10 minutes ago, The Grand Falloon said:

I would say "reveal that the thing you chose is in fact an illusion you wove" is more something you reveal to the other players and the game itself. Kinda like opening the box to see if the cat inside is dead or not. I don't think a Soshi ever says, "Yo, check out what I just did!" When the slain Emperor suddenly dissipates into mist, and the real Emperor walks in from the privy saying, "Lifted me clean off the seat! I coulda named it Yoritomo! So what's been going on in here?" the Soshi is going to gasp just as convincingly as the rest of the court.

I believe this is the case! I can see now how it can be a bit ambiguous there - me, I’m already accustomed to games like, say, Atomic Robo, where a Master Of Disguise can say that they’re going undercover and leave the scene, and thenceforth can declare that an NPC was them all along.

Edit: Pursuant to the topic, I also just remembered that there is a similar ability in the game Broken Worlds, where a ninja-type can name a place or an NPC and declare that they are looking down on it/them from a shadowed perch. Not only is the player not obligated to explain to the GM how their character got up there, they are forbidden from explaining it, for that would constitute a betrayal of the Shadow Arts.

57 minutes ago, Mirumoto Jin said:

You're missing the point of my last post. No Soshi would ever point out an illusion they created except for very specific reasons. They would point out illusions if it were beneficial to their schemes, but admitting to creating an illusion would be counterproductive most of the time. The part of the technique stating that they admit to the illusion's creation does not make sense at face value for a Soshi.

I think the part of the technique where "you reveal that the thing you chose is in fact an illusion you wove" is a game element reveal rather than an in character reveal. That was my impression before and after your question. FFG RPGs have a history of being very permissive when it comes to narrative editing by players. As always, discuss with your GM if you are concerned about how it might be in their games. Hopefully we can get a developer questions thread going at some point in the future for these types of clarifications.

1 hour ago, Mirumoto Jin said:

You're missing the point of my last post. No Soshi would ever point out an illusion they created except for very specific reasons. They would point out illusions if it were beneficial to their schemes, but admitting to creating an illusion would be counterproductive most of the time. The part of the technique stating that they admit to the illusion's creation does not make sense at face value for a Soshi.

No I'm not. I'm saying the player reveals this information, not the character.

.

adding my voice to the chorus: this ability is very much "player reveals to players & GM" instead of "character says something"... but it doesn't preclude that, either.

EG:
Party faces down oni, at great cost...
"HA! Gotcha! Now that I know we can beat it..." Corpse of oni vanishes, as do the wounds... "we go find the real one. Thank you, Sama, for the illusion."

Ok how about this?

Akodo commander school rank 2

In a skirmish, fire stance

You kept roll is 2 success and 2 strife

2 success makes you hit (4 dmg katana)

Fire stance adds 2 bonus success from the strife(6 dmg)

School ability (way of the lion) then takes them 2 strife off, adds 2 more bonus success (8 dmg) and then take 2 fatigue.

Am I reading this right??

16 hours ago, AK_Aramis said:

adding my voice to the chorus: this ability is very much "player reveals to players & GM" instead of "character says something"... but it doesn't preclude that, either.

EG:
Party faces down oni, at great cost...
"HA! Gotcha! Now that I know we can beat it..." Corpse of oni vanishes, as do the wounds... "we go find the real one. Thank you, Sama, for the illusion."

"Thank you X-sensei, for the use of your Danger Room."

On 10/13/2018 at 6:30 PM, Nheko said:

Can the Shiba Guardian target himself with his own School Ability (Core Rulebook p. 76)?

Thought you might find the developers response handy:

Good question.

Effects that refer to "a character" do not exclude the user. Effects that refer to "another character" do exclude the user. So yes, a Shiba Guardian can use their ability on themself.

Thanks for writing in!

7 hours ago, Cryssk said:

Ok how about this?

Akodo commander school rank 2

In a skirmish, fire stance

You kept roll is 2 success and 2 strife

2 success makes you hit (4 dmg katana)

Fire stance adds 2 bonus success from the strife(6 dmg)

School ability (way of the lion) then takes them 2 strife off, adds 2 more bonus success (8 dmg) and then take 2 fatigue.

Am I reading this right??

Sounds right to me. As long as the TN to hit is still only 2, opponents in air stance, obscuring terrain, etc, would be missed and take no damage on that roll.

20 hours ago, Cryssk said:

Ok how about this?

Akodo commander school rank 2

In a skirmish, fire stance

You kept roll is 2 success and 2 strife

2 success makes you hit (4 dmg katana)

Fire stance adds 2 bonus success from the strife(6 dmg)

School ability (way of the lion) then takes them 2 strife off, adds 2 more bonus success (8 dmg) and then take 2 fatigue.

Am I reading this right??

Yep. Makes them right royal bad@$$es. Except you missed a possible 2 more points: 2-handed grip on that katana... So, 10 damage.

56 minutes ago, AK_Aramis said:

Yep. Makes them right royal bad@$$es. Except you missed a possible 2 more points: 2-handed grip on that katana... So, 10 damage.

I'm away from my book atm, but I thought 2 handed grip was +2 deadliness on the katana not +2 damage?

1 hour ago, Cryssk said:

I'm away from my book atm, but I thought 2 handed grip was +2 deadliness on the katana not +2 damage?

my bad, I read the wrong line. Bokken is 2H:+2 damage. So one can max the damage by 2-handed bokken... at 9... one less base, plus 2 for 2hand. So, Akodo-sei can do more damage (fatigue) with a bokken than with his katana... wear dokedoke down with the bokken, then kill them with iaijutsu...

.

Kuni Purifiers neither get the ritual that purifies Tainted things as starting, or in their curriculum. So a ritual that was probably invented by the Kuni, that does one of the exact things that Kuni seek to do, has to be purchased and counts only for half XP for advancement to the Kuni?

There s no way to purify taint. It Can only je transfered or container, never it Can be cured. So it's normal there IS no ritual or spell go purify except if burning the tainted IS considered as a ritual to cure/purify the taint.

6 minutes ago, Azrael40 said:

There s no way to purify taint. It Can only je transfered or container, never it Can be cured. So it's normal there IS no ritual or spell go purify except if burning the tainted IS considered as a ritual to cure/purify the taint.

I don't have the book in front of me, but one of the first rituals listed in the section can remove the Afflicted and (whatever it is applied to land, Unhallowed?) that precedes the Taint. So no, it doesn't remove the Taint once it sets in, but it does purify the target between "getting splashed with Taint" and "being Tainted."

That seems something which would be incredibly important to the Crab in general and the Kuni in particular.

To be afflicted IS not to be tainted. To be afflicted IS to be weakened to resist to taint. Affliction Can be cured, not taint

1 minute ago, Azrael40 said:

To be afflicted IS not to be tainted. To be afflicted IS to be weakened to resist to taint. Affliction Can be cured, not taint

My point remains: this is something the Kuni should have in their curriculum. Preventing the Taint before it sets in is 100% in their line of work.

I think rituals as a whole are under-represented in the school curriculums. Tea Ceremony should be on more lists than just the Doji, even if they don't get it early like the Doji do. That ritual is half spiritual respect, half performance, and can be used very politically as a show of respect for guests. I have no idea why Asako or Ikoma wouldn't at least have it.

13 minutes ago, Hida Jitenno said:

My point remains: this is something the Kuni should have in their curriculum. Preventing the Taint before it sets in is 100% in their line of work.

Agree with curing affliction for some Kuni shug. Not really for Kuni investigator/inquisitors that are not to heal affliction but to destroyer or survey tainted.

9 minutes ago, Azrael40 said:

Agree with curing affliction for some Kuni shug. Not really for Kuni investigator/inquisitors that are not to heal affliction but to destroyer or survey tainted.

Sure, but the school in the Core is "Purifier."

So if, as you say, there is no such thing as "purifying," then the very name of the school is ridiculous. Thus, as there's a "pre-purifying" ritual, it's the closest thing to embodying their name.

Still going through the pages, I'm currently running a theology-spellcraft Phoenix Shugenja game in 4th Edition and Isawa's were able to choose their element (having a party of different element-based Shugenjas).

I'm wondering if I can just tweak the spells required on the curriculums for the correct elements to have the same feel of if I'd be missing or breaking something?

8 hours ago, ExplodingJoe said:

I think rituals as a whole are under-represented in the school curriculums. Tea Ceremony should be on more lists than just the Doji, even if they don't get it early like the Doji do. That ritual is half spiritual respect, half performance, and can be used very politically as a show of respect for guests. I have no idea why Asako or Ikoma wouldn't at least have it.

Doesn't need to be on the list; most bushi and courtiers, and all shugenja, have rituals available. Sure, it's only half-XP for rank, but it's available to most ALL PC's so far, at rank 2. It's only supposed to be listed when it's escaped for rank 1 acquisition, and for the Asahina (who get it at rank two for full value instead of half value towards school rank.
? Invocation
? Kata
? Kihō (M for Monk)
? Rituals
? Shūji

Hida Defender Bushi ???
Hiruma Scout Bushi, Shinobi ???
Kaiu Engineer Bushi, Artisan ???
Kuni Purifier Shugenja ???
Yasuki Merchant Courtier ???
Asahina Artificer Shugenja, Artisan ???
Daidoji Iron Warrior Bushi ???
Doji Diplomat Courtier ???
Kakita Duelist Bushi ???
Agasha Mystic Shugenja ???
Kitsuki Investigator Courtier ???
Mirumoto Two-Heavens Adept Bushi ???
Togashi Tattooed Order Monk ???
Akodo Commander Bushi ???
Ikoma Bard Courtier ???
Kitsu Medium Shugenja ???
Matsu Berserker Bushi ???
Asako Loremaster Courtier ???
Isawa Elementalist Shugenja ???
Kaito Shrine Keeper Monk, Shugenja ???
Shiba Guardian Bushi ???
Bayushi Manipulator Courtier ???
Shosuro Infiltraitor Shinobi, Courtier ???
Soshi Illusionist Shugenja, Courtier, Shinobi ???
Yogo Wardmaster Shugenja ???
Ide Trader Courtiers ???
Iuchi Meishōdō Master Shugenja ???
Moto Conqueror Bushi ???
Shinjo Outrider Bushi ???
Utaku Battle Maiden Bushi (Female only) ???
Worldly Ronin Bushi, Courtier ???
Storm Fleet Sailor Bushi ???
Storm Fleet Tide Seer Shugenja ???
Kasuga Smuggler Courtier ???

Does the Togashi Tattooed Order school's Blood of the Kami ability potentially grant the character an additional starting kiho technique as well as the possibility of an additional kiho technique without XP cost each time the character advances a school rank? That's how I understand the rules as written. This seems like it could give a monk character five additional "free" techniques over the course of a long campaign, leaving that character with more techniques than others. That assumes the players chooses unlearned techniques for each tattoo, of course. Am I understanding this correctly?

6 hours ago, DanGers said:

Does the Togashi Tattooed Order school's Blood of the Kami ability potentially grant the character an additional starting kiho technique as well as the possibility of an additional kiho technique without XP cost each time the character advances a school rank? That's how I understand the rules as written. This seems like it could give a monk character five additional "free" techniques over the course of a long campaign, leaving that character with more techniques than others. That assumes the players chooses unlearned techniques for each tattoo, of course. Am I understanding this correctly?

That is my understanding of it as well, a chance at a free kiho per school rank. Keep in mind, that kiho are only one up at a time, so they usually don't have the same ability to build on each other but it does give them options and the capability to cycle more effectively for burst effects. In previous editions, monks usually had free kiho gains as they ranked up with a generally weaker rank 1 school technique. Togashi Tattooed monks had their own sub system instead (tattoos!) but it worked about the same with new tattoos as they ranked up. Considering the Togashi school ability is free bonus successes with their tattoo specific kiho, and their mastery is the ability to keep two kiho up, I think it works out in the end they receive the free extra techniques.