Mechanic: Inheritance: Katana

[Vutall]

Should the Inheritance: Katana continue to add its bonus to Assessment and Focus, or because that has been overpowered in the past should that be disallowed?

[Doji Sakura]

Right now inheritance katana is a better weapon than a kakita blade for duelists. It's a better weapon than any nemurani, or any special duel based weapon. That sums it up for me

[Kakita Kazuko]

i dont know shit about fuck so im going to refrain from voting

first time playing l5r after all, i'll let u guys decide this stuff

[Iuchi Prashant]

I think adding +1k1 to two of the 3 rolls in a duel is definitely too much, but I also think adding a smaller bonus (say +2 or +1k0) to those particular rolls might make sense, although it would be different from the usual inheritance rules.

[Vutall]

It's either it works as inheritance, or it doesn't. Not making a separate bonus category for the same advantage

[Asako Sanzo]

If Inheritance: Katana does not add the +1k1 bonus to Assessment and Focus, what bonus would it provide? A +1k1 to noncombat Kenjutsu rolls?

[Yasuki Ginkarasu]

I am concerned that an item that was understood to be available to gain was only talked about after it was gained, despite it being known throughout the entire game.

That being said: yes, it's very strong. If the poll/group decides that it should not add its bonus to Assessment/Focus rolls, will those of us who chose the item be allowed to spend their Dojo Points differently?

[Vutall]

Yes, any non-combat sword roll. Truth be told, I don't think it would come up much.

Yes, you can swap your dojo point prize.

[Asako Sanzo]

Yeah, I was trying to think of when that would come up.

It seems Iike it's a bit too strong when including Assessment and Focus rolls, but nearly useless when it doesn't. There has got to be some sort of middle ground...

[Yasuki Ginkarasu]

INHERITANCE [MATERIAL] (5 POINTS)
When you received your gempukku ceremony, your family honored you with an heirloom of your ancestors. It is among your most precious possessions, and you would die before you allowed it to be harmed or brought dishonor to it. You possess one item in addition to the normal starting equipment provided by your School. Whenever you make a Skill Roll using this item, such as a Perform: Biwa roll with a biwa, a Games: Goroll with a go set, or a Kenjutsu roll with a katana, you gain a bonus of +1k1 to the roll. This bonus does not apply to any attack or damage rolls, only Skill Rolls made for non-combat purposes (rolls made outside of a skirmish). Players and GMs may agree to allow a more powerful or unique item to be inherited for a higher Experience Point cost. Such special cases should be discussed carefully beforehand to ensure fairness and balance.

It doesn't even need to be a Katana. I expect the best way to make this ruling is to say that a duel is part of a skirmish from start to finish.

[Utaku Ichiro]

V has actually already ruled that, at least in Discord, when it came to kata.

[Doji Kotomi]

It doesn't even need to be a Katana. I expect the best way to make this ruling is to say that a duel is part of a skirmish from start to finish.

It would fix so many arguments about dueling being a halfway house between combat and non-combat. I like this

[Vutall]

I already ruled that a duel is a skirmish

[Doji Kotomi]

I already ruled that a duel is a skirmish

Then I'm confused - if a duel is a skirmish, you can't use inheritance items in a skirmish as it states non-combat on the advantage. Surely that answers this whole poll/debate?

[Vutall]

To me, when the book talks about combat rolls, it means attack or defense roll.

You cant use an inheritance: Book of Tao to activate an Atemi attack, because an atemi is specifically an attack.

Assessment and focus are not attacks, but strike is.

[Doji Kotomi]

That isn't really what it states in the book though. Skirmish=combat. Once initiative is rolled you're in combat, as that's what starts the whole thing.

Although I suppose the poll will decide it either way

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

I don't like it being better than a Kakita Blade.

[Vutall]

I think it's comparable to the Kakita blade, personally. Re-rolling damage is big.

AEG Overruled me on a duel being a skirmish:

Per the official FAQ

Clarification of the 4th edition dueling rules

The 4th Edition of the Legend of the Five Rings RPG extensively re-worked the rules for Iaijutsu Dueling, and based on the number of questions asked in the nearly five years since publication, the new dueling rules can be somewhat confusing to both old and new players. Accordingly, this section offers clarifications of the more frequent questions about dueling.

A Duel is Three Rounds: The rulebook mistakenly refers to an iaijutsu duel taking place over two Rounds. This is an editing artifact from an earlier draft of the rules that somehow made it into the final version. The correct rule is that an iaijutsu duel takes place over three Rounds (Assessment, Focus, and Strike).

A Duel is not a Skirmish: For simplicity of game terms and rules, the timing and structure of a duel is organized into Rounds rather than invent some other unique term for the three phases of the duel (Assessment, Focus, Strike). Also, by structuring a duel in Rounds, it can take place during a larger skirmish scene – for example, a duelist PC and a bandit leader might engage in an iaijutsu duel while the rest of the PCs and the remaining bandits fight a normal skirmish. However, it cannot be emphasized enough that the duel itself is NOT a skirmish; players should not assume that the normal skirmish rules and mechanics, such as Initiative, apply to duels.

Center Stance and Duels: In a normal skirmish, a character cannot stay in Center Stance for more than one Round. However, in an iaijutsu duel, the two duelists are assumed to enter the Center Stance at the beginning of Round One (Assessment) and remain in it until the end of Round Three (Strike), regardless of their normal Initiative. Thus, the Center Stance bonus will be available on both Round Two (for the Focus roll) and on Round Three (for either the Strike roll or a damage roll, as the player chooses). Rank 5 Kakita Bushi will also get the bonus on Round One (for the Assessment roll).

An additional note in this regard: If both duelists are still alive and fighting after the Strike phase, the duel becomes a normal skirmish. On the first Round of that skirmish, both duelists will emerge from the Center Stance and assume whatever other Stance they choose (again, if they are Kakita Rank 5 they can choose to remain in Center Stance). They will get the Center Stance bonus on one roll of their choice on Round One of the skirmish.

The Strike: The iaijutsu strike is a “normal” attack roll (albeit with extra Raises if the duelist won the Focus roll by a lot). The use of Maneuvers on the Strike roll is at the discretion of the GM, since some of them will be easier to justify in this context than others. The Called Shot Maneuver is probably perfectly legitimate in an iaijutsu strike, but a Disarm or Feint Maneuver is harder to justify. Defense and Armor TN: During the Strike phase of an iaijutsu duel, characters are assumed to have their normal Armor TN. The reference on Core rulebook page 139 to the Defense Skill applying to duels (“make you more difficult to hit in a skirmish or duel”) is an error and should be ignored.

Initiative and Duels: The references to Initiative in the dueling rules are included purely as a convenience for GMs who are running duels as part of a larger skirmish scene. They are intended to provide “timing cues” for when the GM should have the duelists perform their Assessment and Focus rolls in the Round. Initiative has no actual effect on the duel itself, and Techniques which rely on Initiative cannot be applied to iaijutsu duels.

Duels and Actions: Again, a duel is not a skirmish, so the rules on what Actions can be taken during a Round do not have any real applicability to a duel. Characters do not need to worry about whether they have an Action to draw their weapons, for example. Similarly, a character who can attack as a Simple Action will still only get one attack during the Strike phase.

The Physical Nature of a Duel: The ideal form of a duel consists of two duelists facing off, a few paces apart, with their blades sheathed until the moment of the Strike – at which point they leap forward, drawing their blades near-simultaneously. However, a duel does not have to exactly conform to this ideal – for example, many Dragon samurai will start a duel with their swords already drawn, and battlefield duels routinely take place with the characters already having their swords drawn. The one universal principle is that a duel is fought only with swords, and usually the katana. A contest fought with other weapons is not an iaijutsu duel – it is merely a one-on-one skirmish. Mechanically, these physical details make no difference to how an iaijutsu duel is resolved – the same Assessment/Focus/Strike format is followed. Mirumoto Rank 2: The bonus from this Technique applies to all three rolls in an Iaijutsu duel (Assessment, Focus, and Strike).

[Yasuki Ginkarasu]

It's only for the sake of dueling.

A Kakita blade will kill faster.

[Doji Kotomi]

I think it's comparable to the Kakita blade, personally. Re-rolling damage is big.

It's not even close. With Iaijutsu, no matter if it's first strike or to the death, the first hit is the most important. The Kakita blade does nothing for you finishing second, the inheritance blade increases your chances of winning assessment, which in turn could give you a massive boost for the focus, which in turn means you can strike first and potentially do even more damage on your first strike.