I know that I'm fairly new around here, but that doesn't mean I'm completely stupid.  I am willing to attempt to bring about a small Samurai roleplaying game upon the boards, based in a fantasy version of Fuedal Japan, with some key differences...

To bring about some interest in this, I will give a basic description of whats going on in this world.

Imagine a world where clan loyalty, loyalty to your Daimyo, means that suicide is sometimes the only way to deal with failure.  A world where the way of the katana is only one path, the other being a world of intrigue and honor, a society where words can be just as deadly as a sharp blade.  Intrigue, shadows, where assassins are honorless thieves working for their Clans, the most powerful of these being part of the mysterious Scorpion Clan, a Clan which once fell and has risen again.  A place where the magics of the world are taught not through schools of wizardry, but study of the scrolls, where they are as much a healer as they are a Mage - being spiritual leaders to the people of this land.

Warrior Monks, who travel the land, while others ponder the thoughts of the universe - ascending past the levels of normal human achievement.  Tattooed Monks with awesome powers, using their magical tattoos in order to use superhuman abilities - manipulating forces that they can tap through the spiritual tattoo on their torso.  Samurai Duelists who can kill a man before they even draw their blade, warriors of speed rather than power, gaining an incredible damage bonus just for their ability to duel.

Yet at the same time we have the corrupt warriors, those who fall to the fell powers of a Sinister place, the Shadowlands - where the demonic beings have corrupted a portion of the land and come from it, spreading their evil.  Wizards who become blood mages, people who kill to use others blood to power their deadly spells of necromancy, something so evil to this culture.  Warriors who learn to hide the foul taint of the Shadowlands, in order to kill as many as they can before they eventually fall to the power completely, becoming as demonic as the Lords they serve.  Huge creatures, Oni, which travel the Shadowlands, killing any mortals that they pass... a place which is surrounded by a wall which a single Clan (Crab Clan) defends, so that the land is safe to live in for a time... until they surpass the wall and slay the Crab, moving into the land itself to slay the living they meet.

 

If this sounds interesting to you, then please, talk to me... post in here, and I'll see the kind of response I get...

---

"... if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for Destruction Ice is also great
And would suffice."
- Robert Frost

I want to do this Rp.

 

---

A life, heh who needs one, I got it all here in RPing and video games.

I will join.  Now to plot my character...

---

Serrif:

Reality-(noun) illusion caused by lack of alcohol
Beer(noun) medicine used to relive people from hallucinations

Technoguild

Hmmmm... I MAY join this. Samurai and katanas aren't my favorite style of characters. But it may be fun. You mentioned several other classes. So I may give it a try.

See, the thing about it is... this world is filled by Samurai type people running around, the warriors of each clan... but the true power isn't in the Samurai.  It's in the diplomats / politicians.  There are classes called Courtier, which is devoted completely to social skills, containing some skills concerning dueling - for social climbing.

Basically though, there's a lot about Honor and Honorless in this world, it's that which truly runs the game.  Those who are without Honor, thieves, Assassins, those who have dishonored themselves, they all are very key factors to the World, but are not neccessarily that powerful politically and socially.  Only those with Honor (Those of Lawful alignments and what it entitles) can truly rise the Social Ladder in this world.

I agree with you completely Ultra, frankly, in most of the games I play we get the people who are like, "Cool Samuri!" (Spelling error intentional), and I always like those who go for the strange and more intriguing characters.  Not to say that some of the Samurai-ish characters I've seen people make are uninteresting, just easier to say that I have seen a larger percentage of more interesting characters among the other classes.

This place is also for Questions, and if I get enough people to say they're interested, a little bit of information about each of the Clans - since this is primarily a Human game.  My AIM is Blood Sorceror, so if you wish to speak to me about being something non-human, I would need to be contacted, since other races are very different than they would be in nearly other game-world.  Imagine that Rokugan (The land) is a Xenophobic place, where many people fear other races, assuming them to be from the Dark Shadowlands and the evil which permeates it - but there are good non-human races, I just would PREFER Humans, because they make it easier on me.  Not that I would deny you something you wish, just that I like things easy when it's possible.

If you are interested in this, you need to talk to me about it - I can't really give you a little bit of detail without having to explain the intricate relationships between them and the human world.  But, for a teaser, there is a species of Snake People, and of Rat People - a Monkey Species, and there are some people called Spirit Folk which have some celestial blood - I'd say they are similar to Planet-touched from DnD for a comparison.

Anyway, just dropping more hints and a little more info for the interested.

---

"... if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for Destruction Ice is also great
And would suffice."
- Robert Frost

You smell but i will do it and I will PM you my character.

I replyed to the thread, although it's probably long-since dead by now.  I know that this is strange, but with Qesun's rebirth of a long-dead thread, I decided to pull another from the annals of our game history.  Newbies, read whatever information I left for you, and feel free to PM / create a character / Talk to me on AIM.  If you do, you may find this game to be up to your standards.  Anyway, the oldies are probably going to enjoy this...

---

"... if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for Destruction Ice is also great
And would suffice."
- Robert Frost

Hell yeah, return of the giant rodent!

I'm sort of looking at this point in time for any type of spellcasting character Shujenja, Wu Jen, or a Naga of any kind.  A Dragon Monk (A Tattooed Monk) would also be interesting.  Anything that we don't already have would help, although more of what we have would be good too.  Reply to this post if interested.

---

"... if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for Destruction Ice is also great
And would suffice."
- Robert Frost

I don't think a Naga in the group would be a good idea... The Nezumi have a natural deep rooted phobia of them, not suprising considering that they where their primary food source.

hooray for the plethora of new/old games popping up!.  I'll gladly play a tatoo monk.  Are there any rules regarding the tatoos?  Are we talking like that guy in Elecktra with the animal tattoos, ancient runes of power a la death gate cycle, or am I free to discern that for myself?

---

Avatar a product of the amazing webcomic-year one. yearone.spiderspawn.com

I would enjoy playing. I would enjoy being a spellcaster... so if there are any spellcasting types needed, I can fill any role...

Aydin wrote:

hooray for the plethora of new/old games popping up!.  I'll gladly play a tatoo monk.  Are there any rules regarding the tatoos?  Are we talking like that guy in Elecktra with the animal tattoos, ancient runes of power a la death gate cycle, or am I free to discern that for myself?

Here is what Oriental Adventures says about the Tattoo monks of Rokugan:

"Certain monastic orders in the lands of Oriental Adventures bestow supernatural or spell-like powers on their members by inscribing magic tattoos on their skin. These tattooed monks shave their heads, speak in cryptic riddles and maxims, and - in many cases - travel the countryside furthering their quest for enlightenment by facing and conquering temptation.

The Great Majority of tattooed monks begin their careers as monks. A small number of samurai, shamans, and shugenjas adopt the tattooed monk prestige class. In Rokugan, they are drawn almost exclusively from the Dragon clan, though members of other clans who gain the favor of the order are sometimes allowed to join. Tattooed monks in Rokugan are trained in two competing schools; the Togashi school (whose monks are called ise zumi and the Hitomi school (whose monks are kikage zumi)

The ranks of tattooed monks are divided between worldly monks - those who believe that temptation can only be overcome if it is squarely faced - and ascetic monks, who rarely leave their mountaintop retreats. Player character tattooed monks are assumed to fall into the former category, but NPCs can be found in both roles."

I'll look in my Legend of the Five Rings books to see if I can find any more world specific info... I don't think I have "The way of the Monk" though...


Alright, there is plenty of information in "The way of the Dragon" almost to much in fact. It would be a pain in the ass to type it all up but if you are still interested in playing one I can give you some additional information, a list of tattoos and what each of them does, and even a list of cryptic quotes from the ise zumi to spout off now and then.

There's the Shujenga class for spellcasting, and I give Tattooed Monks different abilities depending on the Tattoos you have.  However, all Tattooed monks are excellent martial artists, typically they come from Monks and the way that I want my world to work you HAVE to be a Monk in order to have the intricate tattoos put on your body.  It's a specialty of the Dragon Clan, so you'd have to be a member of the Dragon Clan.  The Tattoos do different things, such as some give you the ability to deal extra damage, some give you supernatural abilities such as the ability to breathe flame, but they are all given as medals of honor for those who do well.

I'm going to use Tattoos from the Way of the Dragon Book, if that book happens to give suitable tatoos.  So if you need to see it, Twitch or myself can send you a copy of it through AIM file transfer.

Shujenga are a mage-like class that use scrolls for all of their spells.  Basically they are both diviners and wizards, healers and the sages of the spirits.  They typically are attuned to one of the four elements, or in the case of the Phoenix clan, Void. That affinity toward that element also means that they are unable to cast that elements opposite, and are also able to summon the element they are attuned to, as well as sense it within a certain area.

I can provide a list of spells, or I can give you general reign to cast minor abilities and spells, whichever would be more helpful.

---

"... if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for Destruction Ice is also great
And would suffice."
- Robert Frost

I see... by the information given, a Shujenga would be more my playstyle... Hopefully a water-element one that can heal... and weild a Naginata... If you could give me some examples on a Shujenga of that type would use, I'd be happy.