Looking advise for my L5r campaign

[Spanish_Paladin]

Hi everybody, here is the thing: I´ll begin with the second chapter of my campaign of Legend of the five rings, my players will be "rewarded" with the title of esmerald magistrates in Ryoko Owari, the richest city of the empire and by far the worst den of crime. I have four players, three of them are veterans and i already build personal plots for them, but the fourth player is a newbie, in the first chapter i could see that he enjoys the action scenes but i couldn´t catch him in the social ones. I am thinking plots that he could enjoy but if you could advise me i´d be very grateful :)

By the way, the character of this player is a shinjo bushi.

[BWR]

First of all, what time period is this?
Are the Unicorn in (nominal) control of RO?
Is it before that time, or have the Scorpion regained control?

Are all the PCs EMs or just one and the other are yoriki?

Anyway, since the player is a newbie, perhaps his branch of the Shinjo family (he's Shinjo, right? not just Shinjo bushi?) is not quite as reintegrated with the rest of the empire as most are, so he lacks a bit of understanding of the norms and politics of the empire and RO. This would be an excellent opportunity to get the player into the setting and the importance of politics.

If this PC is like most Shinjo, he's open, honest and inquisitive. As an EM or yoriki to an EM he has a lot of social weight to fling about. People will be respectful and try to curry favor. So everything starts off well.
But this is Ryoko Owari.

Investigating a moderately routine crime, smuggling or something, his superior comes in and takes over the investigation. He soon finds out that the matter was quietly closed and ignored. Perhaps a worker comes and tells him that the smuggling is still going on. Confronting his superior, he is told the matter is handled, with some subtext that he should keep his nose out of business that doesn't concern him.
If he persists, he will get direct orders, perhaps some accidents.

Now you have an excelllent start to a story. Traditional Western sensibilities about the straight cop in crooked country, traditional samurai drama about loyalty to your lord/superior versus honor and law.
Want it even more personal, make an NPC he cares about, especially if he has children, then have him be blackmailed to keep quiet or have something nasty happen to them.

[Spanish_Paladin]

I set my campaign in the original period (reign of Hantei XXXVIII). The scorpions owns the city with Shosuro Hyobu as governor.

All the character are esmerald magistrates, a political reward for hunting down Asahina Yajinden.

Yeah, in fact i recommended him to be an unicorn since they usually ignores some customs of the empire and fits better with someone who nerver have played L5r. His character is the son of a secondary branch of the Shinjo family.

I like what you are suggesting, a "good cop in a bad city" scenario (like Gordon in Gotham) could fit with him. However his superior is a strict honorable lion samurai-ko (Matsu Sigheiko, who also is not in the city, the players are the resident magistrates and only them), and the esmerald champion is not diferent. But I could interfere with his unicorn lord, who can owe favor to Hyobu and the Shosuro, it could get complicated in the background of the opium war (perhaps a three way conflict between Shosuros, Shinjo and Ide?).

I always loved the central conflict of Loyalty/Honor in the samurai soul.

On the personal level, the character has no wife or children. But his respected sensei has opened a dojo in the city, and i am planning to introduce a posible romantic interest in the daugther of the sensei.

On the other hand i have in reserve a vengeful rakasha who doesn´t take well being abandoned in the tomb Iuchiban by that Shinjo, but i can be too hellish for a newbie, Adisabah the Cruel is a too powerful adversary

[BWR]

So don't have his superio be crooked but have him come into jurisdiction problems with other people who are. He goes to investigate a problem, Shosuro Noname comes along, pulls rank and takes over, even if that is slightly irregular, then Shinjo Goodguy hears that nothing really happened. He brings it to Matsu-sama, who either admits that she has had her suspicions of the Scorpion but cannot find testimony, or she refuses to acknowledge that he is a bad egg (maybe he has managed to convince her that he is a good Scorpion, unlike the others).

Getting him involved with an NPC, especially if you can make her likable, then having her threatened, is a good way to get the player involved.

[Spanish_Paladin]

It can work, Shosuro Hyobu is an expert twisting juridiction. Or the esmerald champion may don't want confronting directly the scorpions in a matter that he thinks is of minor importance, but of utmost importance to the player.

[Kaun]

Oww i love the Ryoko Owari box set from 1st ed.

A good one to remember is Shosuro Hyobu seldom grants permission for Iaijutsu duels in Ryoko Owari. Some of my players would often get annoyed with having to wheel and deal through scorpion manipulations and would look for quick ways to solve issues with blood. The difficulty of getting permission to duel was a good way of curbing this way of thinking.

The opium trade wars is always a good one. Having the opium bosses feed info to your magistrate players to get them to destroy the oppositions smuggling networks is always fun.

[Spanish_Paladin]

Yeah, i have a duelist in the group, and he is a bayushi vassal of a rival lord of Hyobu... it'll be fun

In the opium war my shinjo and my tsukai sagasu players surely will join forces with the Ides, the Bayushi with his family and my shugenja Isawa i have no idea XD .

[Kaun]

In the opium war my shinjo and my sukai sagasu players surely will join forces with the Ides, the Bayushi with his family and my shugenja Isawa i have no idea XD .

The Bayushi may be asked to cultivate inroads for a new family driven operation. After all, having a Bayushi emerald magistrate in such a position gives them opportunities that previously may not have been available.

The Isawa might encounter a colleague from home who is convinced that opium is a doorway to a higher understanding. From the outside the Isawa might look like a hopeless addict but some of his writings or vague comments might lead your player to think there is some wisdom to his madness.

If you work the angles right you may be able to play the Shugenja into either aiding this colleague with his "studies" while attempting to discretely hid his dishonorable actions, or attempting to help his colleague in mending his ways and returning to a more honorable path. Or even tempting the Shugenja to risk traveling down the same path themselves, in the hope of new knowledge and power.

[Spanish_Paladin]

Sure, my Bayushi is in a position of privilege .... and danger :smallamused:

The temptation of opium is interesting, specially for someone who values spiritual purity like a shugenja...

[Kaun]

Sure, my Bayushi is in a position of privilege .... and danger :smallamused:

Being a Bayushi you are either in a position of privilege and danger....

or just danger...

[Spanish_Paladin]

We'll see, muahahahaha :nale: