The young prideful Lion (Honoka Q&A)

[Ikoma Honoka]

I hit some RL busy points but game was fun and Honoka was a little bundle of overconfidence which was fun to play. Very rollercoastery.

Feel free to ask anything, pretty open book here!

[Akodo Kenji]

Team Lion

Thanks for being a good team player, I'm still amazed we got all the trading all done in the end.

[Shiba Ryusei]

A character I don't think Ryusei ever spoke a single word to Too busy canoodling with Yuna...

Please Fill Out Form Questions 1 through Turgid, and submit them in triplicate...

1. Did Honoka change much from concept to execution?

2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?

3. Biggest curveball Honoka threw you?

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

5. Honoka dueled a Clan Champ! What did that do for her head space?

6. Which NPC did she like the most?

7 Which NPC did she despise the most?

[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?

[Kitsu Sayomi]

Thanks for being Team Lion. We pulled through even when we thought there was no way we could get what we needed!

What's in Honoka's future after winter court is over?

[Doji Hikaru]

Honoka was a lot of fun to bounce HIkaru off of. I have no idea if there is ever a reason or opportunity to reprise, but I do wonder how things will/would play out down the line.

[Ikoma Honoka]

Team Lion

Thanks for being a good team player, I'm still amazed we got all the trading all done in the end.

I think you and Sayomi deserve the most praise, but I'm really happy we made it in the end! Team Lion best team

A character I don't think Ryusei ever spoke a single word to Too busy canoodling with Yuna...

Please Fill Out Form Questions 1 through Turgid, and submit them in triplicate...

Closest we came to interacting would have been if you'd jumped in to defend Yuna in a duel instead of the literal champion of hte Dragon also reeee questions!

1. Did Honoka change much from concept to execution?

Nope, she actually is the first pc of mine I can think of that was exactly how I imagined her from start to finish. A young overconfident kid that is good at what she does

2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?

The Dragon situation and duelling a clan champion easily. Honoka had goals but that was far beyond anything she'd expect

3. Biggest curveball Honoka threw you?

Nothing really, I don't think I was active or involved in enough things really

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

More than half the players but most of the Crane mainly. She'd fit in well there

5. Honoka dueled a Clan Champ! What did that do for her head space?

I made a joke on discord that if Honoka had won that I'd take a second overconfidence disadvantage but more seriously it did two things for her
1) Pushed up her overconfidence a little
2) Made her hate the Dragon. She's a lil too young to understand that the champ did what he did for her own good and instead views it as mocking her.

6. Which NPC did she like the most?

Noriko by a long way. She respects the woman quite a lot

7 Which NPC did she despise the most?

Togashi Mizohachi. He's going to be the reason Honoka likely ends up with HoV: Dragon

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?

Eiji was already one of the people Honoka most interacted with, I'm not sure there was anything else short of playing a game like Go or something

Thanks for being Team Lion. We pulled through even when we thought there was no way we could get what we needed!

What's in Honoka's future after winter court is over?

Team Lion let's gooo I'm so proud of the team, we pulled off the impossible and it only cost us 3 peace pacts and seven places in Lion schools

Honoka's future is likely pushing the Kamoshita forward, and more bad feelings on the Dragon after the duel

Honoka was a lot of fun to bounce HIkaru off of. I have no idea if there is ever a reason or opportunity to reprise, but I do wonder how things will/would play out down the line.

They were very similar! Except I think Hikaru has his sensibilities intact more, Honoka needs to have someone to stop her head getting much bigger

I don't think I'd ever bring Honoka back to a game simply because what she's supposed to be isn't actually possible with these rules (being a good duelist) without being Crane or Phoenix, but I'd love to see what she's like in a year or twos time at another winter court. Hopefully with me as a player being slightly more active

[Shiba Ryusei]

Closest we came to interacting would have been if you'd jumped in to defend Yuna in a duel instead of the literal champion of the Dragon

Woulda been a fairer fight, and Honoka *probably* would have won (Ryusei was decent with a sword and had Shiba void trickery, but wasn't built to duel), which I guess is reason enough for Togashi to step in and award her a kharmic strike in the most "this duel could have gone literally any way I wanted" way possible.

I don't think I'd ever bring Honoka back to a game simply because what she's supposed to be isn't actually possible with these rules (being a good duelist) without being Crane or Phoenix, but I'd love to see what she's like in a year or twos time at another winter court. Hopefully with me as a player being slightly more active

Dragon can also sorta hang with the Mirumoto static bonus at IR 2, but yes. In 4E, the tier list is:

Kakita
Miles and miles of open space.
Shiba
Mirumoto
Miles and miles of open space.
Literally anyone else who didn't find some Path to dip into that impacts a duel

And THIS game was nice, and didn't make Iai its own stupid XP tax on bushi.

[Ikoma Honoka]

Woulda been a fairer fight, and Honoka *probably* would have won (Ryusei was decent with a sword and had Shiba void trickery, but wasn't built to duel), which I guess is reason enough for Togashi to step in and award her a kharmic strike in the most "this duel could have gone literally any way I wanted" way possible.

There was a (relatively small) chance of Honoka winning on the assessment step if dice were nicer (as it was just one kept dice difference at that point), which would have meant instead of Togashi starting +20 and 2 more kept dice ahead the gap would have been a lot smaller. Then it's in the lap of Sakkaku. Togashi winning assessment made it absolutely impossible

Dragon can also sorta hang with the Mirumoto static bonus at IR 2, but yes. In 4E, the tier list is:

Kakita
Miles and miles of open space.
Shiba
Mirumoto
Miles and miles of open space.
Literally anyone else who didn't find some Path to dip into that impacts a duel

And THIS game was nice, and didn't make Iai its own stupid XP tax on bushi.

Gonna be a little controversial with this take, but the change to iai rolling it into kenjutsu actually made the gap between Kakita, Shiba and the rest even wider. Before now only a pure glass cannon Kakita duelist was gonna blast everyone away, and a normal Kakita likely is gonna win but not a huge gap. Now, with Kenjutsu and Iai combined, I don't think anyone can ever beat a Kakita or a Shiba in a duel except each other, because now neither one has to sacrifice anything and they'll always be at minimum +1k1 ahead of any other bushi - void 4 isn't exactly a *bad* thing either, so more than likely if they're gonna duel they'll just have awareness 4 void 4 kenjutsu 5 (with focus emphasis as they get it as standard) all the time. They're no longer punished to spec as a duelist.

[Shiba Ryusei]

Gonna be a little controversial with this take, but the change to iai rolling it into kenjutsu actually made the gap between Kakita, Shiba and the rest even wider. Before now only a pure glass cannon Kakita duelist was gonna blast everyone away, and a normal Kakita likely is gonna win but not a huge gap. Now, with Kenjutsu and Iai combined, I don't think anyone can ever beat a Kakita or a Shiba in a duel except each other, because now neither one has to sacrifice anything and they'll always be at minimum +1k1 ahead of any other bushi - void 4 isn't exactly a *bad* thing either, so more than likely if they're gonna duel they'll just have awareness 4 void 4 kenjutsu 5 (with focus emphasis as they get it as standard) all the time. They're no longer punished to spec as a duelist.

My own take is that you were never going to catch the frontrunners- not without completely retooling the Kakita school AND basically eliminating the flowchartt and turning duels into 1v1 skirmishes with some ground rules*. But at least now, if you aren't running into a dedicated duelist, you have a shot- which brings duels closer to how they're presented in the setting material, as a not-at-all uncommon means of conflict resolution.

Shiba Void shenanigans are great for just about anything (Ryusei whipped that tech like a rented mule nearly every court session), and kinda form their own subheading

*Which I'd totally endorse, by the by, because as it is, duels in L5R are one of those, "you either spec for it out of the right school or just auto-lose" things anyway

[Ikoma Honoka]

My own take is that you were never going to catch the frontrunners- not without completely retooling the Kakita school AND basically eliminating the flowchartt and turning duels into 1v1 skirmishes with some ground rules*. But at least now, if you aren't running into a dedicated duelist, you have a shot- which brings duels closer to how they're presented in the setting material, as a not-at-all uncommon means of conflict resolution.

Shiba Void shenanigans are great for just about anything (Ryusei whipped that tech like a rented mule nearly every court session), and kinda form their own subheading

*Which I'd totally endorse, by the by, because as it is, duels in L5R are one of those, "you either spec for it out of the right school or just auto-lose" things anyway

I guess for me it just felt more like a benefit to those in front because they no longer are glass cannon one trick ponies they're strong bushi that also can't ever lose a duel. I doubt anyone other than a Kakita or a Shiba (or a clan champion with void 8 apparently ) could easily face Honoka in a duel and she'd also be a really good combat bushi on top of it because reflexes 4 good void 4 good and Kenjutsu 6 good. She may have earth 2 but Lions Shadow 3 would likely ensure she is dealing way more than she's taking anyway.

I totally support the changes because I agree that the ones in front are in front regardless, and I don't think there's anything you can do to fix duels in any other way (nor do I feel like the change would encourage more duels happening anyway - only 2 official duels happened in this whole game). It was just a change that benefited the top more than the bottom is all

[Doji Hikaru]

They were very similar! Except I think Hikaru has his sensibilities intact more, Honoka needs to have someone to stop her head getting much bigger

I don't think I'd ever bring Honoka back to a game simply because what she's supposed to be isn't actually possible with these rules (being a good duelist) without being Crane or Phoenix, but I'd love to see what she's like in a year or twos time at another winter court. Hopefully with me as a player being slightly more active

I think the differences were why they had chemistry. Both went at things similarly but a few differences in attitude and method