No doubt the scorpion was wearing a wolf mask at the time to further enforce the legend.

Okay, so how did the battle go?

Bushi rather than Courtier? So your Samurai thinks he is a spoony bard? That has to be a barrel of laughs.

Then you may or may not be interested to hear that the lady who did that project had the University of Michigan buy her entire helmet testing apparatus, but also gave her a full ride scholarship to include room and board for the entire 4 year course. They were so impressed that they wanted her to continue her experiments, and this was before the revelations about football and head trauma trends. Turns out that there is only one independent helmet testing facility and most of the manufacturers treat the data as proprietary information. So your athlete-gamer may want to keep tabs on the research coming out of Michigan.

Love that analogy. Incidentally, that reminds me of a project my father reviewed at the ISEF international science fair several years ago. The young researcher was experimenting with different materials for helmets, particularly hockey helmets. One of the most promising used a bladder and orifice through which a non-Newtonian fluid passed through when the helmet was hit, allowing it to be used multiple times. Now imagine Goriate wearing such a combat helmet.

I have one for him, but it may be a bit mundane. Any good siege master would be horrified at the missing arrows and would go about looking for them. Or at least account for why they are missing and track down the malcontents responsible for their disappearance. I am surprised that Suiren didn't mention them to the resident crab.

And yet that practically describes the Phoenix's Shiba family.

To use the line spoken by Tris from the Divergent Series Movie, Insurgent "off doing scary boyfriend things".

I suspect the Kochako Family have been entrusted with possession of the Scorpion Ancestral Sword Itsuwari and it is this family who hands out the four copies and only this family's Daimyo who has any actual insight as to the identity of person who bears the real sword Also, I think the Nanbu and Kaito would be on really good terms considering that the Empire at large considers them hickish.

Lion Shujenga would naturally imply the Kitsu family and their subordinates. They would be a good pairing in addition to the Ikoma.

To be fair, in the AEG canon, the Dragonfly were much more independent of the Dragon. FFG seems to have made them more subordinate the the Dragon. As for the Kasuga family, while they may nominally work for the Imperials, they have a LOT more latitude than one would expect for a vassal family of the Imperials. Add to that, their founder was a Dragon Shugenja and many of the early members were Gaijin, so that only creates more reason why they should be kept at a distance from the throne.

The City of the Rich Frog (Toshi Kaeru) is currently divided between the Lion, Unicorn, and Dragon with the Dragonfly being the representatives of the Dragon (they seem to be straddling the line between minor clan and vassal family, or at least blurring the line between the two). I think the Kaeru "family" is effectively playing the three factions off each other, though it does seem like they are on best terms with the Lion.

Yeah, that is crap.

Which is sad considering that it has so much RPG potential. I am glad that FFG is putting more input from the RPG into the setting than AEG did, but they could do more. I DO buy the cards, but that is more so as to enhance the RPG experience. I used the Generic CCG cards as stand-ins for NPCs, sometimes placing them on the table in place of character tokens. And, if I want to randomly select who the players meet, well, just shuffle a clan deck and draw to see who shows up.

When i said "new canon" I thought that implied that FFG adopted the change that AEG made, but then extrapolated it into the past. "Old canon" should be synonymous with AEG while "New Canon" refers to FFG. I'm sorry if I was not more specific on that point.

Well, they did change Otaku Family to Utaku, and in the new canon, they retroactively backdated the change. I take that as something of a middle of the road approach so as to tip the hat to legacy players while being less overt about simply using a word many don't understand outside of the Manga/Anime crowd.

I was going to suggest that the Sakuras were the Dragon's shinobi agents. And if they have a shadow school, it would be a courtier/shinobi focused one. I can also see the "retired" shinobi masters being used to train the Kitsuki investigators by creating scenarios they might encounter. The whole "poachers make the best game wardens" argument. And the most gifted Kistuki Investigators who catch on quick to the Sakura Shadow master's lessons in the Kitsuki school would either be inducted in to the secrets of the Sakura Family or directed towards other endeavors if their disposition was unfavorable to the goals of this shadow organization.

Maybe not grand strategy but certainly tactical and squad level planning. While she might not be cerebral(intelligence), nor persuasiveness(charisma), I suspect she has a high wisdom score. There are some leaders who, while they have a hard time with tests and books, can feel the ebb and flow of a battle and can adapt to a quickly changing situation. It is those NCOs/Sergeant types you really have to worry about as they are the ones that often carry a general to either victory or defeat. I do agree with you on the martial skills over command.

While their stats are for the Scholarly Shugenja and Loyal Bushi, there is more to those characters than you imply, particularly for Kotonoha. Her description, while not specifically saying so implies that she is a Yojimbo. It was never made clear if she continued in that role for Itsuyo. "Tsume Kotonoha (TSOO-mey KOH-TOH-no-hah) is Takashi’s captain of the guard. While Shizuma oversees the Tsume family forces when they venture beyond the castle, it is Kotonoha who is responsible for security within the castle—and for Lord Takashi himself. Any breaches of spies within the castle walls—or attempts on Takashi’s life—would be a terrible stain on her honor and glory, and she takes that possibility very seriously. Unsurprisingly, she prefers to resolve such threats against her lord by force of arms—hers against theirs. Kotonoha is physically built like an ox and has a personality that isn’t far off that mark, either. She’s no nonsense, painfully honest and forthright, and her dedication to her post leaves her without any time for pursuing her own passions, leaving her painfully dull to talk to as well." -l5r_weddingatkyotei_webquality; page 5 "Tsume Kotonoha is Takashi’s captain of the guard. While Shizuma oversees the Tsume family forces when they venture beyond the castle, it is Kotonoha who is responsible for security within the castle—and for Lord Takashi himself. " -All character handouts. "Visitors to your shrine have told you that Tsume Kotonoha is a bit of a folk hero, and is far more active in dispatching the bandits disrupting the area than her lord Takashi." -Kaito Natsuyuki's handout "You met Tsume Kotonoha when you aided her against a group of bandits marauding the Golden Valley, and the pair of you journeyed for some time dealing with these ill-mannered ruffians. You consider her a close and trustworthy friend." -Utaku Azami's handout

Well, considering the Adam and Jamie made an 11 kilo lead balloon fly, I think that phrase no longer holds the connotations it once had. Yes, I doubt Riku Kakita is going to be amused by the Ronin. Alas, it is not her problem anymore.

I guess "whispers of failure" disadvantage only applies to Player Characters. No, I do get it. A DM never permanently retires the opposition. Rivals and villains constantly return to bedevil the players.

At the risk of getting flamed, we are kind of learning first hand the practical application of mask wearing. Think of it as empirical data testing the theory.

Checkmate. Yeah, I suspect part of those consequences include a "promotion" for her to a far flung and unimportant holding.

Don't forget the other two Tsume characters, Kotonoha who was captain of the guard (and by all rights should have become the next Tsume Daimyo after Takashi if there really was any honor in the whole Kyotie fiasco), and Yemon who was the head priest of the Tsume family. Make what you will of how they represent that vassal family.

The trick of course boils down to convincing (via a courtesy check) Seppun Sora that it was his formal dinner where Riku got Gastroenteritis via botulism. Might be worthwhile to pitch the idea to Otomo Kazuda so that she can lend her support. Always good to have an "inside man" as an ace in the hole should the courtesy check flub.