As above, Warning mine was in the spam folder.

I liked the term "Unmasked" to replace Outbreak. That sounds much better to me, as I think we can all conceptualize the mask a character wears as a Samurai and what it means to let that come off.

28 minutes ago, shosuko said:

I liked the term "Unmasked" to replace Outbreak. That sounds much better to me, as I think we can all conceptualize the mask a character wears as a Samurai and what it means to let that come off.

Yeah, that's the one I voted for. Sounds much less like our samurai suddenly shrieking REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ----ING NORMIES!!!!!!! after failing to cook rice. Hopefully there are new examples of Unmaskings that make good sense.

My shower thoughts:

Change the current thing called "Composure" to "Poise" as in "your character has a Poise rating"

Change the current thing called "Outburst" to "Lose Composure"

so now:

"When you gain enough Strife to exceed your Poise your character Loses Composure"

9 hours ago, Richardbuxton said:

My shower thoughts:

Change the current thing called "Composure" to "Poise" as in "your character has a Poise rating"

Change the current thing called "Outburst" to "Lose Composure"

so now:

"When you gain enough Strife to exceed your Poise your character Loses Composure"

I think the biggest problem with the Outburst system is branding.

As it works right now mechanically, there isn't much incentive to avoid it. Go ahead and take Strife and have an Outburst! Most Outbursts are actually advantageous in some way. Compromise and Inappropriate Remark let you ignore a disadvantage for a few Honor / Glory. Expose Weakness helps you accomplish your goals by reducing the TN of Scheme checks by 1. Become Enraged lets you dodge a physical disadvantage, imagine that Becoming Enraged could let you ignore being Blind... That's pretty useful.

These are actually pretty good side-effects and the costs are minimal... You aren't locked into any one Outburst either, so you can choose Become Enraged during a combat scene, or Compromise or Inappropriate Remark during a social scene and dodge your biggest weaknesses without must cost. Likewise you can use Expose Weakness if you need to succeed at a Scheme check when you're not likely to get multiple successes and Shut Down is a great exit for if you're caught by a group of Scorpion Courtiers and just want out...

Maybe the problem is branding - people don't realize these aren't actually that bad - or maybe the problem is people expect it to be bad, or even want it to be bad...

For a more punishing system I was thinking of leaving Composure as Composure but changing Outbust to "Losing Face." I would bring the mechanics for Composure and Losing Face to be more in line with Wounds and Crits. For a few opportunities a character might try to force an opponent into Losing Face, or as Strife builds a character might naturally Lose Face. When a character would Lose Face they make a roll to resist it. For Crits we resist with Stance + Fitness, so for losing face we can easily use Stance + Courtesy. If you succeed you Safe Face and don't actually outburst, but if your Composure is full you are likely to face this check every turn... To help with the check to Lose Face a player can Stake a certain amount of Honor and Glory to persevere, as long as they don't Lose Face this scene they won't lose that Staked Honor / Glory, but if they do then they lose the Staked points too.

The penalty for Losing Face would be a bit more severe, as this is a more penalizing system akin to crits. It adds a lot more numbers and die rolls... and puts a lore more risk on the table... but maybe this is actually what people want?

11 hours ago, shosuko said:

I think the biggest problem with the Outburst system is branding.

[snip]

For a more punishing system I was thinking of leaving Composure as Composure but changing Outbust to "Losing Face." I would bring the mechanics for Composure and Losing Face to be more in line with Wounds and Crits. For a few opportunities a character might try to force an opponent into Losing Face, or as Strife builds a character might naturally Lose Face. When a character would Lose Face they make a roll to resist it. For Crits we resist with Stance + Fitness, so for losing face we can easily use Stance + Courtesy. If you succeed you Safe Face and don't actually outburst, but if your Composure is full you are likely to face this check every turn... To help with the check to Lose Face a player can Stake a certain amount of Honor and Glory to persevere, as long as they don't Lose Face this scene they won't lose that Staked Honor / Glory, but if they do then they lose the Staked points too.

Yeah it's kinda named weird. They just don't seem that bad, and only one really seems like an "outburst". But I guess they all are, given the particular social expectations of Rokugan? So like it's an outburst in context.

Also that system is really interesting. To riff on it, since you can get lasting wounds from combat--and because the social sphere is no less important than the military one--it totally makes sense that you could get "wounds" from particularly bad social interactions that might result in appropriate disads (scorn, whispers of cruelty, anxieties, sworn enemies, etc). Under what conditions.... dunno exactly.

(I've got the seed of an idea--maybe your strife isn't capped... maybe each time you accumulate enough strife to exceed a multiple of of your Composure, you have an Outburst, and each Outburst after the first risks a "wound"... needs work. Can't just be slapped on the current system).

Maybe "severity" correlates with the highest status/glory present... with some multiplier based on your relationship (like it wouldn't be so bad if the highest status person is a neutral party; it could be much worse if the highest status person is an opponent, or your own superior whom you've embarrassed).

Don't know if I'm 100% on board with a whole extra roll every turn... might just add extra time. Esp. when succeeding might require taking more strife (maybe you can't keep strife dice when trying to Save Face? Or maybe that's just reason to choose Water stance or Void stance?)

21 hours ago, shosuko said:

As it works right now mechanically, there isn't much incentive to avoid it. Go ahead and take Strife and have an Outburst! Most Outbursts are actually advantageous in some way

Except in duels. If a duel participant suffers and outburst during a duel, the other opponent immediately makes a Finishing Blow, which if hits, inflicts an immediate critical strike equal to double the deadliness of the weapon. This urges strife management in duels.

On the other hand, if you manage to time triggering the Finishing Blow under circumstances that make it unlikable to land (like when being Centered, or during the protection of Striking as Air)...

22 hours ago, shosuko said:

I think the biggest problem with the Outburst system is branding.

As it works right now mechanically, there isn't much incentive to avoid it. Go ahead and take Strife and have an Outburst! Most Outbursts are actually advantageous in some way. Compromise and Inappropriate Remark let you ignore a disadvantage for a few Honor / Glory. Expose Weakness helps you accomplish your goals by reducing the TN of Scheme checks by 1. Become Enraged lets you dodge a physical disadvantage, imagine that Becoming Enraged could let you ignore being Blind... That's pretty useful.

I completely agree and it definitely needs better branding. I think this Outburst mechanic is why I like the system so much. The idea of a samurai loosing their cool and making a fau pas in a social setting, but it offering benefits, is fantastic. Same goes for combat when the adrenaline kicks in and their rigid training goes out the window so some limiting factor is ignored.

Rebrand and tweak the system so that players want them to happen for the benefits. Then give the GM the tools to handle the Honour and Glory costs. The punishment should be later on and should have gravity in the story.

2 hours ago, Daigotsu Kai'Sen said:

Except in duels. If a duel participant suffers and outburst during a duel, the other opponent immediately makes a Finishing Blow, which if hits, inflicts an immediate critical strike equal to double the deadliness of the weapon. This urges strife management in duels.

True - Duels definitely put Strife Management in the forefront - but that is basically what Duels are in this game (at this point). They are a game of making your opponent blow their composure giving you an easy opening compared to simply drawing and cutting. I think its very thematic.

23 minutes ago, WHW said:

On the other hand, if you manage to time triggering the Finishing Blow under circumstances that make it unlikable to land (like when being Centered, or during the protection of Striking as Air)...

Or timing it so that they blow their composure while rolling for their Finishing Blow allowing you to deliver a Finishing Blow interrupting theirs.