Draft: The Shiba Bushi

Get ready. Tonight I'm flooding you with the rest of the Basic Bushi Disciplines. Because I've been very inspired lately, and almost finished the Path mechanics. I don't want to wait so long!

So now you'll get all the Basic Bushi out of the way. then I'll toss the Paths at you when they're finished. And then some Advanced Disciplines (Disciple of Thunder, Sword Dancer, etc.) Excited yet?

So. The Shiba. It's surprising how little they changed through the editions. 1st and 2nd are almost identical. 3rd tried to incorporate the 2nd ed. Shiba Yojimbo (which always seemed odd to me, as if the Shiba Bushi for a thousand years had been incapable of doing its most important function), and to its credit did a much better job than the Mirumoto incorporation did. 4th is, well, fluffy.

I wanted to bring out the yojimbo/bodyguard nature of the school while keeping its meditative Void-crazy inspiration intact. And took the opportunity to grab from some other yojimbo layabouts left scattered around L5R history. Overall, I think it's pretty strong. One of the things I wanted to focus on was the question of "Why would I play this instead of something else?" I've met or talked to very few who have played Shiba Bushi, much like with Akodo Bushi. You played one because you liked the Phoenix flavor, or left it to NPC territory.

That was the problem with the Clan monopolies: you played characters from certain Schools because you liked the Clan, not the School. And it's hard to really care about your character in that situation. Not impossible, but certainly it's unnecessarily more difficult.

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The Shiba Bushi Ryuu

Basic Discipline: The Shiba Bushi

Uji/Profession: Shiba Bushi
Benefit: +1 Reflexes
Honor: 3
Skills: Defense, Kenjutsu, Kyujutsu, Meditation, Theology, Yarijutsu
Outfit: Daisho, any bow, any 20 arrows, naginata or yari, light armor, 1 kimono, traveling pack, 5 koku

Okuden
Rank 1, Way of the Phoenix: The insight and wisdom of the Phoenix flows through you. You gain a bonus to your attack and damage roll totals equal to your Void. In addition, you add your Honor Rank to the number of Wounds each Wound Level can hold.

Rank 2, One With Nothing: The calm of the Void guides your movements. When on Full Defense, you can spend a Void Point to gain Actions in the Phase equal to your Discipline Rank. These Actions cannot be spent to make attacks, but do not end your Full Defense unless you wish. In addition, you can spend as many Void Points on enhancing a roll as you wish, up to your Void Ring.

Rank 3, A Single Life: Your life does not belong to you; it belongs to the service and protection of others. When on Full Defense, instead of the normal benefits, you can spend an Action to intercept any attack against someone within melee range; the target of the attack becomes you, blocking the original attack with your body. This is not considered a use of the Guard maneuver. In addition, you gain Free Raises on all Defense Maneuver rolls equal to your Discipline Rank.

Rank 4, Everywhere and Nowhere at Once: The Void moves your weapon where it needs to be. When you spend an Action to make an attack, you can also make an additional attack.

Rank 5, Touch of the Void: Your resonance with the Void expands the limits of your abilities. You can spend a Void Point to add your Void to any Trait or Skill when making a roll. Additionally, you can sense when Void is being used around you, and attempt to block access. When a Void Point is spent in your presence, you can spend a Void Point to make a contested Void roll with the spender. If you succeed, the Void Point is spent for no effect. If you fail, the Void Point is spent normally.