Hi there. Sadly I don't think I'll be able to give this the full beta treatment, but I'll post what comes to mind as I look over the rules.

First off, on pages 19 and 20, the order of examples is not consistent. Sometimes you have Artisan, Scholar, Social, Martial, and Trade. Sometimes Social and Martial are reversed. It would look nicer if the order were consistent throughout. I also would like to see them grouped by skills, but I bet that is done in the skills section.

On the honor table on page 23, the pinnacle for 100 is really thin. I recall in the AEG version, having a 10.0 Honor was nigh-impossible. Having 9.x was doable, but 10.0 was just this little brief spot you could visit before something silly knocked you off your perch. I imagine it'll be the same thing here with 100. Perhaps the top tier could be 90-100 instead of 100. I suppose the same could apply to Glory.

Anyway, interesting read so far. I especially like the Strife mechanic. Probably the most L5R mechanic I've ever read.

On page 24: "If the character has no lord to serve as a result of this, their giri becomes finding a new lord to serve."

This would mean that a ronin cannot have a goal outside of stop being a ronin. It seems this sentence is unnecessary.

The difference between Honor 10.0 in previous editions and Honor 100 in this one is that in previous editions you could lose Honor by acting brash or, say, failing a Willpower or even Awareness based roll and doing something midly stupid that would warrant an Honor loss.

In this edition, the GM doesn't make you lose Honor. The GM grants you Honor in multiple cases. And you can forfeit your Honor to do dishonorable things. If you're about to do something that would incur a loss of Honor, the GM will warn you about the Honor loss and you can rewind and not do it. In this edition, you don't get tricked into Honor losses by a mischevious GM. You may be tricked into dishonorable behavior by, say, a Scorpion courtier that leaves you in a situation where the only things you want to do are things that will cost you honor. But every Honor loss will still be a conscious decision on the part of the player.

It's a huge difference, and it makes Honor 100 a proper tier of its own. It means being a Bushido paragon and never, ever compromising. And you can be that in this edition.

On 10/7/2017 at 4:37 PM, Kuildeous said:

On page 24: "If the character has no lord to serve as a result of this, their giri becomes finding a new lord to serve."

This would mean that a ronin cannot have a goal outside of stop being a ronin. It seems this sentence is unnecessary.

I don't think this is unnecessary. Remember, a characters Giri is how they serve their lord. A Ronin has no lord, so it fits that they would have no Giri other than, Find a new Lord. Ninjo is thier human desires, and they should be at odds with their Giri. Perhaps the Ronins Ninjo is " create a secure future with your allies, free from the constraints of clan." This would fundamentally oppose their Giri of " Find a new Lord to Serve."

His giri is what he should do, his Ninjo is what he wants to do, and they obviously conflict. Beyond that, roleplay your goals. The only thing you are missing out on are the mechanical effects of gaining glory when you complete your Giri, which also makes sense, since you are not serving a lord, thus cannot gain glory from your lord for completing your duty as you have no duty to a lord.