This is an attempt. If the Mods decide posting such contents is against the rules of the forums, just let me know. The community is in a confused state just now so I have no idea if posting to reach as many people as I could is allowed. It's the second chapter of my Guide to Gaijin (1st discuss advantages and skills, 3rd the Burning Sands, 4th the Ivory Kingdoms and 5th the Yobanjins). I'm half-way into the 3rd chapter right now. It was meant to be stuff I would suggest for Imperial Archives 2 before it got cancelled. Once fully finished it'll be posted on the Kaze-no-shiro most likely.

1. Thrane and Merenae (Umi no Koete) :

Thrane and Merenae characters use drama instead of void. For a character, drama works exactly like void. For interactions with effects that target void, refers to the rules described in 4 ^th edition core book and book of the Void. Otherwise, a character build from there is created exactly as a character from Rokugan, barring the following changes below. Notice all this system is only meant for NPC creation.

Merenae : + 1 awareness

Thrane : + 1 intelligence.

Little is known about those two cultures, except that Merenae seems to be inspired by Spain (Castille in 7 ^th sea) and France (Montaigne) while Thrane seems to be inspired by English (Avallon) and Dutch (Vesten). They first meet Rokuganni in 439 (Isawa Calendar) in the port of Aqahab, in the form of Moto and Ide scouts of the Ki-rin clan.

They have a religion, which involve an entity named Kharsis. It seems many are devote followers of this belief. They also have magic, which is called often blood sorcery. Not because it involve blood, like maho, but because bloodlines carry the power of magic. All of those bloodlines are nobles, so technically being able to use magic makes you a noble, but in truth, the shame of a bastard using magic often lead to them being hidden or executed. Magic is rare and feared by most people, who don’t understand it. Even the noble are wary of those few who can uses the magic of their ancestors.

The Umi no Koete have faced the Yodatai at times, meeting that didn’t go well. Wars were fought, but the Yodatai never pushed toward the islands regions of the Thrane and Merenae, and so never threatened their kingdoms. But what threatened and brought them down was a plague from the Senpet. Explorators from the kingdom of Thrane met with the Senpet empire, and a plague was brought back. This illness was not dangerous to the Senpet, but for the unprepared Thrane, it was deadly. 80% of their population died during the 10 ^th century (Isawa Calendar) and the plague stroke the neighboring countries in the same way (except Merenae), bringing a dark age.

The Umi no Koete lost many technological advancements and resources, forcing them to revert to older techniques. Whatever they could hold to was preserved but became rarer. Advanced firearms became less common; armies had to go back to older muskets, canons and pistols. Swords were brought back as the main dueling weapon as not every noble could afford a pistol anymore. Magic became more common as a resource, people practicing it again more often and overtly.

Thrane and Merenae characters have their own version of honor. While it is called honor from where they come, to avoid confusion with the Rokugani honor system, it has been renamed Panache. The Panache system works exactly like the honor system, with the exception of the values it supports. I could make an entire file explaining a complex honor system with many examples about how depending of what you do, you win or lose panache, but I’ll just explain the key virtues linked to it. The base for it is the code of Chivalry, but it’s an antiquated thing for most of the nobles class of those two countries, which explains their tendencies to emphasize only some virtues and not having such a great panache (also, it doesn’t apply to non-noble). Remember that panache works like honor for bonuses against things like intimidation.

• Courage : I shall protect the weak. You should not fear when you have to fight. You should not show that you are afraid. This virtue doesn’t force you to fight impossible odds, so sneaking away is possible, as long as you have done everything you could before coming to it. You are a noble warrior and shall act like one.
• Justice : I shall hold a passion for justice in my heart. A true gentleman believes in a justice that punishes the wrongdoings. The thieves, the liars, the cheaters should be punished according to their crimes.
• Generosity : I shall give aid to any man, woman, child, friend or foe, without though of reward or compensation. Being the strong and the riche, the noble class should be providing protection and guidance to the lower casts.
• Mercy : I shall show mercy to a defenseless foe. Fighting someone unaware of the battle, or unarmed, is not honorable. Duels should also be one against one. With generosity, mercy is usually the virtue most modern noble forget.
• Modesty : I shall show humility before the Creator and his work. Bragging isn’t really welcomed at the court. One shall be proud of his accomplishments but not boast them at every occasion.
• Temperance : I shall keep guard against treason in my own heart and in the heart of others. Etiquette separate the man from the animal, and one should be always mindful of the complex social system. Uncouth warriors are unwelcome in court.

Panache values :

• 0-1 : Honorless scum.

You are without honor. Like the thugs living on the streets, you are a selfish coward. You are anathema to all the virtues of the code of Chivalry.

• 2-3 : Villainous.

Cruelty, selfishness barbaric warriors have this rank. They sometimes have a sliver of honor (like not killing women) but that about it.

• 4-5 : What is expected.

You follow the basic rules of the code, but barely. You mostly pay lip service to it or are too weak-minded to live by the higher standards of it. Most nobles have this rank.

• 6-7 : Gentleman.

You are the type of hero the romantic speaks of. You try your best to live by the code in everything, but sometimes you falter or one virtue is too hard for you to follow.

• 8-9 : Heroic.

You embody the virtues of the Code. You are a shining example to live by.

• 10 : Paragon.

This level is nothing but a faltering moment, for such a rank of panache is too hard to maintain with the difficulties of life… or led to your death due to you refusing to bow.

Status and glory works like they are in L5r corebook, just that they mostly work only for the respective country and their neighbors. Social position starts with noble (1,0), with military grades / Navy grades going as following : corporal / sailor (1,5), sergeant / mate (2,0), lieutenant /petty officer (3,0), captain / lieutenant (4,0). There is also magistrate and religious positions, which follows a complex structure only expert understands.

Molinero school (Merenae, Warrior) : + 1 awareness

This school is a famous fencing school that teaches a more defensive style than the others really well know schools. It's more defensive for it uses a dagger in it's left-hand, often named a main gauche. Through parrying with it it can block enemy attacks, which are often also brash ones as the second most famous aspect of this school is the habit of teasing and insulting the opponent. This is done so the enemy loses focus and makes impulsive attacks, offering openings in his defense when doing so. One variant style uses a triple dagger to increase disarms in addition to parrying, but make it harder to parry.

Starting panache : 5,5

School skills : defense, knives (dagger), swordsmanship, fencing, etiquette Umi no Koete , intimidation, any bugei or high skill.

Starting outfit :

1 ^st rank : Molinero’s defense.

The first lesson of this school is how to use the dagger in their left hand. You ignore all dual-wielding penalties when you have a dagger in your left hand. Your TN increase by your school rank when you have a dagger in your left hand. You have +1k0 to intimidation rolls.

2 ^nd rank : Molinero’s sarcasm.

The school is known for the constant insults and sarcasm of their students. As a free action, you can make an intimidation (control) / awareness roll with a TN equal to your opponent’s willpower X 5 (+ bonuses against intimidation). If you succeed, your opponent suffers a – 3 to all his attacks rolls for a number of rounds equal to your school rank. Each raise on this roll increase the penalty by 2. You cannot use this technique on a particular opponent more than once per skirmish and can be used in a duel.

3 ^rd rank : Molinero’s strike.

Like the 3 ^rd rank of the Kakita Duelling school.

4 ^th rank : Molinero’s speed.

More than many others fencing schools, the Molinero is fast. Their students are often dancing around with their two weapons. You can make attacks with knives and swords as simple actions.

5 ^th rank : Molinero’s dance.

You have mastered the perfect art of dancing to the tune of combat. When using a dagger and a sword and after making two attacks during the same round, you can make use the extra attack maneuver with the dagger for three less raises.

Morriston school (Thrane, Warrior) : + 1 reflexes.

An antiquated school for many, this fencing school is popular among soldiers for the use of a buckler to increase defense while making attacks with a more common sword than the rapier. It offers a wide range of attacks, but tends to have a repetitive pattern to it. With the plague who led to the fall of civilized combat in Thrane, the Morriston school returned as a major school among soldiers and poor noble.

Starting panache : 4,5

School skills : defense (shield), swordmanship, fencing, battle, etiquette Umi no Koete , firearms or archery, any skill.

Starting outfit :

1 ^st rank : Morriston’s apprentice.

While you have a sword or a gun in one hand and a shield in the other hand, you ignore all penalties for dual wielding. You can add your shield bonus to your TN to be hit whenever you are not in full attack.

2 ^nd rank : Morriston’s journeyman.

When using a shield, you gain reduction equal to your drama ring.

3 ^rd rank : Morriston's thrust.

A soldier school, the Morriston teaches the mastery of melee weapons. You can make simple attacks with melee weapons.

4 ^th rank : Morriston’s master.

Your focus on your defense offers you opportunities when you decide to strike. When you are in defense stance, you are also considered to be in center stance.

5 ^th rank : Morriston's twist.

This difficult move to master is a tell-tale of this school. While parrying with the shield, the swordsman makes a series of short thrust before making a slash attack. When in defense or full defense stance, you can make an attack against one opponent attacking you as a free action, once per round, for one drama, before the resolution of his own.

Torvo style, new path (Warrior, Merenae) :

A dueling school than make the duelist keep his left hand behind his back while fighting. The school teaches to fight on your side to make a narrower target and allows you to make quick forward thrusts. Contrary to the Molinero, this school is all about silence and focus.

Replace : Molinero rank 2

Requirements : fencing 3, swordsmanship 3, defense 3

Technique : Torvo’s strike.

Your mastery of the sword and dagger allows you to need one less raise to do the extra attack, disarm, called shot and feint maneuver. You learn two additional pieces of information during the assessment stage of a duel. You have + 1k0 on focus rolls.

Magic of the Umi no Koete :

Their magic is called blood sorcery because for some unknown reason, only some bloodlines can cast spells. You need the forbidden knowledge : sorcery advantage (one rank minimum) to be able to enter one of the [sorcerer] schools of the Thrane and Merenae. Sorcerers starts with three spells and when they increase in school rank they immediately learn two new spells of any mastery level which they can cast. They can learn others spells through research and learning for an xp cost equal to the mastery level of the spell (with a maximum of 5 X current school rank spells). They can forget some spells to learn new ones.

Casting a spell requires a spell casting roll of school rank / ring (determined by the school) at a TN of 5 + (5 X mastery level of the spell). As for normal spells, casting requires mastery level complex actions to be cast, with raise reducing the number of complex actions. Sorcerers have a number of spell slot equal to the school ring X 3.

Backlash : if you fail a casting roll, you suffer a number of wounds equal to the master y level of the spell (for example, small flesh wounds appears on their face) unless another backlash effect is listed.

Contrary to [bushi] schools unable to combine with [shugenja] schools, [sorcerer] schools can be combined with any schools.

Levenslot (sorcerer, Thrane) : + 1 awareness

This magic is all about the tapestry of destiny and predicting the future. Those blessed with this really rare magic can see patterns in the Void (which they call fate) and try to weave and unweave some outcomes to increase or decrease the chances of those happening. It doesn't allow a complete control of the future, with even the best masters of this art, neither a total prediction, but a little control on the probabilities. Mostly women are granted access to this magic, but the rare males who are blessed (or cursed) with this ability are able to reach the same level of mastery. The Ziener can see the strands of fate in cards (a divination deck), coins being money, cups passion, swords conflicts and staves authority. They have to focus their power from their knowledge to then alter those. But as each strand support the pattern, playing too much with fate can create backlashes for the caster.

Starting panache : 4,5

School skills : divination (tarot), etiquette Umi no Koete , calligraphy Thrane , knives, courtier Umi no Koete , lore : omens, any high or low skill.

Starting outfit :

Technique : Measure, tug, weave and unweave.

You can see the treads of fate and alter them. Your casting ring is panache. You have a + 1k0 bonus to your lore : omens and divination rolls.

Spells : sense (air), sense (water), commune (air), commune (water), all the spells with the divination keyword and all the void spells, and the following name spells : bend name, bless name, mend name and name talent.

Fuego (Sorcerer, Merenae) : + 1 intelligence.

The magic of Fuego (fire) is all about exciting the threads of the tapestry (the elements) to create damage. Burning through the tapestries, the Fuego master is seen as dangerous to everyone, including his allies. The use of this magic tends to burn everyone around, which explains they are often bearing traces of burn. Practitioners of the trade tend to be feisty and flamboyant, favoring fire-related colors.

Starting panache : 5,5

School skills : etiquette Umi no Koete , calligraphy Merenae , any bugei skill, stealth, defense, medicine (wound treatment), craft : polvora.

Starting outfit :

Technique : to burn the tapestry.

You can excite the elements around you, bringing them down with your power. Your casting ring is fire. You have + 1k0 to your medicine rolls due to your habit of healing your burns.

Spells : sense (fire), summon (fire), command (fire), all the spells with the thunder keyword and all the fire spells.

Cornejo school (Warrior, Merenae) : + 1 intelligence / Hapworth school (Warrior, Thrane) : + 1 reflexes.

The mastery of the longbow was already dying by the time of the battle of White Stag because of the firearms being seen as more modern and efficient. But after the plague ravaged the land and resources dwindling, people returned to the cheaper longbow and the hunting skills of this school to help them survive. On the other side, the weapon created by Espada Cornejo led to the development of flintlock weapons that spread quickly. While created by the Merenae, the school for mastering firearms was teaches in every neighboring country, especially in Thrane where the last rank was created.

Starting panache : 5,5

School skills : brawling, craft : bowmaking (Hapworth) or craft : polvora (Cornejo), firearms (Cornejo) or archery (Hapworth), athletics, any bugei or low skill, stealth, hunting.

Starting outfit :

1 ^st rank : Point-blank mastery.

You have +1k0 to your attacks rolls when in attack stance. The base range of your firearms (Cornejo) / archery (Hapsworth) weapons increase by 1’ for each rank in this school.

2 ^nd rank : Short-range mastery.

You can increase the damage of your bow (Hapsworth) by crafting it yourself, or improve the damage of your firearms (Cornejo) by refining the gunpowder used. As long as you use those homemade products, your VD is increased by 1k0.

3 ^rd rank : Two shots, two kills.

You have mastered the reload of your weapons. You can now make simple attacks with bows (Hapsworth) or reload a firearm with one less complex action (Cornejo).

4th rank : Medium-range mastery.

Making raises with archery (Hapsworth) or firearms (Cornejo) isn’t limited by your Drama ring. You have a number of free raises equal to your school rank to use for the called shot maneuver only when using the favored weapon of your school.

5 ^th rank : Long-range mastery.

Your mastery of your weapon has little equals. You ignore 3 points of reduction on your target and your damage dice explodes on 9 and 10 when using your school’s favored weapon.

Tytus style (Thrane, warrior, new path) :

Mastery of the horse is a skill noble of Thrane and Merenae are supposed to be really talented at, since having a horse and a sword are the distinctive traits of nobility. As long as he has both, the poorest of noble has little troubles proving his status. As such, techniques were created to fight with a horse, using his speed, agility and strength to allows fast attacks with the spear and mostly with the sword. Not as seen as the noblest style as it offers fleeing to avoid counterattacks, it is a really efficient one that became more common after the plague. This school is the only one still teaching the use of the broadsword (Seibore).

Replace : Morriston rank 2

Requirements : horsemanship 3, swordsmanship 3

Technique : centaurus.

When riding a horse, you can use his strength value instead of yours for your damage rolls and use his reduction in addition to yours. You cannot use a shield when using the reduction of the horse.

Sicaire school (Rogue, Thrane and Merenae) : + 1 agility

In a civilized society like those of the Umi no Koete, you cannot solve every problem with a duel. You need to sometimes use more discreet means, or sometimes your main resources are finances instead of skill with a sword. For those, the sicaire are here. A talented guild of assassins, everybody publicly despises them but that nearly everyone wants to be able to afford their services. They are the responses to many problems, even if sometimes all they do is sneak in and deliver a paper. Knowing that the sicaire could enter your home can make you change your mind. They tend to work independently of nations and families, but some are bound by oath or money to some groups and works exclusively for them.

Starting panache : 3,5

School skills : stealth, athletics, knives (dagger), craft : poison, temptation, sincerity (deceit), any skill.

Starting outfit :

1 ^st rank : one poison.

The sicaire works first with poisons before anything else, even if most of the poisons he uses are non-lethal. You have a + 2k0 bonuses to your rolls to resist poisons and illnesses and also to your craft : poison and medicine (antidotes) rolls. You have + 1k0 to your stealth rolls.

2 ^nd rank : 2 hands.

When you have two knives, you ignore penalties for dual wielding. When using knives, you ignore an amount of reduction equal to your school rank.

3 ^rd rank : 3 kisses.

Distraction, confidence and efficiency are all what the sicaire is about. When spending a void point when making a roll with a school skill, you add 2k2 instead of 1k1.

4 ^th rank : 4 daggers.

While the sicaire are more about infiltration that actual fighting, sometimes they have to. You can make simple action attacks with knives. When using throwing weapons, you can send 4 of them during one complex action.

5 ^th rank : 5 moves.

You can spend 5 hours studying someone thoroughly (those do not have to be consecutive, but are lost if more than a week is passed between each studies, and those have to be of at least one hour each). You get + 3k0 to all your temptation, sincerity, investigation and stealth opposed rolls against this person. The bonus can be kept for a week, duration that can be extended by studying the target for one hour. You can have only fire ring targets at a time.

Hawthorne school (Warrior, rogue, Thrane) : + 1 constitution.

A sailor school, contrary to most schools listed above, this school accept mostly commoners. But they are no less deadly, especially on a boat. They are talented with improvised weapons, uneven ground and use as main weapons a pistol and a cutlass. They are a more rounded school than most swordsman schools, teaching out of combat skills. More than conventional fighting, the school is based on tricks to distract the opponent.

Starting panache : 3,5

School skills : athletics, brawling, sailing, firearms, swordsmanship, intimidation, any bugei or low skill.

Starting outfit :

1 ^st rank : Hit’m hard

Sailors have to be adaptable to survive the difficulties of a ship and deter people with their reputation. You suffer no penalties to movements or attacks whenever you are prone or an uneven terrain. You have a + 2k0 bonus to rolls to resist alcohol effects. You can add your intimidation rank to your damage rolls. You do not have any penalties when using improvised weapons.

2 ^nd rank : Quick tack.

You know when to move against the flow and when to move with the flow. During mass battle, you can reduce the damage you suffer by your school rank and increase your mass battle roll by the same value. You suffer no penalties for dual wielding if one of the weapons is a small weapon. You can draw a small sized weapon as a free action if both your hands are free.

3 ^rd rank : Fancy swordplay.

You have impressive fighting skills. You can now make simple attacks actions with firearms, swords, improvised weapons and daggers.

4 ^th rank : Spit in death’s eye.

You have been to the brink of death and come back from it over and over. Reduce your wounds penalties by your school rank.

5 ^th rank : Ancient training techniques.

You know all the ultimate tricks. Whenever you spend a drama point you get the benefits of two. Once per day, you can spend a full round drinking (in defense stance if you want) to recover all your drama points.

Forlani style (Warrior, Merenae, new path) : + 1 reflexes.

A more socially accepted variant of this Hawthorne school is the Forlani style, using a sword cane and its scabbard. The scabbard is an improvised weapon, and the sword cane requires a TN 20 investigation / perception roll to see it’s a weapon, but otherwise works like a rapier.

Starting panache : 5,5

School skills : athletics, stealth, etiquette Umi no Koete , fencing, swordsmanship, brawling (improvised weapons), any high skill.

Replace Hawthorne rank 1

Starting outfit :

Technique : Fancy Footwork.

You suffer no penalties to dual wielding if you have a sword cane and its scabbard as weapons. You do not have any penalties when using improvised weapons. During the stance selection phase, you can either add your panache to your TN to be hit or to your damage. The Fancy swordplay technique do not applies to firearms and daggers for you.

Katas :

Katas works like for Rokuganni characters but applied to warriors schools instead of bushi schools. Don’t forget void is drama for the Thrane and Merenae, and that some paths change the faction tag of the school like the Forlani style. I haven’t listed every katas available in 4 ^th edition, but that selection should give you ideas to adapt the remaining ones.

• Striking as air, striking as fire, striking as earth, striking as void and striking as water are unchanged and available for any warrior school.
• Balance the elements style is available for the Molinero school.
• Breath of the wind style is available for the Forlani style, sicaire and Morriston schools.
• Disappearing world style is available for the Molinero, Hawthorne and sicaire schools.
• Hidden blade style is available for the Hawthorne and Molinero schools.
• Indomitable warrior style is available for the Hawthorne and Tytus style schools.
• Reckless abandon style is available for the Hawthorne school.
• Spinning blades style is available to the Hawthorne, Forlani style, Sicaire, and Molinero schools.
• Veiled menace style is available to the Sicaire school.
• Strength of the Crab is available to the Hapworth school.
• Son of the storms is available to the Sicaire and Hawthorne schools.
• Strength of the Mantis is available is to the Hapworth, Hawthorne and Cornejo schools.
• Strength of the Scorpion is available to the Sicaire, Molinero and Morriston schools.
• Strength of the Unicorn is available to the Tytus style.
• Art of Ninjutsu is available to the Sicaire school.
• Strength of the Spider is available to the Morriston school.

Weapons :

The pistol, the musket and the canon are page 97 of Imperial Histories 1. You can notice I modified the firearms and canon skills as I apply the misfires rule featured on the same page. For the purpose of the supernatural effects of firearms, consider that a firearm ignore one point of supernatural reduction per 5 damage point the roll did and that they can bypass invulnerability.

Ashi-kyu : (kyujutsu or archery : ashi-kyu) this Thrane and Merenae long composite bow requires 3 strength to be used. The bow's strength is the archer's strength – 1 and the range is archer's strength + 2 X 100'. Keywords : large, Thrane and Merenae.

Seibore : (swordmanship : seibore) this heavy and long knight's sword, sometimes called a broadsword was already antiquated when the ships arrived in Rokugan. Using it requires strength and stamina 3, DR is 0k4 and it reduces reduction by 4 and is considered an heavy weapon for all purposes. Keywords : large, Thrane and Merenae.

Gunpowder pistol : (Firearms : gunpowder pistol) is identical to the pistol except for the following : range 33', it ignores the armor part of the TN of the target and every “1” rolled count double for the misfire rule. Keywords : small, firearm, Thrane and Merenae.

Gunpowder shotgun : (firearms : gunpowder shotgun) is identical to the musket except for the following : range 66', it ignores the armor part of the TN, reduces reduction by 4 and every “1” rolled count double for the misfire rule. Keywords : large, firearm, Thrane and Merenae.

Rapier : (swordsmanship : rapier) DR 3k2, you can uses awareness instead of strength for damage rolls. Keywords : medium, Thrane and Merenae.

Creatures :

• Gaijin horses uses the Unicorn riding horse rules, corebook page 322.

Nekomata / Caith Sith

The fairy cat of the Umi No Koete is not unknown to the Rokuganni. Named the Nekomata in the peasant folklore, this cat with a ghostly fur and a really long tail divided in two is known as a trickster. It is a shapeshifter from Chikushudo with a link to meido, which shows in his macabre humor : his tricks are often painful, sometimes even deadly, to his targets. Legends says that a really old cat turns into a nekomata for having lived many normal cat lives, and as such they are nicknamed elder cats and normal cats tend to show some kind of reverence to them. His powers are often seen as maho and the Umi no Koete sees them as monsters.

Air 2 Earth 2 Fire 2 Water 2

Initiative : 3k2 Attacks : claws 3k2 (complex)

Damage : 2k2 (claws) Armor TN : 10

Réduction : 5 Wounds : 10/+5; 20/+10; 30 /dead

Skills : defense 4, acting 3, sincerity (deceit) 5, sleight of hand 3, stealth 3, temptation (seduction) 3.

Special abilities :

• Shapeshifter : Nekomata is a shapeshifter and can take the shapeshifter abilities and penalties as per page 244 of Enemies of the Empire.
• Spirit.
• Eyes of the owl : the Nekomata has the Eyes of the owl shapeshifter ability.
• Puppeteer : the Nekomata is known for its ability to raise the dead. It works like the spell summon undead champion (corebook page 269) cast the same way (Nekomata is considered to be insight rank 2) with the same wound cost (but there is no actual blood spilled, just a loss of energy) but duration is concentration. There is no kansen involved in the raising of the dead, as it is just a marionette animated by magic (hence the concentration duration) and the Nekomata can have only one active at a time. But in Rokugan, Ivory Kingdoms and Burning Sands, kansens usually come quickly to the animated body and find a home in it. That means as soon as the undead isn’t controlled anymore by the Nekomata, the kansen can use the body as he wants. Kansen as such are really happy of those already turned undead corpse the Nekomata leaves behind them, but the shapeshifter can take control back of a previously raised undead with his puppeteer ability (treat it like the spell Puppet Master, corebook page 271, with the same rules modifications as summon undead champion earlier).
• Ventriloquism : the Nekomata can talk through the undead he is puppeteering as he wants, and can also talk to all felines

There's some great stuff here, as information on gaijin and their history is quite lacking in most L5R (rightfully so however). I don't imagine seeing any of them in the lcg beyond maybe some sort of ambassador or follower? Aside from that, most would just be Kshatriya or non-european gaijin.

I want to see a gaijin improve the design of the katana and the samurai lose their minds.

As always, good job. Good to see you back Okuma.

As always, good job. Good to see you back Okuma.

I'm not back, I never left. I'm just trying to find a place to post the stuff I had put on hold by hope of suggesting them for 4th edition and am now free to finish.

This is just grand. I've been working on and off on a large adaptation of Thrane and Merenae (not trying to be exactly canon though), and this will be a great inspiration : )

I want to see a gaijin improve the design of the katana and the samurai lose their minds.

(Warning, injection of real-life information into discussion of mythical quasi-Japan setting...)

The katana is just a short, blade-heavy, two-handed saber. It is, like every other sword, a compromise between various factors, and optimized for a particular fighting style. There is nothing objectively superior or somehow magical about the design.

The techniques of Japanese swordsmithing were necessitated by a lack of good quality steel -- comments about "superior Rokugani metal" in the RPG books, for example, appear to be largely an artifact of how much of the setting is based on Western mythology about Japan, as much as on actual Japan.

(/end)

Some of the former DT and I have been talking about releasing a digital "expansion" sometime this year or early next year to help keep the community active and involved leading up to 2017. We planned to set it during a Senpet Rebellion against the Yodotai, and feature the Senpet, Yodotai, Merenae & Thrane (as a single faction), and a revivied Rhumal cult, sort of a mini LBS L5R expansion.

Would you mind too terribly if we borrowed some names and such from this rundown? As people say, information on these cultures in the setting is a bit sparse.

I want to see a gaijin improve the design of the katana and the samurai lose their minds.

(Warning, injection of real-life information into discussion of mythical quasi-Japan setting...)

The katana is just a short, blade-heavy, two-handed saber. It is, like every other sword, a compromise between various factors, and optimized for a particular fighting style. There is nothing objectively superior or somehow magical about the design.

The techniques of Japanese swordsmithing were necessitated by a lack of good quality steel -- comments about "superior Rokugani metal" in the RPG books, for example, appear to be largely an artifact of how much of the setting is based on Western mythology of Japan as much as on actual Japan.

(/end)

I am aware of all of that. Which is why, if it were to be improved, it would have to happen outside of not-Japan where higher quality steel was available (or at least impure iron could be completely liquefied to completely remove impurities - something Japan never achieved), and the design was freed from 900 years of spirituality. I mean think about that last bit: For nearly 1000 years the design more or less stayed the same. There's nothing like that at all in Europe. Designs were always being mucked around with.

So don't take this as an attack on the katana, because it's not. Just an acknowledgement that Rokugan is an insular, xenophobic, and superstitious land and like all peoples like that innovation would necessarily have to come from the outside.

And improvements to the katana can be made: Straighten the blade to make it useful to thrust (the modest curve adds virtually nothing to the cut while greatly compromising its thrusting potential - unlike the scimitar, for example, that is obviously designed to maximize the cut), enlarge the tsuba to give better hand protection (or simply add a crossguard), and add a pommel to bring the balance point closer to the hand to improve agility.

Do all these things and you end up with something that looks a lot like a kreigsmesser.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I was correcting or "informing" you... just following on with a bit of bugbear of mine regarding the Western "mythology" of the Japanese sword.

Some of the former DT and I have been talking about releasing a digital "expansion" sometime this year or early next year to help keep the community active and involved leading up to 2017. We planned to set it during a Senpet Rebellion against the Yodotai, and feature the Senpet, Yodotai, Merenae & Thrane (as a single faction), and a revivied Rhumal cult, sort of a mini LBS L5R expansion.

Would you mind too terribly if we borrowed some names and such from this rundown? As people say, information on these cultures in the setting is a bit sparse.

The name have been using are either names I have collected through search on what little has been told about those cultures in the setting, or names I took from characters from my 7th sea faction (try to figure which faction I played out from those names ;-) ) The only original name I brought was the sicaire, which I'm likely to remove to use for the assassins of the Yodotai if I ever decide that idea is worth using or not. The third chapter on the Burning Sands is already 6 pages long and discuss the factions of this part of the universe in a different ways than the LBS sourcebook (depicting some factions who were glossed in and resuming those who were described), but again it's mostly collected information with some interpretation brought in to connect everything together. But it'll have new schools and magic like the chapter you saw here before I go to the revived Rhumal cult and the Ivinda survivors.

As such, there is really little I own in what come to the names I used here (I guess, outside of Yoritomo Okuma and about 12 characters I created who made it into canon, I don't think I can say I own any names at all in the universe, and since they became canon they aren't really mine anymore), so I guess that if you wanted to use the name you are free to do so. I was a sort of background expert in the RPG playtest team, so if you want some info, I can try to give you some, even if I'm not sure I understand what your project is really about (a LBS digital expansion ?).

BTW, I'm not sure the katana improvement discussion is fitting for my thread.

Whoof -- lots of stuff here! I have to admit that if I try to just read mechanics straight through my eyes start to cross; I'd have to use this stuff to really judge it in action. One thing did catch my eye, though: is the Levenslot casting ring really supposed to be Panache? Or should that read "Drama" instead? Since Panache isn't a ring and isn't about the threads of fate, that didn't quite make sense.

Whoof -- lots of stuff here! I have to admit that if I try to just read mechanics straight through my eyes start to cross; I'd have to use this stuff to really judge it in action. One thing did catch my eye, though: is the Levenslot casting ring really supposed to be Panache? Or should that read "Drama" instead? Since Panache isn't a ring and isn't about the threads of fate, that didn't quite make sense.

It's Drama, I changed the term later and didn't corrected it

Working on new factions, new schools, five new magic disciplines so far for the Burning Sands.

I hope you'll put together a PDF when it's all done?

I hope you'll put together a PDF when it's all done?

I don't know how to do that. But I may be forced to cut it in multiple documents as I'm already 36 pages down.

I hope you'll put together a PDF when it's all done?

I don't know how to do that. But I may be forced to cut it in multiple documents as I'm already 36 pages down.

I think most word processing programs have an "export as PDF option." You just format it how you want, and then essentially take a snapshot of it.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I was correcting or "informing" you... just following on with a bit of bugbear of mine regarding the Western "mythology" of the Japanese sword.

That's cool. I'm definitely not part of the mythical katana cult that seems to permeate the West. It's definitely a product of compromise (and all swords are, really) and its environment.

I am pleased, however, that you did not dispute the katana's ability to rend souls from its victims to empower the wielder on the battlefield. That's just good science.

Part of the unfinished chapter 1 :

Umi no Koete covers Thrane and Merenae, Caliphatee covers Medinaat Al-Salaam, Qabal, Assassins, Jackals and Ebonites. Burning Sands covers the Caliphatee, the Ashalan, the Ra’shari and the Senpet. Yodotai, Yobanjin and Ivory Kingdoms (or Ivinda) are independent groups.

Modifications to skills :

• Calligraphy : Thrane, Merenae, Yobanjin, Senpet, Yodotai, Mekham, Rhuumal (the Ivory Kingdoms written version of the Ivindi langage) are all different written dialects and are different skills. Notice that without the calligraphy skill, character does not know how to read and write.
• Courtier and etiquette : Umi no Koete, Yobanjin, Yodotai, Ivinda and Burning Sands are different courtier traditions and are different skills.
• Divination : astrology is used by every culture, but Kawaru doesn’t exist. The Umi no Koete and the Ra’shari uses tarot cards, the others uses often bone reading.
• Iaijutsu doesn’t exist, but the Umi no Koete have fencing, which works exactly the same but for fencing weapons.
• Intimidation is a bugei skill for all factions.
• Games include chess (Ivory Kingdoms), riddles and logic (favored by the Qabal), cards (Thrane and Merenae) and dice (favored by the Yobanjin and Yodotai).
• Locksmith (intelligence, merchant) : emphases are lock assembly and lock picking. You are skilled at fashioning locks and picking them. When crafting a lock, each raise increase the TN to pick it by 5, while picking starts at a TN of 15 and take a minute to be done.
  • Rank 5 : halve the time to pick a lock.
  • Rank 7 : free raise to pick or craft a lock.
• Jiujutsu become brawling, Kyujutsu archery (but uses perception), Kenjutsu swordsmanship and ninjutsu assassins weapons.
• Tahaddi (agility) : the knives dueling use the same emphases and mastery as iaijutsu. Tahaddi duels works like iaijutsu duels.
• Defense : new emphases, shield, which allows you to use the TN benefits of a shield in full defense stance.
• Firearms (intelligence, weapon skill, low-skill for Rokuganni) : emphases are pistol and musket. Recharging a firearm requires three complex actions.
  • Rank 3 : you may ignore one 1 on your dice for misfire.
  • Rank 5 : recharging requires one less complex action.
  • Rank 7 : you may ignore one 1 on your dice for misfire.
• Canon (intelligence, weapon skill, low-skill for Rokuganni) : requires 4 people to be used. The roll is made by the one leading the group.
  • Rank 3 : you may ignore one 1 on your dice for misfire.
  • Rank 5 : requires 2 less people for a minimum of 2
  • Rank 7 : you may ignore one 1 on your dice for misfire.

New advantages and disadvantages :

• Oasis finder (mental) : 3 pts, Burning Sands characters only, you can cast sense (water) like a shugenja of your insight rank without any affinity or deficiency.
• Servant of the smokeless fire (spiritual) : 2 pts, sahir only. You have the ability to summon jinn.
• Reader of the stars (mental) : 3 pts, Burning Sands and Ivory Kingdoms characters only, you can cast sense (air) like the oasis finder ability. You can use this ability to know the time of the day and rough estimate of your latitude and longitude.
• Khadi (spiritual) : 8 or 10 points. You have become one of the Heartless, the sorcerers using black magic to remove their heart and become immortal. You heal one wound per minute (during the reaction phase) regardless of the state your body is (which can create really disturbing sight for those watching the process). You can only be permanently destroyed by destroying your heart, which in the 8 pts version of this advantage is in the control of someone else. Once per month you have to put your heart in someone else’s body, transforming it into a ghul. You earn the first rank of forbidden lore : Khadi, or if you have it already, are refunded the experience points for it. You lose immediately two ranks of integrity, but that cannot drop you below 3,0.
• Gorilla bodyguard : 4 pts for Ivory Kingdoms characters and Caliphate characters, 3 pts for House of Dahab characters. You have a free raise on animal handling (apes and monkeys), and are considered to have 5 ranks in this skill for your personal gorilla. Use the stats of the Ape page 10 of Enemies of the Empire with + 1 earth and modify the wounds accordingly.

School tags :

[sorcerer] are the magical users of the Umi no Koete.

[sahir] are the magical users of the Burning Sands. They can use kihos like shugenjas.

[Warrior] regroup all the warrior classes. They can use katas like bushis.

[Guru] are mystical people searching enlightenment. They can use kihos like [monks]

[Diplomat] are the social classes.

[Artisan] are the crafting schools.

[Rogue] are scouts, assassins and others people working in the shadows.

Contrary to [bushi] schools unable to combine with [shugenja] schools, [sorcerer] schools can be combined with any schools.

[sahir] and [warrior] : Sahir characters cannot have ranks in a [warrior] school, with two possible exceptions (the Ashalan and the Khadi because they are long-lived).

Magic outside of Rokugan :

Shugenja have reported that the kamis acts differently outside of Rokugan. While it doesn’t seem to be much a problem in the Yobanjin lands, it does changes things when they reach the Ivory Kingdoms or the Burnings Sands. Magic works normally in the High Steppes and the Yobanjin territories.

Shugenja spellcasting in the Burning Sands itself, the Senpet Empire, the Western Wastes, the Great Void and the Yodotai Empire suffers a + 5 TN penalty. But as the kamis there are slow to answer to the call of a shugenja, which make it harder to cast a spell, it has also a small beneficial aspect : failed spellcasting rolls do not cost a spell slot.

Shugenja spellcasting in the Ivory Kingdoms and the Demon-infested swamps and jungles that border the Shadowlands suffers an increase of one complex action of spellcasting time. That because the kamis are sluggish and somewhat different from those in Rokugan. This penalty can be ignored for shugenja who have spent time in the region as they get used to decrypting the subtle differences between the local kamis and those from their homeland. But the kamis of the Ivory Kingdoms are primal forces and stronger than those of Rokugan, once per day, a shugenja can cast a spell with three raises to cast it without spending a spell slot.

Spellcasting in the White Lands, the Nothing-corrupted lands south-west of the Great Void suffers a + 10 TN penalty, and failing a spell due to the TN penalty (so, making a roll good enough to cast the spell originally but not good enough for the + 10 TN) make the caster earn one Shadow point.

The Shadowland taint outside of Rokugan :

Some says the taint do not exist outside of Rokugan, but there is proofs otherwise : the Ma’Ghul, the ambassador of Jigoku helped the Jackals in Medinah Al-Salaam. The ghuls are tainted and free ogres roam the Western Wastes, trying to rebuild their former kingdom, the oni known as the Destroyers were summoned in the Ivory Kingdoms. Some says that the taint do not affect Gaijins, but yet Garen Hawthorne was tainted.

So the Shadowland taint spread as far as the Burning Sands, at least. But the people of those lands are seemingly unaware of its existence and the Rokuganni who have been there didn’t see many tainted people or creature. Blood magic in Rokugan became tainted when the released kansens, Jigoku-tainted kamis, spread all over the land. In truth, the kansens spread past the frontiers of Rokugan, but so far from the Festering Pit, they are not as strong or as quick to react as those from the Empire.

As such, the Taint exists in those lands, but act a bit differently. Using maho in those lands has the number of Shadowland points earned lowered by your insight rank, to a minimum of 1. Non-Rokuganni characters cannot use the Embrace the Taint ability until they have learned about the Shadowland Taint, but in exchange the Taint do no shows symptoms. They do not gain Shadowlands powers or mutations, and outside of mental troubles (and for the most advanced infection like level 3 or 4, some minor physical changes like for level 2 : active infection, but really discreet), shows nothing that a Kuni witch-hunter could recognize as symptoms of the Taint. But as soon as they use Embrace the Taint, the Taint works like for Rokuganni.

Whatever your level of infection or the use or not Embrace the Taint, Shadowland Taint progression is the Burning Sands is once check per month with a TN of 5. The only difference for the Ivory Kingdoms is that the TN is 10.

Greetings from the Sands, Evil-Smelling Brother-in-Law of a Camel!

Another great thread from Okuma.

I hope we can use this forum to discuss RPG homebrew, Questions & anwsers threads, etc..

As a side note to Okuma, you can use PDFCreator to "print" as a pdf file, and it is free.

See you people in the Sands.

The new faction :

• Caliphate : the native people of the Jewel descended from a collection of tribes who founded a farming community that later extended to house a cosmopolitan population coming from multiple neighboring countries and tribes. They tend to have a dark tan skin and black hair, and some unifying facial traits, but it is nowhere a rule. The Caliphate is both not a faction and the biggest of them all. It is the common name of all the people not belonging to the major factions, including the Askaree (the royal guard) and the Qadi (the Caliph’s magistrates). They are nowhere as unified under the Sultan as the factions are under their champions, but they do have their own organization. For the purpose of schools, the soldier of the city guard (LBS update page 2), the free sahir (LBS update page 3), Alley thug [rogue], scholar [artisan] and street rat [rogue] (LBS update page 11) are considered Caliphate schools.
  • The Jewelers : + 1 willpower. The Jewelers are the common people of Medinah Al-Salaam, the various thugs, merchants, artisans and so on that many wealthy totally forget they ever existed. Despite not members of the factions, they form the biggest part of the population of the Jewel of the Desert, which has a population said to exceed one million.
  • The Aqahbaians : + 1 awareness. Aqahba is a port up north, at the frontier of the Senpet Empire and the Yodotai empire. This is where the Thrane and Merenae first met with the Ki-rin clan and heard of Rokugan and later brought back a plague from the Senpet. Part of the region known as the Great Void, it is an independent city-state but its commercial ties to the whole region and especially the Jewel make his population really similar to the Caliphate. The Tortoise clan has agents here, keeping tracks of the contacts between countries.
  • The Nahr’umarans : + 1 perception. They live alongside the river that gives them their name, and is the lifeblood of most of the Burning Sands region. The farmlands here feed most of the population of the Jewel and the neighboring areas. They are sturdy, hard-working people who tend to have darker tone of skin. The most southern tribes have even black skin.
  • Nomads : + 1 stamina. The nomads are the numerous tribes that live in the desert, going from oasis to oasis. They are sturdy, hard-working but really friendly people for those who do not anger them. They have strong traditions of inviting guests and saving people in the desert but can also raid the same people if they are rich and safe.
  • The Hanif : + 1 willpower. Light skin, sometimes blond hair, the Hanif looks quite different from the others ethnic groups of the Burning Sands. They are parents of the Yodotai : long ago, they left the region after the Day of Wrath, and were known as the Hanif because of lack of gods. In the now Yodotai empire, Conquest came to them and the Yodotai were born. Those who didn’t follow this new god decided to be named the Hanif and return to their homelands. They split into 14 tribes and were enslaved by the Senpet. Only the 11 ^th tribe, following Mekhem (Shinsei’s name in the Burning Sands) escaped this fate. The 11 ^th tribe and the escaped slaves of the Senpet and some remnant of the Sheel Kingdom (see Yodotai) are now living in farming communities or nomad tribes in the deserts around Medinah Al-Salaam.
  • The Qadi and Caliphate guards : + 1 perception. This new faction is born from the new Caliphate that Adira built after the battle of the Shattered Jewel. They are the new police force of the city of peace, using the intimidation of their assassins technique to keep peace. They can use assassin keeper and (for some talented few) assassin slayer schools as Caliphate schools but their only other available school is soldier of the city guard.

Great stuff, as usual!
Are you planning also to do something more specific on the Mongol-like nomads inhabiting the wastes between Rokugan and the Arab-like and Turkic-like entities?
Off course I'm talking of the roots of Ujik-hai and Desert Moto.

The chapter 5 is the yobanjin and the Sand Moto, but I'm far from being at this level. The longest chapter is chapter 3, the one I'm working on, and is nearly 30 pages long so far.

Thank you in any case!

I've always wondered how many nomad peoples were around there.

Imperial Archives seem to suggest that after all Ujik-hai and (later) Desert Moto left the wastes turning into Unicorn, their place was taken by roaming Yobanjin.....but this is something odd, if wastes and steppes are a big place, and maybe some kind of other Desert Moto or relative Mongol-like people is around.

Good Work!!