Are people forgetting that Kachiko was just as happy to see her too?
Yes, she's a Scorpion, but she's also a person.

1 minute ago, Bayushi Tsubaki said:

Are people forgetting that Kachiko was just as happy to see her too?
Yes, she's a Scorpion, but she's also a person.

How much of that is an act? Especially when she transitions into trying to ferret out what she might've learned in the few moments she's been there outside of Kachiko's monitoring, and trying to figure out if she suspects foul play...

2 minutes ago, kpsmith said:

Spears, or correctly: yari.

You actually only see the end of the weapon in three pieces of art - Shiryo no Hoturi, the Experienced2CW, and Hoturi Sensei. In the sensei it's a yari, in the other two it's a naginata. There might be full versions of the earlier card arts that aren't cut off by the card frame, so it might be a yari in those.

Oddly enough, he never got a weapon skill for it in the RPG.

I'll also say as much as I loved old Hoturi, in any world where Kakita Toshimoko is alive, Hoturi is not the best duelist in Rokugan.

(It could be argued he wasn't even as good as Dairya, in addition to Toshimoko).

Hoturi was good, but he wasn't some golden god.

The Grey Crane is the best Crane.

I checked the art and yes, Hoturi positively wielded two polearms and a spear in art. Interesting!

5 minutes ago, williamobrien said:

You actually only see the end of the weapon in three pieces of art - Shiryo no Hoturi, the Experienced2CW, and Hoturi Sensei. In the sensei it's a yari, in the other two it's a naginata. There might be full versions of the earlier card arts that aren't cut off by the card frame, so it might be a yari in those.

Oddly enough, he never got a weapon skill for it in the RPG.

Yeah, that's why I went with "polearms", since sometimes you can't tell which one it actually is.

I hope Kakita Toshimoko will still be called The Grey Crane

1 hour ago, SirEuain said:

I'd say it's ambiguous. In terms of grammar, if it were Hotaru's husband, the thought should be "her own" instead of "her," just for clarity, but the pronoun should nominally reflect back to the last female referenced, which is as you said the "she" at the start of her sentence, Hotaru. In terms of general writing, however, either is likely.

From the context, we don't know of any husband for Hotaru as we do Kachiko, and it's an awkward skip to have Hotaru think of her husband without his name. While the Crane have more coastline than Scorpion's none, Shoju's significant political clout and espionage background does suit him well to such an appointment or investigation. In contrast, the only Crane that comes to mind as an investigator of note is Daidoji Uji, though that'd probably make Crane fans squee some. Hotaru could also be hesitating because her own husband is in danger, or because she's concerned for Kachiko's feelings about Shoju being in danger.

I suppose I'm wanting it to be Shoju

I asked Dave Laderoute on Facebook and he confirmed that it is indeed Hotaru's husband.

*shakes his head at all those unskilled rolls Hoturi was making*

Truly a man who caused his own problems.

11 minutes ago, williamobrien said:

You actually only see the end of the weapon in three pieces of art - Shiryo no Hoturi, the Experienced2CW, and Hoturi Sensei. In the sensei it's a yari, in the other two it's a naginata. There might be full versions of the earlier card arts that aren't cut off by the card frame, so it might be a yari in those.

Oddly enough, he never got a weapon skill for it in the RPG.

Honestly, RPG should just do a generic skill for all weapons with maybe of an option for specialization within that single combat skill. Always made me laugh when I read that Matsu were supposed to show mastery of 20 different weapons just to complete their gempukku. Ain't got points for that! Especially if 9 out of 10 times you would wield your "best" favorite weapon anyway, so these points were dead.

9 minutes ago, WHW said:

Honestly, RPG should just do a generic skill for all weapons with maybe of an option for specialization within that single combat skill. Always made me laugh when I read that Matsu were supposed to show mastery of 20 different weapons just to complete their gempukku. Ain't got points for that! Especially if 9 out of 10 times you would wield your "best" favorite weapon anyway, so these points were dead.

The Crab Hands Advantage was quite cheap for Bushi...

22 minutes ago, Waywardpaladin said:

24 minutes ago, Bayushi Tsubaki said:

Are people forgetting that Kachiko was just as happy to see her too?
Yes, she's a Scorpion, but she's also a person.

How much of that is an act? Especially when she transitions into trying to ferret out what she might've learned in the few moments she's been there outside of Kachiko's monitoring, and trying to figure out if she suspects foul play...

This. Especially since its specifically mentioned how every motion, dress, and word is particularly chosen

6 minutes ago, WHW said:

Honestly, RPG should just do a generic skill for all weapons with maybe of an option for specialization within that single combat skill. Always made me laugh when I read that Matsu were supposed to show mastery of 20 different weapons just to complete their gempukku. Ain't got points for that! Especially if 9 out of 10 times you would wield your "best" favorite weapon anyway, so these points were dead.

I always figured most of those weapons were under the same weapon group; you know, like how Katanas, Wakizashis, and No-Dachi are all under Kenjutsu. Besides, much of it was just bravado the Matsu put on the scare the hell out of everyone else, as later editions admitted. The Ikoma spread stories of entire classes committing seppuku at their gempukku (hey, that rhymes!) because they don't measure up to the Matsu's standards. In truth, the Matsu are demanding, but not unrealistically so. Ironically, this makes them very similar to the Kakika in many respects (don't tell them that).

16 minutes ago, Tetsuro said:

I'll also say as much as I loved old Hoturi, in any world where Kakita Toshimoko is alive, Hoturi is not the best duelist in Rokugan.

(It could be argued he wasn't even as good as Dairya, in addition to Toshimoko).

Hoturi was good, but he wasn't some golden god.

This, by the way, is something I wish FFG went with more heavily, even if I know it's a lost cause. I don't like the idea that the Clan Champions are the best at whatever it is their clan does. I was disappointed in the story for having Hotaru be the great warrior (although the fact that she was wounded by a ronin might be a sign that she's not really that good, and I can be pleased if they keep it up.) Seriously, the Crane champion, or even the daughter of the champion and heir-apparent, has many other demands on her time and can't put in the time to become the greatest duelist in Rokugan. They probably have to go through the training - Rokugan's big on tradition - and shouldn't be useless, but the clan can field specialists. The champion shouldn't be the best duelist in the clan.

Honestly, I was kind of annoyed that she was out, disguising herself as a soldier, and getting involved in a fight at all. Speaks of a high disregard for her position and her clan. It does, on the other hand, play well with the infatuated, naive lover of Kachiko. What I see so far is someone who should be ridiculously easy to manipulate, which is a very poor person to be leading the Crane at a time they're already struggling in the courts. Barring a sudden turnaround (or an as-yet unrevealed Crane manipulator who acts as the real power behind the throne) I'd say the Crane are in for some pretty bad times.

I did enjoy Kachiko's introduction. She's probably going to be a mayor player in the story this time too and is a character with a big legacy that needs to be introduced to the new players. Introducing her through a character who is in love with her gives them room to embellish her description, make her impressive, and, to me, it felt adequate, even if it Hotaru was fawning a bit to much.

Favorite part by far when she is looking at the garden and the conversation with her sister. Good way to shove the exposition, showed a few Crane values along the way and gave us a view at the champion's thoughts. Honestly that's the were I felt more impressed by her character, quite thoughtful, she even partially understood the ronin's point (by the way, I feel that was a good way to present some of the moral dissonances Rokugan presents) and didn't limit her vision to her Clans problems.

I did like the article, but I think it suffers from being the first one and having to introduce too many elements.

2 minutes ago, JRosen9 said:

This. Especially since its specifically mentioned how every motion, dress, and word is particularly chosen

Oh, but clearly she lets her guard down around Hotaru, and just allows herself to be herself! I mean, what possible reason could Kachiko have for wanting to manipulate the inexperienced Crane Clan Champion, whose father may possibly have been almost certainly was killed by Kachiko's brother in a way that will definitely profit the Scorpion?

2 minutes ago, agarrett said:

Honestly, I was kind of annoyed that she was out, disguising herself as a soldier, and getting involved in a fight at all. Speaks of a high disregard for her position and her clan. It does, on the other hand, play well with the infatuated, naive lover of Kachiko. What I see so far is someone who should be ridiculously easy to manipulate, which is a very poor person to be leading the Crane at a time they're already struggling in the courts. Barring a sudden turnaround (or an as-yet unrevealed Crane manipulator who acts as the real power behind the throne) I'd say the Crane are in for some pretty bad times.

So she's just like Doji Hoturi, then? He was pretty much a disaster for all of those reasons. He was really good at fighting, not the best at decision making. Didn't make him a bad character, just like it doesn't rule out Hotaru becoming a good character.

Hotaru being flawed is good for her character. We will see how things go and how she evolves as a character.

2 minutes ago, agarrett said:

Honestly, I was kind of annoyed that she was out, disguising herself as a soldier, and getting involved in a fight at all. Speaks of a high disregard for her position and her clan. It does, on the other hand, play well with the infatuated, naive lover of Kachiko. What I see so far is someone who should be ridiculously easy to manipulate, which is a very poor person to be leading the Crane at a time they're already struggling in the courts. Barring a sudden turnaround (or an as-yet unrevealed Crane manipulator who acts as the real power behind the throne) I'd say the Crane are in for some pretty bad times.

I understand where they are trying to go with Hotaru. She is a young naive Hime-kishi.

I'm also going to ask if it had been Hoturi moving to fight against the Ronin would you have the same problems or is it just because Hotaru did it?

Dressing up like a soldier to go galavanting around fighting bandits without a care in the world is pretty much exactly what young Hoturi would have enjoyed doing.

Having flawed characters is a good thing because it humanizes them and also, you know, gives them room to grow and have these things called arcs.

Having some one come minted out of the factory perfect not only makes them an unrelatable weirdo, but it doesn't leave any room for that character to grow unless they are going to fall from grace.

Plus I can buy her story - she wants to enter the city unnoticed to take care of some business. Bandits attack her people, ones she is responsible for, and she felt compelled to do her duty protect her people. We can argue she is too important to risk fighting bandits and having two changes in leadership so close together is really bad for a group if she dies, but honestly I can't imagine a champion sulking in the back while others bleed for you.

1 minute ago, Shu2jack said:

We can argue she is too important to risk fighting bandits and having two changes in leadership so close together is really bad for a group if she dies, but honestly I can't imagine a non-Scorpion champion sulking in the back while others bleed for you.

Fixed that for you.

2 minutes ago, Tetsuro said:

Dressing up like a soldier to go galavanting around fighting bandits without a care in the world is pretty much exactly what young Hoturi would have enjoyed doing.

Having flawed characters is a good thing because it humanizes them and also, you know, gives them room to grow and have these things called arcs.

Having some one come minted out of the factory perfect not only makes them an unrelatable weirdo, but it doesn't leave any room for that character to grow unless they are going to fall from grace.

I wouldn't expect her to be perfect (sorry, Crane), but having at least a hint of some quality that would in any way make her even a decent Clan Champion would have been nice. Yes, you want to give characters room to grow, but you also need to give them some sort of foundation from which to grow.

I mean, maybe that's what they were going for with her sympathy towards the ronin's stance, but that's not a lot to work with, honestly. Maybe instead of a hero, she'll grow into a perfection-obsessed, emotion-driven villainess? That may be an interesting turn for the story...

Just now, Shiba Gunichi said:

Fixed that for you.

She also obviously has issues with self worth, like Hoturi did, which probably means she could think of worse things to happen to the Crane than for her to die and Kuwannan to take over, so no big loss if she gets killed fighting a bandit.