Hello,

My group has begun the "Into the Palace of the Emerald Champion Adventure". Currently they are on the side of the road camping out. On the road they've fought off some bandits (taking two prisoner), joined a tengu's morning exercise, repaired a bridge, and saved a road shrine from burning down. Next session they will encounter monsters from the Shadowlands and arrive at the Palace of the Emerald Champion.

I've read through the adventure twice and think I have a handle on how to play it. I have a question about how you all would run the lessons on Day 2 & 4. Vague lessons are outlined by the instructor. Would you have them solved with a simple roll or write out stories for the players to puzzle over?

Examples:

Day 2: Investigation training, Pg 25

"He relates some of his old cases which featured conflicting testimonies and subtle clues that joined like parts of a puzzle. He pauses after reviewing his last tale of a Minor Clan daimyō who was betrayed by someone in her immediate family and providing the clues and testimonies gathered, and allows the PCs to solve it for him. You have all the information that I had on that day, he says. What is your conclusion? What answer best serves the Empire?"

Day 4: Law training, Pg. 31

"She then launches into hypothetical cases of law. She sets a stage complete with the parties in dispute as if they were grand puzzles to solve, and asks the students for their judgments.

Her final case relates to the assigned reading. And so this would seem to be an intractable situation, but not so! she says. For an earlier Emperor himself provided guidance for a solution. How did his divine words allow both clans to claim victory and retain honor?"

If you can come up with some good riddle, I'd say to go for it! Maybe find a contemporary analogue, so it's more likely that your players will come to the solution without needing specialized knowledge about the setting itself.

My own players over years and years have repeatedly told me that I'm actually trash at coming up with in-game riddles and prophecies, so I generally just try and come up with something straightforward or adapted, and usually let them make a roll for it to represent that it's meant to be a bit difficult for the storyline.

Honestly, I used the lessons as instruction on Rokugan itself as my players were new to L5R. For example, day 2's instruction about investigation was mostly about how little physical evidence matters and how they should always gain testimony. For day 4, I focused on the Laws but in the context of how they helped the Empire, stressing that the laws existed for the benefit of the empire. This might have telegraphed the ended a bit < SPOILER >, but what I didn't want was for them to be upset when their evidence was discarded. I felt these lessons provided me a good opportunity to demonstrate how different Rokugani society was for Western with an active voice. I hate having to pedantically describe a game world to a table of glassy-eyed players. I find it much easier to explain the world in-game. This worked really well for the group.

Edit: To more directly answer your question, I didn't use any skill rolls. They were just question and answers sessions like I would in a IRL classroom, just roleplayed.

I feel that all three of the lessons are supposed to telegraph the final scene of the adventure.

3 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

I feel that all three of the lessons are supposed to telegraph the final scene of the adventure.

I wouldn't disagree. I just think it depends on the comfort level of the players. A veteran might see the lessons as a giant softball. A new player might have more trouble.

1 minute ago, Nreetzfc said:

I wouldn't disagree. I just think it depends on the comfort level of the players. A veteran might see the lessons as a giant softball. A new player might have more trouble.

In its position as a beginner follow-up, I think the module is attempting to introduce some of the more unusual parts of the setting to players who are new to it: first by lecture, than a giant practical lesson at the end.