Hello!

As a newcomer to the game, I'd like to ask for assistance with some setting-related manners which aren't all clear to me. Could you guys help?

1. What is a proper behaviour for a samurai, how much "stoic" do they need to be? Could a samurai have a (polite) laugh at a joke? Kiss his wife? Smile when seeing a friend?

2. Are there female samurai in the setting? Overall, what's the position of women in Rokugan?

3. Do the samurai in the setting look more like on the art in the rulebooks (long flowing hair etc.), or more like in historical Japan (bald-shaved men, women with hairbuns and heavy make-up)?

4. What's the public perception of the Scorpion Clan? Each Clan seems to have an official, publicly-known role within the Empire. The Scorpion's true role (the dirty-handied protectors of Empire) is a secret, though... so, what does everyone else thinks the Scorpion's officla role is?

Advice greatly appreciated!

18 minutes ago, Varsovian said:

1. What is a proper behaviour for a samurai, how much "stoic" do they need to be? Could a samurai have a (polite) laugh at a joke? Kiss his wife? Smile when seeing a friend?

To each their own. Theoretically, 'courteous and reserved' at all time. A restrained laugh or a smile at a joke is fine - especially if the joke was told by a social superior, and regardless of if it's actually funny. Belly laughs are out. For that matter, public jokes need to be carefully judged for taste. Subtle puns are generally fine.

Public displays of affection are broadly out. There's a card in the card game called "shameful display" which is basically two samurai in love making out where a witness sees them.

20 minutes ago, Varsovian said:

2. Are there female samurai in the setting? Overall, what's the position of women in Rokugan?

Officially the term for a female samurai is samurai-ko. They exist, both as courtiers and soldiers, and are to all intents and purposes fully equal with the men up to and including front-line soldiers. Rokugan is classist, racist, but not especially sexist. Three of the current Great Clan champions (Crane, Phoenix, Unicorn) and one of the Jeweled Champions (Ruby) are women. There are a couple of specific clan families (mostly lion) who have gender-specific rules - Matsu are more matriarchal, Ikoma more patriarchal, but they're the exception rather than the rule.

25 minutes ago, Varsovian said:

3. Do the samurai in the setting look more like on the art in the rulebooks (long flowing hair etc.), or more like in historical Japan (bald-shaved men, women with hairbuns and heavy make-up)?

I would assume the rulebook art. One key warning is Rokugan =/= Japan. Firstly, see the gender-balance above, second Rokugan has non-trivial Chinese and Korean influences. I wouldn't be surprised to see more Malay influences too as the Mantis islands get fleshed out.

27 minutes ago, Varsovian said:

4. What's the public perception of the Scorpion Clan? Each Clan seems to have an official, publicly-known role within the Empire. The Scorpion's true role (the dirty-handied protectors of Empire) is a secret, though... so, what does everyone else thinks the Scorpion's officla role is?

Not really. Anyone who's studied history will basically know the scorpion's role because Bayushi features in stories, plays and histories as the 'whatever it takes' clan. They don't really mind rumours of underworld connections and shinobi - as long as no-one can prove anything - because it helps give them their social power. Where the Crane's social power comes from their friends in high places, the Scorpion are a darker counterpart who get by on friends in low places.

Also, whilst the founding Kami may have taken tasks, not everyone has a single, obvious role now the way the Crab do. What, for example, is the Crane's 'public role'? Or the Unicorn's now they've come back? Especially since the Tortoise arguably cover the same role?

4 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Officially the term for a female samurai is samurai-ko.

Actually, FFG has completely dropped the term "samurai-ko" for female samurai. They are just samurai. This is intended, I think, to emphasize the fact that the genders in Rokugan are absolutely equal.

1 hour ago, DGLaderoute said:

Actually, FFG has completely dropped the term "samurai-ko" for female samurai. They are just samurai. This is intended, I think, to emphasize the fact that the genders in Rokugan are absolutely equal.

They are not equal until a non-hetero-male will be emperor 😛

1 hour ago, DGLaderoute said:

Actually, FFG has completely dropped the term "samurai-ko" for female samurai. They are just samurai. This is intended, I think, to emphasize the fact that the genders in Rokugan are absolutely equal.

Oh, thank the kami. Because that "ko" thing sounded like nails in a chalkboard.

Okay, thanks for all the answers!

Considering my confusion regarding the Scorpion, let me ask: are there any plans for a sourcebook dealing with the details of the Clans? It's not like I'd like to see a wave of books, each dealing with one Clan (one of the things that scared me away from FFG's Star Wars games was the realization I'd need to buy a sourcebook for each profession in each game...), but maybe one book dealing with the culture of the Clans, their relations etc.? That'd be helpful.

BTW. One more Scorpion-related question: I just noticed they have no Bushi schools? So, how do they defend themselves, if they have no army?

BTW 2. This will be a less lore-related question, but: are Courtiers good fighters or are they just people who are skilled at negotiations, rumour-mongering etc.?

The various clans are being covered at greater length in the supplements. So Crab got extra detail in the Shadowlands book and Crane in Courts of Stone. Thus far at least the supplements have also incorporated minor clans, with one per book. The forthcoming book, Path of Waves, will cover ronin.

1 hour ago, Varsovian said:

I just noticed they have no Bushi schools? So, how do they defend themselves, if they have no army?

This is important to remember from a lore perspective - just because they don't have a school printed for players doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There are plenty of Scorpion bushi characters in the LCG for instance, and there are several schools we have heard passing mention of or know from the old lore probably still exist but aren't in any printed form. There's no rules for Void Shugenja yet either, but Isawa Kaede is a very major character with access to Void. The Scorpion suffer from a problem where historically a lot of their families overlap without necessarily being distinct - the Bayushi family is known both for it's bushi and courtiers. There is a Bayushi [Bushi] school in Courts of Stone - which means they also integrate several special gear and technique options.

1 hour ago, Varsovian said:

are Courtiers good fighters or are they just people who are skilled at negotiations, rumour-mongering etc.?

Something like 99% of Courtier schools also have access to Kata, fighting techniques (and some Shuji only work in martial conflicts). Depending on the school though, most of their techniques (in school special ability or curriculum) will be focused on social stuff. Ideally a courtier is a diplomat, administrator or advisor, but nothing stops them from being able to operate in a fight. Tags are more a descriptor of a job you are reasonably expected to do - you don't take a fresh out of dojo Doji Diplomat and assign them as a gunso on the front line. But samurai are still a warrior caste, they can still defend themselves if they need to. Ideally you have fighters for that, but still.

5 hours ago, Avatar111 said:

They are not equal until a non-hetero-male will be emperor

We know there have been empresses - as in "ruling sovereign" not just "consort" - Hantei Yugozohime , Empress at the time of the Battle of White Stag a totally peaceful period of history was one before she was killed by gaijin artillery fire died a peaceful death from old age .

Rokugan does still have primogeniture but that doesn't necessarily mean male before female, just 'the oldest is heir' - the current Hantei has only two sons so we can't know for definite where women sit in the line of succession in this 'version' of the history but I would assume it's gender-agnostic because there's no reason for it not to be.

We know (someone pointed out the example of the Slow Tide Harbour magistrate) that same-sex marriage is a thing, with legal adoption holding the same weight as biological parentage. (I could imagine someone getting picky in the specific case of a Kami-descended ruling family bloodline, but that's about it)

2 hours ago, Varsovian said:

BTW. One more Scorpion-related question: I just noticed they have no Bushi schools? So, how do they defend themselves, if they have no army?

As noted, 1) there is a scorpion bushi school in 'courts of stone', 2) nominally any samurai can train in another clan's school with a decent narrative reason (e.g. it's actually an obscure vassal family school from their own clan which just looks a lot like the other one), 3) you can always take worldly ronin. The scorpion do have armies and there are dozens of schools in each clan beyond those listed.

2 hours ago, Varsovian said:

BTW 2. This will be a less lore-related question, but: are Courtiers good fighters or are they just people who are skilled at negotiations, rumour-mongering etc.?

Remember that nothing stops you spending XP on any skill, so any courtier can buy martial skills up just as easily and as noted, most can buy free access to kata. And yes, their starting weaponry may be weaker, but requisitioning better weapons (let's say plated armour and a naginata, which is better than most bushi schools get by default) for a battle? That's a courtesy check.

Also note that a lot of them have school abilities affecting social skill checks - Command is a social skill....

I don't think anybody has ever actually laid down the law on inheritance in Rokugan. I'd love a sidebar on it maybe somewhere, since that's a great plot hook in this sort of genre.

In general it seems like primogeniture, but we do also know there are instances where this assumption is broken - an older child might be married off, abdicate or even be disowned to place a younger child of better ability on the path to inheriting a major familial title. Akodo Arasou was Toturi's younger brother for instance. I think the intent was for him to marry out or retire to a monastery, but when we meet him in the fiction they're both currently active Lion Samurai - did Toturi just write a letter saying he chooses not to be Clan Champion and pass it to his brother? We also know there are families with unusual traditions, such as the Matsu and Utaku family being founded by and favoring women, where I expect nominally only the female children are expected to inherit major holdings and titles - but is this a law somewhere, or do they just arrange it so any elder male children are placed in other families before inheritance becomes an issue?

27 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

We know there have been empresses - as in "ruling sovereign" not just "consort" - Hantei Yugozohime , Empress at the time of the Battle of White Stag a totally peaceful period of history was one before she was killed by gaijin artillery fire died a peaceful death from old age .

Nice fact check!

I was merely saying it for fun though, I am not really one to be chocked by any ways they feel like representing the world of rokugan anyway. I like a good middle ground where story is kept interesting despite exact percentages of representation of all kinds of gender or races not being absolutely politically correct. Ultimately, there is racism and religious discrimination in rokugan and I think this makes sense in the context of this world. Obviously this needs to be done properly, but the fact that it is there is ok if the players are mature enough and not twisting it badly against any player at the table.

All is good!

7 hours ago, UnitOmega said:

We also know there are families with unusual traditions, such as the Matsu and Utaku family being founded by and favoring women, where I expect nominally only the female children are expected to inherit major holdings and titles - but is this a law somewhere, or do they just arrange it so any elder male children are placed in other families before inheritance becomes an issue?

There's no problem with Matsu men holding territories - we've had senior male Matsu feature in adventures before (Matsu Ino, from Honour's Veil , is a regional daimyo with his own reasonably sizeable castle on the Lion/Crane border).

The main Matsu tradition is that men always marry 'into' the Matsu and it's rare for a Matsu bride to take a higher status husband for this reason. This is all a traditional holdover from Matsu rejecting Akodo's offer of marriage because she didn't want to be 'the wife of Akodo' , she wanted to be remembered in her own right. There's no specific rule restricting the rights of natural-born Matsu men.

In previous versions of the lore (which predates 1123 so as far as we know is still valid) there have been male Matsu Daimyo, but they are in the minority.

The Utaku it's different - there has literally never been a male Utaku daimyo. But that's primarily not to do with the family's human members - the principal reason for the Utaku family to exist (these days, at least) is the Shiotome; the Battle Maidens, who are the Unicorn's elite shock cavalry and basically the biggest, baddest heavy cavalry in the Empire if not the world. Utaku steeds are not in any respect other than appearance just 'horses' - they're closer to Tolkein's Maeress, or Stephen Donaldson's Ranyhyn, or David Weber's Coursers - as smart as their riders and with a mystical bond with the same.

Possibly as a rather more epic and violent version of/mockery of an " I'm a princess with a sparkly pet unicorn !" meme, they only choose female riders. Which kind of relegates Utaku men by default to a supporting role as stable masters and infantry whether they like it or not.

7 hours ago, UnitOmega said:

In general it seems like primogeniture, but we do also know there are instances where this assumption is broken - an older child might be married off, abdicate or even be disowned to place a younger child of better ability on the path to inheriting a major familial title. Akodo Arasou was Toturi's younger brother for instance.

Kitsu Sokorii is another. She was passed over once in favour of a younger brother, and once in favour of a more distant cousin, for her father's inheritance. Of course, she was an emotionally unstable psychopath who decided that unleashing a maho wasting disease from a black scroll was an emotionally balanced response to event (1) and summoning a greater oni and an army of damned souls to slaughter the entire Kitsu family a suitable response to (2) - so it may not have been entirely about her gender....

Wow, you guys... know a lot of lore 😲

Alright, if I may ask for some more lore advice: could you guys explain me the official, ancestor-related name a character chooses. How does it work? Is it supposed to be the same name as the ancestors? When is it used, exactly?

And on the subject of names: where do I get character names from? There's no list in the rulebook...

So, when you come of age, you get a new name. It can be the same as your childhood name, but usually you adopt a new one. You usually pick it, but your family elders might have an idea for what name you should take. Traditionally, it should reflect a famous name of an ancestor - it can be the exact same, or simply be thematically linked - such as sharing a character, or a theme. This is now your personal name (as opposed to the Family name), and it is used rarely. You will usually only be addressed with familiarity by family (who may need to differentiate between half a dozen "Doji-san"s in a room), superiors, close colleagues and friends, though usually still with honorific to maintain politeness. To use your personal name without honorific implies almost an impolite level of closeness, it's something only done in private, and usually by those closest to you, such as a parent, your best friend, or a lover. You'd use your full name (and titles) on official documentation or introduction, such as "I am Bayushi Shifty, son of Bayushi Shady, honorable Magistrate of the Scorpion Clan, Hero of the Battle of Akakabe, pupil of the Dark Sword of Bitter Lies dojo, and definitely not a ninja".

I made a whole list for quick browsing of some names but normally I just use a generator to skim something that sounds cool. Behind the name is good for etymology and meaning to track linked names, but any ol' "japanese name generator" or "list of famous anime characters" will do.

There's also a slight extra twist on names where Vassal Families are involved.

The Kaito are a good example, since they start as a vassal family and get 'elevated' to a clan family.

Technically, our Kaito in our campaign is Kaito no Isawa Horonigai.

As noted, to be polite a non-close friend/relative should use the full name or family name, not just the personal name.

However, the Kaito are a 'subordinate' member family of the Isawa. Outside the Phoenix, the subtleties of low status 'true' family members versus vassal family members is blurred at best, so you often see people just say Isawa Horonigai unless it's especially relevant - such as there's an actual Isawa in the room.

Okay, so let's we have a character who comes from the Doji family, took "Hitomi" as an ancestor's name when coming of age and has "Aki" as a personal name...

In what way would she be referred to at court or other samurai gatherings? How would her friends refer to her? And her family?

Help me out here, guys...

Alright, so, this person's legal name is now Doji Hitomi. I'm pretty sure it's possible to still refer to one by their childhood name, but this would, of course, very forward. If her name as a child was "Aki", then nobody will use this anymore.

In public, official settings, she would be referred to by Family name. "Doji", or usually "Doji-san" for politeness, but there's a big whole mess of honorifics which is a different conversation. In a private setting, friends might know her well enough to address as "Hitomi-san", but probably not drop the honorific. Family is the same, though they might utilize different honorifics (You can't really stop an elder brother from addressing her as Hitomi-chan, unless she somehow outranks him socially), or familial pronouns (the classic younger sibling referring to her as "onee-sama"). In settings of higher than normal formality, or of certain legal weight, her full name might be used, "Doji Hitomi-san" to single out that specific Doji over there. In a one-on-one setting with someone very close to her, they might just use "Hitomi".

So you're saying we're dealing with Doji Hitomi? If so, then the name "Aki" is superfluous; there might be a close personal friend, lover or confidant who calls her that, because it's some sort of nickname that has significance only to them, but that would only be in an intimate setting. However, I'm assuming her correct name is Doji Hitomi, and that's what she normally goes by.

Okay, so...

• if someone of equal or higher status was talking to her, and they didn't know her well, she would be "Doji Hitomi-san", or "Doji-san". If they did know her well, she could be "Hitomi-san" or, in a particularly informal setting, just "Hitomi". This would likely include her peers and friends;
• if someone of lower status was talking to her, she would be "Doji Hitomi-sama", "Doji-sama" or "Hitomi-sama";
• a lover may refer to her as "Hitomi-kun". Again, though, this would be an intimate form of address, really only used in an equally intimate setting. In a formal setting or in public, a lover would probably default to "Hitomi-san" (I'd note that, in actual Japanese use, -kun is actually more commonly used for male children, but the Rokugan setting has departed from this somewhat over time);
• her family, and particularly her parents and grandparents, may refer to her as "Hitomi-chan". Again, though, this is a very informal form of address, because "-chan" normally only applies to children. Family might get away with it, though, as long as Hitomi didn't mind. They may also simply call her Hitomi. In a formal setting, though, or in public, even parents and siblings would probably revert to "Hitomi-san" (again, in actual Japanese use, this is mainly used for young girls, or children generally...again, though, the use in the setting has departed from this somewhat);
• all of the above assumes that Hitomi is a pretty standard clan samurai, and not a lord, daimyo, Clan Champion, teacher at a dojo, etc. There are other honorifics generally used for those--"Hitomi-sama", "Hitomi-ue" or "Hitomi-sensei";

Finally, some of this comes down to context. For instance, if someone was going to try to deliberately, and somewhat egregiously insult Hitomi, they might refer to her as -kun or -chan, despite not being a lover or family member. This is especially harsh in public.

Now, if you go back through the history of the game's fiction (both the new FFG setting and the old AEG one), you'll probably find some inconsistencies in usage for some of these honorifics. But the above should be a pretty good guide.

As for a hint at where you get names from, obviously behind the name is good, but you could also go and look up a random unique card from the game and use their personal name. For example, when I first made my Dragonfly character, for 1E, before Way of the Minor Clans came out, I just shuffled and cut a pile of personality cards. I pulled out Iuchi Karasu, so have had Tonbo Karasu as a name for that character, and an online handle ever since.

Also, family names may vary if Doji Hitomi gets married off - whether her spouse becomes a Doji or she becomes a [whatever] depends on the specifics of a marriage contract but generally goes by social status.

The Doji have a habit of marrying into other families, though, which is why a noble court often has that elderly former Doji aunt or uncle in the corner, regardless of where you are in Rokugan, which is one less-obvious element of the huge social influence the Doji have.

12 hours ago, DGLaderoute said:

Finally, some of this comes down to context. For instance, if someone was going to try to deliberately, and somewhat egregiously insult Hitomi, they might refer to her as -kun or -chan, despite not being a lover or family member. This is especially harsh in public.

It's also sometimes relevant if she has multiple 'hats' because sometimes you may be wanting to address someone in a specific legal persona.

Akodo Toturi is the Lion Clan Champion (Akodo-ue) but as far as I can tell from examples so far, '-ue' is something like 'my Champion' - as in, a non-Lion wouldn't use it.

He's also the Akodo Daimyo (Akodo-dono) and theoretically you might want to speak to the family daimyo independently of the Clan Champion; addressing him by the perfectly valid but lower status title is a way of indicating you want to talk 'confidential family business' and can he please ask the Ikoma in the room to get lost....

Finally he's the Emerald Champion (I'm not sure if there is an appropriate suffix beyond the general-purpose '-Sama' - we've seen Agasha Sumiko referred to as 'Champion Sumiko' but not in 'rokugani', so '-ue' is possible but unconfirmed) and since that's an Imperial appointment which is not supposed to use it's influence play partisan politics between the clans*, then, especially if your grievance is with the Lion, you might specifically refer to him as Toturi-Sama; pointedly omitting his family name since you don't want to draw any attention to clan allegiance.

* (Honest)

Thanks for all the info!

One more names-related question: the rulebook says that the personal name is chosen to honor an ancestor - and it might be either the ancestor's name, or play on it in some manner. What would the latter approach be, exactly? How should I create such a name?

An example, roughly based on something I did for a test character (assuming Behind The Name didn't lie to me).

The ancestor is named "Yuuha" which contains the character for Excellence or Superiority and the character for flowers. Thus, the new samurai takes the name "Yuuka" which takes the same character for Superiority/Excellence, but changes the ending character to one which means something more like "blossom". Thus, they are thematically linked, but not identical.

14 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Finally he's the Emerald Champion (I'm not sure if there is an appropriate suffix beyond the general-purpose '-Sama' - we've seen Agasha Sumiko referred to as 'Champion Sumiko' but not in 'rokugani', so '-ue' is possible but unconfirmed) and since that's an Imperial appointment which is not supposed to use it's influence play partisan politics between the clans*, then, especially if your grievance is with the Lion, you might specifically refer to him as Toturi-Sama; pointedly omitting his family name since you don't want to draw any attention to clan allegiance.

* (Honest)

With the standard "Rokugan is not Japan" disclaimer...

'-kakka' is an honorific used for ministers, high-ranking bureaucracy officials, etc. I think it would be appropriate to use that for the Jeweled Champions, the Imperial Chancellor, Imperial Advisor, and those of similar position. It's what I've used in my game where an honorific was used instead of title.

As it happens, Agasha Sumiko features in the latest L5R fiction, "I Know What This Looks Like But It's Totally Not A Dragon Clan Coup, Honest" sorry "Two Swords Fall From Heaven" , but we've still only had her referred to as "Champion Sumiko"

When did Akodo Toturi become Emerald Champion? Last I heard (Beginner Box) the office was vacant and the contest/test/whatever to choose the next one was still being worked up.