolina
[x] Hiruma family
[x] Hida Bushi school
[x] Hida Bushi school
GilliamYaeger
M'crazy.
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
Y'all are in for interesting times no matter the family or school, really, and not just for combat or social interaction. I can work with pretty much anything you choose and fit them into my plans. And oh, do I have plans. Heh heh heh.
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Could we theoretically vote to later take the Different School advantage and choose a school outside of our clan? For example play a Hiruma trained at the Utaku Battle Maiden School of the Unicorn clan?
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
After the game starts, you don't need to spend EXP for an Advantage to get a School outside of your Clan. I've never much seen the point of that because I consider such a thing a reward for good role-playing more than anything else. However, you lot are certainly going to have to really impress the Daimyo of that Family's School if you want to gain admittance. Not the easiest thing, to be sure, but certainly not impossible.
If you'd like to take the Advantage for a different School during chargen, you certainly can. I'll be expecting some good backstory to justify it, though.
If you'd like to take the Advantage for a different School during chargen, you certainly can. I'll be expecting some good backstory to justify it, though.
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I should have asked this question earlier. Now it's probably too late to find a majority for a Hida trained at the Shosuro Infiltrator school...
- Location
- Third planet from the star named Sol
- Pronouns
- He/They
Btw, what's Crab's relationship with Unicorn? Seems like it'd be better than with the others, since they are mutually disdained by the other clans, and one of the Unicorn families alllowed the Himura family to adopt their school into their own.
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
The Unicorn generally do like the Crab and vice-versa. This can vary by degrees depending on the generation, of course. Relationships between Clans can be very fluid, and bitter enemies can go to fast friends within just a decade, while staunch allies can become the fiercest of foes in that same time frame. Typically, though, the Crab and the Unicorn tend to like each other.
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