OOC Discussion

[jemmus]

You'll see that you all have private threads now. That's for if/when your PCs are separated and wouldn't all be seeing and hearing the same thing. I don't think this game will have as much trooping together down a hallway as most.

By the way, I haven't seen anything from Rex or Grognardsw about the bonus presents. In case I wasn't clear, all PCs get those, including yours.

[Rex]

Sorry, I didn't think I was included as I am new.

I will take the +3 attribute points for my Spd.

Thanks.

[Grognardsw]

I’ll go wi the the +1 sword. Thanks.

[Marullus]

Kaida is taking +1 skill, and opening Wood magic.

[Grognardsw]

* Courtesy of the the b&w ninja film "Saizo of the Mists 4" (Kirigakure Saizo 4). I probably have the whole series of movies on DVD somewhere. I have at least up to 10 on my bookshelf. I'd love share them with you guys on a closed group Youtube channel, if I knew of a fairly quick and simple way to do that. Really good stories, historically impeccable, and the ninja are clever good guy masters....

What martial arts movies in general would you recommend? I vaguely recall some Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris movies in my youth.

[Marullus]

Here's from earlier in this thread:

I've been on a samurai films binge recently. Here are some recommended ones.
Seven Samurai - The classic 50's film. Great story and great acting. Samurai, ronin and heimin vs. bandits. Kind of like our PCs. $3.99 to rent on Amazon.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning - The first of three movies based on a manga series. Very bloody, but a good story. I can't figure out how they managed some of the katana swordplay stunts. On Netflix.
Onibaba - A horror movie from the 60s, I think. A woman and her daughter-in-law make their living by looting armor and weapons from battlefield corpses. They find a Noh drama demon mask. Free bootleg on Youtube.
Rashomon - Also from the 50s or 60s. A robber murders a Heian Era samurai in the woods and rapes his wife. But was it a duel and a consensual relationship instead? Everyone's story is different.

I am no aficionado, so my touch point is the mainstream "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Criticised at the time for being supernatural/unrealistic, it fits perfectly with how I see Bushido's Nippon.

[jemmus]

Rashomon from the above list might be one the best movies of all time. Cannes award winner.
Seven Samurai is probably the most famous samurai movie in the West. Yojimbo by the same director (Akira Kurosawa) is also great. Both are basically Westerns with a samurai setting.
Kirigakure Saizo (Saizo of the Mists) has ninja action. https://youtu.be/QF6kbQCj_7c]. It's a series of movies from the 60s and now also an anime.
Kwaidan is collection of traditional ghost stories.
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams isn't specifically samurai, but it's a pretty amazing movie and it will give you a feel for traditional Japan. It's a collection of stories based on the director's dreams.
Onibaba is a strange and grim 50s or 60s film noir horror-ish film set in samurai times.
Twilight Samurai is a newer film set in the period after the wars ended and the samurai became government workers. Very realistic sets and kenjutsu action and a good story.
Hara Kiri is similar and also good, but maybe not quite as good.

[Rex]

Rashomon from the above list might be one the best movies of all time. Cannes award winner.
Seven Samurai is probably the most famous samurai movie in the West. Yojimbo by the same director (Akira Kurosawa) is also great. Both are basically Westerns with a samurai setting.
Kirigakure Saizo (Saizo of the Mists) has ninja action. https://youtu.be/QF6kbQCj_7c]. It's a series of movies from the 60s and now also an anime.
Kwaidan is collection of traditional ghost stories.
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams isn't specifically samurai, but it's a pretty amazing movie and it will give you a feel for traditional Japan. It's a collection of stories based on the director's dreams.
Onibaba is a strange and grim 50s or 60s film noir horror-ish film set in samurai times.
Twilight Samurai is a newer film set in the period after the wars ended and the samurai became government workers. Very realistic sets and kenjutsu action and a good story.
Hara Kiri is similar and also good, but maybe not quite as good.

I haven't seen any of those. I have seen "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and enjoyed it. It was actually the first movie I ever saw with me wife. It should probably be noted though that I watch very little TV or movies. Much prefer to read a book.

[Grognardsw]

Thanks for the recommendations.

[jemmus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCSX0BWQKc8 "Saizo of the Mists 5 (Shinobi no Mono: Kirigakure no Saizo) for free on Youtube. The ultimate 50s and 60s ninja film series, as far I know. And possibly the only one. I haven't seen this one yet, I'm on movie 4. That one has it all. Hensu-jutsu stroll through the city's drinking district as a regular guy. Detects enemy ninja doing the same following. Escapes to the neighboring forest. But... he was corralled into trap. Thirty or so black-suited ninja there waiting. This fight has it all.
-Silent Kill attempt foiled, perpetrator's bad AC ends in a quick death by his own snatched katana.

-Attack from a tree branch with katana, with attacking from an elevated position BCS bonus voided by the need to Leap first before as a Basic Action. Giving Saizo the chance to turn (Alter Position) and roll a 1 on his BCS 20+ kenjutsu skill. Instant death. Still 28 enemy ninja to go.

-A rapid cloud of flying, flaming chemically-coated shuriken. Avoided by Run (Primary Action), Alter Position maybe (tumbling), and possibly some good Deftness STs?
-Damn trees Hindrances. Minuses to BCSs for everyone. But Saizo uses one to spin around it and gut-stomp an attacker. Possible consideration for a house rule? (I'm smiling, but why not? Could be fun, if rationally explanable. As in the Fate rules).

-No. Multiple blinding eggs or other noxious powder-spreading weapons in the face, or very close to it. Repeated Health STs needed. Saizo succumbed and went to all fours, but he was too quick for them close in on him. He managed to hit well under his Speed ST.

-But oh no, they've closed in. All of them. And here comes, quick a flash, a kusari-jutsu rope wrapped around his ankle, pulling his leg out from under him, and a big, resolute ninja behind dragging him through the leaves. But even poisoned and stunned Saizo has super-quick BAP (Basic Action Phase (Deftness)) and instinctive kenjutsu (Strength + Deftness + Will) skills. It's so fast it's hard to see, but apparently little Saizo slashed the rope and turned the table on the big guy. And everyone else too. (Saizo is definitely 6th level-- the highest there is in Bushido. And a really nice guy as well. .

[Marullus]

....I love how excited you are in this post.

[jemmus]

Saizo is special to me, because my wife (whose originally from Japan) did the translations for the English subtitles, and I cleaned up the spelling and the grammar and reworded things to make them sound more like native English. For my part of it, being a samurai history otaku helped with trying to word things in a way that a Western viewer would understand. Grandma in Tokyo was the special expert consultant when neither of us know either the vocabulary or the historical reference. We did that for quite a few old movies and TV series for a guy with a "Samurai Video" online business. Now "Samurai DVD" https://samuraidvd.com/. Which is by now antiquated as well, and might need another upgrade to "Samurai Streaming" or something.

But, though I knew the stories of many old A and B series and TV shows, I never actually saw any of them at the time. I was too busy with work, commute and kids, etc. (and EVE Online and PC wargames). And I realize now, entire long, crucial fight scenes don't have any dialogue or need any subtitles at all. Probably in any film genre that I can think of....

[jemmus]

Checking in. Are we done with character generation?

[Marullus]

Thanks for the prompt. I did change Kaids to hensu-jutsu. But that means I should get rid of her superfluous ninja outfits and buy the disguise kit.

Do I need to carry outfits for other roles, or does the disguise kit address that?

[jemmus]

The rules say you get one disguise per 4 points of hensu-jutsu BCS. It seems that the outfit for each disguise is included.

[ffilz]

Oh, is there a disguise kit I forgot to purchase?

[jemmus]

You don't have to buy a disguise. But you have to choose which disguise(s) you're skilled at (1 per 4 points of BCS). Fisherman is a common disguise for the Kumo clan, because they do fish and they have fish to sell. But you can choose any reasonable disguise.

[ffilz]

You don't have to buy a disguise. But you have to choose which disguise(s) you're skilled at (1 per 4 points of BCS). Fisherman is a common disguise for the Kumo clan, because they do fish and they have fish to sell. But you can choose any reasonable disguise.

OK, Minoru has BCS 9 so 3, I had chosen Wandering Priest (makes sense for him as a pious layman), Traveling Entertainer, and Merchant. I guess I could switch Traveling Entertainer for Fisherman (which wasn't one of the choices in the book, but makes sense as a choice) though Merchants can also trade in salted fish I assume.

[jemmus]

With a 9 BCS, Minoru can have two disguises. You don't have to pick one from the rules, you can propose an original one. Yes, a fish merchant would also make sense.

[Marullus]

The Ninja may select one disguise for his repertoire for every 4
points of his BCS, or fraction thereof. Therefore, with a BCS of 1 to
4, he has mastered one disguise. He may choose a second for his
arsenal when his BCS is 5 to 8, a third at 9 to 12, a fourth at 13 to 16,
and the fifth at 17 or more.