OOC Discussion

[Marullus]

I am more and more convinced that we need to speed up attributes for the sake of the PbP game. It takes 10 months to finish a session, not one or two game nights.

I would recommend Ffilz playing both characters, but that's his choice. I saw the frustration at playing Gakusho and not being part of the (really, really long in PbP) battles. A Bushi is just more engaged at that point.

It looks like Taisho has 25 meditation and 20 karma-yoga. From the info above from Jemmus, you can have a +5 teacher and pay 6sp per week. He has a learning rate of 2, add the +5, total of 7 per week. So...

• Taisho pays 7cp per week for housing. 7*9 = 63 copper. There's 30 copper in a 1 silver, so that's two silver, 1 copper.
• He pays 6 silver per week to the shrine. 6*9 = 54 silver. Plus the two silver above is 56 silver. There's 12 silver in a gold. Total is 4 gold, 8 silver, 1 copper for cost.
• He trains Meditation and Karma Yoga. 7*9 = 63 skill points. 28 to one skill, 35 to the other. (They're learned in full increments of 7 and you don't want to go over 60 at this moment.) So, 20+35 = 55 Karma-yoga and 25+28 = 53 Meditation.

For poor Hiroshi, he goes and learns from Saburo the farmer, who happens to be a master of Kenjutsu.

• Saburo offers +3 for 4 silver per week. Added to learning rate 2 is 5 points/week.
• Taisho spots Hiroshi 7 sp per week for housing, adding up to 63 silver for nine weeks.
• Taisho pays 4 silver per week for Saburo to train him, 9*4 = 36 silver for nine weeks.
• 63+36 = 99 silver. That's a total of 8 gold, 3 silver. (If Taisho doesn't have enough, Haruto will chip in, as he is enjoying hanging with the Bushi for dinner each night.)
• I don't see a sheet anywhere for Hiroshi, so don't know his starting Kenjutsu. So, here's what you do. Add 5 points at a time until it passes 60. Then after that add 3 points at a time until you fulfill all nine weeks. Post what his final Kenjutsu score is.

That's it.

[jemmus]

So do we want to pick a number and multiple the attribute learning rate by it? I'm just going to arbitrarily say x5. So .5 for BCS up or 1 month of exercise for bugei, .25 for arts. Using Hiroshi as an example, if he spend 9 weeks (2.25 months) exercising, he would get 1.125 points for an attribute increase. Not too bad for doing nothing but paying inn rent and a small dojo fees. If we think that's too little or too much, we could modify the x5 factor.

[ffilz]

So do we want to pick a number and multiple the attribute learning rate by it? I'm just going to arbitrarily say x5. So .5 for BCS up or 1 month of exercise for bugei, .25 for arts. Using Hiroshi as an example, if he spend 9 weeks (2.25 months) exercising, he would get 1.125 points for an attribute increase. Not too bad for doing nothing but paying inn rent and a small dojo fees. If we think that's too little or too much, we could modify the x5 factor.

9 weeks is 3 months... A week is 10 days in Nippon. p.33 is the first reference, but see section 1113.1 on p.60...

With the RAW for attribute improvement from skill training, I think the attribute training does need to be a full point, at least for physical attributes. It's pretty easy to learn at 6 or 7 points a week which is 18-21 per month, which is about 2 attribute points per month for physical attributes (1/2 for mental). Dedicated attribute training should pretty much match that. Private tutor can get even a bit higher. So it actually seems like dedicated attribute training should be 2 points per month for physical attributes. Even just being trained in a bonus skill by a teacher with a superior skill is 4 points a week or 12 a month for 1.2 physical attribute points.

marullus is proposing an even faster attribute improvement rate from skill training, which then needs to be accounted for in attribute training.

[ffilz]

I am more and more convinced that we need to speed up attributes for the sake of the PbP game. It takes 10 months to finish a session, not one or two game nights.

I would recommend Ffilz playing both characters, but that's his choice. I saw the frustration at playing Gakusho and not being part of the (really, really long in PbP) battles. A Bushi is just more engaged at that point.

It looks like Taisho has 25 meditation and 20 karma-yoga. From the info above from Jemmus, you can have a +5 teacher and pay 6sp per week. He has a learning rate of 2, add the +5, total of 7 per week. So...

• Taisho pays 7cp per week for housing. 7*9 = 63 copper. There's 30 copper in a 1 silver, so that's two silver, 1 copper.
• He pays 6 silver per week to the shrine. 6*9 = 54 silver. Plus the two silver above is 56 silver. There's 12 silver in a gold. Total is 4 gold, 8 silver, 1 copper for cost.
• He trains Meditation and Karma Yoga. 7*9 = 63 skill points. 28 to one skill, 35 to the other. (They're learned in full increments of 7 and you don't want to go over 60 at this moment.) So, 20+35 = 55 Karma-yoga and 25+28 = 53 Meditation.

For poor Hiroshi, he goes and learns from Saburo the farmer, who happens to be a master of Kenjutsu.

• Saburo offers +3 for 4 silver per week. Added to learning rate 2 is 5 points/week.
• Taisho spots Hiroshi 7 sp per week for housing, adding up to 63 silver for nine weeks.
• Taisho pays 4 silver per week for Saburo to train him, 9*4 = 36 silver for nine weeks.
• 63+36 = 99 silver. That's a total of 8 gold, 3 silver. (If Taisho doesn't have enough, Haruto will chip in, as he is enjoying hanging with the Bushi for dinner each night.)
• I don't see a sheet anywhere for Hiroshi, so don't know his starting Kenjutsu. So, here's what you do. Add 5 points at a time until it passes 60. Then after that add 3 points at a time until you fulfill all nine weeks. Post what his final Kenjutsu score is.

That's it.

Thanks for that. Here's Hiroshi's sheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... ue&sd=true

Depending on what we decide for attribute training, Hiroshi may do some of that to save some money. A few extra attribute points could help.

[Marullus]

As suspected for a Bushi, Hiroshi is starting at Kenjutsu of 60, so has a hinderance from the start. That means 9 weeks x 3 = 28 skill points, bringing his Kenjutsu up to 88 points.

I'm happy to have Haruto help Taisho cover the costs to keep this simple. (IC, Haruto is more keen on having Bushi friends and being seen with them after the sharp reminders of his own unfitness from his step-mother upon arriving in Kofu.)

[jemmus]

There's been a lot of good and fairly complicated discussion the past few days. I think we need to summarize where we are with everything.

-It looks like Kentaro and Hiroshi are done with training. Don't forget to annotate your sheets about freely improvable skills designated. (You may already have).

-Taisho and Hiroshi are working on that. If nothing else, Taisho could exercise for a Speed boost. (A joke).

-(Lower priority). Taisho needs to level up. I posted a summary about the steps somewhere, I'll try to find it. Marullus, if you know them off the top of your head, could you help us out? If not, summarizing them again won't be a big deal.

-Omi and Ito need to state actions about training or exercise, and about signing up to take jobs from the Takeda. (Lower priority - Level up).

I'll post some light RP posts in the IC thread while we're catching up. The flavor of Kofu, gossip around town, Kentaro and Akemi, Haruto and his family, etc. Mostly insignificant Tl;drs. Nothing that should require important decisions or posting actions. (Posting is always welcome, of course).

[ffilz]

Taisho has leveled up (he lost a hit point because he hadn't rolled for level 1... he gained Power per the rules - I don't think he had rolled for that but I accepted the "5" that was in the sheet. If Hiroshi is also leveling up, then I need to do that.

Depending on what the attribute training rules end up, maybe it would make sense for Taisho to also do some training. 3 points of Speed helps his BMA...

[jemmus]

So do we want to pick a number and multiple the attribute learning rate by it? I'm just going to arbitrarily say x5. So .5 for BCS up or 1 month of exercise for bugei, .25 for arts. Using Hiroshi as an example, if he spend 9 weeks (2.25 months) exercising, he would get 1.125 points for an attribute increase. Not too bad for doing nothing but paying inn rent and a small dojo fees. If we think that's too little or too much, we could modify the x5 factor.

9 weeks is 3 months... A week is 10 days in Nippon. p.33 is the first reference, but see section 1113.1 on p.60...

With the RAW for attribute improvement from skill training, I think the attribute training does need to be a full point, at least for physical attributes. It's pretty easy to learn at 6 or 7 points a week which is 18-21 per month, which is about 2 attribute points per month for physical attributes (1/2 for mental). Dedicated attribute training should pretty much match that. Private tutor can get even a bit higher. So it actually seems like dedicated attribute training should be 2 points per month for physical attributes. Even just being trained in a bonus skill by a teacher with a superior skill is 4 points a week or 12 a month for 1.2 physical attribute points.

marullus is proposing an even faster attribute improvement rate from skill training, which then needs to be accounted for in attribute training.

We need to nail down a house rule about physical and mental attribute increases. The RAW:
A character's Learning Rate, modified by an study bonuses or hindrances, determines the increase in skill per week.
.1 increase in physical attribute when BCS goes up a point because of studying a Bugei. Half that for a mental attribute when BCS goes up from studying an Art.
A character can do the same by spending one full month (30 day/3 weeks) exercising. Therefore, the only advantage of exercising over study is that it's much cheaper. (The character is getting attribute gain at the more or less the same rate as for studying-- but without the skill score increase).
BCS goes up 1 for every 5 points of score in the skill. Therefore, .1 or .05 attribute increase for every 5 points of score in a skill gained.

As Frank said, a character can pretty easily gain 5 or more score in a skill in a week. So 15 in a month, or +3 to BCS. RAW that's .3 attribute gain (bugei) or 1.5 (art). The same for exercising.

So the only question is, how much to we want to increase attribute gain? By 10, so around 3 per month? We have to bear in mind that attribute gains will increase BCS. So chars studying will get BCS gains from two sources. (Which is how it works in the RAW).

[ffilz]

So do we want to pick a number and multiple the attribute learning rate by it? I'm just going to arbitrarily say x5. So .5 for BCS up or 1 month of exercise for bugei, .25 for arts. Using Hiroshi as an example, if he spend 9 weeks (2.25 months) exercising, he would get 1.125 points for an attribute increase. Not too bad for doing nothing but paying inn rent and a small dojo fees. If we think that's too little or too much, we could modify the x5 factor.

9 weeks is 3 months... A week is 10 days in Nippon. p.33 is the first reference, but see section 1113.1 on p.60...

With the RAW for attribute improvement from skill training, I think the attribute training does need to be a full point, at least for physical attributes. It's pretty easy to learn at 6 or 7 points a week which is 18-21 per month, which is about 2 attribute points per month for physical attributes (1/2 for mental). Dedicated attribute training should pretty much match that. Private tutor can get even a bit higher. So it actually seems like dedicated attribute training should be 2 points per month for physical attributes. Even just being trained in a bonus skill by a teacher with a superior skill is 4 points a week or 12 a month for 1.2 physical attribute points.

marullus is proposing an even faster attribute improvement rate from skill training, which then needs to be accounted for in attribute training.

We need to nail down a house rule about physical and mental attribute increases. The RAW:
A character's Learning Rate, modified by an study bonuses or hindrances, determines the increase in skill per week.
.1 increase in physical attribute when BCS goes up a point because of studying a Bugei. Half that for a mental attribute when BCS goes up from studying an Art.
A character can do the same by spending one full month (30 day/3 weeks) exercising. Therefore, the only advantage of exercising over study is that it's much cheaper. (The character is getting attribute gain at the more or less the same rate as for studying-- but without the skill score increase).
BCS goes up 1 for every 5 points of score in the skill. Therefore, .1 or .05 attribute increase for every 5 points of score in a skill gained.

As Frank said, a character can pretty easily gain 5 or more score in a skill in a week. So 15 in a month, or +3 to BCS. RAW that's .3 attribute gain (bugei) or 1.5 (art). The same for exercising.

So the only question is, how much to we want to increase attribute gain? By 10, so around 3 per month? We have to bear in mind that attribute gains will increase BCS. So chars studying will get BCS gains from two sources. (Which is how it works in the RAW).

I think I'm reading a contradiction... But maybe not. Originally you were saying exercise gets .1 or .05 attribute per month of exercise. Self study of a bonus skill will almost be assured of 4.5 skill increase in a month, so for no cost, you can get a skill increase AND an attribute increase. I'm fine with that, but then I would consider the exercise option mostly redundant. It CAN come into play if you have time but not money (and can't find a useful trainer) and you can't manage a 1.5 learning rate (or if learning rate with hindrances rounds down - I'd argue against that, keep the fractions, maybe round down at the END of your training cycle). If you're only going to be able to get 3 skill increase over 3 weeks of self training, you might prefer to take the .1 or .05 attribute increase without any skill increase.

If I was making the ruling, I think I would have ruled a month of exercise gets you a full attribute point (maybe half a point in a mental attribute), but I'd have to do a bit more math.

Given a slower ruling, I don't expect many folks to do much attribute training.

A compromise might be .1 or .05 attribute per week of exercise. That CAN be exceeded with well bonused skill training, BUT then you're in a good learning environment compared to attribute self practice.

it might also be interesting to offer the same bonuses to learning rate from good teachers for attribute increase... Why can't you do strength training with a teacher?

EDIT: I'd be happy if a more generous attribute training is put in, but mostly I just want to resolve this so I can decide what Hiroshi is going to do... If direct attribute training is worth it, he will do some, otherwise he will take what skill training or self practice he can manage.

[Marullus]

A character can do the same by spending one full month (30 day/3 weeks) exercising. Therefore, the only advantage of exercising over study is that it's much cheaper. (The character is getting attribute gain at the more or less the same rate as for studying-- but without the skill score increase).

I think this is the bottom line. I don't see direct attribute practice being important at all; it only seems relevant after you've studied your skills up to penultimate levels.

So the only question is, how much to we want to increase attribute gain? By 10, so around 3 per month? We have to bear in mind that attribute gains will increase BCS. So chars studying will get BCS gains from two sources. (Which is how it works in the RAW).

Changes in attributes should NOT effect skill BCS. Only INITIAL skill BCS is based on attributes and the formulas should be converted to values before any attribute gains are recorded.

Attribute gains effect non-skill things like speed, BMA, bonus damage, initiative, etc.

[ffilz]

A character can do the same by spending one full month (30 day/3 weeks) exercising. Therefore, the only advantage of exercising over study is that it's much cheaper. (The character is getting attribute gain at the more or less the same rate as for studying-- but without the skill score increase).

I think this is the bottom line. I don't see direct attribute practice being important at all; it only seems relevant after you've studied your skills up to penultimate levels.

I think it would be interesting to have a real choice between improving skills and gaining "free" attribute points, and being able to directly train attributes, but for that choice to be interesting, it has to be competitive.

You make a good point though that slow attribute training by itself is useful if you have maxed out your skills but you might still be better training a totally new skill even with the hindrance of having used up all your Freely Improvable Skills (FIS).

So the only question is, how much to we want to increase attribute gain? By 10, so around 3 per month? We have to bear in mind that attribute gains will increase BCS. So chars studying will get BCS gains from two sources. (Which is how it works in the RAW).

Changes in attributes should NOT effect skill BCS. Only INITIAL skill BCS is based on attributes and the formulas should be converted to values before any attribute gains are recorded.

Attribute gains effect non-skill things like speed, BMA, bonus damage, initiative, etc.

Yes, definitely, attributes only affect skill rating during chargen. We may need to tweak the spread sheets to use the original attributes. And note that if you later learn a new skill, you start from 0, though if it's a bonus skill you have your level as your BCS for the skill.

[jemmus]

OK, so it's decided that attribute gains don't affect BCS in skills. They only affect attribute-based thing such as BMA, encumbrance, bonuses to damage, etc.

To clarify, you can do exercising without a teacher or facility. The rules say that the GM can require doing that in a dojo, temple or shrine. I'm going to require that while you're in Kofu, for a few coppers "rent" per day. Because the inn isn't suitable for either physical or mental exercise. And you can't do it in the street. But in a more rural place, you could do it for free on a mountain, by a stream, etc.

I see your point about exercising with a trainer. But I'm kind of reluctant to add a house rule. Just because the study/exercise rules are already complicated enough. And it seems that the designers wanted exercising to be a cheaper alternative, or an option for characters in more remote areas with no teachers(?)

(I'm still reading through the discussion, just wanted to address that so I don't forget it).

[jemmus]

Multiplying the RAW's figures for attribute increases by 10 would give 1/month (bugei) and .5/month (art). Sounds reasonable and not overly generous to me. The char is spending coin for a month of lodging (and any other expenses) for a modest increase in an attribute score. They'd have to do that a few times to see any practical benefits within the game mechanics. +1 to an attribute isn't much of a change, in effect. I'd think we could safely go higher than 10x if we wanted to.

(Note-- In this campaign, I don't know how many times PCs will have another chance for 90 days of uninterrupted downtime. It doesn't seem that peace will last, in Nippon or between the magical, spiritual, and earthly planes.)

In any event, I think we need to decide on a multiplier. I through out 10x as a talking point for PBP Bushido game consideration. That's all it is-- just a number for evaluation by the crew.

[ffilz]

OK, so we're pretty firmly set on the .1/.05 (original rate) per month for attribute training. Hiroshi will be doing skill training instead, even if he has to practice by himself.

I'm not convinced we need to increase the attribute improvement speed. But I don't know how much down time we will get. On the other hand, downtime IS the major way to improve skills. +1 BCS for a level gain, of which there's only 5 to be had, isn't very much. And I'm not sure how much play will be required to reach level 3...

So maybe we want to consider a multiplier on training overall? Or provide some other mechanism?

[ffilz]

I am more and more convinced that we need to speed up attributes for the sake of the PbP game. It takes 10 months to finish a session, not one or two game nights.

I would recommend Ffilz playing both characters, but that's his choice. I saw the frustration at playing Gakusho and not being part of the (really, really long in PbP) battles. A Bushi is just more engaged at that point.

It looks like Taisho has 25 meditation and 20 karma-yoga. From the info above from Jemmus, you can have a +5 teacher and pay 6sp per week. He has a learning rate of 2, add the +5, total of 7 per week. So...

• Taisho pays 7cp per week for housing. 7*9 = 63 copper. There's 30 copper in a 1 silver, so that's two silver, 1 copper.
• He pays 6 silver per week to the shrine. 6*9 = 54 silver. Plus the two silver above is 56 silver. There's 12 silver in a gold. Total is 4 gold, 8 silver, 1 copper for cost.
• He trains Meditation and Karma Yoga. 7*9 = 63 skill points. 28 to one skill, 35 to the other. (They're learned in full increments of 7 and you don't want to go over 60 at this moment.) So, 20+35 = 55 Karma-yoga and 25+28 = 53 Meditation.

For poor Hiroshi, he goes and learns from Saburo the farmer, who happens to be a master of Kenjutsu.

• Saburo offers +3 for 4 silver per week. Added to learning rate 2 is 5 points/week.
• Taisho spots Hiroshi 7 sp per week for housing, adding up to 63 silver for nine weeks.
• Taisho pays 4 silver per week for Saburo to train him, 9*4 = 36 silver for nine weeks.
• 63+36 = 99 silver. That's a total of 8 gold, 3 silver. (If Taisho doesn't have enough, Haruto will chip in, as he is enjoying hanging with the Bushi for dinner each night.)
• I don't see a sheet anywhere for Hiroshi, so don't know his starting Kenjutsu. So, here's what you do. Add 5 points at a time until it passes 60. Then after that add 3 points at a time until you fulfill all nine weeks. Post what his final Kenjutsu score is.

That's it.

OK, so far, my sheets reflect 2 of the 3 travel days for Hiroshi, so he's down another 5 silver, Taisho has only spent for 1 of the 3 days, so that's 10 copper for him (he just spent the first night in luxury).

Then we have the above training and lodging.

So Taisho owes 73 copper for lodging plus 54 silver for training for a total of 56 silver, 13 copper or 4 gold, 8 silver, 13 copper

He owes 5 silver for travel lodging, 63 silver for lodging in town, and 36 silver for training for a total of 104 silver or 8 gold, 8 silver

So that's a total of 12 gold, 16 silver, 13 copper or 13 gold, 4 silver, 13 copper.

Taisho has 16 gold, 15 silver, 80 copper and Hiroshi has 3 silver and 40 copper

so that leaves Taisho with 3 gold, 12 silver, 67 copper and Hiroshi with 2 silver and 40 copper (to leave Hiroshi not totally without cash)

Taisho winds up with 55 Karma and 53 Meditation, and improved 63 points in mental skills (now what are we settling on for attribute improvement rate? by RAW that's +.6 but a faster rate will be more).

Hiroshi ends up with Kenjutsu 87 for +5 BCS and by RAW +.5 physical attribute, but a faster rate will be more.

[Marullus]

Faster Attributes
Every 10 points of skill increase in a Bugei adds 1 physical attribute point. and every 20 points of skill increase in a Fine Art adds 1 mental attribute point. RAW, every 50 points a Bugei is raised increases one physical attribute by 1 point and every 100 points a Fine Art is raised increases one mental attribute by 1 point. (They state that each raise in BCS [5-point increments] raises .1 and .05 attributes, respectively, with no rounding up.) This house rule raises attribute acquisition x5 in our PbP setting.

63 mental skills for Taisho / 20 = +3 mental attributes.

Hiroshi gains 27 skill points in Kenjutsu / 10 = +3 Physical attributes.

[ffilz]

Faster Attributes
Every 10 points of skill increase in a Bugei adds 1 physical attribute point. and every 20 points of skill increase in a Fine Art adds 1 mental attribute point. RAW, every 50 points a Bugei is raised increases one physical attribute by 1 point and every 100 points a Fine Art is raised increases one mental attribute by 1 point. (They state that each raise in BCS [5-point increments] raises .1 and .05 attributes, respectively, with no rounding up.) This house rule raises attribute acquisition x5 in our PbP setting.

63 mental skills for Taisho / 20 = +3 mental attributes.

Hiroshi gains 27 skill points in Kenjutsu / 10 = +3 Physical attributes.

Ok, Taisho takes +3 Wit and Hiroshi +3 Speed. My sheets are updated.

[jemmus]

Nice. Akemi did some solo bugei training and got some modest boosts.

So we're done with our 90 days of downtime and are ready to move on. We'll leave Omi and Ito behind for now. The date is December 2, 1180.

Some options for the party:
-Pilgrimage to Mt. Fuji (Fuji-san) for On.
-Pilgrimage to the Raijin shrine. It's 17 hexes (approx. 56 ri/136 miles) away to the southeast, near Edo, in the Kanto. The Kanto is a broad plain with rich soil and is called "the rice bowl of Japan." It's the heart of Minamoto territory. Generally travel is one hex per day per 3 points of BMA. But as the highway enters clear hexes to the east, the movement rate is doubled.
-See if the Tokubetsu-yakuba (Special Duties Commission) has any jobs for the PCs.
-Go to Shinano and do some things related to Kentaro's backstory.
-Sign on as ronin for a samurai army. You could probably expect the Battles rules to come into play. Battles seem pretty dangerous, but they have pretty good rewards in On and experience. If you were interested in getting in with the Takeda or another samurai clan (i.e., someday maybe becoming a lord), this would be a good way to do it.

[ffilz]

Well, Taisho was on his way to Fuji-san before his travels got interrupted...

We do need to check if the commission has any jobs for us, we don't want to skip out after having just signed on...

[Marullus]

Some options for the party:
-Pilgrimage to Mt. Fuji (Fuji-san) for On.

This is possible, but... feels really boring. I would really like more excitement / less walking. Now, I know interesting, exciting things can evolve on the way, but it isn't my first choice when we also have Special Duties jobs or War brewing. I find it less likely that, with things so tense, we're like "well, might as well walk to another shrine."

-Pilgrimage to the Raijin shrine. It's 17 hexes (approx. 56 ri/136 miles) away to the southeast, near Edo, in the Kanto. The Kanto is a broad plain with rich soil and is called "the rice bowl of Japan." It's the heart of Minamoto territory. Generally travel is one hex per day per 3 points of BMA. But as the highway enters clear hexes to the east, the movement rate is doubled.

I know this is a goal established for Haruto. I don't know why anyone else would go. I would rather it be incorporated into a multi-part mission (like a Special Duties commission that takes us that way).

-See if the Tokubetsu-yakuba (Special Duties Commission) has any jobs for the PCs.

This seems exciting, depending what it is.

-Go to Shinano and do some things related to Kentaro's backstory.

I'll be honest... this whole war plotline is confusing to me. I can't keep the names straight, and that means I can't get it to mean anything to me.

Here's what I think I know.

• The Matsumoto are vassals of the Minamoto and are the ones neglecting/mismanaging Kentaro's beloved Togakushi. So that's a reason Kentaro doesn't like them.
• I think the Minamoto are trying to overthrow the Emperor, while the Taira are supporting the Emperor, so from a naive layman's perspective (which all our PCs have, really), that's a good reason to dislike the Minamoto.
• The Takeda are in charge of Kofu, and vassals to the Taira, so also side with them against the Minamoto. That's reason enough for Haruto.
• We have been asked repeatedly if our PCs support the Taira or the Minamoto, and I had no idea. The above is all I'm basing that on. It seems like we all would side with the Taira against the Minamoto, lacking other factors that I'm not understanding.

I don't have an incentive for Kentaro to go back to Shinano in the current state. He has allies here in Kofu with the Taira, and his best course is to work against the Minimoto, and by doing so, the Matsumoto. If he can rise in status and the Taira restore his family name and award him back the fief of Togakushi Mountain (with or without the city of Matsumoto, depending on how much he rises), that would be his goal.

I really like that long-term story arc - I imagine him rising in status, returning home to Shinano In Service with restored status for the benefit of his mountain and its villages. If his love with Akemi blossoms, she returns as his wife and under his protection, even as he has to revisit the protection relationship with the powerful Ninja family of the Togakushi Shrine (Katsumi's father). That will be an interesting story all around and at that point has incentive for his new bosom companions to go along. (As opposed to now, where he would be going home to give up... especially as he'd be going empty-handed having just squandered ten year's worth of rice in three months... that gold would have gone MUCH further back at Togakushi...)

-Sign on as ronin for a samurai army. You could probably expect the Battles rules to come into play. Battles seem pretty dangerous, but they have pretty good rewards in On and experience. If you were interested in getting in with the Takeda or another samurai clan (i.e., someday maybe becoming a lord), this would be a good way to do it.

This is appealing, if we don't take the Special Duties. Kentaro has goals that lead him to support the war (see above). Haruto is stung by the sharp reminder of his "unfitness to be Bushi" by his step-mother and would be motivated to prove himself in War both to prove her wrong and believing he will make his father proud. He is skilled in the Strategy bugei and motivated.

...I would like to clarify if he can, as a Samurai but Shugenja, earn the battle-related awards as Shugendo instead of Budo. (We realized when discussing Taka that RAW it doesn't apply, but its a better story if a Shugenja providing strategy is able to earn the Strategy awards.) So, your call.

Side note: I'm having Haruto engage with the merchants to show off his strategy knowledge and try to get them spreading his name positively (maybe his Dad will hear!), but I don't really understand what's happening (Miura, Imagawa, Takeda, Taira, Minamoto no Yoritomo... how do Kofu, Suruga, Kai, Hakone Pass really relate... the stuff before about some kind of siege at some kind of castle...) in your war to say something substantive.