Yeah, when I was writing that section, I did a lot of research on past editions, and even looked at the 4th Ed Atlas for Gotei, and it really felt lacking. The map just sort of had a palace and a dojo, but I was under the impression this was supposed to be a larger group of pirates that included some of varying cultures, including gaijin, and supported a lot of ships, not the relative handful the map might support. So in my mind, the atlas map still works, but that's sort of just the area for Yoritomo's family and the descendants of that original group, sealed off from the rest of Gotei City by that wall, and on the other side is this sort of hodge-podge pop-up city built by a dozen cultures supporting the pirating and trade going on around Gotei City. I see it as sort of an "outlaw Hong Kong" for Rokugan (I know, that's China's bootleg capital, not Japan's, but still). Anyway, definitely love all things Mantis after working on that section.

I used to serve in the US Navy once upon a time, so it was fun to explore the harbors and ports of Rokugan (and the Islands of Spice and Silk), and how they would have been set up, and what might be going on there. I had a lot of fun with the City of the Rich Frog, too (which is also quite different from earlier editions).

Another bit I quite like, as I never got into the pipe wielding gambling master Kaeru family. I like their current incarnation much more and, considering I love frogs so much I got a tattoo of one, this makes me happy

@KRKappel thankyou for the Dragonfly in The City of the Rich Frog. I was kind of getting the idea that the Tonbo have been a bit upgraded this time round. Not only do they control a third of a trading hub outside of their home, but they are one of the 3 minor clans with a noteworthy army.

Can I ask, though, the Lion bit talks about 3,000 soldiers, but the Dragon section mentions 50. Those two seem at completely different levels. Is it that there are 50 Dragon guarding the shrines, but a bunch more Dragonfly acting as garrison for the actual trade port; or do the Lion really outnumber them 60-to-1?

4 hours ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

@KRKappel thankyou for the Dragonfly in The City of the Rich Frog. I was kind of getting the idea that the Tonbo have been a bit upgraded this time round. Not only do they control a third of a trading hub outside of their home, but they are one of the 3 minor clans with a noteworthy army.

Can I ask, though, the Lion bit talks about 3,000 soldiers, but the Dragon section mentions 50. Those two seem at completely different levels. Is it that there are 50 Dragon guarding the shrines, but a bunch more Dragonfly acting as garrison for the actual trade port; or do the Lion really outnumber them 60-to-1?

As far as I can see, that is not a typo. A few things to consider (none of this is canon, since it's not specified on the page in the book, but it's just how I sort of saw things as I was writing).

1.) You are correct, there are only 50 dragon guarding the shrines, and I don't specify how many Dragonfly might be garrisoned at the trade port. You can imagine whatever number best suits your adventure's needs. It might be comparable to the Lion, or significantly smaller (but still at least like 500, I'd imagine).

2.) Really, any fighting between the factions AT city of the rich frog is shut down. There are tensions, and there were conflicts in the past, but that's why there's an Imperial presence running the show.

3.) The Lion garrison isn't SO much about defending their port and trade goods (though there is an element of that, as the Lion are maybe a bit less trustworthy of the other factions present), so much as it's a great strategic spot to garrison troops. The river makes for a potentially very fast deployment to all points south of the city out to the sea. I imagine there are other garrisons along the northern River further east, to rapidly deploy troops along the northern border to any trouble spots that might arise.

4.) The dragon members aren't there to defend against Lion, the idea of the write up was that they're really concerned about something else. The adventure seed for that section mentions the realm of hungry dead, and the suggestions is that Dragon are perhaps more concerned with this threat than anything Lion or Unicorn might do.

5.) By keeping such a small garrison, Dragon almost instantly gets to play the victim and earn the defense of the Imperial and Ronin forces in town. This can create a real advantage in court.

6.) Most military actions by Lion, Unicorn, Dragon, or Dragonfly in the city are going to violate the rules set by the Emperor, so most military actions are going to be smaller scale incursions or infiltration. 50 specially trained units might be worth a lot more than 3,000 rank and file soldiers.

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the location! I had a great time creating it and populating it with characters!

On ‎1‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 12:32 AM, KRKappel said:

So in my mind, the atlas map still works, but that's sort of just the area for Yoritomo's family and the descendants of that original group, sealed off from the rest of Gotei City by that wall, and on the other side is this sort of hodge-podge pop-up city built by a dozen cultures supporting the pirating and trade going on around Gotei City. I see it as sort of an "outlaw Hong Kong" for Rokugan (I know, that's China's bootleg capital, not Japan's, but still). Anyway, definitely love all things Mantis after working on that section.

Not a bad analogy. Slow Tide Harbour is sort of the same but slightly more respectable.

On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 1:32 AM, KRKappel said:

The Lion garrison isn't SO much about defending their port and trade goods (though there is an element of that, as the Lion are maybe a bit less trustworthy of the other factions present), so much as it's a great strategic spot to garrison troops.

This. The reason why it's become such a strong trading city is the river junction. Since those two rivers basically form the borders of Lion lands (whatever historical claims the Ikoma may pull up), it's a great location to have a nodal force.

When I read what I could of Emerald Empire I felt oddly drawn inbto it and my minds eye started making mental videos of the places packed with people, a fishing marketplace of a sort right out of Jumanji; welcome to the jungle film's take on a bazaar kind of place. All sorts of folks packing it for doing all sorts of stuff.

It felt rather realistic for me

Now to try and buy it

2 hours ago, Ni Fang said:

When I read what I could of Emerald Empire I felt oddly drawn inbto it and my minds eye started making mental videos of the places packed with people, a fishing marketplace of a sort right out of Jumanji; welcome to the jungle film's take on a bazaar kind of place. All sorts of folks packing it for doing all sorts of stuff.

It felt rather realistic for me

Now to try and buy it

I immediately noticed they chopped the size of the armies by at least a factor of 5 by comparison to 3E...

A number of the NPCs are written with the old formulae for figured stats.

I need to do some more analysis...

On 1/28/2019 at 8:24 PM, AK_Aramis said:

I immediately noticed they chopped the size of the armies by at least a factor of 5 by comparison to 3E...

A number of the NPCs are written with the old formulae for figured stats.

I need to do some more analysis...

They need to hire you to supervise the design. or at least as quality control.