[Legend of the 5 Rings 4th Edition] What Experience and Insight Rank to start at?

[Nautilust]

I'm starting a L5R game with two players. We are new to the system and setting however have roleplayed for several years using various systems, my two players having started with 1st Edition D&D.

Normally I would start out at the recommended starting experience, however I wanted to try my hand at something different. I want my players to be able to make schemes and decisions that could very well affect the Empire as a whole without making novice mistakes and ruining everything. I am going to use the optional Daimyo rules. And I was wondering how much experience and what Insight Rank would be befitting of a well-rounded, experienced Daimyo of Status 5 or higher?

In addition I was wondering what suggestions if any I should make while my players are making their characters?

[BWR]

If you are all new to the setting, never mind the system, I strongly recommend you start small. Low-ranking, low power and influence characters with a limited scope so you can learn the setting and it intricacies gradually. You will makie mistakes along the way but the less power you have the less chance there is of whatever setting-inappropriate actions you take of being too disruptive. The system can't stop players and GMs from making mistakes or getting stuff wrong, and the more power and influence the characters have the worse the consequences in game.

That said, if you insist on following this path, the general idea is:
Rank 1 - noob
Rank 2 - experienced
Rank 3 - veteran
Rank 4-5 - unusually skilled
Rank 6+ - exceptionally skilled

Most people end their careers around rank 3, even after decades of service. I would say a skilled person of any status could start at this rank, but they will have several years of notable service and seriously hard training behind them.

[Faily]

First of all, I hope you will have fun with L5R. It is one of my favourite settings to play in! :smallsmile:

Now, onto the meat of the matter:
I almost always recommend new players and groups to start with the Topaz Championship (http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Topaz_Champion), which is the most glorious and prestigious coming-of-age ceremony arranged as a tournament. The reason why is that because the PCs are not still considered adults, they can get away with several more flubs and failings for not meeting expected behaviour, and from a mechanical standpoint it allows for everyone to get a good grasp of the system and their Techniques.

This would be with the starting 40 Experience points. Normally, I like to give an amount of XP (10-15) that can only be spent on specific Advantages, so as to make them worthy of attending such an event. Since you want them to be movers and shakers, this could be spent for Social Position (status), Fame (glory), Allies, etc... many of these Advantages also provide additional Duty Points for the various Positions you can choose in Way of the Daimyo. Give them XP generously for the tournament. The tournament is also an excellent starting point for introducing important NPCs and the seeds of your plot - lots of important people attend the Championship as guests, as the Emperor usually comes to see it too. And that always draws a crowd.

I've only used the Way of the Daimyo rules in Emerald Empire once. I'm not a huge fan of it, as I tend to just want to gloss over such details, but if your group does not mind a little mechanics to support their ventures into managing domains and important positions, that's cool. I think what I mostly don't like about it is the Ambassador Position, but that is more my personal opinion of the optional social combat rules it introduces. But if you only have 2 players, it's easier to just avoid it all together if they go for any of the other options. :smallbiggrin:

Also, while Rokugan is canonicly a very rigid society with lots of rules that most players aren't expected to remember, it is your game and you are free to be as fast and loose with the setting as you want. So I wouldn't be too worried about them ruining everything, unless these two players tend to be murderhobos. :smallwink:

[CarpeGuitarrem]

If you are all new to the setting, never mind the system, I strongly recommend you start small. Low-ranking, low power and influence characters with a limited scope so you can learn the setting and it intricacies gradually. You will makie mistakes along the way but the less power you have the less chance there is of whatever setting-inappropriate actions you take of being too disruptive. The system can't stop players and GMs from making mistakes or getting stuff wrong, and the more power and influence the characters have the worse the consequences in game.

And I mean...that sort of chaos can be fun in a campaign, but it's more likely to be overwhelming, bewildering, and will quite possibly spoil your opinion of the game.