The Duel of Letters

Wahoo, so look some new rules! Here's yet another twist on dueling: Duels of Letters! Based on the letter-writing rules in Winter Court: Kyuden Kakita and a bit of the Debate rules in Houses of the Blooded. Having competing oratory debates in the style of Law & Order, or rather Greek and Roman forums and senates just seemed extremely out of place in Legend of the Five Rings. So here is a serviceable replacement.


Correspondence
A correspondence duel, or a duel of letters as it is sometimes called, is an honored tradition in court. Openly arguing one's point or case in front of your daimyo is one thing—openly defying another in court is quite another. When samurai find themselves at odds in court, and in need of persuading third parties of an argument rather than simply satisfying justice and honor between them as individuals, open debate is out of the question. Inevitably, you would be contradicting a superior, or insulting your daimyo by implying he was not wise enough to heed proper counsel. It also implies a lack of subtlety, cleverness, and courtesy in the questioner.

A courtly tradition has evolved to circumvent these constraints. What in other cultures would be conducted with rhetoric and oral debates is instead channeled into finely crafted letters passed between correspondents. The art of using imagery to imply intent rather than stating it outright is highly praised, as it allows both parties an opportunity to save face if required.

Judgment: Either writer may engage the other in the duel. This requires no outside permission; on the contrary, the entire purpose of the duel of letters is engage in an otherwise outlandish activity in an honorable, unguarded moment. Each writer must make a Politics/Intelligence roll (TN 15) to establish the initial worth of their argument and judge the worth of the other's; Raises may be made for bonus effects as usual, including learning certain facts about the opponent. Each Raise allows the writer to know one of the following additional facts:

Opponent's Oratory Skill Rank.
Opponent's Awareness Skill Rank.
Opponent's Void Ring Rank.
Opponent's Glory Rank.

Focus: Unlike most duels which happen quickly or within a defined timeframe, the duel of letters takes place over an extended scene as the correspondence of the two writers flows back and forth. Optionally, the initiating writer could even spend a Season Action to represent a duel of letters being engaged over the course of an entire Season. It's ramifications and rolls in this case do not take place until the Harvest phase.

Furthermore, the duel may not stay limited to just two participants. Letters written at court are hardly private. They are almost never sealed, and nearly anyone can stop a servant in the halls to read what they bear. In fact, it's expected. Letters communicate the writer's wit and guile to everyone; they do not communicate secrets. Such do not public disagreements become disseminated while appearing private. These other readers can choose to join in the duel, on one side or another. When doing so, the appropriate writer's roll becomes a Group roll, with themselves as the lead. No writer can have more additional proponents than their Glory Rank; while a slew of other writers may begin exchanging letters, only a few are going to be important, articulate, or invested enough to influence the course of the duel, or to be benefited or harmed by their engagement.

The duel's TN begins at 5. After the initial exchange of letters and judgment, the writer with the highest Politics/Intelligence roll decided who Focuses or Strikes first. Each Focus raises the TN by +5, representing another letter carefully written, sent, and circulated, elaborating the writer's stance and arguments. Then the opponent has the option to Focus or Strike. After both writers have Focused, any other writer may join the duel, supporting one side or the other. Unlike the two primary writers, they cannot choose to Strike; they may only Focus, and only once before the opportunity to Focus or Strike returns to the initial writer. If both writers again choose to Focus, other writers can again choose to engage in the duel.

Focusing continues until one of the writers declares a Strike. No writer can Focus more times than he has Void Ring Ranks, although they can spend Void Points to Focus additional times (this cannot be done of using a Season Action to conduct the duel). Certain Skill, Advantage, or Okuden rules may allow you to Focus additional times as well.

Strike: When a writer chooses to Strike, both writers must make Oratory/Awareness rolls. If other writers have joined in, these may be Group rolls. The TN of the roll is 5 + Focuses (from all writers involved). Each writer may also gain a +Xk0 bonus to their rolls, where X is their Glory Rank.

The writer who succeeds against the TN and has the highest roll wins the debate. He gains Honor and Glory Points as normal for winning a duel; those who supported his side with Focuses likewise earn the same amount Glory Points. The writer with the lowest roll loses the appropriate amount of Honor and Glory points for losing a duel; those who Focused on their behalf also lose the same amount of Glory Points. If both writers failed against the TN, they are both considered to have lost the duel. All Honor and Glory Point losses apply, and the original decision stands, or the matter is considered inconsequential. In either case, bringing it up again this Season would be an Act of Vice.