L
Leodiensian
Guest
Original poster
Among the samurai clans of Rokugan, honour is stronger than steel.
At least, it's supposed to be.
One of my favourite tabletop games is Legend of the Five Rings by AEG. It's a fantasy game about, you might have guessed by now, samurai. It's got duels, seppuku, magic and plenty of youkai and oni to deal with. Super-cool stuff. I'd like to get a game together using some elements of it - doesn't have to be super-conforming to it or anything, but maybe using some of the ideas and setting elements.
In the game, you play members of one of the samurai Clans who make up the ruling elite of Rokugan, the Emerald Empire. Each Clan claims descent from one of the kami. The clans each rule over separate portions of the nation under the blessings of the Emperor, but often bicker and feud. The Crab Clan hate the Crane, the Dragon hate the Phoenix, everyone hates the Scorpion.. In summer, the fields run red with petty inter-Clan wars. In winter, the cities play host to the Winter Courts, where the local samurai families negotiate and intrigue. To the unprepared, these are even more dangerous than the battlefield.
(Or you could play a ronin but whatever)
Rokugan is shielded by mountains to the north, the ocean to the south and east - and the Kaiu Wall to the west. Beyond this towering defense, and its Crab defenders, lie the blighted Shadowlands where the dead walk and Oni loom. The samurai who venture into the Shadowlands on patrol carry sacred jade charms with them to avoid its contagious Taint.
I have a few ideas for story seeds:
-Winter Court: A more intrigue-y game but one that can get bloody. Everyone would be different clan members come to represent their family's interests, pursue political agendas, sabotage their enemies...
-Island of the Wild: In 1165, Emperor Toturi III created the Bat Clan as a reward for the services of samurai Yoritomo Koumori, who was a talented medium and spirit-channeller. Koumori was given a small tropical island in Mantis Clan waters to make his own. Players would be members of the Bat Clan, either members of Koumori's family or outsiders (ronin and other clan's samurai) who have come to join and the story would be kind of nation-building, survival etc.
-The Third Day of Thunder: Each time the dark god Fu Leng rose up, each Clan appointed a champion, their Thunders, to strike him down at great cost. Though Fu Leng has passed, a new dark power is rotting Rokugan from within and the mysterious monk Shinsei has once again appeared to gather the Thunders..