Legend of the Five Rings Discussion

Started by Songbird, December 29, 2012, 10:27:07 PM

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kckolbe

I remember reading that there were only a couple of people who had won the championship but had lost iaijutsu.  Basically, give points for all events, including iaijutsu, and the highest total wins.
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(From the Penis Game) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Penis
I love a wet nymph.  "Letting some guy have [her] just to have another woman is a losing trade"

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer(IC#2)
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Pumpkin Seeds

Oh wow, haven't seen this thread active in awhile.

BraveEarth

Yeah... Hi Pumpkin was hoping you would notice this thread since you are a fan of L5R like myself and others on the forum (And I know you have more experience in it than I do. )

Plua you usually have interesting things to say and I appreciate that.

Pumpkin Seeds

:: blushes::

Honestly I want to get my hands on the new Imperial Histories.  There is supposed to be a Steampunk setting outlined there.  I got finished reading Stormdancer which is a steampunk/Japanese fantasy book and it was real cool.  Chainsaw katanas.

BraveEarth

I have the First one of the new edition but not the second. I want it soooo bad.

kckolbe

I haven't really enjoyed the fourth edition books, except for the modules.  I can't fully explain it, but I find most of the classes completely undesirable.  The modules have been good though.
Ons/Offs  A/A  Oath of the Drake
(From the Penis Game) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Penis
I love a wet nymph.  "Letting some guy have [her] just to have another woman is a losing trade"

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer(IC#2)
Intro Thread

BraveEarth

How many Mods are out for it I can only think of two official ones. I personally like most of the schools, although a few are broken

kckolbe

I'm not even talking about power level, just how uninspired most of them are.  Courtiers are embarrassingly similar.  A lot of the schools presented in the supplements are ridiculously specialized in things rarely featured in most campaigns.
Ons/Offs  A/A  Oath of the Drake
(From the Penis Game) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Penis
I love a wet nymph.  "Letting some guy have [her] just to have another woman is a losing trade"

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer(IC#2)
Intro Thread

HairyHeretic

Quote from: Pumpkin Seeds on December 07, 2013, 02:00:00 AM
Honestly I want to get my hands on the new Imperial Histories.  There is supposed to be a Steampunk setting outlined there. 

There is. As well as L5R in space.

I'm looking at possibly running the Second City campaign now, with my old pen and paper group playing via VOIP (since we're spread across 4 countries at present)
Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

Pumpkin Seeds

Well aren't you Mr. International.   ;D

I have to figure out where the failure of L5R lies when put into a forum game.

HairyHeretic

Quote from: Pumpkin Seeds on December 07, 2013, 05:05:52 PM
Well aren't you Mr. International.   ;D

Actually, I'm one of the locals :)

Our group consisted of 1 Canadian, 1 American, 1 German, 1 Swedish, 1 Dutch, 1 Italian, 1 Australian, 2 French and 2 locals, over the years. We've lost contact with three of those over the years, but I'm hoping we can restart things playing over voice chat :)

Quote from: Pumpkin Seeds on December 07, 2013, 05:05:52 PM
I have to figure out where the failure of L5R lies when put into a forum game.

The Night of a Thousand Screams I ran on mumble didn't do too badly.

Have you considered that as a venue?
Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

BraveEarth

Yeah I think that the actual method of having a set time to show up does really help keep a System game in motion. Hense Mumble worked really well.

HairyHeretic

As well as that, forum play speed is glacial compared to around a table (or over a voice chat). I think that's a factor in the problems a lot of system games have, especially when dice rolling slows things down even further.
Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

Pumpkin Seeds

I've thought about using voice before, but my own schedule is too hectic.  My work schedule changes weekly and I'm essentially in charge of transporting, feeding and taking care of three adults.  Forum is about all I have time for and even then my posting schedule is slow.  I know one player mentioned centering the action around a town/villiage/city or clan..as in a new minor clan forming that way people can have their soap opera drama while the plot moves slowly forward.

BraveEarth

Hairy have you ever run the Topaz Championship?

Pumpkin Seeds

I've run it a few times but usually alter the championship in some way.

HairyHeretic

Quote from: BraveEarth on December 07, 2013, 07:13:17 PM
Hairy have you ever run the Topaz Championship?

I haven't. Or at least I don't think I have. What is it?
Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

Pumpkin Seeds

The starting adventure in the mainbook.

HairyHeretic

Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

kckolbe

I've seen a fan made module on the l5r site for Topaz championship, but that's it.
Ons/Offs  A/A  Oath of the Drake
(From the Penis Game) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Penis
I love a wet nymph.  "Letting some guy have [her] just to have another woman is a losing trade"

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer(IC#2)
Intro Thread

HairyHeretic

Here's a few useful links though

http://heroes-of-rokugan.com/HoR2/whatis.html
Formerly Living Rokugan, there's plenty of small scenarios on there that can be downloaded and run by the looks of it

http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=250&t=99099&sid=a353344bac1fe10f845ebbb1d417d120
Master list of 4th ed schools and where to find them

www.violence-solves-everything.com/Resources/L5R%204th%20Edition%20-%20Index%20of%20Game%20Mechanics.xls
Big master list of families, schools, advantages, disadvantages, spells and all sorts of other useful stuff, complete with book and page numbers.
Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

AllieCat

Here are the mini-settings involved in the two Imperial Histories books:

(note, settings tagged with ** are either canon timelines that have NEVER been discussed or mentioned before, or alternate/future timelines)

** The Five Rings Heresy - A monk comes up with the idea that since there's five rings,. there should only be five clans, and proposes that the Crane and Scorpion merge for greater harmony in the Empire. The scary thing is, he's popular enough with the Emperor that despite the Crane and Scorpion both being, um, less then enthused about it (I think both Clans are equally disgusted by the idea) that it comes VERY close to happening. Would be very good for courtier characters.

** The Great Famine -  Years of Bad Harvests have put all the Clans in a bad position. There's no food to trade, so what do the Great Clans do to feed their peasants, without causing all out war? And what happens when the Peasants start rising up when they think the samurai are living the life while they can't even keep the food they grow to stay alive.. (it's an official time.line, but never was mentioned before, so I tagged it)

The Rise of The Gozoku: Basically, a bunch of powerful clans decide the Empire would be much better if the Emperor/Empress was a figurehead (after all, how can just one man or woman rule such a vast land), and instead the true reigns of power was in the hands of a select group of Clan leaders

Prelude to the Scorpion Clan Coup: If you played previous editions, you know what this timeline is like. It's the base setting for I believe 1st edition. The leader of the Scorpion Clan receives a horrifying prophecy "The Last Hantei will bring doom to Rokugan".. how far will they go to prevent this future from happening?

The Dawn of the Empire: What happens to a tribal world when the seven Kami fall from the Heavens? (With some neat notes on playing alternate histories where one of the OTHER Kami won the original Celestial Tournament)

** Heroes of Rokugan: Based off the "Living L5R" campaign from conventions and the like, the Toturi dynasty never fell, and it's several centuries in the future

The Clan War: Post the Scorpion Clan Coup, the Empire is falling apart.. the Crab have allied with their ancient enemies in the Shadowlands in an  attempt to seize the throne from the ailing Hantei XXXIX. This brings about the return of Fu Leng (who possesses the Emperor), and war breaks out amongst the Clans.  The ronin Toturi attempts to rally an army to protect the Empire, but this leads to the Second Day of Thunder.

** A Thousand Years of Darkness: The Second Day of Thunder is over. But in this alternate timeline, the Seven Thunders fell before Fu Leng, and Fu Leng now rules Rokugan directly. He's broken most of the resistance against his rule, but here and there, small packs of samurai bravely try to push back.

The Hidden Emperor: The spirit of Nothing has kidnapped and corrupted the emperor, and is trying to unmake all reality. Without the Emperor to guide Rokugan, is all lost?

The War of Spirits: One of the cruelest Emperors in all of Rokugan's history has returned from the War of Spirits. He claims the Throne belongs to his family, and Toturi (who committed seppuku to not let the spirit of Nothing corrupt him and thus the Emperor) is an usurper. This of course, means war.

Battle of White Stag: Rokugan is under attack from Gaijin with strange gunpowder weapons, who seek to conquer the Empire!

** The Togashi Dynasty (an offshoot of Dawn of the Kami).. The Immortal Togashi wins the Celestial tournament.. how does the empire differ when an immortal Dragon is on the throne?

Reign of the Shining Prince: L5R in the age of the "Shining Prince, the son of Hantei, Hantei Genji.

** The Iron Empire: Kinda a steampunkish L5R, as it explores the "modernization" of Rokugan, with Railroads and the like.. but with all these new fangled ideas, what room is there for the ideals and skills of the samurai?

The Reign of the Steel Chrysanthemum: Remember that vicious, evil Emperor I mentioned above? this is when he reigned, and controlled Rokugan in the grip of Terror and hatred.

The Eight Century Crisis: One crisis after another (Bloodspeakers, war, famine) beset the empire. Will the series of blows be enough to topple the Empire?

** The Shattered Empire: Six of the Seven Thunders from the Second Day of Thunder lie dead. The Seventh has been touched by Madness and the spirit of Nothing. With no Emperor to keep the peace, the victory won on the Day of Thunder may not mean much as all the clans squabble and fight over who the Emperor should be (and in somecases, even if there SHOULD be an emperor)

The Four Winds: The Emperor is dead, without having named an heir. His four offspring all have a valid claim to the throne. Who will claim the Throne?

** The Shadowed Throne: The Glorious General, Toturi Tsudao has won the War of the Four Winds and is Empress Toturi II.. but is she the right person to lead the Empire going forward?

The Destroyer War: Kali-Ma and the Destroyers threaten to overwhelm Rokugan.. what are the powers of those who serve the Kami worth against the avatars of Foreign Gods?

The Colonies: In the wake of the Destroyer War, the former lands of the Burning Sands lie vacant. Samurai from Rokugan claim this territory, and Rokugan grows, but so far from the Empress and the Empire, how will the Colonies fare?

The Emerald Stars: Rokugan has taken over the world. Many worlds in fact.. yup, you guessed it, this is Rokugan IN SPACE, hundreds of years in the future.




Empyrean

I've been reading up on it. It seems pretty interesting. I understand that forum games with this system don't tend to do well here? I wonder why not?

Personally, the Phoenix, Unicorn, and Spider clans seem fascinating, as do some of these alternate settings Allie mentioned. The Thousand Years of Darkness sounds like it would be fun to play in, either against Fu Leng or on his side.

kckolbe

Group forum games of any kind have a high failure rate.  In particular, system games using combat tend to lag during combat scenes, since there are hold ups for dice rolls and such.  I've had a lot of fun with it, though, and would love to play again.
Ons/Offs  A/A  Oath of the Drake
(From the Penis Game) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Penis
I love a wet nymph.  "Letting some guy have [her] just to have another woman is a losing trade"

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer(IC#2)
Intro Thread

Empyrean

Has anyone tried doing it freeform then? It might clear up the dice roll issue.