You can certainly take the Advantage to do so, yes! Forbidden Knowledge: Maho would allow you to be a Maho-Tsukai. It might be a little difficult being a wielder of dark magic in Crab Lands, but if you're clever enough you might be able to pull it off.
"What you want to know about me? Well seems kind of pointless if you ask me, but I guess I can explain somethings I mean it's not like I have much else to do before my gempukku."
"So first up, I'm Hiruma Sosuke. Yes I know that I'm in the Hida Bushi school, no it's not because I'm too big, I'll punch your lights out if you say it again.
"Okay first let's explain something, I am big, to most people anyway, for Crab I'm small, tall but small. But I can take a hit and that's what matters in the end. That's also why I went to the Hida instead of the Hiruma, my unique...talents at smashing and getting smashed in return? They ain't so good for a Hiruma, see Hiruma like you to be fast and tricky like some sort of demented pyschotic bird pecking you to death. Come to think of it that's how most Crane roll too, when they're not being pussies.
"Hida though? Are the wall, you hit me with a tetsubo and I'm just going to call you an asshole before introducing you to my own. Most normal people can't do that, if anything they well have their heads explode, kind of like a melon, but with less juice.
"So you're figuring okay, you're a big ass Hiruma that's good with his hands. So what else you got? Well truth is I don't have much else at present. I mean I get into scraps a lot but if those pansy assholes in Barracks C want to throw down, who am I to say no?
"Mother says I have a temper problem, and maybe I do, but she's always like 'be polite and respectful Sosuke, no Sosuke you can't punch the Scorpion in the face because you think he's lying.'
"That she was a Scorpion and thus lying be default doesn't seem to matter. Besides that only happened once, and yeah okay it called off the betrothal but who really wants to be married to a Scorpion anyways? I don't.
"Anyhow that made her upset and you know they say Kaiu are the calm ones? That doesn't mean that they don't get angry, just that they're calmly angry...which terrifies me more than my sensei does really. Long story short I know enough now not to embarrass myself at Court...even if I don't really care for it.
"Other than that, I'm pretty typical really, good with heavy weapons and my favourite Tetsubo, might not hit as hard as some, but on the other hand I hit more often so trade offs. Now it's time for my Gempukku, become an adult Samurai, I've been training this my whole life, I'm sure I'll succeed"
Initiative=3k2
Armor TN=15
+ Heavy Armor=25/Reduction 5
Weapons Attack Damage Special Properties
Tetsubo 7k3 6k3 -2 Reduction (From Mastery)
Katana 4k3 5k2 May spend 1 voidpoint to increase damage by 1k1 for one round
Wakizashi 4k3 4k2 Throwable for 20 feet
Athletics-2
Battle-2
Defense-3
Heavy Weapons (Tetsubo)-4
Intimidation-2
Kenjutsu-1
Lore: Shadowlands-1
*Etiquette-3
*Investigation-2
*Lore: Heraldry-2
*=Not School Skills
Etiquette-3
The characters gain an additional +3 Insight above the total normally indicated by his Rings and Skill Ranks
Heavy Weapons-3
Opponents with a Reduction Rating have their rating reduced by 2 when attacked with a heavy weapon
-Crab Hands: Whenever wielding a weapon you have no skill ranks in, instead treat as if you had 1 rank in that weapon.
-Large: Standing at 6'4 you are larger than most Rokugani, gain +1k0 to damage rolls with heavy weapons
-Bad Fortune (Secret Love): Someone, somewhere is desperately in love with you, and will do anything to have you
-Brash:You have a notoriously short temper and are likely to answer anything you perceive as a threat with steel. If you are threatened or insulted, you must make a Willpower Trait roll (adding your Honor Rank to the total) at a TN of 25, or you will attack immediately.
Willpower 2->3=-12xp
Heavy Weapons 1->4=-9 XP
Athletics 1->2=-2xp
Battle 1->2=-2xp
Defense 1->2=-2xp
Etiquette 0->3= -5xp
Lore (Heraldry) 0->2= -3 xp
Investigation 0->2= -3 xp
Intimidation 1->2=-2xp
Brash= +3xp
Bad Fortune (Secret Love)=+3p
Crab Hands=-2xp
Large=-3xp
Alright now to explain why I built him this way.
I raised Willpower both to help with brash and to bring our Earth Ring up. A higher Earth Ring=more wounds and early on that's pretty important. With our Hida school techs, we're more geared to getting hit and dishing it out. Unfortunately that means at present none of the other rings are raised. We're going to be relying on the Hiruma Agility Bonus to make sure we hit often rather than super hard.
On to skills. First and foremost as a Hida Bushi, we want to use Heavy Weapons, the school is built for it, and it is a signature for a reason. So Heavy Weapons to 4.
I choose Battle as our free Buegi skill because it really helps on the Wall which would normally be resolved through mass battles.
From there I raised most of our school skills up a rank with the exception of Kyujutsu (archery) and Shadowlands Lore. We don't have the reflexes to be a good archer yet so this wasn't a priority. Shadowlands lore is useful, but if we're in the Shadowlands with other Crab, we should have someone nearby to help us out. Outside of Crab lands knowing any puts us 90% over everyone else. So not a priority (Would be if we were a Kuni Witchhunter though)
That takes us to the non school skills
Etiquette is just dead useful, it raises insight as a rank 3 mastery. More importantly it gives us a way to retort to everyone without provoking duels. As bushi we're expected to fight duels ourselves, but we are not specced for it and our school doesn't support it that well.
Investigation is essentially Notice in this game. A good investigation score lets us find things and avoid ambushes.
Lore Heraldry allows us to know if the face we are punching is important or not. Useful for avoiding those duels I mentioned earlier and knowing the amount of respect to give a random samurai.
Advantages are pretty simple
Crab Hands means we are effectively always at least able to arm ourselves some how, it's cheap and as bushi it's pretty good.
Large means our Tetsubo hits harder. Which as we've discussed should be our main weapon in a fight.
Disadvantages are also pretty simple
Bad Fortune: Secret Love, means we have our own Yandere, and those are great fun to deal with in Rokugan and offers a plot hook for the GM to use and get us investigating things.
Brash is to account for us flipping out and hitting things with our tetsubo. It also means that we can leverage what we do best more often. Don't abuse it though, as we will lose honour if we give in too much .
Well, that's certainly a bashy Crab! He'd be well suited for getting through the hard shells of Oni and even the armor of other Samurai. Why, maybe you could even say he would be a crab cracker?
Personally, I really like the concept of being one half of a battle couple, right off the bat. Though I also like the idea of having a yandere stalker.
Okay, here is my first proposal for a character. I say first because I fully intend to make a Maho-Tsukai character for people who like a higher difficulty setting.
We already had some interesting proposals for the classic "I bash your skull in" Hida fighter. Therefore I choose to add in a little variety by giving you something else: A iaijutsu specialist. Such characters are often employed as Yoyimbo for courtiers, which means the character comes with a built-in excuse to go out and visit the larger empire:
Code:
Name: Hiruma Miyako
Rank: 1
Insight: 122
School: Hida Bushi School
Honor: 3.5
Glory: 1
Status: 1
Shadowland Taint: 0
Initiative: 3k2
Traits:
-------
Air:2
Reflexes:2
Awareness:2
Earth:3
Stamina:3
Willpower:3
Fire:2
Agility:3
Intelligence:2
Water:2
Strength:2
Perception:2
Void:2
Heavy Weapons: 01 [Tetsubo]
Intimidation: 01
Kenjutsu: 03
Defense: 03
Iaijutsu: 03
Athletics: 01
Lore (Shadowlands): 01
Etiquette: 03
Investigation: 03
Mastery Abilities:
Kenjutsu: +1k0 to all damage rolls made with a sword
Iaijutsu: Readying a katana is a Free Action
Etiquette: +3 bonus to Insight rolls
Investigation: Second attempt to Search emphasis without TN increase.
Defense: May retain the result of a Defense/Reflexes roll instead of rerolling if full defense stance is maintained.
Techniques:
The Way of the Crab
Advantages:
Enlightened
Disadvantages:
Small
Bad Fortune (Secret Love)
Explanation for the build choices:
Since this character is build to be a specialist in formal Iaijutsu duels, I constructed her to easily meet the requirements for the Crab Defender alternate Path from the Book of Air.
Instead of heavy weapons Miyako is focusing on fighting with swords. This has the additional advantage that the three rank Mastery ability of Kenjutsu compensates for the small disadvantage.
The Enlightened advantage fits the background, since I wanted to portray her as a spiritual person. Since it makes it cheaper to raise void, it will also pay for itself once we reach Void 5. Void gives us additional dice when we really need it and it is also the relevant trait for the Iaijutsu skill.
The rest of the abilities are stuff like awareness or etiquette, things that are useful to have for bodyguards. That they are some of the most useful abilities in the game is purely coincidental of course.
Background:
For the first ten years of her life, Hiruma Miyako grew up in the believe that she would become a scout, just like the last six generations of her forefathers. It seemed to be a good fit since she was always small and lithe for her age and enjoyed games like hide and seek.
That is, until she grew to be ten years of age. Although Miyako's future seemed to be clear, her parents still wanted to ask for the wisdom of the fortunes and hired an astrologer to divine the best possible future for their daughter. Great was the surprise when the astrologer proclaimed that the child would have to be placed in the Hida bushi school. Miyako's parents weren't very happy, but what could they do against the judgment of the Heavens?
And so Miyako came to swear her oath of fealty to the Hida bushi school, determined to master this challenge placed before her. And so she prevailed, even though all the other students towered at least a head's length over her. She learned to use the tetsubo, despite the fact that it was nearly as big as her. She learned to fight in heavy armor, despite the fact that she nearly staggered under the weight.
Miyako's only escape during this time was spiritualism. She was convinced that she had been placed in this school for a reason and spend long hours meditating about the Universe and her place in it.
At some point, the teachers in her dojo realized that Miyako would not grow much more, and that her small figure would limit her usefulness at the Wall. She certainly displayed the tenacity that was expected of and warrior of the Crab and her swordplay was very promising, but she still had trouble handling the heavy weapons the clan employed against Shadowland creatures. Thus it was decided that they would recommend Miyako for employment as a Yojimbo once she passed her gempukku. She wouldn't be the hulking presence some people preferred in a body guard, but she would be able to compensate this with situational awareness and her sword skills.
Iaijutsu does use Void, but the final roll in Iaijutsu duel comes down to an Iaijutsu+Reflexes roll. We're also not dodge tanky enough to not get hit, and our lower Earth Ring makes it hurt more.
Iaijutsu does use Void, but the final roll in Iaijutsu duel comes down to an Iaijutsu+Reflexes roll. We're also not dodge tanky enough to not get hit, and our lower Earth Ring makes it hurt more.
I know the built is not perfect, there are good arguments for raising Reflexes or Willpower instead of Awareness. I decided to raise Awareness mainly because it's required for the Crab defender technique which replaces the Hida bushi school 2 technique.
I'm the first to admit that this character is not as optimized as it could be, but the optimal way to build a Hida bushi is more or less what you did, a hulking lad with a bad temper who bashes Shadowspawn with his tetsubo.
No offense to your Sosuke , but I think that sort of character is boring as hell.
I think Sosuke will be entertaining the minute he gets out of his comfort zone. Crab are brawlers by and large, if we wanted something else it'd have been voted for.
That said going by your insight number, we have a while to go before we would hit Rank 2 anyways. So we could save and buy up Awareness/Reflexes before it was an issue. I also question the usefulness of small. It's not a terrible disadvantage particularly for courtiers and shugenja, but it hurts us a lot as a bushi. I'd rather we went for something like Ascetic or Anti-social. Maybe even cursed by the realm Tengoku.
Added more backstory to Hiruma Toyotomi, relating a bit about his wife.
Our clan is one who sits at the edge of the Shadowlands, and as such we harbour many scouts and warriors who keep the realm safe. But we are not one to scout the shadowlands, for the spirits have seen fit to lay a curse upon us. When we walk out in view of the shadowlands, the hungry dead always appear near us. Even at great risk to themselves they will charge after us, ignoring all others in their path.
Once this was known it was clear that the traditional paths of the family were not where our destiny laid. With the curse upon us, we would inevitably face opposition, and there was little we could do but endure it. So we set out to train in the Hida Bushi school, where we could learn the techniques to endure the blows that would fall upon us. And we learned well the arts of defending ourselves.
But seeing the whims of fate cast us a curse made us stop and consider those others who surround us. The Bonge make up most of our society, and yet are treated poorly by many of their superiors. While heaven has made them lesser than us, why was this decision made? If we are less than pleased with the curse fate has dealt us, they must be even less pleased with the lot they have drawn. We decided that just as the Hida have shown us compassion to us, letting us reach our potential, we shall show compassion to those below us, so that they may reach theirs. For what separates us from them but an accident of birth?
During our time at the Hida school, our family made arrangements for our betrothal. It had been decided that an alliance with the Agasha Family of the Phoenix clan might prove advantageous. Magic would always be useful in the war with the shadow lands, however recently a failed experiment had caused their fortunes to shift. The alliance with Crab would ensure their status remained intact, while we would benefit from their aid on the wall.
However most of the clan were trained as scouts. One who so frequently ventures into the shadowlands was not considered a good choice to secure an alliance. The risks associated with it were deemed too high for a samurai who would maintain the alliance through marriage. As one of the few not trained in the traditional school of our family it was decided that we would be married for the alliance to succeed.
So in our 14th year we were introduced to Agasha Aimi, our betrothed. Spending time together, we initially focused on our duty to each other and our families. However as we came to know each other we found ourselves growing closer. We knew not why, but we felt connected to each other in a way we could not explain. I remember feeling a great sense of loss when her visit ended, although at the time I did not understand why.
Over the next few years several more visits occurred, and the feeling of connection between the two of us grew stronger. Eventually she realized that the connection we felt was love for each other – a great rarity amongst the samurai. Realizing this brought us great joy, for unlike so many we would truly be happy with each other.
Eventually our connection with each other drew notice, much to the joy of our families. So we went to a monastery to give thanks to the ancestors for granting us this great boon. The monks however were intrigued by this connection, sensing more to it than just a stroke of luck. After spending time in fervent prayer they came and told our families that we share a Kharmetic tie with each other. One that is amongst the strongest they have ever seen. Consulting the ancestors they had discovered that the two of us had been married in our past life, as well as the one before that. One even said that with a tie this strong it is no wonder that we ended up together; only a momentous effort could keep us apart.
Pondering my fate later that day I looked over my life. On the one hand fate had cursed me to endure the attentions of the hungry dead. On the other fate had given me a loving wife, who I could hardly imagine myself without. If the curse is the price fate demands of me for Aimi, than it is a price I would gladly pay a dozen times over.
Also current votes:
2 Hiruma Toyotomi
4 Gman391
2 Zechstein
Agreed. I tried to make my guy still the melee sort, but with more interesting things going on than just killing. Like the wife, some skills in medicine, and the paragon [compassion] elements. Not quite as tanky, but more interesting in my opinion.
I think Sosuke will be entertaining the minute he gets out of his comfort zone. Crab are brawlers by and large, if we wanted something else it'd have been voted for.
That said going by your insight number, we have a while to go before we would hit Rank 2 anyways. So we could save and buy up Awareness/Reflexes before it was an issue. I also question the usefulness of small. It's not a terrible disadvantage particularly for courtiers and shugenja, but it hurts us a lot as a bushi. I'd rather we went for something like Ascetic or Anti-social. Maybe even cursed by the realm Tengoku.
I disagree that all Crabs are brawlers. The Hida are and they are the ones that give it this reputation. That doesn't mean we can't try to play a bit with the concept. The existence of a Crab duelist dojo shows that this is may be uncommon, but not unheard of. If the other players prefer to have the stereotypical brawler, they are free to vote for your character. I'm merely offering alternatives.
But after thinking about it for a few minutes I have decided to switch from Awarenes 3 to Willpower 3. You are right, we should still be able to pick up the remaining requirements for Crab Defender before we hit insight rank two.
I actually considered taking Cursed by the Realm Tengoku or Chikushudo, but I believe that disadvantages should really hurt. Removing Small would also force me to rewrite her backstory from scratch, because my idea for this character was that she is a seeker. She was forced to enter the Hida bushi school despite the fact that it's an obviously poor fit for her and now she is trying to figure out heavens design for her.
yo GM, any plans to include unused characters as NPCs? Might be an interesting way to use them if we end up in circumstances where their appearance would be justified.
Agreed. I tried to make my guy still the melee sort, but with more interesting things going on than just killing. Like the wife, some skills in medicine, and the paragon [compassion] elements. Not quite as tanky, but more interesting in my opinion.
For me half the fun of being a Crab is just charging into things like a bull in a china shop and seeing what happens. Sosuke is meant to facilitate this. I also couldn't figure out how to work hated enemy into his backstory without being melodramatic so I dropped it.
Fair enough, I think the Crab in this quest and the School was sold as fighters but different concepts isn't bad. That said I am kind of by default opposed to blood magic. We have enough problems with the Taint, no need to invite it to tea and dinner.
Still we'll see how that goes.
While I admit that Cursed by the Realm might hurt us more. I feel like turning to black magic because heaven seems to hate you more compelling than the 'I'm clearly in the wrong school' motivation. Just an opinion clearly.
Zechstein's build doesn't really catch my interest as much as the other two - I personally feel that the advantages and disadvantages of Hydroplatapus and gman's builds would really make the game that much more interesting.
Fair enough, I think the Crab in this quest and the School was sold as fighters but different concepts isn't bad. That said I am kind of by default opposed to blood magic. We have enough problems with the Taint, no need to invite it to tea and dinner.
Still we'll see how that goes.
While I admit that Cursed by the Realm might hurt us more. I feel like turning to black magic because heaven seems to hate you more compelling than the 'I'm clearly in the wrong school' motivation. Just an opinion clearly.
I think I may have been a bit unclear. Miyako doesn't know maho, she is a firm believer in the Tao of Shinsei. I plan to post a second character proposal and that second character is going to be a maho-tsukai.
As for Miyako's motivation: She doesn't think she's in the wrong school. She just hasn't figured out why she is in the right one yet. Look at it from the character's perspective. She is fifteen years of age, about to have her gempukku. Until now, the most important moment in her life was when her parents chose a school for her. And in this moment, a message from outside the human realm interfered, took away the destiny she had imagined for herself and gave her another one instead. I think it's perfectly natural that she would want to know why.
Zechstein's build doesn't really catch my interest as much as the other two - I personally feel that the advantages and disadvantages of Hydroplatapus and gman's builds would really make the game that much more interesting.
For mine, the undead disadvantage certainly sets up some interesting encounters. After all, if the character has a disadvantage I'm almost certain that the GM will make it notable at some point. Could set up some interesting strategy though.
I'm more interested in the advantages on my character. The loving wife + bond makes for some very neat possibilities. It might well be a plot point - or rather a side quest - to look into the nature of the bond, and discover details of why it formed. And the paragon of compassion will likely make our character more interesting, as we would have a large incentive to socially interact outside of the samurai caste. I imagine that we might get a lot of allies in the lower castes if we play our cards right.
For Gman's the Brash will almost certainly get us into interesting situations... for a certain definition of interesting. I'm not really a bull in the chinashop type of guy, but if that's your thing this will get you there. The secret love one is the more interesting of the two from my perspective, as it is something completely out of the character's comfort zone. After all, unless he just kills her he can't easily get rid of her. And I bet she is probably positioned well enough that killing her won't be easy.
I think I may have been a bit unclear. Miyako doesn't know maho, she is a firm believer in the Tao of Shinsei. I plan to post a second character proposal and that second character is going to be a maho-tsukai.
As for Miyako's motivation: She doesn't think she's in the wrong school. She just hasn't figured out why she is in the right one yet. Look at it from the character's perspective. She is fifteen years of age, about to have her gempukku. Until now, the most important moment in her life was when her parents chose a school for her. And in this moment, a message from outside the human realm interfered, took away the destiny she had imagined for herself and gave her another one instead. I think it's perfectly natural that she would want to know why.
So much interesting discussion! I'm happy y'all are eating so into the character building process. And you're even offering suggestions on how to help the other builds! *Sniffles* I'm so proud of you all.
Just to reiterate, I can run with pretty much any build y'all make. And I will definitely throw you into situations outside of your character's comfort zones and expertise, and not just in a "bull in the china shop" way. I've a bunch of plans and they're all pretty flexible. And there will also be more than enough opportunity for any character type to wander Rokugan a bit. It'd be pretty boring if you were just stuck in Crab lands all the time. So if anyone was worried about that, you don't need to be. I've got you covered.
yo GM, any plans to include unused characters as NPCs? Might be an interesting way to use them if we end up in circumstances where their appearance would be justified.
