Greetings
L5R
Open Beta testers!
To start off, the development team would like to thank you for your enthusiasm, energy, and excellent contributions over the course of the Open Beta! We’ve been really impressed by your response and the excellent conversations you’ve fostered.
This will be the final content update and survey of the Open Beta. After we receive the information here, we will be stepping back, assessing all of the feedback we have received, and weaving together the final version of the manuscript with all of the changes fully integrated. We have been making positive iterative changes throughout the Open Beta, and much of our time will be spent applying these changes and making sure that they are implemented across the board, with all of their ramifications fully considered. Some parts of the final manuscript might differ quite a bit from the current implementation as we make updates and revisions based on the iterative changes, but the concepts we have settled on with your help over the course of the Open Beta will be preserved.
Character Advancement
Playtesters have expressed a desire for more freeform character advancement, specifically with regards to the feeling that experience spent outside of curriculum is “wasted.” We do want players to be encouraged to invest in their curriculum, but consistent feedback is that receiving nothing for one’s other investments is frustrating. To address this, we will be making the following changes to character advancement:
- Any purchase outside of your current school rank now contributes half of its experience value to your current school rank.
- Rings are no longer included in school curriculums.
- Experience to complete school ranks is going to be increased significantly.
- Recommended experience rewards will be dropped to one per hour of play, with two per hour and/or discretionary bonuses for milestones offered as an option for GMs.
Ninjō/Giri
The development team sat down several weeks ago and asked: what do we want Ninjō and Giri to accomplish, and is it doing those things? Here’s what we came up with:
- Encourage players to think about the character motives fundamental to samurai drama.
- Give players a feeling of agency in the resolution of their characters’ inner turmoil.
- Give the GM a way to engage the specific samurai drama stories the players want to tell.
We feel that objectives 1 and 3 are being met by the current system. However, we agree with player comments that objective 2 is not being satisfied: the current system offers guidance and light mechanical implications of pursuing/ignoring one’s duty or desires, but generally leaves it in the hands of the GM to dangle plot hooks before the players.
As such, the following is our concept for Ninjō and Giri moving forward:
“Once per game session, a player may call for a
Pivotal Scene
involving their character to occur. The player gives a brief overview of a scene they want to roleplay related to their Ninjō, Giri, or the friction between the two. This should be a dynamic moment for the character, in which their faith in Bushidō is tested (usually ninjō) or their reputation is cast into question (usually giri). In their overview, the player should focus on the goals they wish to accomplish and how they relate to their duty or desires, as well as what is standing in the way of them accomplishing those goals. This scene could even occur out of sequence, and may be presented as a flashback (especially if one or more of the characters in question are deceased or otherwise unable to participate).
Next, the GM offers comments, suggested revisions, and guidance on situating this scene in the story—as well as the obstacle being described—along with the amount of honor, glory, or both that the player must stake on the outcome of the scene (see
Staking
Honor
,
Glory
,
and Status
). If the player wishes to proceed with the scene, they stake the honor or glory and their character must spend one Void point.
The scene proceeds as a normal scene, with the GM improvising the action while drawing on previously established facts where possible to help build the scene. If the scene does not involve all of the PCs (or other NPCs who the uninvolved players can temporarily portray), the GM should consider keeping its duration to five minutes or less.
At the end of the scene, the player and GM must assess its consequences, as well as whether the character overcame or worked around the obstacles to their goal, or perhaps changed goals altogether. If the character’s faith in Bushidō is upheld, they do not lose any staked honor, and might even receive an honor award of the GM’s determination. If the character’s reputation is undamaged, they do not lose any staked glory, and might even receive a glory award if they did something worthy, at the GM’s determination. It should be very rare for a pivotal scene to occur without some change in a character’s honor, glory, or both—even a seemingly neutral outcome could gnaw at a character’s faith in the code by which they live their life or undermine their efficacy as a samurai in the eyes of others.
As with all matters, the GM is the final arbiter over whether the scene is appropriate or not—but the GM should offer an alternative that deals with the same Ninjō or Giri if they truly think a suggestion won’t work as proposed. In the same vein, the GM should not hesitate to ask the player to furnish additional details if they get stuck in framing or resolving the scene, or even turn to the other players table and ask for suggestions.”
Now that you’ve read over these options, head over to the survey
here
and give us your feedback on these ideas, as well as a number of other questions as we wrap up the Open Beta. Feel free to continue sending us your feedback for the next few weeks, and discussing this Beta on the forums.
We sincerely appreciate all of the passion you have displayed for
Legend of the Five Rings
roleplaying, and all the time you have put into testing, analyzing, and commenting on the Open Beta. Your feedback has been very important to the development of the game, and will continue to influence it as we develop the final manuscript!