Some of the things that need changing...

So, what bugs me the most about the various editions of L5R? Just so you have some background on where we're going.

First of all, you put together a group of samurai. But how are they gathered, what common tie binds them together? Sure, duty to you daimyo is the obvious answer, but look how all the editions of the game make that an incredibly limiting idea. You'd all have to be from the same Clan, or technically even the same Family. Maybe. The distinctions between them and just who you were serving, the daimyo at the top of the chain or a lower lord, and if everybody is from different Families, how do the fealties work out then? And even just from what clan, the options of schools becomes drastically limited unless you want to spend extra character points taking Different Clan School or whatever it's called in 4E now. There's that punishment thing.

Or we make them all magistrates. Again. Or in the Imperial Legions. Again. Or set up a Winter Court, where the players are just one of many samurai attending. But this gives them no common purpose, no internal ties, just a twist of fate. And sure, with the right GM it can work. But it shouldn't have to. Most games have some built-in mechanic or setting assumption that binds the players together, whether it's the default Party of Adventurers in D&D (with the Chartered Adventurers of Forgotten Realms a fine example) or the packs, coteries, cabals, etc. of the World of Darkness games.

So this L5R needs something. I'm going to call it the Wa, the Harmony. A superstructure that binds the samurai together with a common purpose or goal, even if it's only some sense of friendship or alliance of situation. But it means something. It is not merely transitory. The samurai bind each other with an oath before the Fortunes. And the Wa is a respected institution, an honored tradition. Yes, your clan comes first. And then your family. But honor demands that the Wa be respected as well. And if your daimyo or family requires you break faith with your Wa?

Well, that's the stuff of legends, isn't?

And what's the most well-known Wa, the most famous and cherished. The Wa of the Seven Thunders, of course. That's the heroic ideal in the setting, right? Then let's emulate directly, and assume the society would logically do so. Now you have a reason to all be together, and a reason to have conflict. A reason to have an honorable conflict.

What are the mechanics? No idea yet. I'll tackle it when I get to the character creation overhaul, but it will require all the players working together.

Now, about language.

What I really enjoyed in 1st Edition was the liberal use of Japanese terminology, even when incorrect. As the editions progressed, Japanese became less and less present. This is a shame. It's part of the fun, and its absence and presence seem strangely inconsistent. Sure Kenjutsu remains, but alongside Chain Weapons as a Skill? And I can be a Bushi! Cool. Or a Shugenja! Exotic. Or a Courtier! Huh?

Just doesn't fit. So, I'll make a glossary as I go along that will be up front in the book, like the old 1st Edition had. Teishin for Courtier, Gakusho for Monk, and so on. I know the arguments for making the terms simplified: it creates more access. But, as a fan project, I don't care about marketing or the threshold access. If you want to play in my game, get used to learning or just getting used to foreign terminology. I don't see using terms from a foreign language as a barrier, but as an opportunity.

Now the big change is setting-wide. The clans... no, the uji. Get used to that term. I will rarely say clan again. The uji are far too monolithic in the default setting. So I'm going to bust them up and rearrange them; what was a Family is now itself an uji, and the animal totems are no longer used, except as mythological references to powerful ancestors. So no more Unicorn uji. Now there is the Shinjo uji, to which the Utaku, Ide, and Iuchi uji owe fealty. Somewhat. At least according to what actually would make sense given their history and geography. Beyond that, their ironclad dominion over schools also needs to be broken, so that the most common schools are easily trained across the Empire. Again, a superstructure will be built to facilitate the operation of dojo throughout the land, regardless of originating uji. The uji of origin matters, and retains control, but can't restrict the growth of dojo outside their lands. At least not officially. And not for every school, but every Akodo army is going to want a core of Akodo Bushi, with elements of Hida Bushi heavy infantry, Shinjo Bushi cavalry, and specialist Kakita Bushi duelists, Daidoji Bushi yojimbo, etc.

And the biggest change: No more Rokugan. Now, there is Hachigoku: The Eight Kingdoms. The First Emperor Hantei's son vanished, and the Empire is still waiting for his return some thousand years later. So now the Empire remains under a regency, for a thousand years, with the smaller uji making up the kingdoms' shifting alliances and warring over the millennium.

So, there's a few starting points. Tomorrow I'll start talking mechanics.