Legend of the 5 Rings- 1 Year of Rokugan- Campaign Journal

[Easy e]

Greetings all,

I am about to start GMing a Legend of the 5 Rings campaign using 3rd edition, and wanted to leave a few notes about it here. I guess you could call it a Campaign log, but it is more of an overview and a few particularly interesting bits and bobs.

First Things First
1. Why 3rd edition? - Because I have it.

2. Backgrounds- I have GMed a variety of RPGs, but never L5R. The players mostly have background with D&D 5E. They enjoyed getting their hands dirty in character creation and quickly started trying to wrap their heads around the new rules and world.

3. This is a short campaign I created called One Year in Rokugan. It takes place in a valley at the edge Crane, Scorpion, and Lion territory. I purposely put it "out of reach" so I could avoid knowing everything about the background of Rokugan while learning the rules. I don't know everything about Rokugan, and never will.

The campaign has 4 adventures, 1 in each season. Each season also has a different theme for things to learn about Rokugan. Spring is to teach the basics of Bushido and the tension between Honor, Status, and Glory. Summer introduces them to the idea of the Shadowlands and Jingoku. Autumn is about Obligation to your lord, Clan politics, and duels/non-combat resolution. Winter is all about Court, investigation and the Law. This is expected to take about 12-15 3 hours sessions to complete.

4. There was a Session 0 for character creation, and part of Session 1 was some of the ground rules about Rokugan. However, at least half of the group had read up on their clan, family, and the general background of Rokugan culture.

Characters
There are 6 players, with a mix of folks from different ages, backgrounds, and the like. I wanted at least 1+ Crane, 1 Lion, 1 Scorpion, and asked for 2+ Bushi, 1 Shugenja, and 1 Courtier. All of the characters are second or third born children, and not eligible for inheritance at the moment.

1. Doji family Shugenja (Crane) - Caster
2. Akodo family Bushi (Lion)- Trained in the Kakita school, so a duelist
3. Bayushi family Bushi (Scorpion) - Tank
4. Hiruma family Scout (Crab) - Stealthy
5. Shinjo family Bushi (Unicorn) - Archer
6. Togashi family Tattooed Order (Dragon) - Monk

The players had a lot of fun loading up on Disads so they could do other fun stuff with the characters. However, no one chose to be a Courtier and I did not "force" anyone to take that role. The Scorpion and Crane trained characters both have some Etiquette and Courtier skills, but no one dedicated to it.

The Hook
The players have graduated from their respective schools and celebrated their Gempukken over the autumn and winter. However, spring is coming and the new Patrol Season is fast approaching. However, the head of their families each received a letter from an old family friend, asking for their aid. Instead of going on a "regular" Spring Patrol the players have been sent by their families to assist Doji Hansei with his request for aid.

I left it up to the players on why each family would choose to help Doji Hansei, and what their connection was to him. They travelled by foot to his small estate and eventually met Hansei at a reception dinner. There they discovered that he needed the players to escort his 4th daughter to her wedding in the Valley of the Emerald Stairway in the Seikitsu Mountains at the border of the Crane/Lion/Scorpion lands. His daughter was to marry the Yasuki Crane Lord of the Valley.

The PCs are informed that to access the pass to the Valley takes 2 days of travel to a cross roads, and then 1 day from the cross roads to the foot of the mountains, 1 day up the pass, and a 2nd day down into the valley. At the crossroads, there is an inn. This adventure is taking place in early spring, so the snows are still melting along their route and have not been cleared by Spring Patrols.

Hansei's own Samurai are busy with Spring duties in his own estates and territories, hence why he sought the aid of the player's family, knowing they had children who recently graduated.

To be continued
We will continue the adventure soon......

[Easy e]

Well, we had out first session last night after a bit of housekeeping early on.

The party all gathered at the estate of Doji Hansei and were given the adventure hook. The D&Disms started to show right away as the party wanted to "get paid" and also tried to ask for stuff from Hansei.

I think one of my favorite moments was when a player asked if they could get some Heavy armor and the Crane said,

"I am sure you do not mean to disrespect your father and lord by implying that they have not provided everything that you need to complete your task."

That put them on notice right away that things were going to be a bit different in this game!

I also tried to set them up with various D&Disms in this first adventure, so they could see just how different things were going to be. In addition, these quick, easy encounters were put in place to demonstrate how the game works and let them play around with the dice mechanics a bit.

They encountered a unknown group of warriors approaching, and I wanted to see what they would do. One hid and prepared an ambush just in case, while the others waited, confirmed that the approaching samurai were Crane, and then simply provided their traveling documents.

They stayed a night at an inn, and got all bent out of shape about how to pay. Again, their travel documents were all they needed to avoid that whole mess. They were travelling on behalf of the local lord.

The party got to move a downed log blocking a narrow mountain path. In addition, they encountered a deer, and the party hunters got to hunt it. This allowed me to introduce the idea of not touching dead things, and that led to some discussion about how to properly dress it and make use of the animal.

The party finished their travels to their destination. It was a small village, where they started to notice that something was a miss. The group all really seemed to enjoy interacting with peasants, as I as the GM demonstrated how peasants feared Samurai and tried to avoid them as much as possible. Despite the peasants and Kami telling them the truth, it was clear that something else was going on.

The session ended with the suspicion that things were not as they seemed. The party had brought the Lady Doji Ao to the valley, but still needed to escort her to the her Bethrothed's residence.

Character Interactions
The players themselves loaded up on Disads for their characters, so their was immediately some friction between characters.

The whole idea of escorting Lady Ao to an arranged marriage ended up being much more controversial than I expected. The Crane and the Unicorn both had arranged marriages (of some dimension) in their back story and it led to some discussion about how it fit in with Bushido and one's proper duty.

In addition, their was some Clan rivalry that popped up as well. The Scorpion in particular had no fondness for Unicorns. In addition, the Lion member was contrary, so that caused a bit of friction as well.

I think their were only two big "misses" as a GM. One, as new players in a new system their was still hesitancy on "what could be done" instead of doing things and finding out the outcome. In addition, the players barely interacted with Lady Doji Ao, their escort. They seemed to treat her with suspicion, like she was in on some sort of plot. A failure on my part.

Final Thoughts
Overall, a fine opening session that got across the objectives I wanted. It was relatively low key, and a good practice and reminder for me about how to balance play between 6 characters at a table, and cut through table talk to action.

The party was introduced to the ways of the world, we got to exercise some D&Disms, we played around with mechanics overcoming some simple obstacles, and the hook is firmly set for the next adventure.

[Telok]

Wonderful. I love doing these as I often get some useful suggestions when I do logs. I also love hearing how games go that I'd like to, but will probably never get to, play.

Keep up the great work.

[Ameraaaaaa]

Nice read so far. Btw from what I've seen most people put their campaign journals in roleplaying general since that get's more traction. You don't need to put campaign journals in the specific systems journal since they don't focus on mechanical discussion. Feel free to correct me.

[Easy e]

Thanks for the heads-up. I will see if the Mods can move it to General for me.



Session Two.

After coming to the conclusion that something was amiss in the village, the players decided to continue their journey and complete their mission to deliver their charge to her betrothed.

When they arrive, things are clearly not right. There are a ton of armed peasants loitering around in the courtyard. When they are finally met at the gate by a fellow Samurai, it is revealed to them that Yazuki Ito, the man Lady Ao is supposed to marry; is dead. He died over the winter of an illness.

As they waited for an audience with the Chamberlain, two PCs decided to spar. They got their first taste of how deadly L5R combat is, when one combatant made a lot of fancy feints and maneuvers, and the other simply Downed Sugar Ray with a single hit. That was eye-opening to the entire party! Then, getting him back up was not easy.

They are invited to dinner to meet with the chamberlain and the Lord's chief vassal. At the dinner, they meet the Chamberlain and his three Samurai. They explain how their was unpleasantness in the Valley, that Ito toured the valley, became ill and passed over the winter. No one notified Doji Hansei because they did not know Ito had arranged to be married!

They also find out that the unpleasantness was Bandit attacks being led by a Ronin. The Chamberlain then maneuver the PCs into helping him deal with the bandits and Ronin as they are technically on Spring Patrol.

Character Thoughts
There were two big D&Disms that became a challenge. The first was when the Duelist was one-shot KOed by the Scorpion Tank in a sparring match. That was eye-opening to the party. The second was trying to recover the health after a "friendly, non-lethal" sparring match took a lot of effort from the Monk and Shugenja. They had damage carry-over into the next day still.

The second was during their conversation with the Chamberlain. The PCs wanted to do "insight checks" to determine if he was telling the truth. I said, "You would doubt he word of a fellow Samurai? You can choose to believe what you want to believe." I let them roll some Awareness checks here, but for the most part it was only to remind them of information they all ready knew, or to give them insight in how a samurai was supposed to act in these situations. The players really struggled with handling this conversation and how to frame it in the terms of etiquette and bushido. They said afterwards that they felt very constricted and suffocated by it. I said, "Welcome to Rokugan." The players familiar with Japanese culture (who lived in Japan for a year or two, one military and one as an instructor) said, "Yeah, this all checks-out so far." Therefore, I do not think I am getting the feel wrong, but who knows?

All the players are doing a good job playing their Dis-advantages, characters and clans. The Duelist is a contrary hot head and eager for a fight. The Scorpion is focused on Duty above all other parts of Bushido, and trying to turn Lady Ao into an asset for his clan as best he can. The Crane Is evasive and trying to be polite. The Monk is learning to be a go-between and "face". The Unicorn is actually trying to keep the peace between everyone, while strongly against arranged marriages and trying to influence Lady Ao away from participating in it.

GM Challenges
The campaign so far is unfolding exactly as I had planned it to. The first session was the basics of undoing some of their D&Disms about travel, camping, dealing with NPCs, etc. They also got to experience and participate in some attribute and skill checks to get them use to the system and set the tone. However, the players referred to that session as "The Fellowship of the Ring.... we walked alot" which boded poorly. The second one was designed to force them to come into conflict with Bushido and understand how it impacts play. However, post game comments were that it was "restricting", which also bodes poorly. Based on their feedback, they are "learning the lessons" that these two sessions have been set-up to do, but I would not saying that they have been "enjoying" it.

And that is the problem. It is clear, that they are chafing under the confines and not embracing them. Our Hiruma Scout is clearly bored with most of it. He didn't want to do much in the RP, and did not participate much in the intrigue or planning. This is unlike the player in other games I have played with them in before, but they also expressed reluctance to do something other than D&D 5e. So far, I think I have failed to engage him very well in the game as he has said, "There is nothing we are doing here, that we could not have done with 5e." He is not wrong, but it would have required a ton of heavy lifting by me to make a 5e campaign work in this context.

The players are starting to get a better feel for their roles as characters, in the party, and the world of Bushido. I could see light bulbs going off with some of them at this session. For example, at dinner they engaged in an impromptu Haiku battle with the other Cranes and each other! That was fun. I saw them start to play around with their dialogue to frame things differently, and in alignment with Bushido. They are still feeling out who and what they are, and what they can and can not do. This stage can be painful in any game, but I feel like in this one; it has been especially challenging as they do not have their D&Disms to fall back on.

Any advice on how to transition through this before it is too late would be appreciated. There is probably one climactic session to end Spring next, when they go back to confront the Chamberlain and determine who to align themselves with, the "Ronin" or the Chamberlain. Then, Spring is over, and we will discuss if we want to continue in Rokugan. I have three more seasons, and about 8 more sessions planned to complete the 1-year in Rokugan campaign. However, I am not sure we will get that far.

Thanks for reading!

[Ameraaaaaa]

Thanks for the heads-up. I will see if the Mods can move it to General for me.



Session Two.

After coming to the conclusion that something was amiss in the village, the players decided to continue their journey and complete their mission to deliver their charge to her betrothed.

When they arrive, things are clearly not right. There are a ton of armed peasants loitering around in the courtyard. When they are finally met at the gate by a fellow Samurai, it is revealed to them that Yazuki Ito, the man Lady Ao is supposed to marry; is dead. He died over the winter of an illness.

As they waited for an audience with the Chamberlain, two PCs decided to spar. They got their first taste of how deadly L5R combat is, when one combatant made a lot of fancy feints and maneuvers, and the other simply Downed Sugar Ray with a single hit. That was eye-opening to the entire party! Then, getting him back up was not easy.

They are invited to dinner to meet with the chamberlain and the Lord's chief vassal. At the dinner, they meet the Chamberlain and his three Samurai. They explain how their was unpleasantness in the Valley, that Ito toured the valley, became ill and passed over the winter. No one notified Doji Hansei because they did not know Ito had arranged to be married!

They also find out that the unpleasantness was Bandit attacks being led by a Ronin. The Chamberlain then maneuver the PCs into helping him deal with the bandits and Ronin as they are technically on Spring Patrol.

Character Thoughts
There were two big D&Disms that became a challenge. The first was when the Duelist was one-shot KOed by the Scorpion Tank in a sparring match. That was eye-opening to the party. The second was trying to recover the health after a "friendly, non-lethal" sparring match took a lot of effort from the Monk and Shugenja. They had damage carry-over into the next day still.

The second was during their conversation with the Chamberlain. The PCs wanted to do "insight checks" to determine if he was telling the truth. I said, "You would doubt he word of a fellow Samurai? You can choose to believe what you want to believe." I let them roll some Awareness checks here, but for the most part it was only to remind them of information they all ready knew, or to give them insight in how a samurai was supposed to act in these situations. The players really struggled with handling this conversation and how to frame it in the terms of etiquette and bushido. They said afterwards that they felt very constricted and suffocated by it. I said, "Welcome to Rokugan." The players familiar with Japanese culture (who lived in Japan for a year or two, one military and one as an instructor) said, "Yeah, this all checks-out so far." Therefore, I do not think I am getting the feel wrong, but who knows?

All the players are doing a good job playing their Dis-advantages, characters and clans. The Duelist is a contrary hot head and eager for a fight. The Scorpion is focused on Duty above all other parts of Bushido, and trying to turn Lady Ao into an asset for his clan as best he can. The Crane Is evasive and trying to be polite. The Monk is learning to be a go-between and "face". The Unicorn is actually trying to keep the peace between everyone, while strongly against arranged marriages and trying to influence Lady Ao away from participating in it.

GM Challenges
The campaign so far is unfolding exactly as I had planned it to. The first session was the basics of undoing some of their D&Disms about travel, camping, dealing with NPCs, etc. They also got to experience and participate in some attribute and skill checks to get them use to the system and set the tone. However, the players referred to that session as "The Fellowship of the Ring.... we walked alot" which boded poorly. The second one was designed to force them to come into conflict with Bushido and understand how it impacts play. However, post game comments were that it was "restricting", which also bodes poorly. Based on their feedback, they are "learning the lessons" that these two sessions have been set-up to do, but I would not saying that they have been "enjoying" it.

And that is the problem. It is clear, that they are chafing under the confines and not embracing them. Our Hiruma Scout is clearly bored with most of it. He didn't want to do much in the RP, and did not participate much in the intrigue or planning. This is unlike the player in other games I have played with them in before, but they also expressed reluctance to do something other than D&D 5e. So far, I think I have failed to engage him very well in the game as he has said, "There is nothing we are doing here, that we could not have done with 5e." He is not wrong, but it would have required a ton of heavy lifting by me to make a 5e campaign work in this context.

The players are starting to get a better feel for their roles as characters, in the party, and the world of Bushido. I could see light bulbs going off with some of them at this session. For example, at dinner they engaged in an impromptu Haiku battle with the other Cranes and each other! That was fun. I saw them start to play around with their dialogue to frame things differently, and in alignment with Bushido. They are still feeling out who and what they are, and what they can and can not do. This stage can be painful in any game, but I feel like in this one; it has been especially challenging as they do not have their D&Disms to fall back on.

Any advice on how to transition through this before it is too late would be appreciated. There is probably one climactic session to end Spring next, when they go back to confront the Chamberlain and determine who to align themselves with, the "Ronin" or the Chamberlain. Then, Spring is over, and we will discuss if we want to continue in Rokugan. I have three more seasons, and about 8 more sessions planned to complete the 1-year in Rokugan campaign. However, I am not sure we will get that far.

Thanks for reading!

I'm not an expert player but I'd recommend to be as open with your players as possible with whatever solution you choose. Remember you can just talk with them and tell them your thoughts

[Easy e]

Session Three

The Story so far......
This was the denouement for Spring. If you recall, the players were sent by their families to help an old family friend, Doji Hansei. He asked the party to attend tot heir Spring Patrol duties, while escorting his daughter to the Valley of the Emerald Stairway, in order to unite her with her intended husband.

Once in the Valley, they discovered that the husband to be, and the Lord of the Valley died over the winter. Instead, they met with his Chamberlain who explained that the Lord had passed from illness, and did not tell anyone about his nuptials.

The Chamberlain then explained that the Lord became ill while touring the Valley in winter, as the valley had been attacked by Bandits and Ronin. He then asked for their help to complete their Spring Patrol and remove the Ronin and his band. They agreed to help, and left Lady Ao with the Chamberlain.

They then went to the camp of the Ronin, with some of the Chamberlain's men and one of his Samurai (Shiro) in support. Shiro encouraged the PCs to attack the Ronin. His encouragement actually led to a duel between him and the Lion, as he implied the Lion was afraid to fight. This led to Shiro being injured. However, the party uncharacteristically, sent a Dragon Monk in to talk to the Ronin, with a Crab scout in support.

They discovered that the "Ronin" was named Diagetsu and was the former Samurai of a Valley's village. He was driven out of the village by bandits, and had been being supported secretly by the peasants of the valley. He claimed the Shiro and his group were the true "Ronin and bandits".

This led to a confrontation with Shiro and his troops. The PCs killed Shiro and were able to scatter or kill most of his men. Diagetsu was injured, and a few PCs mildly injured in the battle.

Session Three Details
The PCs finished up clearing up the last few scattered bandits. Some they killed, and some they let flee into the woods. The main thing was they want to stop them from getting back to the Estate before them.

Half the group ran ahead to chase down stragglers, while the other half spent time healing and taking care of Diagetsu. As the Lion-player missed the session, they got to baby-sit the older, injured samurai. Things worked out pretty well there.

The others high-tailed it to the estate. The plan was to go into the estate, talk to the Chamberlain and try to figure out what was going on. Therefore, they walked right up to the the Estate and announced their presence. This led to a huge group of bandits attacking them in a huge, skill challenge based fight.

They carved their way through the peasants, and into the estate. The Bandits scattered. This led them to a final conflict with the Chamberlain, who had Lady Ao at spear point. The chanberlain tried to get them onside to work with him, but the PCs tried to negotiate. Meanwhile, the Scorpion and Crab Scout tried to get behind the chamberlain via the outside of the building.

Before their plans could completely unfold, Lady Ao said, As a Doji, I will show you the meaning of duty" and threw herself onto the chamberlain's spear. This gave the players the time they needed, and the Dragon Monk and Unicorn were able to kill the Chamberlain. The Crane Shugenja rushed forward and used healing magic to stabilize Lady Ao, and keep her from dying.

Thus, the Spring Session ended. Diegetsu retired to a monastery after the death of his family in the Valley. Lady Ao and Doji Hansei decided to make a claim on lordship of the Valley, and the Hatamoto of the region agreed to them temporarily taking over. Afterall, they were all ready there. Ownership of the Valley would be decided by the regional Crane Family Daimyo at his Winter Court. In addition, the PCs who were Lady Ao's protectors were "asked" to stay as her retainers until the situation could be resolved fully.

The two remaining Samurai who aided the Chamberlain in his plot had been seen in the battle, but their bodies were not recovered. They avoided justice..... for now.

Onto Summer!

Character Details
It was interesting as the Dragon Monk, Crab Scout, and Scorpion Tank were all about slaying their way through the peasants/bandits, while the Crane Shugenja and Unicorn Samurai were focused more on avoiding killing them unnecessarily. After all, they were drafted peasants and more useful alive and working the land than dead. The Crane and Unicorn thought that their would be some bad negatives in Glory/Honor etc for killing all these guys.

As a D&Dism, the Crab clan scout wanted to lie to the Chamberlain that they had completed their mission to kill the Ronin, and that Shiro and his men were taking care of the camp and would be back soon. Meanwhile, the Crane Shugenja who had all the Courtier skills was less keen on lying, as he was unsure how to go about phrasing things and still follow the tenants of Bushido. It was an interesting discussion.

GM Challenges
The Spring session went pretty much exactly as I planned it with two major exceptions.

1. Shiro was not suppose to die at the Camp site, but escape to face the PCs again at the estate. However, after he was injured in the duel and based on how the scene played out I opted for the PCs to be able to kill him as to do otherwise would have probably left the players feeling cheated.

2. Diagetsu was suppose to be at the final battle in the estate, and get killed fighting one of the other Ronin. That would have allowed for a climactic death scene to raise the stakes, clean up any old vestiges of the old order, and allow for a PC to have a nice dramatic 1-on-1 with an enemy Ronin during a larger swirling battle. However, since the PCs ran ahead without him.... he survived and I had to think fast on why he would not become the new ruler of the Valley instead of Lady Ao.

I was surprised, but the players seemed very happy to easily cut their way through the bandits at various points in the game. I had not expected that. I also ran the combats very quickly, I would ask player 1 what they were doing, they would tell me, I would tell them what to roll, and then I would got to Player 2 and have them tell me what they were doing while Player 1 rolled dice; then I went back to Player 1 to get the results after I knew what Player 2 was doing. I kept rolling through the initiative this way so the combat went very, very quickly with almost no down time. One player specifically said that they liked this approach while another said that they did not like it at all as they were unsure exactly what was going on. The chaos of combat. I ran it that way specifically to avoid boredom at the table, but it was very different to how we did our D&D combat.

I also got feedback from the Scorpion player that the NPCs had been uninteresting to them. I asked why, and he said that they were all 2-dimensional. I asked him what would have made them interesting, and he said they were all doing their duty all the time, or had nothing else to add to the story. Peasants had no new information and Lady Ao was focused on following her duty to father and house. I reminded them that none of the Samurai they dealt with in this game really told them the truth, just what the PCs needed to hear; and that as we go forward you can not take what other Samurai say to you at face value. Lady Ao was to eventually get control of the valley, the Chamberlain was to get you to do his dirty work for him, Diagetsu wanted your help to get revenge for his family, and Shiro tried to goad you into fighting an honorable Samurai for him. Despite the code, Samurai have their own agendas too. You can not trust what they tell you, you can trust but verify...... unless of course they are passively aggressively insulting you, then you should believe it.

Overall, the players are still feeling out how Bushido works and how it applies to them and the game, and what they can and can not do within its strictures. They are struggling a bit, and it leads to some good table discussion. Personally, as the GM I am glad to see this "friction" as I think it adds to the game experience. They had the game mechanics down pretty well at this point though.

I significantly mis-judged the timing of this session as I had it in my mind that we were ending an hour earlier than we actually were. Therefore, I wrapped it all up 1 hour sooner than I needed to. Therefore, I removed a battle with the two remaining Ronin, and sped up the big melee with the Bandits in the courtyard too. Woops. I asked a player to be my time keeper to help avoid this scatterbrained error in the future.

Finally, I forgot my white board for this game. One of the players asked me for more Maps to help them get a better feel for distance and space. So far, I have been using narrative space but it seems like this player would prefer to at least get a better spatial feel for the areas they are in. No theatre of the mind going forward.

Final Thoughts
The players felt much more comfortable with this final session rather than the first travel session, and the second RPG heavy session. They wanted to lean into the combat, which will be something I need to consider.

I need to further drive home the importance of honor, and I look forward to Autumn and Winter when they will be dealing only with fellow Samurai in 90% non-combat encounters. I am interested to see how the group reacts, as they prefer combat to solve their issues. Perhaps another D&Dism?

However, at the end of the day; they want to continue into Summer and keep playing. We will have 1 week off due to some absences. However, then we will be back into Summer in Rokugan.

[Ameraaaaaa]

Session Three

I also got feedback from the Scorpion player that the NPCs had been uninteresting to them. I asked why, and he said that they were all 2-dimensional. I asked him what would have made them interesting, and he said they were all doing their duty all the time, or had nothing else to add to the story. Peasants had no new information and Lady Ao was focused on following her duty to father and house. I reminded them that none of the Samurai they dealt with in this game really told them the truth, just what the PCs needed to hear; and that as we go forward you can not take what other Samurai say to you at face value. Lady Ao was to eventually get control of the valley, the Chamberlain was to get you to do his dirty work for him, Diagetsu wanted your help to get revenge for his family, and Shiro tried to goad you into fighting an honorable Samurai for him. Despite the code, Samurai have their own agendas too. You can not trust what they tell you, you can trust but verify...... unless of course they are passively aggressively insulting you, then you should believe it.

If i had to deal with characters this sneaky in games I'm in I'm pretty sure i wouldn't notice a thing. Tho to be fair I'm pretty bad at subtle social encounters. Or at least i think i am.

[Easy e]

If i had to deal with characters this sneaky in games I'm in I'm pretty sure i wouldn't notice a thing. Tho to be fair I'm pretty bad at subtle social encounters. Or at least i think i am.

That is a good point. We just finished Curse of Strahd, and no one in that game is subtle about who or what they are. Perhaps as GM I am being to subtle with these characters and not over-the-top enough?

Plus, I can't do voices so they probably all seem the same to them. LOL!

[Duff]

Respect. You've got a really elegant and thematic structure for your campaign

[Pauly]

Speaking as someone who has lived in Japan for the last 10 years.

1. No complaints about how you’ve handled things so far.

2. Re: arranged marriages. Marriage in Japan is basically seen as a business arrangement to have children. It’s more important to find someone you can trust to fulfill their obligations than someone you love. It’s very common for a married couple with grown up children to live together more or less as co-tenants than husband and wife.
Arranged marriages are still common although in a much less formalized way, couples get introduced to each other by their sempais with an understanding that you 2 should really get together.
Your players getting bent out of shape over arranged marriage was for me the biggest inaccuracy in the game play, but that’s nothing on you.

3. Re Honesty. It’s very rare to have a Japanese person lie to your face. The preferred way to be dishonest is to lie by omission - not tell you something, leave out key details, not answer questions by talking around in circles. Another very common way of misleading people here is not correcting misconceptions. Also common is the use of passive language [“the ball was kicked” not “Hiro san kicked the ball”] to intentionally be vague.

A resource that you and your players may find useful is the old RPG Sengoku, available from drivethru RPG for a few dollars. It has a very good potted history of Japan at the relevant time and how society worked.

[Easy e]

Thank you for the input, I found it very valuable as I have not lived in the culture that the games asks you to "emulate and borrow" from. Not sure if "emulate and borrow" is the correct word choice, but that is what I am going with.

I am lucky to have two players who have though, and that has also been really helpful. They have been very supportive to this game, which I appreciate greatly.

The players are used to just murder-hoboing around in D&D type worlds where you can just move onto the next town with no consequences. So, this very geographically focused, family structured, and very political world is posing a big challenge for them. Exactly as intended! <Insert maniacal GM laugh!>

[Pauly]

Thank you for the input, I found it very valuable as I have not lived in the culture that the games asks you to "emulate and borrow" from. Not sure if "emulate and borrow" is the correct word choice, but that is what I am going with.

I am lucky to have two players who have though, and that has also been really helpful. They have been very supportive to this game, which I appreciate greatly.

The players are used to just murder-hoboing around in D&D type worlds where you can just move onto the next town with no consequences. So, this very geographically focused, family structured, and very political world is posing a big challenge for them. Exactly as intended! <Insert maniacal GM laugh!>

A few other important things I’ve picked up on from living here.

- Harmony is the key cultural value. Although harmony doesn’t mean we all agree, it means you don’t bother your neighbor and you do do what has been agreed. For example I know for a fact that if your neighbor hits his wife and you hear him hitting her and she has bruises on her face the Police won’t get involved because it is contained in the 4 walls of their home, but if you have a loud verbal argument with your spouse the Police will get involved and will drag you to jail because you spread your argument outside the 4 walls of your house. That didn’t happen to me but to friends of mine.

- Keeping promises is very important. However the promise is kept strictly to the agreement, not necessarily what the person who wants the promise delivered to be. Also people are very careful to limit their promise to what they 100% know they can deliver. A Japanese person won’t make a commitment that they are 95% sure they can keep, they will only make a commitment they 100% can keep.

- Obligations are discharged as soon as possible. Keeping obligations is a very serious business, so to have an unfulfilled obligation hanging over your head is terrifying because you don’t want it called in at an inconvenient time.

- Japan is both bigger and smaller than you imagine. There is a lot of unproductive mountain land, so the distance between cities is large and wilderness areas are huge. The productive land is small and very tightly packed, so everything in civilized areas is smaller and more compact.

[Easy e]

Very interesting. I am glad that I am handling Lying about right. The concept of harmony and obligation is also really interesting.


In the meantime, I ran across some old Wargame Foundry samurai miniatures while sorting some stuff in my game room. Therefore, I decided to give them a coat of speed paint. These models look nothing like the actual characters anymore, but I did paint them in clan colors so we can tell who is who. This might help the players that were interested in Maps and such a bit.



I have also started writing another adventure for these characters that utilizes their Ads, Disads, and backstories a bit more. The campaign I was running now was set up to be a bit more "generic" and to show them some key aspects of Rokugan.

[Easy e]

Session Four

The Story So Far
You may recall that the PCs were asked to escort Lady Doji Ao to the Valley of the Emerald Stairway. Once there, they discovered that her soon-to-be-husband had died before arriving. Instead, the Chamberlain was making a play for control of the Valley using Ronin and Bandits.

The PCs were able to eventually see through the deception, run off the Ronin and bandits, and confront the Chamberlain. The man was killed, but not before it looked like Lady Ao was mortally wounded.

Session Four Details
Thanks to the party Shugenja, the group was able to stabilize Lady Ao with the help of the Kami. For three weeks using a combination of magic and medicine, the Crane Shugenja and her Yojimbo nursed her back to health. Once healthy enough, Lady Ao started writing feverishly. The Unicorn samurai became a valuable way to move messages quicker than anyone else from the Valley.

The last remaining Samurai from the valley, led the PCs on a final purge of the bandits and showed them around and introduced them to the various important NPCs of the valley like the village heads, the blacksmith, various peasant servants, etc. This samurai then got permission to retire to a nearby monastery due to his long service and death of his family. The last Yasuki Samurai in the Valley was now out -of-the-picture.

By mid-June, the party had received word from the head of the Crane family, that Lady Ao was to maintain control over the Valley with the PCs acting as her retainers; until the matter could be sorted out properly at the Winter Court. In the meantime, a Lion, a Scorpion, and the Yasuki family were all pressing claims of their own.

It was in this backdrop, that Lady Ao received word of the arrival of a powerful Dragon family lord coming to the valley. This lord's family held great sway in the Crane family courts due to trading relationships and personal relationships. She had her "noble Samurai" go forth and locate appropriate gifts and meet her at the entrance to the Valley in a few days.

The PCs went and gathered their gifts, and met the Dragon entourage when they arrived. The group was led by a high-ranking Dragon eldest son, who was all ready betrothed to marry the Crane Shugenja in the player's backstory. His bride-to-be had been whisked away by duty, and he came to gather her up and complete the nuptials. With him in his entourage came his younger sister, who was the sworn enemy of the players' Dragon Monk character, due to unspecified past transgressions. He also had his own Yojimbo, his own Tattooed Order Monk from a rival branch to the PCs Monk, and three other samurai retainers.

The PCs did their best to interact socially with the group, and escorted them back up to the Estate. The fact that the Crane was betrothed to marry this guy was a source of great mirth and some backstory related friction. In addition, the PCs were trying to figure out what their Dragon Monk did to get the Lord's sister so mad at him.

After doing some RP, sight seeing, and character development work eventually the players all had their Welcome dinner at the Estate. There were great toasts made, and then dinner was served. Then, one of the servants promptly died of poison. <Record scratch> Thankfully, no one tried the Mushroom sauce yet!

This led to the PCs investigating, interrogating the kitchen staff, and the Dragon entourage talking some smack about their hosts. As the peasants from the kitchen answered the questions, all of these incidents almost led to some fist-i-cuffs. In addition, they ran headlong into Rokugani law and the Code of Bushido about testimony and physical evidence.

The night ended with the PCs having some suspects, but the Dragon's retiring, and creating an sense of obligation from their hosts to "protect them appropriately".

One remaining D&Dism that has been a bit of an issue, has been a continuing fascination with gear. This led to the Scorpion PC basically harassing and threatening the Valley's one NPC blacksmith for heavy armor, which he was clear he did not have the skill to make.

Character Details
Oh boy, I think the players are starting to settle into their characters a bit better! I gave them plenty of opportunities to RP, and I saw more of it in this session than in any of them yet.

First, their was a lot of in character discussion about the Crane's upcoming wedding. There was good natured ribbing as the man she was to marry was a fat, lazy rich boy coasting on dad's reputation and family station. So, the player's found that hilarious. However, the Unicorn players back story had her older sister being forced into a loveless and unpleasant arranged marriage because the father was injured in a riding accident and could no longer lead the family. Therefore, she was passionate about how these type of political marriages were not good. Meanwhile, the Crane was adamant that it was her duty to do what was best for the family, and that Dragon's family connections would be a strong benefit for her family. It was a really good discussion.

I had also been concerned about my Hiruma Scout player, but I think during his week off he determined what his character was going to be. He leaned into the idea of his character having a tough childhood with food insecurity, and is now a bit of a food hoarder and also a bit of an uncouth and low-brow samurai. He has bad manners, because he really does not know any better. This led to much hilarity as he bumbled around trying to RP with the others in a formal setting.

Now, I sense that my Dragon Monk player is struggling the hardest. That is why I chose to focus one of the key sub-plots on him. However, he rarely engaged with it and tried his best to avoid it. When I threw the spotlight to him in RP, he declined to do much with it. I think the root cause is that he is still unsure how his character fits into the group and how to make him unique and interesting as a Monk. However, he did learn in the last few sessions that when it comes to fighting, he is not the lead character for such activities, and that is new to him as a player.

GM Challenges
I had initially planned to run a completely different adventure than the one I ran. After the resolution of the Spring season, I decided that I needed to create an adventure that was closely linked to the PCs backstories and Dis-ads, instead of a generic ""Learn about Rokugan" adventure I had previously written. Therefore, I took a close look at the characters and started writing an adventure that could hook all of them in.

1. Arranged Marriage plot line - That tied in with my Crane Shugenja's back story, and I knew from session 1 was a trigger for the Unicorn player's back story.

2. Sworn Enemy- Trying to tie in the Dragon, and attempting to generate RP and interaction with this character.

3. Rival Order- Again focusing on the Dragon Monk, and getting him to interact and RP with this character.

4. Poison Plot- The Hiruma Scout was a very "kitchen focused" character so a poison plot from the kitchen gave him a chance to be "implicated" and also to have to protect/defend characters that he had built a connection with earlier in the game.

5. The Bride is the target- Since the Crane Shugenja is the target of the poisoning, it involved them and the Lion duelist who is her Yojimbo.

6. Scorpion Clan Involvement? - One of the suspects is a Dragon clan samurai, who was revealed to have been trained in the Bayushi school when they were a hostage in the Scorpion clan territories. In addition, a poisoning was right up the Scorpion player's alley.

The hardest part, is running a low combat, RP heavy, and investigation based game for players who are used to D&D combat levels, RP, and investigation. I am always worried about the pace, and how to throw the spotlight onto the players. I never want them to feel like they are simply "spectating" the interactions between the DM's NPCs and instead are active participants in what is going on.

To do this, I have been specifically throwing the spotlight to them at various points such as:
- Gathering and presenting their gifts
- Opportunities to engage with fellow Samurai and these NPCs addressing them personally
- Asking them how does X feel about what just happened
- Tossing the story back to the players to fill in details (Like why are they enemies, why were you supposed to get married, who would be trying to kill you, etc)
- Asking to engage with toasts, poetry, stories, acting, etc. during meal times or travel

I think they are finally starting to understand what I am doing, and some of them have come prepared with some Haiku's or other things written down ahead of time. So far, in 4 sessions, I think we have had 3 dinner scenes so now they are starting to prepare for them a bit and are realizing that "formal dinner parties" are a staple of the game I am running.

At the end of the session, I was relieved to hear that the players felt like this was the best session yet. They agreed that it started slow, and then slowly built up as they went along. Even though much of the session was "Fellowship of the Rings: Walking Edition" from my perspective and I was afraid they were getting bored. They felt like there was a slow build of tension, as the wedding narrative was revealed, the sworn enemy was revealed, and then the big reveal of the poisoning that led to an explosion of tension between the two factions, where they felt a level of stakes since what was happening was linked closely to many of their characters.

Now, by design; this campaign is not a sandbox at all. It is a relatively linear roadmap, while the players "figure out" what is going on. When it came to running the game, Investigation/Mystery games are always tough. I typically try a "gumshoe" approach where I lay out the key clues players WILL find. I do not gate these details behind skill rolls, but I do make sure that the players have skills in their inventory that would reveal the details in order to make skill selection relevant. I may call for a roll on the skill, but do not let a low roll stop them from getting the key details they need. Sometimes, low rolls just have the information trickle into the character over time, instead of all at once. This part is not a huge problem.

The harder part is dealing with how to keep the mystery in place, when players are very clever with the use of magic/communing with the Kami. Thankfully, I have set the tone that the Kami are relatively uninterested in human affairs, and have a non-humancentric thought process, so can not always articulate with any detail. You may ask them, "who poisoned the food" and their response will be something like, "One of you, I can not tell you apart well; however I think it was one of the new ones to the valley?"

The real challenge in Rokugan is that physical evidence and testimony from peasants or Kami doesn't mean anything. You need testimony from Samurai or a confession in order for it to have any teeth to it. So, PCs can have suspicions, but have to figure out how to act on those suspicions. This came up clearly when interrogating the kitchen staff, and led to some delightful and clever attempts to get to the truth. Of course, these attempts also had to de-escalate the situation that was all ready at high tension.

Overall, I think scrapping my previous generic session and writing one very specific to the characters and players was a wise idea. I will have to consider if I want to do that with Autumn and Winter as well. However, I think instead of a scrapping, I will just need to tweak them a bit.

Thanks for reading so far. Let me know what you think. I am always eager for advice on running the setting and the game.

[Telok]

Session Four
The harder part is dealing with how to keep the mystery in place, when players are very clever with the use of magic/communing with the Kami. Thankfully, I have set the tone that the Kami are relatively uninterested in human affairs, and have a non-humancentric thought process, so can not always articulate with any detail. You may ask them, "who poisoned the food" and their response will be something like, "One of you, I can not tell you apart well; however I think it was one of the new ones to the valley?"

The real challenge in Rokugan is that physical evidence and testimony from peasants or Kami doesn't mean anything. You need testimony from Samurai or a confession in order for it to have any teeth to it.

Sounds wonderful. Keep up the good work.

I find asking the kami "who" interesting because my first instinct would have been to ask what the poison was or where it was, then work from that back to the person to get a confession or push them into a mistake.

[Pauly]

In the meantime, I ran across some old Wargame Foundry samurai miniatures while sorting some stuff in my game room. Therefore, I decided to give them a coat of speed paint. These models look nothing like the actual characters anymore, but I did paint them in clan colors so we can tell who is who. This might help the players that were interested in Maps and such a bit.



I have also started writing another adventure for these characters that utilizes their Ads, Disads, and backstories a bit more. The campaign I was running now was set up to be a bit more "generic" and to show them some key aspects of Rokugan.

If you are interested in getting some Oni figures the Nihon Orcs from the old Grenadier range
Link https://www.mirliton.it/fantasy-25-28mm/mercenaries
are very good.

I like very much how you are shifting your players out of D&D thinking. Not every plot hook is being engaged with, but it is coming together.

[Pauly]

Session Four


Session Four Details.

One remaining D&Dism that has been a bit of an issue, has been a continuing fascination with gear. This led to the Scorpion PC basically harassing and threatening the Valley's one NPC blacksmith for heavy armor, which he was clear he did not have the skill to make.

.

Been thinking on this for a day or so now.

Some cultural issues you can feed your Scorpion player either IC or OOC.
I will assume for the purpose of discussion that the blacksmith actually has the skills to make the lamellar plates for the armor, but the helmet is beyond his skills.

1) If the samurai claims the armor is not up to standard in any way he is perfectly entitled to kill the blacksmith. At the least claim a full refund whilst retaining the armor. If the blacksmith was part of an armorer’s guild or had a master armorer to attest to the quality of his work he would be more protected. Asking the blacksmith to make armor is asking him to put his head on the chopping block. The blacksmith might consider doing it for someone he had a decades long relationship with and built up a lot of trust with, but not for someone he barely knows.

2) Trade is tightly regulated and you are only entitle to trade under your license. For example in modern Japan barbers and hairdressers are separate trades and there are services you can get from a barber but not a hairdresser (eg a shave) and services a hairdresser can give but not a barber (eg a perm). Trading outside his license could mean he loses his blacksmith’s license.

3) If the blacksmith can make heavy armor for the Scorpion player it means he can make it for peasants, bandits and wandering ronin. That isn’t going to please the new lord of the valley whoever it is. It puts the blacksmith’s head on the chopping block as a potential threat to the legitimate power.

It’s a little hard to introduce 1,2 and 3 without making it sound like an exposition dump, but in Japan you are expected to know these things without being told.

4) The real skill of an armorer is in the harness and fitting plates together, not the forging of the individual pieces.
As a compromise the blacksmith may offer to forge the metal plates that can make up the armor.
He will require the Scorpion player to specify in writing the number, size, thickness, curvature, placement of holes of the lamellar plates. (20 of this dimension, 14 of this specification, 17 of another and so on). It will then be up to the scorpion player to find an NPC who is willing and capable to put the plates into a harness and make any buckles etc. needed for proper fitting.
NB good luck finding a reputable armorer willing to make a harness for a village blacksmith’s lamellar plates in Japan.

5) The blacksmith might feel so anxious about the situation he will pack up his hammer and tongs and disappear in the night.

Edit to add.
Ao sama, of course, is already PISSED with Scorpion kun. He is disturbing the harmony of her valley because he can’t show respect to his elders who sent him on the mission equipped with what they thought was appropriate gear. She will hold scorpion clan responsible because they chose this guy for their mission, and if anything happens to the blacksmith it will be on scorpion clan to replace him.

The Japanese way of dealing with this is for her to have already sent a message to Scorpion’s bosses and said nothing to scorpion.

This actually gives you a few plot hooks you may want to play with such as:
1) Scorpion clan sends heavy armor to Ao sama along with a publicly read message that of course scorpion clan are not so destitute as to harass village blacksmiths for armor and apologizing for sending such an ill equipped samurai on such an important mission. Privately scorpion kun gets a message saying if he’d like to continue to be a member of scorpion clan he’d better win back at least the amount of honor he’s lost before the end of winter.;
2) the blacksmith gets executed or runs away. Scorpion player gets ordered to find a replacement at his own expense;
3) the blacksmith gets accused of supplying the bandits and ronin. Scorpion gets praised for exposing the blacksmith because he kept asking the blacksmith for armor when (a) surely scorpion clan aren’t so destitute, (b) everyone knows a blacksmith shouldn’t be able to make armor and (c) scorpion clan are well known for being shrewd and cunning so he must have been trying to expose the blacksmith. The players then get an investigation/trial set piece to determine the guilt ir innocence of the blacksmith. Scorpion gets a secret message saying the blacksmith had better be found guilty and executed for his crimes because it would cause great loss of face to the clan if he isn’t guilty.
Whether or not the blacksmith is a co-conspirator is up to how mean you feel as a GM.

[Easy e]

Snip a lot of good stuff.

Great stuff, and it got me thinking about the issue. Here is how I will handle it, as Lady Ao is technically in charge of these folks for the moment.

1. Lady Ao will pull Scorpion boy aside, and advise him that he is disrupting the harmony of the Valley, and that the village heads are concerned how this could disrupt the harvest if the Blacksmith is not available to support them.

2. Disrupting the harvest is the worst thing that can happen right now for harmony, and the groups future prospects.

3. In addition, it has been established that the Scorpion, Lion, and the Yasuki family are all making claims to the valley. Any failure with harvests is bad and strengthens their claims.

4. In addition, implying that Lady Ao herself can not meet the needs of her retainers, is huge blow to her credibility, and also tarnishes the Scorpion PCs reputation.

5. Therefore, once the harvest has been collected, and taxes paid, she will have the armor made and prepared for sizing while at the Winter Court. This makes the armor a factor in the climax of the campaign, but not before.

6. However, the Scorpion is expected to do something for Lady Ao as her vassal; in return:
- Stop harassing the poor blacksmith
- Find out what is the basis for the Scorpion claims on the Valley, prior to Winter Court

This should help with this D&Dism, without being too mean to the player. However, if it continues I can escalate with some of the pieces you laid out. The one about framing the poor Blacksmith for being part of the bandit/Ronin Coup is.... deliciously wicked and devious, so that will be in my back pocket if approach A does not work.

In the Autumn adventure, the Scorpions/Lions/Yasuki all make their appearance known in a more direct way when the PCs try to deliver the Taxes of the Valley. However, that is foreshadowing for you the reader. The party still has to figure out the potential assassin, who the target was, and what they are going to do about it during these summer sessions.

[Pauly]

Great stuff, and it got me thinking about the issue. Here is how I will handle it, as Lady Ao is technically in charge of these folks for the moment.

1. Lady Ao will pull Scorpion boy aside, and advise him that he is disrupting the harmony of the Valley, and that the village heads are concerned how this could disrupt the harvest if the Blacksmith is not available to support them.

2. Disrupting the harvest is the worst thing that can happen right now for harmony, and the groups future prospects.

3. In addition, it has been established that the Scorpion, Lion, and the Yasuki family are all making claims to the valley. Any failure with harvests is bad and strengthens their claims.

4. In addition, implying that Lady Ao herself can not meet the needs of her retainers, is huge blow to her credibility, and also tarnishes the Scorpion PCs reputation.

5. Therefore, once the harvest has been collected, and taxes paid, she will have the armor made and prepared for sizing while at the Winter Court. This makes the armor a factor in the climax of the campaign, but not before.

6. However, the Scorpion is expected to do something for Lady Ao as her vassal; in return:
- Stop harassing the poor blacksmith
- Find out what is the basis for the Scorpion claims on the Valley, prior to Winter Court

This should help with this D&Dism, without being too mean to the player. However, if it continues I can escalate with some of the pieces you laid out. The one about framing the poor Blacksmith for being part of the bandit/Ronin Coup is.... deliciously wicked and devious, so that will be in my back pocket if approach A does not work.

In the Autumn adventure, the Scorpions/Lions/Yasuki all make their appearance known in a more direct way when the PCs try to deliver the Taxes of the Valley. However, that is foreshadowing for you the reader. The party still has to figure out the potential assassin, who the target was, and what they are going to do about it during these summer sessions.

I like it a lot. The traditional Japanese way would be for Lady Ao to work through cutouts not talk directly to scorpion boy directly, but for convenience and secrecy/subtlety it works. I love the idea of Ao offering scorpion boy a brightly colored doodad and all he has to do in return is such a minor thing it’s barely worth mentioning - betray his own clan.

If you do have to go down the path of framing the poor blacksmith, I was thinking you could get the PCs appointed as prosecutors, then have the rival NPC group volunteer to defend the blacksmith. The PCs will assume the rival NPCs are trying to hide something or need the blacksmith for some other nefarious purpose.

[Easy e]

I like it a lot. The traditional Japanese way would be for Lady Ao to work through cutouts not talk directly to scorpion boy directly, but for convenience and secrecy/subtlety it works. I love the idea of Ao offering scorpion boy a brightly colored doodad and all he has to do in return is such a minor thing it’s barely worth mentioning - betray his own clan.

If you do have to go down the path of framing the poor blacksmith, I was thinking you could get the PCs appointed as prosecutors, then have the rival NPC group volunteer to defend the blacksmith. The PCs will assume the rival NPCs are trying to hide something or need the blacksmith for some other nefarious purpose.

Cut-outs..... hmmmm..... I have not left a lot of space for cut-outs but perhaps I can use the Dragon's that are currently visiting for that purpose?

Great insights.

[Pauly]

Cut-outs..... hmmmm..... I have not left a lot of space for cut-outs but perhaps I can use the Dragon's that are currently visiting for that purpose?

Great insights.

Maybe save up the use of cutouts as messengers for the next campaign. Keep it simpler for the first campaign. There's a whole cultural shift your players have to make, so concentrate on getting rid of the D&Disms first.
Also Ao is asking for something big, betrayal of his own clan, so that is something she might do in person. If your scorpion player is switched on the fact that Ao is speaking to him in person and in private should be a warning bell.

Edit to add: Going down the rabbit hole of obligations.
In Japan when a member of a company receives a gift they are expected to pass it on up the chain. For example in the restaurants in the hotel I work in waiters are expected to pass tips up to their manager.
The stated reason is that the client/customer is rewarding the company for the company’s effort. The owner for supplying the location, the manager for training the waiter, the other front of house staff for creating a harmonious environment, the chefs for cooking the meal.
The unstated reason is that it creates an obligation in the waiter to provide better service to that customer and can lead to outcomes like heavy pours of wine, items getting complemented when they should be paid, the waiter not paying proper attention to other tables.
It is up to the manager how much, if any, of the tip goes back to the waiter. Usually the managers keep the tip for themselves, which is why gifts in Japan are usually things like cookies or chocolates, which the boss isn’t going to keep for themselves and can be shared by the whole crew.

So if the scorpion player receives heavy armor from Ao, scorpion clan will expect him to pass it up to his boss. The boss may hand it back to scorpion player, or he may not. It is considered a test of loyalty that generous gifts are passed up the chain.
This creates an obligation on Scorpion Clan to make sure any scorpion retainers they send to Ao to be equipped in heavy armor (or gear with a cash value of at least heavy armor) on top of their normal equipment. Since heavy armor is reserved for the best fighters in the most important places having to give a rookie sent to a remote valley heavy armor is something Scorpion clan doesn’t want to be obliged to do.
Scorpion clan can discharge this obligation by giving Ao a gift with a cash value equal to the value of heavy armor, by relinquishing their claim to the valley if it is flimsy, assisting Ao against Lion and the other claimant to the valley.

If scorpion player keeps the armor for himself he then has an obligation to Ao that can only be properly discharged by service. Either some extraordinary feat or becoming her loyal retainer. If Ao wants to be mean she can squeeze him by saying “if you weren’t betraying Scorpion why did you accept the armor? Scorpion know you’ve accepted the armor.”

What you are setting up is a great RP finale for the scorpion player. At some point in Winter he will have to choose between his loyalty to his clan or to Lady Ao. All powered by him being a D&D loot rat.

[Easy e]

Nice edit..... I love that idea.


Sadly, tonight's session was called due to bad weather in the area that made travel to our in-person gaming hazardous. That gives me another week to plan how I want this all to play out.

I think I am going to have the Dragon Clan very suspicious of our Hiruma Scout PC because he spends a lot of time in the kitchen, and is an obvious non-Dragon suspect to try to pin the poisoning blame on. They will manifest this "suspicion" by having a member of their Retinue literally follow him around at a respectful distance and simply watch him.

I also considered having the true poisoner, plant evidence on the Dragon Monk PC that would then put him on the horn's of a dilemma. If he comes forward with it, the actual poisoner could simply come forward and incriminate the PC with testimony and shift blame away from themselves immediately. The PCs will probably also suspect the Dragon PC's Sworn Enemy, but they are not the actual Poisoner.

So much fun, I look forward to the next session to play all these threads out!

[Pauly]

Having the dragons delegate someone to follow the hiruma scout, but not say anything directly is a classical Japanese way to send a message. It invites observers to ask the question “why are the dragons following this person?” then let the observer make the obvious conclusion.

If you want to go down the path of the scorpion clan/lady Ao loyalty contest. When the scorpion player gets his armor, or just before send him a message from his direct scorpion clan boss, to the effect of “Thank you for winning a set of heavy armor for scorpion clan. Your efforts on behalf of scorpion clan have brought much honor to you. Please send the armor to this address.”
If the PC sends the armor to his boss then the boss gives it back to him it shifts scorpion player’s personal obligation from Ao to his boss. Which would be fine in a follow up campaign where there are competing factions within scorpion clam.
[edit to add: The source of his current armor is an important point. If it was provided by Scorpion clan they have a stronger right to claim the upgrade than if the scorpion player’s family provided his current armor.
If the scorpion player gets heavy armor through his own efforts - paid for by himself/family, looted from an enemy he personally killed then the clan doesn’t have a claim on it. If it was from general battlefield loot divvied up after the battle between the players then scorpion clan may make a claim to it].

As a side bar Japanese workers in traditional companies that follow this model of passing gifts to the boss resent being given any nice presents. Even if the boss passes it back they still have the anxiety about wether their boss will keep it for themselves and then being forced into an obligation to their boss if he or she does pass it back.

[Pauly]

Making Lady Ao a bit more of a schemer.

Disclaimer. On reading your Cliff’s notes version of what has transpired so far Lady Ao comes across as a ‘damsel in distress’ type. To be fair that’s what the campaign has needed her to be so far and there is still a lot of the plot left to reveal. However, having the players treat Lady Ao as a damsel in distress is a good thing.

Lady Ao will want to consolidate her control of the valley. She’s too young and too junior to be involved in the big boy’s games outside the valley, but inside the valley she’s going to scheme and plot.
Her immediate aim is to tie her retinue (the PCs) to her as tightly as possible, and the first thread in the web is scorpion boy’s armor. Which fits the Japanese concept of soft power, which is controlling people by getting them to do what they want to do, not forcing them to do what you want them to do.

One suggestion.
Lady Oa’s family retinue includes a famous duelist/reacher. This master duelist comes to the valley scouting for a location of a remote winter dojo. He wants a special school for his best and most dedicated students free from distractions. Lady Ao will ask for a volunteer to show the master around the valley [subtext who would like to spend a week of one on one quality time with an expert teacher of the art of dueling]. Your Akodo family duelist should jump at the opportunity. As a reward the master will give the duelist a brief lesson and a training scroll, and tell him that if he can master the technique by the end of Winter and Lady Ao is confirmed in her position he will be accepted as a student. Like Scorpion’s armor this bonus skill comes into play at the finale of the campaign, but not before.
The PC has been given something of value which creates an obligation, and has a promise of future benefits if he is loyal to Ao.
Lady Ao, of course, had written to her father suggesting the master duelist’s visit for this very purpose.

The important thing is for Ao to not directly suggest anything. She lays out an opportunity and it’s up to the PC to pick it up. And once they do they’re putting themselves in her web. Sprinkling them throughout Summer and Autumn so they come to fruition in Winter. It doesn’t have to be a mechanical benefit it might be a RP reward (revenge for a past wrong, an opportunity to create a cooking school that will outlive you).

Also if everybody gets an opportunity to have a brightly colored doodad at the Winter court it removes the “why is scorpion getting something special?” whines.

[Easy e]

....and we are back!

Last Time
You may recall that the Valley of the Emerald Stairway was tentatively under the control of Lady Doji Ao, with the PCs as her Retainers until the matter could be resolved at the Winter Court. Therefore, for political reasons, Lady Ao and the PCs needed to prove that they could effectively run the Valley. During the Summer, Lord Kitsuki Takoe arrived with his entourage of Dragon clan samurai (and Monks) in order to meet with his bride to be, our Crane Shugenja. After awkward moments of gift giving, flirting, and some travel, the group all arrived at the Stone Walled Estate and their ceremonial arrival dinner. There, a serving servant promptly died of poison!

The PCs and the Dragons interrogated the kitchen staff, and discovered that a number of samurai had been in the kitchen that day. As the interrogation went on, one of the Dragon PCs tried to kill the chef with a iajitsu strike, which was blocked by the Lion Duelist. This revealed that the Dragon had been raised in Scorpion lands as a hostage. The PCs were immediately suspecting her. At the end of the session, the Dragon's reminded the PCs of their obligation to make sure that they were protected and safe, as they were guests.

Session 5 Details
The PCs start the session with the Dragon clan retiring for the evening, and tensions high. Lady Ao asks the PCs to escort her around the estate to survey their security, and for a private conversation. During this conversation, she re-states the stakes of this visit as Lord Takoe's father has the ear of their Lord Kurihito, who will be deciding the various claims on the Valley. She also reminds them of their duties as hosts to level set what is required of the PCs. She also lays out that if any of them are caught in acts that are obviously against the Code, she will be forced to punish them in order to maintain the good graces with her visitors. She also reminds them that her retainers will suspect a Dragon, while the Dragon will naturally suspect one of them; it is in each groups best interests to do so.

Suitably reminded of the rules of Bushido, the PCs set-up their security perimeter and begin the evening of Long Shadows. That night, a PC patrolling notices a flicker of light, perhaps a lightning bug or perhaps the flash of a candle in Lord Ito's room. No one has been in the room except cleaning servants since his death during the winter; before the PCs arrived. They sealed off the exits and rush in.

The Unicorn and the Lion find that the room has an assailant inside. The assailant throws a candle at the Unicorn who dodges it and tries to grapple the intruder. He dodges away, but the Unicorn notices that they are wearing a Wakazashi, signaling that they are a fellow Samurai. She calls out this information. The Lion rushes in and attacks with his katana, and manages to strike the man in the thigh and cripple him. The intruder immediately falls into a low, bow and surrenders.

To the PCs credit, they do what they can to heal and help the man with magic and medicine while they gently interrogate him. He is a Crane samurai of the Yasuki family, sent by his clan to locate the former Lord Yasuki Ito's will. He will not reveal his master, but is open that his master wishes to have the will in order to use it to press their claim to the Valley in the Winter Court. The Scorpion, Lion, and Yasuki family are all making claims on the Valley too. The PCs offer to provide the will if they find it, after they read it, and send him on his way with it. A quick search with the aid of the Kami, and they uncover some private papers from Lord Ito, but not his will. Instead, it is the private correspondence between Ito, and Lady Ao's father Doji Hansei about the wedding.

Yasuki snuck into the Valley disguised as a peasant bearer of the Dragon's. One of the Dragon watch the interrogation, and insinuate that the Yasuki maybe the poisoner. The PCs take this under advisement, and gain his word he will not try to escape. They then confine him to the kitchen where he is being watched by the Hiruma scout.

The next day, over breakfast the PCs discuss what to do with the Yasuki and determine to hold him for now. Lady Ao also announces two pieces of news. The first is that Lord Takoe wants to hold his wedding here in the Valley in Autumn before the Harvest Festival. So, about 3 months away. She also tells the Scorpion who has been harassing the Blacksmith that she has written to his Father and between the two of them have made arrangements to procure Heavy Armor for them. It will be available at the Winter Court IF the Scorpion can determine the nature of the Scorpion clan's claim to the Valley. He is strategically non-committal. In addition, Lord Takoe wants to meet his Bride-to-Be for a picnic lunch with just him and her, plus Yojimbo off course!

As the PCs split up to go deal with their duties, three key things happen:
1. The Scorpion manages to slip into the Dragon's room and search them. He realizes most of their baggage is still with their peasant porters in the village attached to the Estate.
2. The Hiruma realizes that one of the Dragon retinue is following him everywhere. He wants to go check their baggage, but can not due to this man following him, and because peasants are delivering food to the estate that he must inspect and make sure stays poison free.
3. The Dragon Monk PC finds a mortar and pestle used to grind up the poisonous mushrooms used in the attack. However, it is in the room he was the only samurai to use. He immediately brings the discover to his Scout friend, and this is all observed by the Dragon following the Scout.
4. The Unicorn and the Scorpion set up to "observe" the picnic meeting at a discrete distance.

The Crane Shugenja and their Yojimbo go to the picnic. There, Lord Takoe is very nervous as he tries to serve tea. There is the twang of a bow, and the Lion Duelist jumps in front of his Crane charge in time, and takes an arrow. He is injured badly, but more importantly he realizes that the dreaded Red Coral Mushroom poison is now raging through his system.

The Scorpion springs from hiding in pursuit of the attacker, and finds a bow and arrows with green fletching. He picks it up and gives chase to the assailant that leads back to the Estate. He rushes after the attacker, and turns the corner into the garden. There he finds three of the Dragon playing Go. They immediately ask him what he is doing with one of their Bows?

He explains the attack and they all gather in the courtyard. The PCs try to heal the Lion, but they can do nothing about the poison racing through his system. The PCs spin on the visitors and the Scorpion girl/Dragon is the only one not present. The unicorn goes and finds her in the village, where she immediately reports that her bow is gone. The PCs strong suspect Scorpion/Dragon girl is the attempted assassin, but they have no proof. The Dragon calmly point out that there are no witnesses, and then point at all the circumstantial evidence pointing to a conspiracy being hatched by Lady Ao's agents. The session ends with tensions on the brink of breaking out into outright conflict between the two groups, but no one sinks to an outright accusation of the other, as that would clearly lead to immediate blood shed. A bright red line was drawn on the subject of accusations without testimony.

Character Details
Everyone played their part in the drama pretty much as anticipated. The Hiruma Scout was very distrustful of the Yasuki spy, and treated him just along the lines of being dishonorable; but never crossed over. Meanwhile, the Crane Shugenja tried to play the peace maker all night, and scored honor points for helping a potential enemy in an honorable way. The Yojimbo bodyguarded as needed, because if the Crane Shugenja had been hit by the poison arrow, her bad health disad and low Stamina probably would have killed them relatively quickly. Instead, the Lion is facing the effects of the Poison, and the PCs now have time to figure out the assassin and possibly get the antidote from them.

The PCs quickly determined that the Will side quest was a secondary concern compared to the poisoning quest. They started the session pretty confident who the poisoner was, and nothing that happened dissuaded them. However, they were still struggling with how to balance keeping he Dragon safe, finding the assassin, and doing it all while being polite. Exactly the struggle I wanted them to feel!

Some D&Disms showed, as their initial gut reaction was to just kill the person they suspected. However, as they said it; they also realized what a terrible idea it was. They also briefly considered just killing all the Dragons. However, again they knew that was not a solution; they only said it to work it out of their system. I was also surprised that no one suspected Ichiko, Lord Takoe's younger sister; since she clearly hated the Dragon PC, he was potentially framed, and she had the most to gain if Lord Takoe died. Surprisingly, no one mentioned just framing Yasuki for the crime and being done with it. So, after the session the players were no closer to revealing the potential assassin.

GM Notes
The adventure is pretty much going as intended. The players are being forced to think outside of the normal "Kill them all and let the gods sort them out" mentality. They are on the horns of a dilemma, and I raised the stakes a lot when the Lion got poisoned. I have to say, they have played right into my hands of throwing smoke in the air as we lead up to the final act of the adventure. The stakes have never been higher as one of their own is in mortal peril, and tensions between the two groups are at the highest they have been.

I have managed to use the obligations of Bushido to maneuver the character's to make compromises and to question their own approaches, and as the GM I am loving watching it all play out. There were a few instances that really stuck out to me in this session:

1. When Lady Ao told the Scorpion that she had written to his Father about the heavy armor, his eyes literally went wide in fear.
2. When the PCs honorably handled the situation with Yasuki.
3. When at the end of the session, they walked right up to the edge of an accusation, but pulled back before it was too late.
4. When the the Scorpion/Dragon lady stated that her bow was missing, the Hiruma said "I knew I needed to check their luggage!"
5. When the Dragon PC went to the Hiruma scout, told him about the damning evidence he found in his own room, right in front of the Dragon watching the scout.

The PCs have mostly unwittingly played right into my hands of giving the Dragon's all the plausible deniability they need. This has caused the PCs no end of frustration, and it will make the final comeuppance all the sweeter for them. They really, really want to get this assassin, and do it cleanly!

My Dragon Monk PC has been reluctant to take the spotlight, even though I have thrown it to him multiple times in this adventure. I do not think they are comfortable with the heavy role-play going on in the adventure, and are waiting to just to get in and throw some fists. The Unicorn was also a bit withdrawn, but took the spotlight when it was presented. The Hiruma scout has really settled in despite my previous concerns, and is loving it.

We had not played for a few weeks due to weather, so I kept a loose hand on this adventure. We spent a great deal of time in side conversation and general friendship. This was needed to help them "break the ice a bit" as if we had played this straight, I think the tension would have led the group to frustration more than fun. The light hand helped keep it from going too far, but when the climax of the night came.... they were all dialed in for it.

I was also happy, that they were embracing the system a bit. I run an ability/skill check light approach to games, but they were using dice checks, Void Points, Kami, and their special abilities appropriately and when needed. That was refreshing. I think we have shown that learning a "new system" does not have to be a hard task, just the normal ramp up time whenever you have a new character. This will help pave the way for future games, as the next one will be Avatar; but with a different GM.

Until next time. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Ameraaaaaa]

Sounds like everyone had fun.

Since your worried about the dragon monk player have you considered that perhaps he fits into Robin d laws interpretation of a casual player.

"The Casual Gamer is often forgotten in discussions of this sort, but almost every group has one. Casual gamers tend to be low key folks who are uncomfortable taking center stage even in a small group. Often, they're present to hang out with the group, and game just because it happens to be the activity everyone else has chosen. Though they're elusive creatures, casual gamers can be vitally important to a gaming group's survival. They fill out the ranks, which is especially important in games that spread vital PC abilities across a wide number of character types or classes. Especially if they're present mostly for social reasons, they may fill an important role in the group's interpersonal dynamic. Often they're the mellow, moderating types who keep the more assertive personalities from each other's throats -- in or out of character. I mention the casual player because the thing he most fervently wants is to remain in the background. He doesn't wnat to have to learn rules or come up with a plot hook for his character or engage in detailed planning. You may think it's a bad thing that he sits there for much of the session thumbing through your latest purchases from the comic book store, but hey, that's what he wants. The last thing you want to do is to force him into a greater degree of participation than he's comfortable with. (Of course, if everybody in the group is sitting there reading your comic books, you've definitely got a problem...)"

Of course i don't know your players more then yourself. So feel free to tell me what you think.

[Pauly]

Very well handled. I love that the players are getting the feel for the setting. I was a little surprised at scorpion’s reaction to the offer of heavy armor, but we’ll see if the mouse takes the cheese.

Re dragon monk.
Caveat I don’t know how L5R handles religion/spiritualism, but I will assume it is generally along the lines of Buddhism or Shintoism.
Maybe Lady Ao can come to him with a spiritual problem [as in the local spirits not her soul] and ask the monk as the senior religious person available to deal with it.

One suggestion, although I think it may be better suited to year 2 if there is one in the future than year 1.
Lady Ao has a vision that reveals the site of a hot spring to her. [hot springs aka onsens are a big deal in Japan].
If the vision is confirmed it strengthens her claim as it is proof the local gods support her.
If evidence is found that other people knew of the spring then it becomes neutral as it can be interpreted that gods wanted somebody, anybody not Lady Ao in particular to find the spring.
If evidence is found other people knew about the spring and communicated that to Lady Ao’s household, no one will say anything but adverse inferences can be made.

Of course Lady Ao has the power to grant land for the site of a temple close to the onsen to the order that confirms the vision, so that would be a huge amount of honor and prestige if the monk was able to confirm it.

The reason I say it may be better suited to year 2 of a campaign.
Development of the onsen. Onsens in Japan are a huge deal and they often layer attractions together to make it more attractive for a visit.
1) Bathing. Any onsen with a good story and connection to the local gods is treated as more worthy of a visit. There will be stories about the waters having healing or restorative effects.
2) Temple. People will make a pilgrimage to the local temple, especially if it connected to the history of the onsen. Which makes these temples more visited and more prosperous.
2a) Temple gardens. Temple gardens that are designed to attract tourists are often devoted to one type of plant (Ume, Sakura, Fuji, Momoko, Momiji, Ginko) and look spectacular for 2 weeks of the year.
2b) Temple art. People will travel to temples to see sculptures or paintings by famous artists. Often the earliest pieces of art in a temple are early works of artists who later became famous - as the temple becomes more famous the artist’s reputation increases, as the artist becomes more famous the temple’s reputation increases. Masters get well paid to make art in famous temples, so it’s their apprentices who are starting out that make art in new temples.
3) Food. Food tourism is a big thing, and to attract visitors an onsen needs a very good restaurant.
3a) Food festivals. Often timed to co-incide with 2a. Normally a local specialty or using an ingredient associated with the temple garden.
3b) Omiyage. Often translated as ‘souvenir’ but it’s a different concept. This is food or drink that you bring back with you from your travel so you can share the experience of your travel with your friends/family. Traditionally it’s a regional delicacy. It is also proof that you went where you said you went,
4) Local arts and crafts. A regional style of pottery, small statues, weaving, ohashi, sake cups, Pick one as the local specialty

So if Lady Ao has a vision that may be a role playing spotlight for the monk in year 1, but the development of the onsen has many possible hooks for side quests in years 2 and beyond that can be tailored to give each member of the party a chance to be in the spotlight.

[SoulSalvage]

I'm normally a lurker on these forums, but I wanted to say that I've been really enjoying this campaign journal. L5R is my favorite tabletop setting I've ever experienced, and unfortunately I haven't had a group that's been willing to run it in close to a decade now. These posts have definitely made me crack open my books again and dive back into the lore.

Gotta say, I was a little disappointed when the posts stopped for awhile, but I'm really happy to see the adventures continue!

[Easy e]

Cheers Soul Salvage, I am enjoying running it and playing it!

Thanks to some players travelling, new adventure update posts will miss the next couple of weeks. However, do not despair as the campaign is not over yet! It will be back soon.

The next couple weeks will be some other games, but still TBD, and then back at it in Rokugan when the full party returns.