Hello all. Going to be running a Ronin Game for my group, and was wondering what kind of tips can folks give me for running that kind of game. It would be most appreciative, thank you.

Depends: is it a True Ronin or a Clan Ronin game?

Zeroth advice before you answer this question: don't run mixed True/Clan Ronin groups.

It's all about your next meal, so you have to make them understand that they are poor and that even the basics cost.

Not to mention that they are looked down by any Clan Samurai, even those of Minor Clans. Though the Minor Clans might be more willing to work with them, and if they prove worthy, they might be eligible to be invited to join the Minor Clan.

It's all about your next meal, so you have to make them understand that they are poor and that even the basics cost.

Some good points:

1) Ronin do not lose Honor for using Low Skills.

2) Unless you belong to some group, you are your own lord, and if the heat gets too much, you can just choose to move.

3) You are extremely unlikely to be invited to court, which means that the frivolousness of court life is spared for you.

4) If someone wants to make use of your Skills and assets, they need to pay you for it.

Some good points:

1) Ronin do not lose Honor for using Low Skills.

2) Unless you belong to some group, you are your own lord, and if the heat gets too much, you can just choose to move.

3) You are extremely unlikely to be invited to court, which means that the frivolousness of court life is spared for you.

4) If someone wants to make use of your Skills and assets, they need to pay you for it.

A few notes to put

1) Where the heck did you read that? Using Low skills is dishonorable for anyone. Even if using Low skills resulted in honor loss for samurai only (it results in honor loss for everyone), ronin are still samurai; they are members of the samurai caste, after all.

2) Remember that moving across borders requires traveling papers, and that any magistrate/border control has right to stop you and ask whatever questions they like.

3) If Court life is something your players hate, all the better, though you should stress the benefits to attending court, such as accumulating allies and favors and meeting people you'd not normally get to (including people who can provide you with travel papers).

4) This is the Golden Rule of most ronin: he who has the gold makes the rules. But remember, money is a vulgar thing in Rokugan, especially to samurai. Even ronin should retain some sense of dignity when talking about it, like it were a necessary evil. This is especially important when ronin are talking to fellow samurai , who look down upon them enough as is. Be sure to remind your ronin players not to overstep their boundaries or get too openly grubby when it comes to cash and payments; you could very well insult an otherwise happy employer. A polite, tactful ronin is more likely to be looked upon fondly by his betters...especially if he has just as much skill as the rude, crude ronin right next to him. Also, bathing is a good idea. Always a good idea.

Secrets of the Empire has some great info on how ronin are seen and treated in the Empire; during the time Toturi's around, they're basically guaranteed a job somewhere as long as they can behave themselves (ironically, it might be easier to find employment in the Imperial Legions or as a magistrate during the Toturi era than it would finding normal ronin employment). Also, plenty of ronin can find a job in villages that are too small to warrant a real samurai family living there; the commoners pay them in food and shelter and supplies, and are sure to tally the costs of everything up and then send it to their local lords on tax day as a deduction (seriously, look it up).

Some good points:

1) Ronin do not lose Honor for using Low Skills.

2) Unless you belong to some group, you are your own lord, and if the heat gets too much, you can just choose to move.

3) You are extremely unlikely to be invited to court, which means that the frivolousness of court life is spared for you.

4) If someone wants to make use of your Skills and assets, they need to pay you for it.

A few notes to put

1) Where the heck did you read that? Using Low skills is dishonorable for anyone. Even if using Low skills resulted in honor loss for samurai only (it results in honor loss for everyone), ronin are still samurai; they are members of the samurai caste, after all.

2) Remember that moving across borders requires traveling papers, and that any magistrate/border control has right to stop you and ask whatever questions they like.

3) If Court life is something your players hate, all the better, though you should stress the benefits to attending court, such as accumulating allies and favors and meeting people you'd not normally get to (including people who can provide you with travel papers).

4) This is the Golden Rule of most ronin: he who has the gold makes the rules. But remember, money is a vulgar thing in Rokugan, especially to samurai. Even ronin should retain some sense of dignity when talking about it, like it were a necessary evil. This is especially important when ronin are talking to fellow samurai , who look down upon them enough as is. Be sure to remind your ronin players not to overstep their boundaries or get too openly grubby when it comes to cash and payments; you could very well insult an otherwise happy employer. A polite, tactful ronin is more likely to be looked upon fondly by his betters...especially if he has just as much skill as the rude, crude ronin right next to him. Also, bathing is a good idea. Always a good idea.

Secrets of the Empire has some great info on how ronin are seen and treated in the Empire; during the time Toturi's around, they're basically guaranteed a job somewhere as long as they can behave themselves (ironically, it might be easier to find employment in the Imperial Legions or as a magistrate during the Toturi era than it would finding normal ronin employment). Also, plenty of ronin can find a job in villages that are too small to warrant a real samurai family living there; the commoners pay them in food and shelter and supplies, and are sure to tally the costs of everything up and then send it to their local lords on tax day as a deduction (seriously, look it up).

Ronin are Samurai, but most of them care little for many of things the Clan samurai engage in. They know they are looked down by them, and unless they are the honorable sort, they wouldn't care about using Low Skills, though it is true that they won't use it in sight of Clan Samurai. Even those ronin who are honorable, will realize that sometimes using Low Skills is important, and will be more likely to do so than most Clan Samurai.

Moving across borders requires traveling papers, but as a ronin you might not use the high roads, and travel the back roads, those who are less patrolled. And if you keep a low profile, you mgiht be able to fly under the radar of the Clan where you travel.

Does court life has benefits? Sure. but as a ronin you are not very likely to be invited to court.

One of the reasons Ronin are looked down upon is because they have no choice but to deal with money, whereas a Clan Samurai has a lord who will incur some of their expenses, especially when they live in their Daimyo's territory. You don't have that privilege as a ronin, and so you must deal with money. Of course, you still need to be careful with it, but it is known that ronin deal with money.

Ronin are Samurai, but most of them care little for many of things the Clan samurai engage in. They know they are looked down by them, and unless they are the honorable sort, they wouldn't care about using Low Skills, though it is true that they won't use it in sight of Clan Samurai. Even those ronin who are honorable, will realize that sometimes using Low Skills is important, and will be more likely to do so than most Clan Samurai.

I disagree with that. A Samurai is a Samurai, it may have a Clan or not, but it's still a Samurai. It doesn't matter if it's a Ronin or not, a Low Skill is a Low Skill, so the Samurai will lose honor, unless it's used honorably. The bushido is not altered based on being a Ronin or not, it's the same code to every Samurai. So, no, a Ronin will lose honor by using a Low Skill.

Ronin are Samurai, but most of them care little for many of things the Clan samurai engage in. They know they are looked down by them, and unless they are the honorable sort, they wouldn't care about using Low Skills, though it is true that they won't use it in sight of Clan Samurai. Even those ronin who are honorable, will realize that sometimes using Low Skills is important, and will be more likely to do so than most Clan Samurai.

I disagree with that. A Samurai is a Samurai, it may have a Clan or not, but it's still a Samurai. It doesn't matter if it's a Ronin or not, a Low Skill is a Low Skill, so the Samurai will lose honor, unless it's used honorably. The bushido is not altered based on being a Ronin or not, it's the same code to every Samurai. So, no, a Ronin will lose honor by using a Low Skill.

Uhn,,, But isn't the Bushido that bans Low Skills but a random tradition. And while Ronin are susceptible to the former, they are largely below/beyond the latter.

snip

Uhn,,, But isn't the Bushido that bans Low Skills but a random tradition. And while Ronin are susceptible to the former, they are largely below/beyond the latter.

True, I was unclear in my point. I didn't want to say that the Bushido bans Low Skills, but that the honor is part of the Bushido. Also, a Ronin is a Samurai and usually follows the Bushido, so he still has this honor debates. Otherwise, some Clans, let's say Scorpion as an example, would simply say: "By tradition, we know we'll use Low Skills, but who cares? Because we said so." No, they know that their actions has consequences on their honor and they accept that. It's the same for Ronins. They could falsify a document to pass frontier, it's still wrong. Of course, at some point, their honor is soo low that they will not lose honor for that, but it's not because "Ronin do not lose Honor for using Low Skills.", but because their honor is too low for that.

Plus, being susceptible to the farmer doesn't mean it's acceptable for them to use Low Skills. Sorry but I just cannot see a high Honored Ronin using Low Skills without any Honor loss. It's just the same for every Samurai, even if they are the lower tier of the Samurai Caste.

Scorpion as an example, would simply say: "By tradition, we know we'll use Low Skills, but who cares? Because we said so."

There is a whole Scorpion School Technique (Shosuro Infiltrator Rank 1) that is pretty much this.

Anyway, what I wanted to say is that Ronin are kinda-sorta "out of the loop" when it comes to tradition and social convictions and as such their Honor might go closer to Bushido alone unlike Clan Samurai whose Honor is also determined by tradition and social convictions (maybe even moreso than by the Bushido).

Also, I don't think that a high-honor Ronin is possible because their sheer existence is a continuous violation of Duty (and maybe Honesty) so at the very best they can settle at some average number by overdoing the other virtues.

True, they do lose Honor, but they care less about it, since they sometimes have to resort to using those skills to survive. Same as they have to resort to using Merchant skills, even though Samurai are not supposed to use them.

True, they do lose Honor, but they care less about it, since they sometimes have to resort to using those skills to survive. Same as they have to resort to using Merchant skills, even though Samurai are not supposed to use them.

Everybody poops, but we don't always talk about it.

A Crane talking about pooping ...

In the end, the rulebook says honor is an internal value, meaning that using a low skill if you have a high honor rank will result in honor loss. You can mitigate it a bit with why you do it, but you'll always face the loss if you have a high honor rank. Hence why there is little ronin with high honor ranks, as working for food tend to prevent you from having too much principles.

Yeah. It's really easy cutting corners as a Samurai in general, and Ronin are often so poor that they are forced to cut corners. They lose honour for low skills much like anyone else, with the caveat that they can probably reduce the honour losses for handling money in the same vein that Yasuki can.

Anything else probably should be an honour loss as usual - the loss gets reduced or waived at low honour ranks anyway, so if the GM allows them to gain back some for occasional good deeds they can maintain an honour rank between 1 and 3....and anything above that does, indeed, take hard work for a Ronin. That's the way it should be.

The starvation angle is drastically overplayed though, and once a Ronin hits IR 2-3, he shouldn't suffer existential need anymore - he can butcher even most Clan Samurai like cattle, and feeding them is often easier than picking a fight with them. Starvation is for the noobs - and the only reason why most Ronin are starving Ronin is because those guys are plentiful and often don't make it through their first year as Ronin. Those who survive (like many PCs) eventually figure out how to make a living.

Thank you everyone.