Campaign Premise

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This is a Succession Crisis campaign inspired by the Avalon Hill game Kingmaker. In that game, like in this campaign, the high nobility is largely inert, balancing itself against itself and acting fairly subtly, while the second layer of society (in the case of Rokugan, the buke class of samurai houses), finds new political combinations and decides the outcome.

This is the beginning, and possibly most traditional, game of this campaign. Future games will tend to be smaller and tell local stories that feed into the Succession crisis, sometimes in murky ways.

In developing this campaign, I've wanted to emphasize a couple of ideas and try a few new things. These are:

1) What is a Clan?: reducing stereotyping, creating different kinds of conflict.
2) Steel bound in silk
3) Making dueling more accessible
4) Public vs. Private Honor
5) Status and Social Position
6) Favors and Debts

[Cearnach]

L5r lore tends to present the clans as fairly cohesive both culturally and politically.

Culturally speaking, this has meant stereotyping, usually on the family level. Setting aside that this can lead to repetitive characterization and ruts in storytelling, the simple fact of the matter is that every clan is going to need thinkers, artists, hardscrabble warriors, friendly gents, rude dudes, and every other archetype you can think of. People are people, and while those archetypes may have slightly different flavors in some clans due to their schooling, schooling is only one part of forming a character.

We have not always played against type with NPCs in this game, but we are trying to chip away at the assumptions that have dogged the clans, hopefully making the Empire a slightly messier and more fun place to tell stories. Please, help us in this project by playing clans and characters outside of your norm. Bring new ideas (even if they're just small tweaks) to the old forms, and we'll see how that changes how we play the game. This will also mean that those of us who have very specific ideas about certain clans will need to make a special effort to understand what other people are trying to say or do with their characters. What will help this is if people are very up-front about their intentions--why this character in this way?

Politically, clan cohesion has meant that the Families (Matsu, Shiba, etc.) may disagree, but nearly all lower-ranking samurai defer to their Family Daimyo on most matters. This makes storytelling much easier (fewer characters to juggle, fewer names to remember), but it does not reflect reality. Societies are seldom that cohesive or deferential to central authority, and tensions have always existed between local, regional, and national issues. Each places demands on the individual, but the ones nearest to hand tend to rest foremost in the mind, particularly when news takes a few days to travel from place to place.

In order to draw attention to the way local and regional tensions impact "higher"-level politics, and to try something different in our l5r games, I decided it would be interesting to focus on the next level down from the Families--Houses.

Each house's political situation will require a different approach to the complex issues surrounding the succession, and will naturally create enemies and allies. Unless one's house borders directly on the lands of another clan, the principal enemies of a house will not likely be members of other clans, but rather your house's rivals for the favor of your Family Daimyo and Clan Champion, and for the resources your house requires to maintain its authority in its own lands. Where do those resources come from? Your own holdings, and the largesse of your Family Daimyo. Who are the rivals for your Daimyo's largesse? Well, they will most likely wear the same mon you do, and while you are expected to come together to send your clan's enemies packing when they show up, most of the time it's those guys in the castle down the road whom Lord Mirumoto sent the mighty steed that are gonna be on your list, because you know that you're on theirs.

[Cearnach]

There have only been 6 official inter-clan wars in the history of the Empire up to this point, 2 wars between the Lion and Phoenix, the Yasuki War in the reign of Hantei Fujiwa, one longer and one abortive Lion-Crane war (just one battle fought) and the much larger and more involved Crab-Dragon war in the reign of Hantei Yugozohime. It is unthinkable in this time period to have anything larger than a skirmish that is not sanctioned by the Emperor. To kill large numbers of another clan is to deny the Emperor his servants, and therefore can only be done with Imperial permission. Failure to seek the Emperor's permission for a large scale conflict might lead the Emperor to call in the Lion clan or the Imperial Legions to smash you.

Low-level conflict is expected, however, particularly between individuals or local lords and a few retainers, particularly where feuds and questions of honor are involved. These occur regularly, most commonly within individual clans. Because they are so localized, involve so few samurai, and are usually so brief, they need not be sanctioned by the Emperor. Imperial permission would need to be sought if a Family Daimyo or Champion wished to expand a conflict, however. Also, wise samurai give their superiors notice if they mean to settle a question of honor with their neighbor.

In practice, this will mean that the succession question will be decided by struggles (usually political, but sometimes violent) between the individual supporters of the contenders for the throne, while Champions and Family Daimyo have their military options restrained by law and custom. This will allow us to tell very different stories than we are used to, and make clan allegiance less of a barrier to collaboration than it might be otherwise, as factions will cut across clans, rather than be defined by them.

[Cearnach]

The other corollary is that dueling will be much more important in the absence of war. Duels, after all, don't need Imperial sanction, and your lords will be looking much more favorably upon them as ways to motivate bushi to remain skilled in case of a real war, Shadowlands incursion, or if those dastardly gaijin show up again, as well as to localize and resolve conflict at the individual level before things get out of hand.

That said, it is also the case that a duel is the final word on the question at hand in a very real sense. While individual duelists may well develop a professional rivalry, and while private animosities may fester, the public at large considers the question permanently resolved. Attempting to re-litigate the issue or pursue feuds based on a thing decided by a duel will be viewed most unfavorably by nearly everyone, and will result in infamy, and perhaps even Bad Reputation disadvantages.

That may sound heavy, but schools not traditionally involved in dueling need not fear, in that I have decided to try MS's suggestion of leveling the xp expenditure problems that separate bushi into duelists that avoid combat and bushi that fight but avoid dueling by eliminating the iaijutsu skill.

There is no Iaijutsu skill in this campaign. Kenjutsu is the skill for all swordplay, including duels. All emphases of iaijutsu (strike, focus, assessment) are now emphases of kenjutsu. Any school ability or kata that references iaijutsu now reads 'kenjutsu.' Schools that begin with both kenjutsu and iaijutsu now begin with kenjutsu 1 and a choice of any 1 High or Bugei skill. The rules for dueling remain otherwise unchanged; those things which can only be done or must never be done in a duel remain as they are.

The Mastery abilities for Kenjutsu now read:
Rank 3: +1k0 to damage, you may draw a katana or wakizashi as a free action.
Rank 5: During an Iaijutsu Duel, the character gains one Free Raise on his Iaijutsu (Focus) / Void roll during the Focus Stage.
Rank 7: Damage dice explode on a result of a 9 and 10 when using a sword

[Cearnach]

The (few) canon events set in the 5th century tend to reinforce Honor as a principal concept of Rokugani culture. Perhaps most interestingly, the Crab clan launch a rather quixotic war against the Dragon and Lion clans over a point of honor. If that doesn't sound much like the Crab clan, I think that's because later centuries, particularly those years covered in most detail, like to use Crab pragmatism to counterbalance the sometimes rigid (though not always cartoonish) portrayals of the Lion and Crane. Part of what draws my attention to this time period, though, is that it takes place one (almost two) generations after the termination of the Gozoku conspiracy. There would have been a concerted effort on the part of the Imperial machine to reinforce the purity of the cultural discourse that underpins Imperial authority. Foremost among these is Bushido, which provides the Emperor with a means of controlling (to a degree) violence within the Empire. In a realm where a good proportion of the subject peoples not only can, but generally do, carry weapons everywhere they go and totally undermined your grandfather's ability to rule, that's pretty important stuff.

But ideas are hard to kill. Just as the Gozoku could not entirely extirpate the nobility of the Hantei, the Otomo cannot stamp out the questions that the lengthy period of de facto Gozoku rule poses. Who is my lord? To what degree do I owe my lord deference? Should I step in and save my lord from himself? What do we do with a bad lord? If a paragon of Bushido like Doji Raigu or Shiba Gaijushuko can be so publicly honorable, and yet make great compromises on their honor in private, who else is making such compromises?

That creates an interesting set of tensions that seem to me to be worth exploring. While the current vogue is for samurai to expect--to insist upon--public displays of honor, each samurai must ultimately wrestle with the degree to which their public performance of Bushido is sincere, or merely serving to advance their interests. Likewise, it is for each samurai to wonder whether their lords--or the Imperial Successors--are wrestling with these same questions.

Some social mechanics having to do with Public Honor follow. Please note that these rules are rules pertaining to Public honor, and consequently do not apply to private conversations unless and until they are made public.

1) If a person slights you in public and you are 1 Influence (or 2 Status) rank(s) above them, equal to them, or lower than them, the expectation is that you will address the slight. If you fail to do so, it will cost you honor to the tune of a minor breach of etiquette. Depending on the nature of the slight, you may also see it repeated in the Rumors section. If it gets traction (is repeated in the Rumors section 3 times over at least 2 days by your enemies without being addressed by you), you may end up with a Bad Reputation disadvantage. A public retraction or apology will end this process and restore your honor. A duel will also resolve the question entirely, either restoring your honor or giving the Bad Reputation disadvantage. Mentioning the issue after a retraction, apology, or duel is a Major Breach of Etiquette, unless the duel resulted in a Bad Reputation, in which case the reputation is plain fact and can be repeated (but try not to be tiresome or rude).

2) Public Honor and Punching Down: From time to time, a person of low Influence or Status irks someone of high influence or status and bad things can ensue. It is a major breach of etiquette to publicly slight someone 3 ranks of status or influence higher than yourself. But what about them? Can they just strike at you with impunity? Strictly speaking, yes. But it constitutes a public failure of Compassion and will result in honor loss and, if the Rumors start to fly, could lead to a Bad Reputation. So, in that sense, there are consequences for bad behavior for everyone. It just takes a little longer if you've got social padding.

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There are two ways to attain Status in the Empire: the meritocratic awarding of office or military rank, called Status, and the relative position of your bloodline within your clan, called Influence. A Family Daimyo or Clan Champion sits at the top of both of these strata. Influence does not mean that you can issue orders to a military officer or refuse a duel. It does mean, however, that there are expectations of cultural and social deference to a high-influence individual. It is a softer form of nobility, which will eventually be broken down and lost as the Empire grows more violent and more openly acknowledges the power of money in future centuries.

To make this clear, this campaign will split Status into two ranking systems. There will be the merit- or politics-based Status that we all know and love, which will operate exactly as before. Buying the Social Position advantage will still affect only Status. Remember, your Status only allows you to command people in your organization. Not all status 4s are equal. Also, carefully read the Public Honor business above; the thresholds at which you will be allowed to ignore people of lower Status may have changed from their familiar levels, and it is less likely that you will be able to treat them poorly with impunity due to the strengthened Rumor Mill.

Then there will be an Influence ranking for each character. This will serve as a reminder of the relative Influence of the family that sits behind you and supports your actions. Again, it does not necessarily mean that you can command those of lesser Influence, but it can determine your ability to access powerful individuals more easily or have an effect (generally positive, but occasionally negative) on events in-game. Influence is derived from your house Influence stat, and does not carry an experience cost, but it can rise or fall as your family's fortunes shift.

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Keep track of favors done for other samurai, and favors done for you. Keep track also (this is particularly important) of favors done, gifts given, and deals made at the clan level. Reciprocity is a cardinal rule of Rokugani society. People who fail to return favors or pay debts suffer shame personally and severe social stigma in public settings.

Favors, gifts, and deals done on the clan level and recognized by superiors will be repaid, if not by some in-character deal (please link your post discussing and/or promising a repayment of a favor, gift, or other boon in your pf. If there is no link, I won't be able to find it, and I won't have time to look for it), then through a poll in your clan or faction pf. Your daimyo--all of them--take these things very seriously.