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cupkeyk
2010-09-26, 11:25 PM
Hi Guys,

Is there a way to make a a batman wizard using the l54r 4e rules? I am gravitating towards Asahina but that doesn't matter yet, at this point.

Any help at all will be very appreciated.

DragonBaneDM
2010-09-27, 12:16 AM
Crud... SOMEONE had a guide in their siggy on one of my threads. I'll keep an eye peeled!

But go orbs and sleep... Never played a wizard. Their utilities are all so helpful though!

cupkeyk
2010-09-27, 03:34 AM
Uhm, I meant Legend of the Five Rings Fourth Edition, not Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition.

The Big Dice
2010-09-27, 10:22 AM
L5R is so far removed from D&D that it doesn't really compare. You can sort of use similar ideas, but the simple fact that there's at least eight different Schools you can use for a shugenja, each with a different focus and style, means a "Batman shugenja" is very much open to interpretation.

Think what you want your Batman to do. Then pick a School that helps with that. BUt bear in mind that spell slots are a precious commodity in L5R 4th ed. Duplication of effect is a serious consideration and most importantly, spells take time to cast.

DragonBaneDM
2010-09-27, 02:08 PM
Bwahahahaha!!! I guess I just REALLY wanted to talk about 4e that night or something. Never mind then. :smalltongue:

cupkeyk
2010-09-27, 07:54 PM
L5R is so far removed from D&D that it doesn't really compare. You can sort of use similar ideas, but the simple fact that there's at least eight different Schools you can use for a shugenja, each with a different focus and style, means a "Batman shugenja" is very much open to interpretation.

Think what you want your Batman to do. Then pick a School that helps with that. BUt bear in mind that spell slots are a precious commodity in L5R 4th ed. Duplication of effect is a serious consideration and most importantly, spells take time to cast.

What I want my batman to do isn't exactly the whole Batman Wizard. Just a general toolbox wizard with buffs I guess.

LibraryOgre
2010-09-28, 11:36 AM
I'd have to dig up my books. At a guess, look at the Batman style, and see what can match that level of toolboxiness. Personally, I'd go with the witch-hunters out of the crab... the Kuni? Because they're likely to have the flexibility to deal with a toolbox mindset.

I should say I'm horribly biased towards the Crab, because they are better than everyone. :smallbiggrin:

The Big Dice
2010-09-28, 11:50 AM
I'd have to dig up my books. At a guess, look at the Batman style, and see what can match that level of toolboxiness. Personally, I'd go with the witch-hunters out of the crab... the Kuni? Because they're likely to have the flexibility to deal with a toolbox mindset.

I should say I'm horribly biased towards the Crab, because they are better than everyone. :smallbiggrin:

The Kuni aren't good at buffs to any great extent, Where they excel is fighting the Shadowlands. And Witch Hunters aren't even shugenja, so forget them.

Besides, in 4th ed L5R, Akodo is the bushi school everyone seems to think is overpowered. :smallyuk:

The Tamori might be a good choice, with their ability to store spells to give away for people to use later. The Kitsu could also be a good option, with their Free Raise on spells with the Battle keyword.

And there's always the Isawa, which are never a bad choice for a player wanting to play a shugenja.

When it comes to which spells to go for, Earth is your classic buff/debuff element. Armour of Earth, Elemental Ward, Soul of Stone,Be the Mountain, Force of Will, Grasp of Earth and Sharing the Strength of Many are all good choices. And there are more at higher Mastery Levels.

Fire has a few good buff spells as well. Biting Stell, Burning Kiss of Steel, Fires of Purity, Relentless Heat and Hurried Steps are fairly typical Fire-based buffs. Though beware of duplication of effect with Fire spells. It's all too easy to end up with a bunch of spells that just do XkX damage to a target, where X is your Fire ring.

LibraryOgre
2010-09-29, 01:30 PM
The Kuni aren't good at buffs to any great extent, Where they excel is fighting the Shadowlands. And Witch Hunters aren't even shugenja, so forget them.


Bah! I reject your reality and substitute my own!


(Alternate reading: Big Dice seems to have a better handle on the mechanics than I do. Just remember, though, the other Clans exist solely to allow the Crab to stay on the wall. Doing things that harms the Crab aids the Shadowlands. To aid the Shadowlands is to spit upon the face of all that is holy, and to insult the Emperor himself. Your insistence upon these prices harms the Crab, so I can only assume that you seek to insult the Emperor and, as a samurai, I must answer that the only... Oh, you'll take one koku for three? Very well, then.)

(Alternate reading of alternate reading: Mark needs to stop playing Yasuki.)

:smallbiggrin:

jiriku
2010-09-29, 02:44 PM
The Kuni aren't good at buffs to any great extent... When it comes to which spells to go for, Earth is your classic buff/debuff element.

There is a serious conflict between these two positions. :smallbiggrin:


@ cupkeyk: It is possible to do either battlefield control or buffing/utility with an L5R4e shugenja, although you can't lock down a battlefield as effectively as the typical D&D wizard; you have too few spells, their areas are too small and their casting times too high.

The best school for either a BC or party support build is an Isawa shugenja, because there are good BC spells in every element, so the Isawa's lack of a deficiency gives you versatility to grab those spells where you find them. For BC I recommend a Fire affinity for quick access to wall of fire and wings of the phoenix, but really any elemental affinity is fine. Your key spells include tempest of air, summon fog, fiery wrath, wall of fire, wall of stone, ward of purity. The various symbol spells are good too. Bear in mind that you can importune the kami to acquire the various symbol and ward spells, which you won't need to cast often anyhow; you need not take up your precious spells known slots with those spells.

A couple of useful principles to follow: plan ahead. Many of your best BC spells have long casting times, and you're at your best if you can precast these spells (especially wall of earth), reshaping the battlefield, closing off points of access, or fortifying chokepoints.


For a support/utility caster, you can't beat the Isawa school with a water affinity and ishiken-do. Pick up path to inner peace, peace of the kami, fill with emptiness, rejuvenating vapors, inari's blessing, strength of the crow, courage of the seven thunders, elemental ward, and you restore essentially any consumable that your party might run out of.

You can do some wicked buffing by using silent waters+sympathetic energies to put your personal-only buffs on other party members, to be activated by a contingency of your choosing.

Collect flow through the void, the mending forge, reforge, and your standard complement of summon spells and you can create almost any item the party needs, and turn anything into anything else.

I also highly recommend drawing the void + altering the course, so if you need to make craft checks when making items you can easily do so.


The important thing to remember is that in L5R4e, anything a samurai or courtier can do, a shugenja can do MUCH MUCH MUCH better, and while shugenja don't have the versatility to be able to everything well, with the right spell choice (and plenty of points spent buffing the appropriate rings so you can manage the high spell TNs), you can do one thing VERY WELL INDEED while still having the odd skill or spell available to make yourself useful when your main strength isn't called for.

cupkeyk
2010-10-01, 02:39 AM
Thanks Jiriku,

I am getting indigestion trying to make the shugenja work. I am half tempted to go courtier just so I can have an easier time at charcater creation.

So both Isawa School and family?

What should I invest my chargen XP in? Traits to pump my Fire ring?

(Sorry if this is bordering on asking you to build my character for me)

I am actually gravitating towards a Tamori Family/Tamori Shugenja school combo because its an easy 3 on my Earth ring. Potions seem useful, but is it a trap?

Matsu Family/ Kitsu Shugenja school get a 3 ring at start too, but with water. What do you think?

jiriku
2010-10-01, 10:09 AM
A shugenja makes a better courtier than an actual courtier.

Your choice of family is not really important mechanically except during the first half of rank 1. I'd suggest you pick whatever family you're most interested in roleplaying.

I'd recommend you put the bulk of your XP throughout the life of your character into pumping your Traits. Spells are more powerful than anything else in the game, but to use them to best effect, you need to be able to hit TNs of 30-50 by rank 5, and you're not going to get there without improving your Traits and Rings. Don't neglect your Void Ring, even if you aren't an ishiken, because you need to be able to take a lot of raises to use spells to best effect, and you can use Void Points to help with spellcasting rolls and to make up for any weaknesses you have in the Skill department.

IMO, the Tamori school lends itself to a tanking role, much like a Hida bushi. Drinking potions lets you buff very effectively, and the natural thing to do once you're heavily buffed is to thump some heads. Potions aren't useful for battlefield control or utility casting, since they only affect one target at a time and must target people.

Here are some rank 5 shugenja builds that I've made as proof-of-concept characters during the beta-test. Pardon me if the stats are a little messy; I originally built them on spreadsheets, and since I can't attach files here, I'm just manually copying junk from the spreadsheets into my post. They'll illustrate what's possible. I recommend that you plan out your character in advance, just like people do with D&D characters, because if you decide when you hit rank 3 that there's a really cool Fire spell you'd like to cast but your Fire Ring is a 2, you're pretty much SOL. Of course, you can't always plan out skill selection, since you don't know ahead of time exactly which skills you'll need most, but you can set some general goals for how you want your build to grow.

The IEB (Isawa Energizer Bunny) - A utility caster
This is a Water-affinity Isawa shugenja who focused on the healing and restorative aspect of Water, Trained as a magistrate, he does not seek the limelight and shies away from battle and bloodshed. However, the Energizer Bunny never quits and never gives up, so when duty places him and his companions in difficult situations, he supports them tirelessly in all of their endeavors.

This is a Water-affinity Isawa shugenja who focused on the healing and restorative aspect of Water.*
The IEB is essentially a battery of all the resources that characters must normally manage carefully, and a supply of all they might need that's normally difficult to acquire.* He offers the party the following:
*
The basic principle of the IEB is that he never runs out. Between Rejuvenating Vapors and his considerable Rings, he's can easily cast about 20 useful spells per day.* He ensures the success of his upper-level spells by using Altering the Course to spend multiple Void on the Spell Casting Roll, then following up with Fill With Emptiness to regain his spent Void Points.* Using these spell combos, he can offer a group the following:
*

Healing of Wounds, via Path to Inner Peace
Curing of poison or disease, via Peace of the Kami
Restoration of Void Points, via Fill With Emptiness
Restoration of spent spell slots for allied shugenja, via Rejuvenating Vapors
Ability to go without sleep, via Rejuvenating Vapors
Extended food supplies, via Inari's Blessing
Resistance to the Shadowlands Taint, via Strength of the Crow
Resistance to Fear via Courage of the Seven Thunders
Resistance to elemental magic as desired, via Elemental Ward (this is less useful, as he'll typically want to cast spells on his allies)

*
Additionally, he can support the party with defensive spells:* These can be cast during combat, or better still, precast as contingencies using Silent Waters + Sympathetic Energies. His buffs include:
*
Fire damage on attack and defense via Fires of Purity
Flight via Call Upon the Wind
Ability to spend multiple Void Points per round via Altering the Course + Sympathetic Energies
Free movement via Ebb and Flow of Battle
Tactical teleportation/transposition via Hands of the Tides
*
The IEB is a pacifist and hates to take life himself, but if pressed in combat he can use Suitengu's Embrace to incapacitate an attacker.* Using the medicine skill + Altering the Course, he can usually rescue a victim from drowning if Wound penalties or a poor Stamina prevent him from recovering on his own (or his allies may kill the enemy themselves, saving him the trouble).
*
Beyond combat, the IEB is also a utility caster.* With a few castings of Summon, Flow Through the Void, Inari's Blessing, The Mending Forge, and Reforge, he can repair anything, create anything from nothing, and turn anything into anything else.* This means that he can:
*

repair damaged items,
reseal documents with broken seals,
hide stolen goods,
transform heavy objects into lighter ones for transport,
produce basic tools or simple goods,
create valuable items for sale,
conjure*basic weapons out of nothing,
bypass (destroy)*locks and doors,
plant incriminating evidence,
dispose of incriminating evidence,
create copies of simple items

The IEB is also equipped with a solid complement of skills.* Naturally, he's best at tasks involving perception, so he's good to have around if you fear an ambush or need to investigate a crime scene.* However, he knows enought about proper behavior to avoid embarassing himself in court, and enough about athletics to*escape from*trouble in a fight.* With a little preparation, he can use*use Importune the Kami + Drawing the Void + Altering the Course to spend*12+ Void Points on a Skill roll, which allows him to:
*

Roll 10k10+ to recall information on a Lore skill in which he is not trained,
Roll 10k10+ to write a haiku,
Roll 10k10+ to Importune the Kami for a higher level spell that he doesn't have,
Roll 10k10+ on an Investigation / Intelligence check to puzzle out the meaning of a clue,
Acquit himself reasonably well in an Iaijutsu duel, despite having terrible Reflexes and no knowledge of the katana,
Roll 10k10+ on a Sailing (navigation) check to chart a course or determine his location when lost at sea
Roll 10k10+ to forge*a signature or a brief note,

I feel the IEB could be optimized further.* In particular, because I don't have much play experience with these spells, I had trouble deciding among the second-string spells which should be learned and which should be left off-character sheet and acquired through Importune the Kami as needed.

IEB stats:
Insight 235, Honor 4.5
Fire 2, Air 2, Earth 3, Water 6, Void 6
Advantages: Paragon (duty), Ishiken-Do
Disadvantages: Soft-hearted
Skills: Calligraphy (cipher) 1, Lore (theology) 1, Lore (law) 1, Medicine (antidote, disease) 5, Meditation 3, Spellcraft (importune) 5, Etiquette 5, Artisan (poety) 2, Courtier 2, Investigation (notice) 5, Sincerity 3, Tea Ceremony 3, Athletics 3, Defense 2, Stealth 4
Spells
L1: Sense, Commune, Summon, Fires of Purity, Courage of the Seven Thunders, Drawing the Void, Flow Through the Void, Sympathetic Energies, Path to Inner Peace
L2: Rejuvenating Vapors, Call Upon the Wind, Inari's Blessing, Altering the Course
L3: Silent Waters, Strength of the Crow, Kharmic Intent
L4: Ebb and Flow of Battle, The Mending Forge
L5: Suitengu's Embrace, Reforge, Hands of the Tides
L6: Peace of the Kami

The Shiba Yojimbo Shugenja - a battlefield controller who protects other shugenja
Everyone knows that no shugenja is complete without a yojimbo. But what if your yojimbo was a shugenja?

The Shiba Yojimbo Shugenja was born with the favor of the kami, but the spirits who favored her most were the hungry dead of Gaki-Do. They haunted her dreams with visions of battle and death, and she found that these visions did not trouble her. The pacifism of her fellow shugenja initiates, most of whom were Isawa, grated on her nerves, and they in turn found her to be uncouth and violent. Her sensei found a happy medium when he introduced her the art of iai, and she showed such promise that he agreed upon graduation to allow her to serve in the ranks of the Shiba Yojimbo.

The yojimbo is, first and foremost, a duelist and protector for her shugenja (perhaps for the IEB described above). She is a formidable iaijutsu duelist, and can use By the Light of Lord Moon and Whispering Wind to uncover ambushes and plots against him. Although not the best with words, she understands enough of the courts to stay clear of the plotting of all but the most adept courtiers, and she is knowledgeable enough on many subjects to be a valuable information resource to her ward.

The SYS typically wears light armor and bears a katana, and she is quite content to allow others to draw the wrong conclusions and believe her a mere bushi. In truth, her swords are mostly for show (although in rare cases she may employ the daisho technique to boost her Armor TN). Her deadliest weapons are her spell scrolls, which are kept discreetly on her person. The SYS is a holy terror in battle, and she enjoys the rush of adrenaline it gives her.

The yojimbo shugenja is primarily a battlefield controller, but with preparation time she can burn a path through enemies and inflict terrible carnage. Her first priority is always the protection of her shugenja charge, but even once his safety is assured, she rarely quits the battlefield until all of her foes have been reduced to lumps of charred meat.

Battlefield control spells include:

Tempest of Air
Fiery Wrath
Wall of Fire
Summon Fog
Wall of Earth


Tactics include:


Always has Hurried Footsteps precast via Silent Waters, so she can reduce the casting time of a Fire spell by three actions. Using her free raise to further reduce casting time, she can cast even a rank 5 Fire spell in a single action without the need to raise its TN once per battle.
If facing a single opponent, typically begins combat with Hurried Footsteps+Everburning Rage, then follows up with Follow the Flame while the target is writhing on the ground.
Use Fiery Wrath to destroy the weapon hafts, bows, bowstrings, and even armor of bushi foes (Rokugani armor is partly made of wood).
If facing archers who are too far away for Fiery Wrath, uses Summon Fog to create a safe zone for allies, buffs with Defense of the Firestorm, then advances and mows down the enemy with The Fires From Within
Against other foes, uses Wall of Stone or Wall of Fire to disrupt or delay the enemy, then uses the time bought to buff self and allies with Defense of the Firestorm.
She can afford to be a little reckless, because she heals 5 Wounds for every foe she kills.


If given time to prepare before a battle, the Yojimbo Shugenja can be immensely destructive, and commonly uses the following tactics:


Closes off avenues of approach and creates chokepoints using multiple Wall of Fire spells.
Importune the Kami for Ward of Purity to ward chokepoints and strongpoints against impure attackers.
Cast Call the Spirit to summon a powerful spirit apppropriate to the time period of the game (e.g. Hantei XVI or Toturi during the Spirit War, Oni no Akuma during the Clan War period when the Phoenix were experimenting with oni summoning, the Great Water Spider in any naval battles before the Spider was slain, etc)


If discretion is the better part of valor, the Yojimbo Shugenja can protect her charge effectively too.


Tempest of Air slows and disrupts foes in places where a mucking great blast of fire would be unwise.
Wall of Stone can render herself and her charge temporarily invulnerable to harm.
Path to Inner Peace can heal a few wounds her charge may suffer
Defense of the Firestorm makes her charge immune to archery and well-protected against other attacks.
Elemental Ward can protect against enemy casters.
If her charge can cast Sympathetic Energies (as the IEB can), she can cast Essence of Air to become insubstantial, allow him to acquire it via Sympathetic Energies, recast it on herself, and they both can then escape quite easily. (However, given her Overconfident Disadvantage, she's more likely to send him off to safety, then try to take the opposition on by herself.)
Sympathetic Energies+Wings of the Phoenix can allow him to fly to safety if he can't fly using his own magic.


If unable to prepare herself or if her spells are exhausted, the Yojimbo Shugenja can fall back on her kenjutsu skill. While not as capable in a fight as a bushi of equivalent level, she is a credible threat and can harm a foe, especially if backed up with magical support from her shugenja charge.

The Shiba Yojimbo Shugenja is a much more focused character than the IEB, but she demonstrates that a shugenja can excel even in a niche role normally reserved for bushi characters. A traditional Shiba Yojimbo might be able to use the guard action to improve his charge's Armor TN by 5 or 10 points or give him a 5-point defense against hostile spellcasting, and can defend a shugenja against foes who close to melee range. The Yojimbo Shugenja can use fogs and walls to prevent would-be foes from even making an attack roll, can render enemy archers useless, and can attack foes from range with attacks that bypass Armor TN. Plus, she duels quite well. She can even do things that a mere bushi could never do, such as fly, conjure spirits, discern lies told by master courtiers, defend an area with magical barriers and wards, commune with the elements to gather information, and more.

SYS stats:
Insight 230; Honor 4.5
Fire 6, Air 3 (Reflexes 4), Earth 4, Water 2 (Perception 3), Void 4
Advantages: Quick, Strength of the Earth, Touch of the Spirit Realms (Gaki-Do)
Disadvantages: Hotei's Curse, Overconfident
Skills: Calligraphy (cipher) 1, Lore: Theology 1, Lore: Spirit Realms 2, Medicine 1, Meditation 3, Spellcraft 5, Etiquette 2, Artisan: Poetry 2, Lore: Shadowlands 2, Lore: History 2, Sincerity 2, Athletics 3, Defense 5, Iaijutsu 7, Kenjutsu 2
Spells:
L1: Sense, Commune, Summon, Extinguish, Tempest of Air, By the Light of Lord Moon, Elemental Ward, Path to Inner Peace
L2: Hurried Steps, The Fires From Within, Whispering Wind, Essence of Air, Grasp of Earth
L3: Fiery Wrath, Silent Waters, Summon Fog
L4: Defense of Freedom, Wall of Fire, Wall of Earth
L5: Wings of the Phoenix, Follow the Flame, Everburning Rage

SOMNA (The Soshi One-Man Ninja Army) - a spellcasting ninja

Because L5R isn't complete without sneaky ninjas, I present to you an entire den of scheming low-lives, compact enough to fit on a single character sheet.

The Soshi One-Man Ninja Army (hereafter referred to as SOMNA) is a walking conspiracy. He is the ultimate ninja - he can be anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Imagine a scenario if you will. A young samurai, Mark-San who enjoys drinking and gambling a little more than is wise has a bad night at the gambling house, and impulsively accepts an offer for a substantial loan to cover his debts from an anonymous benefactor -- we'll call him "Big-Sama". Later, he's walking through the streets late at night when he witnesses a young man being chased by street toughs. Before Mark-San can act, the street toughs catch the fellow and brutally knife him to death, then flee. The next day, Mark-San receives an invitation to visit Big-Sama in his house. He follows the directions given and a rough, dangerous-looking doorman escorts him into a heiman's home, through a secret door into an opium den, past a series of semiconscious addicts, and into a back room. In the back room, among opulent furnishings, a cloud of opium smoke, a gaggle of half-naked geisha and a cadre of brutal-looking bodyguards, Big-Sama awaits. He comments that it would not go well for the samurai if his gambling debts were revealed to his lord, and the samurai's family might be in danger if Big-Sama were to become displeased. Mark-San is shown documents he signed acknowledging his debt to Big-Sama, and a small child's toy he recognizes as belonging to his own child. Big-Sama goes on to say that the samurai need not fear, so long as he remains silent regarding the murder he witnessed last night. Big-Sama gestures for him to take his child's toy back home, serve his daimyo well, and await further instructions.

Now, here is the truth: everything I just told you is a lie.

Only the young samurai mark who drinks and gambles a little too much exists; SOMNA is running a con, and fabricated everything else. Mark-San was never at the gambling house that night, never racked up any debts, and never borrowed money from Big-Sama to pay them. SOMNA used Cloud the Mind and Sincerity to fabricate those experiences, and the samurai blamed his memory gaps on the heavy drinking he'd supposedly been indulging in. The :murder" that Mark-San witnessed was a carefully-orchestrated series of illusions crafted by SOMNA. The attackers and their victim were illusions created by The False Legion. The "secret den" that Mark-San visited was actually an abandoned building dressed up by a False Realm spell, while the heimen family, the opium-smokers, the geisha, the bodyguards, even Big-Sama himself were merely more illusions crafted by The False Legion. Only the doorman, who was actually a disguised SOMNA, really existed. The letters with Mark-San's signature were forged via Netsuke of Air; the child's toy was stolen by SOMNA, who used his considerable magical and mundane stealth skills to infiltrate Mark-San's house while the family was asleep at night.

Why go to such trouble? Consider this:


In Mark-San's mind, he's guilty of intemperate drinking, excessive gambling, debt to a crime lord, and (potentially) keeping silent about a murder.
If Mark-San goes to his daimyo with his deeds, then his daimyo will lose faith in the samurai. He'll also believe that a criminal organization is operating in his town. The daimyo will devote resources to the fruitless task of pursuing a non-existent crime boss, and place less trust in Mark-San.
If Mark-San remains silent, then SOMNA has effectively acquired blackmail over him for deeds he never committed, without ever revealing his true identity. "Big-Sama" can exploit this blackmail at any time.
No one is looking for a shugenja infiltrator who is working alone.


A shosuro ninja can be anyone, and can kill anyone. SOMNA can be EVERYONE, and can make his marks dance like puppets. With enough manipulation, he could eventually make the daimyo order Mark-San's seppukku, or disrupt security enough to have a shot at assassinating the daimyo himself. Or do any of a dozen other things.

Real ninja, however, are good at sneaking around. Can SOMNA sneak like a ninja? Consider:

He can pass unnoticed or turn completely invisible, via The Eye Shall Not See and Gift of the Wind.
He can walk on water via Walking on the Waves.
He can walk through walls via Essence of Air
He can walk under walls with Embrace of Kenro-Ji-Jin (or perhaps swap it for Hands of Clay and climb walls and ceilings like a spider.).
He can transform into an animal form like a bird or a fish to fly or swim underwater, via Ever-Changing Waves.
He can also use that boring old Stealth skill like a regular ninja would.


As mentioned above, SOMNA can shapeshift like a ninja shapeshifter.


He can also use Mask of the Wind and the mundane Acting skill to look like anyone of any gender or profession, even a creature of another race like a goblin or nezumi.
He can also infiltrate an area disguised as a rat in the cellar, or a crow on the battlefield, or a koi fish in the daimyo's fishpond, or a RAGING BEAR (however, that last one is not subtle).


However, ninja are supposed to be distracting. Can SOMNA distract people?


SOMNA's ability to run cons and spread disinformation and confusion over time has already been established.
He also has the traditional ninja high Armor TN (43 while dual-wielding in Defense stance).
However, he can also misdirect defenders with illusions via Mists of Illusion, The Kami's Whisper, False Realm, and The False Legion.
The False Legion deserves especial mention, because he can use it to create an illusionary NINJA INVASION of 50+ LEAPING BOUNDING VERY DISTRACTING NINJAS! The False Legion earns him the title of the One-Man (Ninja) Army.
At night, he can douse torches, lamps and candles with Extinguish.
Just for lulz, he can use the Soshi shugenja technique and the summon spell to summon invisible blocks of earth or invisible puddles for people to trip over or slip in.
Use Nestuke of Wind to create ILLUSIONARY EXPLOSIVES that work like the real thing. How cool is that?
Cloud the Mind can create more distractions that a barrel of rabid monkeys, allowing such shenanigans as:



Cast on guards so they'll forget their watch assignments
Disguise yourself as a messenger, then cast and convince the guard that you've just brought news that a ninja is planning to kill the daimyo and the two of you were racing to the daimyo's quarters to warn him. He'll lead you right to your target.
Use to convince a guard that he's been reassigned to a post on the opposite side of the shiro.
Use to convince a random hapless chambermaid that she's been ordered to report to the daimyo's room and tidy up the documents on his writing desk - aha, a ninja chambermaid!
More. Oh, so much more.

Shouldn't ninja also steal?

Finding things? Check, By the Light of Lord Moon.
Hauling them off? Check. Many spells to bypass guards.
Leaving an illusionary replacement so people don't even notice the theft for an hour? Also check. Netsuke of Wind.
I think we're done here, let's move along.


But I know what you're saying. A real ninja should be able to kill people quietly in the dark. Can SOMNA do that?


First of all, it would be easy to learn a blasty spell and use it to attack. But even more than the Shiba Yojimbo Shugenja, SOMNA gets much of his effectiveness by appearing to be less than he is. His kill methods are thus entirely (well not really) mundane, the better to appear to be "just" a ninja.
He carries around the expected ninja-to, blowgun and shuriken. He can kill people with these things, especially if they're asleep. And he can Importune the Kami to acquire Ward of Air and use it to lay a trap that will put targets to sleep (although they wake from that as soon as they're attacked).
As you'd expect, he can make and use poison. In fact, he can create ILLUSIONARY POISON that really works, so long as the poison can be made in a powder form and will kill its victim within the hour (Netsuke of Wind creates only solid objects). Bonus: the illusionary poison vanishes after an hour, leaving the victim dead of no apparent cause.
Heck, he can also SHAPESHIFT into a venomous creature like a serpent or scorpion and bite/sting the victim himself.
He's good with explosives. That means he can stuff a sack of gaijin pepper under his victim's beds and BLOW THEM UP! As mentioned above, he can use Netsuke of Wind to create 20 pounds of illusionary explosives per casting.
It's also possible, with considerable setup and lead time, for SOMNA to convince his targets to kill themselves, or each other. Running a long con requires patience, but like all Scorpions, he's very patient and adept at manipulating bushido to put victims in untenable situations.


But what about the party, you ask? SOMNA sounds like a solo kind of character. Isn't he pretty useless if he has to hang out with an active, adventuring party? I say, SOMNA can contribute in a stand-up fight.


He can use The False Legion to create a dozen copies of each of his allies, allowing them to hide within the crowd.
He can fire off Envious Flames to disrupt enemy spellcasting.
He can restore the spent spell slots and dispel faigute with Rejuvenating Vapors.
He can assume a battle form like a bear, tiger, or Otaku battle steed using Ever-Changing Waves.
He can help a wounded ally escape with Embrace of Kenro-Ji-Jin.
He can (gasp!) swing a sword like any old ninja can.

Plus, SOMNA is tricky enough that he can hide the worst of his deeds from the more honorable members of the party.

So to review, SOMNA can turn invisible, walk up walls, through walls, under walls, and over water, shapeshift, assume the identity of others, even nonhuman races, trick and befuddle his enemies, impersonate several roomsful of people at once, create illusionary disguises, weapons, or explosives that work like real objects, and generally sow chaos and misdirection everywhere he goes, all without ever once appearing in his true form. A rank 5 Shosuro Infiltrator can sneak around if he has concealment to hide in, and can stab a guy real good. Guess which one is better?

SOMNA stats:

Insight 230, Honor 0
Fire 2 (Agility 3), Air 5, Earth 3, Water 3, Void 4
Advantages: Forbidden Knowledge (gaijin pepper), Perceived Honor 4, Blackmail (6 points, assigned however you wish)
Disadvantages: Bad Fortune (Yogo Curse), Cursed By the Realm (Yomi)
Skills: Calligraphy (cipher) 1, Courtier 1, Etiquette 2, Lore: Theology 1, Spellcraft 5, Stealth 7, Acting (Profession) 7, Sincerity 5, Athletics 7, Defense 5, Kenjutsu 1, Forgery 4, Sleight of Hand 3, Ninjutsu 3, Craft: Gaijin Pepper 3, Craft: Poison 5
Spells:
L1: Sense, Commune, Summon, By the Light of Lord Moon, Envious Flames, Extinguish, Reversal of Fortunes
L2: Mists of Illusion, The Kami's Whisper, Rejuvenating Vapors, Embrace of Kenro-Ji-Jin
L3: Essence of Air, Mask of the Wind, Walking Upon the Waves
L4: Netsuke of Wind, False Realm, Gift of the Wind
L5: Cloud the Mind, Ever-Changing Waves
L6: The False Legion

The Bayushi Bastard - A shugenja courtier, Scorpion-style
Everyone knows that Bayushi courtiers are bastards. They trick and deceive you, make false promises, and push you into situations where you're forced to dishonor yourselves. They're a courtier's worst nightmare...or are they? I propose that a shugenja can out-bastard the King of Bastards, and prove more devilish than a master of the Bayushi Courtier School.

I'll present this character a little differently from the others and introduce his powers level-by level in comparison with a Bayushi Courtier. Later, I'll wrap up with the usual exposition of how his powers might work in the game world.

We'll begin with subtlety. Some courtiers object to having spells cast on them, and in certain places spellcasting may be slightly...dishonorable. Fortunately, the Bayushi Bastard is, well, a bastard, so he's not going to let trivial issues like honor or consent stop him. He has Stealth with the spellcasting emphasis to hide his spells, and can use the Soshi school technique to hide low-level spells even from the most watchful eyes.

A rank 1 Bayushi Courtier (henceforth, BC) gains free raises in contested social rolls based on his opponent's disadvantages, and can gossip discreetly. The Bastard counters with Benten's Touch, gaining 1k1+5 on ALL social rolls, contested or not, target disadvantages be damned. The Bastard doesn't gossip much, but he listens well: he can flawlessly determine the truth of a target's statement with Whispering Wind. To augment these abilities, he can also cast To Seek the Truth to temporarily disregard mental or social penalties imposed by Courtier techniques, use Reversal of Fortunes to obtain a free option to re-roll before an important roll, and cast Commune to gather information about events that occur in his absence.

A ranks 2 and 3, a BC learns to discern low Mental and Social traits and skills, and Advantages and Disadvantages. He may also be able to blackmail his targets. The Bastard progresses similarly, learning See Through Lies to discern Advantages and Disadvantages, and Drink of Your Essence to learn EVERY RING and the current emotional state of the target. He has to acquire blackmail-worthy material the old-fashioned way, by spying on his targets, but Boundless Sight makes him better at it. Because he's a bastard, he does it without contested rolls either and in complete secrecy, so those smug courtiers will never know he's mentally copped a feel on them. He also gains the ability to force anyone to say anything he wants them to at any time, using False Whispers. I hear that's good. And with the acquisition of Drawing the Void and Rejuvenating Vapors, he can now use his spells more liberally and rely on his Soshi school technique more frequently.

At rank 4, a BC acquires the ability to pretty much have his way with opponents when engaging in contested social rolls, especially if he has blackmail over them. The Bastard can read minds, force targets to behave violently at inappropriate times, and prevent enemies from using Void Points, which locks down a great many courtier school techniques (False Whispers, Haze of Battle, Echoes in the Void). He also begins to acquire some pretty effective synergy in his spells, much as the BC's techniques synergize with one another.

A rank 5 BC, at the pinnacle of his achievement, can slander his targets publicly. The Bastard is too lazy for that, so he just mind-wipes his foes, fills their minds with lies and misconceptions, rearranges all of their Rings at random, then sits back to enjoy his handiwork.

The Bayushi Bastard's tactics are many. He might indulge in any of the following amusements in court:

Read a target's mind to learn who his enemies are, mind-wipe him and convince him that his enemy just shamed him horribly and slandered his grandfather's name, fire him up with Haze of Battle, then encourage him to confront his opponent. In the heat of the moment, forcing the target (or his enemy) to say something unforgivingly offensive will ensure a duel.
Force an opponent to repeatedly make obscene and inappropriate comments in the presence of his superiors ("Really, I never knew that Shiba-san had Tourette's Syndrome!")
Arrange a poetry contest, discern a courtier's Rings, then flip them around randomly until the lowest Ring is Air. During the contest, secretly prevent the courtier from spending Void Points, ensuring a lackluster performance.
Spy on a courtier constantly, read his thoughts at all times, and learn all his secrets. Then sell those secrets to his enemies. When his failure to keep his own secrets gets back to him, offer to spare him dishonor if he'll do a service for you. You can spare him by either erasing the memories of the one who knows his secrets, or by stealing their secrets in turn and giving them to the original mark.
Confront another courtier directly in the courts, using Benten's Touch, Drawing the Void, and Altering the Course to gain a crushing dice advantage while you use Unbound Essence, Severed from the Stream, and To Seek the Truth to disrupt his own efforts. Squeeze in Reversal of Fortunes where you can to ensure that critical rolls are successful.


The Bayushi Bastard is also a natural complement to the Soshi One-Man Ninja Army described above. He can:


Use Boundless sight to confirm that a courtier is away from his room before SOMNA attempts a break-in.
Use it to confirm that the courtier is alone before SOMNA attempts an assassination.
Discreetly switch around the Rings of any guards to make them less effective at their duties.
Trick someone into a duel against a superior duelist so that SOMNA can drug or poison the better duelist, then "discover" that the weaker duelist won through dishonorable means. The skilled duelist will be killed and the victor dishonored. The Scorpion call this "two birds with one stone."
Pull snippets of converations with superiors out of a target's memories, to assist SOMNA in creating convincing forgeries of orders from superiors.
Play straight man to the SOMNA's characters, acting hostile towards them (anyone the Bastard doesn't like must be a good guy!)
Supply SOMNA with information about a character's Strengths, weaknesses, Advantages, and Disadvantages, the better to run effective cons.
Distract attention from SOMNA by acting suspicous and conniving (always easy for a Bayushi to do).

The Bayushi Bastard can learn what people want, what they fear, who they're boinking, who they wish they were boinking, whether they're in debt, what misdeeds their black sheep brother has committed, what deals they're trying to close, what TOP SECRET INSTRUCTIONS their daimyo gave them, and much, much, much, more. Combine that with SOMNA's ability to impersonate anyone (or everyone) and the possiblities for fraud and manipulation are STUPENDOUS.

Can the Bastard fight? Well, no, not really. I built him as if for a pure Winter Court game, and he's not interested in a fair fight, much like the archetypal Bayushi Courtier. However, one could easily swap Temptation 5 for Kenjutsu 5, reduce a few other skills and increase Defense, and exchange one of the low-level Void spells for something nasty like Slayer's Knives or Void Strike, and he'd be serviceable in battle. As is, he can use Envious Flames or Haze of Battle to really shut down opposing shugenja, and can buff allies with Fires of Purity and Rejuvenating Vapors. It's not much, but it's something.

Note: The Bayushi Bastard would actually be mechanically much stronger if he was built using the Isawa Shugenja school (we'll call this variant the Asako Asshat). The AA would have Void Affinity and easier access to some solid Earth spells that defend against social techniques, not to mention an extra spell scroll (hello Ring of the Void!). Air spells actually play very little role in this build; I could use any school and still create a shugenja who's a more effective courtier than the most feared courtiers in Rokugan. However, a Phoenix courtier faces different expectations about honorable behavior than a Bayushi, and would have to use his powers in different (more socially acceptable) ways. It's more fun to be a Bastard!

Bayushi Bastard stats:
Insight 230, Honor 2.5
Fire 3, Air 5, Earth 2 (Willpower 3), Water 2, Void 5
Advantages: Ishiken-Do, Dark Paragon (Control)
Disadvantages: Infamous, Insensitive
Skills: Calligraphy (cipher) 2, Courtier 5, Etiquette 5, Lore: Theology 1, Spellcraft 5, Stealth (spellcasting) 5, Sincerity 5, Lore: Heraldry 2, Lore: Bushido 2, Perform: Storytelling 3, Tea Ceremony 1, Artistan: Poetry 2, Defense 1, Intimidation 5, Temptation 5, Meditation 3, Sadane 2
Spells:
L1: Sense, Commune, Summon, To Seek the Truth, Envious Flames, Fires of Purity, Reversal of Fortunes, Boundless Sight, See Through Lies, Drawing the Void
L2: Benten's Touch, Whispering Wind, Rejuvenating Vapors, Drink of Your Essence, False Whispers, Severed From the Stream, Altering the Course
L3: Haze of Battle, Echoes in the Void
L4: --
L5: Cloud the Mind, Unbound Essence

jiriku
2010-10-01, 10:11 AM
I hit the post size limit with my first reply. :smallbiggrin: Here are the other concept characters I made.

Asako Blind Prophet - a shugenja courtier, Phoenix-style
Behold, a classic of the genre, the Asako Blind Prophet!

Blind at birth, but gifted with the spirit sight, the Asako Blind Prophet is a powerful practitioner of Void magic. He has little talent with any other sort of magic, except for a few Water-based divinations, but his talent for reading fortunes made him popular with court ladies in his youth, and he's been a fixture in various Winter Courts for so long that hatamotos no longer even consider leaving him off the invitation list. Now a wizened old man, he has found a permanent home in the courts of Rokugan as a treasured source of wisdom on any imaginable subject.

The Asako Blind Prophet is a courtier-replacement. As you read about him, benchmark his powers against the Asako Loremaster, and to a lesser extent the Kitsuki Investigator and Bayushi Diplomat.

First of all, the Blind Prophet isn't completely restricted by his blindness. By a strict reading of the rules, any spell that states "You see x" provides him with sight. If you find this reading of the rules to be speculative, you can just play the Prophet as heavily handicapped by his blindness (which can be a fun roleplaying challenge), or alternately swap his blindness for Hotei's Curse, which has the same point value but inflicts absolutely no mechanical disadvantages (go go design team!).

A basic challenge in many L5R games is the need to acquire information to accomplish some goal. What is the courtier's agenda? Who attacked the Crab governor's elite guard? Where is the hideout of the ronin bandit gang? What will lay the lost spirit to rest? Who murdered the samurai you found dead beside the road? The Blind Prophet can bring enormous resources to bear against these sorts of problems, to the point that the GM will be greatly challenged to find a mystery that the Blind Prophet can't solve in an afternoon of sitting in his armchair, smoking a pipe and burning through divinations.

The Blind Prophet genuinely does see the future. He views future events through the following methods:


His Inner Gift advantage, Lesser Prophecy, gives him occasional dreams of the future.
His Divination skill (normally 8k7 vs. TN 15 but easily boosted to 10k10+++ for higher TNs) can be used to read omens.
The Visions of the Future spell will show him symbolic images of future events.
Ring of the Void allows him to ask questions of the Void Dragon, which knows "all that can be known".

Like all good diviners, the Blind Prophet has considerable ability to glean knowledge about the present. He discerns information about present events through the following methods:


By the Light of Lord Moon and Sense Void allow awareness of nearby objects and creatures.
He can discern hidden attributes of people and objects via Drink of Your Essence, See Through Lies, and Reflections of P'an Ku
He can learn secrets by reading minds with Echoes in the Void.
He can scry on distant people and places with Boundless Sight, and Dominion of Suitengu
He can can utilize Moment of Clarity and Altering the Course to roll 10k10+++ when using information-gathering skills like Calligraphy (cipher), Courtier, Investigation, Hunting (tracking), Commerce, and Sailing (navigation).
Ring of the Void allows him to ask questions of the Void Dragon, which knows "all that can be known".

The Prophet can explore the past as well. He dredges up past information using the following methods.


He can capture memories of past events from those who would conceal them, reading minds with Echoes in the Void.
He can read the history of objects using Read the Essence.
He can tap into the vast body of accumulated human knowledge, utilize Moment of Clarity and Altering the Course to roll 10k10+++ when using Lore Skills to answer questions on any subject. Augmented with a single casting of Drawing the Void, he can reliably hit TN 85 even on skills in which he has no ranks. If an answer can be obtained through use of a Lore Skill, he can obtain it.
Ring of the Void allows him to ask questions of the Void Dragon, which knows "all that can be known".

How about combat? The Prophet does not seek combat, but for a blind man he's surprisingly capable of defending himself. When in dangerous areas, he uses Altering the Course+Silent Waters to ensure that when danger threatens, he can quickly burn through his immense Void pool to cast powerful spells quickly. He utilizes the following defenses:


Armor of Earth provides protection from minimally threatening opponents, such as muggers, drunken samurai, or the like.
Moment of Clarity can provide him with 7 ranks in skills like Defense or Jiujutsu as needed.
Void Strike deals enough damage to quickly incapacitate dangerous foes, such as most enemy samurai.
Unmake the World will eliminate dire threats such as powerful enemy samurai, oni, enemy shugenja, or most anything else short of a divine being.

Unmake the World is also an effective, if unsubtle, method for bypassing barriers, "disarming" opponents, and generally removing inconvenient objects,

An interesting "trick" the Prophet has, is that because uses of Drawing the Void stack, Drawing the Void + Altering the Course allows him to achieve arbitratily high skill rolls if given a minute or two to prepare, especially if used in conjunction with Divide the Soul. The Prophet can theoretically post skill results in the hundreds or thousands with abuse of these spells.

Asako Blind Prophet Stats:
Insight 230, Honor 4.5
Fire 3, Air 2 (Awareness 3), Earth 3, Water 4, Void 7
Advantages: Absolute Direction, Ishiken-Do, Inner Gift (Lesser Prophecy)
Disadvantages: Blind
Skills: Calligraphy (cipher) 1, Lore: Theology 1, Lore: History 1, Medicine 1, Meditation 7, Spellcraft 5, Etiquette 5, Artisan: Origami 2, Divination 1, Investigation 5, Perform: Storytelling 2, Sincerity 5, Tea Ceremony 1
Spells:
L1: Sense, Commune, Summon, Boundless Sight, Drawing the Void, See Through Lies, Reflections of Pan Ku, Reversal of Fortunes, By the Light of Lord Moon, Armor of Earth, Sense Void
L2: Altering the Course, Drink of Your Essence
L3: Echoes in the Void, Moment of Clarity, Read the Essence, Visions of the Future
L4: Void Strike, Dominion of Suitengu
L5: Divide the Soul
L6: Ring of the Void, Unmake the World

The Toritaka Spiritbinder, a Kuni Shugenja Minionmancer
The Toritaka Spiritbinder was deeply in tune with the spirit world from a young age, like many in his family. He studied with the Kuni and learned to put his gift with spirits to use in defense of the Wall, trapping and dismissing shadowlands monsters. A powerful defender, he unlocked a new level of magic when his interest in spirits led him to experiment with interactions between Air magic and Void magic, a subject usually not closely explored by the Kuni. Shortly after, disaster struck. On the night of a full moon, a swarm of mujina erupted from his tower and wreaked havoc through the Kuni wastes. After much divination, the Spiritbinder confronted these mujina and were surprised when they obeyed him! He realized that he had bound them during a Moon-inspired fit of madness and genius. Quickly he realized the tactical value of his discovery. Spiritbinding could reinforce the depleted ranks of Crab defenders, and utilizing spirits as shock troops and reinforcements could save many crab lives. Being a) ruthlessly practical, and b) not a nice man, he quickly set about building an army of spirits.

Although the Toritaka bushi school is part of the optional rules in the Book of Water and the Toritaka Spiritbinder is built without optional rules, I encourage you to compare the Spiritbinder to his bushi compatriot and judge which would be a more useful addition to a party that expects to be opposing spirits.

The Toritaka Spiritbinder is a minionmancer, a caster who focuses on accumulating and commanding as many minions as possible. If you're organized about it, you can easily keep 50-100 spirits under your control at once. His primary binding technique is as follows:


Acquire from the Kuni a crystal hoop. A loop of chain made from crystal links is acceptable (the crystal part is really just for flavor).
Cast Earth Kami's Blessing, Essence of Earth (with four raises), Reversal of Fortunes, and Altering the Course on himself.
Cast Symbol of Earth on the chain(taking 4 raises for increased damage) with an effective Earth of 9, spending 4 Void Points. Spellcasting roll is 21k14, reduced to 10k10+30, rolling twice and taking the better of the two results. This produces an extremely effective symbol: It resists passage with an Earth of 9, inflicts knockdown/stun with a TN to resist of approximately 90, and deals 7k3 to any Tainted creature that attempts to pass it.
May be dazed for 1 round from use of Void Points. Once recovered, lay the loop of chain on the ground, forming a ring.
Cast Call the Spirit to summon a spirit creature into the ring. He prefers to summon mujina, kappa, hengeyokai, kitsune, tanuki, gaki, spirits from the Realm of Slaughter, baku, baku No Oni, or nezumi transcendents.
Ideally, the creature is trapped within the ring. Few spirits can make either a contested Earth roll vs. Earth 9 or a Strength check vs. TN 90. Those that can are probably best not called in the first place.
Cast Bonds of Ningen-Do (with 4 raises for increased duration) to bind the spirit, compelling it to obey him. He can bind any of the above creatures.
Cast Symbol of Earth on the chain to free the spirit, which is now his servant.
Periodically, he will gather his spirit servants together and rebind them with Bonds of Ningen-Do, taking 4 raises for additional targets so he can rebind them three at a time.


The Spiritbinder is also your go-to man for anything involving the Spirit Realms.


He has many relevant knowledge skills to answer basic questions.
He can call up a denizen of any spirit realm and ask it more obscure questions.
He can sense spirits nearby using Sense Void.
He can banish a spirit with Bonds of Ningen-Do or Draw Closed the Veil.
He can trap a spirit with Minor Binding, Major Binding, or Prison of Earth.

The spiritbinder is also handy to have around in a fight.


He always has a handful of clever spirits around who can scout for a party, such as mujina, gaki, or hengeyokai. This makes his group difficult to surprise.
He also maintains a handful of gaki, kappa or slaughter spirits as bodyguards, and can order them into combat unless the odds are "obviously suicidal".
If anticipating trouble, he can directly buff his allies with Fires of Purity or Katana of Fire. His spells deal +1k1 damage to Tainted targets.
In battle against ground-bound opponents, he prefers to cast Rise, Earth, then activate Silent Waters/Embrace of Kenro-Ji-Jin to sink beneath the earth, where he can concentrate on maintaining the Earth kami in complete safety. His earth kami deals +1k1 damage to Tainted targets.
In battle against aerial opponents, he uses Earth Becomes Sky to strike down flyers. His boulders can easily be made Jade to bypass reduction, and deal +1k1 damage to Tainted targets.

The Toritaka's spirit minions are useful for a variety of other purposes as well, such as:


Sending messages (sparrow hengeyokai)
Midnight assassinations (shozai-gaki)
Safely triggering traps (mujina)
Creating illusions (kappa)
Handling unclean things with no honor loss (any spirit)
Cast spells for the party (Tsuno soultwister, shugenja spirit from the realm of slaughter)

So, if you're in the Shadowlands, or the Shinomen Mori, and you expect to face supernatural foes, who would you rather have to back you up: a Toritaka bushi, or the Toritaka Spiritbinder?

Spiritbinder stats:
Insight 230, Honor 2.5
Fire 2 (Intelligence 3), Air 4, Earth 6, Water 3, Void 4
Advantages: Ishiken-Do, Favored of the Elements (Earth)
Disadvantages: Lord Moon's Curse 3, Touch of the Void
Skills: Calligraphy (cipher) 1, Defense 1, Lore: Shadowlands 5, Lore: Theology 2, Spellcraft 5, Jiujutsu 2, Lore: Ghosts 5, Lore: Spirit Realms 5, Etiquette 5, Sincerity 5, Perform: Oratory 1
Spells:
L1: Sense, Commune, Summon, Minor Binding, Fires of Purity, Katana of Fire, Reversal of Fortunes, Sense Void
L2: Earth Becomes Sky, Embrace of Kenro-Ji-Jin, Altering the Course
L3: Bonds of Ningen-Do, Earth Kami's Blessing, Silent Waters
L4: Essence of Earth, Symbol of Earth, Draw Closed the Veil, Call the Spirit
L5: Major Binding
L6: Prison of Earth, Rise Earth

TT (Tamori Tank) - A shugenja bruiser who tanks better than a Hida bushi
There was a time when it seemed no L5R CCG expansion pack was complete without a card depicting a well-endowed Tamori shugenja who could kick your ever-loving ass without so much as chipping a well-manicured nail, but couldn't seem to walk down the street without a wardrobe malfunction. In homage to those lovely ladies, I present Double T, the Tamori Tank.

TT has two basic purposes: to kick ass, and chew bubble gum. Unfortunately for her foes, it looks like she's fresh out of gum.

At her basic level, TT fights adequately. Her Excessively Cool-Looking Masakari (TM) deals considerable damage while leaving one hand free to hold a potion or scroll, or to tug up the plates of her Extremely Revealing Heavy Armor if it threatens to slip and expose one of the female regions that isn't Immune to All Damage. While unbuffed, her vital statistics, ahem, include:

1. 8k4 to hit with her masakari, 6k4 damage, ignores 2 reduction and heals 5 Wounds whenever she kills an opponent.
2. Reduction 5, Armor TN 30, 44 in Defense stance, 30+(10k4/2) in Full Defense stance.
3. +5 ft. move in any stance, may take 1 simple action in full defense, movement is unaffected by difficult terrain.
4. -1k1 elemental damage from spells, reduce Wound penalties by 3

However, she's a shugenja, so she's all about casting a few spells and then doin' some choppin'. Because the Tamori can prepare potions of their highest level spells, she can buff very quickly by using potions.

Note that the rules for potion-making are very vague, so I made several assumptions:


Crafting a potion requires a Spellcasting roll, which works just like it would when normally casting the spell.
If casting the spell requires making decisions, those decisions must be made when the potion is crafted.
Spells that explicitly target a single creature can be made into potions, even if their Effect is simply "target".
If a spell includes the option to target extra creatures with raises, that's not an option when making a potion of the spell.


If you play a Tamori shugenja, be sure to work with your GM to determine the range of a thrown potion, as the designers have neglected to include one.

TT's standard buff routine is:


Round 1: Drink Power of the Earth Dragon and The Kami's Strength potions.
Round 2: Activate Reversal of Fortunes via Silent Waters. Split some skulls.

Her buffed stats are:


10k10+8 to hit with masakari, 10k4 damage, reroll one roll per round
Reduction 25, damage shield absorbs 140 Wounds

She utilizes a number of techniques unique to the Tamori shugenja school, including:


My Eyes Are Up Here: Take two raises to distract opponent, deal extra damage (functions as feint)
Watch Where You Put That Thing: Take three raises to separate opponent from his weapon (functions as disarm)
I'm With Him: Take penalty to protect ally, functions as guard
You Made Me Chip a Nail!: Initiate vicious catfight (functions as extra damage)
Stilletto-Heeled Battle-Boot Stomp Attack: 2 or 4 raises to kick target prone (functions as knockdown)



By itself, that's enough to seriously ruin most people's day, but she has other options on the table:


Declare Full Defense, drink a potion of Stand Against the Waves, and attack anyway.
Declare Full Defense, drink a potion of Path to Inner Peace, and heal ~60 Wounds.
Declare Full Defense, drink a potion of Force of Will, and ignore all Wounds completely for 4 rounds.
Declare Full Defense, drink a potion of Fires of Purity, and buff damage to 10k9.


Against extremely dangerous foes, she can call upon other options, including:


Declare Defense stance and shoot down archers and flyers with Earth Becomes Sky
Declare Defense stance and cast The Kami's Strength (for +6 Reflex), The Kami's Will (for protection against spells), Essence of Earth (for 57 bonus wounds), or Armor of the Emperor (reduce all damage dice by 6) to better defend herself from hard-hitting foes.
Cast Katana of Fire to create a weapon capable of bypassing some types of reduction

When she knows she'll be going into a battle where she'll be outnumbered, TT prefers to cast Ever-Changing Waves and shapeshift into a combat form with multiple attacks. Some forms can drink potions with modest difficulty, other forms will force her to rely on an ally to toss a potion at her. Benefits include:


Unicorn War Dog (with Kami's Strength): Attack 10k10 (simple), damage 10k2, Swift 2, Scent, Charge Attack
Utaku Battle Steed (with Kami's Strength): Attack 10k10 (simple), damage 10k2, Swift 3, Fear 2 when charging, Huge
Falcon (with Kami's Strength): Attack 10k10 (simple), damage 10k3, Flight, Swift 5, Blinding Attack

The falcon form's Blinding Attack is particularly effective against archers and shugenja, as such foes have difficulty targeting attacks when they cannot see. If TT has time to buff her falcon form with a potion of Fires of Purity, boosting her damage to 10k8, she can easily deal enough damage to permanently rip/burn the eyes out of any target tough enough to survive taking 90+ damage from the two attacks.

This is an impressive damage-dealing capability, but you'll recall that TT is called the Tamori TANK. Her primary objective is to take the heat off of her allies and draw it onto herself. For this reason, she is generally disinclined to use an animal form, as it limits her ability to cast spells (the falcon form is particularly vulnerable to damage). She has a couple of options for limiting the mobility of foes, the better to force them to engage her and not her allies:


Grasp of Earth is the premier spell for this purpose, and she can lock down up to three foes at a time. It works even better if she pre-buffs with Essence of Earth.
If exploring an uninhabited area, and all of her allies are shugenja and are able to fly or move beneath the Earth, Earthquake is highly effective, knocking all foes prone and stunning them with no chance to resist. She can walk among them and coup-de-grace them with impunity while they're helpless, recasting Earthquake as necessary to maintain her lockdown.
Be the Mountain will protect an ally with reduction 20, simultaneously preventing harm and making the ally a less attractive target.

Of course, being a shugenja with a Kit of Battle-Resistant Makeup is about more than kicking ass and taking names (although it certainly does include those things). TT can scout in falcon form, heal the wounded, buff and protect allies, create magic weapons for those who need them, render allies briefly immune to death via Wound damage, and do the usual sensing, communing, and summoning that people expect from a shugenja. Plus, she's dead sexy in her Kimono of Barely Averted Wardrobe Malfunction.

All in all, not bad for a tank, eh?

Double-T's stats:
Insight 230, Honor 4.5
Fire 3 (Agility 4), Air 3 (Reflexes 4), Earth 5, Water 4, Void 4
Advantages: Blood of Osano-Wo, Daredevil, Strength of the Earth, Touch of the Spirit Realms (Gaki-Do)
Disadvantages: Brash, Insight (Divination)
Gear: Extremely Revealing Heavy Armor, Kimono of Barely Averted Wardrobe Malfunction, Impractical Combat Stilleto Heels, Excessively Cool-Looking Masakari, Kit of Battle-Resistant Makeup
Skills: Athletics 7, Calligraphy (cipher) 1, Defense 7, Divination 1, Lore: Theology 1, Medicine 1, Spellcraft 5, Etiquette 1, Investigation 2, Sincerity 2, Battle 5, Heavy Weapons 4, Meditation 3
Spells:
L1: Sense, Commune, Summon, Fires of Purity, Katana of Fire, Reversal of Fortunes, Path to Inner Peace
L2: Be the Mountain, Earth Becomes Sky, Grasp of Earth, Stand Against the Waves, Force of Will, Call Upon the Wind
L3: Silent Waters
L4: Essence of Earth, Armor of the Emperor
L5: Earthquake, The Kami's Strength, The Kami's Will, Power of the Earth Dragon, Ever-Changing Waves
Potions Prepared:
Path to Inner Peace potion (heals ~60 each), 2
Stand Against the Waves potion, 2
The Kami's Strength potion (reduction 20, +8 Agility and Strength), 2
Power of the Earth Dragon potion (absorbs 140), 2
Force of Will (duration 4 rounds), 1
Call Upon the Wind (duration 5 minutes), 3
Fires of Purity (+6k2 wounds), 3

The Big Dice
2010-10-01, 11:05 AM
Some Big Bad Builds
You should show the guys over on the AEG forums these builds,. They'd be horrified that their carefully balanced and just a bit bland 4th edition game could be so horrifically abused. And they complain about the Akodo over there!

jiriku
2010-10-01, 11:06 AM
That would amuse me. Where are the AEG forums?

The Big Dice
2010-10-01, 11:16 AM
They can be found here (http://www.alderac.com/forum/index.php?sid=0254acdb70f8fb877f8e7bb1bafbba12).

cupkeyk
2010-10-06, 12:52 AM
Hi Thanks for teh awesome advise? Could you show what bayushi Bastard looks like at character generation?

The Big Dice
2010-10-06, 08:40 AM
Hi Thanks for teh awesome advise? Could you show what bayushi Bastard looks like at character generation?

A Bayushi looks much like anyone else, except in a mask. Daft tradition if you ask me, how are you supposed to do things like eat or drink without taking the thing off? But I ramble.

The difference between a Bayushi and everyone else shouldn't be in the numbers. Yes, a Bayushi might have a penchant for Low skills, or be a super smooth studmuffin. BUt the real difference isn't in the numbers, or in the way you play. It's in what everyone else thinks you might do to get your desired result.

jiriku
2010-10-06, 11:37 PM
At char-gen,
I recommend you aim for Air 3 and Void 3. You want as many ranks as you can get in Courtier, Etiquette, Sincerity, and Investigation. Temptation and Intimidation are nice-to-have but not essential.

Ask your GM if you can defer purchasing Ishiken-Do until you're close to achieving IR2: it's dead weight in a starting game because you don't get to pick any Void spells until you level up. If your GM says no, then suck it up and take Ishiken-Do during character creation - you gotta have it.

Your spell choice at level 1 must include Benten's Touch, which is your primary courtier spell. Cast it whenever you expect to be making social rolls. Other choices are pretty much up to you, although I favor Whispering Winds, Reversal of Fortunes, and Fires of Purity.

After char-gen,
You'll eventually want to boost your Agility and Stealth, and take the Stealth (spellcasting) emphasis but that can wait until IR2 or IR3. Get your Courtier, Etiquette, Sincerity, Investigation, and Spellcraft up to rank 5 so you can benefit from the rank 5 mastery techniques. Improving Meditation to at least 3 is not a bad idea either, as Meditation 3 allows you to pick up 2 VP per half hour of Meditation. Meditating twice a day at strategic points effectively gives you +4 VP, which is a big benefit for a pretty small investment of XP!

Every time you level up, I recommend you learn 2 Void spells and 1 spell of another element. Alternately, you might front-load this slightly by picking up 3 Void spells at IR 2, 2 at IR 3, 1 at IR4, and 2 at IR5.

Drawing the Void should be the first Void spell you learn -- with it you can afford to spend Void Points all over the place, making you instantly better at everything you do. Non-Void spells should include Rejuvenating Vapors (free spell slots woo!), Silent Waters, Haze of Battle, and Cloud the Mind (pretty much in that order). Don't take all of these spells right away, however -- I recommend you pick up at least 2 Void spells at each level, because the Void spells are soooo good for a courtier.

Make sure you develop a strong Stealth (spellcasting) / Agility roll before taking spells that involve mind-reading, mind-control, and debuffing the target, because you DON'T want to get caught using them. Use Stealth to conceal your spellcasting from most targets, and use Silent Waters or the Soshi technique to conceal your casting from observant people, like those pesky Kitsuki investigators and Seppun guardsmen.