New Rules
Atemi Attacks
- A number of Kiho, primarily Martial but including some of other types, require precise nerve attacks in order to be executed successfully. Because of the exacting precision necessary to execute these attacks, they do not inflict normal unarmed damage; they inflict no damage other than to allow the effects of the Kiho in question to take place. When making the atemi attack, the monk may either spend a Void Point or make a TN 15 Meditation / Void roll as a free action, and then they make a melee attack roll with the Atemi Emphasis of the Jiujutsu Skill. All atemi attacks must touch bare skin in order to be effective. Because of this, all forms of armor double the normal bonus they confer to an individual’s Armor TN against these attacks.
--Note: For the Kaito Shrine Keeper, instead of a Jiujutsu (Atemi) attack, they make a Kyujutsu (Atemi) attack. Their attack does the bows listed strength (or the users strength, if lower) as damage instead of rolling for damage as normal, and all forms of armor double the normal bonus they confer to an individual’s Armor TN. This overrides any arrow special rules.
- If you ever exceed a TN by 10 or more, for every increment of 10, you gain a free raise AFTER the roll to be used as you see fit. You may only gain this bonus equal to your Void Ring, So for example, if a TN is 25 and you rolled a 55, and have a Void of 2, you would gain 2 free raises to utilize after the roll to enhance a spell through its listed Raise abilities, perform a Maneuver on an attack, or be used for an event mechanic.
NOTE: You may NOT gain these free raises if you are unskilled in the skill the roll required unless otherwise specified.
NOTE 2: Contested rolls do not have TNs initially, so this rule has no effect on Contested Rolls
NOTE 3: You only count the dice roll, not bonuses from free raises or other straight modifiers (Such as the +Void from center stance)
Simple Attack Actions
- All schools that have the [Bushi]] tag gain the ability to make Attacks as a Simple Action when they reach School Rank 3. When a character makes two Simple attacks in a turn, they must call two Raises for no further effect on their second attack or the attack will automatically fail.This does not apply to the Extra Attack Maneuver bonus attack. - Note, Gaijin and Ronin schools only have 1 rank, so in order to qualify for this bonus your character needs to be Insight 3 AND be in a game that allows Rank 3 techniques.
- All schools that have the [Shinobi] tag gain the ability to make Attacks as a Simple Action when they reach School Rank 3 when utilizing weapons with the Ninja tag. When a character makes two Simple attacks in a turn, they must call two Raises for no further effect on their second attack or the attack will automatically fail.This does not apply to the Extra Attack Maneuver bonus attack.- Note, Gaijin and Ronin schools only have 1 rank, so in order to qualify for this bonus your character needs to be Insight 3 AND be in a game that allows Rank 3 techniques.
- All schools that have the [Monk] tag gain the ability to make Attacks as a Simple Action when they reach School Rank 3 when utilizing the following weapons: Unarmed, Improvised Weapons, Bo Staff, Jo Staff , Sang Kuaw, Three-Section Staff, Tonfa, Nunchaku, Bisento. When a character makes two Simple attacks in a turn, they must call two Raises for no further effect on their second attack or the attack will automatically fail.This does not apply to the Extra Attack Maneuver bonus attack. - Note, Gaijin and Ronin schools only have 1 rank, so in order to qualify for this bonus your character needs to be Insight 3 AND be in a game that allows Rank 3 techniques.
Note: Kaito Shine Keepers add Yumi to the list of weapons above.
- All schools that have the [Monk] and [Shinobi] tag may purchase Kiho, using the following as guidance:
Brotherhood: Price as listed, School Rank + Ring for Mastery Level able to purchase
Friend of the Brotherhood: Price as listed, School +Ring for Mastery Level able to purchase
Non-Brotherhood: 1.5 price as listed, School +Ring for Mastery Level able to purchase
Shinobi: 2x price as listed, Ring for Mastery Level able to purchase
--Non-Brotherhood characters may never know more Kiho than their total School Rank (unless a school technique specifically grants extra)
- All schools with the [Artisan] tag reduce the time to create by half when they reach School Rank 3. Additionally, they gain 1 servant who has 3 in the Artisan skill of their choice. - Note, Gaijin and Ronin schools only have 1 rank, so in order to qualify for this bonus your character needs to be Insight 3 AND be in a game that allows Rank 3 techniques.
- All schools that have the [Courtier] tag gain the Ally (2/2) advantage when they reach School Rank 3 to represent their skill/success in courts. Additionally, they gain 1 servant who has 3 in Etiquette (Conversation) - Note, Gaijin and Ronin schools only have 1 rank, so in order to qualify for this bonus your character needs to be Insight 3 AND be in a game that allows Rank 3 techniques.
- Once per session, All characters who are status 2 or higher may add twice their status rank (Rounded down) to any contested Courtier, Etiquette, or Sincerity roll before they roll. This effect only may be used when thematically appropriate (A magistrate telling someone in their own clan something is appropriate, a general of the Crane telling a Lion soldier is not appropriate). When in doubt, ask a GM.
- Once per session, All characters when making a Social roll may stake their glory on the roll, adding their whole rank to the result before they roll. If failed, the character loses points equal to the whole rank (So a 1.2 glory character would gain +1 to their roll, but if failed would lose 0.1 glory)
- Once per session, you may add your Honor as bonus unkept dice to any roll excluding damage . To do so, you note in the post and the roll in Orokos that you are using your Strength of Honor bonus. Then, add your whole ranks of honor to the unkept dice of the roll. (So, if you are Honor 6, you would add +6k0 to the roll). If you fail the roll however, you lose Honor as if you used a Low Skill.
- Bushi who would wish to select a Kata but find there are none that match their School or Family may take the Kata with the following requirement additions: If the Kata lists one of your Clans Schools, you may take it with the Mastery required being 1 higher. If the Kata does not contain any of your clan, you may take the kata with the Mastery required being 1 higher and additionally must take the 3 point Obligation disadvantage to one of the listed clans. This disadvantage does not grant additional XP. Due to the changes in the School Names, please look what original printed school your newly named school is, which can be found in the Approved School post.
- Kata cannot be activated outside of combat, and once active, only last until the end of a given combat. When a character rolls Initiative, they may Activate a Kata (without spending an Action). Activating a kata at any other time is a Simple Action, as noted in the book.
- All characters from the Imperial Families gain +0.5 status at Character Creation
- For any purpose that references a price, the Katana is 25 koku (This goes not mean you can usually buy one however)
- A finger of jade is 3 inches long and 1.5 inches wide.
- The crafting mechanics in the base rules are very poor and have been completely rewritten. Please see them here: Crafting (New Mechanic)
Extra Equipment [Material] (3 points)
- You have been given extra equipment by your lord. Choose one weapon, one suit of armor, or a horse and add the chosen equipment to your starting package. You may choose to swap out a similar item for the new equipment if you wish (by exchanging light armor for heavy armor, for instance).
- Courtier/Shugenja/Artisan only. You have been granted the service of one of your Clan's yojimbo. The yojimbo remains at your side during all hours of the day, ensuring that you are protected from both scandalous accusations as well as threats against your life. If you are involved in a duel, the yojimbo will serve as your champion, unless they are incapacitated or otherwise unable to do so. The yojimbo has a rank of 2 in all Traits, a Void Ring of 3, two ranks in Defense and Kenjutsu, and three ranks in Iaijutsu. You may increase your yojimbo's Traits or Skills by spending additional experience points to do so, just as if you were increasing your own Traits or Skills. The yojimbo is equipped with a Daisho and Light Armor.
If involved in a skirmish, the yojimbo acts on your initiative but remains adjacent to you at all times and will not voluntarily leave your side; if you are reduced to the Down wound rank or below, the yojimbo will attempt to remove you from the situation using the fastest means available. If your yojimbo is slain, they are not replaced unless you repurchase this advantage (though you do not have to pay the additional 2 xp to purchase a new yojimbo in this case).
Sinful [Mental] (2 points)
- Honor Rank 2+. You have forsaken virtue and instead chosen to live a sinful life. Your Honor is two ranks lower than your normal starting value (as determined by your School).
- You are gorgeous and/or brilliant and you know it. Unfortunately, the rest of the world doesn't seem to notice and must be continually reminded just what kind of quality person they're dealing with! You subtract your Glory Rank from the total of all Social Skill rolls you make. This disadvantage is worth three points to Crane Clan characters.
Errata/Changes
Schools
Kitsu Shugenja School
- The Eyes of the Ancestors technique cannot detect the Shadowlands Taint disadvantage possessed by characters with less than one Rank of Shadowlands Taint.
- *Affinities and Deficiencies affect the Rank of spells the shugenja can turn into Meishido.
* Meishido Shugenja may not engage in taru-jiai duels unless they have at least one rank of another shugenja school.
* Meishido Shugenja may begin play with any six meishido of their choice from their known spells.
- * The Kirin Tattoo may be used a number of times per day equal to 2 + your school rank. Activating the tattoo is a free action, but it still counts towards your limit of only having one tattoo active at any given time.
Skills
- Artisan
- Change the trait associated with Artisan to Varies. All Artisan/Craft skills keep their original skill group, so if a skill was considered High before, it remains high, merchant remain merchant, and low remain low.
- There is no longer a craft skill, instead all of the listed sub-skills are moved to the Artisan skill
- Add the "Strike" emphasis, which applies to the Iaijutsu/Reflexes roll made during the Strike phase of an Iaijutsu duel.
- Add the "Atemi" emphasis, which only applies for Kaito Shine Keepers when making a ranged Atemi attack
- The Antidote emphasis is required to treat poisons. The Disease emphasis is required to treat diseases. The Herbalism emphasis allows a character to make Medicine Skill Rolls without requiring the use of a Medicine Kit, provided that they have access to a medicinal garden or other well vegetated area. The Non-Human emphasis is required to treat members of races different from your own, and must be purchased separately for each such race.
- Characters may not Meditate in Event threads unless specifically required by the event, and may not Meditate more than once per non-Event thread. You may only benefit from one successful meditation per day.
- The Ninja-to may be used with either the Ninjutsu skill or the Kenjutsu skill.
- Change the masteries for the Polearm skill to the following:
MASTERY ABILITIES:
c RANK 3: Until you are hit with a melee attack, you gain +5 to your initiative score in combat when wielding a polearm
c RANK 5: Damage rolls made with polearms is increased by +1k0.
c RANK 7: When wielding a polearm, add +3 to your TN when in Defense Stance and Full Defense Stance
- Change the masteries for the Spears skill to the following:
MASTERY ABILITIES:
c RANK 3: Until you are hit with a melee attack, you may ignore 3 points of Reduction when wielding a spear.
c RANK 5: Damage rolls made with spears against mounted or significantly larger opponents is increased by +1k0.
c RANK 7: When wielding a spear, your rank 5 Mastery Ability applies to all targets instead of only mounted or larger opponents.
- Add the "Taryu Jiai" emphasis, which applies to Spellcraft rolls made during Taryu Jiai duels.
Characters may not Importune for spells during Event threads.
- You may only benefit from one successful tea ceremony per day
Advantages
- Allies
- You may purchase allies at Influence 3 (not just 1, 2, and 4).
- The bonus to Temptation provided by the Dangerous Beauty advantage applies regardless of gender or sexual preference.
- You do not need the Different School advantage to begin with a ronin path.
- If you take Inheritance (Iaijutsu), the bonus does not apply during Iaijutsu duels.
- You do not need the Multiple Schools advantage to learn a ronin path. If you only possess Ronin paths, you do not need Multiple Schools to move from a ronin path to one of your Clan's schools. If you are a Clan Samurai and you select a Ronin path, you automatically become a ronin, giving you the Social disadvantage(without gaining points for it) and preventing progress in your Clan school until you buy off the disadvantage and purchase Multiple Schools (At which point you may then continue on your original Clan school or a new one)
- The Sage advantage does not provide ranks in Lore skills that are gained through the Forbidden Lore advantages, such as Black Scrolls, Dooms, Gozoku, and Maho.
- You may spend XP to increase a servants skills or traits, but no trait or skill may exceed 3. Additionally, servants come outfitted with the essential equipent to perform their duties (I.E Ashigaru armor and a weapon for Budoka)
- This advantage only applies to Courtier, Etiquette, and Sincerity Skill Rolls.
- This advantage has been changed from its text in the book. Whenever you call Raises for a combat Maneuver, the number of Raises required for that Raise is reduced by one (to a minimum of one).
- In addition to the normal effects of this advantage, the character's starting Koku and yearly stipend (after any Wealth advantages are applied) is doubled.
- In addition to the normal effects of this advantage, when you make Raises on a Skill Roll using the chosen Skill, your Raises are limited by your rank in that Skill instead of your Void Ring.
- In addition to the normal effects of this advantage, you gain one additional Void Point that you can spend each day.
- This was mistakenly given the [Mystical] tag. It should be [Spiritual] instead.
- Consumed (Perfection)
- Possessing no ranks in a skill does not prevent you from calling the Raise required by this disadvantage.
- The TN of the Willpower roll is always 20.
- This disadvantage forces you to become an unaligned monk. That means you do not gain a technique for belonging to a specific sect of the Brotherhood (though you still gain kiho as normal).
- If you are spending a Void Point to enhance a roll of any type, you make the check to see whether or not you are Dazed before you make the enhanced roll.
Spells
- Altering the Course
- This spell has proven to be highly unbalancing, but its effects are simple enough that any fiddling with the spell will essentially just make it into a new spell. As a result, this spell has just been banned.
- This spell has changed to the following effect: For the duration of this spell, the target gains a +Xk0 bonus (where X is the caster’s Fire Ring, with a maximum bonus equal to the casters Mastery Level + Affinity ) to any High or Merchant Skill rolls using the Intelligence Trait.
- Change the spell's Area of Effect to "One target" and its text to the following: "The target's Intelligence Trait increases by 1 for the duration of the spell." Add the following: "Raises: Increase Intelligence (+1 per 2 Raises)."
- If cast using a method that does not involve making a Spellcasting Roll (such as Meishido), or if stored in a character with Silent Waters, this spell heals wounds equal to the Insight Rank of the caster (including affinities and deficiencies) multiplied by their Water Ring.
- Add this line: "The stored spell consumes one of your spell slots of the appropriate element until it is cast (at which point the character may rest to recover the expended spell slot as normal)."
Kiho
- Touch the Void Dragon
- Change text to: "For the next three hours (e.g., for the remainder of the thread), the rank of your lowest Ring (you choose in the event of a tie) is considered one higher. If any of the Ring's associated Traits are lower than the new value of the Ring, those Traits are also considered one higher."
- Players may not learn any Maho spells that are greater than their Insight Rank + Affinities
Miscellaneous
- Arrows
- Because the price of arrows in the core book is somewhat...high...we've decided to make them a bit more affordable. When purchasing arrows for your character, change all prices in bu to zeni. If you have a bow in your starting package, you may begin the game with ten arrows of any type. This does NOT change their price for crafting purposes
Spell Scrolls- This is not an errata, but a simple reminder to shugenja characters about their spell scrolls. As per the core book, pulling out a spell scroll is a free action, but putting away a spell scroll is a simple action. You can drop a drawn scroll as a free action, but this will (obviously) leave the scroll on the ground at your feet, and may result in damage to the scroll if the ground is wet or otherwise hazardous to paper. Picking up a scroll from the ground is a simple action.
Reading a scroll requires two hands.
Yumi- The Yumi has the Samurai descriptor.