a Topaz Championship adventure would be a great way to test this game.

1. Its tradition.

2. It is set-up to be run by characters fresh out of character creation.

3. It test most if not all aspects of the system.

4. It provides a good test of the skill system due to the progressive TNs needed in the events.

5. Provides a good reason for the xp boost in the next adventure.

6. Makes having a multi-clan group make sense.

7. Provides a place for FFG to test new school mechanics on the NPCs.

^ This!

We might get a new adventure in the 'release' version of the game (that's what they did in the star wars ones), but at least until then, it's not impossible to generate one ourselves.

The Topaz Championship

Starting XP:

New Samurai (+0 XP)

Arrival in Tsuma

Adding in a couple of....what? Sentiment/Courtesy/Skulduggery encounters might work. Not really needed per se as you've got plenty later in the event.

Day One

Sumai

• Martial Arts (Unarmed) only using the 'punch' stat
• No armour permitted
• Duel - Sparring Bout format
• Obviously there currently aren't any techniques using a snaring weapon. Adding a specific 'pin' or 'grapple' action might work, or some opportunity to force your opponent to move (does Rokugani Sumai work the same as contemporary Sumo?)

Heraldry

• An increasing challenge set.
• Identifying Heraldry is Culture (it's namechecked as such).
• Identifying a Mon that you already know is most easily going to be an Earth (recall) test
• There is an argument that you should be able to figure out a family or samurai mon based on its similarity to relatives, etc., which would be Theorise (fire) or Analyse (air)
• Guessing blindly isn't going to work (void)
• I'd say a either:
  • simple progression of:
    • Great Clan Mon - TN 0 (yes, that means no check. There are only 7 such clans in the entire empire, and their clan Mons are literally the animals they refer to)
    • Great Clan Family - TN 1
    • Minor Clan - TN 2
    • Great Clan Vassals - TN 3
    • Individual Samurai - TN 4
  • That puts recognising a random individual samurai's personal heraldry as TN4. Since the check wants '4 of 5' to pass, expecting a 0XP samurai to pass a TN4 and TN5 check would be ridiculous - a TN3 and TN4 check is still pretty darn hard.
• Or
  • A single Culture check, with bonus successes identifying how far through the event you get
    • No bonus successes (Great Clan only)
    • 1 bonus success (Great Clan Family)
    • 2 bonus successes (Minor Clan)
    • 3 bonus successes (Great Clan Vassals)
    • 4 bonus successes (Individual Samurai)
  • That seems to fit the mechanic of 'don't throw dice for the heck of it but consolidate checks'. Note that this is not a conflict, so there is no issue with Fire Stance.

Athletics

• The course consists of three major obstacles separated by lengthy runs.
• Essentially, stacking up bonus successes is your 'lead'.
• Intervening running sections - Fitness (Earth) to keep up the pace without tiring
• The bridge - Fitness (Air) to keep your balance - fairly easy, maybe TN1.
• The rope - Fitness (Fire) for the leap - a bit harder, TN2.
  • If you fall, Fitness (Water) to avoid the snakes
  • If you're bitten, then the obvious effect is Noxious Poison (presumably taking long enough to apply that you get out of the pit before collapsing!)
• The wall - Fitness, but to be honest pretty much any approach - agility, brute force, whatever, will work.
• The final sprint - Fitness (Fire)

Horsemanship

• Depends on whether contestants will be allowed to use their own Horse; I'd assume Rokugani Ponys will be available but obviously a Unicorn Warhorse is a better steed.
• Again, it's a question of racking up bonus successes to impress.
• "spurring animals to move quickly" Is Survival (Fire)
• Striking the target from horseback is a Martial Arts (Melee), whilst the bow shot is Martial Arts (Ranged), in both cases assisted by the steed.

Law, Etiquette, & Bushido

• Run much like heraldry.
• An escalating set of challenges (or at least three seperate challenges) is much more appropriate here than a single challenge as the questions will alternately draw from Culture, Government and Courtesy
• Obviously Recall (earth) works if you know it, and Theorise (fire) if you can figure it out, but this time a viable third option is Sense (Void) - the law, is, after all, a reflection of the Celestial Order and a legal embodiment of the principles of Bushido (in theory) so the answer a truly noble samurai 'feels is right' should most of the time be the correct one.

Evening Encounters

The Price of Indulgence

• Possibly run as an intrigue. You can choose 'Persuade the Father-in-Law' or 'Discredit the contestant' as an objective.

The “Secret” Duel

• It's a duel. Follow normal rules - unless you want to turn it into an intrigue to try and talk them down. In which case - good luck!

Eight Gifts

• The Game Of Gift-Giving is a perfect time for people who ignored the Aesthetics, Design and Courtesy skills in favour of 'shove a piece of pointy metal through cardboard-cut-out-adversary' to get their comeuppance.
• Anyone who actually took the Ikebana distinction is entitled to (courteously) laugh their backside off.

Flawed Visions

• Investigation to identify the Jester.

Farmers

• It's a pretty simple premise.
• Labour (Earth) is the best skill here.

The Crab

• Honestly you can run a drinking contest as a duel/intrigue - finishing blow/being compromised being 'be sick and pass out' or being forced to withdraw as an outburst.
• Replace Strike actions with Fitness (Earth) or Fitness (Water) checks to tolerate the drink

Angry Mountains

Could be a skirmish or an intrigue depending on the players' approaches.

Poisoned Words

If you want to resolve this, treat the 'poison' as Fire Biter (Dazed & Exhausted conditions against a suitable future opponent)

Forgotten Blade

A simple enough challenge, but there are so many ways you could do this that it's probably just a scene to ad-lib.

Day Two

Weapons

• It's a duel.
• Rather than umpty-ump versions of padded weapons, probably just hand everyone a bokken?
• Make this again a sparring match
• Follow the Duel Scoring rules
• If your opponent is incapacitated, roll a ring die immediately - if you rolled an explosive success you had one of the sabotaged weapons - maybe a hidden razor edge or something similar - and it inflicts damage as if it was a live blade (katana?)

Poetry

• Competetive Compositon checks.

Go

• Competetive Games checks

Courtier

• Clearly an intrigue, either Persuade (The Judges) or Discredit (the opponent) as you see fit!

Hunting

• A survival test - probably survival (water) to find an egg, whilst fitness (earth) for the endurance run. Alternatively, survival (air) to track either a grown fish (or a crane or similar predator) to the nest, and fitness (fire) for a sprint (probably not the right approach for a half-hour run, though).
• A ronin attack (Juriken) when/if one of the PCs is alone. Definitely a skirmish; this isn't an honourable challenge.

Evening Encounters

• Juriken - if you've not already beaten or killed him.

Day Three: The Championship

• One (or more) Iaijutsu duels to first strike.
• Everyone gets a Bokken (or a blunted katana with what's functionally speaking the same stats)
• As a related note - the Bokken should probably have Razor Sharp. I know it isn't but the point of the weapon is a 'training katana'.

Npcs shouldn’t be a problem. Instead of converting them from 4E people can submit them or post their own characters.

7 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Sumai

• Martial Arts (Unarmed) only using the 'punch' stat
• No armour permitted
• Duel - Sparring Bout format
• Obviously there currently aren't any techniques using a snaring weapon. Adding a specific 'pin' or 'grapple' action might work, or some opportunity to force your opponent to move (does Rokugani Sumai work the same as contemporary Sumo?)

Don't limit the fights to just the punch stat line. Kicks and headbuts (using the bite stat line) should be legitimate attacks.

Open Hand Style now requires a Melee [unarmed] with a weapon with snaring to perform and does the pin/grapple effect.

For an introductory adventure to the full game , you'd be completely right- but the pre-written adventure for the Beta needs to cover all of the rules that are found in said Beta.

In this case, the Topaz Championship would completely neglect Mass Battle.

11 hours ago, Ultimatecalibur said:

Don't limit the fights to just the punch stat line. Kicks and headbuts (using the bite stat line) should be legitimate attacks.

Open Hand Style now requires a Melee [unarmed] with a weapon with snaring to perform and does the pin/grapple effect.

I was under the impression it was specifically 'wrestling' but yeah...might be easier to retroactively make it just an 'unarmed bout'.

Not everyone will have open hand style, but theoretically delivering any critical of severity 1+ should quality (dazed/immobilized/prone/etc).

Sumai is not fighting, its based off of Sumo, which means throwing your opponent out of the ring.

5 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

I was under the impression it was specifically 'wrestling' but yeah...might be easier to retroactively make it just an 'unarmed bout'.

Not everyone will have open hand style, but theoretically delivering any critical of severity 1+ should quality (dazed/immobilized/prone/etc).

Yeah its pretty much "wrestling" on the traditional topaz. Unamed fight is actually grapple, despite people thinking on "striking" because it seems cooler.

On 10/27/2017 at 1:09 PM, kpsmith said:

Sumai is not fighting, its based off of Sumo, which means throwing your opponent out of the ring.

Thats a fair point for general observation - are there any opportunity or action effects (ie not using a specific kata or kiho) that allow you to maneuver an opponent? push someone back, etc?

Also - would there be any mileage for 'chess' (Shogi, I guess? or some other equivalent that's a bit more wargame-ish if one exists) - as either a round or an evening's fun (whilst it employs many of the same skills that an army strategist would need, I'm not sure if it'd be official enough to make it part of an event like this).

• you could even make it a miniaturised 'mass battle'
• Work with a simplified mass battle where the player is simultaneously the commander and all the leaders (maybe 2 cohorts?).
• The forces are a stylised equivalent of an Elite Samurai Army
• Any skill other than tactics (command, survival, etc) is substituted for 'games'.

2 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Also - would there be any mileage for 'chess' (Shogi, I guess? or some other equivalent that's a bit more wargame-ish if one exists) - as either a round or an evening's fun (whilst it employs many of the same skills that an army strategist would need, I'm not sure if it'd be official enough to make it part of an event like this).

• you could even make it a miniaturised 'mass battle'
• Work with a simplified mass battle where the player is simultaneously the commander and all the leaders (maybe 2 cohorts?).
• The forces are a stylised equivalent of an Elite Samurai Army
• Any skill other than tactics (command, survival, etc) is substituted for 'games'.

Go is a contest.

4 hours ago, kpsmith said:

Go is a contest.

So is shōgi... and a well matched pair playing shōgi can spend days playing.

13 hours ago, kpsmith said:

Go is a contest.

Noted. I was just wondering if actually getting the mass battle rule in there might work; if the 'topaz championship' is amongst other things an intro to how the rules cover a setting.

I guess Go is not unreasonable. Take the mass combat rules, fettle them a bit, and replace all the skill checks with 'games'.

Capture a Position certainly makes sense, as does draw them in or grind them down (capturing stones, leading your opponent to make foolish deployments), and Seize Victory is a 'win'.

Army Strength and Panic don't really fit, but you don't actually have to break an army to win in the system, just complete X objectives then the Sieze Victory objective - if you declare the two sides to have essentially infinite strength and ignore panic it might work.

Cut Off The Head....is probably an extreme reaction to losing a game of Go, though.

The more I think about it, the more I think "manoeuvre your opponent" as in force them back, draw them in, whatever is something that should be available as the result of a melee check.

13 hours ago, AK_Aramis said:

So is shōgi... and a well matched pair playing shōgi can spend days playing.

Not in the Topaz.