OOC Pregame Thread

[Ikoma Aya]

"Never good enough" and "hard on herself"? Oh we can start a club.

As long as we can practice nonstop at the club! Otherwise we'll never be good enough!

[Kakita Ahiru]

Reads books.

Stares at the books.

Reads the books some more.

Writes things down . . . crosses them out . . . writes same thing down again.

Stares more at the books.

Having a bit of 'new system' @_@ . . .

I feel ya!

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Reads books.

Stares at the books.

Reads the books some more.

Writes things down . . . crosses them out . . . writes same thing down again.

Stares more at the books.

Having a bit of 'new system' @_@ . . .

I had to try running through a good chunk of the 20Q with a couple test characters that I knew I wasn't playing in order to kinda shift my paradigm from 4e. I also felt like rolling Heritage as step like 3.5 or so really helped get ideas making sense/flowing into a cohesive character, versus the frustration I had initially with the 20Q.

Also happy to chat by PM/Discord if you'd like someone to talk through aligning ideas to mechanics. I've been studying the advantages and disadvantages in 5e a lot for this character.

[Isawa Natsuko]

Reads books.

Stares at the books.

Reads the books some more.

Writes things down . . . crosses them out . . . writes same thing down again.

Stares more at the books.

Having a bit of 'new system' @_@ . . .

I had to try running through a good chunk of the 20Q with a couple test characters that I knew I wasn't playing in order to kinda shift my paradigm from 4e. I also felt like rolling Heritage as step like 3.5 or so really helped get ideas making sense/flowing into a cohesive character, versus the frustration I had initially with the 20Q.

Also happy to chat by PM/Discord if you'd like someone to talk through aligning ideas to mechanics. I've been studying the advantages and disadvantages in 5e a lot for this character.

Yeah, I've found that after the first few questions, do them in the order that fits your creation process. I generally have to pause at Adv/disadv and write backstory to decide what will make sense, and that means doing the heritage roll/choice then to take into account...etc.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

Kasumi here is about the second 5E character I've ever made, but I find that starting from Advantages and Disads is helpful.

5E bolts some things that were down to roleplaying to the rules, so the bigger adjustment will hit when the dice start rattling.

[Kakita Ahiru]

Ahiru is the second character I've made in this system, but is now looking to be the first one to be played (first one never saw play).

There are some questions in 20Q I absolutely hate. xD

[Kaeru Kaori]

Ahiru dies by choking on rice?

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

There are some questions in 20Q I absolutely hate. xD

Ninjo vs. Giri is... I get what they were going for, I do, but assigning it a mechanical component is... yeah.

Just wait until we have duels! Poor Sai was nearly driven mad in the last 5E game by all of the frothing rage surrounding the dueling system.

And Strife. Hoooooo BOY, strife...

[Asahina Sakura]

"Never good enough" and "hard on herself"? Oh we can start a club.

As long as we can practice nonstop at the club! Otherwise we'll never be good enough!

I'll bring cupcakes!

[Kakita Ahiru]

Ahiru dies by choking on rice?

*coughcough*quack!*cough*

There are some questions in 20Q I absolutely hate. xD

Ninjo vs. Giri is... I get what they were going for, I do, but assigning it a mechanical component is... yeah.

Just wait until we have duels! Poor Sai was nearly driven mad in the last 5E game by all of the frothing rage surrounding the dueling system.

And Strife. Hoooooo BOY, strife...

Can't comment on duels.
Ninjo/Giri is.... ehhh... basic? I don't hate it. I just find it a bit basic. ^^;

Strife from all I've read in the rulebook is "do not like", but let's see how it works out in play.

[Shiba Haru]

Tying the character creation process to the 20Q is an interesting idea but it may be my least favorite part of 5E. But I usually write a backstory before I ever put anything on a character sheet so several of the things they ask in the 20Q don't strike me as relevant so I struggle to come up with answers that matched with the things I selected. If question #14 was a person I would punch them for the agony it put me through because the answer I wanted to give had nothing at all to do with the skill I took.

[Kakita Ahiru]

I don't hate the idea of something like the 20Q as character creation, but to me it really feels like overbearing handholding in how to make a character. ^_^;;

But I'm usually all over the place when creating a character.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

Tying the character creation process to the 20Q is an interesting idea but it may be my least favorite part of 5E. But I usually write a backstory before I ever put anything on a character sheet so several of the things they ask in the 20Q don't strike me as relevant so I struggle to come up with answers that matched with the things I selected. If question #14 was a person I would punch them for the agony it put me through because the answer I wanted to give had nothing at all to do with the skill I took.

... Question 14 hands out a skill?

One my structural notes is how few anxieties actually represent an actual anxiety

[Kakita Ahiru]

According to my Corebook, Q14 doesn't give anything (except maybe an Item? I paid for it anyway).

14. What do people notice first upon encountering your character?
In a given region and especially within a particular clan, samurai are expected to behave, dress, and comport themselves in certain ways. Customs vary somewhat by region, and certain allowances are made for outsiders— a battle-hardened Crab bushi on business in a Crane court is hardly expected to be able to maintain perfect etiquette, although their manners are sure to be subtly criticized by the courtiers present. Within their homeland, however, any aspect of a character that veers from the norm, from slight oddities of appearance to trivial mannerisms, tend to attract attention. A character might stand out for their unusual looks, strange dress, or ancestry that can be traced to far-flung parts of the Emerald Empire (or even beyond, in the case of some families). A minor behavior, like chewing one’s lip when nervous or clasping one’s hands to hide trembling fingers, can be the thing that others remember about a character. Perhaps the character always says the same thing when meeting a stranger. All these things add subtle depth to the character—and so does a deliberate absence of memorable details. Record the answer in the Personality, Habits and Quirks section of your character sheet.
Additionally, choose one distinctive aesthetic accoutrement that your character carries or wears most of the time (e.g. a scarf, hair ornament, engraved scabbard, eyepatch, etc). This bit of personal flair might accent their striking features or stand in contrast to them.

[Nekoma Seto]

Has reached Question 14 . . .

I'm worried now.

[Shiba Haru]

sorry sorry I meant 7.

[Kakita Ahiru]

sorry sorry I meant 7.

Ah... that one was actually surprisingly easy for me, but only because there was a natural choice to pick with this concept.

[Isawa Natsuko]

I don't hate the idea of something like the 20Q as character creation, but to me it really feels like overbearing handholding in how to make a character. ^_^;;

But I'm usually all over the place when creating a character.

It is kind of handholdy and you can steer away from the narrative of it a bit once you're used to it anyway. "the intent of this question is x so I can do that without being super literal about the question, it's fine," works eventually. Which is also why I say you can jump around to fit your own style of building.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

sorry sorry I meant 7.

Oh, man, I actually like that one a lot...

Hey everybody, here's a look at my character's background, don't look if you want to be surprised that my gal has a rank in Aesthetics:

Kasumi thinks there’s more to life than swaggering around the oceans and proving everything by strength of arms. (+ 1 Aesthetics)

[Kuni Mitsuko]

I don't hate the idea of something like the 20Q as character creation, but to me it really feels like overbearing handholding in how to make a character. ^_^;;

But I'm usually all over the place when creating a character.

It is kind of handholdy and you can steer away from the narrative of it a bit once you're used to it anyway. "the intent of this question is x so I can do that without being super literal about the question, it's fine," works eventually. Which is also why I say you can jump around to fit your own style of building.

I just want to really +1 this description. Well said.