Characters will begin the game with 40 xp (total). No returning characters will be allowed for this game.
New characters should be constructed using the 4th Edition Core Rules, though players with access to Enemies of the Empire, Emerald Empire, or Great Clans are free to use those books as well.
You can find a list of allowed schools here: ~ Link ~
** Since this is a miai, non-Brotherhood, non-Naga characters must be single. Your lord sent you to the miai to find a spouse, after all! Brotherhood and Naga characters may attend but may not compete in events.**
Available Factions
We are accepting characters from any of the existing Great or Minor Clans, as well as the Imperial Families and Brotherhood. Ronin characters are also allowed.
We will also be allowing Naga characters who belong to Tausha's Legion, but their numbers are capped at four characters. Neither the Naga of Tausha's Legion nor the Empire are entirely trusting of each other just yet, so the number of Naga permitted to enter the city at any given time is understandably limited.
Gaining Additional Advantages
Characters may purchase advantages after character creation, at a cost of +2 xp more than the advantage's base cost. This additional cost is not taken into account when calculating the cost of the advantage for any effects that check the cost of an advantage (such as the Wealth advantage). Note that sufficient justification for purchasing the advantage will be required for approval.
Removing Disadvantages
Characters may "buy off" disadvantages after character creation, at a cost of twice as much xp as the disadvantage originally granted them. Note that sufficient justification for buying off the disadvantage will be required for approval, and some disadvantages simply cannot be "bought off," such as a missing eye or limb.
Optional Rules
Here are the optional rules which we will or will not be using in this game:
- * Human and Naga characters only.
* No EXPY characters. Taking inspiration from a character in another medium is perfectly fine, but you shouldn't be using their art as your avatar, nor should your character's background be a carbon copy of the other character.
* Characters should not exceed a Status of 4.0. A Status of 3.0 is equivalent to a Gunso in your Clan's military, while a status of 4.0 is equivalent to a Clan magistrate. Imperial characters are a special exception and may reach Status 4.5. Naga characters are capped at a Caste of 7.9 (i.e., one point short of The Tausha's Caste of 8.0).
* Unicorn characters begin the game with Glory Rank 0 (though it can be increased higher as normal). Unicorn characters may not purchase the Different School or Multiple Schools advantages, and non-Unicorn characters cannot take the Different Schools or Multiple Schools advantages to gain access to Unicorn schools.
* A number of families (most notably the Yoritomo, Moshi, and Kitsune) are still Minor Clans in this era, while others simply do not exist (including the whole of the Spider Clan) and thus will not be allowed. Other families (most notably the Agasha) are currently members of a different Clan than is listed in the core book. Please see the Family Daimyo thread in the Almanac section for a listing of which families belong to which Clans.
* Because they do not have a family name (and thus a family trait bonus), Mantis Clan characters receive an additional 10 xp when creating a character.
* The Imperial Families have tightened their control on Otosan Uchi and the Empire, at the expense of the Great Clans. As a result, Imperial characters gain an extra +.5 ranks of Status at character creation to represent their increased social authority.
* Bloodspeaker or Maho-Tsukai characters should take the Dark Secret (Bloodspeaker) or Dark Secret (Maho-Tsukai) disadvantages. As a reminder, Bloodspeakers are part of the Bloodspeaker Cult that worships Iuchiban, while Maho-Tsukai are characters that use maho who are not necessarily members of the cult.
* Members of the Gozoku or Kolat should take the Dark Secret (Gozoku) or Dark Secret (Kolat) disadvantages, as appropriate, to represent their roll in those conspiracies. Characters that do not also possess the Forbidden Knowledge (Gozoku) or Forbidden Knowledge (Kolat) advantages are assumed to be low-ranking members with very little knowledge about the conspiracy as a whole.
* We will not be using Ancestors in this game.
* We will not be using Honor Rolls in this game.
* We will not be using Heritage Tables in this game.
* We will not be using the Crafting Rules in this game.
* Imperial, Minor Clan, Ronin, and Monk characters will be allowed.
* Spider Clan characters will not be allowed, as the Spider Clan does not yet exist.
* Shapeshifter characters (from Enemies of the Empire) will not be allowed; this includes characters with the Child of Chikushudo advantage (which is not allowed).
* Kata will be allowed.
* Kiho will be allowed. Shugenja and Ninja may both learn kiho, but ninja must spend an additional +2 xp for each kiho they wish to learn. Henshin monks are allowed to learn kiho, but cannot benefit from a kiho while they are under the effects of a mystery or riddle. Non-Brotherhood characters may never know more kiho than their total Monk, Shugenja, or Ninja school rank.
* Shadowlands Powers and Maho will be allowed. We will be using the rules for Balanced Maho, which limits characters to learning maho spells whose Mastery Level does not exceed their current Insight Rank, taking any affinities into account as normal. Any Shadowlands Powers or mutations you may receive at character creation or through the course of the game are entirely at the whim of Jigoku (and thus the GMs). Expect tentacles and mental instability.
Background Considerations
If you wish to form connections to another PC before the game begins, please keep in mind that real life events might force either yourself or the other person to drop. It is perfectly fine to make a character that has exchanged letters to another or who has encountered another character before, but please do not set up things in such a way that if your partner drops, your character will lose their motivation (and visa versa).
Application Process
Once the character is finished, send the completed character sheet and background to Mindshred@hotmail.com. Then, register an account on this site under your character's name. All character sheets should follow the format listed below; those that do not will be returned unread and unapproved.
Once we've looked over your character, we'll activate your account and send you an email. We won't be starting the game until early April, but we'll open up the OOC Boards a few days before then so that everyone can get settled into place. You will also be given a private forum, which will contain a copy of your character sheet for your own reference.
Your private forum is yours to use as you see fit. It is the easiest way to contact and hold discussions with the GMs, but it can also be used to make notes about the game in general.
Note that it is usually not necessary to use the Report function to flag topics in you private forums; we make it a point to read those as quickly as we can.
Posting Colors
We would ask that when you speak in character, you do so in quotation marks, without using colored text.
The one exception to this is when your character is speaking in a non-Rokugani language, such as Yobanjin or Nezumi, in which case we would ask that you use colored text to differentiate between the two languages. Placing a note in your signature to note what colors you will be using for non-Rokugani languages would also be appreciated.
Signatures
Your signatures should include your Status, Glory, and current Honor Rank (ie, Untrustworthy, Exceptional, etc). Naga signatures should include your current Caste, Glory, and current Honor Rank.
You should also include any obvious advantages or disadvantages that would be readily noticeable by other characters, such as Lame or Missing Arm, though you are free to include non-noticeable advantages or disadvantages at your discretion. Flavor traits are also perfectly acceptable.
Finally, please include a list of items that your character carries around with them in your signature, so that we might easily determine which items your character may or may not have on their person at any given time. This will be important if you're ambushed by a Grue.
Note that nearly all samurai (including courtiers and shugenja) carry their wakizashi with them wherever they go, as it is symbolic of their honor as members of the samurai caste. Whereas the katana is removed upon entering a home, the wakizashi almost never leaves the side of a samurai and is one of the few weapons that can be worn in court or in the presence of the Emperor.
If your character dies, please do not delete your signature. It makes things confusing for people who read through threads after the game is over. Adding a note about the day you died is perfectly acceptable, and it has become common practice to grayscale a dead character's avatar.
