strife is really similar to HPs (so is endurance).

they both mostly matter during a scene.

outside of a scene, especially if you give downtime 8+hours (a "long rest" in D&D) i don't mind resetting almost everything (aside big wounds or traumas obviously).

otherwise i find that too gritty. but it is personal taste.

42 minutes ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Any good suggestions for a "Travel" passion to come up often?

We have a monk character who would rather be walking barefoot on some hidden trail beside a waterfall than sitting on a fine cushion at court and listening to boring Crane poetry. We game him the "Crunchy" passion and decided that he reduces strife when experiencing the serene beauty of nature (or something like that). He'll probably lose strife when traveling from village to village as long as he gets to walk through the woods or bathe in a stream. In a pinch, perhaps the character can reduce a little strife by taking a stroll through some manicured gardens, but it just won't be the same.

1 hour ago, nameless ronin said:

Resets to zero regardless of the number you were at? You can go from compromised to zero strife if you just have a single carefree day? That seems excessive. Reduce by one or two maybe, but I wouldn't let it wipe the slate clean.

In the end I think it depends how serious strife and unmasking is at your table. I think a single day where a samurai didn't have to actually worry about conflicts or anything tense is more than enough for them to relax and become "fresh", but that is because I don't see strife and unmasking as anything but a mechanical abstraction for behavior that was only enforced by fluff in the past editions. It is not like a Limit Break from Exalted or anything that serious and definitely it isn't "you Compromised, you lose" except for duels.

1 hour ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Any good suggestions for a "Travel" passion to come up often?

There are many in the book: Tea, Enlightenment, Armament (maintenance on your and companion's weapons or fletching), Animal Bond (excellent for Unicorns with their horses). Some custom is like enjoying nature as above, Journaling, Pilgrimage (visiting different shrines and praying on them) which is one of the passions on my table, Cooking... there are many possibilities

11 minutes ago, omnicrone said:

In the end I think it depends how serious strife and unmasking is at your table. I think a single day where a samurai didn't have to actually worry about conflicts or anything tense is more than enough for them to relax and become "fresh", but that is because I don't see strife and unmasking as anything but a mechanical abstraction for behavior that was only enforced by fluff in the past editions. It is not like a Limit Break from Exalted or anything that serious and definitely it isn't "you Compromised, you lose" except for duels.

and in theory, you could, when nobody see you, at midnight, go unmask in the wood and get back all your strife.

so yeah, same for me, a 24 without "scenes" is enough for a refresh. otherwise the players will eventually just try to cheese the system to reduce strife.

8 minutes ago, Avatar111 said:

and in theory, you could, when nobody see you, at midnight, go unmask in the wood and get back all your strife.

so yeah, same for me, a 24 without "scenes" is enough for a refresh. otherwise the players will eventually just try to cheese the system to reduce strife.

By the book, unmasking can only be done during a scene and there should be narrative consequences. That still allows for leeway, but there are restrictions the GM can impose nonetheless.

Just now, nameless ronin said:

By the book, unmasking can only be done during a scene and there should be narrative consequences. That still allows for leeway, but there are restrictions the GM can impose nonetheless.

sure. im just much more loose about gaining back strife after 24h of chilling than other more... mechanic rules like: earth stance, ring stat distribution, weapon/technique/school balance.

but i can totally understand a group of player who really makes it difficult to regain strife. its a more gritty style of play.

I would be hesitant to simply wipe away strife during downtime, as it removes motivation for players to role play downtime activity, invest in techniques and advantages that remove strife in thematic ways, etc.

Also, most adventures don't give a 24h breathing room for characters to relax. Of the published ones, the Topaz Championship is 3 days non-stop and the Emerald Magistrate one can have up to a full 11 days of "no cooldown" depending on how the GM handles the journey to the castle. So I think the ruling of the 24h break refreshes is pretty fine considering that kind of pace for adventures.

yeah i feel it is the same kind of issue as D&D 4th and 5th ed.

if you give a "long rest" then everybody is all healed up and refresh all abilities. but the idea is not to give that many long rest.

at least we are talking about 24h, to refresh strife! not just 8hours long rest.

a full 24h shouldn't happen unless the GM wants it to.

1 minute ago, TheSapient said:

I would be hesitant to simply wipe away strife during downtime, as it removes motivation for players to role play downtime activity, invest in techniques and advantages that remove strife in thematic ways, etc.

This. Strife permeates the game. It shows up in numerous mechanics. It's the engine of the game - the game that is about the struggle of samurai pulled in two directions by their ninjo and their giri. It should be something that shows up left, right and center every session.

I would point out, as in real life, I've had 24 or 48 hours where I didn't have to do anything, but they weren't relaxing. If its something where they don't have anything to worry about (See in between stories) Sure, but if they have something coming up, like they are waiting for something to happen, that can be stressful if you don't do something to decompress. Mainly, as they are probably worrying about whatever is coming up.

15 minutes ago, omnicrone said:

Also, most adventures don't give a 24h breathing room for characters to relax. Of the published ones, the Topaz Championship is 3 days non-stop and the Emerald Magistrate one can have up to a full 11 days of "no cooldown" depending on how the GM handles the journey to the castle. So I think the ruling of the 24h break refreshes is pretty fine considering that kind of pace for adventures.

Which then begs the question: what's the point?

If you unmask in a forest, to avoid loss of face, there are still kami watching. Perhaps they mark you with their disdain until a Shugenja can take care of you with a prayer? Which would expose your indiscretions in a roundabout way. Or if you are a Shugenja, perhaps it effects your interactions with the Kami in some way?

Substitute ancestor spirits, Shinobi spies, hungry ghosts, the fortunes, etc. In Rokugan it’s conceivable that someone or something is always watching.

Plus the book mentions that honor doesn’t hinge on outside scrutiny like glory would, perhaps unmasking impacts a samurai in some fashion no matter who is watching. Decorum is so ingrained that their own screw ups weigh heavily with or without witnesses.

Maybe you let your rage out on a tree and now you need to have your sword repaired due to the mistreatment.

Just letting my brain ramble, I’m away from my book at work right now.

question:

passions (the one that remove strife) you can do them without restriction, right ? for example, "Daredevil(fire) when you make a fire check to resist a critical strike you regain 3 strife" can be done everytime (even 2 times in the same turn) that you receive a critical hit?

37 minutes ago, Avatar111 said:

question:

passions (the one that remove strife) you can do them without restriction, right ? for example, "Daredevil(fire) when you make a fire check to resist a critical strike you regain 3 strife" can be done everytime (even 2 times in the same turn) that you receive a critical hit?

"Remove 3 Strife" and "resist a critical strike", but yes.

1 minute ago, nameless ronin said:

"Remove 3 Strife" and "resist a critical strike", but yes.

?

you usually roll fitness to resist a critical strike. indeed.

8 minutes ago, Avatar111 said:

?

you usually roll fitness to resist a critical strike. indeed.

I thought being dying meant not being able to resist, but that's incorrect - my bad. Regardless, specific mechanics can overrule general ones. I'm a bit of a stickler for verbiage, no offense was meant.

13 minutes ago, nameless ronin said:

I thought being dying meant not being able to resist, but that's incorrect - my bad. Regardless, specific mechanics can overrule general ones. I'm a bit of a stickler for verbiage, no offense was meant.

no offense taken, i was just wondering if there was something i didn't catch.

9 hours ago, Mark It Zero said:

If you unmask in a forest, to avoid loss of face, there are still kami watching. Perhaps they mark you with their disdain until a Shugenja can take care of you with a prayer?

This is, like, the Angsty GM option aka "The Wick Would Be Proud!" Just terrible GMing. This is utter BS. And don't even deny it: you know it.

12 hours ago, TheSapient said:

I would be hesitant to simply wipe away strife during downtime, as it removes motivation for players to role play downtime activity, invest in techniques and advantages that remove strife in thematic ways, etc.

Agreed. As long as you can realistically indulge in your passions or ninjo then I'm fine with resetting your strife 'clock' but you do need to say what you did - if nothing else because there's always a chance the GM will want to hang a plot hook on it ("you went out drinking late? Guess what rumour you overheard?")

One or more 'days off' is likely to mark the boundary between one adventure and the next (rather than multiple sessions of the same adventure) so letting PCs remove accumulated fatigue and strife sounds not unreasonable.

10 hours ago, Mark It Zero said:

If you unmask in a forest, to avoid loss of face, there are still kami watching. Perhaps they mark you with their disdain until a Shugenja can take care of you with a prayer? Which would expose your indiscretions in a roundabout way. Or if you are a Shugenja, perhaps it effects your interactions with the Kami in some way?

Substitute ancestor spirits, Shinobi spies, hungry ghosts, the fortunes, etc. In Rokugan it’s conceivable that someone or something is always watching.

Plus the book mentions that honor doesn’t hinge on outside scrutiny like glory would, perhaps unmasking impacts a samurai in some fashion no matter who is watching. Decorum is so ingrained that their own screw ups weigh heavily with or without witnesses.

Maybe you let your rage out on a tree and now you need to have your sword repaired due to the mistreatment.

Just letting my brain ramble, I’m away from my book at work right now.

1 hour ago, AtoMaki said:

This is, like, the Angsty GM option aka "The Wick Would Be Proud!" Just terrible GMing. This is utter BS. And don't even deny it: you know it.

Ultimately, It's all about "is there a real impact on the game".

I'd be hesitant to call it unmasking but if the player essentially said they were going to go into the forest and rage-attack the trees rather than show a tic in their 'perfect' expression in court, and basically said "hit me with whatever consquences you think appropriate" I'd at least consider it as a one-off.

9 hours ago, Avatar111 said:

no offense taken, i was just wondering if there was something i didn't catch.

Ultimately, whether you get to use an advantage or disadvantage multiple times a scene is at the GM's call; I recall a a boxout on this saying " either let the players use them whenever they look relevant, or only once a scene, just be consistent."

3 hours ago, AtoMaki said:

This is, like, the Angsty GM option aka "The Wick Would Be Proud!" Just terrible GMing. This is utter BS. And don't even deny it: you know it.

Easy there killer, it’s just a game.

You fail to see the part where anything like this would be a discussion between myself and the player in question. You don’t know me or my GM style so I’ll let it slide.

I do believe that un-masking should have narrative consequences and since I’m going to improvise a lot, those consequences are just another way to drive on to set up the next scenes.

Just ignore my posts in the future if you feel the need to make baseless insults. Don’t you even deny it, you know it.

2 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Ultimately, whether you get to use an advantage or disadvantage multiple times a scene is at the GM's call; I recall a a boxout on this saying " either let the players use them whenever they look relevant, or only once a scene, just be consistent."

If you have a page# for that i'd appreciate. Was looking for it but couldn't find it.

Only in the beta; my proper rulebook is on order but hasn't arrived yet.

"When to Apply Advantages and Disadvantages to Checks" is a boxout on page 62 of the beta - if it's survived in the same place it's on the first page of the 'sample' advantages and disadvantages.

2 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Only in the beta; my proper rulebook is on order but hasn't arrived yet.

"When to Apply Advantages and Disadvantages to Checks" is a boxout on page 62 of the beta - if it's survived in the same place it's on the first page of the 'sample' advantages and disadvantages.

Thx!. Dont think it survived, but ill double check.