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View Full Version : Player Help L5R Building a Kuni Shugenja Help!!!!



AzureShin
2015-03-13, 06:49 PM
So I've more or less gotten the hang of making a Bushi of a few different types but right now what the party needs is a Shugenja. Also considering we are fighting things that require the use of Jade i have decided to go the Kuni Shugenja route focusing on the Earth Ring and heals. The first build i sent my GM he said wasnt very good because i had too many skills and a Shugenja should be trait heavy. The second one i sent him was trait heavy and he said it was garbage. He keeps telling me to read the text but I've been over how to cast spells a bunch of times and i just feel like i'm missing something major. I normally hate (and i mean HATE) playing spellcasters but this is what the party needs right now so i'm up for doing it. But i need desperate help. Please help me make a solid Kuni Shugenja build focusing on Earth ring and Heals. Its a 70 point buy system (since we're already quite a ways into the campaign) 80 with disadvantages. Please help me.

BWR
2015-03-14, 03:51 AM
This is 4e I assume.

It would help if we could see your attempted builds as well.
But yeah, shugenja are Ring heavy. Earth is obvious for Kuni and since you want to heal you'll need Water (which also has some of the best support spells you can find). Being so focused on Rings you'll not be able to focus on Skills that much, so I would pick only two, maybe three, that you have a decent rank in and just ignore the others. Medicine sounds like what you need if you want to be a healer.
So I'd start by buying Earth, Water and Void to 3 (always buy Void 3 ASAP), leaving you with 16 points. Medicine 3 leaves you with 10. At this point your Insight should be 140. I doubt your GM will allow you to skill farm those last 10 insight, so I'd put your points into Advantages and use what's remaining to increase your other Skills like Defense or Calligraphy.

Some useful Advantages to consider:
Forbidden Knowledge (Maho) is very appropriate for a Kuni, but it's pricey (5 points) so it really depends on how much you want to play up the Kuni part and how common maho is going to be in your game. Personally, I allow Kuni to purchase that skill without the advantage so if it sounds like something you want, you might ask your GM.
Luck is always good and cheap at 3 points per re-roll.
If the game is going to feature a lot of Taint, Touch of the Spirit Realms (Tengoku) can be invaluable.
Battle Healing, from Book of Water costs 5 points and is almost a must for healers, since it allows you to sacrifice two non-Water spell slots to heal one Wound rank. Use those useless Air slots for something good.

Disadvantages:
Whatever you like. I always enjoy Obtuse Crab, and I would advise against Momoku.

Ancestors: Kuni is the obvious choice. I'm a bit less than impressed with how Ancestors are handled in 4e, what with them being pricey, often unreasonable restrictions and sometimes limited usefulness, but this one isn't too bad.

Spells:
Jade Strike. This one is non-negotiable since you're a Kuni.
I suggest either Jurojin's Balm or Earth Becomes Sky. For your last spell, whatever. Armor of Earth and Earth's Stagnation are good ones, but choose what you like.
Fire: anything goes, really. I like Fires of Purity and Fury of Osano-wo but it doesn't matter either way
Water: Path to Inner Peace, obviously.

Good luck.

Faily
2015-03-14, 08:26 AM
Going for Earth 4 is sadly unoptimal for the amount of points you have. Earth 3, Water 3 and Void 3 is where you should go, as Void gives you spell slots to be used for any element. Air can go get bent for all you care. If you feel short on points, Void 3 should take precedence over Water 3.

Spellcasting in L5R can seem a bit tricky for those coming from systems like D&D, but it's actually pretty easy. You roll School Rank + Ring and keep your Ring in results. Your Affinity will make your School Rank count as 1 higher for that element. So casting Jade Strike for you (not counting Kuni Shugenja-bonuses) as a Rank 2 Shugenja would then be 6k3 vs a TN 10. 4E lowered the spellcasting TNs from previous editions by 5, making it easier.

Apart from Medicine 3, following skills are useful:
- Spellcraft. At rank 5, you gain +1k0 to all spellcasting rolls.
- Meditation. TN 20 to recover lost Void points, at rank 3 you regain 2 for successful Meditation.
- Lore: Shadowlands.
- If you want to farm Insight, Courtier and Etiquette 3 both gives +3 Insight on rank 3 (effectively giving 6 insight for 6 points each).


For spells:
EARTH: Jade Strike, Armor of Earth, and something to buff the party/heal the party.
FIRE: Fires of Purity. Best ML1 Fire spell. It's amazing.
WATER: Path to Inner Peace is the bomb.