GM Questions

[Saibankan]

Thanks for the reminder. ^^

I suppose that offers the chance to spend XP on things beforehand, hmm?

Speaking of which...is there session XP?

4 XP for everyone for Session 1

[Doji Hametsu]

Is D3 part of Session 2?


Edit: never mind, I see that it is.

[Saibankan]

From Discord:

No Day 3 event?


No day 3 event. Some vigilant souls got a peek at the day 4 event before it dissappeared in a cloud of amnesia dust. We're experimenting with pacing. We've received feedback in the past that multiple daily events, metagame rolls, rumor tracking, and personal story quests were too overwhelming, especially with 5e strife. So you've got day 3 to do the latter without a big ol' daily event sucking up your energy. We'll review and assess in the postgame. I personally love daily events because they give you a guaranteed something to do and a reason to toss extra goodies at players, and something to talk about in-character. But I've known the pain of spending the time whipping up a fun event only to have no one participate.

[Daidoji Nobu]

(For Session 2: Transit)

I assume we are marching with our kaisha during daylight hours; are we also meant to stay with our kaisha after we make camp for the night, or are there opportunities to go afield / visit other camps / etc.?

The terrain around us is described as open; is it flat uninhabited land, or farmlands, or something else? Are we marching on a road? Do we have any idea of what cities, forests, mountains etc. lie ahead?

[Isawa Mari]

(For Session 2: Transit)

I assume we are marching with our kaisha during daylight hours; are we also meant to stay with our kaisha after we make camp for the night, or are there opportunities to go afield / visit other camps / etc.?

The terrain around us is described as open; is it flat uninhabited land, or farmlands, or something else? Are we marching on a road? Do we have any idea of what cities, forests, mountains etc. lie ahead?

I'm sort of assuming *some* moving between sections as people carry messages, head to command with reports, seek treatment, fetch a supply from elsewhere, etc. There's no reason to limit PC interactions as sharply as keeping to one's kaisha would do.

[Utaku Mukai]

Not sure if we need to get approval on XP spend or not but, just in case, here we go

[Saibankan]

(For Session 2: Transit)

I assume we are marching with our kaisha during daylight hours; are we also meant to stay with our kaisha after we make camp for the night, or are there opportunities to go afield / visit other camps / etc.?

The terrain around us is described as open; is it flat uninhabited land, or farmlands, or something else? Are we marching on a road? Do we have any idea of what cities, forests, mountains etc. lie ahead?

Marching with your kaisha during daylight hours, though you can run about delivering messages or comingle on breaks or what have you. You are especially free to co-mingle during the night. (Please do not isolate, 2nd Kaisha will be so lonely, not to mention 6th. The designation is to give you a relationship to share.) You are marching on a road (roads are there to make armies go faster).

The majority of this part of the march will be through Crane farmlands. They're still not in great shape due to the storms that wracked them and the continued elemental imbalances (clearly sneaky Unicorn magic offend the Heavens)

Keep in mind a lot of the march is being fast forwarded through as there's lots of days of "We all spend the day walking", and we're not Tolkien. The days IC are for stretches where something interesting happens (or is about to, or just did).

The actual path of the army (keeping in mind we're handwaving due to the uncertain nature of rokugan's geography will look something like this:

West Hub Village
Takuetsu Province (Kakita lands) where you'll cross the river near Tsuma (currently little happening as it's not tournament time)
Nanhan Province (Kakita)
Hayaku Province (Daidoji) where you'll march with the Osari Mori to your right and the eye of the needle to your left.
Kazenmuketsu Province (Doji) where you'll be relatively clost to Kyuden Doji itself, though not stopping instead crossing the river
Oyomesan Province (Doji)
Asahinabachi Province
Cross the river near Benten Seido
Douro Province
Shaiga Province
Itoshii Province (Doji)
Kougen Province (Staying well away from the Kitsune Mori and Akagi Mori)
Sabishii Province (Daidoji)
A slow crossing through the Uebi Marshes
Ichigun Province (Daidoji)
Anshin Province (Asahina)
Wakiaiai Province (Asahina) Well away from Toshi Ranbo
Sunda Mizu Province (Yasuki)

That's what "Day 3 and 4" will look like.

Session 3 will be the trasition from crane to crab lands

Session 4 will be all Crab.

[Utaku Mukai]

Misremembered that matching Endurance killed the bandit and thought it just incapacitated them. If I had remembered I would have selected a success without Strife so my Fire Stance wouldn't be at risk of killing the enemy when I knew I had enough Strife to make them surrender.

Permission to treat it as if that had happened? Or is the schlub just dead from Mukai's over-exuberance (also fully acceptable)

Edit: Just realized I messed up my first two rolls by grabbing the wrong number of dice so third roll may or may not have happened. Need to stop doing these things when I wake up. Fixing those and seeing what happens.

Edit to Edit: Ok, still passed so initial issue returns to being pertinent

Edit the third: Annnnd just realized the bandit has armor so all of this was moot. But at least it let me notice I had messed up the first roll and fix that. I shall leave this here as a testament to not doing events while still half asleep (but will likely not learn from it).

[Kitsuki Edogawa]

I already made the roll, so I don't expect it to affect the bandit event.

But for my future reference, would the first roll have been an Investigation that I could apply Kitsuki's method to? I'm not used to it not being a skill unto itself.

[Kasuga Yoshi]

I wanted to clarify in the bandit event:

1) if the players get to combat is it a single pass of combat from PC and NPC bandit?

2) Assume TN 2 for all strikes?

3) Is running there enough time to draw a melee weapon or would we need an iaijutsu/Water stance?

[Saibankan]

I already made the roll, so I don't expect it to affect the bandit event.

But for my future reference, would the first roll have been an Investigation that I could apply Kitsuki's method to? I'm not used to it not being a skill unto itself.

I'd probably have said no. It's meant for figuring things out in an investigation, not general perception. Which is actually kinda nifty in it's flexibility. If you're investigating something, it doesn't matter the topic, you get to pull out your best Holmes "Ah, but if you had studied X as I have, you'd know..."

[Saibankan]

I wanted to clarify in the bandit event:

1) if the players get to combat is it a single pass of combat from PC and NPC bandit?

2) Assume TN 2 for all strikes?

3) Is running there enough time to draw a melee weapon or would we need an iaijutsu/Water stance?

1) Essentially. To save sanity, either you drop him in one go, or he manages to run away somehow.

2) Yes, that's why I put them in water stance, for the running away, and not raising their TN with Air

3) In normal combat, you'd need Water stance to draw and attack, but in the event you are granted the time to ready whatever weapon you need.

[Kitsuki Edogawa]

I'd probably have said no. It's meant for figuring things out in an investigation, not general perception. Which is actually kinda nifty in it's flexibility. If you're investigating something, it doesn't matter the topic, you get to pull out your best Holmes "Ah, but if you had studied X as I have, you'd know..."

So, active rather than passive? Would it need to be a specific investigation, like looking for a confirmed intruder, or would it apply to something broader, like being on watch?

[Saibankan]

I'd probably have said no. It's meant for figuring things out in an investigation, not general perception. Which is actually kinda nifty in it's flexibility. If you're investigating something, it doesn't matter the topic, you get to pull out your best Holmes "Ah, but if you had studied X as I have, you'd know..."

So, active rather than passive? Would it need to be a specific investigation, like looking for a confirmed intruder, or would it apply to something broader, like being on watch?

Active rather than passive, for a specific investigation rather than being on watch. It's more than you know a lot about a wide range of subjects when it comes to an investigation, rather than knowing everything about it in all cases.

For example:

Let's say Kitsuki Holmes has 0 ranks in Martial Arts (Ranged). If Kitsuki Holmes tries to shoot a bow himself, he only gets his ring dice (which is why he relies on Mirumoto Watson to bring his bow). But hark! Kitsuki Holmes has found someone who has been shot to death!:

Kitsuki Holmes: Hmm, can I tell by the fletching on the arrows which clan made them?
GM: Sure, let's call that a martial arts (Ranged)/Earth check to recall where you've seen those feathers before.
Kitsuki Holems: An investigation! That means I get skill dice equal to my school rank as per my technique, unless my skill is higher in which case...
GM: Yes, yes, you're very clever, go ahead and roll to determine where these feathers came from.

Of course, Mirumoto Watson actually HAS ranks in Martial Arts (Ranged), so he can both shoot a bow AND determine where the fletching came from, but without ranks in seafaring, he can't determine at what time the murdered man's boat came in by the marks on the hull, nor the significance of the shogi piece in the victim's pocket like Holmes can.

So really, again it's more about knowing facts as pertain to a case rather than having sharp eyes.

Elementary!

[Kasuga Yoshi]

I apologize for a flurry of questions about the event:

If the player has a weapon that outranges the bandit, say, a Tetsubo that has range 1-2 and the bandit is operating at 0-1 with their club, does the bandit get a counter attack?

[Saibankan]

I apologize for a flurry of questions about the event:

If the player has a weapon that outranges the bandit, say, a Tetsubo that has range 1-2 and the bandit is operating at 0-1 with their club, does the bandit get a counter attack?

You don't need to apologize for the questions, we want people to understand things so they can enjoy them

You cannot "outrange" or kite the bandit. In your above example, if you strike him at range 1 he clubs you, if you strike him at range 2, he shoots at you with his yumi.

[Isawa Mari]

So, base Initiative starts at Focus or Vigilance, depending on readiness. I'm assuming that the 'spot the bandit' bit means we're ready and thus using Focus?

That assist on the Attack roll from Mukai. Can it be used for an attack that is an Invocation?

[Saibankan]

So, base Initiative starts at Focus or Vigilance, depending on readiness. I'm assuming that the 'spot the bandit' bit means we're ready and thus using Focus?

That assist on the Attack roll from Mukai. Can it be used for an attack that is an Invocation?

Correct on Focus.

Sure if you grab it before anyone else does.

[Doji Hametsu]

In the course of the skirmish phase of the event, I was thinking about using Water stance for two actions and deploying Civility Foremost to force this guy to take a mess of strife when he attacks.

Assuming this is an okay thing to do, I'd like to ask what his vigilance is, because that's the TN for Civility Foremost.

[Saibankan]

In the course of the skirmish phase of the event, I was thinking about using Water stance for two actions and deploying Civility Foremost to force this guy to take a mess of strife when he attacks.

Assuming this is an okay thing to do, I'd like to ask what his vigilance is, because that's the TN for Civility Foremost.

Sure! We'll say he has Vigilance 2