Techniques and Rarity by Location

By Tenebrae, in Rules Questions

So, a few techniques (like the Yasuki Merchant) interact directly with item rarity.

Should this take into account TN Adjustments based on location (Core, p. 229)?

I think it should, but technically only the TN is modified, not the actual rarity.

I mean, what would the argument be for ignoring it?

Someone who's good at trading doesn't suddenly become incompetent somewhere else / an item that is effectively ubiquitous somewhere (because it's made there, say) doesn't become effectively super rare because it would be everywhere else, just because a competent trader is trying to sell it.

So I'd say count both.

2 hours ago, Myrion said:

I mean, what would the argument be for ignoring it?

That location only modifies TN, while the text technique calls out rarity.

And that could lead someone to argue that forging weapons/armor in a big city is easier than in a small village. Because again, the TN is rarity, and location modifies TN. Again, this wouldn't particularly bother me, but is it the rules?

3 hours ago, Tenebrae said:

That location only modifies TN, while the text technique calls out rarity.

And that could lead someone to argue that forging weapons/armor in a big city is easier than in a small village. Because again, the TN is rarity, and location modifies TN. Again, this wouldn't particularly bother me, but is it the rules?

Doesn't matter. Just decide how you think it makes sense, make sure your players are happy.

That's it, really.

This game is not about ruling details (can be? This is merely a suggestion that we find works well for us), it is about roleplay choices.

Edited by Avatar111

That seems sensible, if only because you'll have it easier to acquire all materials and find assistants and a forge that you could borrow for a few days.

1 hour ago, Myrion said:

That seems sensible, if only because you'll have it easier to acquire all materials and find assistants and a forge that you could borrow for a few days.

Excellent.

Okay....

Quote

Every item has a rarity, which affects how difficult it is for a samurai to acquire the item through requisition

Quote

As a downtime activity or during a narrative scene in which a character has access to a market, the character may make a Commerce (Water) check with a TN equal to the rarity of an item to find that item for sale.

So rarity is the starting point for the TN, but rarity of item =/= TN of check if other factors apply (such as a wounded water ring)*

  • So a rank 1 Ide Trader wants a Scimitar**, normally rarity 8.
  • Vendor of Strange Wares interacts directly with the rarity, making it rarity 7 (the same as a Katana).
  • Rarity is the starting point for the TN of a check.
  • Because they're in a major city, the TN is reduced by 3, but because the trader has a lightly wounded water ring (he's offering the gift as an apology for an insult which led to a duel?) it's increased by 1, for a net TN modifier of -2.
  • The TN of the check is therefore 5
  • The Ide passes - through some combination of rolling lots of 1521230551_ExplosiveSuccessSmall.png.2cc , assistance and a judiciously spent void point...
  • The Ide then presents the gift to its intended recipient, hoping to use it to patch over the insult.
  • Most Gift-Giving-based Shuji name-check the Rarity of the Item, not the TN of the check to acquire it.
  • The 'base' rarity is still 8
  • Vendor of Strange Wares interacts with the rarity, making it rarity 9.
  • Because the location, and the Ide's injury, affected the TN of the check to acquire it, not the underlying rarity, they don't matter here.
  • The insult is forgotten and all is well.
On ‎10‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 9:35 PM, Tenebrae said:

And that could lead someone to argue that forging weapons/armor in a big city is easier than in a small village. Because again, the TN is rarity, and location modifies TN. Again, this wouldn't particularly bother me, but is it the rules?

It's not just implied in the rules, it's explicitly called out as such. P148, "Crafting Weapons and Armour" sidebar:

Quote

The TN of this check is equal to the rarity of the item they wish to create, with a reduction to the difficulty based on the facilities available—the wondrous workshop used by the Kakita smiths would reduce the TN by 4, while a small town blacksmith’s facilities would provide a more modest reduction of 2.

Rarity of an item and TN to produce/buy/whatever are connected most of the time, but note carefully whether something affects one or the other because sometimes things work directly off rarity.

It's not a million miles away from the difference between the Deadliness of a weapon versus the Severity of the critical strike it causes. The two are normally the same.

But - for the sake of argument - if you use Iaijutsu Cut: Rising Blade, you "deal physical damage to the target equal to the weapon’s deadliness".

Razor-Edged allows you to " Treat the deadliness of this weapon as 1 higher per 1211841275_OpportunitySmall.png.acf41343 spent this way ", meaning it can be used to increase the damage done by Rising Blade. The Kakita School Ability, Way of the Crane, instead allows you to " increase...the severity of a critical strike you inflict by an amount up to your school rank " and cannot be used with Rising Blade, despite the superficial similarity of the effect.

* "Greetings Smith-San; have you any fine blades for sale forged in the Unicorn fashion." "Certainly Samurai-Sama, I....Sweet Merciful Kami WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?!?!?!?"

** I dunno. They want to make a non-too-subtle point about being Unicorn, not 'normal' Rokugani, I guess.

Edited by Magnus Grendel

Excellent!