This is reposted from Kinzen's thread on shugenja/magic restructuring. My own version was considerably less ambitious and was more of a modified version of 4e systems already in place. This is still, very much, a work in progress and many of the techniques are in a heavily rough draft form but just in case I never get around to finishing it I figured I would post what I have "done" at the moment.

Spells

All 4e spells still existed in their current state, but were no longer selected by shugenja. All shugenja have Sense, Commune, and Summon. Sense now senses elemental kami specifically rather than examples of the element. Commune is used to both commune and to importune (as per the rules in the core book). Summon now allows you to physically manifest the kami which takes the form of the spell you importuned. In effect, Summon adopts all the qualities of the spell you're casting (Mastery, Range, Area, Targets, etc.).

Kami

Kami are a touch rarer in this system and are now part of the spiritual landscape that a GM should consider as part of their game. Kami have ranks 1-6 and can only be importuned to create spells of their level or lower (i.e. a Level 3 Kami can cast ML 3 spells or lower). Commune and Summon have a TN based on the personality and power of the spirit, using the following as guidelines:

Personality

1 - Helpful

2 - Friendly

3 - Neutral

4 - Unfriendly

5 - Hostile

Power

1 - Small kami (large rock, koi pond, breeze, camp fire, etc.)

2 - Minor kami (boulder, large pond, bonfire, etc.)

3 - Large kami (hill, small lake, stream, grotto, etc.)

4 - Major kami (river, mountain, large lake, minor nemuranai, etc.)

5 - Great kami (mountain ranges, plains, wildfires, major nemuranai etc.)/Celestial Spirits (Ryu, Fushicho, etc.)

6 - Fortunes and Dragons

Add the two numbers corresponding to the kami together then x5 (example: a small (1), helpful (1) kami would be a TN 10, while a Hostile (5), Fortune (6) would be a TN 55. As AtoMaki thought up, you can use the Commune spell to speak with these spirits and possibly shift its mood. This uses Spellcraft as a social skill similar to Courtier, Etiquette, and Sincerity. Summon is then used to channel or manifest the power of the kami to various effect roughly able to importune spell effects equal to or lower than the spirit's power level, and taking 5min per mastery level. After that the shugenja may 'hold' the spell for 1 hour.

Schools

The schools more or less stayed the same in terms of skills, honor, etc. but now had 5 technique (many of which were modified versions of base abilities, new path and advanced school techniques.

Yoritomo Storm-Priests

Rank 1: Child of the Sea - The family line of the Yoritomo who possess the talent for magic have a strong bond with the sea and with weather as a whole. You may expend one spell slot to alter the wind conditions in your current location by one degree. If you also spend a Void Point, you may instead shift the entire weather status one degree (see sidebar in Great Clans). You may expend a maximum combined total of spell slots and/or Void Points equal to your School Rank each Round to enact these shifts. These shifts affect an area a number of miles equal to your School Rank in all directions from your current location. You may cast the spells Sense, Commune, and Summon

Rank 2: Strength of Suitengu
You may spend a Void Point to release a lightning bolt from your hands as a Complex Action. This bolt strikes one target within a range of 30' x your Water Ring. It rolls and keeps a number of damage dice equal to your Air Ring. You may expend spell slots to increase the damage of this bolt by +1k0 per spell slot expended, up to a maximum of your School Rank.

Rank 3: The Raging Ocean
Your Water Ring is considered 2 ranks higher for purposes of determining the number of spells you may cast per day.

Rank 3: Child of Osano-Wo
You may spend A Void Point as a Free Action to gain immunity to all spells possessing the Thunder keyword for 3 rounds (including damage from techniques of this school).

Rank 5: Thunder's Call

You may use your Rank 2 technique to summon 2 bolts that may strike the same or different targets. Extra spell slots for damage on that spell award +1k1 per spell slot instead of +1k0 (and effect both bolts).

A lot of the time I used existing New Path or Advanced School techniques to fill in. It seemed easier than trying to completely reinvent the wheel. The results were mixed but overall effective for a few of the schools such as the Yoritomo above and the Kuni below. I'm still not entirely a fan of the Kuni Rank 5, but it is what it is for now. As said before all schools kept their skills, affinities/deficiencies, etc.

Kuni Exorcist
Techniques

Rank 1: Strike the Shadow

The first lessons of the Exorcist is to channel the pure spiritual light of Jade. You may expend an Earth spell slot as a complex action to summon forth the purest of Earth kami, those of jade, in the form of a blast of iridescent green energy. The jade power flies out and unerringly strikes the chosen target - it cannot be intercepted or deflected. If the target has at least one Rank of Taint, the Jade Strike will inflict damage with a DR of 3k3, burning and blackening the Tainted flesh. However, a target who does not have at least a full Rank of Taint will not suffer any damage from the spell. Casting Jade Strike on a non-Tainted target is generally regarded as a grave insult - except perhaps among the more paranoid ranks of the Kuni family, where it is seen as merely a sensible precaution. For each Rank of Kuni Exoricst you can strike an additional target, increase the damage by +1k0, or a combination thereof. You may cast the spells Sense, Commune, and Summon.

Rank 2: Weapons against the Shadow

You can sense the presence of dangerous spirits (ghosts, gaki, yokai, creatures from the spirit realms, etc) by making an Investigation (Notice) / Perception roll. The base TN for this roll is 20, but may be increased by the GM for spirits who are exceptionally difficult to notice. You may make 2 Raises on the roll to learn the spcific nature of the spirit you detect (e.g. a yorei, a gaki, etc).

You may take a Complex Action to attempt an exorcism on someone who is possessed by a ghost, gaki, oni, kitsune-tsuki, or similar entity. You expend one spell slot and make a Contested Willpower roll against the spirit. With a success, you force the spirit to leave the body it is possessing; it cannot attempt to re-possess that same person for at least 24 hours.

Rank 3: Bound by the World

The Kuni study the poorly understood art of binding, of using ritual circles and symbols to trap demons so they can be destroyed forever. You may expend an Earth spell slot and make a Spell Casting Roll (without TN, see below) in order to ritually prepare a binding circle, a process which takes an hour. This circle may encompass a maximum area equal to your School Rank x 5 in square feet, although you may combine efforts with other Kuni to encompass larger areas by adding your School Ranks together (ony one of you make the Spell Casting Roll). Once an oni enters the circle, it becomes active. The oni may not leave the circle without first succeeding at a Willpower Trait Roll against a TN equal to the total of your Spell Casting roll.

Rank 4: Strike of Purity

You learn how to awaken the spiritual power of crystal and use it to strengthen your spells. When you learn this technique, one piece of crystal which you possess becomes awakened and is then used to empower your spells with the essence of Crystal. (If this piece of crystal is lost or destroyed, you cannot use this Technique until you acquire another one - it is the GM's discretion how much time and effort this will require.)

When casting a Fire or Earth spell that inflicts damage or the Exorisit Rank 1 technique (e.g. Jade Strike, Fury of Osano-Wo, etc) you may spend a Void Point to channel the spell through your awakened crystal and infuse it with the essence of crystal. The spell does an additional +1k1 damage is is now considered to be Crystal for the purpose of what foes can be damaged by it, whether it can penetrate Invulnerability or Creature Reduction, and so forth.

Rank 5: Weapon against Shadows

Master Exorcists enhance their exorcisms by placing specially-inscribed paper wards on the target. They (and only they) can create these wards as a Complex Action that requires expending an Earth spell-slot (which cannot be regained until the ward is used) and rolling Calligraphy / Intelligence at TN 25. Placing an exorcism ward on an unwilling target is an unarmed attack that uses a Spellcraft / Agility roll; placing it on a bound/helpless/unresisting target is a Simple Action. Exorcism wards are especially useful items because they can potentially be employed by other people, not just the Exorcist who created them. Any non-Exorcist shugenja or monk who has a Kuni exorcism ward may place it on a possessed person and then try to perform an exorcism as describe in the Rank 2 technique. When such a ward is used by a master exorcist it provides a +2k2 bonus to their contested roll when using their Rank 2 technique.

As much as was loathe to add in the Asahina Fire Sculptor technique, it did make a certain amount of sense that a school created by Asahina (who was a consument Air and Fire shugenja) would have a hint of Fire magic in it, so, I left it in.

Asahina Fetishist
Techniques

Rank 1: The Soul's Grace

The Asahina have harnessed the power of the kami for art, not war. You may spend a Void Point to reduce the total of all opponents' damage rolls inflicted within 20' of you by 0k1 for a number of rounds equal to your School Rank +1. (Using this technique again before its duration expires "resets" the duration but does not increase the damage penalty). You may cast the spells Sense, Commune, and Summon.

Rank 2: The World in the Palm of the Hand

The Asahina are the finest crafters of tsangusuri (fetishes) in the world of Rokugan, and their treasures are highly prized. When using an Artisan Skill or a Craft skill to create a small token of some kind, you may spend a Void Point to confer a one-time blessing into the token. Whoever is in possession of the token may activate this blessing at any time. Whenever activated, the token grants a bonus of +2k0 to one High Skill Roll. No more than one token may be used per day per individual.

Rank 3: The Inner Shape of Fire

Asahina was a knowledgeable in the ways of the Fire kami and his students have remembered their founder, turning his shameful wrath into beauty. You may expend a Fire spell slot and make an Artisan (Sculpture)/Fire roll (base TN is 20, adjusted by the GM depending on the complexity of the sculpting being created). The sculpture will last a number of minutes equal to your Fire Ring, but requires full concentration during the time (i.e. you may do nothing except Free Actions). The sculpture vanishes instantly when the time elapses or you cease concentrating. The GM should award suitable Glory for a successful Fire sculpture “performance.”

Rank 4: Hake's Lesson

The artisans of the Asahina family specialize in infusing magic into their craft in order to give it an otherworldly sense of serenity and beauty. When making an Artisan Skill Roll, you may expend a spell slot to add +2 per slot expended to the total of your roll. You may expend a number of slots equal to twice your Insight Rank in this manner. Air spell slots spent in this manner add +3 instead of +2.

Rank 5: Heaven's Peace

The Asahina are ever advocates for peace, and their greatest lessons show that devotion. You may spend a Void Point to entirely negate damage from any one spell or supernatural source (including nemuranai or weapons effected by a spell). All other effects of the spell still occur, but no damage is taken.

The original reason for creating schools with 5 techniques was to give each clan a wholly unique shugenja school and thus for the version of Rokugan that used them, the shugenja of the Lion were all universally Sodan-Senzo. This school uses all of the information of the Kitsu Shugenja not given below. Overall, this school was the easiest to patch together with previous techniques since they all made so much sense for a Kitus/Lion themed shugenja school.

Kitsu Sodan-Senzo
Techniques

Rank 1: Eyes of the Ancestors

The Kitsu are descended from mystical creatures, and as such are able to reach across the veil between worlds and speak with their ancestors. You may make a Spell Casting Roll (as though casting a Water Spell) against a target's Willpower x 5. If successful, you learn all Spiritual Advantages or Disadvantages that individual possesses. By spending a Void Point, you may negate any one Spiritual Advantage an opponent possesses for a number of minutes equal to your School Rank. You may cast the spells Sense, Commune, and Summon

Rank 2: Senses of the Kitsu
The first gift of a true son of the kitsu is the ability to detect portals between the realms. Any time a spirit portal exists within a radius equal to your School Rank x 10 miles, the GM may opt to secretly make a Spellcraft / Perception (TN 25) roll to determine if you detect it. If the portal is within a number of miles equal to your School Rank or less, you pass this test automatically.

Rank 3: Hand of the Kitsu
Although peaceful, the kitsu were powerful warriors, and their descendants carry that potential within them. Your unarmed damage increases by an additional +0k1, representing the spiritual talons of the kitsu. You may make a Meditation Skill Roll (TN 30) to project your soul into the realms of Meido or Yomi, where you may interact with ancestral spirits (using Social Skill Rolls as normal if required).

Rank 4: The Legions of the Dead - The Kitsu are able to pull aside the veil of the realm of the dead and call forth the spirits themselves to defend their family. You may conduct a ritual that opens a portal and summons forth a spirit to fight in your place. This is a Complex Action that requires you to expend 2 spell slots associated with one Element of your choice and spend a Void Point. the spirit appears as an armored warrior with the Spirit trait and with all Rings at 2 except for the Ring whose slots you sacrificed; that Ring begins at 3. The spirit is considered to have Kenjutsu 3 and Defense 2, and is equipped with a spectral daisho and light armor. These spirits remain in the mortal realm for a number of hours equal to your Kitsu Shugenja School Rank, or until dismissed by you.

Rank 5: Soul of the Kitsu
For the true kitsu there are no boundaries. You may project your soul into the spirit realms and take another person with you if they also succeed at a Meditation Skill Roll (TN30). This passenger may see and hear everything you experience, but may not speak. Ancestral spirits with whom you interact can sense this passenger. This also allows a Kitsu to commune with ancestors anywhere and without using the commune spell. Instead the Kitsu walks Yomi and speaks with the blessed ancestors directly (using Courtier, Etiquette, and Sincerity as normal for social interactions).

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The Kitsu do not call upon the Kami in order to cast their spells but instead upon the power of their ancestors. The Kitsu thus use this modified table to determine the TN of their Sense and Commune spells. Likewise rather than seeking out places of natural power to commune with the kami they commune with ancestors at places that are tied with them (ancestral shrines, grave markers, or the location of their death). The kind of ancestor communed with is determined by what ancestors a shrine or grave marker honors.

1 Ancestor (Usually includes friendly spirits/ghosts of unremarkable persons; peasants, samurai sentries, etc.)

2 Honored Ancestor (Samurai ancestors who performed a great service to their clan; i.e. served in a glorious battle)

3 Great Ancestor (Samurai who contributed to their family/clan in a meaningful way; great scholar, sensei, or general)

4 Heroic Ancestor (All persons who did not hold high station but earned great historic glory for their family/clan)

5 Legendary Heroic Ancestor (Emperor's Chosen, Clan Champion, Emerald/Jade Champion, etc.)

6 Mythic, Heroic Ancestor (One of the Seven Thunders, an emperor, or clan founder)

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Kitsune Spirit-Priests
Techniques

Rank 1: Essence of Chikushudo

None in the Empire are closer to the ways of nature than the simple Kitsune who make the wilderness their home. You may use the Sense, Commune, and Summon basic spells to affect the animal spirits of Chikushudo as well as kami (using Summon results in the appearance of a single animal spirit rather than a set amount of the elemental material). Animal spirits tend to be more direct than kami, and perceive things differently, but have just as little sense of why man does what he does. You may cast the spells Sense, Commune, and Summon.

Rank 2: One With the Wild

The Kitsune are at home in the wilderness like few others in the Empire. You gain a Free Raise on all Hunting Skill Rolls and on any Stealth Skill Rolls made while in a rural environment. Additionally, you gain a bonus of +2k0 on any Contested Roll involving detection, whether you are avoiding detection or attempting to detect a hidden opponent.

Rank 3: Born of the Earth

A master of earth's intricacies can project his mind into the soil and be born again in the form of an animal. If you are sitting upon the bare earth, you may sacrifice two Earth spell slots and make a Meditation Skill Roll (TN 15). After ten minutes of meditation, you fall into a deep trance and a natural animal erupts forth from the ground before your body. Your mind inhabits and controls this animal form until you choose to end the effect, your real body is harmed or disturbed, the animal form is killed - in any of those circumstances, the animal form crumbles into dirt and your consciousness returns to your real body.

Rank 4: Essence of the Wild

The Kitsune are much beloved by Chikushudo, the spirit realm of Animals and the denizens of that realm will come to a Kitsune's aid readily. You may summon an animal spirit of Chikushudo by speanding an Earth spell slot and making a Spell Casting Roll with a TN equal to 5 + (5 x Earth Ring of animal being summoned). Any natural creature from the L5R RPG 4^th Edition rulebook and the Bestiary chapter of the L5R 4^th Edition supplement Enemies of the Empire can be summoned. The summoned creature will appear within the next three Rounds, at an exact time chosen by the GM. Manifested animal spirits are more intelligent than normal animals and can understand simple commands. They are friendly towards you, but do not regard themselves as your servants; instead they are allies and will act accordingly. Spirits summoned in this manner remain in the mortal realm for a number of hours equal to your Earth Ring; they have the Spirit trait in addition to their normal abilities (if any).

Rank 5: One of the Kitsune

The last lesson of the Kitsune is to become one with the animal spirits and transform into a hengeyokai. You gain 2 minor or 1 major spirit power and 1 major or 2 minor Taboos as well as the ability to become an animal spirit (Usagi, Tanuki, Saru, Bakeneko, Inu, Tsuru). Your physical stats are determined by your specific animal or your natural stats, whichever is higher. Mental stats remain the same.

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Animal Spirits

Hengeyokai and other animal spirits are very similar to kami, but are different in the places and ways that they can be communed with. Animal Spirits can usually only be found in wild or natural places, and their power can sometimes be arbitrary. The truly powerful animal spirits often remain in Chikushudo, but can be every bit as great as a Fortune.

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The Isawa were the first time I more or less stepped away from any kind of reappropriation of New Paths. Instead I wanted to play with my importune system. I also wanted to give the Isawa Shugenja a feel of powerful ritualist priests. So while they are able to often cast powerful spells, they must spend time to do so.

Isawa Shugenja
Techniques

Rank 1: Isawa's Gift

There are no greater masters of the shugenja tradition than those among the Isawa. You gain a Free Raise on all casting of Sense, Commune, and Summon. You may cast the spells Sense, Commune, and Summon

Rank 2: Friend of the Elements

Isawa shugenja are known as blessed by the kami. The ease with which they invoke the spirits and the kami's willingness to aide is a thing of envy for other shugenja. Spirits manifested by the Summon spell are treated as one rank higher when determining the spell effects they can create. (example: A small pond kami would be able to create ML 1 and 2 effects, not just ML 1).

Rank 3: Dance with the Elements

To be loved by the kami is to be loved by all creation and each Isawa shugenja seeks to be that close to the spirits of the elements. You gain a +1k1 on your Spellcraft/Element roll when communing.

Rank 4: Isawa's Eyes

Those approaching mastery of the Isawa school learn to go beyond devotion and open themselves up to the elements. They are greeted as kin by the kami and the kami are never hidden from them. The Isawa can now automatically sense the presence of any kami within 50' per school rank and it's rank.

Rank 5: Isawa's Final Lesson

True mastery of the elements is a marvel to behold. With a prayer and a gesture the true Isawa is able to make manifest the full glory of the kami. You may summon a kami as per the Rise, Element spells without using the Summon spell. This is done by spending a spell slot of the appropriate element and a complex action. The kami has stats equal to its Rank +1 (this works with the Isawa Rank 2 technique, meaning a small kami would have all stats of 3, while a great kami would have all stats of 7).

I knew that I wanted the Tensai to have a different (though tied) feel from the Isawa Shugenja but sadly there was nothing fluff wise that gave them a distinct personality. I could have just made them specialized Isawa, but that just felt repetative. So, instead I wanted to make the tensai feel very "master of the elements." The elemental masters are pulled from the tensai so, I thought it felt right that they should be able to just throw around their physical element like they were kami themselves.

This also meant that a lot of the school was going to have a bit of a new theme than in the fluff. I emphasized the idea of the tensai basially gaining kami abilities (Ranks 3,4,5) and a stronger tie with their "fellow" kami (Ranks 1,2)

Isawa Tensai

Benefit: +1 Trait of their Affinity Element
Skills: Calligraphy (Cipher), Lore: Elements, Lore: Theology, any one Lore Skill, Meditation, Spellcraft, any one High Skill
Honor: 4.5
Outfit: Robes, Wakizashi, any 1 weapon, Scroll Satchel, Traveling Pack, 5 koku
Affinity / Deficiency: Isawa shugenja may select any element of their choosing as their Affinity. They have a deficiency to all other elements.

Techniques

Rank 1: Name the Elements

Like the Isawa Shugenja school, Isawa Tensai are beloved by the kami, none more so than by the kami of their affinity. A kami of your affinity element manifested by the Summon spell is considered 2 ranks higher for the purpose of spell effects it is able to create. This You may cast Sense, Commune, and Summon.

Rank 2: Touch the Elements

The link between the kami and the tensai deepens further. Your chosen Ring is considered four ranks higher for purposes of determining the number of spell slots you have in that Element per day.

Rank 3: Shape the Elements

The tensai understand the elements in a way that is almost akin to the kami, able to move, sculpt and create their element with a word and a gesture. Expend a spell slot of your affinity element and you are able to move, and control approximately 5 cubic feet of that element per school rank. You may choose to first create this amount of your element with this effect. It moves at your command so long as you concentrate (spending a simple action) up to a number of minutes equal to your school rank (or a number of rounds while in combat). Its effects can extend no further than 30ft per school rank from you. You may use this element to attack your enemies as a simple action, rolling Agility/Athletics against your target's TN to be hit. This rolls a number of damage dice equal to your ring and keeps a number of dice equal to your school rank.

Rank 4: Embrace the Elements
The elements reach out to protect you from harm. You may spend a Void Point as a Free Action to add twice your Rank in your affinity Ring to your Armor TN. This effect lasts a number of minutes equal to your Shugenja School Rank, and is a very visible effect (you are surrounded by flames or by swirling water, you skin becomes rocklike, etc.).

Rank 5: Master the Elements
A true master of the elements becomes akin to the kami themselves. Air tensai gain Flight with movement based on their Air rather than Water. Earth tensai gain Reduction equal to their Earth Ring plus School Rank. Fire tensai are immune to fire/heat whether by environment, spells, or supernatural abilities. Water tensai can swim with movement equal to their base movement and can breath in water.

Spells

All 4e spells still existed in their current state, but were no longer selected by shugenja. All shugenja have Sense, Commune, and Summon. Sense now senses elemental kami specifically rather than examples of the element. Commune is used to both commune and to importune (as per the rules in the core book). Summon now allows you to physically manifest the kami which takes the form of the spell you importuned. In effect, Summon adopts all the qualities of the spell you're casting (Mastery, Range, Area, Targets, etc.).

I think this needs some clarification. This is how I understand it by reading this:

The Shugenja cast Commune with a water kami to negociate with it to allow him to cast "Path of Inner Peace" in a bushi ally. Importuning a kami request lots of time, if I remember correctly (I don't have the corebook at hand) it's around 15 minutes. Then the Shugenja would have to cast Summon to cast the spell importuned on his bushi. In that case, the Shugenja has to spend 15 minutes and 2 spellslots (Commune and Summon) to be able to heal the bushi.

Knowing that Importune allows the Shugenja to cast the spell within 1 hour after the negociation and without having to spend another spellslot, is the "Summon" spell works the same way after the Importune?

Can the Shugenja may "Summon" the same spell with his spellslots as long as he has spellslots available or until another Importune?

Does spellslots still exist with this system?

Is the time to importune reduced to allow Shugenja to be able to react in specific skimishes? For example, if I'm in a Lion campaign in the war against Tsuno and a skirmish has started between the party and bandits, then a few Tsuno comes in that skirmish.

I have some early, incomplete versions of the Moshi, Soshi, and Iuchi, but otherwise, the remaining schools require such a complete overhaul and creation of new thematic techniques that they're far from done (i.e. the Agasha school I only have an alchemy technique and a mult-element technique, but I want to give them stuff on Kagaku, Nazo bunbun, and mizugusuri.)

I'll post more as I happen to work on them, but many are missing one or more techniques completely.

I think this needs some clarification. This is how I understand it by reading this:

The Shugenja cast Commune with a water kami to negociate with it to allow him to cast "Path of Inner Peace" in a bushi ally. Importuning a kami request lots of time, if I remember correctly (I don't have the corebook at hand) it's around 15 minutes. Then the Shugenja would have to cast Summon to cast the spell importuned on his bushi. In that case, the Shugenja has to spend 15 minutes and 2 spellslots (Commune and Summon) to be able to heal the bushi.

Knowing that Importune allows the Shugenja to cast the spell within 1 hour after the negociation and without having to spend another spellslot, is the "Summon" spell works the same way after the Importune?

Can the Shugenja may "Summon" the same spell with his spellslots as long as he has spellslots available or until another Importune?

Does spellslots still exist with this system?

Is the time to importune reduced to allow Shugenja to be able to react in specific skimishes? For example, if I'm in a Lion campaign in the war against Tsuno and a skirmish has started between the party and bandits, then a few Tsuno comes in that skirmish.

Importune takes 5min/Mastery Level to accomplish.

I had envisioned the notion of 2 spell slots to cast the spell (commune and then summon). The idea was that shugenja (even at Rank 1) could cast any spell so long as they found a suitably powerful kami. In exchange they could retain the kami's blessing for so long and likewise I wanted to make the power of the kami powerful but rare. The idea of battlefield shugenja healers casting a litany of Path of Inner Peace was an extreme rarity, but it might be that they could if necessary though it was taxing. A rank 1 shugenja could likewise try to find a more powerful kami and cast Regrow the Wound.

Instead, basic herbalism and medicine was far more likely to be seen especially in battle or after a skirmish. Of course, there is also the idea that a shugenja can prepare these spells for specific future encounters.

Isawa Ishiken

Benefit: +1 Void

Skills: Calligraphy, Divination, Investigation, Lore: Elements (Void), Meditation, Spellcraft

Honor: 3.5

Outfit: Sturdy Clothing, Wakizashi, any 1 weapon, Travelling Pack, 5 bu

Affinity/Deficiency: None.

Techniques

Rank 1: Beru Saishome

The first lesson of the Ishiken is to open their perception to the Void. There they see all that is around them. By expending a Void Spell Slot you may detect all life within 25' of you, sensing the congregation of elements within living things. This is a free action but must be maintained each round with a simple action. This can sense all human presence and can show the presence of spirits and Shadowlands creatures. This can reveal such creatures in disguise unless they are currently suppressing their nature through supernatural abilities. You may cast the spells Sense, Commune, and Summon

Rank 2: Beru Daimome

All beings are connected through the infinite pool that is the Void. You may willingly give up a Void Point as a Free Action to give another person a Void Point. Only one Void Point can be transferred in one round. Likewise, you can, with a Free Action take a Void Point from a willing target and gain a Void Point.

Rank 3: Beru Sanbanme

The Void is like a river current, which ebbs and flows and ripples. You can with a deft hand shift these currents, pulling from one place and pooling in another. You may expend a Void Spell Slot and make a contested Void roll against one target. If you win, they lose one Void Point and you gain one Void Point. An additional point is exchanged for every increment of 5 by which you exceeded the target's roll. This may not take you above your maximum number of Void Points. If a target has no Void Points remaining he instead takes 1k1 damage for each Void Point he was not able to transfer. This damage is not subject to any kind of resistance or reduction. You do not gain Void Points with this effect.

Rank 4: Beru Yanbanme

The fourth bell teaches the endless depths of the Void, an infinite wellspring that can never go dry. You may once per day completely restore your Void Points by spending a Void Spell Slot and taking a complex action.

Rank 5: Beru Gonbanme

The greatest mysteries of the void are revealed to those who attain the level of Ishi, venturing more deeply into the Void than before. There they can meet with the great Void Dragon. One of divine dragons, its power is infinite and nothing is beyond its ability. You may, anywhere, commune with the Void Dragon (a Rank 6 spirit) and summon a fraction of its power. This can be done once a week (though an exception may be made in extreme circumstances). Any more than that and the Void Dragon may take offense and may not respond until proper atonement is made (GM's discretion). The spell granted by the Void Dragon may be “held” until you cast it or you commune with the Void Dragon again, whichever comes first.

these are amazing. Mind if I try these out in my group and report back how they current shugenja players feel about it?

Absolutely! And thank you! My group has been neck deep in other systems since I created these so they have gone through no playtesting. I would love to hear how they work on the table.

I know already that they're not exactly balanced in what they can do (namely some can blow up stuff while others get nothing technique-wise that's offensive), but hopefully the techniques that do something similar are balanced (those techniques that are offensive balance themselves). Like the Yoritomo Shugenja and their auto-hitting lightning vs. the Isawa Tensai and their roll-to-hit element attack.

Hopefully, if I have the time, I'll also have the "Moshi Sun-Priests" and "Tamori Yamabushi" up tomorrow.

I randomly had a little time and finished up the Tamori Yamabushi. In included the skills since I got rid of their normal Divination and instead gave them a choise of Bugei skill.

Tamori Yamabushi

Benefit: +1 Stamina
Skills: Athletics, Calligraphy (Cipher), Defense, Lore: Theology, Medicine, and Spellcraft, any one Bugei skill
Techniques

Rank 1: Flesh of the Elements

By expending a Spell Slot of the appropriate element the Tamori Yamabushi can summon an elemental weapon equivalent to the spells Bo of Water, Katana of Fire, Tetsubo of Earth, or Yari of Air. This requires a complex action. You may cast the spells Sense, Commune, and Summon

Rank 2: Integration of the Gods
The Tamori are the most maritally inclined of all Rokugan's shugenja families, often training alongside their clan's bushi. You can expend a spell slot as a Free Action to gain a bonus of +1k0 on any Bugei Skill roll. You may not expend more spell slots per round in this manner than your School Rank.

Rank 3: Inner Fortitude
The Yamabushi draws power from within his own body as well as the elements outside. You may spend a spell slot as a Free Action to gain Reduction 2 and +10 to your Armor TN. This effect lasts for a number of Rounds equal to your Earth Ring, ending during the Reactions Stage of the final Round. You may choose to end the effect early as a Free Action.

Rank 4: Strength of the Soul

You may make melee attacks as a Simple Action when using a weapon created by your rank 1 technique.

Rank 5: Power in Stone
The Tamori are masters of the mountain. They are at one with the kami of their home and carry that bond wherever they go. Tamori now automatically sense the presence of earth kami when they are within 250' of them and what rank those kami are. Likewise they may importune with earth kami without the use of the Commune spell. (Instead the Tamori simply makes the spellcraft roll to importune the spell (and taking the required 5min/ Mastery Level to do so) and then cast Summon to manifest the kami and the spell effect. They must still use the Commune spell when asking questions of the earth kami, expending a spell slot as normal.

Nice work in general.

I just wonder how Shuegnja are now able to do anything in a combat that is not know at least 1 hour before. Yes some get a attack technique in the mid game but most of them seem not very good for later uses. Also there is no

way to heal people during combat cause importuning is taking to long. So as I can see it for the moment the Shug is no longer a force to be reconed with in any combat that does not come with a proclamation soon enough for him to

importune different spells. In addtion to that a Shug now has trouble to have multiple usefulk spells ready cause importuning can take so long that as soon as you have importuned the second spell the time limit to use the first expires

and than you have lost 2 spell slots without getting anything out of it.

My system certainly isn't perfect and I have contemplated changing the 2 spell slots issue and the "hold" time. As is, I would certainly consider the "1 hour" to be 1 Rokugani hour, meaning 2 standard hours. That might help alleviate some of the burden.

That said my design philosophy was specifically to bring shugenja off of the battlefield and out of the courtrooms. The issue so many people seem to have with them is that they're able to be so universally good at everything, and when specialized outdo even dedicated bushi and courtiers mechanially. The 5 rank alternative was to give each shugenja school a theme and then reduce the presence of spell-slinging in most situations. I wanted shugenja to, instead, be focused on interacting with the kami. That is where they are unbeatable and are able to perform actions that no other archtype can accomplish.

Now, when it comes to court they can importune spells (such as Benten's Blessing) and get a bump, but ultimately they are more reliant on their base stats. That means they're only marginally better at court than your bushi. Likewise, without offensive techniques, they're no worse at combat than your average courtier.

Certain schools do get some blasty stuff, or some court stuff, but overall, I wanted to deemphasize these aspects of shugenja. From 1e shugenja were seen as divorced from worldly-affairs (read: politics) and were considered non-combatants during wartime and when captured would be allowed surrender rather than death. I wanted to make sense of that, to a certain extent, with my redesign. Battle-shugenja were rare and powerful individuals not the standard. The majority of the time they are in the reseves importuning blessings and healing (which takes time).

It's entirely up to you whether you want to re-emphasize the battle prowess (and healing prowess) of shugenja, but for me that wasn't really an issue. I didn't specifically want to hobble them in court or in combat, but now it's up to the player to invest points in classic skills and attributes to make themselves good at these things (with some help from either the occasional technique or foreknowledge and time to importune).

That said, some of the techniques that I designed for other schools have toyed with how long a shugenja can "hold" importuned spells (Specifically, Iuchi Mystics are getting a meshiodo technique and the Agasha have their kagaku and mizugusuri. Which let them hold spells for longer in physical objects).

Moshi Sun Maidens
Techniques

Rank 1: Favor of the Sun

No family has been more reverent of the various incarnations of the Sun throughout their history, and their piety has granted them great favor with the Heavens. Even in the deepest darkness they are not without the touch of Lady Sun. The Moshi may expend a spell slot of any element to fill the area they are in with light. This functions as the Gift of Amaterasu Spell. Additionally no kami may truly dislike the pious maidens of Amaterasu. All kami, during the day, are considered 1 step friendlier when interacting with them (i.e. hostile becomes merely unfriendly). This has no effect on kami already helpful towards you. You may cast the spells Sense, Commune, and Summon

Rank 2: Light Banishes Lies

The Sun reveals truth and banishes all illusion. When attempting to Banish kami who are responsible for and illusion effect, you no longer need to Sense the kami and require only 3 Raises on the Commune spell (rather than the normal 5).

Rank 3: Lady Sun Banishes the Clouds

Even the darkest clouds and mightiest storms can't keep Amaterasu's gaze from her servants. When confronted with difficult weather condition, you may negate them by spending a Void Point as a Simple Action. This affects an area equal to your School Rank x 20 feet in all directions of you. This effect lasts a number of hours equal to your School Rank. If the weather effect being negated is the result of a spell or technique, you may only negate spells with a Mastery Level equal or less than your School Rank or technique effects created by a shugenja of equal or lower School Rank.

Rank 4: All Bow Before Heaven

All kami bow to Amaterasu, Lady Sun who rules all of Heaven. By invoking her name, the Sun Maiden may order the kami to cease their antics and be calm. The Moshi may, as a reaction to a spell being cast, spend a Void Point and a spell slot of the spell's element to make a contested spellcasting roll using the element of the spell being cast. If the Moshi wins, the spell is canceled without effect.

Rank 5: Light of Amaterasu

The greatest priest of the Moshi can call down Lady Sun's divine judgment upon the unworthy. You may spend a Fire spell slot to summon the holy light of Amaterasu. This in all ways functions as the spell Light of the Sun save creatures of the Shadowlands and Lying Darkness must make a Fear 5 check (even if normally immune). In addition this beam of sunlight sheds light on an area of 60' beyond it and in that area all illusions are automatically banished.

The OP mentioned my version of spellcasting, and if it is any measure, then this whole "2 spell slot for one spell" and "takes too much time" problems should be non-existent if the shugenja is willing to do what he is supposed to do. As: appeasing the kami non-stop 24/7, devoting most of his free time to commune with them and be as nice to them as humanly possible, effectively turning every kami 'Helpful'.

This way, he doesn't have to importune the kami at all because they will lend their help on their own. Some kami might even decide to follow the shugenja around because they like his face so much, thus the shugenja will be never without help. The shugenja should only make sure that the local kami like him, and only cast spells if they don't for some reason. Otherwise, spell-like effects should come spontaneously as the kami do their best to help out their beloved shugenja.

Admittedly, my version can allow for that kind of interaction, those reactions are really at GM discretion. A shugenja really should be using his Spellcraft skill and Sense spell to find and appease kami so that they are friendly towards him. That really is the point of shugenja under this redesign. That said, I didn't want the system to rely on a GM being kind and just giving spontaneous effects or the like mostly because I assume most won't. So, I wanted shugenja to have some agency via importuning and techniques.

And, again, for my own table, the 2 spells and "hold time" aspects aren't really an issue, but what's good for one group isn't always good for another.

Iuchi Mystic
Techniques

Rank 1: Spirit of the Wind

The Iuchi harness the power of the elements to grant the waves' speed to others. As a Complex Action, you may sacrifice one spell slot of any element to grant one target individual an additional Simple Move Action. This Simple Action is in addition to the target's normal Actions per Round. The Additional Action must be used on the target's next Turn or it is lost. You may cast Sense, Commune, and Summon

Rank 2: Beyond the Wind

You can shape the Earth as you ride, lending speed and endurance to your steed. With a five minute ritual and a successful Meditation Skill Roll (TN 15), you may bless your horse or the horse of another rider. For a number of hours equal to your Earth Ring, the horse will never suffer movement penalties based on terrain, nor will it suffer the effects of fatigue.

Rank 3: Where the Wind Wills

You possess knowledge of the most sacred Unicorn magic: the art of moving from one point to another without crossing the space in between. You may spend 1 Void Point and expend 1 spell slot of either Air or Water (Void may not be used) as a Simple Action to instantly teleport a maximum distance equal to your School Rank x 100 feet. This affects only you and the materail you are carrying, but by expending a second Void Point you may also teleport any horse-sized mount on which you are sitting at the time of the effect.

Rank 4: Mysteries of Meishodo

Meishodo is an ancient practice of the Iuchi that allowed them to call upon the elements even when far from the kami of their homeland. Using amulets and talismans the Iuchi bound the power of the elements where they could be invoked in times of need. You may create a magical amulet by making a successful roll of Craft: Meishodo/Ring, using the Ring for the desired spell. The TN of this roll is equal to 15 plus 5 x the spell's Mastery Level. Creating a meishodo requires a number of hours equal to the spell's Mastery Level. If the roll is successful, you create a small charm imbued with the prayer to the kami that will cast the chosen spell. Each meishodo stores only one spell.
Casting a spell through a meishodo requires only one Complex Action, regardless of the Mastery Level of the spell. You do not have to make a Spell Casting Roll to cast the spell, but the spell cannot gain any benefits from Raises (not even Free Raises). You expend a spell slot as normal. Each Meishodo amulet can be used once and then must be enchanted again.
Meishodo can only house spells of Mastery Level 1, 2, and 3. Other shugenja may use your meishodo if they are proficient in meishodo magic (e.g. trained in this school).

Rank 5: Flight of the Ki-Rin

Masters of the four winds, keepers of Shinjo's secrets, and swift masters of the river; the Iuchi are never without the aid of their clan's ancient namesake. You may spend an Air or Water Spell Slot to create a great steed comprised of either roiling storm-clouds or from the purest waters. To the Iuchi these massive horses are solid and may be ridden with ease. They in all ways function as an Utaku Battle Steed save they have Invulnerability. Additionally, if a Water Spell Slot was used the steed gains +1k1 to its damage rolls and Swift 5. If an Air Spell Slot was used the creature gains Flight. This effect lasts for 1 hour.

That said my design philosophy was specifically to bring shugenja off of the battlefield and out of the courtrooms. The issue so many people seem to have with them is that they're able to be so universally good at everything, and when specialized outdo even dedicated bushi and courtiers mechanially. The 5 rank alternative was to give each shugenja school a theme and then reduce the presence of spell-slinging in most situations. I wanted shugenja to, instead, be focused on interacting with the kami. That is where they are unbeatable and are able to perform actions that no other archtype can accomplish.

Now, when it comes to court they can importune spells (such as Benten's Blessing) and get a bump, but ultimately they are more reliant on their base stats. That means they're only marginally better at court than your bushi. Likewise, without offensive techniques, they're no worse at combat than your average courtier.

Certain schools do get some blasty stuff, or some court stuff, but overall, I wanted to deemphasize these aspects of shugenja. From 1e shugenja were seen as divorced from worldly-affairs (read: politics) and were considered non-combatants during wartime and when captured would be allowed surrender rather than death. I wanted to make sense of that, to a certain extent, with my redesign. Battle-shugenja were rare and powerful individuals not the standard. The majority of the time they are in the reseves importuning blessings and healing (which takes time).

There's a tension there, just because you want players to be able to do *something*: a bushi can still talk to people, even if they're not as good at it as a courtier, but what can a shugenja do on the battlefield? If it takes them an hour to prep anything (for those schools which don't get combat techniques), then any shugenja player faces a choice between twiddling their thumbs during a fight, or having their PC invest in a weapon skill -- which really doesn't fit the setting. How do your players generally handle that?

What does a courtier do in combat? Without a weapon skill they're in the same boat. I'm not saying courtier's should all learn kenjutsu, but it demonstrates why bushi are the "warriors" of the samurai and courtiers and shugenja aren't.

For my group, shugenja aren't built around being in combat. That said, I already mentioned that I haven't had a chance to playtest these schools or its subsystem so I don't know how it will work. I designed these schools and the reworked spell system to offer a way to deemphasize the "battle-wizard" motif shugenja have aquried and to give them other foci. Those schools that are from more martial clans (such as the Kuni Exorists, Yoritomo Storm-Priests, and the Tamori Yamabushi) have offensive techniques from the start. Meanwhile schools that have a pacifistic philosophy aren't concerned with those sorts of things and thus are left out (Asahina Fetishist, Isawa Shugenja).

You address this design issue in your own thread quite eloquently:

b) "But this gives shugenja nothing to do if there isn't spiritual stuff in the game!"

This is no different from the existing issue where a bushi has very little to do if the campaign doesn't involve much combat, or a courtier has nothing to do if the campaign spends the whole time in the Shadowlands or fighting an invading army. If you really aren't ever going to make these things part of the story, then gently suggest to your player that maybe a shugenja isn't the most appropriate character for the campaign. Or look at your plot from a more spiritual angle, and see if you can't find ways to incorporate that into the challenges you have in mind.

Shugenja PCs shouldn't be measured based on their place in combat within a game.

What does a courtier do in combat? Without a weapon skill they're in the same boat. I'm not saying courtier's should all learn kenjutsu, but it demonstrates why bushi are the "warriors" of the samurai and courtiers and shugenja aren't.

Right, but it isn't considered *inappropriate* for courtiers to get into physical combat. Shugenja picking up swords or bows would, by the fluff, be a major anomaly (unless they're Tamori).

Shugenja PCs shouldn't be measured based on their place in combat within a game.

Measured by it, no -- but I think they should have something they *can* do there, without overstepping the bounds of their role in society. When I get to actual spells, I'll be including a number of buff/debuff effects, so that while the majority of the killing and maiming is done by bushi, shugenja can still contribute in a meaningful way. From the sound of it, you're still leaving shugenja access to the major damaging spells, but in a fashion where they can't actually use them unless they know ahead of time that combat is on the day's agenda. If that works for you, awesome; it just seems odd to me.

Shugenja might not be seen as consument weapon masters but we've seen several examples of shugenja with a skill at arms including a few duelists. Isawa Sawao even competed for the title of Emerald Champion. While katana are rare in the hands of shugenja (as they are rare for courtiers), I can certainly see a number of bo wielding shugenja. Kuni shugenja even have to pick a weapon skill as part of their starting school skills. A few others select bugei skills, which may be weapons skills.

But this issue is exactly why we're redesigning shugenja differently. You want them to be able to use magic in combat, while I wanted to restrict that to shugenja from martial clans or who have acquired power in their school in the form of techniques. Now, of course, nothing stops a shugenja from seeking out a kami to importune (though, again, at GMs discretion whether one is available) and trying his luck.

That said, come play testing who knows what kind of changes might be implemented. Maybe I'll get rid of the idea of spell slots for Sense and Commune. Or maybe I'll reduce the time needed to importune to 1min per ML rather than 5min per ML.

Oh, I will say, because it wasn't stated explicitly before, but since you're using Summon to get the importuned spell effect, you only take 1 action to cast any ML spell. I always found it strange that both casting time and TN increased as spells became more powerful. It's like being penalized twice and made higher level spells effectively useless (unless they were utility spells). You were much better off as a shugenja using, for example, 2 Fires from Within (likely reduced to 1 action), than spending even 2 rounds casting a spell like Beam of the Inferno.

I'll bring up the Topaz Championship about the idea of the Shugenja that shouldn't do anything in combat. I'll agree that this competition is against the most elite soon-to-be Samurai, but I think it's a point of view about the education of the Samurai.

In the Championship, there's several contests where the Samurai must get at least 5 points in order to enter in the last event which crowns the Topaz Champion, the Iaijutsu duel. In this, there's courtier and shugenja participating the whole championship, not just bushi. Knowing that the Iaijutsu duel is the event that will decide who is the champion and the fact that there's some courtiers and shugenja who won that tournament, it implies that a child needs to learn the art of combat.

Now, as for the "few schools skills have bugei/weapon skills", it's how the school does its teaching, however, the education isn't only at this school. Parents, brothers/sisters and even childhood friends participate in this training, which is why there's character points, in order to build the skill that the character learned through his young age experiences. In a world where warfare is fairly common, I doubt there's a lot of people that wouldn't care about self-defense or helping allies. I'm not saying that these kind of people doesn't exist, in fact, I would definitly see some kind of characters with no intensions of fighting (ex: An Imperial Courtier who used to always have a small delegation of bushi to defend him). Otherwise, I would say that most people would have learned a few tricks to defend themselves, through childhood games. This doesn't mean they are as good as the Bushi, but are they all helpless? I don't think so.

Another point that I'll bring, is the starting outfit. Most of schools includes a specific weapon or a choice of weapon. Even the Asahina Shugenja has a Bo in their starting outfil, so I would think that if they really have to fight, as a self-defense, they would have at least a few points in Staves Skills. Which is probably some skills that the school doesn't teach, but it's learned through childhood education.

Now... I'll bring another thing about the usage of Shugenja in combat and the importance of them being able to react properly in combat. Let's say that a party of 4-5 including a Shugenja that is petitionned to investigate about the murder of a magistrate where the child of the magistrate is missing. During the investigation, they end up face to face with some Maho-Tsukai and a Shadowland Creature. The investigation showed no trace of Shadowland taint up until that very moment. They dealt with the Maho-Tsukai without much problem however, the Shadowland Creature seems to be very resistant to mundane weapon. I would be sure that most Bushi would look at the Shugenja to be able to deal with him, but according to the way it's being done in this system, it would be very hard for the Shugenja to react properly in situations like this.

I'll agree that the Storyteller has to build a game based on the system and how the players are build, or at least guide them to be prepared for some situation, which means that a system like the one you propose, it may be bad storytelling to bring these kind of surprise, but it's stuffs that may happened in the setting, specially if the storyteller changes the stats of some creatures, for example: a stronger version of a Pekkle no Oni.