Character Generation Discussion

[jemmus]

Sure, for this game at least. Every traveler needs a utility knife. It's a tool for doing all kinds of daily necessary things. (Not meaning to add to the original rules much, but it just seems to make sense. The designers thought about about everything, but not everything. Not digging in the soil, cutting ropes, or prying things open with dai-sho or other professional weapons. )

[ffilz]

Sure, for this game at least. Every traveler needs a utility knife. It's a tool for doing all kinds of daily necessary things. (Not meaning to add to the original rules much, but it just seems to make sense. The designers thought about about everything, but not everything. Not digging in the soil, cutting ropes, or prying things open with dai-sho or other professional weapons. )

Yea, it's hard to think of all these things. Purchased and noted.

Hmm, and something else missing... the traveling cooking pot and stuff we just used for meal prep...

[jemmus]

Let's say that the iron pot, wooden lid and cooking implements cost 2s 15c.

[ffilz]

Let's say that the iron pot, wooden lid and cooking implements cost 2s 15c.

Sounds good, and do we need a bowl, spoon, and chopsticks?

[ffilz]

Some prices from Land of the Rising Sun 1e (where 25 copper = 1 silver):

(hmm, price compare checks, pouch and tinderbox match... )

Laquered wood chopsticks 5c
Tea service 1s

[jemmus]

Let's say that you already had those things at home. But if you'd rather purchase them:
Laquered chopsticks - 5c
Rice or soup bowl - 15c
Tea cup - 10c to 200g or more. (Tea cups are a big deal. They range from being simple glazed pottery to master works of art).

Some useful things from the rules that I didn't notice until now:
Straw hat (sunshade/rain hat) - 2c
Straw raincoat - 5c

[Marullus]

I just noticed that Sohei are handled in Book II as NPCs. The assumptions that they will generally be in Sin are interesting culturally.

Code: Select all

Sohei Guards
Sohei guards are a mixed group of Classic Bushi, dedicated to a
Temple, and Warrior-monks. These monks are described later in this
section. The statistics here describe the dedicated Bushi. The group
is split evenly between the two classes, with any extra man going to
the Warrior-monks. The leader is also a Warrior-monk, who is armed
as his men but has an Armor Class 1 higher then theirs.
Armament: Katana. plus Yari (80%) or Naginata (20%).
Armor Class: AC 2D3 of Samurai (75%) or Ashigaru (25%) style.
Skills (Class 1): Skills of weapons carried.
(Class 2): Buddhist Theology, Rhetoric and Meditation. Other
Bushi Bonus Skills.
Treasure: Poor.
Special Treasure: No chance of Goods.

Warrior-Monks (Yamabushl)
Warrior-monks are Buddhist Gakusho who also have a warrior
orientation. Given their warlike ways and their taste for hot time,
which includes drinking, gambling, wrestling, and even dallying with
courtesans, they are usually tainted with Sin, which reduces or
cancels their priestly powers.

Their characteristics are those of Classic Bushi. Thus, their Magic
Power is only 10+(1D10 per Level), while their Raw Magic Capability
is only 3. They have separate Levels as Gakusho and Warriors. Roll
for the Warrior Level randomly, then subtract 1D3 from it for the
Gakusho Level. The minimum Gakusho Level is 1. For their Bonus
Skills as Warriors, they receive only Naginatjutsu, Sojutsu, and
Sumai.
The leader of a group of Warrior-monks will be armed as are his
men, but has an Armor Class of 1 higher.
Armor Class: AC 2D3 Samurai style.
Skills (Class 1): Skills for weapons carried.
(Class 2): 1 Yoga per Level as Gakusho; Buddhist Theology;
Sumai.
(Class 3): 1D3 other Yogas; other Gakusho Bonus Skills.
Treasure: Poor.
Special Treasure: Double normal chances for Weapons. There is a
chance in 20 equal to the Level as a Gakusho of owning a number
of Artifacts equal to the Effect Number +1. If an Artifact is present,
it is either a Relic (70%) or randomly determined.

Other noteable things:
They lose Kenjitsu and Kyujitsu, and they receive only Naginatjutsu, Sojutsu, and Sumai. (I think that's really cool and flavorful, but it runs counter to the history you're looking for.)

They function with dual-class, having seperate and simultaneous levels in Bushi and Gakusho, which isn't possible anywhere else I've seen. The rules for changing class are (Book II, page 47) are pretty harsh. (I don't see how you'd apply this to an advanceable player character.)

I like the Pious Laymen rules, which are simpler than tracking a unique dual-classing situation.

Code: Select all

1093.3 PIETY
The vows kept by Gakusho may be adopted by lay persons, nonpriests,
who wish to dedicate themselves as Pious Buddhists or
Shintoists. Being Pious in one religion implies that the character
attaches more importance to that faith than the other. Piety confers
the following advantages and obligations on the character:
* Characters may call upon his Gods once per day in each of the
following situations:
—To seek to exorcise evil spirits, as a Gakusho does.
—To heal damage as a Gakusho does.
—To receive damage bonus to blows in a fight with evil creatures.
—To resist evil magic (bonus to all Saving Throws and Magic
Defense).
In each case, an average BCS is calculated based on the Will ST
and the BCS in Theology for the character's religion. If there is no
score in the Theology Skill, the average BCS may still be calculated.
The Effect Number of the BCS roll determines the amount of bonus
received from the Gods, or the "Magic BCS" for the characters to use
the power, as appropriate. Failed rolls have no effect.
* Characters add 5 times their Level to Reaction Rolls and effective
Status in dealing with the Gods.
* On for religious actions concerning the character's faith should be
increased. Pilgrimages should receive more On than usual, as
should On for overcoming enemies of the religion. Similarly, On lost
for actions regarded as sinful or dishonorable by their religion will
cost characters more On than usual.
* Pious Buddhist laymen may call upon the Buddha Amida at their
deaths. If successful (check with Will ST) they will add 1D6 to their
Karma. Pious Shintoists may do the same calling upon Amaterasu.
Pious laymen will be liable to incurring Sin or Pollution just as
Gakusho are. Each such Sin/Pollution will reduce their effective
Level by 1 in using the benefits of Piety. If the effective Level in this
regard is reduced to 0, they lose all such benefits.

[jemmus]

I think the pious layman rules would work well for sohei. And to balance things a little, I'd also impose the bugei rules (Naginatjutsu, Sojutsu, and
Sumai). But in the Honor or Death campaign, I'd allow kyujutsu also. Because it could come up that NPC sohei use arrows in large-scale battles.

[Marullus]

That would be exciting to try out if we had a temple/religion themed group and game.

[jemmus]

If people are interested, I'll a play in one or try to GM one. (I don't know if I have enough ideas for two homebrew games, but I could try).

[Marullus]

It sounds like you have a specific story to tell (or at least setting to immerse in) regarding the Sohei vs Samurai era. I would let that gel until you're comfortable what the first scenes/challenges are, then we can make a set of characters to play in it. I don't think there's any hurry.

Personally, I think playing a group of Gakusho/Budoka/Sohei as a side against a Samurai menace would be a fun story, and a fun twist. Gakusho are otherwise pretty limited in this game... that kind of setting (putting them socially in the center as the leaders) really makes them a bit more interesting.

[jemmus]

We could have it start at the identical time this story started. The temples are in a delicate political position. They can try to avoid taking sides with either the Taira and the Minamoto, which may not be possible. Or they can use the split in power to try to advance their own interests.

I've forgotten, which temple around Kyoto were you considering a sohei character come from?

[ffilz]

OK, working on a Low Ronin Bushi

No horse, has AC 5. Trying to decide Fine Art skill and pick from the short list. Armorer and Bowyer in some ways are obvious but I'm not sure what we determined the utility would be. Physician and Hawking would be neat but Hawking for a Low Ronin? (something he was into before his family fell from grace?).

Still trying to decide what to take for attributes, base assigning 10 per attribute is

STR 20
DFT 20
SPD 15 (for for MNA 2)
HLH 25 (I could see buying this down for more points for SPD, WT, or WL)
WT 5
WL 10

Any recommendations on point allocation? Hmm, I may want STR 25 to be able to be unencumbered. Wouldn't mind a higher WT and/or WL especially depending on skills.

[jemmus]

Cool! The high Strength seems to be good call, based on my experience with the Toshizo design. Toshizo's not strong enough to wear even Partial Light Ashigaru armor without being partially encumbered. That negates his high Speed and second action per turn ability. He could give it up and go from AC 5 (lightened from AC for Full Samurai Armor AC 7) to AC 2, and be hit 35% more times. But get a second shot in every turn, at half BCS. We didn't know all of the implications of Bushido char builds when we started out, did we?

For Wit, there might be maybe an upcoming shugenja to observe, win BCS saving throws, and comment along the way. Nobody knows. Health HPs may not be as crucial in Nippon as in less civilized world such as D&D ones. Usually a tavern and post are within a day's walk on a highway. Not in the wilderness of the mountains, of course. Here in the province of Kai, from the kuge's report, it seems that wartime conditions might go into effect. Borders sealed, imminent threat. No tolerance.

Those are my comments on the build, ffilzs. If it were me, I'd probably allocate the HTH points to elsewhere. Bushido seems seems to be a quick fights and quick healing game, so far. But I'm no pro, that's for sure.

[jemmus]

With STR 25, the char will be partially encumbered at 51 lbs. Heavy samurai armor is 40 lbs, then the weight of weapons and food. You might lose your second action with partial encumbrance. Of course, you could go with Partial Heavy Samurai which is 25 lbs, AC 5 instead of 7. Or some other lighter armor.

[ffilz]

With STR 25, the char will be partially encumbered at 51 lbs. Heavy samurai armor is 40 lbs, then the weight of weapons and food. You might lose your second action with partial encumbrance. Of course, you could go with Partial Heavy Samurai which is 25 lbs, AC 5 instead of 7. Or some other lighter armor.

All he has right now is partial heavy samurai armor.

I don’t think a 30 STR would be feasible.

50 lbs would allow him to be unencumbered in melee when prepared since dai-sho is 8 lbs.

[Marullus]

I went for the high STR with Kentaro as the obvious build. I think there are too many trade offs. Consider if you could live with Lightly Encumbered and Stat for it? Speed is a huge factor. Dex saves kill fighters. You don't see anything with out Wits (and Wits determines how many skills you can improve, which we haven't explored yet.)

I think there are more interesting stories to tell... what evolved into Souta is a good example!

[Marullus]

Birth Table [1d100]=14

So, the new Shugenja rolled a Middle Samurai. That is potentially going to lead to a similar outcome as Satake no Taka.

Jemmus, is the story surrounding this Kuge noble that I can attach to? I would like to use it to tie to you future story and inspire me to a different build.

Or, since Ffilz modified Taka to be a more feminine tea-ceremony woman, I could embrace my original Taka concept of someone with a copy of Sun Tzu (i.e. Chinese classics) and a gift for the Strategy bugei who is going to make a name in the rising strife of war...

[jemmus]

Yes, you could attach to the kuge. He's of the Fujiwara family, which are now enemies of the Taira clan. (But, please note that not every Fujiwara is there enemy. Everybody is playing their own hand and going with what seems the best opportunity for him or herself. The same with the Taira and Minamoto families. It's not 100% guaranteed that all Minamoto will side with the Minamoto, and same for the Taira).

The kuge is trying to get to Kofu, the Takeda clan of Kai's capital, and ask for sanctuary. (Kofu is just two days away for the slowest-moving PCs). When the kuge passed through Mino province, the Saito clan daimyo provided him with a middle rank young samurai yojimbo, Shimada no Yasukuni. The bandits killed him near Chiyo-san. So there could be tie-ins to either the Saito or Shimada. The Saito daimyo is considered a wily opportunist and adept political maneuverer (though the PCs don't know that). It's hard to guess the daimyo's motives for helping the kuge. They haven't been aligned with either the Minamoto or the Taira.

The kuge might just get sanctuary with the Takeda and fade away. Or he might have some other scheme in mind. At the moment he just seems traumatized and worried about his personal safety.

You're in Kai, which is Takeda (Minamoto-affiliated) ground, so there are lots of possible tie-ins there too. The PC's family could be Takeda, or another Minamoto cadet clan in Kai. The ninyo the PCs met is from the Andoh cadet clan. Other clans include the Iida, Ishisaka, and Nagashima.

Just some background information, in case it might give you some ideas.

[jemmus]

One more piece of information. The Takeda are trying to form an alliance with the Imagawa of Suruga. They're an old Minamoto family with closer ties to the kuge and the Imperial family. They're also working on an alliance with the Ogasawara family in southern Shinano. I think I mentioned once before that they're famous for developing distinct schools of arts (tea ceremony, ikebana flower arranging, and kyujutsu).