I rolled Stolen Knowledge, Kihō on the Samurai Heritage table for my Asahina Shugenja. Any recommendations for a useful Kihō? He is rank 1 and his rings are: Air 3, Earth 1, Fire 2, Water 2, Void 2.

Well, so being an Asahina, offensive ones are probably out. And sadly the low Earth means we should probably discard those.

So, depending on the rest of your build, there are some options. With your high Air, The Great Silence could be a good fit for many interactions and the burst effect is good for shutting down other hostile spellcasters, but it's effect is enhanced by your ranks in Command so that might not be optimal. Ki Protection is good for healing and support, but the most prominent effects are keyed off Medicine. Way of the Seafoam is just baller, but might not come up very frequently. The Body Is An Anvil is also pretty effective, great to defend yourself, but does involve technically damaging and setting people on fire, might be a gray area depending on how strict you stick to Asahina being pacifist.

Don’t worry about the Asahina pacifist views, go for the opposite a Martial one. I’m going to use this Kihō Asahina Takumi knows to reflect his training in the Asahina Sohei secret school.

32 minutes ago, Nheko said:

Don’t worry about the Asahina pacifist views, go for the opposite a Martial one. I’m going to use this Kihō Asahina Takumi knows to reflect his training in the Asahina Sohei secret school.

Ooh I like that The Body is an Anvil is a great combat Fire kiho available at Rank 1, though it's difficult to pull off reliably with Fire 2. Could be a long term investment, or to be used after you spend a turn in Void stance and use an opp to reduce the TN of the next Fire check you do by 1.

I assume this Asahina will fight with a Wakizashi, so the "Fist" kihos are probably less useful...

Yeah, if you have Unarmed, pick your favorite Fist technique (probably Air Fist) but if not, I still think maybe The Great Silence or Way of the Seafoam, or Body Is An Anvil if you're gonna invest further in fire.

4 hours ago, Nheko said:

Don’t worry about the Asahina pacifist views, go for the opposite a Martial one. I’m going to use this Kihō Asahina Takumi knows to reflect his training in the Asahina Sohei secret school.

I wouldn't say anything against it happening, but depending on the timeline you may want to consider how the Asahina Battle School and Asahina Sohei came about.

Originally it was created under the direction of Asahina Mataro. The seed of Mataro's ambition formed while trapped inside Shinden Asahina during the Battle of Bloodied Honour (1128), watching helplessly as it overrun by oni, zombies, and maho tsukai. The shugenja of the temple died without raising a hand in defence. He was 7 years old at the time, and wouldn't pass his gempukku for at least as long, let alone begin to gather other disgruntled Asahina to form the school.

I'd choose something that reflects the school's origins, whatever you decide they are, but generally agree with The Great Silence or a Fist kiho.