Empire of the River God OOC

[rangerjohn]

I checked into the Shukenja, but noticed that most of his spells are melee, and with lack of armor and hps....

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

Shugenja are divine casters, so they can use armor freely; if they're not proficient, a single level in a martial class will fix that, and it's not unreasonable for a shugenja to have some samurai training. For hit points, just make sure to have a decent Con and a Con buff or two.

 

[Ghostknight]

How so? We're running with 3.5's damage reduction... (GK, will you confirm that also?)

Also I'm more interested in Mithral.


Indeed it is 30% and thanks I had missed them to be completely honest.

PA, I sent your class in good faith of future groveling so check you in box.

Edit: Was there anything else I needed to scan..? :\ Or did that get taken care off?

Yep, 3.5 DR, the Iajutsu ficus I already OKed (rapidly bringing it into combay readiness rsather than strictly frawing it - this is a fantasy game after all!).

Mithral I am also OK with - what on earth do you think those mastersmiths work with, taking a year to produce a katana? BUt - on that note it is also 30% more expensive due to the fact that it is only done by mastersmiths (I see that as a level 10 Expert- it is the rare smith who knows these secrets and mithral weapons tend to be named and buld up histories!)

As for wizards - nope, Wu Jen is the OA version, so go Sohei or sorcerer.

In terms of Ninja- no one states up front they are one - you would need to have a cover identity- I mean do you really think members of a secret society go around saying what they are?

As for the setting - I am using the basic Rokugan clans and their current affiliations/specialities (so the clan specific prestige classes) and political machinations - since I wasn't plannoing to run an OA campaign any time soon I did not have more set-up. BUT I am not going to use the geography and the restrictions on races etc that Rokugan has, nor the pantheon stated in there- going for a more animist based kami approach - with a bit of budhism thrown in. The celestial bureaucracy generally is more concerned with the ephemerals of life - kami cover most earth bound issues.

In terms of honor/dishonor - a character is not going to face an issue uless in an area they are well known or with people theat know them well. BUT, blatant issues where honor is being sacrificed is likely to create a social problem (in the middle of nowhere it is unlikely to be a problem unless there are witnesses left to tell tales...yep- OA is aa far more brutal setting in my mind in that life is far less valued/family/clan/nation are genreally seen as more important than self (the COnfuscian ethic).

GFA - correct in your assumptions re the setting!

Paxus - looks good, but as I said above, decide on a cover identity- unlikely he blatantly goes around saying he is a ninja! Traditionally ninja were used for doing the dirty work the samurai would not touch - it is considered inherently a dishonourable profession.

As for spell casters- yep, in oriental legelnds spellcasters are fewer than in western l;egends, but Kami and shapechangers more frequent (thus why I like Hengeyokai and don;t understand taking them out of any OA setting!)

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

Technically, the Tamejiro family are samurai; they have the same rights and obligations as other samurai families. The difference is that they teach underhanded maneuvers (sneak attack and the Scorpion style feats), and hold duty above all other aspects of bushido. His "cover story" is technically accurate; though not truly samurai-trained, he is samurai blood. Likewise, when he does dirty work, it is something that he can genuinely argue was demanded of him by duty, though it often violates such bushido tenets as courage and compassion.

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

I just realized that the ninja as written has no bow proficiency. Would it be acceptable if I sacrifice some other proficiencies (the blowgun, kusari-gama, and/or chain) to get hankyu proficiency?

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Don't you hate it when the PrC you've been looking at for quite sometime, plan for it, and then you decide you don't like it after all?

Anyhow that brings about a bunch of curious questions…

Is alignment based upon your desires or your what you do? (example a man who wants to help out the common man but doesn’t do to his family’s beliefs?)

Also has anyone else noted that the Samurai ancestral weapons are based upon character level and not his or her samurai class level? (Am I reading this wrong, is it a typo?)

Edit: I'm not sure if I want samurai levels... This is all hypothetical.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Okay here is one of the many issues I have with the book... :\

The following skills are considered High skills, and are norable for samurai to practice: Craft (calligraphy, flower arranging, landscape gardening, origami, painting, and other fine arts), Diplomacy, Knowledge (any), Perform )fine arts, tea ceremony), Profession (courtier), Ride, Scry, Speak Language, and Spellcraft.

The following skills are considered Low skills, and bring dishonor to a samurai: Bluff, Craft (leatherworking, poison, traps), Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Hide, Move Silently, Open Lock, Perform (common entertainment), Pick Pocket, and Profession (gambler, mortician, torturer).

Other skills are neutral where a samurai's honor is concerned.

Okay, this is taking about the caste and not just the class so is this in effect? If so do the High Skills, aka knowledge, become class skills?

As for the low skills most of them I can agree with but I disagree with Hide and Move Silently. Personally I see it as tactical useful and the Japanese have historically used these “skills” though out there history. I’ll toss Pearl Harbor out as an example even tough it comes a "few" centuries later in there history... So can this be amended?

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

FYI: I'm stuck where I'm att on this character till I get the above worked out... (sorry for the delay people.)

 

[Ghostknight]

Paxus- Any character operating within the Confuscian ethic generally operates within the following priority list- Nation first, then clan, then family, then self - in other words the greatest good for the greatest number. SO it follows that any lawful character in this environment will put the above before himself or honor (but if dishonored is likely to commit sepuku - Samurai would do what was necessary but then regain honor by this ultimate act).

Ninja were members of the lower classes that essentially did those jobs that a samurai needed doing but would avoid- such as spying , kidnapping forpolitical reasons, assasination via poison, carrying messages, theft etc. Any samurai family that behaved like this for an extended period would end up as outcasts, no one would lay cliam to them. Thus on the surface, even if they were involved in such activities they would maintain an image of honor to avoid being expelled from politics etc.

So for your concept - it would more likely follow that if they carry the veneer of samurai, they would publicly espouse bushido as do all other samurai while privately behaving otherwise- if publicly exposed as "samurai ninja" an individual would need to behave publicly like any other samurai. Also, if using this kind of story it would be useful for the character to the exotic weapon proficientcy for the daisho as he would need to carry them to maintain his cover identity.

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

Very well, I will maintain such a facade, but though I'll carry a wakizashi, it will see no use; I'm not a Dragon either in fact or cover, so it's not in character to wield it as a weapon, and the Tamejiro consider seppuku to be a tremendous lapse in duty, so it won't be used for that ritual purpose. A certain aura of dishonor will likely surround the family regardless; it's hard to act for centuries in the fashion they do without at least some activities becoming publicized, and only in the most severe of cases will they go to the extent of falsifying a seppuku to cover for a dishonorable act.