OOC Pregame Thread

[Shiba Jiro]

I mean, wasn't the matsu gempukku one of the most brutal, demanding and likely to be failed?

Also didn't realize the tsuruchi didn't exist. They always did feel a bit off to me though. Bounty hunting as a purpose for a family is strange, though would make a bit more sense for a famous otokodate.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

I mean, wasn't the matsu gempukku one of the most brutal, demanding and likely to be failed?

Fluff countered by their being the most numerous samurai family in the setting- which naturally meant any claims to "elite" status got lost in the "the Matsu are the zerg rush of Rokugani samurai" vibes.

[Shiba Ichiro]

A slight correction - unless Ender has ruled otherwise the Wasp exist (as an independent minor clan) they just don't have any mechanics at this point. (They're on pg18 of the core rules)

[Ender]

A slight correction - unless Ender has ruled otherwise the Wasp exist (as an independent minor clan) they just don't have any mechanics at this point. (They're on pg18 of the core rules)

Tsuruchi and his followers, would be made using the Ronin rules, with the Way of the Talon path. I'm taking the thought that they're so new, it's Tsuruchi and a few others. Barely even a minor clan.

[Shiba Haru]

I've always liked the Wasp more than the Mantis personally, Tsuruchi is a badass.

[Ide Yizhak]

I've always liked the Wasp more than the Mantis personally, Tsuruchi is a badass.

Honestly the whole Mantis great clan suffered from the fact the other clans that made the alliance were cooler. I mean, you could praise the sun as a Moshi, mess with people as kitsune shapeshifters, or be the cool as hell Wasp, or you can be pirates in a world where not that many high seas adventures take place.

[Shiba Haru]

That is very true, being a pirate fan is kind of an all or nothing thing it seems.

[Isawa Natsuko]

A slight correction - unless Ender has ruled otherwise the Wasp exist (as an independent minor clan) they just don't have any mechanics at this point. (They're on pg18 of the core rules)

Tsuruchi and his followers, would be made using the Ronin rules, with the Way of the Talon path. I'm taking the thought that they're so new, it's Tsuruchi and a few others. Barely even a minor clan.

Her followers. Tsuruchi is a something of a bandit princess (with a brief cameo in the ending battles) this go-round. And she's pretty much Legolas in samurai form.

[edit. At least in FFG fiction. Here Tsuruchi may be different.]

[Shiba Haru]

The sex swaps they have made don't bother me with the exception of Hoturi and that's just because of the situation with Kachiko's child. Them still having a relationship is great but you lose all the drama of Shoju raising Hoturi's kid as his heir and Hoturi killing his own son.

[Shosuro Kaoru]

In terms of actual bushi-ing, 5E plays absurd favorites (how long did it take the Scorpion to even get a bushi school?)

Third sourcebook.

But, at least at rank 1, the Shosuro Infiltrator are bushi in all but name (battle-oriented school ability, in-curriculum martial skills and kata etc.) and not bad bushi either (increasing deadliness is, for once logically, killing).

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

I've always liked the Wasp more than the Mantis personally, Tsuruchi is a badass.

Honestly the whole Mantis great clan suffered from the fact the other clans that made the alliance were cooler. I mean, you could praise the sun as a Moshi, mess with people as kitsune shapeshifters, or be the cool as hell Wasp, or you can be pirates in a world where not that many high seas adventures take place.

It also led to the fanbase frantically jumping all over everything boat-related, which was... counterproductive, to say the least.

"No guys, you should WANT other clans to get coastal and seagoing stuff they're invested in so you have someone to play in your sandbox with you."

[Kaeru Kaori]

Honestly, up until the Fox got involved, I was fine with it.

BUT THE FOX ARE NOT INSECTS, QUIT RUINING THE THEME!

[Shiba Jiro]

Perhaps this time around they'll take in the moth instead of the fox?

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

Well, hard to say- FFG never got around to even making Yoritomo's Alliance (not sure the Centipede ever showed up, either), so the Borigtomo Assimilation Protocol may have never been in the cards.

And in this game, we're no longer beholden to FFG or AEG from here on in, so...

(Hell, we're already mercifully Kolat-free, which thrills the hell out of me)

[Ide Yizhak]

Centipede were in Phoenix book. They heal people with their fire spells and deal damage, with sacred quality IIRC, to tainted things.

[Kaiu Taura]

Indeed, what is point of being pirates if no one else has ships?

I like the Tsuruchi story . . . just not for L5R. The whole "I break my katana because your code of honor is wrong" thing is just . . . no. That would get the entire samurai contingent of the Empire after you, forever. I do not know what Wick was thinking when he wrote that part of the story but it pretty flatly goes against everything else in how Rokugan is set up.

[Shiba Jiro]

Indeed, what is point of being pirates if no one else has ships?

I like the Tsuruchi story . . . just not for L5R. The whole "I break my katana because your code of honor is wrong" thing is just . . . no. That would get the entire samurai contingent of the Empire after you, forever. I do not know what Wick was thinking when he wrote that part of the story but it pretty flatly goes against everything else in how Rokugan is set up.

Probably recently watched a movie or something and didn't care about established canon.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

Indeed, what is point of being pirates if no one else has ships?

The way the coastlines work, it's already... "Okay, so you can deal with the Crab, the Crane, the Phoenix, the Imperials, or a few select minor clans because literally no one else has direct access to the pond you're in."

And then, when they GOT mainland holdings... they never got to matter

"So the Mantis have these scattered mainland provinces without land routes between any of them, which really means they need to mind their p's and q's with the mainland clans... ah, just kidding, nobody ever seems to think to attack them through the Moshi, Tsuruchi, or later Kitsune lands, forcing the Yoritomo to make good on their duty to protect their vassals, thereby addressing some genuine Mantis weaknesses."

Ah well. Let's see where Ender takes us in this Rokugan.

I do not know what Wick was thinking when he wrote that part of the story

In fairness, this can be said about a lot of things

[Seppun Urusai]

I do not know that Wick was thinking when he wrote that part of the story

In fairness, this can be said about a lot of things

FTFY

[Ender]

A slight correction - unless Ender has ruled otherwise the Wasp exist (as an independent minor clan) they just don't have any mechanics at this point. (They're on pg18 of the core rules)

Tsuruchi and his followers, would be made using the Ronin rules, with the Way of the Talon path. I'm taking the thought that they're so new, it's Tsuruchi and a few others. Barely even a minor clan.

Her followers. Tsuruchi is a something of a bandit princess (with a brief cameo in the ending battles) this go-round. And she's pretty much Legolas in samurai form.

[edit. At least in FFG fiction. Here Tsuruchi may be different.]

Noted! I've not read that fiction.