While I am glad an animal icon was chosen for the Hantei clan in Imperial Histories II, I don't think I am particularly happy with what was produced there. I am not sure why this idea of revolving the entire clan around the concept of non-humans was hit upon, why it seemed such an important niche to fill-- but the end result strikes me as being both not particularly fitting and also pretty poorly executed.

Really, unless I am missing something, one's Sincerity or Intimidation or Temptation skill still works on a Naga, right? As does the general combat rules. What this means is that the writer created schools for pretty important families there that not only have no effect on the mortals they are going to have to be dealing with 90% of the time, leaving their clan in an entirely indefensible position in the courts and on the fields of battle in a Rokugan that isn't so stable... but really, the effects they get against the group they can target are not really any better than the effects others would get through simply boosting their own skills rather than getting the same boosts only when dealing with a particular enemy. Even the Crab Clan schools are no where near target-dependent and they are supposed to be entirely about facing the Shadowlands.

Furthermore, if one wanted to build a Rokugan where any time after the fall of the Hantei, the Hantei-loyal families were demoted to the status of a Great Clan (possibly even in the far flung future), they aren't really applicable unless you bring into the setting an overwhelming presence of non-humans that suddenly need dealt with specifically to the exclusive of everything else.

First, the families. I want to put aside the Hantei and assume that if they didn't take the throne and eventually get eliminated, that otherwise they fell through similar circumstances. They could be brought back into the picture if it feels necessary, but I think it is best to go without them.

Overall
My thought is that the Owl Clan is one that seeks knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment, at least theoretically. They also hold a close connection with the peasants. They aren't afraid to get their hands dirty or to research some generally taboo subjects in order to further their understanding of how the world works and utilize it. They share a close connection with the lower classes, with a tendency to forget proper class distance. They are generally pragmatic and sensible rather than idealistic and probably aren't seen as particularly glamorous or even honorable in the eyes of others regardless of the position they may have held in the past. They have a strong sense of justice and have a nasty habit of butting into matters that don't concern them if they feel that conflicts are causing the world to become imbalanced and causing unnecessary suffering to the people at large.

Families

Seppun - Typically the champion would come from the Seppun family, they are the primary leaders. Unless there is going to be a Shugenja family arising, I feel like it is best to change the Seppun to granting +1 Perception as it ties into both of their family schools better. If it is better to spin off the shugenja concept into its own family, they could go back to +1 Reflex, but I don't want too many families.

Otomo - The Otomo family is primarily focused on bureaucracy. They aren't afraid to get a little grubby with deal taxes and trade, but their primary focus comes in their specialization with law and tradition. While other courtiers might attack on emotional basis, the Otomo uses clever use of knowledge of the law and tradition to win over arguments with logic. They also often work as investigators and watchmen, tracking down the culprits of any crime that is committed. They might remain a +1 Intelligence, or maybe a +1 Awareness or +1 Willpower would be more appropriate.

Miya - Swift-footed and always alert, the Miya serve as scouts and messengers. They don't put on any real airs of superiority and many might be forgiven for mistaking their status if they don't notice a badge or katana at their side. They don't come across as uncivilized so much as simply common. In a fight, their speed, wit and sharp eye allows them to find openings and exploit them. Probably +1 Reflexes or maybe +1 Agility.

Owl Monks - A working name for a branch of the Four Temples Monks that broke off and effectively became part of the Owl Clan as a result of the deep connection between the monks and the Seppun family, though they retain some ties to the previous order allowing them access to tombs and artifacts from the ages while also contributing to the collection. They search for knowledge in all its forms, feeling knowledge is the only true path to enlightenment. They don't shirk away from even the darkest of knowledge, for even the dark things are part of the universe and must be understood to be kept in their place. Despite this they hardly ever fall victim to the temptations the darkness offers for they seek no power, just a better understanding of the wholeness of reality so that they can better advise, guide and teach. They would get either a +1 Willpower or a +1 Intelligence.
(I was debating whether the Kasugi should be included in this, but have decided to leave them out of it for now.)

Schools

Seppun Guardsman - Likely with a lot of shades of what exists in the book already but moving away from spamming away all of one's void points in quick order and no more focus on protecting the emperor himself. Fundamentally though, it would still be a protector school that focuses on defending others, seeing through enemy tricks and specializing in defensive fighting rather than offensive like so many other schools.

Seppun Shugenja - They would focus on divination and seeing threats before they arrive or happen. For instance, perhaps their school trick would be to create clay statues that can 'protect' important places by warning them if those places are in danger or even allowing them to see what is happening there simply by meditating. Their specialty would be Divination spells, so that would mean they would be Water shugenja with deficiency for fire.

Otomo Courtier - As described within the family, their lesser focus would be Commerce with their major focus being Lore: Law and the use of it to win arguments against others.

Otomo Magistrate/Investigator - Specializing in solving mysteries and crimes, it might be difficult to keep them distinct from the Kitsuki, but the Kitsuki can't be the only ones who are going around and dismantling criminal organizations. The more pragmatic and inquisitive nature as well as their better relations with commoners would probably mean they focus more at looking at evidence and putting it together rather than the Kitsuki's Inquisition specialty.

Miya Scout - They might end up very similar to the Hiruma, the Daidoji and the Usagi, or maybe I could go in a different direction and instead make them cavalry archers or something that isn't being done yet. It would make them the only cavalry school outside of the Unicorn.

Owl Monks - The school half of the "family" as described above. I imagine part of their technique would be to allow them to buy forbidden lore without losing honor so long as they don't use it for personal gain or to harm others. Otherwise I am not sure what to do, they are meant to be the ethical center of the clan offering insight and guidance to the others.

The Talons - This one is an admittedly weird idea and I am not even sure how to go about it mechanically. The idea would be that since the clan is weak militarily on their face, they instead have protectors hidden in plain sight. Since servants are generally considered "below notice", these individuals who come from ronin or ashigaru and are trained up by special schools within the Owl Clan, effectively act as servants doing all the usual stuff-- gardening, cleaning, cooking, fishing, farming, trading, etc. All the general "merchant" skills. However, in reality they are highly trained combatants that can quickly leap into action whenever necessary, often getting the element of surprise since they would have generally been considered "invisible" parts of the backdrop before presenting themselves as a threat to any who would do wrong. They might also specialize in distraction tactics, perhaps using temptation (whether it be wealth or nudity) to throw their targets off-balance. Basically they would be kunoichi as relatively close to how they functioned as allowed within the game, but not gender exclusive. Ninja without any of the shadow magic stuff. They wouldn't really be considered proper members of the clan officially, but in terms of mechanics would count against the number of schools.

I imagine many will dislike the ideas, but that's why I am posting them for feedback. Maybe there are better ideas out there that haven't occurred to me or maybe there are better ways of doing these ideas I haven't thought of.

I'm not disliking it, but it lacks a very important element: context.

The Owl Clan in Imperial Histoires is part of the Togashi Empire, a place where the supernatural has a much bigger place than your vanilla Rokugan. As such, it is much more logical to have a whole Clan dedicated to dealing with those supernatural "non-humans".

If you want to change how the Owl Clan fonctions, you need to think of the context. Is it an universe where another Kami won the tournament? One where the Hantei Line was demoted and replaced by another dynasty?

Not taking this into consideration will also end up creating a Clan that feels forced and without a logical focus.

EDIT: Typing with a phone is asking for typos...

Well, I think the primary idea is that they were the former imperial line and then were demoted. But I think the context where any other kami won the tournament should be applicable too. After all, one is assuming that the Unicorn clan does not change one bit if Doji or Bayushi became the emperor, even though the entirety of the Unicorn clan concept require that Shinjo leave the empire leaving the "Kitsune" behind, travel across the Burning sands and make allies and then come back and be accepted and get their family lands back. The Mantis clan is assumed to exist even in a timeline where you have Hida become Emperor-- one would presume that it was an inevitability that they come into being and if it couldn't have happened under exactly the same circumstances, then the circumstances would change but Osano-wo's wife and son would have run off to that island and created his own clan perhaps after being over-looked as the next Emperor rather than the next Clan Champion. We know this because in the Togashi Dynasty explanation, it proposes all other clans (even the Spider Clan!) would somehow come into existence exactly how they were-- as though they were all inevitabilities and the details of their origin could be glossed over because if they didn't occur one way, they would occur another.

So I kind of want to get to something that seems like it could be both the 'after 300 years of being out of power, the former imperial families all got replaced by favored servants of the following Dynasties and got demoted to the status of a Great Clan' and also 'If Bayushi, Shinjo, Hida, Shiba, etc. had won the tournament, here is how Hantei's clan could have shaken out if we assume little else changed and certain things are inevitable destiny'

The Togashi Dynasty line presumed a fundamental state change in the entire empire in order to wedge in this idea of dealing with non-humans rather than looking at the aspects of the Imperial Families that likely would be much different if a different family was in their place and then creating non-imperial versions based on those traits. After all, there is no inherent reason Hantei becoming emperor made all non-humans vanish while if any other Kami had taken the place. So why build their concept entirely around something that requires some other major alteration to the world outside of the primarily alteration already being made?

Thus the Seppun still being about guarding. Even if Hantei hadn't become the emperor, he still likely would have favored learning from Shinsei and Seppun still likely would have built the first temple and the Seppun would still be temple guardians. Yes, it was more important because Hantei was emperor, but I think a different emperor wouldn't have been nearly as keen on learning about Shinsei's teachings-- Rokugan already had a view on the universe involving Tengoku, Jigoku and Fortunes.

The Otomo specialize in knowledge of the law and using it for winning debates because their ancestors primarily wrote the laws and they were primarily the family collecting taxes and deciding how they would be spent. However, Otomo was a small, clever boy who, while protected by Seppun and Hantei, no doubt still got by using wit and knowledge of the rules to get his way rather than being blustery, seductive or overwhelmingly charming. It wouldn't be difficult then to imagine the Otomo being focused on being very lawyerly and learning how to use the laws to their benefit regardless of whether they had been the ones writing them. And, given that I am still proposing a close connection to Shinseism and temples, they still would have the role of collecting donations as well as taxes and properly allocating them to the various temples so that the monks would be fed, clothed and supported while seeing that money stretches so new temples could be built.

The Miya were swift footed scouts and while their initial existence does very much require Hantei having the ability to just declare a commoner a new clan head, I think they still could have started as a vassal family that eventually gained full recognition due to their hard-work. It is no more unlikely than most other clan families coming into existence.

The closeness with the monks kind of works whether we figure that Hantei was emperor and the Seppun were always protecting the temples or whether Hantei just uniquely became the primary devotee and proponent of Shintaosim while someone else ruled the land.

Now, granted-- perhaps I am giving them too wide of a specialty here. Building and protecting of Shintaoist temples, getting along with the commoners, knowing and enforcing the law, and learning as much as they can about the world, being logical instead of emotional. Perhaps the thematic core could be a little stronger, but I think it all fundamentally arises from that first concept-- to make them the most Shintaoist of all the Clans and the idea of being more relaxed about class distinctions, learning as much as possible, passing on those teachings and keeping emotion separate, protecting the weak but engaging primarily in defensive battles, a balanced approach to life and knowledge of all the various rules and how and when to apply them whether those be religious doctrine or governmental edicts. That in lieu of owning the throne, their role in the empire would be focused on protection and promotion of Shintaoism.

As for whether the Togashi dynasty Owl schools make sense?...

Well, we have 7 other clans that are apparently unchanged. Can you point to another clan whose schools entirely consist of techniques where they have no effect if not used against a particular target? Do the Crab schools do nothing if you aren't facing Shadowland creatures? Do the Mantis or Unicorn schools all stop functioning entirely if you are not on a boat or a horse?

Mechanically, at best, the ones in Imperial Histories II might have been more feasible if they were 'you have a slightly subpar effect against mortals compared to most schools, but have a slightly increased effect against non-humans." For example-- a lot of schools give you +5k0 to a particular skill, so if it was written "you get a +3k0 against humans, but a +6k0 against non-humans' it would be functional, but saying 'you have no bonus against humans and a +5k0 bonus against non-humans' is badly considered mechanics-- every school that gives +5k0 to their skill gets that exact same +5k0 against non-humans. You result in a situation where the school you have created is useless against the humans you normally have to deal with and also not any better against non-humans.

Yes, you could argue that the bonus normally applies only to one skill while the bonus against non-humans could be used on various skills, but the rest of those schools that give those bonuses make it so that one skill becomes the applicable in all situations removing any actual benefit from it.

And, to reiterate, it is far more important for the Crab clan to defeat the Shadowlands on a continual basis than for the Owl Clan to defeat non-humans in that Togashi Dynasty timeline. Yet you do not see every single Crab Clan school being made up of techniques that have absolutely no effect unless used against a tainted creature. The Hida stands on its own just fine regardless of opponent, the Hiruma has a single benefit that allows them to survive longer in the Shadowlands but their battle techniques work just fine against all opponents and the Yasuki don't remotely mention taint or Shadowlands in the entire school. The Kaiu similarly function just fine if no shadowlands ever existed. Only the Kuni has a technique that works primarily against tainted individuals (and it works against any non-human for that matter too, just to a lesser degree!) and their specialty spells are jade spells that have severely reduced effects if not used against shadowlands. But since they can choose literally any other spells as well, even they are not so target-specific oriented that they have 0 competency against humans.

The Owl Clan schools though are entirely made up of techniques that work solely against a single opponent making it so that they are certain to lose every argument in court, every battle on the field and generally every encounter against human opponents of equal training-- something that would doom and kill their clan outright as it means dropping all defenses against the machinations of their primarily rivals in order to focus to an unhealthy degree on the more unusual opponents. And because of how the schools are written, they really aren't even particularly more effective than anyone else against those more unusual opponents. If it doesn't work for the Crab Clan to have nothing but techniques that affect solely Shadowlands creatures in any timeline, it doesn't work for a different Great Clan in any timeline-- even if one does propose a greater presence of non-humans.

^ Don't forget that there is a big bunch of things that couldn't make it into IH2 because of the character limit. Kinzen has a longer writeup (you can find it in his signature), but even that is incomplete.

Anyway, I think the Owl Clan in IH2 is a very basic and setting-specific idea. A "basic" Owl Clan would most likely look like some sort of middle-ground between the Dragon and the Phoenix, with some Lion tucked into the mix. Being a Celestial Superman with a bunch of priestly people as closest followers (originally, the Seppun were priests and not guards) surely limit you options.

^ Don't forget that there is a big bunch of things that couldn't make it into IH2 because of the character limit. Kinzen has a longer writeup (you can find it in his signature), but even that is incomplete.

Anyway, I think the Owl Clan in IH2 is a very basic and setting-specific idea. A "basic" Owl Clan would most likely look like some sort of middle-ground between the Dragon and the Phoenix, with some Lion tucked into the mix. Being a Celestial Superman with a bunch of priestly people as closest followers (originally, the Seppun were priests and not guards) surely limit you options.

Fair enough, I suppose then what I aim to do is create a more universally applicable version.

I don't know that options are all that limited. Each clan has a theme and the theme of "priestly samurai" is no less strong than most of the other themes. And I don't see a problem with some parallels with other clans as long as there are inversions.

The are of the people like the Lion, but are focused on peace and defense rather than offensive warfare.

They search for spiritual enlightenment like the Dragon, but rather than excluding themselves high in the mountains and becoming mysterious, they mix in readily with the rabble and live out in the open.

They search for knowledge and artifacts like the Phoenix, but are not interested in magical power nor do they specialize in magic.

They aren't afraid to do things that are below their station like the Scorpion, but don't hide in the shadows or behind masks and webs of lies, but rather in the open blending in with the everyday folk.

Some similarities, but with deep stark changes that are all tied into the religion.

The Seppun could be explained as monks who took up arms to defend their temples rather than trained to defend the Emperor and his family and this would inform a very different sort of defensive fighting than a yojimbo who follows and defending an individual as they are instead about protecting an area and preventing passage. In a timeline where Hantei was emperor, they got replaced as the Emperor's guardians (or rather made redundant) via the Iweko dynasty already creating an "Empress Guard" station filled with Great Clan individuals. So now their main thing is guarding temples.

^ Don't forget that there is a big bunch of things that couldn't make it into IH2 because of the character limit. Kinzen has a longer writeup (you can find it in his signature), but even that is incomplete.

Anyway, I think the Owl Clan in IH2 is a very basic and setting-specific idea. A "basic" Owl Clan would most likely look like some sort of middle-ground between the Dragon and the Phoenix, with some Lion tucked into the mix. Being a Celestial Superman with a bunch of priestly people as closest followers (originally, the Seppun were priests and not guards) surely limit you options.

I don't know that options are all that limited. Each clan has a theme and the theme of "priestly samurai" is no less strong than most of the other themes. And I don't see a problem with some parallels with other clans as long as there are inversions.

I mean, Hantei's options would be limited to shape his clan.

Well, we have 7 other clans that are apparently unchanged. Can you point to another clan whose schools entirely consist of techniques where they have no effect if not used against a particular target? Do the Crab schools do nothing if you aren't facing Shadowland creatures? Do the Mantis or Unicorn schools all stop functioning entirely if you are not on a boat or a horse?

Well, aside from the Kuni Shugenja example you gave, you also have the Kakita Duelist. Although they do have some minor bonuses, their focus is all about duels. Outside them, they are inferior to any other bushi school. And Duel is a pretty specific part of the bushi's life. Most of the time, skirmishes will be the norm.

And your argument is also misleading. You say the Kuni shugenja, even though is main focus is Jade spells (which are pretty much useless against untainted targets), he an still learn other spells. That's true, but just as an Owl Otomo's technique is all about dealing with non-humans, he still have access to his social skills and advantages. A Kakita Duelist is all about duels, but he also has a katana and other weapons to fight during a skirmish. Just because they have a focus doesn't mean they are useless outside it. Per RAW, an Otomo courtier would be the best to deal with non-humans, and still a pretty good courtier compared to your average bushi/shugenja, but subpar compared to another clan's courtier. It seems a reasonable premise.

Now, about transforming the Imperial Families into a Great Clan, I completly disagree when you say the origin is of no consequence. Let's go with the ''replaced with a new dynasty route''. The imperial families are a very small faction, comparable in size to a Minor Clan. Furthermore, aside from a few holdings here and there and the Imperial City, they have no land. If they lost their imperial privileges, in order to become a great clan, they would need a very big influx of new blood and, more importantly, new lands. The easiest way would be to switch place with the new dynasty. For example, if Chagatai suceeded in his Defiance and took the throne, he could have named his closest followers as the new imperial families and ordered the rest of his clan to swear fealty to the Otomo, Seppun and Miya, to renounce to his old lands and form the Owl Clan in the process.

Now, the end result would be extremely different than a Crab Dynasty (All Hail Kisada!) with the Owl Clan in charge of the wall or the Yoritomo Merchant Empire with the Seppun, Otomo and Miya on the Island of Silk and Spice.

At the opposite side of the spectrum, if the Owl Clan is formed in the aftermath of the Celestial Tournament, who won would have a deep impact on the clan. For example, what if Akodo won? The most logical explanation would be he killed Hantei during their duel instead of severely wounding him and the new Emperor was so ashamed he granted Great Clan status to his brother's followers. He then task them to ensure no one makes the same mistake he did and let his anger and ambition take control of their action. The Owl Clan would then be tasked to serve as magistrates for the whole Empire (pretty much replacing the Emerald Magistrates way before they were created) and given the Lands given to the Lions in Vanilla Rokugan.

Let's say Shinjo won instead. Her followers then form the new Imperial families and she task Hantei and his followers to explore outside of Rokugan instead. It would be fun to imagine how different their encounter would be.

And we can also go wild. What if, after he freed his brothers and sisters from Onnotangu, Hantei is the one who got caught by the Sun, fell into the Shadowlands and got corrupted by Jigoku? What if a pure Fu Leng won the Tournament instead? How different would the Hantei line be?

I can totally understand you want to take the Owl Clan in another direction and that's fine. But we need a starting point.

Well, aside from the Kuni Shugenja example you gave, you also have the Kakita Duelist. Although they do have some minor bonuses, their focus is all about duels. Outside them, they are inferior to any other bushi school. And Duel is a pretty specific part of the bushi's life. Most of the time, skirmishes will be the norm.

The Kakita Bushi only has a single Technique (Rank 3) that boosts dueling. Its emphasis is more about the Center Stance, and it is a weak Bushi School because its emphasis is pretty much worthless .

I can totally understand you want to take the Owl Clan in another direction and that's fine. But we need a starting point.

Okay, but I have already decided that it seems. The primary focus is "if they were disbarred and became a Great Clan." They don't have enough people? Yeah- hardly stopped the Mantis or the Spider. Once you get named a Great Clan, apparently thousands upon thousands of people appear out of thin air to fill out your ranks. You could have a family of precisely 7 people and you get named a Great Clan family-- next day it is 17,000 people. Ronin, Ashigaru and Monks would be filling out the ranks and any holdings could be made in the colonies if no where else.

The lesser concept is 'if nothing else about Rokugan was changed other than Akodo or Shiba or Bayushi sitting on the throne, this could still feasible exists to the same degree that all other clans could be nearly exactly the same if Togashi was on the throne."

The thing that strikes me as being different about Hantei that if I imagine anyone else on the throne, assuming the clans are a decent representation of their Kami is the whole Shintao/Monk connection. I just don't know that any of the others would have sequestered themselves away with a foreign wandering hermit for days on end and listened to what he had to say and then start ordering the construction of temples based on this new philosophy. Neither Toturi nor Iweko seemed nearly as supportive of the Brotherhood of Shinsei as the Hantei dynasty was.

You seem to suggest that the clans in no way, shape or form were at all influenced by the individual who started their clan. That Shinjo was just as likely to start up the Scorpion Clan or the Phoenix Clan as she was the Unicorn clan. And I just don't think that follows. I don't think the result of the tournament would have caused the clans to be all swapped around with Doji primarily protecting the wall against the Shadowlands and the Hida sequestered in the mountains being all mysterious.

Togashi always had weird mystical things going on, he alone had the ability and will to discard his body and claim someone else's for his own use. He alone could have started the Dragon Clan. If he were ruling the Empire, his odd mysticism would take a deeper hold and Hantei wouldn't have merely become Togashi and retreated into the mountains.

Doji was always about beauty and art and if she had the throne, I think the empire would be even more class stratified and would probably be more peaceful in some ways, but not nearly as effective against the Shadowlands. It might even be a pretty hedonistic 'paradise' with deep corruption at its roots. Hantei wouldn't have merely become Doji and had a dueling school and a storyteller school and a artisan school under him.

Shiba was the only one who had such a keen interest in maho, the only one who did or would have sworn fealty to a mortal. And had she become empress, no doubt it would have meant that Rokugan would be ruled by a council of shugenja and shugenja would be even more highly valued than they are currently, perhaps all being compelled to come to the capital to learn and share what they have learned. But, regardless, Hantei wouldn't have become a protector of the shugenja and be ruled by them in the way Shiba did.

They were not 'tasked' to do anything that was not already within their interests or nature. The 'tasks' generally seemed to be justifying them to just continue to do what they already were inclined to do, just making it 'official'. "Oh! You are really into music, aren't you? Okay! You are the official department of music. And you seem to have learned everything about cars! Okay, you are the official auto department!" It was an easy way to incorporate everyone into the same system with anyone having to feel that the system was opposed to them. It was just a "keep doing what you are already doing and now you are doing that thing for the good of all of us!"

Okay, granted... Shinjo, Bayushi, Hida, Akodo... those ones might be more tenuous. I think Akodo and Hida at least could be said to more or less fall into a more or less similar situation as Shiba, Togashi and Doji who were going to be doing what they ended up doing regardless of who won and would just be doing it to a greater extent had they taken the throne. I don't recall enough about Akodo or Hida's stories to think that they were not pre-inclined to be the military backbone and official protectors of the empire. But.. who knows... maybe Hida was forced to build a big wall and protect it while pouting, kicking and screaming about it the whole time and if he wasn't forced out there, someone else would have been.

The only ones that are legitimately questionable are Shinjo and Bayushi. Did Shinjo really want to run away from everything? Is it possible the Kitsune are a better representation of Shinjo than her own family is? And I guess it is implied that Bayushi was not particularly thrilled about being given the worst lands in all the empire and told to be a backstabbing, cut-throat bastard that no one trusted and everyone hated to at least a small degree. It isn't really implied that Bayushi was a shady, cheating jerk bent on destroying the empire. So maybe those two are cases where they were tasked to do something that they wouldn't have done had they been allowed to do just whatever they wanted.

And Fu Leng obviously didn't really get to do what he wanted, but somehow L5R found a place for a Clan of Fu Leng-- they even purified Fu Leng and the clan itself struggles between whether to be of light or darkness constituting perhaps the most engaging struggle at this point. And apparently even in the Togashi dynasty there would have been a place for a Fu Leng clan with some minor tweaks about how it started, none of which fundamentally change much of anything else.

Overall

My thought is that the Owl Clan is one that seeks knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment, at least theoretically. They aren't afraid to get their hands dirty or to research some generally taboo subjects in order to further their understanding of how the world works and utilize it.

*Buzzer* Phoenix Clan !

Or Spider Clan. Or Scorpion Clan. Or Dragon Clan. They have that whole aspect to.

Honestly, given that monk are a big part of it and shugenja are not, there a greater chance of them being too similar to the Dragon than the Phoenix.

I already said this-- the ideas I have would make them similar to each clan, but also very different in some other way. They would simultaneously Lion in their earnestness and bravery without the war-specialty, Crane in their peacefulness without the obsession for art and beauty, Scorpion in their information network but without the masks, poison and shadowiness, Phoenix in their love for knowledge for the sake of knowledge without the massive shugenja focus, Dragon in their quest for enlightenment and monastic ways but deeply connected to the people rather than isolated, Crab in down-to-earth and pragmatic ways but without the strength and defensive specialty, Spider in their monastic connection and the wide acceptance of ronin and peasants into their rank but without the taint or dark power or tragedy.... I am sure it would even be possible to make parallels to Unicorn and Mantis.

Though I am not sure that would make then uniquely the central, generic clan. I think you can take most clans and you can find a big similarity and a big difference with each other clan.

But before I wrote up and schools I wanted to run it by others to see if anyone can think of something better.

I have been thinking of this more.

Maybe the Yotsu and Kasugi should be added to round out the families instead of just the 3 traditional ones and then monks and ninja. The Yotsu in a few winter courts ago were going to be a vassal family of the Seppun (which, perhaps, they always should have been operating out of Otosan Uchi) while the Kasugi were effectively the "unofficial" Imperial Family that did the dirty deeds the Hantei wanted done while remaining distant enough to give plausible deniability. But, it is likely with the relationship the Iweko dynasty has with the Spider and the Mantis, they have been left hanging out there pretty vulnerable. Officially joining with their Seppun and Otomo allies would seem a logical course.

The Talons could simply be an Otomo Vassal family-- I like the name Fukumura-- that children of ronin and peasants who demonstrate great service-- get inducted into. Since they spend most of their time pretending to be simple servants, the family numbers would be greatly underestimated if it was even heard of at all. There is justification in the lore-- the Otomo had the Shosuro disbanded because they were jealous of the information network. But that only makes sense if the Otomo were running or were planning to run their own information network.

So the Shosuro exist but are unknown because they use evil shadow magic to become literally invisible. The Talons have no magic of such kind, they remain invisible only because the arrogance of samurai is such that even during their most secretive and intimate moments they think nothing of being surrounded by half a dozen servants waiting for command. When a such a large portion of the ever-present populace is "invisible" because they are below notice, it makes it pretty easy to infiltrate them and gather information. Which the Otomo have probably traditionally used to keep balance between the clans, if not for their own profit occasionally.

What I am not certain about is the clan color. I see three possibilities on the color wheel open....

Jade green-- traditional imperial color, it could be bright or perhaps better would be dark in order to stand out more against the Dragon's yellow-green and the Mantis's Emerald Green. Problem is though-- it is the imperial color and this would involve them being demoted by the throne and having to stand on their own.

Violet - It used to be the Unicorn color before the Unicorn were moved to Indigo. But since it used to be the Unicorn color, maybe that would be confusing.

Magenta/Pink - This one might be tricky. I am not sure anyone would take a light salmon pink clan particularly seriously, it would perhaps seem too effeminate to work in western culture. Dark or burnt pink or magenta might work better, maybe if paired with brown or blue. It might also be able to pass as an "owl" color better than the others.

Of course, white or brown could work too. But since Spider tends to wear white and black and brown is the ronin color, it might present problems. Although this clan would effectively be taking over the Brotherhood of Shinsei and Toturi's Army spot by combining them, I am not sure brown would feel unique enough.

Grey and Brown, colors of the Owl.

Grey and Brown, colors of the Owl.

Well, if one could have any colors, that would be possible... Thing is that great clan colors surprisingly enough fit a pattern.

If you have a visible color wheel and divide it into 12 pieces, you get the following colors.

Red, Orange, Yellow, Yellow-Green, Emerald Green, Jade Green, Teal, Sky Blue, Ocean Blue, Indigo, Violet, Magenta

The Great Clans and the Imperial colors are all made up of two colors that are next to one another on the color wheel.

Scorpion is Red and Magenta (Darkened)

Phoenix is Orange and Red

Lion is Yellow and Orange (darkened to brown)

Dragon is Yellow-Green and Yellow

Imperial is Emerald Green and Yellow-Green (Darkened)

Mantis is Jade Green and Emerald Green

Crane is Sky Blue and Teal

Crab is Sky Blue (Darkened) and Ocean Blue

Spider is Ocean Blue (Lightened to nearly white) and Indigo (darkened)

Unicorn is Violet and Indigo

That means there are two possible color schemes for Great Clans left.

1) Teal and Jade Green

and

2) Violet and Magenta

I will put up some pictures to illustrate this. Violet and Magenta might be the better choice if the goal is to wind up somewhere close to grey and brown.

This picture ought to better illustrate what I was saying.

Yes, if the goal was to look as much like an Owl as possible, the bottom left picture would be best. But the Great Clan color schemes all match a very solid and predictable pattern. Even the Spider Clan that seems like it would have totally broken free of the constraints-- really didn't. Going across the hues there is a clan that fits each and every one of them, granted individual characters are likely to add other colors to their outfits beyond these and everyone uses white, gold and black heavily.

So a new great clan feels like it should either retain the Imperial colors (5) or use 7 or C. It seems to me like C is the better choice as the Empress, Emerald Magistrates and Imperial Legions retain 5 and 7 suggests perhaps ocean or forest or something. Maybe that can be Ryoshun's color or something.