In light of this duty, fear means nothing to Lion samurai. The threat of death only serves to embolden them and bolster their courage, for there can be no greater end than to perish in honorable combat. As veterans of countless wars, the Lion know that those who attack first shall be victorious. Above all, the Lion live, breathe, and die for the Emperor and Rokugan.
Perhaps the most well-known battlefield warriors in the Emerald Empire, the samurai of the Lion Clan are famous for their ferocity, loyalty, and courage. People expect members of the Lion Clan to be warlike and aggressive, often forgetting that the Kami Akodo was a master tactician as well, more than capable of learning from past mistakes and adapting new stratagems on the battlefield.
The Lion Clan is war itself, forged by the Kami Akodo to crush the Emperor’s foes and enforce Hantei’s will absolutely. Lion Clan culture lives and breathes martial achievement and glory. It expects its children to meet force with force and death with a smile—a hard path for anyone to walk, and harder still for any gentle soul. Even those among the Lion Clan who are not warriors often couch their achievements in martial terms that glorify combat as the highest of arts
Lion Families
Akodo: +1 Agility
The Akodo are the master strategists and tacticians of the Empire; no one understands war better. The Akodo embody the discipline and control of the Lion Clan, always weighing several options in order to strike at the perfect time. They are warrior-scholars seeking to understand war and battle in all its complexity; no part of the martial disciplines is too small for their study and no part too large to evade their understanding. “No army led by an Akodo has ever known defeat” is a well-known adage, and no Akodo will allow it to become untrue.
Ikoma: +1 Awareness
The Ikoma are the finest storytellers in the Empire. Their proud voices extol the virtues of Bushidō and, thus, the Lion Clan. They serve as the memory not only of the Lion Clan, but of the Empire as a whole; no fact is considered historical truth if it is not part of the Ikoma histories. The Ikoma courtiers are the expressive face of the Lion; their bards openly show the emotion Lion samurai must hide. Boasts, tears, and stories are the tools the Ikoma use to advance the Lion in the courts.
Kitsu: +1 Intelligence
All samurai venerate their ancestors, but the Kitsu bloodline, which mingled with otherworldly beings, produces members who can part the veil to speak with them. The Kitsu are known for being traditional and conservative, even among the Lion. All Kitsu answer to the ancestors. Those without the talent to speak to spirits keep genealogies, tend to the tombs and shrines, and otherwise honor the noble dead.
Matsu: +1 Strength
The Matsu are the courageous, implacable heart of the Lion. As the largest family in the Empire, the Matsu fill the ranks of the vast Lion armies. Founded by Lady Matsu, one of the greatest of all samurai in the early Empire, they retain many matriarchal traditions in her honor, including several elite military units that are exclusively female. The Matsu exemplify the harsh militarism of Bushidō. Due to their numbers, they are the Lion most well-known in popular culture. Fiery, honorable, unrelenting: while the stereotype of the Lion exaggerates these traits, they are all part of the Matsu character.
Lion Schools
As befits the clan called the Right Hand of the Emperor, the Lion Clan has committed itself to the study of warfare in all its forms. It has schools to train samurai for every battlefield role, from soldier to commander, logistician to tactician, and medic to morale booster. Every student is trained in at least one martial art to cultivate the soul, but also to allow them to serve if called upon.
Akodo Commander School [Bushi]
-Akodo Bushi, Core Rulebook. Replace Rank 3 with Ikoma Tactician, Sword and Fan.
The Akodo War College’s curriculum is focused on control: of one’s weapons, of the battlefield, over the flow of conflict, and ultimately, over oneself. Its students study the advice of Akodo’s Leadership, which was written by the Lion Clan Kami himself. In addition to training as warriors, Akodo Commanders are educated to be battlefield leaders. They often treat war as a game of Go, to be decided by exact moves. Akodo Commanders strike precisely and without hesitation with sword and army alike. Their goal is the pinnacle of the art of war: to minimize losses while achieving their objectives.
Ikoma Bard School [Courtier]Techniques
- Benefit: +1 Perception
- Skills: Battle (Mass Combat), Defense, Kenjutsu, Kyujutsu, Lore: History, Sincerity, any one Bugei or High Skill
- Honor: 6.5
- Outfit:Light Armor, Sturdy Clothing, Daisho, any 1 weapon, Traveling Pack, 5 koku
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- Rank 1: The Way of the Lion
You may either ignore the portion of an opponent's Armor TN derived from Armor, or gain a Free Raise when attacking. (You do not ignore Reduction from the Armor when choosing the first option.) Also, you gain a bonus of +1k0 to the total of all attack rolls on your first melee attack against an opponent in a skirmish, or against any opponent who has declared a Raise on an attack against you since your last turn. You add only a total of 1k0 for an enemy who Raises against you, no matter how many times they actually Raised.- Rank 2: Strength of Purity
During a skirmish you may add your Honor Rank to the total of any single roll during your Turn. You may not increase damage rolls in this fashion, nor can you do this while assuming the Center Stance.- Rank 3: The Commander's Fan
You gain a +1k1 bonus to Battle (Mass Battle) rolls in any situation where your war-fan makes it easier for you to convey orders (GM’s discretion). While you are carrying a war-fan (regardless of which hand you are using), you may add half your Warfans Skill Rank (rounded up) to your Armor TN. If you are in the Defense or Full Defense Stance, or you are ONLY carrying a war-fan, you may add your full Skill Rank instead. (These do not stack, and carrying two war-fans does not double the bonus.)- Rank 4: Triumph Before Battle
Once per skirmish, you may designate an opponent during the Reactions Stage. You may ignore any Armor TN bonuses your target receives from his Stance during the next Round.- Rank 5: Akodo's Final Lesson
When you make Raises on any Bugei Skill Roll, if you meet or exceed the original TN (before Raises) but fail to meet the Raised TN, you still succeed without the benefits of Raises.
-Ikoma Bard, Core Rulebook
In the end—after trials, sacrifices, and death—all that truly remains of a samurai is their story. The Ikoma Bard School trains its students as historians, bards, and tale-spinners; not just to preserve the stories of old, but to inspire the warriors of the Lion Clan to equal and exceed the achievements of their ancient ancestors. Ikoma Bards are no less warlike than the other scions of the Lion Clan. However, their most important duty lies in supporting each Lion’s drive to seize glory no matter the danger—and to fight against any odds with the confidence that no hero will die unsung.
Ikoma Shadow School [Courtier, Shinobi]Techniques
- Benefit: +1 Intelligence
- Skills: Courtier, Etiquette, Lore: History (Lion Clan), Perform: Storytelling, Sincerity (Honesty), any one High Skills, any one Bugei Skill.
- Honor: 6.5
- Outfit: Traditional Clothing, Wakizashi, Knife, Calligraphy Set, Traveling Pack, 5 koku
- Rank 1: The Herald of Glory
You gain the Precise Memory Advantage for no cost in Experience Points (if you already have Precise Memory, you are refunded that many Experience Points). You may use the Perform: Storytelling skill to engage in public bragging on behalf of another person. If you can cite heroic or noble actions by that person and successfully roll Perform: Storytelling / Awareness at TN 20, that person will gain a number of points of Glory equal to your School Rank. This may be done a number of times per person per month equal to your School Rank.- Rank 2: The Heart of the Lion
You do not lose Honor or Glory for displaying emotion in public, so long as you do so on behalf of another Lion or for an honorable cause greater than yourself (such as your clan, the Empire, or the Code of Bushido). At the same time, your understanding of both honor and emotion strengthens your own soul against temptation. Anyone attempting to sway your emotions through the use of the Intimidation or Temptation skills must add +5 to their TN for each of your School Ranks.- Rank 3: The Voice of the Ancestors
Prior to a battle or skirmish, you may inspire your allies by speaking for a few minutes and rolling Perform: Oratory / Awareness at a TN equal to 15 + 5 per person you are inspiring. Targets who are not members of the Lion Clan increase the TN by 5 for each such person. With a successful roll, each person you inspired may add their Honor Rank to the total of any one Skill Roll during that battle or skirmish. (If this benefit is not used by the end of the battle, it is lost.)- Rank 4: The Strength of Tradition
A number of times per session equal to your School Rank, as a Simple Action, you may verbally encourage an ally with a tale of great deeds from the past, rolling Perform: Storytelling / Awareness at TN 25. With a success, the next time during the same day that the chosen ally fails a roll, he may re-roll it, adding your Honor Rank in unkept dice to his roll. However, if he fails this second roll, you lose 2 points of Honor.- Rank 5: Every Lion is your Brother
Five times per session, when you are making a Contested Social Roll against an opponent, you may cite historical precedent to support your views and roll additional unkept dice equal to your Rank in Perform: Storytelling. (In situations where citing history seems inappropriate or strange, the GM has the final say on whether this Technique may be used.)
-Ikoma Lion's Shadow, Emerald Empire, Replace Rank 4 with Lion Scout, Great Clans
The Lion Clan’s Ikoma family is known for its bards, who shed the tears and express the emotions that stoic warriors cannot. However, this family also serves another purpose: hidden among the bards and other entertainers it produces, it also trains a small number of students in stealth, political subterfuge, and even battlefield sabotage. These are the Ikoma Shadows. Ikoma Shadows infiltrate enemy camps in wartime and enemy castles in peacetime, stealing or altering messages, putting twisted truths in the right ear, and inflaming tensions between other clans. Their work is not exactly honorable, but most see their role as necessary and justified. War is an ugly affair, and prolonging it uglier still. Most Ikoma Shadows are unwilling to cross certain lines—such as the use of lethal poisons or the assassination of helpless targets—but if making an enemy general sick ends a battle quickly or ambushing an officer who has ventured far afield breaks the enemy’s offensive, most don’t lose sleep over it.
Kitsu Medium School [Shugenja]Techniques
- Benefit: +1 Awareness
- Skills: Courtier, Etiquette, Kenjutsu, Investigation (Notice), Sincerity, Stealth, any 1 High or Low Skill
- Honor: 3.5
- Outfit: Traditional Clothing, Daisho, any 1 weapon, Calligraphy Set, Traveling Pack, 5 Koku
- Rank 1: No Boundaries
You do not lose Honor for using Low Skills if they are used directly for the goals or glory of the Lion Clan (subject to GM judgement). As a Free Action you may target a number of opponents equal to your School Rank; you gain a bonus of +1k0 to the total of all attack rolls and Contested Rolls made against these opponents. This bonus may be activated a number of times per day equal to your School Rank, and lasts until the end of the day.- Rank 2: The Lion Cannot Fall
You gain a bonus of +1k0 to all Skill Rolls using School Skills.- Rank 3: The Spirit of Ikoma
Once per Round, you may lose three points of Honor as a Free Action to add +2k1 to your attack, damage, and Contested Social Skill Rolls until the end of the Round.- Rank 4: Shadow Unseen
You may move at a normal rate while using the Stealth Skill, and you gain a +1k0 bonus to Stealth Skill Rolls and all Agility-based Bugei Skills- Rank 5: Ferocious Determination
You may spend a Void Point to take a Free Action to make a Contested Roll of your Courtier / Awareness versus against an opponent's Etiquette (Courtesy) / Awareness. If you win the roll, you have shaken his resolve by reminding him of his past failings. The opponent subtracts a penalty equal to your Awareness plus the opponent's own Honor Rank from the total of his attack and Contested Social Skill Rolls against you for a number of hours equal to your School Rank. This technique does not work against those who possess no Honor Rank (animals, oni, etc).
-Kitsu Shugenja, Core Rulebook
The smallest of the shugenja schools of the Great Clans, the Kitsu Medium School maintains an esoteric focus on the ancestors, which requires unique training and at least a trace of the original Kitsu bloodline. This mystical connection to their forebears allows them to perform magic that no others can. The Kitsu Mediums are the living bridge between the Lion Clan’s past and the present, acting as the voice of the ancestors in the present day. As traditionalists, they use the ancestral names for prayers to honor those who first mastered them.
Kitsu Medic School [Artisan, Bushi]Techniques
- Benefit: +1 Perception
- Skills: Battle, Calligraphy (Cipher), Etiquette, Lore: History, Lore: Theology, Spellcraft, any one High or Bugei Skill
- Honor: 6.5
- Outfit: Robes, Wakizashi, Knife, Scroll Satchel, Traveling Pack, 5 koku
- Affinity/Deficiency: Water/Fire
- Spells: Sense, Commune, Summon, 3 Water, 2 Air, and 1 Earth
- Rank 1: Eyes of the Ancestors
You may make a Spell Casting Roll (as though casting a Water Spell) against a target's Willpower x 5. If successful, you learn all Spiritual Advantages or Disadvantages that individual possesses. By spending a Void Point, you may negate any one Spiritual Advantage an opponent possesses for a number of minutes equal to your School Rank. You also gain a Free Raise on any spell with the Battle keyword.
-New School, created from scratch
Though the Kitsu family is known more for its shugenja samurai, the students of the Kitsu Medic School are also of note. They are skilled in the martial arts, but their primary vocation is healing. As such, they are an important part of any Lion army going into battle. The warrior skills of Kitsu Medics mean they can be at the forefront of the fighting, killing foes as well as tending to their clan’s wounded.
Matsu Berserker School [Bushi]Techniques
- Benefit: +1 Intelligence
- Skills: Athletics, Defense, Lore: Anatomy, Any 1 Weapon Skill, Medicine (Any one Emphasis), Craft: Poison, Any 1 High or Bugei Skill
- Honor: 5.5
- Outfit: Light Armor, Sturdy Clothing, Daisho, Medicine Kit, Any one weapon, Traveling Pack, 5 Koku
- Rank 1: Know the Body
You gain a +1k0 bonus to Medicine Skill rolls and a Free Raise when using Medicine to heal Wounds or cures illness. Additionally, if your opponents have a full wound Rank, you gain +1k0 to your damage rolls against them.- Rank 2: Battle Medicine
During a Skirmish, you may spend a Void Point to make the medicine checks as a Simple action and be used during combat. Additionally, your Medicine rolls heal an additional +1k1, and gain 20 uses instead of 10.- Rank 3: Combat Extraction
When carrying an ally that is Down or Out, you gain the Swift: 3 trait. Individuals you use Medicine on may benefit from the healing roll twice per day.- Rank 4: My Body A Shield
If you guard an ally that is Down or Out and they would receive damage, you may spend a void point instead to suffer the damage.- Rank 5: Last Resort
Once per session, If an ally is slain, you may spend all of your remaining void points to make a Medicine check as a Complex at TN30. If you succeed, they are instead stabilized with 1 wound remaining. This technique can only be used within 1 round of your ally being slain. They gain physical disadvantages worth 10 points, -2 point for each Void point you spent, to a minimum of 3.
-Matsu Berserker, Core Rulebook. Replace Rank 3 with The Lion's Pride, Core Rulebook, rank 1.
The Matsu’s soldiers are the front line and main strength of the Lion armies. Their bravery and zeal for battle are unquestioned. The Matsu warrior dōjō teaches the primacy of offense and the necessity of seizing the initiative in all things. Aggression is the hallmark of the Matsu style; direct action is their watchword. This bellicose attitude often puts them at odds with the careful strategies of the Akodo, but the Matsu serve the Lion and the Empire with unquestioned loyalty.
Techniques
- Benefit: +1 Strength
- Skills: Battle, Jiujustu, Kenjutsu (Katana), Kyujutsu, Lore: History, any two Bugei Skills
- Honor: 6.5
- Outfit: Light or Heavy Armor, Sturdy Clothing, Daisho, Heavy Weapon or Polearm, Traveling Pack, 5 koku
- Rank 1: The Lion's Roar
You add your Honor Rank to all damage rolls. Whenever you assume the Full Attack Stance, you may move an additional 5 feet per Turn in addition to the bonus your receive from the Stance. (This does not allow you to move farther than your maximum move per Turn.)- Rank 2: Matsu's Fury
When you assume the Full Attack Stance, choose an opponent within 30'. If you successfully hit him this Turn, the target is frozen with fear and cannot take Move Actions to move from his current position. During the Reactions Stage, an affected opponent may attempt a Willpower roll against a TN equal to the amount of damage dealt from your latest attack to negate the effects of this Technique (the opponent does not suffer penalties from his Wound Rank for this roll). If he fails, the effects of this Technique end during the next Reactions Stage (the second after he was struck).
Enemies who are immune to Fear cannot be affected by this Technique.- Rank 3: The Fury of Matsu
You may add +10 to your Armor TN while in the Full Attack Stance.- Rank 4: Matsu's Courage
You ignore TN penalties from Wounded Levels equal to your Honor Rank, or twice your Honor Rank while in the Full Attack Stance.- Rank 5: The Lion's Victory
Once per encounter after you roll damage for an attack, you may spend a Void Point as a Free Action to activate this Technique. You rend the opponent, ripping open his wounds and dealing grievous injury to him. All of the dice you choose to keep explode, re-rolling and adding the result to your damage total.