You are probably familiar with one of those games were one person says something and the next person needs to use that info and add something new to that, and this continues until everyone is bored or can't remember all the mentioned items. Let us play such a game, but now we will work together to create an adventure for the Deer clan. The person who reply to this post must add to the adventure and the next reply must add to what has been provide by the previous posts, et cetera . So far the only information about this clan can be found in Courts of Stone, so lets change that. This is your chance to influence the unofficial canon of L5R. I'll let this game run until the end of February, after that I'll compile the stuff into an adventure, a black and white PDF, within two months and post the result into this thread.

I'll start the info for the adventure:
In the village called Pine Tree Spirit, whenever a new village chief needs to be chosen, the Shika Matchmaker comes by for a visit. The matchmakers determines which villager is the best match for a marriage between the villager and the kami living inside the huge pine tree in the village center. That villager becomes the village chief after the marriage.

Things to consider or use:

• Does the matchmaker truly look for a match between a human and a kami, or does the matchmaker uses the villagers superstition?
• How does the choice of the matchmaker influences the fate of the village as a whole?
• What contribution can the PC offer in this scenario?
• The Deer clans idea of balance is when two parties are equally strong and no direct confrontation can break out.
• Their speardancers assassinate assassins if the target death would mean upset the balance in the Deer clans vision.

Thoughts to throw into the adventure:

• Pine Tree Spirit Village has a long-standing tradition of the 'marriage' of the village chief to the pine tree's kami. The tradition began centuries ago after the Kami's blessing protected the heimin of the village from the malevolence of a kansen that had plagued their crops and their children.
• The 'marriage' is tied to the kami's spiritual authority over the region and it's 'right' to 'forbid' the kansen's return, in a bargain struck between the kami and the kami's first 'spouse'. This detail of the legend has, naturally, been forgotten - and no-one in generations has been able to commune clearly enough with the kami for it to remind them.
• The matter is normally settled without outside interference, but the child of the previous 'spouse' was clearly rejected. The reason is unclear to the village.
• The clan in whose territory Pine Tree Spirit Village lies has asked the Shika to intercede - the longer the matter is unresolved, the more unrest there will be amongst the heimin of the region.

People and lurkers alike, don't be afraid to contribute to the thread, even small contributions can be fun. For example, what is the matchmakers name and gender? What is the name and gender of heimin who is going to marry the kami? In which clan territory does the village lie?

On that note:

• This particular matchmaker always carries exactly 6 koku, not a zeni more. Those koku doesn't necessary have to be only koku coins, most often this person carries bu and zeni coins, but the sum is always 6 koku when they are on a mission.

So don't be afraid to add, just throw in something small like I did. Come up with a reason why the matchmaker always carries the same amount of money with them. If almost nobody is adding, then that PDF will be very thin and not really an adventure 🙁 . My own goal with this, is to have an adventure that takes around one session to complete, just something small and fun, to throw into your campaign 😁 . We could make it a module, a clan territory neutral setting, but that will depend on your contributions 😉 .

On 12/27/2019 at 11:33 AM, Magnus Grendel said:

The clan in whose territory Pine Tree Spirit Village lies has asked the Shika to intercede - the longer the matter is unresolved, the more unrest there will be amongst the heimin of the region.

• While the clan may want this unrest resolved rather sooner than later, for a special reason which keeps a fine balance between clan parties, does the Deer clan have a interest in keeping this matter unsolved for as long as possible.

Okay, let's have belligerents in this conflict:

• Kenichi is a samurai assigned to Pine Tree Spirit Village not long ago. He was a true (born) ronin but he swore fealty to the local lord after an undisclosed event. He was then sent to oversee the village in his new lord's name. He arrived some time before the village chief's death and he had his choice of new village chief before the villagers showed up with their tradition. He was not happy and felt the villagers were trying to undermine his authority. He let it slide because he did not want to smirch himself a few days into his assignment but he is still not happy. Kenichi is a stereotypical ronin, veteran of the roads, with a pragmatic and no-nonsense attitude but also a keen awareness of his situation. He thinks the villagers are just BSing him with the tradition and want to circumvent his person regarding the new village chief via the newly arriving Shika Matchmaker who he thinks is in bed with the villagers. Kenichi pinpointed three villagers (one of them is listed below) as the masterminds behind the whole ordeal and is all too willing to shorten them by a head if not for...
• Shoda is a monk of the Order of Osano-Wo. The order sends a representative to the "marriage" ceremony due to a past even where one of their wandering sohei saved the pine tree from some bandits. Their monk acts as a kind of guardian, ensuing that the ceremony goes off without a hitch. Shoda is a retired samurai, originally called Hida Taki, an old and grumpy bushi, a veteran of the Kaiu Wall. He arrived to the village and immediately recognized that Kenichi must go and stay gone. He is not a fan of the Shika Matchmaker either. He thinks these two interlopers pissed off the kami, and the first "spouse" getting rejected is an evidence for him that the kami is getting very angry. He would have Kenichi eat his bisento and tell the Shika to dust off if not for...
• Tae is... uhm... she is a pretty young woman and... uh... let's say it out loud, she is (was) a prostitute. As a hinin she was despised by the rest of the village but the key word here is "was". After the death of the last village chief something happened with her and she became a completely different person. She no longer accepts customers and acts like she never did the "craft" before. When Kenichi tried to dismiss the tradition Tae stood up against him, a hinin of all people defending the ceremony against a samurai in front of the entire village. She gave an inspiring speech about the importance of tradition, prompting some more villagers to step forward, so Kenichi broke her nose but then cut his losses and left the scene. The same night a brutish man called Mareo, who is trying to make himself into Kenichi's enforcer, assaulted Tae but ended up with two broken arms for his efforts. This marked Tae's ascension into a status of the de-facto village chief and master of ceremony as the villagers now firmly believe that she was empowered by the kami itself to protect the tradition. She is now bossing around people and acts as the actual village chief, taking over the chief's house and everything. She is not bothered with seeing the ceremony through, tho, and that makes her suspicious in Shoda's eyes.

So Kenichi wants the "marriage" to not happen. Shoda wants it to happen. What Tae actually wants is a mystery.

Mareo has misled Kenichi as to who broke his arms, because he's not sure he believes it himself.

He hasn't lied to the samurai - he's just smart enough to know how bad an idea that would be - but he's been vague in his explanation and allowed his master to assume that it was a mob of angry heimin.

It wasn't.

• The previous village chief was called Heizo and normally it takes some weeks for him to trust newcomers, but with the arrival of Kenichi he didn't have enough time before he past away. While Heizo wouldn't have dared to show his distrust towards the samurai, the villagers know him well enough to recognize it and they find that the dead of their chief to be very suspicious. They will not discuss their concerns with a samurai PC, however they may be willing to do so with a friendly ronin/peasant PC.
• The elemental unbalance has caused some of their fruit trees to grow extra large fruits. Some villagers have attributed this as a sign that the arrival of Kenichi might be a good sign, maybe he should be the spoke person for the kami, to choose the new partner and village chief. Mareo is such a believer.

• It has come to the attention of Kenichi's lord that close to the village a rare and valuable species of bamboo is growing. While it may be for most samurai be virtues to not focus how to make money, a lord that could use this extra bit to cover the maintenance cost of his castle walls. The potential unrest caused by the Pine Tree Spirit Village would delays the bamboo harvesting, therefore the lord hopes that Kenichi can speed up this "silly" tradition of the village. It may be peaceful times for the clan at the moment, but the danger of war has already been creeping in other parts of Rokugan. The lord knows that a good maintained wall will make the difference between keeping the castle in his hands or in his neighbours.
• The matchmakers name is Shika Satomi, she is around 30 years old and has the nickname of the Broken-Heart matchmaker. She has had two marriages, but her husbands always came to a tragic end. Now her clan members think that she has a curse and therefore no one is willing to marry her anymore. A TN 3 sentiment (Fire/Air) will show the PCs that she is spending more time with females than with males when talking. Because of her marriage history, she has lost fate in the believe of true love, a fundamental believe of her clan. Though she tries to hide this from any Deer clan PC. Some cruel Deer clan courtiers has named her For-Ever-Widow behind her back. A Deer clan PC and Kenichi through his lord are familiar with her nicknames. She carries precise 6 koku, because 6 is her lucky number, something she wished she had discovered while she was married. When a Deer clan PC wants to discuss certain sensitive topic with Satomi while villagers or other samurai might hear them, she might say "I sense a small antler, maybe we should wait until we can sense the big antler".

I forgot to ask, but the people who have and the people who are going to contribute, which name do you want to display in the credits of the adventure? If you do not specify, I'll use your name displayed on the forum. So don't worry, anyone who contribute, doesn't matter how small, will be credited 😁 .

Mitsu, the first "spouse" offered, was Hiezo's older son. He is no samurai, but is a good enough man to feel ashamed that the Kami rejected him. He attended the ceremony, spoke the words, with the monk Shoda, the whole village, and (clearly reluctantly) the new samurai Master Kenichi looking on, and.....nothing happened.

Master Kenichi was dismissive enough of the whole ceremony, and wasting his time has enraged him. Mitsu is convinced he has somehow failed, either by a mistake in the ceremony or because he is somehow unworthy, and expects to be punished by execution. He doesn't understand why it didn't happen immediately - he's seen enough brutal punishments of heimin by samurai.

He dislikes Tae for three reasons - she is usurping both his father's position and the one he was told he should take, she is his social lesser and given her (former) profession should be an outcast, and she is a beautiful young woman who he struggles to suppress feelings for, which makes any attempt to confront her a confusing mess.

• Shika Satomi's first husband was a clans yoriki and rumor was it that in the near future the man would be a magistrate himself. But after one year of marriage, he broke his neck when he fell from the stairs in Kyuden Shika. Satomi's second husband was a simple jisamurai and had often been a yojimbo for merchants caravan going through Deer clan territory. He also liked to taste "samples" of the eatable good, but one day the good were walnuts and unbeknownst to him, he has a nut allergy (not that this is common knowledge in Rokugan) and the "sample" had killed him.
• The village is starting to get big enough that the term village may not be proper enough more. Therefore Kenichi has enjoyed a house fit for his status and when Shoda first visited he was placed in the guest house, attached to Kenichi's building. When the matchmaker showed up, Shoda had to move, as he had the lowest status of the three. Seeing what had happened at the ceremony, were Mitsu wasn't chosen, he couldn't be happier (though he doesn't show it, that would be impolite). Kenichi was worried when he had to break the news to Shoda, knowing his Crab background, but nothing happened and this left him puzzled. Maybe Kenichi though, are Shoda actions connected with the actions of the three masterminds.
• When the PCs get involved with the ceremony/village, they quickly discover that they have to choose sides. Either Shoda and Mitsu's side, they are trying together to understand why it didn't work the first time. Or Shika Satomi's side, trying to get a stalemate that no new village chief may be chosen soon. Or with Kenichi who is trying to figure out why the villagers are trying to fool him with this tradition. Or maybe they will join Tae in becoming the new chief and that her past can be forgiven when the kami makes their decision.

Let's talk about the Three Powers the belligerents (or the PCs) can recruit:

• Just outside of the village there is an Ashigaru farm inhabited by a vast Ashigaru family. The head of the family is Motonobu, a grizzled but deep-down very idealistic man who firmly believes in the good of the Heavens and the Empire. He also studied Bushido and is widely respected for the wisdom he earned from it. He is seconded by his younger brother Yoshinaka, who is a pale, impassionate man with a thousand yards stare that gazes into your soul. When called to arms, the family can produce 24 battle-hardened Ashigaru (17 men and 7 women) as well as 9 inexperienced Ashigaru (6 boys and 3 girls, all between 13 and 17 years old). The Ashigaru will then march to the pine tree in the village to receive the kami's blessing from the village chief and take their weapons from the chief's house. It is said that should the Ashigaru ever fight without the kami's blessing the entire family will be doomed to death, but as long as they have the blessing they have the strength of the pine tree and none of them shall fall with their yari in hand. They call themselves the Spears of the Pine Tree, and their yari has rows of spikes at the end resembling pine tree leaves. In the last ten years they were called to serve the local lord multiple times and fought in many battle (mostly small skirmishes with bandits but they participated in two major clashes too against rival lords).
• Koin owns the local workshop and he is the village's only craftsman. He makes and repairs tools for the villagers as well as runs a small carpentry business on the side. He is the richest man in the village and he is reaching the point where he can rely on employed labor rather than do the work himself. And that's good for him because he hates his craft. His house is the largest and he can extend considerable influence over the villagers. He has a sister but she left the village a long ago and became a palace servant at Kyuden Shika. Koin made big concessions (and now I mean BIG ones) to invite Shika Satomi to the village, hoping that she can end the growing unrest and thus return the peace Koin's business interests require. He and Mareo has some common history, as Koin's sister was originally arranged to marry Mareo, and when she unexpectedly left Koin leveraged his influence to make Mareo suck it up.
• Kami no Mizu ni Tobikomu (thank you Google Translate) is the kami of the small stream running next to the village. Despite being a minor kami, it is very active, and often manifests around its tiny shrine just outside of the village, taking the shape of a small dog made of water. It is very communicative, likes to chat a lot, and absolutely loves offerings. It knows a lot about the pine tree kami in the village and can contact it too on request, but prying out anything specific might be difficult for anyone but the wisest Shugenja.

Motonobu and his family has no great interest in the village's problems and they don't even know about the recent disturbance. This will not last for too long as both Kenichi and Tae have plans to get the support of the Ashigaru. Before Tae took over the village chief's house, Kenichi wisely moved all weapons to his house. Motonobu will not take sides unless specific circumstances arise, as he doesn't respect Kenichi enough to take orders from him and he is smart enough to see through Tae and realize that something is wrong with her. If the situation deteriorates, Motonobu will send 10 hardened Ashigaru and 5 inexperienced Ashigaru to the village to uphold the peace, under the command of Yoshinaka. All Ashigaru (including Yoshinaka) are loyal to Motonobu to a fault, and they are all family too.

Koin really just wants this mess to pass and life to return to normal again. He takes anyone's side for this end but he is not sharp enough for complex politics and does not have the guts for treachery and deception. His initial choice is of course Shika Satomi, he will do whatever she (or anyone in her retinue) says until a better option emerges. Kenichi sees Koin as one of the head conspirators because Mareo made Koin responsible for the mob that saved Tae. Koin knows about the bamboo and plans to exploit it in the near future. From his ronin past, Kenichi knows that messing with Koin is not a good idea... for the time being at least.

Kami no Mizu ni Tobikomu is the wildcard. It has the most potential as an ally but getting its support will be a challenge. It doesn't like Tae and will avoid talking about her if possible without giving any explanation. It likes Kenichi but the samurai is pretty dismissive about the kami and does not recognize its importance.

The bamboo grove is some distance from the village, on the opposite side to Kami no Mizu ni Tobikomu's stream, hidden in a narrow gully.

A PC able to pass a recall/Labour check will know that the specific variety of bamboo is particularly valuable because it is a preferred material for building temples and shrines.

Even a comparatively small grove growing close to an established settlement being unknown is unusual.

Anyone investigating the grove (aside from making Koin suspicious they're trying to cheat him) may realise the grove is not natural but at some point was artificially planted - the earth has been flattened and cleared of stones and gravel as thoroughly as any palace garden.

An active search of the grove (or a high vigilance character wandering through it) will turn up a pattern of glazed tiles of very old, carved pine-wood shallowly buried in the soil.

They are carved with a stylised thunderbolt that a successful scrutinise/culture check (or consulting Shoda) will be able to confirm is an archaic version of the symbol of the order of the fortune Osano-Wo. Shoda, if asked, will not know why this is the case.

A successful theorise/theology check might be able to determine the complete pattern of tiles resembles a ward covering the grove somewhat akin to Bind The Shadow.

Have been enjoying all the ideas so far, so lets keep this up 😁 .

• A long time ago, when the marriage tradition had only been done a couple of times, there was a girl the second child of the village chief, lets call her Kiwa (not that the kami's remember her name). One day she found (in her eyes) a beautiful piece of rock which she named Iwa-san. Iwa-san has a small and very faint kami inside it. The rock had been transported by the stream for a very long time and one day ended up in the waters of Kami no Mizu ni Tobikomu, where is was allowed to grow a little bit. When Kiwa had found Iwa-san she brought the rock atop of the villages sacred Pine tree, what can we say, she liked climbing. The villagers complaints and scolding never helped. Kiwa left Iwa-san there and every time that she climbed the tree she would talk to Iwa-san. At the beginning Pine Tree kami wasn't happy with the visitor on its branches, there even was a small fight, which Iwa-san would lose guaranteed, thus Iwa-san made a bargain with the Pine Tree kami. Now if you look up at the Pine Tree, you will see that a small part of its branches do not grow anymore and doesn't have leaves (allowing Iwa-san to get some sun light). A small portion of wood has grown around Iwa-san, preventing it from falling when there is a strong wind. For the first time when the tradition was installed, was not the first child of the 'spouse', but the second child Kiwa chosen as the new village chief. But the villagers have forgotten this.
• After the marriage ceremony with the Tree kami, the partner isn't allowed to marry again. To get children, the partner can find a mate among the villagers who hasn't been married. When the mate or partner get children from each other, and those children are seen as the 'real' children of the kami and the village chief. Before they become adults, it is said that they have the protection of their kami parent. Because the mate has children outside a marriage, they will often not marry.
• Heizo had children with a female named Amari, she lives in her parents house, which happens to be close to the village chief house. Amari has been allowed to play the mother role to her children by Heizo (not uncommon), but was never allowed to live in the chief's house, as they weren't officially married. Mitsu has a close relationship with his mom, even though he knows that she is his mom, he has to call her Amari-san. Amari father has past away some years ago and she is now taking care of her sick mother. Amari's mother has become sick recently and to the best knowledge available in the village, it is unclear what has caused her sickness. Amari has asked help from Shoda, he is looking into it what he can do. So far he only has guesses.
• Tae sleeps and lives in the community part of the village chiefs home. This has forced the children of Heizo to contain themselves only to the living courtiers of the building. Mitsu brother(s) and sister(s) think that he should kick her out, as he is now the head of the household.

• When the PCs first enter the village chiefs house, they will enter the community space of the house. But before they get in the building, they can hear voices, loud enough for them to listen too. In it they will hear a scene were in Mitsu (forced by his siblings) tries to kick Tae out of the house. As has stated before, he struggles to suppress his feelings for her, but as soon as Mitsu is trying to have this conversation with Tae, she uses her previous work experience to confuse Mitsu even more. At the end of the scene Mitsu he couldn't kick her out, he leaves the room.
• Tae previous work location, was the pleasure house named: Rising Moon. Tae is happy that she doesn't have to work there anymore, but the owner shares a different opinion.
• The shrine for Kami no Mizu is small, only one person can kneel before the shrine. The Pine Tree kami's shrine on the other hand is as big as a tea house, which sits before the pine tree itself. Because the ceremony hasn't been finished, the constructed podium before the shrine is still present.

The Rising Moon has some disturbing details concerning Tae:

• Tae's old room is in the attic. It is humble but orderly: a simple mattress, a large trunk, a shelf, and a wardrobe. The trunk has her personal items, all untouched. The shelf has various vials and herbs, a Medicine check against TN 3 (Air -1, Water +1) can tell that these are things for her craft: antiseptics, anti-fertility potions, and "enhancement elixirs". The wardrobe has her clothes, mostly vibrant pieces that show lots of skin. Characters can make a Design check against TN 3 (Earth +1, Void -1) to realize that the mattress and the clothes were used by a thinner and shorter woman that the Tae they saw. Also, it is at least suspicious that the room has been untouched for several days, even longer, meaning that Tae is using nothing from her past life at all.
• The mistress of the Rising Moon is an old lady called Usami. She is nothing special and thus deathly afraid of samurai. She will confess everything in the most detailed and honest way possible. Tae was young and pretty but untalented, so her customers were few but trusty. Only two are noteworthy: Goru is the youngest son of Koin, while Akanishi is Motonobu's nephew and one of the inexperienced Ashigaru in the farm. Tae's last customer was an unassuming woman, Usami had never seen her before or again, she can't even remember if she saw her leaving the Rising Moon, but the woman and Tae made lots of lewd noise, so they definitely enjoyed each other. Unfortunately, the room they had used were put into use shorty after, so no clues remained there. The next morning Tae changed completely, became stern and menacing, and almost killed Usami when she tried to put the girl back to her place. The two bouncers Usami let loose on Tae fared not much better. Usami gives a very colorful description of the fight. Characters can make a Martial Arts (Unarmed or Melee) check against TN 3 (Earth -1, Air +1) to recognize Tae's very liberate use of the Iron in the Mountains Style kata during the fight. After beating up the bouncers Tae left and hasn't returned since then. Usami keeps her room untouched out of fear.
• Goru is fat, friendly, and too spoiled to know he is just a poorly worded sentence away from death. He is fond of Tae, but he liked the old Tae better than the new Tae. He visited her almost weekly back when she was a prostitute and he hopes she goes back to work after this mess ends, because he kinda misses her. He also muses about how old Tae had a soft, girlish voice but the Pine Tree Kami's blessing made her voice deeper and harsher.
• Akanishi is a good reason to visit the Ashigaru farm and meet Motonobu. The boy is respectful and sincere, he has no secrets. He very much liked Tae but rarely could spare time to visit her, usually once in a month or so. He actually did not know that she was a prostitute and played with marrying her. He thought that Tae was a simple servant in the Rising Moon and she asked money from him because she was poorly paid by Usami. Revealing the truth about Tae clearly devastates the boy. Note that at his point nobody in the farm knows what happened in the village.

Kenichi knows about the room and Usami's story, and he doesn't like 'em at all. Shoda only suspects things. Mitsu knows a lot more he would be comfortable with, as he heard about Tae's new martial arts knowledge from the bouncers - part of the reason he wants to avoid confrontation with her is the fear of getting Iron in the Mountain'd (somebody like Mitsu would literally fold in half from that technique... it is a pretty advanced kata). Any time the characters witness Mitsu confronting Tae they see him staying well beyond arm's reach from her.

Here is my sketch of the village layout.

1. Village chief house
2. Pine Tree kami and its shrine
3. Koin's house and workshop
4. Hinin section
5. Inn for travellers called Pine Tree Inn
6. The Rising Moon
7. Bamboo grove
8. Ashigaru and their farms
9. Guest house
10. Samurai Kenichi's house
11. Amari's and her mothers house
12. Mareo's house
13. Were Shoda is staying
14. Kami no Mizu ni Tobikomu's shrine
15. Fruit tree garden.

Technical note: the map is very nice but I think the Ashigaru Farm, Kami no Mizu ni Tobikomu's Shrine, and the Bamboo Grove should be placed apart from the village and each other because they feel very important for the plot and the PCs should be facing choices when attempting to visit more than one of these places. I would put them in a big triangle, with the village in the center, and travel time between any of these four should be about 4-5 hours so it would take an entire 24-hours day to visit all four. I would also place the Ashigaru Farm in a more secluded location and Kami no Mizu ni Tobikomu's Shrine at the Travelers' route to balance them out accessibility-wise. Maybe Kenichi's house can be also moved more into the open because it is likely that a major confrontation will happen there and it will be easier to manage in the game if the nearby terrain is sparse.

These are all concerning the adventure game balance and not the plot .

2 hours ago, AtoMaki said:

These are all concerning the adventure game balance and not the plot .

I'm still a newbie to the RPG world, but could you teach me how this would help with balancing the game?

• The owner of the fruit garden is a female named Himeka. She is happy that the fruits are growing extra large this season. Her only concern is with her children, they don't seem to have 'green fingers', giving her worries that they will not find work when they are adults.

Next iteration of the sketch.

• Shika Satomi begins her investigation of who is the best match for the Pine Tree kami, with Goru. Her action has confused the villagers, why wouldn't she start with the children of Heizo, in particular with Mitsu. Satomi gave an excuse that Goru is actively looking for a mate (him visiting the Rising Moon), so he is trying to get married, even if he doesn't realize it.
• In the community hall of the chiefs house is a painting, made by a samurai ages ago stationed at the village. The samurai painted a huge pine tree (the one at the village center) and happy children beneath it. This painting refers to the kami's victory over the kansen, in an age were the villagers still remembered the history.
• Kami no Mizu can often be found at its shrine, but sometimes it likes to follow the stream toward the village and stop at the wider part of the stream, just above the bridge.
• Heizo's younger brother, Shigetaka went to the Rising Moon when he was younger, nowadays he is too busy with running his inn, the Pine Tree Inn. Because the potions are very expensive for the 'employees' of the Rising Moon, not everyone uses them at all times. Thus Shigetaka had a child at the pleasure house without him know. It was Tae and she was born on a quite and clear blue sky day, after weeks of rain and heavy winds. Tae mother saw it as a good sign, making her think that they child would be destined for great thing, even if her start would be as an employ of this pleasure house. Tae is one of those "Created for the pleasure houses" people as the other 'employees' would call it.
• The Tae that the PC now encounter is a merchant ninja, who had killed her. Her employer want to have control over the village, it is not clear to the ninja why the clients want this, but a huge sum of money as this much, is good money in her book. Because the client want to control position of village chief, it means that the client belongs to a different clan than that of Kenichi's lord. The whole kami blessing is a disguise for the ninja. The ninja isn't perfect in her disguise, as her voice and figure is a little bit off as noted before. Furthermore she has shown some advanced martial techniques for a hinin, but a perfect ninja could not be discovered by the PCs and then the GM is the only person who is familiar the truth. The ninja isn't familiar with the tiles found at the bamboo grove.
• When the real Tae was killed, she became a vengeful spirit. But became confused when she saw herself still alive. Now she is haunting the other villagers and the ghostly sightings are adding to the ninja Tae's mysticism after her speech in frond of Kenichi and the village.

15 hours ago, Kiso said:

I'm still a newbie to the RPG world, but could you teach me how this would help with balancing the game?

Sure. As I said before, distance will force the PCs to choose what powers they call in during the resolution rather than assemble everyone and potentially overwhelm the "final boss". It adds complexity to the adventure.

17 minutes ago, AtoMaki said:

Sure. As I said before, distance will force the PCs to choose what powers they call in during the resolution rather than assemble everyone and potentially overwhelm the "final boss". It adds complexity to the adventure.

Fair enough. I'll let the GM then decide the distance between those points in the final PDF. They can make it 10 minutes, half a hour, 4 hours or what ever they like. But 4 hours seems huge to me, I don't know about distances in Japan, but in 4 hours you have walked from one city center to another cities center in western Europe countries.

• The "enhancement elixirs" is a kind of make-up, but after years of using it subtle mark on the skin can be seen. Of course ninja Tae isn't aware of this and doesn't have those subtle skin marks.

• On the second day, if the PCs haven't solved the ceremony. A musician will arrive at the Inn in the afternoon, named Suzume Hajime. He wanted to start his music carrier at the Kyuden Shika, but was escorted out the place and he didn't knew why. The has a strong resentment for Deer clan members, thus when he hears about the Shika matchmaker in the village, he gets angry and wants to take vengeance for what had happened. He says things as Even a monk with a flute can get a bigger audience then me because of those Deers to the non-Deer PCs. Satomi doesn't know about Hajime nor has she heard of him, this obviously doesn't calm Hajime.

I have gathered all the ideas from this thread, added new ones and compiled them into one document . I did try to make it into a coherent work, this should make it much easier to come up with new ideas. There are two weeks left before I stop accepting contributions, so please come and post new contributions to this work 😄 . I will be looking forward to it. Maybe someone as Harzerkatze would like to design an interesting monster that has been bound by the tiles in the bamboo grove?

BTW, I'm not an artist, so please don't be to harsh on my figure 1.

I would like to thank the 20-30 people who keep viewing this thread with every post and aren't contributing. Hopefully you have already downloaded the attached document. Because of you, I feel like this thread is seeing less action then what is happening in vacuum (see Casimir effect).

Now for my new contribution.

• Depending on your preference, but when all members of the party (especially when they are wearing armour) are standing within range 2-3 of each other above the tiles (found at the bamboo grove), they can hear stone breaking and some of the power that was sealed within is escaping. Now if the PC only deal with the direct threat, the sealed power will slowly overnight change the bamboo plant around it into a yokai.

I had some ideas bouncing around and can't seem to work them into something useful, so I will drop them here in the hope someone could do that:

1. The imbalance seen at the east side of the villages is caused by the powers stored below the tiles leaking from the west side of the village.
2. The rare species of bamboo found above the tiles are planted by some maho-tsukai group. When the group (or the PC party) have broken the seal, some of the kansen that were sealed by the tiles, use the maho-tsukai as vessels to become Manifested Kansen.

Of course what has been sealed by the tiles doesn't have to be kansen, but it ties to the origin story of the marriage ceremony, and I'm unable to think of anything more creative.

Hmm..

• Feels like it should be an inverse of an equivalent Manifest Kami.
• Since it's been buried, and the bindings are based on the Fortune Osano-Wo, fortune of thunder and therefore a Fire/Air based elemental effect, an Earth Kansen feels like it makes the most sense. That would also tie in with the Pine Tree Kami being able to 'forbid' it entrance to the area through some sort of precedence; they would have to be spirits of the same element.

Manifest Kansen (Adversary) 7/6 (the higher social skills and possessing ability feels like it becomes a more dangerous intrigue opponent, but being stuck in a human host reduces its martial threat....a bit)

Earth - 6, Air - 1, Water - 2, Void - 1, Fire - 2 (as per the Manifest Earth Kami)

Endurance - 18 Composure - 6 (I've made it a bit stronger, but a bit less emotionally stable, than the generic Kami, which feels right)

Focus 3, Vigilance 3

Demeanour - Vengeful: Water TN+, Fire TN- (It's been imprisoned, after all, and it's probably angry about this)

Artisan 0, Martial 3, Scholar 3, Social 2, Trade 0 (Moved Artisan skills to Social for the whole 'nasty Kansen whispering in your ear' effect)

Advantage: Brutal (Earth, Martial, Social, Mental)

Disadvantage: Greedy (Water, Social, Trade, Mental)

Gear

Fists Like Stone : Range 0, Damage 6, Deadliness 2, Unholy, Deals Physical or Supernatural Damage (that's weaker than the Kami's normal fists because they're human hands, but still doing damage like a double-handed swing of a club!)

Disdain For Injury : Physical 5, Unholy

Abilities

Malevolent Spirit

A Manifest Kansen is an Otherworldly, Tainted Being of Silhouette 1. As a scheme action during a downtime scene it may spend a Void Point to possess any human NPC, and control that character's actions. It may not use this ability whilst being observed by any third party; the intended host must be alone. The possessed character may not use kiho or invocations (other than via the Living Maho ability) but otherwise may act normally and may be compelled to use any skills, techniques or personal knowledge on the Kansen's behalf. Whilst not possessing a host, it may not attack with Fists Like Stone.

If the Manifest Kansen or the host become compromised whilst the Manifest Kansen is possessing an NPC, it must make a command check with a TN equal to the Host's Focus or relinquish control and leave the host. If it succeeds, any character with Vigilance greater than the Manifest Kansen's bonus successes becomes aware the host's actions are being compelled.

Living Maho

Whilst possessing a host, once per scene as an action of the appropriate types, the Manifest Kansen may perform any one Earth invocation other than Rise, Earth or any one Maho technique. It counts as succeeding with 3 bonus successes and 2 .

Whilst the Manifest Kansen is not possessing a host, its presence is invisible unless a character succeeds at a Theology (Void) check with a TN equal to the Kansen's Vigilance, or until the Manifest Kansen performs an action other than Movement actions.

Throttling Roots

As an Attack and Scheme action, the Manifest Kansen may attack a character at range 0-3, thick, sharp bamboo shoots spearing from the ground to wind around, stab and strangle the target. The target must resist with a TN4 Fitness check (Air 2, Water 5) or suffer 5 physical damage and the Immobilised condition.

My proposal would be not a Kansen but an Akutenshi, the soul of a powerful Lost that escaped from Jigoku but was sealed under the bamboo grove by the Order of Osano-Wo in the battle mentioned above. However, Jigoku wants its Akutenshi back, and enlisted a minor kami (Iwa-san) to help with that. Unfortunately, after a perilous journey from the Wall, Iwa-san got stuck on the pine tree, just out of reach of the grove. Explaining the situation only riled up the Pine Tree Kami because it had no idea that some powers would actually try to break the seals and free the Akutenshi, so it started the tradition of choosing a "warden" who keeps stuff away from the grove, and it became the marriage ceremony of today.

After realizing that the Akutenshi is still not coming back, Jigoku sent a group of Kansen to help out Iwa-san. The Kansen bewitched a nearby lord to try to take the village, promising him the riches of the bamboo, then followed the ninja he sent and claimed Tae's death as a blood sacrifice to empower Iwa-san. The plan is to hijack the marriage ceremony and have Iwa-san possess some people to travel to the grove and do the ceremony that sends the Akutenshi back to Jigoku. Depending on the PC's choice this can be Kenichi or Ninja Tae (if PCs go along the marriage as these two will end up as the best choices) or all the Ashigaru (if the situation deteriorates and the Ashigaru family shows up to receive the Pine Tree Kami's blessing). Iwa-san was driven mad by the corrupting influence of its Kansen helpers, and will not immediately send the Akutenshi back to Jigoku but unleash him upon the village to destroy the whole place completely.

So the adventure would look like this:

• The PCs are assigned to escort Shika Satomi to Pine Tree Spirit Village and help her there with her task.
• After arriving to the village, Shika Satomi immediately sets out to measure up the situation and find a suitable match for the Pine Tree Kami. She will have the PCs do most of the work, allowing them to get orientated and learn most of the stuff mentioned earlier.
• The initial lead to the mystery is Tae. Satomi very specifically ask the PCs to not mess with her because it will disrupt the ceremony, but she also mentions that they should learn more about her. The PCs can find Tae's dead body by investigating the Rising Moon and its surroundings, encountering Ghost Tae and following her when she flees from them, or interrogating Akanishi in the Ashigaru Farm and not revealing that Tae was a prostitute (in this case Motonobu will organize a search and comb the nearby hills for the girl with his people, but he will not bother about a prostitute). The ninja discarded Tae's body in a gorge, it is already in an advanced stage of decay but it is clear that she was murdered. If Motonobu is there then he becomes majorly pissed as with Tae he lost a potential mother of many future Ashigaru, and it is a very deep insult for a man like him.
• Back in the village the PCs can confront Ninja Tae and Satomi will not be against it. In face of all the evidence Ninja Tae drops her mask, gloats over the PCs, verbally assaults Kenichi if he is present, but before things can go awry Satomi declares that Ninja Tae is now a candidate for marriage with the Pine Tree Kami.
• Around this point Shoda will ask the PCs to investigate the spiritual anomalies in the village like the oversized fruits and Ghost Tae. This will lead the characters to Kami no Mizu ni Tobikomu and they can commune with the kami to learn about Iwa-san. Kami no Mizu ni Tobikomu will ask the characters to clear the Kansen from the village. The Kansen are hiding in the fruit garden, and the oversized fruits are actually their "work". The PCs have to put the fruit garden to the torch, but the Kansen will turn villagers who ate the fruits into zombies to defend their hideout. Once the garden is turned into ash the Kansen will flee and leave the village permanently.
• Ghost Tae can be put to rest by banishing the Kansen and giving her a proper burial. Motonobu will do the latter if he is there when her body is found, but the PCs can also arrange for it. When put to rest, Ghost Tae will tell the PCs about the Akutenshi.
• After Ninja Tae reveals herself Kenichi asks the PCs to help him restore order by arranging an alliance of convenience with another player. The possible allies are Koin, Motonobu, Shoda, and Satomi.
• If Kenichi allies with Satomi then he will become the spouse. If he allies with Motonobu or the PCs do too much hassle with banishing the Kansen then the Ashigaru will come to receive the Pine Tree Kami's blessing. If Kenichi allies with Koin or Shoda then Ninja Tae becomes the spouse.
• Either way, someone gets possessed and the PCs must stop them before they reach the grove. If they are left out, then both the Ashigaru and Kami no Mizu ni Tobikomu can be rallied at this point to help. Kenichi and Shoda will automatically help if they are available. Ninja Tae must be persuaded to help.
• If the Akutenshi is freed then both him and the possessed will turn against the village. If Ghost Tae was not put to rest then the Akutenshi will summon her and forcibly turn her into a violent Goryo. At this point even Ninja Tae will fight alongside the PCs but chances of survival will be pretty darn low. Once the Akutenshi razes the village Iwa-san sends it back to Jigoku then the kami gets overwhelmed with the Tain and turns into a Kansen, corrupting the pine tree and turning the place into a tainted patch of land.
• If there is a fight, then the village will burn. Once the possession goes off, Iwa-san will immediately turn against the pine tree and torch it. Iwa-san will also turn some villagers into zombies. If the Kansen are still around then there will be lots of zombies. If the fight ends with the PC's victory then, as they leave the village, they will see that a small pine tree sprouts from the scorched ruins of the old one. If Kenichi survives the fight then he will abolish the marriage ceremony and make Mitsu into the village chief. If Ninja Tae survives then she will reveal herself to the villagers, mock them for being stupid peasants, then walk away.
• The PCs can purify Iwa-san or have Shoda do it, but they have to delay the marriage ceremony and generally keep a low profile. This is difficult because they have to banish the Kansen and lay Ghost Tae to rest too, otherwise Iwa-san cannot be purified. The purified Iwa-san can be then taken to the grove where it will send the Akutenshi back to Jigoku, thank the PCs for their help, then ask them to take its physical form back to the Wall. Shoda will do the latter anyway. Then the marriage ceremony can proceed without any hitch-up, with either Kenichi or Ninja Tae becoming the spouse. Freeing the Akutenshi will destroy the bamboo tho, and Ninja Tae will disappear a few days later as she grows bored of the village.
• Alternatively, the PCs can pry Iwa-san from the pine tree and then either just throw the kami away or hand it to Shoda. In this case, the Akutenshi remains sealed under the bamboo grove for good, and the marriage ceremony can proceed. The Kansen will give up on Iwa-san and return to Jigoku to report its failure. If Ninja Tae becomes the spouse then the rival lord will attack the village in the next few days but he will be soundly defeated - then Ninja Tae disappears and Mitsu quietly takes her place.
• Suzume Hajime is a wildcard, the PCs are free to handle him in creative ways or involve him for one reason or another. However, if he causes too much noise then Kenichi and/or Ninja Tae will take matters to their own hands and the ensuing chaos will likely trigger the Ashigaru intervention (the smaller one with Yoshinaka, but it can lead into the big one with the possession).