Is it possible for the Empress to be born within an Imperial family (seppun, miya, otomo) ? Or the Emperor always pick in one of the clans?

It's traditional for the imperial spouse to be of the Doji family, but I do not think it is inherently required. But you'll have to go against the entire Crane (who you're related to, naturally) to try and swing that one. It's probably seen as inappropriate to pick from Otomo (who are mostly "deactivated" Hantei) and Miya (who are supposed to stay out of the politicking) families.

1 hour ago, UnitOmega said:

It's traditional for the imperial spouse to be of the Doji family, but I do not think it is inherently required. But you'll have to go against the entire Crane (who you're related to, naturally) to try and swing that one. It's probably seen as inappropriate to pick from Otomo (who are mostly "deactivated" Hantei) and Miya (who are supposed to stay out of the politicking) families.

Thx. my players might have a "plan" for the empress in the Winter's Embrace (going against both options presented in the adventure). the PC is from the Miya family (long story short she is also a shinobi/courtier infiltrating the Miya... yeah I know, it's funky, but bear with me here, it is all in "order". and, hey, Satoshi is on her side... won't spoil more as to why here.) so I was wondering if it is "legally possible" for a Miya to marry the crown prince.
Edit, and one other PC is a Kakita on duty from Yoshi and Ryoku to help Chiyoe.

lets just say they agreed to "light narrative pvp & that social/other checks can affect PC vs PC interactions, altering how they will roleplay" and I think we are going to get quite the ending to this adventure...

edit: as long as it is not fully "illegal", I think we are ok with "inappropriate", as this is what make good stories.
I might need to ask advice as to what a wedding to a crown prince might look like sooner than later...

7 hours ago, Avatar111 said:

edit: as long as it is not fully "illegal", I think we are ok with "inappropriate", as this is what make good stories.

It's definitely inappropriate, but I don't see that it's specifically banned anywhere, just expected. There have definitely been non-Crane empresses, but I can't find any reference to a Seppun, Otomo or Miya one. So it's probably 'unprecedented'. Beyond that, the law ultimately is what the reigning Hantei says it is.

There was a story called The Imperial Wedding in the older fiction, but obviously a reigning emperor marrying would be a much bigger deal.

Perfect. It will make for a good "unprecedented" story.

If everything would have been done before, it would be bland!

Not sure the PC will do it though, as it will probably be the end of his "adventuring" time (you know, hard to have a party with an empress).

Unless I find some crazy way to do it, so far all I can come up with is that it would basically be endgame for his character, relinquishing the character sheet to the GM and making a new character. I would rather find another solution, but it would probably have to be some insane stunt to be able to keep the crown prince bethroted in a party of samurai!

44 minutes ago, Avatar111 said:

I would rather find another solution, but it would probably have to be some insane stunt to be able to keep the crown prince bethroted in a party of samurai!

Indeed. That's not going to happen.

If you're betrothed to the Emperor's Heir, going outside the palace walls without a short battalion of either Seppun Honour Guard or Doji Empress' Guard as yojimbo flanking you probably qualifies as 'scandalously adventurous'.

It's not necessarily the end of the character, but it would be the end of the character's potential to appear in non-courtly adventures.

On the one hand; if you're breaking one 'rule' why not break another - but on the other hand, there's only so much 'unprecedented' one character can be allowed to do without distorting the universe unrecognisably.

If I really wanted the character to still be playable - the Emperor's betrothed is essentially an Empress-in-waiting, and there's no reason they shouldn't be offered the job of roving diplomatic troubleshooter. It may necessitate a major shift in the campaign style - to a 'dealing with clan disputes, mediating wars and having everyone have advisor/yojimbo/etc titles' style campaign, rather than 'look, some goblins - let's stab them!'.

We've not seen the current Empress (Hochiahime) 'on screen' in the fiction at all (unless she's in Winter's Embrace ?) but given that whilst Rokugan may be a massively racist and classist society, it's not (apparently) sexist, especially compared to actual feudal-era cultures, and whilst she may be reclusive, we're told her health is fragile and (assuming her age is similar to Hantei Jodan) she's quite old, so that may not be representative of the 'average' Empress.

There's a real argument for sending the Hantei's spouse as a representative to one event whilst the Hantei themselves is at another (or is remaining at the centre of things in Otosan Uchi). Obviously to reputable places and with a massive security presence, but that's no different (and probably much less onerous) than Winter Court turning up.

For that matter, It's basically what Doji Konozobu is being used for the two times we've seen him ( Wedding at Kyotei Castle and Tactical Manoeuvres ) - acting as a legal stand-in for his wife, the Clan Champion.

FYI, Hochiahime does not show up in Winter's Embrace. But the new Emperor's betrothed does, whether he ends up picking the Doji or the Mantis.

2 hours ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

FYI, Hochiahime does not show up in Winter's Embrace. But the new Emperor's betrothed does, whether he ends up picking the Doji or the Mantis.

Doji or Mantis or "another character of the player's choice".

!!

2 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Indeed. That's not going to happen.

If you're betrothed to the Emperor's Heir, going outside the palace walls without a short battalion of either Seppun Honour Guard or Doji Empress' Guard as yojimbo flanking you probably qualifies as 'scandalously adventurous'.

It's not necessarily the end of the character, but it would be the end of the character's potential to appear in non-courtly adventures.

On the one hand; if you're breaking one 'rule' why not break another - but on the other hand, there's only so much 'unprecedented' one character can be allowed to do without distorting the universe unrecognisably.

If I really wanted the character to still be playable - the Emperor's betrothed is essentially an Empress-in-waiting, and there's no reason they shouldn't be offered the job of roving diplomatic troubleshooter. It may necessitate a major shift in the campaign style - to a 'dealing with clan disputes, mediating wars and having everyone have advisor/yojimbo/etc titles' style campaign, rather than 'look, some goblins - let's stab them!'.

We've not seen the current Empress (Hochiahime) 'on screen' in the fiction at all (unless she's in Winter's Embrace ?) but given that whilst Rokugan may be a massively racist and classist society, it's not (apparently) sexist, especially compared to actual feudal-era cultures, and whilst she may be reclusive, we're told her health is fragile and (assuming her age is similar to Hantei Jodan) she's quite old, so that may not be representative of the 'average' Empress.

There's a real argument for sending the Hantei's spouse as a representative to one event whilst the Hantei themselves is at another (or is remaining at the centre of things in Otosan Uchi). Obviously to reputable places and with a massive security presence, but that's no different (and probably much less onerous) than Winter Court turning up.

For that matter, It's basically what Doji Konozobu is being used for the two times we've seen him ( Wedding at Kyotei Castle and Tactical Manoeuvres ) - acting as a legal stand-in for his wife, the Clan Champion.

Stab goblins is and will never be part of the current campaign i am running.

My fun in l5r is drama between characters, and high stakes with the setting top npc. Not goblins