Here is it for Droidscotty and anybody else who likes to comment.

Please, find faults!

I like criticism.

Sorry in advance for eventual errors in English, I maybe typed this thing too quickly.

The Hedgehog Clan

Motto

"Here I stand, me and my brothers".

Heraldry

When they were a Crab vassal the Harinezumi mon was a Hedgehog looking leftwards above a Crab claw. This mon is still kept today for the Harinezumi family but to represent the clan they use a simplified version without the claw and with an enlarged hedgehog.

Regarding colours they take them from Crab and Unicorn traditions mixing lesser colours of both clans: Brown and White.

Founding

Unknown to most people the plague of the Dark Moto started long before the 12th century. Already in the 9th century, not long after Moto Tsume's demise, the first Dark Moto appear harrasing the Crab lands. Their army did not had the dimensions and the organization displayed in the 12th century but a few times when they managed overcoming the Kaiu Kabe or the Twighlight Mountains.

Almost automatically a group of Crab warrios started developing special anti-cavalry techniques. The warriors started perfecting the use of long Yari to display in tight formation for resisting cavalry charge. Hida Hironoda, an Hida sensei who lived in the late 10th century, is usually credited for the creation of this technique but, to be true, his rudiments appeared on the battlefields already in the 9th century. Nevertheless Hironoda became famous for perfecting the technique and for his efforts in strengthening the brotherhood spirit inside the spearmen units. He used to say that a spearwall can stand only as far as his weaker member remember strong and care for his brothers. His actions were noticed by the Crab Champion who wanted to make him the head of a vassal family. Hironoda gladly accepted but he refused to use his own name prefering the word "Harinezumi" or "Hedgehog" since this was the word used to call the spearwall formation. He wanted his family to be identified with the strong units spearmen uniterd by bonds of brotherhood, not to bring glory to his own name.

Given their hatred for the Dark Moto the Harinezumi became also an excellent mean of collaboration with the Unicorn clan, when needed. They strenghtened their ranks quite often through marriages with Moto vassals, offering occasions of collaboration with the Unicorn clan when these were needed by the Hida lords. More than one Harinezumi has traces of Unicorn blood in his veins.

The strong will required to keep a spearwall formation facing a cavalry charge became a distinctive trait of the Harinezumi, making their hard wills proverbial. The Harinezumi remained a minor but efficient vassal family serving the Hida with their spears and stubborn demeanor through time.

All of this changed in 1126, with the Battle of the Beiden Pass. Harinezumi Nobuo, the Daimyo of the Harinezumi family, stood on the side of the Crab line, waiting for his warriors to stop the charge of the Sons of Shinjo.

Nobuo has endured his lord's order of leaving the wall to march against the empire; he has obeyed Hida Kisada even when he noticed that they were allying with the older enemy, the Shadowlands. He did not display his anger when he saw no Crab complaining about this foulish pact.

Nevertheless, on that fatal day on the Beiden Pass everything changed. The Harinezumi spearmen were deployed on a flank of the formation, ready to stop the charge of Unicorn cavalry. Nobuo waited until the riders were half way in thri charge the, at the last minute, he said: “the hedgehog stands only by his brothers.” As he said so all of his men retired from the battlefield allowing the cavalry of Shinjo Yasamura to strike deeply into Crab flanks. With this single action the whole Harinezumi family became a Ronin group.

Somebody accused Nobuo that he prefered his Unicorn cousins over his Crab brothers but the Harinezumi always reply that a Crab cannot consider a brother those who mix with Shadowlands spawn.

Kisada swore revenge against his former vassals and order was given to slay all Harinezumi families in Crab lands. The revenge was dire, even women and children were killed. Suddenly the Harinezumi warriors found themselves cut off from their roots, cast away from their clan and having lost all their relatives. But Toturi remembered the actions of Nobuo and accepted them in his army. The Harinezumi spearmen followed Toturi throughout the war, acting with fealty and courage. With the raise of Toturi to the Imperial Throne a general will of setting the matter was fealt. The Crab could not openly admit their error in standing with the Shadowlands but neither could they re-admit the Harinezumi among their ranks, since they clearly betrayed their lord. On their part the Harinezumi could not help but hate the Crab not just for having sided with the Shadowlands but also for having destroyed the Harinezumi families. Toturi found a solution. As part of the agreements through which Kisada was elected as a Fortune Toturi managed to prize Harinezumi Nobuo with the foundation of a new minor clan: the Hedgehog was born.

The first decision made by Nobuo was to change the family name. The old name "Harinezumi/Hedgehog" was kept with the clan name but he wanted a family name which never was subdued under the Crab rule: he chose Hironoda. The name of the Crab sensei who did not want it to be used for a vassal family became now the name of the ruling family of a Minor Clan.

Geography & Economy

The Unicorns were the friendliest faction to the new minor clan, therefore Toturi gave to the Hedgehog lands nearby the Children of the Wind. Formal alliances were signed between the Unicorn and the Hedgehog and they were formalized by a wave of marriages.

Shiro Harinezumi is a small but well fortified settlement south of the River of the Unexpected Hero, between the western side of the Shinomen forest and the southernmost Unicorn border. Here the Hironoda family stands as a bastion against possible Shadowlands armies who, crossing the Twighlight Mountains, could attack the Unicorn lands from the south. It already happened in the past, with the Dark Moto ravaging of those provinces, and it could still happen in the future. When the Desert Moto settled in the Enkaku province the Hedgehog accepted them happily as friendly neighbours, offering gift exchanges and cohordinating the defense on the western side of the Shinomen forest.

The Hironoda lands are not particularly rich, so the Hedgehog collect what they can from multiple small sources. They trade with the Ide provinces but, since not many Gaijin nomads pass through their lands, they cannot benefit from trade taxes. Their farmers manage cultivating the lands nearby the River of the Unexpected Hero but the climate is too dire during winter for allowing good rice harvests.

The Hedgehog recently discovered good and pure clay banks on the river side, so they hope produce pottery which would power up their economy, however they have not yet managed organizing a proper production. The Hedgehog elite is trying to attract famous potters through court actions but they have been unsuccesfull thus far. Their political power is very low, and mostly based on their Unicorn allies, and their lands on the border of the empire are not very attractive for famous artists.

Given the paucity of resources the Hedgehog were forced to seek them on the border of the Shinomen, collesting wood, fruits and game. The ex Crab samurai here had to developing Hunting skills they were not used to in their old homelands.

Demography

Before the Beiden pass the Harinezumi vassal family was pretty numerous and blessed by numerous children. However when they became the Hironoda family, settling their new lands as the Hedgehog Clan, there were less than 100 Samurai left, mostly male bushi, survivors of the Clan Wars. Most of the oldest ones, the children and wives were lost due to Hida Kisada’s revenge. The Hedgehog samurai population was soon replenished through a series of marriages, especially with the Unicorn, and acquisitions of old Ronin from Toturi’s army. The new emperor did not want the Hironoda to extinguish and he did what he could to facilitate these processes through orders and court actions.

The Hedgehog lands, even if poor and sited on the empire fringes and the terrifying Shinomen, host more heimin than most Minor clans do. This is partly due to imperial action: numerous heimin were sent to settle the area, including skilled woodsmen and farmers, as a gift from Toturi to his friends.

There is also another very odd factor which attracts Heimin to Hedgehog lands. The Hironoda are known to train more Ashigaru than most Minor Clan do, quite often promoting skilled heimin which never had a relative acting as budoka or ashigaru. This practice would be seen with disdain by most Samurai but the Hironoda have their reasons. They realized quite quickly that is they want their army to matter thir spear walls had to be larger, including also hge number of well trained ashigaru.

Off course all of this has cost in terms of resources and the Hironoda clan is alway hungry for find a solution. Later wars reduced the demographic pressions but during peaceful times the Hedgehog elite has to do what he can to find a solution.

A serious demographic depression happened during the times of Moto Chagatai war to conquest the throne. In the confusing situation among all Toturi’s heirs, the Hedgehog remained true to their greatest allies, the Uncorn. They stood with the Khan and this led to the death of many Hedgehog who sacrifice themselves during the Khan’s campaign. At the end of the war they risked the extinction and the Lion clan was particolary interested in their demise to punishi ther alliance with the Khan. The Hedgehog saved their position only through the seppuku of the Hironoda Daimyo.

In the following years the Hedgehog slowly recovered by the time of the Iweko dynasty the had a Samurai population almost comparable to other warrior minor clans like the Badger or the Hare, but this number is always at risk, given their paucity of resources. Some Hedgehog samurai started talking about looking for resources westwards, but everybody knows that the wastes in that direction are almost bare. The Shinomen soutwards seems like the only possibility but the Hironoda do not dare exploring deeper than the forest border. During the Iweko dinasty part of the family started looking at the colonies and suggested trying to ask their Unicorn allies to interced on their behalf for allowing them to move or to expand. The Hironoda Damiyo has thus far not made a decision yet but a solution must be found for the Hedgehog to survive.

Customs

The Hedgehog have kept many Crab customs, ways of speaking and of dressing. They do play lots, like fried food, make Wish dolls for their children and practice elaborate funerals for their dead. Nervetheless they tend to get offended if somebody points out this similarity.

As time passes they are making and changing some customs, importing new things. Due to their relationship with the Unicorn a few gaijin customs are appearing, facilitated by the environment, for example an increasing consumption of red meat, especially of wild boars hunted in the Shinomen.

A special celebration is the anniversary of the Battle at the Beiden Pass. All the Hedgehog samurai gather at the centre of Shiro Harinezumi for making their devotion to a small shrine, euphemistically called “Temple of the Remembrance” dedicated to the ancestors of the Hironoda, and including those who were killed by Kisada’s order. Curiously enough the Hironoda keep long lists of ancestors, including many predating the Clan Wars. This means that they revere many ancestors in common with the Crab, especially with the Hida, their ancient lords. The Hironoda see no contradiction in this, thinking that the Crab clan before Kisada was purer. Nevertheless they know that Kisada is now a Fortune, therefore they avoid expressing too openly their disdain for his cult with strangers, although their antipathy is well known.

Special respect is paid on the names of Hida Hironoda and Harinezumi Nobuo. Every year during the Beiden Pass anniversary the story of the family name is told in front of the whole assembled Hedgehog army, underlying the will of Hida Hironoda to refuse it to strengthern the family unity and the decision of Nobuo to revive it, in order to severe ties with the Crab.

The “Temple of the Remembrance” is quite a small place with no fixed monks handling it. Occasionally the Shinsei Brotherhood send old monks belonging to the most various orders, but none of them remained for long. Various Hironoda Damyio have tried for decades to expand it and found a dedicated order but they lacked thus far both resources and political power.

War

Even if small Shiro Harinezumi is well fortified. Two of the original Hironoda architects directing the builders were trained with the Kaiu and tried to apply what they remember from their experiences as Crab engineers. The castle can resist sieges but the Hedgehog know also that, in case of an overpowerful invasion, their stand here would be only a way to slow the invasion of Unicorn lands. The Hedgehog bushi are fierce but they also know that their number is not great and their resources low. This is why there is an organized series of mounted messengers and exchange stations which link the Hedgehog lands with the Ide and Moto provinces. In this way the notice of the attack will arrive as soon as possible and make the Unicorn allies able to organize themselves.

Their alliance with the Unicorn led many Hedgehog bushi to serve for short periods on the Khol Wall, where they seem to re-enact customs and practices inherited from their ancestors when they served on the Kaiu Kabe.

The Hedgehog is a warrior clan, practicing ancient traditions dating back to their time as Crab vassals. Their basic war philosophy is pretty simple: resist and rebuke the coming enemy. They form spear walls and wait for the charge. Their units are very large for Minor Clan standards and they use whole, well-trained unit of Ashigaru to support the Samurai spearmen. The Hironoda bushi are always meant for being where the enemy will hit harder but their Ashigaru are also ready for the worse to happen. Perfect cohordination and sheer iron will is the base of their military practice. This “fixed” military tactic contrasts deeply with the one of the Unicorn allies and skilled Moto generals sometimes benefit from deploying the Hedgehog allies in the right place, where there is more need of strong resistance than of mounted mobility.

Nevertheless, the time of the Hedghog in their new lands is also slowly changing their military traditions. A few of the Hironoda Bushi, especially those with higher Unicorn ancestry, developed an interest in horses. Through a series of treaties the collaboration with Sensei of the Sons of the Wind led to the creation of a special unit of light cavalry, the Hedgehog Riders, who are trusted with the duty of parolling the land and keeping contact between Shiro Harinezumi and the Southern Unicorn provinces. They are not numerous but their number is slowly increasing with time. The Hironoda Daimyo is also starting using the riders for exploring the areas east of the Hedgehog (and of the Empire’s) borders, in the hope of finding more resources.

The Hironoda family (+1 Willpower)

All the Hedgehog Samurai belong to this family and the majority of them live in Shiro Harinezumi. They occasionally serve on the Khol Wall and a minority of them act as Hedgehog riders, but all of them have been trained in the “Dojo of the Spikes”, located in the centre of Shiro Harinezumi. Being a warrior is an important part of Hironoda tradition and in this way they keep their Hida ancestry. The very few who display Shugenja talents can be rarely trained and only with Unicorn allies. Harinezumi courtiers are mostly unheard of.

All the Hironoda keep exact records of their ancestors, starting with the Crab ancestors but, as time goes one, the blood from Unicorn marriages get stronger.

The hatred towards the Crab clan was particularly strong in the early years and roughly until the early Iweko era. After that time relationship with the Crab became less tense, although traditional antipathy is still pretty common.

Special Rule:

The Hironoda can buy the Advantage "Heart of Vengeance: Crab" for 4 points instead of 5.

Schools

Hironoda Spearman School

· Benefit: +1 Agility.

· Skills: Athletics, Defense, Spears (Yari), Hunting, Kenjutsu, Battle, any one Skill.

· Honor: 5.5

· Outfit: Light or Heavy Armor, Sturdy Clothing, Daisho, Yari, Traveling Pack, 3 koku

Rank 1: The Hedgehog's back

The Hironoda spearman is famous for quickly forming spear wall formations and use their favoured weapons with deadly accuracy.

You can ready a spear with just a Free Action. You gain a bonus of +0k1 to the total of all damage rolls with spears.

Rank 2: Go down, scum!

The Hironoda bushi knows how to make his Yari become a rider's nemesis.

Everytimes you use a Spear to unsaddle a mounted opponent (for example using the Knockdown maneuver or other homebrew maneuvers) you receive a Free raise.

Rank 3: Get near to me, if you dare!

A Hironoda who has decided to stand is a difficult obstacle and a dangerous barrier to face.

If somebody mounted or with a shorter or equal-sized weapon attacks you while you are wielding a spear in Defense or Full Defense stance you can spend a Void point to interrupt him and eattack him before he resolves his own roll. This is special action which happens outside your own turn and you do not lose any action for it. After this you are considered to have changed your stance to Attack.

Note that for some specific situation the GM can evaluate that using this technique is impossible (for example if somebody attacks you from behind and you are not aware of his presence).

Rank 4: Taste my spikes!

An expert Hironoda bushi know how to better exploit his traditional weapons.

You may make attacks as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action while using Spears or weapons with the Samurai keyword.

Rank 5: The Hedgehog does not move away.

The stubborness of Hironoda Bushi is legendary and helps them resisting temptation.

Anytime the strength of honor is added to rolls (e.g. for resiting Intimidation, Temptation or Fear) you can also add twice your Earth rank.

ANCESTORS

New Ancestor (Hedgehog): Hida Hironoda (5 pts)

The first Daimyo of the Harinezumi vassal family was a sensei of the Hedgehog style of combat and a staunch supporter of family and friendship ties. He decided not to use his name for the new family but the name of his military unit.

You benefit from 1 Free Raise to use with the Spears skill.

Constraint: Hida Hironoda will abandon you if you ever betray the Hedgehig clan, harm any of his members or take merit for things you have not done.

New Ancestor (Hedgehog): Harinezumi Nobuo (7 pts)

The first Hedgehog and Hironoda Daimyo was a brave but severe warrior who dispised any truce with the Shadowlands.

You gain a +1k0 bonus to Earth rolls to resist Taint and to rolls for resisting Intimidation, Temptation or Fear.

Constraint: Nobuo will abandon you if you ever ally with Shadowlands creatures or openly Tainted individuals. He will also abandon if you surrender to the rule of a descendant of Hida Kisada (as most of recent Crab champions are) unless you do it for Imperial order.

PATHS

New Alternate Path: Hedgehog Rider [bushi]

The Hedgehog riders train as Light Cavalry for patrolling the area and keeping contact with the Ide and Moto Provinces. They are the result of alliance and collaboration between the Unicorn and Hedgehog clans. Armed with light armors and light lances they are the quicknes which the traditional Harinezumi tradition lacks.

Technique Rank: 2

Replaces: Hironoda Spearman 2

Requirements: Horsemanship 3, Spears 3.

Technique: The wind’s gift – When mounted you get a bonus of +1k0 on Spears and Horsemanship rolls.

ab

The Hedgehog as Crab Vassals: the alternate Crab path “Harinezumi Spearman”

This path represents the Hedgehog in their previous state as Crab vassals under the name of the "Harinezumi" family. This technique is possibly still taught in a few Crab dojos but, in general, it evolved to the full Hironoda Spearman school.

Technique Rank: 2

Replaces: Any Crab Bushi 2

Requirements: Spears 3.

Technique: Go Down, Scum! – Everytimes you use a Spear to unsaddle a mounted opponent (for example using the Knockdown maneuver or other homebrew maneuvers) you receive a Free raise.

I'm also drawing the Mon, I'll paste it here when I'll have time (I can go for attachment, right?).

Hey, cool story, and cool mon selection too

I will do a more thorough look later but it looks interesting.

I did however a minor in typo Rank 3: Taste my spikes! i think it should read Rank 4.

Well... for the first thing...

Please don't make your family name "Harinezumi". I know every single Japanese word to a non-Japanese speaker sounds just as foreign as any other word... but... in this case...

Your guy here decided he wanted his new name to be "Spikey Rat". And so you have your people introducing themselves as "Hi! I am Mr. Johnny Spikey Rat from the Clan of the Spikey Rat totem and I come from Castle Spikey Rat!" It really sounds just as silly in Japanese as in English. Then again, since the meaning in English is "Bush Pig" I have to wonder to what degree you thought the name was going to sound any less humiliating in the native language.

And-- honestly-- it was sheer ignorance on behalf of the people who lazily named canon minor clans after the animal... there is absolutely no written rule that says you must or you even should. It is worth noting that at least half the originally designed minor clans did not use the animal name.

And while, European families loved to name themselves after animals, I can say with a fairly high degree of certainty that no samurai ever did. At least not for a family name. Rarely in modern times people might have personal names that are animals, but even with family names that never originated with samurai I have never heard of this. And I have heard more than enough Japanese family names and know more than enough Japanese animal names to have made that connection if it ever did happen. And while Rokugan might not be Japan, why exactly are you dragging Japanese language and culture into the fantasy just to disrespect and mutilate it? You may as well just have the family name by the name of the animal in English.

But, at least maybe "Kitsune" or "Kuma" or "Usagi" or "Tonbo" or "Kumo" or other native Japanese animals can sort of be slightly remotely justified given that Rokugan adopts personal names as family names-- which basically never happened with real samurai. But you stumbled upon one that isn't much better than if it had just been the name of the animal in English but in katakana adding extra vowels.

But-- I am getting sidetracked. By all means, use the hedgehog as the clan symbol. And have your clan symbol be blue... and have the clan be about running really fast... and you can even have them all wear red shoes and white gloves as part of their traditional battle attire.

But don't choose "Spikey Rat" as your family name. Go with the Hironoda if that is what popped into your head or choose one of the hundreds of cool names from the Sengoku clans that hasn't been used in the name in the setting yet.

You are right. I do not speak Japanese. I'll maybe pick up a Sengoku-era name and I'll go on with that, and I feel similar stuff when I hear Americans using odd Italian words For fantasy stories on mafiosi....

And, as you know, usagi and Tonbo are rididicolous without any explanation....

...nevertheless I have an explanation.

The choice of the name was given initially to honour a (completrly fantasy) tactical formation, not a single Man.

So maybe, given that Crab stubborness exist, maybe i could add some fluff about why they use a name that others find ridicolous.

But if it is really too stupid i'll maybe go through Sengoku era names and change it into something sengoku-like and cool.

And regarding the clan animal....why does a hedgehog is more humiliating than a badger, sparrow or a hare?

Hey, cool story, and cool mon selection too

I will do a more thorough look later but it looks interesting.

I did however a minor in typo Rank 3: Taste my spikes! i think it should read Rank 4.

Thanks. Corrected.

They're some minor typo errors but nothing serious. Globally I like it and their story is well documented! Can I suggest you to use the « Hedgehog’s Dilemma » in your customs ?

What I don’t understand it’s how you do to have commentaries? I’ve posted some ideas days ago and nobody give me an answer. My work is so perfect than nobody dared to emit an opinion about it?

But if it is really too stupid i'll maybe go through Sengoku era names and change it into something sengoku-like and cool.

And regarding the clan animal....why does a hedgehog is more humiliating than a badger, sparrow or a hare?

Not necessarily: "Hedgehogs are common through most of the valley, and peasant children sometimes take them in as pets. They are seen as a benevolent animal due to their tendency to prey on snakes and insects, and as such are the topic of many stories. Indeed, the common people of Naishou Province sometimes use the image of a hedgehog to represent themselves: peaceful and hard-working, but prickly if threatened." Naishou Province p. 62

Droidscotty:

It's maybe because I made 1 single thread For 1 single clan....with a problematic name!

I'll work more on customs &name dilemma, I promise.

Masanori,

Nice catch!

Hobgoblyn arguments on the "Harinezumi" name are sensible and important but you possibly found a glimpse of Rokugani culture!

What I ask myself is: Is the name "Harinezumi\Spiked Rat" as offensive or ridicolous For Crab mentality as it would be in a Sengoku Nipponic setting?

"Nezumi" is the name of Crab's truest allies and Crab samurai tend to refuse those who after a gempukku ceremony bring back a Nezumi head instead if a Goblin head (do I remember rightly?).

So maybe "Harinezumi" would not be ridicolous for a Crab as it would we for a native Japanese speaker.

And, furthermore, I guess that there are tons of ridicolous things in L5R for Japanese native speakers beyond my Harinezumi.

We are here to help you out, glad that my tip could be useful.

But if it is really too stupid i'll maybe go through Sengoku era names and change it into something sengoku-like and cool.

And regarding the clan animal....why does a hedgehog is more humiliating than a badger, sparrow or a hare?

Not necessarily: "Hedgehogs are common through most of the valley, and peasant children sometimes take them in as pets. They are seen as a benevolent animal due to their tendency to prey on snakes and insects, and as such are the topic of many stories. Indeed, the common people of Naishou Province sometimes use the image of a hedgehog to represent themselves: peaceful and hard-working, but prickly if threatened." Naishou Province p. 62

To make it clear-- I am not saying that it is not a decent totem for a vassal family or clan. By all means, there is nothing wrong with a "Hedgehog Clan".

It is making their family name "Harinezumi" that I feel is a bad idea. The Dragon Clan is led by Togashi, not Ryuu (although Ryuu is a perfectly acceptable personal name), the Crane is Doji not Tsuri, the Crab is Hida not Kani, the Unicorn is Shinjo not Kirin, the Lion is Akodo not Rion, the Scorpion is Bayushi not Sasori, the Mantis is Guai or Yoritomo not Kamikiri, the Spider is Daigotsu not Kumo, the Phoenix is Shiba not... .... okay, I'll be super-generous and say that the Phoenix represents the Chinese Vermillion Bird-- Suzaku....

And people argued for years what animal totem the Hantei should have because they were never given one and just like every other Kami, Hantei is not the name of any animal.

So why are the rules so drastically different for so many minor clans? Not all. Chuda, Moshi, Tsuruichi, Kusagi, Heichi, Morito, Toku... all more or less semi-acceptable (again, given that Rokugani decided to turn personal names into family names and didn't give characters proper samurai names). Ichiro... has so many issues that it deserves a separate essay.

It is just that they sometimes got lazy... Usagi, Kitsune, Tonbo, Suzume, Koumori (admittedly, the playerbase's fault there) and that seemed to trigger something in the fanbase where now anyone who makes a minor clan goes the super lazy route and just names them after the animal.

Now-- I will admit that I didn't remember that "Rat" to crabs didn't just mean the little rodents that get into your rice supply and eat it or chew on your toes and fingers during the night, but rather the exact same word is used to refer to an actual people... Then again, maybe that is all the more reason not to use it as part of your name. I might get along with Mexicans and love their food and culture, but I am not going to make my new family name "ShootyMexican".

Again, for a minor clan-- Hedgehog is a perfectly fine totem animal. It is just as justifiable as a Crab.

But as an actual name? Not really so good. I could literally give you a hundred better names.

Exactly!

The mon of Tokugawa was the pumpkin, but it wasn't the pumpkin clan, it was TOKUGAWA CLAN!

As I said I'm almost conviced to switch to a Sengoku-like name.

Ans I knew that you meant to criticize the family name, not the totem animal.

I maybe went through the lazy way Kitsune\Usagi\ etc...but at least unlike those I tried to explain what I meant with a backstory.

Hida Hironoda avoided using his own name to label his new family (as usual in L5R) but, in order to honour his group, he chose the name of a (completely fantasy) military formation of spearmen.

The Problem is that I started liking this explanation....

Exactly!

The mon of Tokugawa was the pumpkin, but it wasn't the pumpkin clan, it was TOKUGAWA CLAN!

Yes, no real samurai clan to my knowledge used an animal as its symbol. If they didn't use a geometric shape (fun fact! the "swastika" a symbol literally banned in much of the west because of a political party that used it was used by Japanese clans centuries before that political party was a thing!) it was usually a leaf or something. The names of the clans were well.... the names of the people who founded them. And, for the most part, a lot of them were mercurial with clans popping up and dissolving in short order and people switching allegiances or starting up new clans left and right, particularly during times of war.... Honestly, I don't think any clan managed to really stay "intact" in any meaningful way for more than maybe 100 years.

But, for pure marketing purposes to people who are unfamiliar with such things-- I get why the designers went with color-coded clan with totem animals. A lot of how the animals relate to the clans is born entirely out of a European tradition of those animals' use. The Phoenix, Lion and Unicorn are particularly ill-suited animals for Japanese clans and would be better suited for French or English clans. And, naturally, everyone has a favorite color and using colors and animal motiffs and having permanent clans makes it super easy for people to instantly identify things in the artwork and the more western ideas of these things you incorporate, the faster people from the west will "get" what it is all about without any of it seeming particularly puzzling, obtuse or esoteric.

Granted, a lot about what was written about Rokugan demonstrates a serious fundamental misunderstanding of samurai on the part of at least some of those who were working on the initial draft and absolutely so about those who came later. Honestly, the things set out in the first year or so of the game were generally not so disconnected from being sensible as stuff that came later. There were some moments that felt forced and sloppily written, but generally.... for the return of a 1,000-year old fallen god who was threatening to usher in 1,000 years of darkness... this were actually more grounded then than perhaps any other story arc. And things felt like they had real consequences rather than there being a certain safety net that everything would yo-yo back to the status quo regardless of how important one is told the decisions are.

Anyway... while certain concessions were made-- the clans rallied behind totem animals, everyone always wore the colors of their clan at all times (at least in the artwork, I don't think that it was originally intended to be universally canon within the setting though it is often treated as such), the number of clans and families in the empire was a relatively low and fixed number with each clan having more or less the same number of families and no families changed clans (until someone miswrote a name on a card or accidentally made a card the wrong faction), the clans were eternal and would never be wiped out no matter what... those were all fine concessions.

But people having their clan totem animals as family names was not part of the original concession of the setting. And even when it did occur, it was a minority. 3 that appeared in books and 1 that was chosen by the playerbase. It was just the writers getting unbearably lazy when writing the Minor Clans book and players seizing on that when they realized that the company had actually put forth a personality whose name was "Bat" and so nominated that personality to be the one that gets to form a minor clan because "Bat Clan" sounds like "Batman". Otherwise clans had... more or less.... normal or at least normal-sounding samurai family names (with a few that one has to allow to skate by on the concession that personal names became family names and personal names were already not proper traditional samurai names)

That's why I dislike seeing someone put forth a minor clan and seem to fall under the mentality that the family name must or should be the simply whatever the animal is called in Japanese.

And there really are 100 cool names that the setting has never touched that would be good to use for vassal families or minor clans or whatever. So it really is a waste to make your people seem kind of silly by making their actual last name "Bunny" or "Dragonfly" or "Cat" or "Lizard" or "Hedgehog" or whatever when that isn't even how the setting itself suggests it should work outside of a few fringe examples.

Hobgoblyn, thanks a lot.

I like Samurai but all my knowledge is based on a few books (mainly those by Turnbull) and the good old Chambara movies (especially the Kurosawa ones).

So I do not define myself an expert, just an hobbyst samurai lover.

Keeping ties between Rokugan & Sengoku/Tokugawa Japan is what I feel should make Rokugan more interesting.

I'm a Classical Archaeologist and I do not like when hear people in games, tv and movies doing idiotic things with Greek and Romans, so I guess that for Samurai and Japanese this is even worse.

By the way, I found so many lists of Samurai surnames and names during the Sengoku period, but I would like to still go on with some sense in the story.

Do you feel "Hironoda" (which is a name, as far as I can see, not a surname) to be good for a family name?

I mean, given what we know from canon, officially published, Rokugan, it should not be overly out of place.

We have seen that Rokugani often do that, putting personal names on families and dynasties (Iweko? Hida? Bayushi?), so maybe in Rokugani (not Japanese?) sense it could work.

I got that in old Japan the people who founded a clan also give the family his name...but does the word remain the same as it is transferred from personal name to family surname?

As a second issue I realized that Rokugani should speak in a Japanese-like language...so saying I'm Harinezumi Takezo from Harinezumi castle sounded even more stupid.

In conclusion, I've decided to keep the original Harinezumi name for their phase as Vassals (and keep Hironoda choice of name story) and change the family name in Hironoda after the Beiden Pass battle and the formation of the minor clan.

Yes, no real samurai clan to my knowledge used an animal as its symbol. If they didn't use a geometric shape (fun fact! the "swastika" a symbol literally banned in much of the west because of a political party that used it was used by Japanese clans centuries before that political party was a thing!) it was usually a leaf or something. The names of the clans were well.... the names of the people who founded them. And, for the most part, a lot of them were mercurial with clans popping up and dissolving in short order and people switching allegiances or starting up new clans left and right, particularly during times of war.... Honestly, I don't think any clan managed to really stay "intact" in any meaningful way for more than maybe 100 years.

Yes, that's something always bothered me.

That Rokugan society remained as it was for a millennium or more, with the same family names.

It is unconceivable that the whole setting is based on rivalries among different clans....and their borders remained almost the same for so long, with no clan disappearing or many new ones appearing.

I guess that's why most people like me enjoy playing versions of Rokugan at constant war with numerous MC and vassals appearing and disappearing.

What it also bothered me is that the number of those family names in L5R was relatively small, that's why I feel that, even if we accept that families like the Matsu or the Doji kept their name for a millennium, we should have (at least) 80 or 100 different minor, vassal family names per clan, not the five or six we have now....how many bloody Matsu Hiroshi or Hida Takeshi do we have if everybody in a clan/minor state (because that's was clan lands are) has the same name?

I just changed the name from "Harinezumi" to "Hironoda" but kept the old name for their historical phase as Crab vassals.

I tried to give sensible explanation for this.

I also added parts on the role of Ashigaru for the Hedgehog and their unusually large numbers in the "demography" and "war" sections.

This means that the Hedgehog has now a very strong army (for MC standards) but this also means that they need many more resources than their lands can give.

During the Iweko era (roughly the starting time for L5R 4th ed.) the Hedgehog are in dire need of resources, something must be done (and this could led to more stories to be told...).

Added also the name part in the customs section.

Looking good.

Well... for the first thing...

Please don't make your family name "Harinezumi". I know every single Japanese word to a non-Japanese speaker sounds just as foreign as any other word... but... in this case...

Your guy here decided he wanted his new name to be "Spikey Rat". And so you have your people introducing themselves as "Hi! I am Mr. Johnny Spikey Rat from the Clan of the Spikey Rat totem and I come from Castle Spikey Rat!" It really sounds just as silly in Japanese as in English. Then again, since the meaning in English is "Bush Pig" I have to wonder to what degree you thought the name was going to sound any less humiliating in the native language.

And-- honestly-- it was sheer ignorance on behalf of the people who lazily named canon minor clans after the animal... there is absolutely no written rule that says you must or you even should. It is worth noting that at least half the originally designed minor clans did not use the animal name.

And while, European families loved to name themselves after animals, I can say with a fairly high degree of certainty that no samurai ever did. At least not for a family name. Rarely in modern times people might have personal names that are animals, but even with family names that never originated with samurai I have never heard of this. And I have heard more than enough Japanese family names and know more than enough Japanese animal names to have made that connection if it ever did happen. And while Rokugan might not be Japan, why exactly are you dragging Japanese language and culture into the fantasy just to disrespect and mutilate it? You may as well just have the family name by the name of the animal in English.

But, at least maybe "Kitsune" or "Kuma" or "Usagi" or "Tonbo" or "Kumo" or other native Japanese animals can sort of be slightly remotely justified given that Rokugan adopts personal names as family names-- which basically never happened with real samurai. But you stumbled upon one that isn't much better than if it had just been the name of the animal in English but in katakana adding extra vowels.

But-- I am getting sidetracked. By all means, use the hedgehog as the clan symbol. And have your clan symbol be blue... and have the clan be about running really fast... and you can even have them all wear red shoes and white gloves as part of their traditional battle attire.

But don't choose "Spikey Rat" as your family name. Go with the Hironoda if that is what popped into your head or choose one of the hundreds of cool names from the Sengoku clans that hasn't been used in the name in the setting yet.

Correction: the Tokugawa mon is the Hollyhock.

I still lack of a mon to include this into the Court of Minor Clans fanbook...

Not quite finished with these yet, but here's a couple of ideas:

That's my Hedgehog mon!

This clan seems really interesting; would you mind terribly if I did my own take on the bushi school and added it to my own setting?