Let's NPC it up!

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2018/9/18/friends-and-foes-2/

Gotta admit this picture has me both spooked and excited!

"But for the Kaiu Wall and generations upon generations of spilled samurai blood, the realm would surely be overrun."

Man, if only we knew more about these samurai. I wonder how many of the Clans stand on this Wall.

Because, haha, if it was just the Crab standing on their eternal duty against the Shadowlands, surely the other clans would recognize their duty and their sacrifice, the price they pay to keep the rest of the Empire safe... right?

No?

On another note: our legend begins "soon"!

7 minutes ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Man, if only we knew more about these samurai. I wonder how many of the Clans stand on this Wall.

If the Old5R canon still applies here, then the answer is "all of them" because every Clan has samurai stationed on the wall, usually as volunteers or special representatives. They just don't see a lot of action because the Crab jealously possessive towards their duty. IIRC there is a whole guard tower in the northern end of the Kaiu Wall where the Crab stuff all the non-Crab samurai.

By the way I like how the two example samurai NPCs in the article are "Please sthap Doji-sama" and "When the Akodo is nutted but it still sucks". The article only lacks the Tsundere Matsu Brawler .

1 minute ago, AtoMaki said:

If the Old5R canon still applies here, then the answer is "all of them" because every Clan has samurai stationed on the wall, usually as volunteers or special representatives. They just don't see a lot of action because the Crab jealously possessive towards their duty. IIRC there is a whole guard tower in the northern end of the Kaiu Wall where the Crab stuff all the non-Crab samurai.

I meant ones that are competent and effective.

But stepping aside from my beleaguered, biased Hida Jitenno character: of course. The Iron Crane are one of my favorite units outside of the Crab. I'm really hoping to see Daidoji Newji (Uji) be as awesome as he was before.

And Isawa Tadaka? Bring that BA-ery on over, my friend.

That random Asahina air shugenja, who rescued a unit by flying them over the Wall? Totes get her here, too.

Did anyone feel like there wasn't any good info in this other than "NPCs have some stats!"

6 minutes ago, Mirith said:

Did anyone feel like there wasn't any good info in this other than "NPCs have some stats!"

I think the biggest takeaway was that the majority of NPC's will be given simplified power levels instead of huge stat blocks. Makes playthrough and set-up much easier for everybody and also leaves more room in the books for more important text.

1 hour ago, Mirith said:

Did anyone feel like there wasn't any good info in this other than "NPCs have some stats!"

It felt very insubstantial. Especially since the Beginner Box already showed the conflict ranks...

1 hour ago, Mirith said:

Did anyone feel like there wasn't any good info in this other than "NPCs have some stats!"

This is basically it. What do the Conflict Ranks do ? If they have no mechanical function, what is their actual purpose ( and I did not notice one in the Beginner Box, but I could have missed or forgotten it, it's been a couple weeks since I read that part )?

Yeah, I wanted some better frame of reference for Conflict Ranks. The Courtier had Intrigue 5, which was a challenge for a group, but the Bushi had Military 4, which is about where an individual character finds itself. So are 3s and below just trash? How bad do you have to be to have a 1?

2 minutes ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Yeah, I wanted some better frame of reference for Conflict Ranks. The Courtier had Intrigue 5, which was a challenge for a group, but the Bushi had Military 4, which is about where an individual character finds itself. So are 3s and below just trash? How bad do you have to be to have a 1?

It doesn’t seem as a rating of 1 is trash, simply that it’s a weak point in the NPC. I like this quick peek at what kind of challenge the NPC will give instead of having to dig into Rings, skills, etc. Even once seasoned I think GMs will enjoy glancing at NPC, seeing 9 next to the little blue fan and grinning. I dunno, it’s a simple touch but has a powerful aesthetic.

What would absolutely thrill me is if those rankings gave me the option to not roll for that NPC should I so choose, and just use it as a TN or some other measure of difficulty. See BtvS, among other games. But the systems in L5R5 don't seem set up for that.

1 hour ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Yeah, I wanted some better frame of reference for Conflict Ranks. The Courtier had Intrigue 5, which was a challenge for a group, but the Bushi had Military 4, which is about where an individual character finds itself. So are 3s and below just trash? How bad do you have to be to have a 1?

Clearly a Doji Courtier in a fist fight is conflict rank of 1!

37 minutes ago, Wyrmdog said:

What would absolutely thrill me is if those rankings gave me the option to not roll for that NPC should I so choose, and just use it as a TN or some other measure of difficulty. See BtvS, among other games. But the systems in L5R5 don't seem set up for that.

I could see this as being a shorthand for saying "To achieve your goal your group needs to accumulate X successes" That was kind of implied when they explained the Seasoned Courtier. At least for politics.

5 hours ago, ElSuave said:

Gotta admit this picture has me both spooked and excited!

There's really only one response to that.

/me looks around knowingly at the Crabs present, "I must say that the ivy on these walls is particularly pretty."

I would say that the Crab are not particularly jealous of thier duty. More like, "The other clans have NO idea what we face. Give the job to them, they will screw it up and **** the Empire. And they waste too much time of Frippery, intrigue and other nonsense. I have the Heaviest duty within the empire and wear it with pride. I have no time for nonsense."

15 hours ago, Wyrmdog said:

This is basically it. What do the Conflict Ranks do ? If they have no mechanical function, what is their actual purpose ( and I did not notice one in the Beginner Box, but I could have missed or forgotten it, it's been a couple weeks since I read that part )?

From the beta rulebook (pages 190 and thereabouts):

Quote

Conflict Rank: Each NPC has a rank in two categories (combat and intrigue). These ranks are broad estimates of the NPC’s capabilities as an opponent in each of those spheres...

...To give GMs a rough idea of an NPC’s efficacy, each sample NPC profile has a conflict rank for both combat and intrigue. For the above reasons, these estimates cannot be especially precise, but they are a useful guideline when deciding how many foes to hurl at the player characters...

...To estimate how challenging a conflict scene will be, determine if it is a combat scene (a skirmish, duel, or other clash of arms) or an social conflict scene (an intrigue or other battle of wits), then take the sum of the conflict ranks in that category for all NPCs opposing the PCs. This is the encounter rank.

Then there is some guidance on comparing the encounter rank to the combined school rank of the PCs - short version, 1:1 PC school rank to NPC conflict rank in the appropriate domain is considered a 'fair fight'. I assume beginner box characters are probably school rank 1 or 2 (easy way to check; numerical values in your school ability are generally 'equal to your school rank').