That math looks wrong. Calculating with 5 seconds long rounds, it would be 12(per minute)x60(per hour)x20(per day) rounds = 14 400 x 200 (Water Ring 2) = 2 880 000 / 5 280 = 545,45 miles. Or 818,18 miles with Water Ring 3.

You're right; I left out the Water Ring factor. That's what I get for doing my math in a hurry. :-P

For the Lion Army and similar numerical phenomenon, my theory is that they literally eat away the future of Rokugan: the Empire is stagnant and seemingly unable to develop in any meaningful way because every little bit of resource that should fuel its progression is poured into unreasonably numerous armies and disappears in the belly of a Lion or Crab samurai.

. . . who then die in VAST NUMBERS every time a card tournament needs to happen . . . and yet they're always able to field another enormous army by the time of the next tournament . . .

Well, this sort of strays into your magic redesign, but it's the least OP way to make them spirit summoners.

Huh? Being able to do a longer-distance version of Legacy of Kaze-no-Kami doesn't help them summon spirits.

For the Lion Army and similar numerical phenomenon, my theory is that they literally eat away the future of Rokugan: the Empire is stagnant and seemingly unable to develop in any meaningful way because every little bit of resource that should fuel its progression is poured into unreasonably numerous armies and disappears in the belly of a Lion or Crab samurai.

. . . who then die in VAST NUMBERS every time a card tournament needs to happen . . . and yet they're always able to field another enormous army by the time of the next tournament . . .

Well, this sort of strays into your magic redesign, but it's the least OP way to make them spirit summoners.

Huh? Being able to do a longer-distance version of Legacy of Kaze-no-Kami doesn't help them summon spirits.

Rokugan must have a truly prodigious birthrate. To field those numbers, they'd have to breed like rabbits.

I worded my point poorly. Their ability is a manifestation of their connection to the Komori, the bat shapeshifters from Chikushodo. To use their technique, I believe they get the spirits instead of the Kami to deliver the message. And giving a school the ability to summon a spirit ally as its technique would be hard to balance.

Komori modified the Komouri technique of talking to dead people and the change created a technique to talk to live people far far away, translating the spell from through spirit realms to long-distance. It makes sense on a scientific point of view of reverse engineering and not getting exactly what was before. The ability to summon spirits being something that the Bat would only get to do a generation later after they had mastered a devolved basic version (and as such, a new path).

People have to understand the limitations on Minor clans and their techniques... too many times minor clans are just a justification for a hyper powerful techniques in the eye of many.

I think it's strangely fitting that the potentially most useful technique for a society with very long message transit times is provided to a clan that almost no one knows exists.

But why would that clan even develop such a technique in the first place? Being able to call long-distance isn't very useful if nobody out there even knows who you are. :-P

Rokugan must have a truly prodigious birthrate. To field those numbers, they'd have to breed like rabbits.

Ironically... most of the time as it's been depicted in canon? Almost every married pairing only has one or no children... though that could be seen as the narration focusing only on one of the children of a given daimyo/Champion, it's weirder in the cases where they don't marry and/or have children for years on end.

"...Rokugan must have a truly prodigious birthrate. To field those numbers, they'd have to breed like rabbits." (Raabar, Post #27)

This is a bit off topic, but one computer card game has a japanesesque faction, consisting of Rabits whose constant population growth fuels their lust for war and conquest.

"...Rokugan must have a truly prodigious birthrate. To field those numbers, they'd have to breed like rabbits." (Raabar, Post #27)

This is a bit off topic, but one computer card game has a japanesesque faction, consisting of Rabits whose constant population growth fuels their lust for war and conquest.

What's the game?

Hex, Shards of Fate.