Hey! I’ve always liked how LOT5R plays, and I really love japanese history, especially the eras like the Boshin war period, the Genpei War, the Mongol Invasion of Japan and of course the Sengoku Jidai.

Thus, i was wondering if anyone was interested in playing such a campaign, but LOT5R style?

For eg, a campaign idea i had in mind was a “Mongol” invasion of rokugan, and a good friend of mine who helps me a lot, @Magnus Grendel informed me that the “mongols” can be the Yobanjin, bordering the Phoenix lands.

so i was thinking what if there was a campaign similar to the Invasion of Tsushima Island(yes Ghost Of Tsushima inspired), where the Yobanjin invade a small Phoenix “outpost”/mini-city and overwhelm it. A messenger was sent out by the leader of this outpost, but no one is sure if he/she made it in time to the Imperial Capital to inform the Emperor of the invasion.

Thus, PCs are basically fighting for their survival in this now conquered area, unable to leave. They thus band together to try and push back the Yobanjin forces from spreading, trying to hold them off so the reinforcements can come.

and of course not only Phoenix PCs are allowed, as its perfectly plausible for othe clan samurai to be in Phoenix lands(for eg arranged marriage, diplomatic envoy blah blah).

Thus I was wondering if anyone here is interested to play such a campaign?

sadly i won’t be able to GM, as i definitely do not understand the system enough to GM, but I’ll be the first person to sign up to play so if anyone sees this and is willing to gm, i would be really grateful!

I'd be up for playing but I'm in the same boat as a GM.

Sounds interesting. My main warning in drawing too close a parallel:

• The Yobanjin are L5R's stand-in for "generic steppe tribe", be they Mongols, Scythians or Huns, but one thing they're explicitly not is unified or organised: there is no Kublai Khan equivalent, and they definitely lack the resources and technology of a Khanate with control of Korea and China.
• The Phoenix clan may be dealing with the elemental imbalance but are otherwise well provisioned with extremely unconventional weapons they wouldn't hesitate to deploy in control of the clan's lands.
• Rokugani military tactics are a lot closer to post-invasion than pre-invasion Japan, with large organised infantry blocks and a preference for but not insistence on formal one-on-one duels.

The main thing I would suggest is therefore a slight shift of setting and scale:

• "our province is overrun by smelly northern barbarians" is fine, but either have it as a minor Phoenix family sending for aid from the clan proper at Kyuden Isawa, or use the Firefly minor clan , as that's almost exactly what they're there for.
• It's also a lot more realistic that a minor clan might get overwhelmed before reinforcements arrive.
• Being a non-firefly samurai (since the clan has no rules at the moment) in the province would also explain why the PCs weren't in the (now dead) front line.

I'm not inherently opposed to running it but I'll have to have a good think about the plot.

Ah i see. Yes that does make more sense! (This shows how much lore knowledge i can rmb frm rokugan 😧 )

having a minor clan overrun does sound like tsushima getting over run, it is a small island too, so it fits

maybe an idea for the yobanjin could be a homebrew leader who united the yobanjin, though he/she won’t exactly be in the campaign till the PCs maybe grow in the rebellion and the leader has to directly lead them

though maybe it may not have to be “mongols” per say. I’ve also always been interested in a “viking” invasion or a “european” invasion(eg knights) or something.

By the way, there are lots of historical sources one can consult for inspiration. Especially cool is a translation of a scroll depicting the response of a particular vassal, Takezaki Suenaga. I've used this book numerous times in my classes and students love it, since it's mostly just images. But it could serve as a hook for how players get involved: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Need-Divine-Intervention-Invasions/dp/188544513X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=in+little+need+of+divine+intervention&qid=1590583292&sr=8-1

If you want to create a new Minor Clan I will suggest Path of Waves. It has rules to create your own schools.

Thanks on the tip of In Little Need of Divine Intervention, I’m thinking of getting a copy myself.

8 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Sounds interesting. My main warning in drawing too close a parallel:

• The Yobanjin are L5R's stand-in for "generic steppe tribe", be they Mongols, Scythians or Huns, but one thing they're explicitly not is unified or organised: there is no Kublai Khan equivalent, and they definitely lack the resources and technology of a Khanate with control of Korea and China.
• The Phoenix clan may be dealing with the elemental imbalance but are otherwise well provisioned with extremely unconventional weapons they wouldn't hesitate to deploy in control of the clan's lands.
• Rokugani military tactics are a lot closer to post-invasion than pre-invasion Japan, with large organised infantry blocks and a preference for but not insistence on formal one-on-one duels.

Yes, the Huns, Scythians, or even some of the native tribes of Russian Far East such as the Yakuts, Buryats, Kamchatkan, Ainu, Evenks, Nivkh, or Oroks just to name a few.

As for the Mongolians, that would be the Ujiks. It has been stated in several places that Shinjo Altansarnai is the "Khan of Khans". Then the book "Across the Burning Sands" mentions Shinjo Khulan Khan.

To the OP, I would suggest looking at the history of Sakhalin Island and how Koreans, Japanese, Russians, and Chinese historically contested control of that area. Might help give some inspiration.

“Shinjo Altansarnai is the "Khan of Khans". Then the book "Across the Burning Sands" mentions Shinjo Khulan Khan.”

This gives me goosebumps! 😍 🥰 🥳 🤩

I will love to play in an all Unicorn Campaign now!

15 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Sounds interesting. My main warning in drawing too close a parallel:

• The Yobanjin are L5R's stand-in for "generic steppe tribe", be they Mongols, Scythians or Huns, but one thing they're explicitly not is unified or organised: there is no Kublai Khan equivalent , and they definitely lack the resources and technology of a Khanate with control of Korea and China. [emphasis added]

Until there was.

My Dawn of the Empire setting definitely approaches the northern tribes in a much different way. My players never got the the chance to meet The Northern Emperor and his Five Element Disciples.

Edit to add: well dang, maybe I should consider adapting this and offering to run this Pbp game... files the thought away

Plus, for those interested in intrigue heavy games, such a scenario offers ample opportunities for negotiations and intrigue as well, just as happened in history with the Japanese executing envoys and the like. The same kinds of things happened leading up to Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea where he killed one of his own envoys for offending the Korean diplomats.

I see, thanks for the input everyone! Seems like there is quite a bit of interest! now we just need a gm XD

4 hours ago, Masakiyo said:

Plus, for those interested in intrigue heavy games, such a scenario offers ample opportunities for negotiations and intrigue as well, just as happened in history with the Japanese executing envoys and the like. The same kinds of things happened leading up to Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea where he killed one of his own envoys for offending the Korean diplomats.

Yup i agree! I was thinking after all, not all samurai have to fight... some can try to negotiate with the invaders, for them to leave for riches or resources maybe...? 🤔

Getting other 'neutrals' to help seems as likely: the Lion may be the right hand of the Emperor but asking them for help against some barbarian invaders didn't go so well for the Ki-Rin.

@Nheko - I agree the Unicorn is a lot closer to the classical Khanate, but they're on the other side of Rokugan and (at least nominally) on your side.

As said, I'd be happy to either GM or help. The key will be figuring out scale and setting - unless you plan on upending the entire empire into a war, it needs to be one where a local fight can happen without Imperial legions or the combined army of a great clan don't rock up and say "yeah....you're done".

Will throw some ideas around with @Von3679 and come up with a rough script.

Let me know what you guys come up with. If we can find a happy medium between something I'm interested in running and something others are interested in playing, I'll throw my hat in to GM. It would certainly start as a Winter Court game pre-invasion for the plans I had for my Dawn game (and would be set in the Dawn/Shining Prince era, roughly 5 years after the Day of Thunder).

19 minutes ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Let me know what you guys come up with. If we can find a happy medium between something I'm interested in running and something others are interested in playing, I'll throw my hat in to GM. It would certainly start as a Winter Court game pre-invasion for the plans I had for my Dawn game (and would be set in the Dawn/Shining Prince era, roughly 5 years after the Day of Thunder).

If @Von3679 would rather play and hence not know the story, we can compare notes instead.

The storyline certainly sounds cool. It is a very different Rokugan - the Ki-Rin have literally just left and are still sort of in contact, minor clans are not yet a thing, and the clans and families are changing hands for the first time. It's all very optimistic but uncertain at the same time...

4 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

The storyline certainly sounds cool. It is a very different Rokugan - the Ki-Rin have literally just left and are still sort of in contact, minor clans are not yet a thing, and the clans and families are changing hands for the first time. It's all very optimistic but uncertain at the same time...

And with the recovery really beginning from the War, there's a reason it would take the armies longer to respond. Plus the Imperial Legions being reformed after half defected to follow the Warmaster after Akodo is formalizing the structure of being the Right Hand. The Shining Prince is probably really looking forward to the period of peace.

6 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

If @Von3679 would rather play and hence not know the story, we can compare notes instead.

The storyline certainly sounds cool. It is a very different Rokugan - the Ki-Rin have literally just left and are still sort of in contact, minor clans are not yet a thing, and the clans and families are changing hands for the first time. It's all very optimistic but uncertain at the same time...

Feel free to discuss without me! XD. I would like to be a player, so I don’t needa be in the story discussions if you don’t wish for me to be in them

Hey are you guys still planning on running this and possibly interested in an additional player?

8 hours ago, Hida Jitenno said:

And with the recovery really beginning from the War, there's a reason it would take the armies longer to respond. Plus the Imperial Legions being reformed after half defected to follow the Warmaster after Akodo is formalizing the structure of being the Right Hand. The Shining Prince is probably really looking forward to the period of peace.

Sounds good. I suggest we adjourn to a smoke-filled and shadowy drawing room* to conspire.

Help yourself to brandy, cigars and a maniacal cackle...

*By which I mean a PM thread.

Cant wait for the game to start!

18 hours ago, Ruffles240 said:

Hey are you guys still planning on running this and possibly interested in an additional player?

I'll talk with Magnus. I'd feel good with 4 players if I were running it alone, but if we're co-GMing, I'd like to get his thoughts on it as well.

If its PBP and you still have the space, I'd like to play as well.

Online play via Skype etc is probably out, seeing that I am in Germany and you guys are probably in the US, so you would play from my midnight to 4 AM...

I think PBP is probably easier. I'm in the UK, so chronologically a lot closer to @Harzerkatze

Yeah, I assumed it would be PBP, which would be good as well for learning the system a bit more from my perspective as a novice to 5e. I'm in the US, Central time zone.

Lol i’m in singapore, gmt+8 XDDD.

And yeap, pbp is best! I cant do voice too so XD