Any advice for a new Legend of the Five Rings GM
Atomoctba
Adventurer
Not only be respectful of the culture (not mocking real world), but attempt to understand it. Many players will take wrong actions not on purpose, but because they did not understand some key facts of the setting.
For example, it is common in a fantasy game to loot corpses. That is unthinkable to Rokugani. Only touching something dead is taboo. Gravediggers, undertakers, and the like are social outcasts because someone has to take such services, but that does not make them any less of an outcast.
This is only an example of many. So firstly understand the culture and setting is very important.
For example, it is common in a fantasy game to loot corpses. That is unthinkable to Rokugani. Only touching something dead is taboo. Gravediggers, undertakers, and the like are social outcasts because someone has to take such services, but that does not make them any less of an outcast.
This is only an example of many. So firstly understand the culture and setting is very important.
Jd Smith1
Hero
Yeah, I've read the setting. I expect they'll drag along a peasant for that sort of work.
Atomoctba
Adventurer
Even for a peasant is taboo... People touching a corpse are pariah and no one, not even peasants approach them. There is a special dragon magistrate school that is as a "CSI forensics" and they have special permission to touch corpses because they know special cleaning rituals to purify themselves after that. But even this school is frowned by other samurai. "See, he touches corpses!"
Atomoctba
Adventurer
Anyway, what I mean as an advice, is that L5R is not your regular medieval fantasy game, just placed on Far East. Some troupes do not work in the setting and looting is one of them. No loot. No kill them for stuff. And, to other thing, no individualism. Rokugani culture is about to know his place in the celestial order, and that means you do what your family needs, not what you need. It is not the tale of adventures freeing themselves from the constraints of society, but, quite au contraire, of samurai people learning to do what they must, not what they want.
Jd Smith1
Hero
I figure I'll tone that one down quite a bit. It doesn't add anything, and how would people know? Seems rather silly.
After all, people in this time period would die regularly, there's battles to be cleaned after, and how did you get Gramp's sword if touching dead people is icky? You're going to leave an ancestor to rot in a ditch, or have some untouchable drag his corpse back home by the feet?
Not practical. I can see a greater aversion to it than by European standards, but you're not running a society with the rule enforced as described.
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Jd Smith1
Hero
Yeah, I read the setting.
Golden Bee
Explorer
Courts of Stone had great rules for Making a Court. I'd read those for the Winter parts of the campaign.
TheSword
Legend
- Know your audience.
- Don't duplicate NPCs from the same clan - 10 NPCs all called Akodo is just confusing
- The clans all are unique make the most of that.
- Show don't tell
- Don't get hung up on the graverobbing thing. Sure don't loot corpses of their 1d10 sp, but you can still recover the sword of Mirumoto Hakada.
- Theres nothing wrong with a graverobbing, mercenary, meat touching PC if it helps to bring the cultural elements live in the game - just have a good reason for why that character isn't dead/is with the party. There is a great tradition of a single anachronistic protagonist in such settings.
- Bloodspeakers are cool (partly for the reason above)
- Don't allow ninja's as PCs - use Scorpion clan.
- Give PC's a higher calling.
- Make the campaign about big events - Rokugan thrives of calamity!
- Creatures of Rokugan (the 3e sourcebook) is pretty flipping inspirational.
- Use the Shadowlands taint - its cool.
- Know your audience.
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