14 minutes ago, JBento said:

Check a rank 3 technique, too. Coiling Serpent Style (r2) + Thunderclap Strike (r3) + trident/Ji.

I'm pretty sure there's a resist check of some kind missing from CSS.

its already pretty poggers that some rank 4 katas give you opportunities to do like "prone" and "bleeding" EVEN if you MISS.

but hey, its rank 4. and they have a resist check, meaning you are potentially giving the opponent "opportunities".

that is another rule i need to really double check and analyse; should you be allowed to spend opportunities on "resist" checks? it can gets a bit out of hand, because opportunities are powerful and also because it makes it a bit bloated. keeping it for now, but under strict supervision

7 minutes ago, ExplodingJoe said:

I would absolutely not allow a Rank 2 samurai to float through court like they own the place.

Luckily, they can't do that with Buoyant Arrival.

11 hours ago, AtoMaki said:

Geeeeeeeeeezzzzz... Is this, like, losing Glory for quipping at the oni? No, you can't say mean things to Mr. Oni because he is going to petition the Emperor for decreasing your Glory !

Yeah, I realized this later!

Also, I'm not sure about the conversation thing because it doesn't align with Buoyant Arrival being a Rank 5 Technique.

Quipping and sarcasm are NOT "showing emotion," tho' certain ones might dishonorable and/or unglorious anyway. Showing anger (at least before drawing) when teased is. Admitting the waitress is hot (admission of Lust) is unglorious and dishonorable, as you're lusting after a peasant. Admitting your lord pissed you off is unglorious and dishonorable. Admitting your children are not living up to your expectation is dishonorable and unglorious - it dishonors you, it's an attack on the honor of your children and wife, it says your liege hired a *head and thus attacks his honor...

Your glory is NOT, in this edition, resolved when acknowledged in court. Many adjustments are instant; the loss is done when the deed is seen (or discovered to have been done).

Why? Simplicity, I suspect. That, and unlike some prior editions, it's not how well known you are, but a straight up measure of the general positivity of your reputation.

You can be famous but Glory 0 in this edition. You can also be glory 100 but unknown - those few who know of you know you're as squeaky clean psychotic about following bushidō...

19 minutes ago, AK_Aramis said:

You can be famous but Glory 0 in this edition. You can also be glory 100 but unknown - those few who know of you know you're as squeaky clean psychotic about following bushidō...

Yes, this is kinda like the point I'm trying to make. Glory is complicated. One can be free with their emotions all the time yet still get a very nice living because the only people who actually care are some stuck-up Crane. Everyone else is more interested in the mountain of heads the guy built during his career. One needs a certain audience and an even more specific situation to take a hit for showing emotion, and this is where my question comes in: what if none of these things align? How does Strife and Unmasking work then?

16 minutes ago, AtoMaki said:

Yes, this is kinda like the point I'm trying to make. Glory is complicated. One can be free with their emotions all the time yet still get a very nice living because the only people who actually care are some stuck-up Crane. Everyone else is more interested in the mountain of heads the guy built during his career. One needs a certain audience and an even more specific situation to take a hit for showing emotion, and this is where my question comes in: what if none of these things align? How does Strife and Unmasking work then?

No, they just need an audience, not an audience that particularly cares.

And all clans hold all 7 virtues in esteem, they just prioritize certain ones, and consider another less important but still important.

And all clans share the same concepts of what honor and glory are... the mechanics of both don't redefine them, just define how much one loses or gains.

3 hours ago, AK_Aramis said:

No, they just need an audience, not an audience that particularly cares.

Well, if they don't care then there is no problem. But still, the question remains, does the character gain Strife or not?

Not sure I understand the situation. If the audience doesn't care, and the character doesn't care, why are they openly displaying emotion? If the audience doesn't care, and the character cares enough to display emotion, that's a rift that causes a lot of strife. Talking at an apathetic crowd is a relatable frustration in the modern day, and the crowd is probly going to ridicule the character in passing. That's a dangerous situation to unmask in, because the collected people are unconcerned with the character's fate.

4 minutes ago, ExplodingJoe said:

If the audience doesn't care, and the character doesn't care, why are they openly displaying emotion?

Why not? If it wants to go out, then let it out.

But here is an example: we have not!Daigotsu and Iuchi Shahai from the Heart of the Garden fiction. From that fic we know that Shahai can Unmask and/or go full emotional in the presence of not!Daigotsu and he will like it . So what happens if Shahai's player decides that from now on, her character sticks with not!Daigotsu. Will Shahai gain Strife when around not!Daigotsu? What happens when she Unmasks and only her husbando is watching? Should be there, like, a Passion Advantage for Shahai that constantly burns away Strife for her while she is around not!Daigotsu? Can she actually gain Glory for Unmasking in front of not!Daigotsu?

Maybe that's not Unmasking. Maybe that's a downtime activity between actual scenes, meaning Shahi is just roleplaying lowering her Strife to half her Composure. Maybe she DOES have a custom passion that lets her kick away an extra 3 Strife whenever she and not!Daigtosu have downtime together.

She can't gain Glory because Glory is public perception - no matter how much n!D might like her outbursts, if he tells people her Glory is still going to tank.

So in order of questions, as I interpret them - No, you don't gain strife for dropping your mask in front of a romantic acquaintance. You could say the same about geisha, if you use them in your Rokugan. She wouldn't unmask alone with her husband, because you normally don't have your mask up in front of them. Yes, a passion would be appropriate if the bond is strong. No, glory cannot increase just from letting emotions go alone with a husband.

Public displays of affection are also considered childish and immature, so honor and glory are at risk with an audience. It doesn't matter if the audience doesn't care. Society as a whole does, and word travels.

If you're showing emotion, you either care or you're faking it. Both cases call honor and glory into question. If you're showing emotion, strife may be involved. I interpret strife as the toll that being a thinking/feeling living person has on your willpower, not as frustration or negativity. If you're familiar with the spoons metaphor often used for folks with executive dysfunction or anxiety, composure reads to me like the amount of spoons you have.

It should also be noted that the system actively encourages that unmasking doesn't lead to exclusively bad endings. So you aren't wrong in twisting things that way. Throughout beta and presentation, unmasking has been presented as having the possibility for long term victories. Maybe your lord's advisor is a traitorous jerk, and, after a lengthy debate, you can't take it and just call him out for it in front of everyone. Well, I wouldn't call that an immediate honor loss, but you now have honor staked on proving your claim. That can be as simple as winning a duel or as difficult as catching them in the act. Either way, proving it means you're getting accolades as a loyal and dedicated servant.

5 minutes ago, ExplodingJoe said:

She wouldn't unmask alone with her husband, because you normally don't have your mask up in front of them.

This is it. What happens if you do not have a mask ? OK, 0 Honor and 0 Glory will shot my GM right in the guts and will do wonders with my Void eco, but what about Strife? Will my GM's tears wash away the Strife mechanic or what?

12 minutes ago, JBento said:

She can't gain Glory because Glory is public perception - no matter how much n!D might like her outbursts, if he tells people her Glory is still going to tank.

Not!Daigotsu will obviously tell people that his waifu is a cute, because that's what's important for him, not that she has poor emotional control. And that's some pretty big Glory gains (public acknowledgement from a very high Status character, possible wife for an Imperial Prince).

If you have 0 Glory and 0 Honor, you're... done? Like, literally? If you're a Samurai, you've taken seppuku to the face already, because you behaving like that is going to hurt the image of your lord, and that is NOT going to fly. If you're Ronin, no-one reputable is hiring you, which means they're hiring you to do non-reputable things, which probably means you're dead, because the people who you'll be doing the non-reputable things TO are going to very much care, and they can kill you without any repercussions (because, you know, you have 0 Glory and 0 Honour and 0 Status).

Then n!D is staking is OWN Glory on the fact that his waifu is awesome, which is going to not end up well for either of them when it turns out she isn't awesome by Rokugan standards.

7 minutes ago, AtoMaki said:

This is it. What happens if you do not have a mask ? OK, 0 Honor and 0 Glory will shot my GM right in the guts and will do wonders with my Void eco, but what about Strife? Will my GM's tears wash away the Strife mechanic or what?

Then you are ronin, and will gain strife from the day to day struggle to find dinner. No court will have you, because without a mask you are considered a child who never possessed the ability to pass gempuku - a stain on your lord's ability to administrate his/her lands.

So the answer is that my GM will ragequit on me? That's not very pleasant to be honest !

Technically, SOCIETY will ragequit on you. Via execution.

Though, to be fair, you quit on Rokugani society first.

I mean, too bad?

The mask (your On) is considered the culmination of the Honor and Duty tenets of Bushido. Your ability to self regulate and your understanding that your actions don't just reflect on you, they reflect on your Lord, your parents, your clan, etc. Having a mask means you're better than peasants who let emotion and whim guide all their decisions, and it's foundational to the belief that samurai are higher up in the Celestial ladder. No mask - no samurai.

Utaku Battle Maiden School Ability "Heroic Charge" says to add bonus successes equal to the number of range bands you have moved this round , to a maximum of your school rank. In Skirmishs you can only move one range band before attacking (2 if in water stance). That means Heroic Charge bonus caps at 2?

There's any way I can move more range bands before attacking?

I didn't understand how to fully benefit from the Scholl technique on later ranks.

4 minutes ago, Vermonde said:

Utaku Battle Maiden School Ability "Heroic Charge" says to add bonus successes equal to the number of range bands you have moved this round , to a maximum of your school rank. In Skirmishs you can only move one range band before attacking (2 if in water stance). That means Heroic Charge bonus caps at 2?

There's any way I can move more range bands before attacking?

I didn't understand how to fully benefit from the Scholl technique on later ranks.

It means your horse is awesome, is what it means.

You can make a Fitness Check as part of the Maneuver action to move tons of range bands if you roll well. Then have someone fire off Lord Akodo's Roar for you and give you a Strike action for tons of bonus successes.

OR have someone Thunderclap Strike you for +2 Range Bands .

Isn't there a caveat, that, on a unicorn warhorse, you're always assumed to have moved 3 range bands in a skirmish/mass battle?

5 minutes ago, ExplodingJoe said:

Isn't there a caveat, that, on a unicorn warhorse, you're always assumed to have moved 3 range bands in a skirmish/mass battle?

DUELS/mass battles, and it's a number of range bands equal to your school rank, but yes.

9 minutes ago, JBento said:

DUELS/mass battles, and it's a number of range bands equal to your school rank, but yes.

probably work with skirmishes too

1 minute ago, Avatar111 said:

probably work with skirmishes too

It... doesn't MENTION skirmishes in the rule, so... no?

1 hour ago, AtoMaki said:

You can make a Fitness Check as part of the Maneuver action to move tons of range bands if you roll well. Then have someone fire off Lord Akodo's Roar for you and give you a Strike action for tons of bonus successes.

OR have someone Thunderclap Strike you for +2 Range Bands .

your comments are always the best lol. but the school ability says "this round, and not this turn!".

so, unless we don't understand something that school ability is 1 free success if on a horse, or 2 in water stance. but then they say "to a maximum of your school rank".

so there is totally something we don't understand. or its just one of those "erratas" to come

1 minute ago, Avatar111 said:

your comments are always the best lol. but the school ability says "this round, and not this turn!".

so, unless we don't understand something that school ability is 1 free success if on a horse, or 2 in water stance. but then they say "to a maximum of your school rank".

so there is totally something we don't understand. or its just one of those "erratas" to come

Rounds are bigger than turns. Everyone takes a TURN while you go ROUND the table, is how I memorised it.