Draft: The Yoritomo Bushi

Okay, the last of the Basic Disciplines is thWAIT WAIT I JUST FIGURED SOMETHING OUT!

Sorry. I was just thinking of the Tsuruchi again, and that I didn't want the Bounty Hunter Path to be all tied up in the same base uji, so I gave it to the Sakura since they like tracking down ninja, but I was giving it back to the Tsuruchi because that didn't feel right...

But then...

then...

YASUKI BOUNTY HUNTER! Makes perfect sense.

Anyway. Yoritomo. He's looking at me funny, so let's get on with it. Absolutely useless background: Yoritomo was looking to seed the Yoritomo dojo ten years ago and jumps off a ship in Cold Wind City. His comrade asks him how we going to get permission to start a dojo there, and he says, "The way all legends begin. Pick a fight."

He picks a particularly arrogant Kakita duelist by the dock and humiliates him. The Kakita reacts dishonorably, attacking Yoritomo from behind after the duel; Yoritomo still dunks him in the harbor. The samurai is dishonored and made ronin.

Two years later the ronin Dairya begins slicing up opponents. Draw your own conclusions.

So, the ryuu. I tried to make them more focused on unorthodox weapons and tactics, and sailing. Less focused specifically on the kama. I always felt that, unless you have really cool kama (like Yoritomo's massive magic ones), doing the kind of damage the old school called for just didn't make sense. And it was way too one-note. "So I'm a kickbutt sailor and misunderstood samurai, yes?" "Yep." "What are my weapon options?" "Kama." "Kama?" "Well, you can use anything you want, but your techniques really only use kama." "Kama?"

This continues for several more hours.

***

The Yoritomo Bushi Ryuu

Basic Discipline: The Yoritomo Bushi

Uji/Profession: Yoritomo Bushi

Benefit: +1 Willpower

Honor: 1

Skills: Athletics, Commerce, Jiujutsu, Kenjutsu, Nofujutsu, Sailing

Outfit: Daisho, any 2 weapons, light armor, 1 kimono, traveling pack, 8 koku

Okuden

Rank 1, Fight Without Steel: Yoritomo bushi have an unofficial motto: “Whatever works.” You treat all Bujutsu and Karate Skills as Bugei Skills. Also, a preference for maximizing nontraditional weapons allows you to use Nofujutsu weapons without any off-hand penalty. Finally, the rolling style of footwork taught to you allows you to ignore all penalties for unsure footing, whether on a precarious, gravel-covered ledge or a ship tossed about by sea and storm.

Rank 2, Voice of the Storm: The fury of Osano-wo leaves others trembling before you. You can spend a Void Point when spending an Action for Full Attack to negate all Free Raises opponents gain against you and generate Fear equal to your Discipline Rank until your next Action.

Rank 3, Claws of the Mantis: Your extensive experience with unorthodox weapons and tactics has taught you to exploit other samurai's reliance on tradiotion. Whenever you spend an Action to make an attack that does not use Kenjutsu, Kyujutsu, or Yarijutsu, you can also make an additional attack. In addition, you gain a +1k0 bonus to all Bugei Skill rolls when engaged in a Battle with Precipitous terrain.

Rank 4, Yoritomo's Rolling Wave: You have mastered Yoritomo's own contribution to the ryuu, a method of defense that focuses on flexibility and fluidity. When rolling for Full Defense or an Active Defense, you add +XkX to your roll, where X is your Water Ring. You can also move normally during Full Defense, and can move up 5' when making an Active Defense.

Rank 5, Typhoon Strike: You can hurl yourself into combat, striking savagely from all directions at once. Spend Actions equal to your Water Ring (only one need be in the current Phase), then make a single attack roll against everyone nearby. Everyone, friend or foe, is targeted, unless you spend a Void Point to avoid a specific individual in your field of fire. This attacks everyone within 5' x your Water Ring. You can make Raises as normal, or even benefit from Free Raises. However, you cannot spend Raises or perform Attack Maneuvers other than Increased Damage, Knockdown, or declaring Bonus Effects. All Yowamushi are targeted individually by the attack roll. Likewise, you roll a single damage roll, applied to all targets successfully struck. Any modifiers a target applies to the total Wounds inflicted only concerns themselves, but any modifiers to the dice themselves (including altering kept or unkept dice, etc.) concern all targets.

Draft: The Tsuruchi Bushi

Ah, the Tsuruchi. This isn't in the mechanics, but one change is that Tsuruchi is considerably older. As in, dead. It's been several generations. Because having that great a legendary archer around is just really intimidating to all the other wannabe archers.

And, y'know, this is your word to have fun in. So let's just assume his fun was had.

Mechanically... I dunno. It's the archer ryuu. There needed to be an archer ryuu. There's not all that much to with that, okay? I didn't want to push up the magistrate angle because it feels too specific, not general enough to break the Clan Monopoly Problem. I leave that for a Path (yes, there's a Bounty Hunter Path).

Hopefully it's not overpowered; I did try to dial it back to feel like 1st edition.

***

The Tsuruchi Bushi Ryuu

Basic Discipline: The Tsuruchi Bushi

Uji/Profession: Tsuruchi Bushi

Benefit: +1 Reflexes

Honor: 2

Skills: Athletics, Defense, Hunting, Investigation, Kyujutsu, Nofujutsu

Outfit: Daisho, daikyu or yumi, any 20 arrows, any 1 weapon, light armor, 1 kimono, traveling pack, 2 koku

Okuden

Rank 1, Never Let the Blade Reach You: If you let the enemy get near enough to hit, you die. When on Full Defense, you can still spend Actions to attack with ranged weapons. In addition, when wielding a bow you gain Free Raises on your attack roll equal to your Discipline Rank.

Rank 2, Sting of the Wasp: Tsuruchi was famous for blackening the sky with arrows. When you spend an Action to make an attack with a bow, you can also make additional attacks with that bow equal to your Discipline Rank.

Rank 3, The Arrow Knows the Way: Your technique collapses you, the arrow, and the target into a deadly unity. You can spend a Void Point before making an attack with a bow. The arrow automatically hits, but with no Raises other than Free Raises.

Rank 4, Flight of No-Mind: The unity between archer and target has erased all boundaries. When firing an arrow, you ignore all TN penalties, including the target's armor; a Raise is not a penalty. You also reduce Carapace by your Discipline Rank when firing an arrow.

Rank 5, Tsuruchi's Final Lesson: Every archer strives for that one, perfect shot. You can spend an Action and a Void Point to fire an arrow; it automatically hits, ignoring all armor, Carapace, protection from spells, or nemuranai. You gain 10 Free Raises on this attack. You cannot do anything else with this Action but take the single perfect shot.

Draft: The Kitsune Bushi

The Kitsune Bushi are a replacement for the Hiruma Bushi originally planned. After looking over the Hiruma, it occurred to me that they're just too niche. And expecting them to give up the niche to spread their dojo across Hachigoku seemed unrealistic.

So I took the basics of the Hiruma, looked through various "scout" type Paths (which are really pretty identical": Shinomen Guard, Kitsune Tracker, Wilderness Explorer), and cobbled up this ryuu. I think it fits the niche of needing a scout, wilderness-based Discipline without trampling all over ninja territory, just getting uncomfortably close.

Plus, I can put the Hiruma niche back in with a Path, so they still get love, and I can make an interesting three-way history dynamic between the Kitsune, Shinjo, and Hiruma.

This is the first of the Shosei ryuu, seeing as I can give them a mythical origin without being directly attached to Thunders or Kami.

***

The Kitsune Bushi Ryuu

Basic Discipline: The Kitsune Bushi

Uji/Profession: Kitsune Bushi
Benefit: +1 Perception
Honor: 2
Skills: Athletics, Hunting, Investigation, Kenjutsu, Kyujutsu, Stealth
Outfit: Daisho, yumi, any 20 arrows, any 1 weapon, ashigaru armor, 1 kimono, traveling pack, 2 koku

Okuden
Rank 1, The Hidden Path: The wilderness holds few secrets for those who run with foxes. You add your Hunting to your TN to be Hit and attack roll totals when in non-urban environments. Additionally, you gain Free Raises equal to your Discipline Rank when using the Hunting, Investigation, or Stealth Skills, and Stealth is considered a Bugei Skill for you.

Rank 2, Run Like the Wind: Those who reach this rank can push their endurance past normal limits. You can maintain a running pace for a number of hours equal to your Discipline Rank x 2, assuming a speed of 10 m.p.h. Afterwards you must spend an equal amount of time resting, engaging in no strenuous activity (nothing that requires combat or Complex Actions. Additionally, you can double the overland travel speed of yourself and a number of other individuals equal to your Discipline Rank x 5. This only applies in non-urban environments as you pick your way through unused passes and trod little-known paths across the wilderness of Hachigoku.

Rank 3, Moving the Shadow: Nothing can impede a Kitsune intent on fulfilling his mission. You can always move at full speed, even if normally hampered by Full Defense, Stealth, or Wound penalties. If magically impeded, you can spend a Void Point to still move at full speed for the rest of the Scene. This will not enable you to move if immobilized for any reason, but you do gain a +1k1 bonus to all rolls to escape bonds or entanglement. Your memory, too, is heightened. At any time you can hold an image in your head and recount the details perfectly, as if you were standing there. You can only hold one such image in your head at a time.

Rank 4, Harness the Wind: Your attacks howl like a cutting wind. When you spend an Action to make an attack, you can also make an additional attack.

Rank 5: Veil of Spirits: Your mastery of seeing unseen is complete. When making Hunting or Stealth rolls, your 9's explode as if they were 10's. Also, you can spend a Void Point when attempting to avoid detection and automatically succeed against any attempts to detect you. You must remain completely still, only breathing, or the okuden fails. If magic is used to detect you, you may spend an additional Void Point to foil each specific instance until the end of the Scene.

Draft: The Shinjo Bushi

And now for the My Little Pony Bushi. I mean, the Shinjo. This has always been a fairly solid, cavalry-dominating niche. I don't mind that, especially after breaking the Clan Monopoly Problem. There's not too much different here, except some Battle buffing, some Charge addition, and the Parrying part is gone.

Wait! Wait! Let me explain.

The parrying ability has been somewhat upgraded to offensive status (because if you really know fencing, you know that parrying without a riposte is a rookie thing to do) and placed in a Path. So it's there, it's different but still cool, so put down the katana...

Also, this is the last of the O-Shosei ryuu to be statted. The next three are two Shosei (the Kitsune and Yoritomo) and a Shodai (Tsuruchi).

***

The Shinjo Bushi Ryuu

Basic Discipline: The Shinjo Bushi

Uji/Profession: Shinjo Bushi
Benefit: +1 Awareness
Honor: 2
Skills: Athletics, Bajutsu, Hunting, Kenjutsu, Yarijutsu, Yomanri
Outfit: Daisho, daikyu, any 20 arrows, any 2 weapons, light armor, 1 kimono, traveling pack, steed, 10 koku

Okuden
Rank 1, Way of the Unicorn: A Shinjo rider learns to trust his steed's instincts above his own desire. When mounted, you add your Bajutsu to all Skill roll totals and TN to be Hit.

Rank 2, Across the Dusty Plains: You are taught that speed is no excuse for carelessness. You can perform the Charge Attack Maneuver without making a Raise, and when making a Full Attack others gain only 2 Free Raises against you until your next Action. If mounted, your opponents gain only 1 Free Raise against you.

Rank 3, Four Winds Strike: When you spend an Action to make an attack, you can also make an additional attack.

Rank 4, One Spirit: You and your steed react as one. When mounted, your steed uses your TN to be Hit. If the steed's TN to be Hit is higher, you use its. Your steed also has access to all of your Shinjo Bushi okuden while under your direction. When assigned a Battle Action during a Wave, your bond with your mount allows you to take an additional Battle Action, assuming you are mounted.

Rank 5, Dancing With Fortunes: The luck of Lady Shinjo be with you. After any roll, you may spend a Void Point to reroll, even if was successful. After any roll made against you (be it an attack, a spell, etc.), you may spend a Void Point to force the foe to reroll. This can only affect rolls directly made against you, not environmental effects or collateral damage.

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.

***

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.

Draft: The Mirumoto Bushi

Today, we have the Mirumoto Bushi up on deck. Looking through the four editions, my favorite Miyamoto Musashi homage has quite a roller-coaster history. It was mechanically the "kill'em quick, kill'em dead, kill'em all school" that threw in a magic-based technique for flavor in 1st ed., remembered how all the flavor text talked about how great duelists the Mirumoto were and tossed in the Swordmaster School in 2nd ed., then threw them both together for 3rd ed. for an incredibly overpowered tactical nuke of a bushi.

4th ed. sort of tried to separate them and make the bushi a bit of old school killer and new school duelist, and just looked like it nerfed it overall.

I decided to take that 4th ed. direction, which was well-intended after the God-mod of 3rd ed., but went way too far. I attempted to rediscover the original Mirumoto, with some tweaks to bring out the dueling aspect. This may yet need further revision, Rank 3 always seems out of place, but the flavor of linking shugenja and bushi together for historical reasons is too strong.

***

The Mirumoto Bushi Ryuu

Basic Discipline: The Mirumoto Bushi

Uji/Profession: Mirumoto Bushi
Benefit: +1 Awareness
Honor: 2
Skills: Athletics, Jiujutsu, Kenjutsu, Kyujutsu, Meditation, Theology
Outfit: Daisho, any bow, any 20 arrows, light armor, 1 kimono, traveling pack, 2 koku

Okuden
Rank 1, Way of the Dragon: Mirumoto bushi train in a unique style that employs the katana one-handed, with the wakizashi warding off threats in the off-hand. When wielding the daisho in such a fashion, you gain a bonus to your TN to be Hit of 5 + your Discipline Rank. In addition, the Mirumoto are trained to draw both swords quickly in combat. When making any attack roll wielding a katana, you can use your Kenjutsu in place of Iaijutsu. You can still benefit from Iaijutsu Emphases according to your Iaijutsu Rank.

Rank 2, Strong and Swift: The bite of a dragon is as deadly as its tail. When you spend an Action to make an attack using a katana, you can also make an additional attack with your wakizashi.

Rank 3, Blood of My Brothers: Mirumoto bushi are trained alongside shugenja, learning to sense the flow of magic. If you are aware of a shugenja casting a spell targeting you, you may spend a Void Point to increase or decrease the TN by 5 points. You can also attempt to disrupt a spell you are aware of affecting a person after a successful attack. After dealing Wounds, spend a Void Point and make a Void roll (TN 5 x Mastery Level of the spell). The effect is canceled until the end of the Scene.

Rank 4, The Unrighteous Will Fall: A dragon's wrath does not end until all of its enemies are fallen. When a foe falls to Down, Out, or Dead from your attack, that attack does not count as spending your Action. This applies even if the attack was not the first attack taken with the spent Action.

Rank 5, Heart of the Dragon: The speed and power of a dragon flows through you to the steel in your hand. When you spend an Action to make an attack, you can also make an additional attack. This is cumulative with the okuden Strong and Swift. Thus, after attacking with a katana, you gain an additional attack with a wakizashi, and an additional attack with whatever weapon you choose.

Draft: The Kakita Bushi

Next up is the Kakita Bushi. Well, there's not all that much different here. What I did do is to make their techniques less Iaijutsu-specific, and more duel-specific.

So any time it says dueling, that means dueling.

You may have noticed there are a lot of duels in Hachigaku that don't involve drawing a katana first.

You're welcome, Kakita.

***

The Kakita Bushi Ryuu

Basic Discipline: The Kakita Bushi

Uji/Profession: Kakita Bushi

Benefit: +1 Awareness

Honor: 3

Skills: Bajutsu, Defense, Etiquette, Iaijutsu, Kyujutsu, Oratory

Outfit: Daisho, any bow, any 20 arrows, light armor, 2 kimono, traveling pack, steed, 10 koku

Okuden

Rank 1, Way of the Crane: Iaijutsu is not merely a skill, or even an art; it is life. When making any attack roll wielding a katana, you can use your Iaijutsu in place of Kenjutsu. You can still benefit from Kenjutsu Emphases according to your Kenjutsu Rank. Also, you always add your Iaijutsu Rank to your Initiative Total.

Rank 2, The Sudden Strike: You breathe ritual and ceremony; forms bend to the will of a Kakita. When in a duel, you can Raise by any amount, instead of being limited to multiples of 5. Also, all changes to Glory and Honor from dueling are increased by your Discipline Rank.

Rank 3, Strike from the Void: The Kakita find the swift strike in the depths of the Void. During a duel, you can spend as many Void Points for any use as you wish. Thus, you can spend multiple Void Points on a roll, or repeatedly spend Void Points to Focus again.

Rank 4, One Strike, Two Cuts: Your blade moves so quickly that two strikes blur into one. When you spend an Action to make an attack using Iaijutsu, you can also make an additional attack. Also, you can add your Iaijutsu Rank to your TN to be Hit at all times.

Rank 5, Strike With No Thought: The swiftness of Kakita's reflexes and instinct to strike are legendary. At the very beginning of a combat, before Initiative or even the Challenge of a duel, you can attempt an attack roll. Choose a target and spend a Void Point to immediately make an attack roll; the target is considered unaware. If done at the beginning of an Iaijutsu duel, this attack is considered highly dishonorable.