Lovebird and Horse-Trader- Shiba Ryusei Q&A

[Shiba Ryusei]

Ryusei is largely a reskinning of a gempukku kid from a Naishou game, and it was interesting to note what remained from his prior incarnation (a fondness for board games and a tendency to overthink at times), what got dropped entirely (Naishou Gempukku Jiro/Ryusei was a much sneakier little guy, and also way more of a gym rat- Ryusei here was in the dojo, like... once all game), and what shapeshifted (some of that was retooling his background, but he also developed some angles like being much more overtly pious than a lot of my characters tend to be).


Questions,c omments, complaints, lat 'em on me!

[Fukurokujin]

Always glad to have you!

The romance plot is unusual for you, so far as I remember. What prompted it this time around?

[Shiba Ryusei]

The romance plot is unusual for you, so far as I remember. What prompted it this time around?

I actually had a bad habit of guys falling in love at Winter Court, head over heels for someone they just met Tonbo Taira and Isawa Taisho both did it. I actually made Daigotsu Yukari for WC 5 a borderline asexual and highly aromantic character to break the cycle!

But what happened here?

Ryusei was meant to be charming, and he was definitely meant to get himself married- that was always part of his marching orders, as Heir to House Shigi. He was NOT leaving Court without getting himself hitched, but Plan A was to be businesslike about it.

The romance was basically realizing that Yuna- a pious, book-loving go-appreciating absolute sweetheart- was genuinely like, his missing half. Ryusei's ideal woman. They fit. She's the eldest child from a House she cannot be heir to, with a distant (emotionally abusive) mother and loving father- he's the second-born wasn't-meant-to-be heir of a House with a loving mother and an emotionally abusive father. He's a bushi in need of a partner to help him restore his house's fortunes... she's a courtier with karo training and a lot of good ideas, someone optimisitc and full of possibility, which is what House Shigi under his father hasn't been.

It actually got hard to handle sometimes, because this poor nineteen year old guy was GONE for her. He got that first letter and thought "cool, she seems really nice," and he did consider looking into her as a marriage prospect in a more cold-blooded properly Rokugani fashion (luckily Yuna's an awesome fit that way too! Rich family, Dragon/Phoenix relations lacked much in the way of friction, she's a SOLID courtier, all of that).

And then he met her, and they just jived. I'd originally thought he might sometimes guiltily go, "and of course she's loaded, and I won;t lie and say that isn't a factor," but... it ended up really not being one for him She short-circuited his brain.

[Agasha Yuna]

1. Did Ryusei change much from concept to execution?

2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?

3. Biggest curveball Ryuei threw you?

4. PC you missed interacting with that you wish Ryusei had logged some time with?

5. NPC you wish you'd gotten to interact with more.

6. Biggest missed opportunity?

7. Who besides Yuna was Ryusei's favorite PC to talk to?

8. Coolest moment for Ryusei this game?

[Shiba Ryusei]

1. Did Ryusei change much from concept to execution?

Yuna made him less cerebral than he was originally going to be.

And in-game, thinking of her made him less politically ruthless than the situation might have called for- not so much a change in concept as a shift in direction.

2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?

Sakkaku!

More generally... we all played pretty nice in court. Often, positions weren't refuted, the opposition just pressed its own case. This also contributed to Ryusei being nicer as a politician than he might have been.

Oh, and, much love to my fellow Phoenix, but being kind of solo on most of the negotiations altered my playstyle a bit.

3. Biggest curveball Ryusei threw you?

He developed a mild... tension, i guess is the word, juggling his very real loyalty to his borderline inhuman Clan Champion with his more humane impulses. In addition, while his position of generally supporting rather than advancing business in court was kind of a function of a clan goal and delegation size, it actually came to sum him up rather well- Ryusei enjoys helping other people, on like,a visceral level. And while he was never rocking Insensitive, I'd originally seen him as more selfish/House Shigi-focused.

4. PC you missed interacting with that you wish Ryusei had logged some time with?

I think Jinkan could have been fun.Or Kiuchi. In general, he found the Lion PCs extremely weird (except for Kenji, Go-bros 4 lyfe!), the Crane basically seemed content to ignore his existence once we'd done the one deal, the Crab were cool and he actually chatted, if briefly, with just about all of them. But he could have done with more varied exposure to the Dragon and Scorpion. He and Eiji hit it off, and he's gaga for Yuna, but some more nuance to his takes on their clans might have arisen with more varied interactions.

5. NPC you wish you'd gotten to interact with more.

Ikoma Ryota. Ryusei actually has him as an Ally, and I would have liked to play with that some more. But as it was, I was buttonholing the GMs for Higashime every single day.

Honorable mention: Otomo Mariko

6. Biggest missed opportunity?

In some ways, Ryusei NAILED his actual opportunities... he's getting to marry for love, his House has better prospects than it's had in generations (Dat Crab Deal), and he wasn't really in a position to alter Higashime's actions (well, he could have fudged his research at the Ikoma Library, but he wouldn't ever do that, because he's a good, loyal samurai who values Truth and integrity), and Tomaru's candidacy is alive and well.

I could have thrown him into the fight to save Tatsuya, but by the time I was on and saw what was up, the attackers were damn near outnumbered

I guess I wish I'd had the gas in the tank for more non-deal-related subplots. As it was, he pretty much hung out with Yuna and conducted business, without much time for other things- he did chip in on some events, but with me hoarding my Void for Court, he wasn't really equipped to shine in any of them. I would have liked some more casual RP (he DID snag some with both Kenji and Ryoichi, though, and of course Eiji and Jihen). Or maybe some actual involvement in the Ningi or plague subplots.

7. Who besides Yuna was Ryusei's favorite PC to talk to?

Oh man, that's...

Probably a tie between Eiji and Ryoichi. It's no accident that the Phoenix did two deals with the Crab and the Scorpion. He found them easy to talk to, not uptight about choice of Wind, and focused on getting their clan needs met. He kinda hopes he can marry his sister to Ryoichi down the line

8. Coolest moment for Ryusei this game?

Hands down that first temple date with Yuna. Besides all of the things it set in motion, I just liked how we both wrote them in that scene. The way they ended up praying to just about every Fortune, partly because they of course should, partly because it was a socially acceptable way for them to spend time together.

[Soshi Eiji]

Director's Cut Question: Think back on the game as a whole. If you could go back, and add just one more scene with our characters in it, what would it be? What are they doing/talking about?

[Shiba Ryusei]

Director's Cut Question: Think back on the game as a whole. If you could go back, and add just one more scene with our characters in it, what would it be? What are they doing/talking about?

Getting drunk and singing songs Eiji knows because he was born Ikoma and Ryusei knows because his Mom was born an Ikoma. And maybe Ryota joins in because god knows that poor man needed a chance to let off some steam.

[Kitsu Sayomi]

So you got horses, huh? Sayomi's family might've been interested, but then Lady Shiba blew up the court, so that won't happen.

Do you think you'd bring Ryusei back to a future game?
If you could do anything differently in hindsight with him, what would it be?

[Shiba Ryusei]

So you got horses, huh? Sayomi's family might've been interested, but then Lady Shiba blew up the court, so that won't happen.

Figure of speech anyway

Do you think you'd bring Ryusei back to a future game?

If the fit is right! I like the guy, and I like his story so far, but he's also got precious little incentive to go risk his neck on an "adventure."

He's kind of a weird build, mechanically- a Bushi with Sage, Benten's Blessing, and more ranks in Courtier and Etiquette than any weapon skill except kenjutsu. He also has a lot on his plate because House Shigi kinda... sucks Future games would have to either reflect him doing some political work for the Phoenix or seeking ways to bolster his House- he's blissfully engaged and very much looking forward to married life, and working with Yuna to do some bold new things for his House.

He's going to want a breather before he shows up again- part of why I gave him two siblings, actually. I kinda want to keep working on House Shigi, and if playing Ryusei lets me do so usefully, awesome. But again, the fit needs to be right.

If you could do anything differently in hindsight with him, what would it be?

Mechanically, his build was actually reasonably solid for this game, but every point I spent on his kenjutsu, Battle, Commerce, Sailing, Jiujutsu, and Athletics might have been better spent on skills he ever actually rolled That 16 XP copuld have given him the 4 Awareness he might have enjoyed

In terms of how I played him... more mental bandwidth to do things besides work on trade deals. If not for Yuna, trade deals and weirdly pointed conversations would have summed up his entire Court experience. Some of his actions were dictated by my being by far the most active Phoenix player, so he couldn't do stuff like miss court- or spend actions in Court on things that didn't advance Phoenix interests, and that would remain out of my control, but I would have liked seeing him mix a bit more socially.

[Shiba Ryusei]

Oh yeah, nobody asked, but Wind-Related curtain-yank-

Ryusei is pro-Tomaru for reasons both IC-logical (nothing about this whole mess is logical XD) and emotional- but ultimately, he genuinely thinks ANY of the winds but Keihime could do a good job if given the right support, and kind of hopes they start getting together and discussing a colaition. It's part of why he almost never used the Refute action- even when people were slinging names around at the end.

(He also thinks Keihime would be competent, but let's say she crushes the Crane, has all the other Winds killed... who's next then? She's demonstrated incredible pettiness to go with her malice)