First Time Playing L5R

[HMS Invincible]

Legend of the Five Rings, I've never played it before. This is the new campaign that rose from the ashes of the horrid Masquerade atrocity.Everyone else has played it at least once, and knows more than me, so I feel behind on the optimization curve. What should I train up to get more optimized, and can someone explain the stat system? I would have done this before character creation, but I didn't want to be so rude as to ignore the advice of my fellow players right away.

I was picking stuff that sounded equivalent to a D&D fighter, and I had some rushed advice from the advanced players. They told me to pick Lion clan and Akodo family. I picked up 10 points of disadvantages and 10 advantages. Enemy, Nemesis, some other points of disadvantages.
Then I took magic resistance 6, and 4 points of wealth because I didn't know what to spend advantages on.

I have 2 ranks in all my rings except for agility which is 4, and the clan/school bonuses to perception and agility.
For my skills, they told me to focus on battle (specialty, mass combat), weapon skill, specializes in katanas, and defense, which are all at rank 3. I also have a point in quick draw equivalent.

All my rings are still rank 2 overall, so my insight level is around 110's. How important is upping insight compared to leveling up my stabby skills? I have some leeway since my perception is at 3, so leveling my strength would both up my insight and my stabbing damage. Originally, I was going to up my agility to 5, but they told me that keeping 5 dice of agility is pointless since I can hit people, but it won't kill them. In addition, my TN for armor is so low. I have a TN of 18 to be hit, which is pretty bad despite spending so many points of defense. I was annoyed when I found out that agility=\= dexterity from D&D, so my AC is utterly crap. My damage isn't very high, and my speed is 20, which is pretty lame. I think I get power attack, as a special ability, since I can raise twice to up my damage.

I'm not sure, since the book is very confusing, but I think my to hit is 7k4+4, and my damage is 4k2+2. Roughly, that's about an attack bonus in the 30s and a damage in the teens, not counting explosions or raises. How am I doing so far?

[Satyr]

You want a high Earth Ring. You will be hit from time to time, and you probably want to survive it. That's what Earth is for. You also would like to have Strength of the Earth (advantage) if you don't know what to do with your points; it's a life saver.
Also, Reflexes is as important as Agility; perhaps even more important (except, for some reason, for duelists).
I don't know how your group plays L5R, but usually combats are much rarer than in D&D; they are also much, much deadlier. Likewise, social situations will be much more common, and as such it is mandatory to have at least basic knowledges in the most important social skills - Sincerity, Investigation, Tea Ceremony, those are about as important as your combat skills.

For combat planning, the Defense skill is not that useful; especially as an Akodo Bushi you have a fair chance that you will fight more in the Attack stance where you have no advantage from the skill. Iaijutsu is more useful; so is Kyujutsu.
Keep an eye on Mastery Ranks, they are very useful.

[Toptomcat]

I'm not too experienced with the current edition, but I can tell you this: L5R combat is just so spectacularly deadly that unless you are a Crab in full armor all the time you cannot reasonably to expect to soak even one hit and expect to contribute meaningfully to a combat thereafter, and unless you are a Hare with maxed Reflexes then you cannot reasonably expect to reliably make others miss. Invest resources in going first. Insight and School Rank tend to be quite important.
Additionally, take care to learn the setting as well as the mechanics. L5R isn't terribly forgiving to those who don't grok the setting.

[HMS Invincible]

Well that's not good, I'm the quiet stabby guy and I didn't put any points into etiquette. Hmmm, extra deadly and wound penalties remind me of World of Darkness kind of games. The big on fluff does too.

How's my build so far?

[Toptomcat]

Define 'quiet stabby guy'. If you're actually looking to sneak around and stab people in the back D&D rogue style as an Akodo, your enemies won't have to do a damn thing- your daimyo will have ordered you to cut your own guts out after your first combat encounter.

Yeah, the setting's that important.

[HMS Invincible]

Define 'quiet stabby guy'. If you're actually looking to sneak around and stab people in the back D&D rogue style as an Akodo, your enemies won't have to do a damn thing- your daimyo will have ordered you to cut your own guts out after your first combat encounter.

Yeah, the setting's that important.

We already have a rogue who poisons enemies of the emperor, or stabs them at night. I'm the nontalking leader in combat, so I have to kill people quickly, else I'm not going to be worthy of my title as leader of the group. If I shame myself during combat, that has nasty implications. Therefore, I'd like to be good in combat, and I'm wondering what kind of combat there is.

Here's the scenarios I've thought of:
1. Bandit is caught redhanded>I kill him.
2. Samurai challenges me to a duel> ???
3. Ninjas attack me at night> I die.
4. A large army battle happens> ???
From what I've read, I don't want to be in a single draw duel, since I only have 1 point in that skill. I think 3 ranks in combat makes me a army leader, but I don't know what that entails, probably differs by DM. I'm not going to worry about surprised attacks, I'm a glass cannon, and I'll be dead regardless. Killing "bad" people/monsters with my katana really well was my only goal in this game. I'd like to push that specialty to the limits or rank up some other stuff so I can be useful to the party. I don't want a repetition of my WoD campaign where I specialized in ranged weapons, and never use it.

I think it's fair to assume that katana combat is going to be a large part of the game outside of social situations, which we have 3 characters who can handle that.

Lastly, I've already built my character, so any advice will be for future characters, or salvaging a decent build out of whatever mistakes I've made.

[Toptomcat]

Okay. In that case, here's my basic advice:
7k4+4 is indeed a pretty good attack roll for a starting bushi. Akodo tend to be good at that. You should be making Raises for damage as a matter of course, especially against opponents of entry-level skill/without armor. Also carefully look into the rules for Raising to accomplish things other than straght damage, since you'll usually have the surplus attack to capitalize on it- called shots and the like, maybe even really fancy stuff like disarming. The higher your attack roll is, the more Raises you can make on it. Also see what limits the number of Raises you can make (is it still Void ring?)
If you're a glass cannon, you'll want to invest in the statistic that makes you go first, which is presumably still Reflexes. There should also be an Advantage or two for that purpose.
Insight and School Rank are important. Do invest in raising Rings.
Ninja ambushes will kill more or less *any* lone starting character, don't worry about dying to them.
If a samurai challenges you, I believe you're entitled to choose the circumstances of the duel: while you'll be dinged for Samurai Brownie Points, you're entitled to choose kenjutsu rather than iaijutsu.

[The Big Dice]

L5R is (theoretically) based on a rock-paper-scissors model. That's to say, something that beats one style of character will usually lose to another style. But more important than the style of character you play is an understanding of Rokugani culture.

It's a land of bullies, where he who wins the fight is right. But there are forms that must be followed. Tradition is a force more powerful than law in Rokugan.

1. Bandit is caught redhanded>I kill him.

If he's going to stand there and let himself be killed, sure. No self respecting bandit is going to come quietly, though. They don't have jail in Rokugan. Criminals are routinely tortured into confessing, then punished brutally. Justice must be seen to be done, after all.

Yes, Rokugan is what I would call a Lawful Evil culture.

2. Samurai challenges me to a duel> ???

This depends on the circumstances. There are a lot of grey areas and you can sometimes turn things to your advantage. But in general, if a Kakita or Mirumoto challenges you, you have problems.

3. Ninjas attack me at night> I die.

Everyone does in those circumstances. Solid advice for every L5R character is, pump up your Investigation skill. It can (and will) save your life.

4. A large army battle happens> ???

If you haven't invested in a Battle skill, you're in trouble.

[HMS Invincible]

I got 3 points in perception so I can up my strength to increase my overall Ring/insight. However, is it worth it to up my Intelligence(which pairs with agility) for a bonus to insight? It doesn't really add to my combat, and I currently only have 114 insight.

I got 3 ranks in mass combat, so I should be ok if a large battle happens.

[The Big Dice]

I got 3 points in perception so I can up my strength to increase my overall Ring/insight. However, is it worth it to up my Intelligence(which pairs with agility) for a bonus to insight? It doesn't really add to my combat, and I currently only have 114 insight.

I got 3 ranks in mass combat, so I should be ok if a large battle happens.

It depends on a few things. What School is your character being a major question. 114 is moderately low Insight for a starting character in L5R, but the way the game is put together means that Insight isn't a particularly good way of determining relative character capability.

I'm not certain which edition you're playing, but certainly Water is a good ring for an Akodo to advance in 3rd edition. Agility 4 is more than I'd have gone for on a starting character, but setting it at that level means you won't need to spend any points on it for a very long time.

My suggestion is to get your Kenjutsu and Defense up to 5 as quickly as possible. Work on your Kyujutsu too, using Flesh Cutter arrows exclusively. If you have access to Art of the Duel, the Matsu Duellist Path is one that's well worth checking out, too. Especially if you're playing with the Revised rules.

[HMS Invincible]

I thought I posted it, but I do see how spread out it is.
Akodo family, Lion Clan.
2 points in everything except for 4 agility, and 3 perception for my rings.
I got 3 ranks in battle, weapon skill katana, and defense. 1 rank in everything else. Insight level is 114. Lastly, I got magic resistance 6 points, and 4 points of wealth. That's about it.
It's 3rd edition, revised I think.

[Psyx]

I wouldn't bother with magic resistance, seeing how unusual magic is. There are better things for 6 points of advantages.


Look to buying up a lot of non-combat skills. It's amazingly useful, and gets your Insight up quickly.

Pick your fights. Avoid them if you can.

Make sure that you're either deadly enough to win a Iai-Jitsu duel, or polite enough not to get into one. The second is far cheaper on XP, and far safer.

[Zen Monkey]

Lion aren't really built for duels. Crane, Dragon, and Scorpion will carve you up if you get baited into a duel. The Lion are the Emperor's Army, his 'right hand,' so they are good at combat and honor, duty, loyalty, etc. Their existence is very much a soldier's life. If challenged, you can always play the card of "my sword is the emperor's, not my own" as though dueling is beneath you and you serve a higher purpose than your own honor (ironically, looking more honorable by doing so).

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

Also, Magic Resistance is a double-edged sword. It protects you from both benevolent magic as well as malevolent. So, while it makes it harder for the maho-tsukai to cast a spell to make you - literally - cough up a lung, it also makes it harder for your Kitsu ally to implore the kami to knit your wounds back together.

You might also look at dialing back the Agility at IR1 from 4 to 3 - you're likely better served spending those sixteen points elsewhere. I would heartily recommend Lore: Bushido at at least 1 Rank, if only because you're an Akodo Bushi - your family and school's founder created the tenets of bushido, so you should know a thing or two about them. Your Perception's good, because it keys off both Investigation and Battle, making two of your special cases below more survivable. You should also think about what your role in the Lion army is - that might help you decide what Skills are important to your character. Crab Hands might be a good selection, as it gives you a familiarity with all weapons. Strength of the Earth is a perennial favorite for bushi, as it lowers Wound penalties - the second tier is the sweet zone, assuming you're playing 3rd Edition. If you're wanting to hit someone faster, you might look into Combat Reflexes, which will allow you to swap Initiative scores with people. Leadership and Tactician are also interesting choices, but often of limited use. Look into these if you see yourself becoming a commander, but if you're fine with being a rank & file soldier, they're of less importance. Earth 3 will be a key goal to begin with, as you can't really fight people if you're dead. Void 3's nice as well, since Void's so damn useful.

As for general techniques, the Akodo Bushi is one of the top tier Schools. You excel at hand-to-hand, and can either ignore Armor or gain Free Raises against opponents. In general, the Free Raise is almost always better, unless you're fighting against Crab in heavy armor. Also, you want to be honorable, since a lot of your Techniques key off that. Increasing your Honor out of the gate would be a good start, and look for ways to be the honorable soldier during play. Honor 5 is a HUGE boon, since your Honor tests are very likely to succeed.

Also, keep in mind that the Rokugani consider the court to be just as much of a battlefield as, well, the battlefield. They won't expect you to be speaking flowery language while you're in full battle regalia - after all, you are Lion, not Crane - when winter comes, and you're stuck in some court for three months, you will be expected to be polite and sociable. It might not be your focus, but you'll eventually want to pick up some Courtier and Etiquette. The Sincerity Emphasis of the latter Skill is especially useful to you - it lets you avoid unpleasant truths while adhering to the tenet of Honesty. You might also look into learning some other sociable skills, like Games or Perform. Storytelling is a honored past time, even among the Lion, and Shogi - a sort of Japanese chess - is almost as respected amongst the Lion as Go.

Wow, I'm longwinded. One last thing: your damage should be 5k2 with a katana - it's a 3k2 weapon, and assuming your Strength is 2, you add that to the rolled dice. Sadly, Strength is the poor red-headed stepchild of L5R, as there's only a few skills that include it, and damage counts them as rolled dice, which can be duplicated with Raises.

[LibraryOgre]

I've got some suggestions... but they lose out once you've created a character. FWIW, I would've probably suggested a Crab or Unicorn... both of them can get away with a bit of brusqueness that gets other clans shunned.

In general, though, build up some of those weak points. Lots of low-level skills contribute to improving your Rank, so spend some XP and RP time picking up a few ranks here and there. Make it part of the RP, and figure out who your guy is, and why he hasn't had these skills before.

For example, in the 1 L5R game I played in, I was playing a Yasuki Merchant/THERE ARE NO NINJAS IN ROKUGAN. I can fake the pseudo-Japanese stuff, and like playing a little slimy, so it worked. However, I had a number of Crab bushi with me... blunt as a tetsubo and about as bright. One of them had a hopeless love trait, and wanted to get her attention. So, while we had downtime (ah, life in Otosan Uchi!), we traded. All morning, he'd help me with my martial skills (dodging, fighting people when not allowed to stab them in the back, etc.), and we'd spend the afternoon teaching him etiquette and poetry... and me chess, because I needed to learn it.

It was, for the most part, a pure stat fiddle for the both of us... we wanted to be a little bit more effective outside of our chosen arena. However, it was good role-playing, and gave our characters a closer tie than "We're from the same clan."

[The Big Dice]

Lion aren't really built for duels. Crane, Dragon, and Scorpion will carve you up if you get baited into a duel. The Lion are the Emperor's Army, his 'right hand,' so they are good at combat and honor, duty, loyalty, etc. Their existence is very much a soldier's life. If challenged, you can always play the card of "my sword is the emperor's, not my own" as though dueling is beneath you and you serve a higher purpose than your own honor (ironically, looking more honorable by doing so).

This is true, but if you;re playing 3rd ed revised and have access to Art of the Duel, the Matsu Duellist path, which is Rank 2 with an entry requirement of any Lion school, is one of the best duelling Paths in the game. You get a bonus equal to your Honour to attack, damage and initiative rolls, as well as extra Focuses in an iaijutsu duel equal to your Honour. And in the revised rules, those bonus Focus attempts can be spent to gain +5 on your next Focus roll.

Get Iaijutsu 5 with the Focus emphasis and you're suddenly a very dangerous duellist.

Also, Magic Resistance is a double-edged sword. It protects you from both benevolent magic as well as malevolent. So, while it makes it harder for the maho-tsukai to cast a spell to make you - literally - cough up a lung, it also makes it harder for your Kitsu ally to implore the kami to knit your wounds back together.

Agreed. As an Akodo, you're better off with Bishamon's Blessing to up your damage output even more. Get an Akodo Blade as well.

For real Akodo cheese, buy a rank of Honour for 3 points, Ebisu's Blessing and an Akodo Blade. Then get yourself a Test of Honour that's rolling 6k6.

As for Magic Resistance, it doesn't work against maho. MR protects against influences from kami, but maho is powered by kansen. They may seem like the same thing, but really, they are very different. The most obvious being, only shugenja can use non maho spells. Which are really prayers to the kami. But anyone can use maho as long as they are willing to make the sacrifice of blood required.

And no, the blood doesn't have to be yours...

You might also look at dialing back the Agility at IR1 from 4 to 3 - you're likely better served spending those sixteen points elsewhere. (Plus lots of other good advice)

As an Akodo, your biggest benefit is that you can hit almost anything and hurt it when you do hit. Agility 3 is fine to start out with. Especially as you've got your Katana emphasis, plus you'll be either ignoring armour or getting a Free Raise and getting another Free Raise on your first attack against an opponent. That's easily turning your base damage from 5k2 to 6k3. And that's before you call any Raises.

If you add in Bishamon's Blessing, you use the bonus Free Raises from your Akodo Rank 1 Technique to add +10 to your attack roll, take 2 Called Raises for damage and get the benefit of three Raises. With no increse to the TN of the roll you have to make.

That's turning your base damage from 5k2 to 7k3 without any real effort.

I'd strongly suggest checking out this page. There's a ton of useful things there, not least of which is the probability chart.

[jiriku]

Which edition of L5R are you playing? Many advantages and disadvantages function differently in 4th edition.

In general, get yourself out of the habit of thinking like a "fighter" or a "rogue". Such things will get you killed. You are a noble, and a servant of your lord. Your particular tactical skills are much less important than your success at advancing your lord's goals. Additionally, L5R characters are much less specialized than D&D characters, and you can't really afford to have a "role" like you would in a D&D party. You can't rely on others to do all of the talking for you -- enemies will notice that you're helpless in any situation where you can't swing a sword at an opponent, and then you are screwed, screwed, screwed.

The two deadliest things in Rokugan are

1) Getting stabbed.
2) Saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Plan to make sure neither of these things happens to you. Armor, Reflexes, and Defense are useful for not getting stabbed. Etiquette and Sincerity are valuable tools for making sure your mouth doesn't get you killed.

In *most* L5R games, combat is much less frequent and much less important to the plot than in D&D. Plan to be able to do things other than kill people, or you'll likely be sitting around bored for much of each game session because you lack the skills to contribute.

[HMS Invincible]

I hate to resurrect an old thread, but L5R isn't talked about much. Btw, this is 3rd edition L5R revised.

We had a really rough encounter that I felt was poorly executed by the GM and me. The setup was pretty simple, "You see 6 archers standing in 3 trees, roll initiative." I decided to send everyone in because it seemed easy enough. Until I realized only 1 of us had athletics or bow skill. None of could climb the tree, or actually fire a bow with reasonable proficiency. =.=

So what was suppose to be a minor encounter turned into a 20 round grueling slog. Pretty much we spent the entire time in full defense or poorly firing arrows at people in trees (fighting uphill, +2 TN for them, -2 TN for us) while our single ninja went around stabbing them. It took a round to move to the tree, another round to climb it, and then 2 rounds to kill the pair of archers in each tree.

Should I buy the Unicorn emphasis on bow fighting so I can use my agility (4) instead of my reflex(2)?
Could I have just retreated and/or sent in the ninja to kill the archers at night? Or is that dishonorable?
Should I up my defense skill(3) so I can actually fire a bow without getting peppered with arrows? What's a good or decent TN to be hit anyway?
Sometimes the ninja in our party, who's secretly dishonorable, disappears and can't take orders very well. What if I took the stealth skill and used it to scout instead?

[The Big Dice]

Should I buy the Unicorn emphasis on bow fighting so I can use my agility (4) instead of my reflex(2)?
Could I have just retreated and/or sent in the ninja to kill the archers at night? Or is that dishonorable?
Should I up my defense skill(3) so I can actually fire a bow without getting peppered with arrows? What's a good or decent TN to be hit anyway?
Sometimes the ninja in our party, who's secretly dishonorable, disappears and can't take orders very well. What if I took the stealth skill and used it to scout instead?

Reflexes 2 is very, very bad for a bushi character. And a reasonable TN for a rank 1 character is 26. That's 15 from Reflexes 3, 5 from Light armour and 6 from Defense 3.

As for the Yomanri emphasis, get it. You won't get any extras for having an emphasis for the type of bow you use, but you will get the Yomanri bonus added to your rolls, plus the extra dice from your Agility. If you're rolling 3k2 now, with a skill of 1 and a Reflexes of 2, you'd be rolling 4k5+1 with the emphasis.

The ninja thing is tricky. Are you willing to live with the consequences, which could include loss of Honour at the least and sepukku at the worst? That's the difference between L5R and most other games.

[Kyuu Himura]

There are no ninjas, that's a peasant tale, are you a peasant?? Thats what I thought. No ninjas. No. Ninjas.

That being said, if that nice scorpion courtier who keeps dissapearing all the time just goes out for a night walk and happens to run into the bandids camp, and then they happen to appear dead the next morning.... it's not of your business and you have no testimony and no evidence (these Kitsuki, they're never satisfied with what they hear ) to tell that your friend the scorpion had anything to do with that. And there are no ninjas.

Back to not-ninja-related-things, As a Bushi you want:
-Agility 4 and Reflexes 4 ---> so you hit often, but don't get hit often.
-Void 3 ----> for everyting.
-Earth 3~4------> so when you get hit, you have a chance to not die.
-weapon skill 5 and defense skill 5 -----> a free rise when using your weapon, +10 TN to be hit, -5 to wound penalties when fighting with your weapon, +5 to your total defense rolls, one more miscellaneous ability from your weapon mastery, I heavily recommend Kenjutsu (aka: swordsmanship) because you get to spend void in damage rolls with swords.

As an Akodo, you additionally want:
High Water (AKA, high strenght and perception) ----> you will move faster and you will hit more often and harder.
High Honor -----> you will be better at everything (honor rolls) and you will hit harder and more often.
High Battle Skill -------> Akodo One-Eye, the family founder, literally wrote the book about battle tactics, so people kinda expect you to be a decent tactician.

And to not be de one dimensional stabber you want at least one rank in:
- Investigation
- Etiquette
- Any Lore skill
- Maybe an artisan skill

And most importantly: COMMON SENSE, if you feel you should shut up, do so, if you feel you should stabb, look at where you are, how friendly are the locals to you, to your clan, to your family, and to your companions, how many other armed guys are there, how many of thoe are samurai, etc.

As for Rokugan, you should know:
Authority = ass kicking, people in positions of power often deserve those positions and if they have more authority, then their word is taken as truth until someone with greater authority puts it in doubt or some really solid, really unquestionable evidence is presented. By a profesional invesigator. Affiliated to the Dragon.

Shadowlands = bad, in fact, so bad that it is a breach of etiquette to speak about it when there are no monster threats around you.

Duels are the way to go: Rokugani don't believe that you are right because you win, they believe that you win because you are right, so, if you don't think you can win against someone, it is probably best not to upset them, not frontally at least. Also, in any kind of duel, the party being challenged is the one in right of picking what form does the duel take. If you are challenged, pick kenjutsu, that's probably your best shot. If you challenge, mock him until he picks the thing you want to pick, it works, really.

Justice: As I told you, testimony is the first tool of justice in Rokugan. When you are found guilty of something, you either prove them wrong real fast and real convincing or cut your stomach. If the crime is too serious, then you will be executed. For peasants, punishment goes from public beating to execution, as they have no honor to save, anyway.

[The Big Dice]

<Some Good Suggestions.>

Traits at 4 are expensive. Rings at 4 are extremely expensive. You can get away without having them until Rank 3 easily. especially in a school like Akodo. My advice is to get your Reflexes, then Void, then Earth to 3. The Akodo's biggest weakness is it's lack of initiative or defensive ability.

When it comes to the party ninja, call him a scout and treat him like a military scout. It's basically the same thing, but to a Lion, the difference between a shinobi and a scout is the difference between a valuable comrade and an execution.

[The Glyphstone]

Great Modthulhu: Thread Necromancy by 4 days, but I'll let it stay open while discussion persists.

[The Big Dice]

By four days? Wow, that was close.

[Psyx]

Should I buy the Unicorn emphasis on bow fighting so I can use my agility (4) instead of my reflex(2)?

No. Why would you go grovelling to another clan to learn their secrets of archery which were inspired by barbarians. Have you no respect for a thousand years of your ancestor's tradition.
The arrow knows the way. If you need to resort to 'aiming', you lack insight.

Could I have just retreated and/or sent in the ninja to kill the archers at night? Or is that dishonorable?

Do you know he's a ninja? If you do, then letting him LIVE is dishonourable, and it's your duty to kill him. Even if not... cowering away from some peasants in trees until nightfall, when you send someone to murder them by stealth? Of course it's dishonourable!

Should I up my defense skill(3) so I can actually fire a bow without getting peppered with arrows? What's a good or decent TN to be hit anyway?

Does Defence skill work like that? You'd be better off in buying some bow skill. A good offence is a good offence!

Sometimes the ninja in our party, who's secretly dishonorable, disappears and can't take orders very well.

If he openly disobeys orders from his superior, then he's very openly dishonourable. Duty is very important in the setting. Order him not to do it.

What if I took the stealth skill and used it to scout instead?

Sneaking around in bushes is no way for a samurai to behave, though. Stealth is a low skill, and its use costs you honour.


Dealing with this kind of situation is difficult to do in a manner suitable to the station of L5r characters. Best bet is to simply have very good perception skills and know how to use a bow. And NOT the unicorn way, because everyone will mock you.

[The Big Dice]

If he openly disobeys orders from his superior, then he's very openly dishonourable. Duty is very important in the setting. Order him not to do it.

If he's from a different clan and you're not in service to some greater authority, like an Emperald Magistrate or the Imperial Legions, then you have little or no authority over anyone. Even if your Status is higher, they are outside your chain of command. You are owed respect, but not obedience.

Sneaking around in bushes is no way for a samurai to behave, though. Stealth is a low skill, and its use costs you honour.

Actually, you only lose Honour for buying a Stealth emphasis other than Sneaking. Military scouts and guards don't lose Honour for using Stealth to do their duty in an effective manner.

Which is why I say treat your friendly neighbourhood Shinobi as a scout. Nobody bats an eyelid when a Hiruma goes sneaking off. Nor do they point and scream NINJA whena Shinjo Scout vanishes into the bushes. In fact, in the School Updates, most clans get a Scout path. Including the Akodo.

Dealing with this kind of situation is difficult to do in a manner suitable to the station of L5r characters. Best bet is to simply have very good perception skills and know how to use a bow. And NOT the unicorn way, because everyone will mock you.

Knowing how to use a bow is something many L5R players neglect. And that's what makes an encounter like bandits in the trees armed with bows fun and challenging.

But yes, being able to deal with situations like that in a way that isn't going to lose you Honour or Glory can be difficult. Having a shugenja around can help. So can having a scout around.

However, Akodo's Leadership says "When facing the enemy, let him see what you want him to see. Show him your right hand, strike with your left. Hide all he does not need to see, for the sting of your slap will ease the pain of a sudden blade in his side."

In other words, Lions are not Lawful Stupid. They are master tacticians, and know the difference between dirty Scorpion tricks and being a cunning warrior.

[thorgrim29]

Didn't Akodo also say something to the effect of: "In war, there are no rules"? I've never played L5R itself, but I've got a few Rokugan games under my belt, and your best bet to survive and thrive in the setting is to remember it's built on hypocrisy. Meaning that while outright lies are capital B Bad, half truths and misleading statements tend to be ok. For example, currently my Crane Courtier/samurai and the great armor clad Scorpion samurai (she's a chain fighter and never lies, but she's very evil and pretty dishonourable, my character keeps her around because she fights well and he suspect more then knows most of the things she' done) are locked in a cell by gaijins with kolat agents in the cell with us. That's pretty dishonourable. But when we get out of our predicament, no one will know what happened other then: the underground base we were sent to investigate is held by Gaijin (Rokugan is being invaded by Medieval 2: Total war armies, and part of the Kolat is allying with them) who killed the Kolat agent we thought were there, plus whatever the end result is. So yeah, be an hypocrite as long as you stay honourable, and remember that if you win a duel you're considered right (doesn't have to be a duel to the death either, hell I recently completely shamed a Lion Courtier who'd insulted my clan by owning him at Sadane, a critique duel).

Also, depending on the campaign everyone is either corrupted or a Kolat agent, yes, especially him. Him too.

[Psyx]

If he's from a different clan and you're not in service to some greater authority

As the OP spoke of giving orders, it's fair to assume that he's in a position of authority... otherwise he shouldn't be giving orders. By that extension, if he's the one giving orders, then sneaking around and scouting would cost him honour, because he's not 'the scout'.

[The Big Dice]

As the OP spoke of giving orders, it's fair to assume that he's in a position of authority... otherwise he shouldn't be giving orders. By that extension, if he's the one giving orders, then sneaking around and scouting would cost him honour, because he's not 'the scout'.

How does an army function without scouts? It's a common assumption that Lions are stupid because they won't do certain things. But if they reallyare the greatest military of the land, then it follows that they have all the resources an army needs to function.

[Psyx]

There's a big difference honour wise in a commander sending out scouts and going and crawling up to people and stabbing them in the back himself.

They have the greatest field army in the land. That doesn't automatically equate to having a great fully integrated combined arms army, though. I'm not saying that they don't have nor use scouts, but that they don't automatically either have excellent ones, nor cheerfully view those engaged in the role as brothers-in-honour.

[The Big Dice]

There's a big difference honour wise in a commander sending out scouts and going and crawling up to people and stabbing them in the back himself.

They have the greatest field army in the land. That doesn't automatically equate to having a great fully integrated combined arms army, though. I'm not saying that they don't have nor use scouts, but that they don't automatically either have excellent ones, nor cheerfully view those engaged in the role as brothers-in-honour.

The free web supplement begs to differ.

Akodo Scout (New Path, formerly Akodo Forward Sentry)
Technique Rank: 3
Path of Entry: Akodo Bushi 2
Path of Egress: Akodo Bushi 3, Akodo War College 1, or Ikoma Tactician 1
Technique: Honor in the Shadows — Akodo scouts are taught to remain unseen, observing and analyzing their foes so that when they strike, they have only to strike once. For the purposes of this technique, your Akodo Bushi School Rank is considered to be one higher. You gain a bonus to all Stealth rolls equal to double your Akodo Bushi School Rank. For each round you observe a foe without taking any other actions, you gain a Free Raise per round to use against that opponent in combat. This benefit lasts only for the first four rounds of combat. You may only gain a number of Free Raises in this manner equal to your Akodo Bushi School Rank.

The Lion are often taken by players as being Stupid Honourable. Which is just silly. Akodo was a master strategist and you don't get a reputation for having an invincible military with the greatest generals in the land by not having fully developed tactical and strategic units when you need them.

This is the clan that had half a million troops under arms during the runup to the Clan Wars.

Sure, they won't stoop to using assassination as a routine method of winning a conflict. And they have lost many field commanders to the Crane by being goaded into duels before a battle. But how does a smaller force take on a larger one and win?

Scouts and skirmishers can turn the tide of a battle, so of course the Lion are going to cultivate them.