Morning folks,

Last night I downloaded the Beta on Drivethru but it definitely seems to be one of the first versions. Aside from Unmasking was there any MAJOR changes to it?

Looking through it, and playing with Character Creation I finding it an interesting system. I guess my only complainant was no Mantis Clan, which was weird for me because I'm not a Mantis player in general. Guess I'm just use to having them around.

12 minutes ago, General Zod said:

Morning folks,

Last night I downloaded the Beta on Drivethru but it definitely seems to be one of the first versions. Aside from Unmasking was there any MAJOR changes to it?

Looking through it, and playing with Character Creation I finding it an interesting system. I guess my only complainant was no Mantis Clan, which was weird for me because I'm not a Mantis player in general. Guess I'm just use to having them around.

Shoot me a PM. I'm at work now, but I can send you the Mantis Clan update PDF they released during the Beta once I get home. My day just started, so it'll be about 9 hours, but if you PM me, I won't forget.

General Zod, Hida Jitenno is a pimp. You will come to understand this if you haven’t already. However, even with his high level of pimpness, he should still kneel before Zod. Why? Because Zod wins. He always wins.

Zod is really, IMHO, the only legit Superman opponent, because he doesn't need a glowing green rock to try and win.

Edit: Ironic that I would talk down about a glowing green rock, given my Clan affiliation...

Edit 2.0: Have a Beta-strength Mantis Clan.

Also, I wouldn't say I'm a pimp, because I don't charge for my services. All I hope is that you enjoy!

l5r00_beta_preview_1-mantis_clan-good.pdf

I just realized that editing, instead of posting again, wouldn't trigger the notification, so @General Zod come get your Mantis Clan!

I would never ask a Hida to kneel, that takes time away from their glorious purpose, defending the Empire!

Thanks mighty Hida!

I’m wondering with them resetting the timeline if we will see similar events or a pure divergence. They could probably do an entire book on the Clan Wars now if they wanted

There are already some big differences. I think they will borrow from the old, but do something new. There's a thread on the LCG forum called "Fiction Library" that has all the current stories, and "Imperial Census" that catalogues the characters confirmed to exist in setting and their status. Those are great places to start if you want to get into the story. (Though the Census has spoilers as to folks living or dead).

I’m not worried about that, I entered around the time Doji Kurohito committed seppuku, so most personalities right now are newish. Thanks for the info!

Does anyone have the othe beta pdfs? the kakita blade etc? Not sure where did I put those.

14 hours ago, Shosur0 said:

Does anyone have the othe beta pdfs? the kakita blade etc? Not sure where did I put those.

Yep. I can share them when I get home from work in 9-10 hours.

On 9/18/2018 at 1:54 PM, Hida Jitenno said:

Zod is really, IMHO, the only legit Superman opponent, because he doesn't need a glowing green rock to try and win.

Edit: Ironic that I would talk down about a glowing green rock, given my Clan affiliation...

Edit 2.0: Have a Beta-strength Mantis Clan.

Also, I wouldn't say I'm a pimp, because I don't charge for my services. All I hope is that you enjoy!

l5r00_beta_preview_1-mantis_clan-good.pdf

A philanthropic pimp? A...”philanthropimp”, if you will? ? Either way, you’re remarkably helpful.

Just now, Alderaan Crumbs said:

A philanthropic pimp? A...”philanthropimp”, if you will? ? Either way, you’re remarkably helpful.

Haha, thanks! I just do what I can to help. I love this setting and this community, so I'm happy to be a part of it!

You’ve been a BIG help in getting me intetested, so take a bow.

As an aside, I’m glad I’m new to it all so any plot and rules changes aren’t jarring.

It's kinda funny, because the game I just started running, I was really considering running it as a Witcher-style game. But two of my three players are pretty much brand-new to the setting, so I decided to run a Dawn of the Empire era game instead, to introduce them to the setting as the setting itself is being created.

I'm a big *Your Rokugan* advocate, but sometimes I'll admit, I let my knowledge of the *Official Rokugan* run away with my mouth sometimes. So when that happens, I need to remember to take a step back, and just remember it's a game, and people can run it however they want.

I used to write a bunch of fanfiction for the setting, and I'm probably going to get back into that once I get a better grasp of the changes that FFG is making.

I used to love massive tomes of history and plot in my RPGs but over time I have grown to enjoy them less and less. This was a turn-off for me concerning L5R5 initially, but I’ve embraced taking the things I like and turning using them as I see fit. I look at the massive lore of Rokugan as an enormous, grand palette of inspiration to paint L5R5 our way, which is something I can definitely get behind.

29 minutes ago, Alderaan Crumbs said:

I used to love massive tomes of history and plot in my RPGs but over time I have grown to enjoy them less and less. This was a turn-off for me concerning L5R5 initially, but I’ve embraced taking the things I like and turning using them as I see fit. I look at the massive lore of Rokugan as an enormous, grand palette of inspiration to paint L5R5 our way, which is something I can definitely get behind.

Also, given the timeline reboot, there's a lot less in the tomes! The majority of my games have been set after the 'Current Era,' where I've taken the liberty with 50-100 years of timeline to set the 'recent history.' The others I've picked an event, and then typically changed what happened and drop the players into the middle of it.

That's another reason I chose the Dawn of the Empire era, because that's a whole lot less for my players to learn! It's still 3 years before the Day of Thunder in the game.

I know nothing of this Day of Thunder. Explain, please?

19 minutes ago, Alderaan Crumbs said:

I know nothing of this Day of Thunder. Explain, please?

The First Day of Thunder (not to be confused with the Second Day of Thunder, or the pre-human Battle of Thunder) is the name given to the conflict from the Dawn of the Empire. In short, Fu Leng (the 9th Kami, and brother to the eight Kami who fell from Tengoku / Heaven) has crawled his way out of Jigoku, and is waging a war against Hantei's young empire. When Hantei confronts Fu Leng in battle, Hantei is mortally wounded and finds himself unable to stop the Dark Brother. Enter into the picture Shinsei, the Little Teacher, who informs Hantei that "Fortune favors the mortal man", and that he needs seven heroes (one from each of the followers of the Kami) to journey with him into the Shadowlands to defeat Fu Leng.

Hida Atarasi (Hida's first son), Doji Konishiko (Doji's daughter), Mirumoto, Matsu, Isawa, Shosuro, and Utaku joined Shinsei on his journey into the Shadowlands. They defeated Fu Leng, though how is unknown (to most). Only Shinsei and Shosuro returned, the latter of which died of her wounds shortly after. This battle between the Seven Thunders and Fu Leng became known as the Day of Thunder, and served as the moment that Rokugan proved itself worthy enough to exist in the eyes of Heaven.

6 minutes ago, Alderaan Crumbs said:

I know nothing of this Day of Thunder. Explain, please?

Year 42. Fu Leng, the Champion of Jigoku, Fallen Kami, and brother of the Kami who founded Rokugan, has been sending his corrupted legions of Oni, Trolls, Ogres, Goblins, Undead, etc., against the people of the Empire for years.

Shinsei, the Little Teacher (and founder of the Shintao religion), speaks to the Kami and tells them that only mortals can truly triumph against Fu Leng, as the Empire is their world, and they have the most to lose. So he gathers 7 champions (long story), one from each clan.

Hida Atarasi, Hida's only son, represents the Crab.

Doji Konoshiko, a daughter of Doji, represents the Crane (after her twin brother, who was originally chosen, was murdered; might be Konishiko, I'm going by memory).

Mirumoto, founder of the Mirumoto family and best duelist in the Empire, represents the Dragon.

Otaku, founder of the Otaku (Utaku) family, represents the Kirin (Unicorn) clan.

Matsu, founder of the Matsu family, represents the Lion.

Isawa, founder of the Isawa family and totally pretentious and full-of-himself jerkwad (YMMV), represents the Phoenix, but only after Shiba (the Kami) knelt before him and pledged his and his family's service as guardsmen to the Isawa, represents the Phoenix.

Shosuro, founder of the Shosuro family and Kami Bayushi's beloved, represents the Scorpion, essentially against Bayushi's orders. She is the only one to survive the Day of Thunder.

They were led by Shinsei to the Festering Pit, the spot where Fu Leng fell from heaven, punched through the mortal realm, and fell all the way into Jigoku. The pit is literally where the Taint and heel-on-earth seeps through into the mortal world. There, the Thunders fight Fu Leng.

Isawa managed to pull off a ritual that sealed away Fu Leng's essence into Twelve Black Scrolls. These were given to Shosuro so that she could escape, bring them back to the Empire, and hide them away forever*. The day that they faced Fu Leng and triumphed became known as the Day of Thunder.

There's a Thunder Dragon, in addition to the Elemental Dragons, who represents the raw power of Mortal Courage. That's how the Day, and the Thunders, got their titles, in reference to Her (Thunder Dragon is female).

* - well, about 1,100 years, before they started getting all opened which led to the Second Day of Thunder...

9 minutes ago, sndwurks said:

The First Day of Thunder (not to be confused with the Second Day of Thunder, or the pre-human Battle of Thunder)

Nor the Burning of the Land, from Naga pre-Five Races history.

Though I will say that my favorite named day is "The Terrible Day When Air Became Fire And Heaven Fell From Its Perch to Crush Our Glorious Home Beneath Its Blackened Corpse."

That was the day Fu Leng hit the ground in the Mortal Realm, and thereby punched a hole straight down to Jigoku. Evidently his crash-landing was similar to a laser-guided nuke that hit smack-dab in the center of the Nezumi's (Ratlings) capital city and utterly destroyed it, triggering the downfall and decline of the Nezumi race.

As a result, they pretty much hate the Shadowlands more than the humans do.

I’m feeling really sympathetic toward the Nezumi. Hida Jitenno...sndwurks...thanks! I love lore like that! For some reason I find Eastern myths/fantasy softer yet also stronger than Western ones. So much is a mix of metaphor and truth with an imagery that really appeals to me.

45 minutes ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Nor the Burning of the Land, from Naga pre-Five Races history.

Though I will say that my favorite named day is "The Terrible Day When Air Became Fire And Heaven Fell From Its Perch to Crush Our Glorious Home Beneath Its Blackened Corpse."

That was the day Fu Leng hit the ground in the Mortal Realm, and thereby punched a hole straight down to Jigoku. Evidently his crash-landing was similar to a laser-guided nuke that hit smack-dab in the center of the Nezumi's (Ratlings) capital city and utterly destroyed it, triggering the downfall and decline of the Nezumi race.

As a result, they pretty much hate the Shadowlands more than the humans do.

Oh, you mean the society that never actually existed, and was actually the Ogre empire that enslaved the Nezumi? Which, through the power of Remembering and Name magic, they manage to erase from the timeline of history, and replace with their own civilization, which still got blown up by Fu Leng's re-entry? AKA Yesterday, in the words of the Nezumi?

Man, L5R Lore is WEIRD in places.

Like the fact that the Naga might actually be an alien colony produced by a terraforming device which crashlanded from out of Yume-do.

Or that the Trolls were once a brilliant, albeit decadent people, and were partially responsible (along with the Kenku, Kitsu, Ningyo - who are degenerated naga? -, and Zokujin) for the creation of the Spirit Realms, and before they did so, the Elemental Dragons just WERE, as was the corruption of the Lying Darkness?

And how the Rakshasa were the first true children of Jigoku, who got exiled after the Lying Darkness used Jigoku to corrupt Fu Leng, causing Fu Leng to give his true name (because Fu Leng is not his true name, but the pre-Kami Rokugani name for him, hence why it is Chinese sounding) to the First Oni? Creating the rise of demons in Jigoku?

Or how about the fact that blood-magic was not corrupt in Rokugan before the Day of Thunder, and the use of the twelve Black Scrolls to bind Fu Leng is what caused Kansen to exist in the first place, as it brought kami into the influence of Jigoku, and the twelve most powerful blood magic spells were the Black Scrolls? And all blood magic was, originally, was the inherent magical power of life itself, and thus the birthright of humanity?

And yes. I can go on.

46 minutes ago, sndwurks said:

Oh, you mean the society that never actually existed, and was actually the Ogre empire that enslaved the Nezumi? Which, through the power of Remembering and Name magic, they manage to erase from the timeline of history, and replace with their own civilization, which still got blown up by Fu Leng's re-entry? AKA Yesterday, in the words of the Nezumi?

I was fairly sure that the Nezumi actually overthrew the Ogres through a slave rebellion. So while yes, the city was probably originally an Ogre city, the Nezumi did actually rule it at the time The Terrible Day happened Yesterday.

48 minutes ago, sndwurks said:

Or how about the fact that blood-magic was not corrupt in Rokugan before the Day of Thunder, and the use of the twelve Black Scrolls to bind Fu Leng is what caused Kansen to exist in the first place, as it brought kami into the influence of Jigoku, and the twelve most powerful blood magic spells were the Black Scrolls? And all blood magic was, originally, was the inherent magical power of life itself, and thus the birthright of humanity?

I didn't think Kansen and the Black Scrolls were that intimately tied. It was just that the kansen started existing after the Festering Pit opened, and as that corruption grew, the kansen were able to spread enough that they started to react to the violence inherent in piercing the skin to draw blood.

25 minutes ago, Hida Jitenno said:

I didn't think Kansen and the Black Scrolls were that intimately tied. It was just that the kansen started existing after the Festering Pit opened, and as that corruption grew, the kansen were able to spread enough that they started to react to the violence inherent in piercing the skin to draw blood.

It depends on which person was writing the lore. The Black Scrolls being blood magic is accepted as canon, and kansen becoming more common after the opening of the Festering Pit is also canon. Corrupted blood magic (maho) is either tied to the usage of the Twelve Black Scrolls (and thus their corruption due to binding Fu Leng) or through the Shuten Doji (Fear, Desire, and Regret), both of which entered into the empire during the War with Fu Leng.

Regarding the Ogres and the Nezumi, it is also one of those more nebulous periods of history. The Nezumi remember it, however, as the peak of their Empire, while the Ogres (who can) remember it as the decline of theirs. One got consumed by the Shadowlands, however, and the other did not, but got the power to reshape history.