Earth Assessment

[defendi 26]

The earth versions of assessment all say some version of "The character chooses one known disadvantage of another character in the scene; the target ignores the chosen disadvantage until the end of the scene." Sometimes is just says "A character" in the scene, such as in a duel. Can this be used on the character doing the assessment? In a duel, the only other character would likely be your opponent, but most other powers will say something like "a target or yourself." This one doesn't.

[AtoMaki 1,431]

You can't use it on yourself because it is "another" character. For a duel, I guess you can use it on the arbiter if he is missing his legs. He can walk again for the duration of the duel, and that might score you an extra point or two. 

Alternatively, you can remove Mute from your opponent for extra awkwardness. 

[Mobiusllls 43]

I'm actually thinking on having a duel with a blind arbiter. That would be fun.

[rsdockery 537]

37 minutes ago, AtoMaki said:

For a duel, I guess you can use it on the arbiter if he is missing his legs. He can walk again for the duration of the duel, and that might score you an extra point or two. 

It doesn't say he loses the weakness; it says he ignores it. Thus, the arbiter wouldn't be able to walk, per se; he'd just be able to sort of lope around on his arms like a monkey or maybe fling himself around by flexing his torso.

[Daitora 3]

The text actually says "If you succeed, choose one known disadvantage of a character in the scene; the character ignores the chosen disadvantage until the end of the scene".

Not that I think this should be the case in the final product. But by that wording, you can be a blind duelist who ignores the "choose and reroll 2 dice showing  or  results" when making skill checks that require sight. 

I guess.

I don't know what's real anymore.

[AtoMaki 1,431]

6 minutes ago, Daitora said:

The text actually says "If you succeed, choose one known disadvantage of a character in the scene; the character ignores the chosen disadvantage until the end of the scene".

It is really "another", actually. 

[Daitora 3]

There may be a discrepancy in the text, then. From what I can see, on page 164 under the sidebar for "Narrative Descriptions of your Assessment Check", it says "a character". But all this just means that they need to be more clear and ensure their wording is accurate, especially when it comes to a rule that allows you to ignore disadvantages for a time. 

Also, by ignoring the disadvantage, I'm assuming you can't regain void points from that disadvantage for that time? So there might be some offset, at least.

[defendi 26]

So looking at it again, the first time in the chapter, it says "another character." The others, it says "a character." In both intrigue and duel examples it specifically calls out considering how to protect or compensate for your own flaws, so EITHER it changes and it's only "another" during a mass battle maybe, or that first one is a typo.

[Magnus Grendel 11,673]

On 10/10/2017 at 7:20 PM, Daitora said:

The text actually says "If you succeed, choose one known disadvantage of a character in the scene; the character ignores the chosen disadvantage until the end of the scene".

Not that I think this should be the case in the final product. But by that wording, you can be a blind duelist who ignores the "choose and reroll 2 dice showing  or  results" when making skill checks that require sight. 

I guess.

I don't know what's real anymore.

I guess that's essentially the zatoichi 'listening to your footsteps montage' option - yes he's blind but what made you think a duel was a good idea?

[Doji Meshou 130]

On 10/10/2017 at 0:22 PM, AtoMaki said:

You can't use it on yourself because it is "another" character. For a duel, I guess you can use it on the arbiter if he is missing his legs. He can walk again for the duration of the duel, and that might score you an extra point or two. 

Alternatively, you can remove Mute from your opponent for extra awkwardness. 

We houseruled the earth assessments immediately with language along the lines of "can only target disadvantages that could conceivably be affected by this technique."

I'm all about creative uses of this ("don't see the enemy, feel the enemy"), but only as one-offs, allowed at dramatic moments by GM fiat. Otherwise it's not hard to imagine PCs asking the earth assessment guy to cure their missing leg every scene.

[Magnus Grendel 11,673]

On 10/16/2017 at 6:50 PM, Doji Meshou said:

We houseruled the earth assessments immediately with language along the lines of "can only target disadvantages that could conceivably be affected by this technique."

I'm all about creative uses of this ("don't see the enemy, feel the enemy"), but only as one-offs, allowed at dramatic moments by GM fiat. Otherwise it's not hard to imagine PCs asking the earth assessment guy to cure their missing leg every scene.

Exactly. It doesn't remove the disadvantage, it removes the effect of the disadvantage. The guy is still mute, but he made a sharp gesture and gave you The Look and right at this moment you know exactly what he meant.

L5R is essentially a Samurai movie; being able to achieve physical feats that are blatantly logical loopholes given the injuries you've just seen someone receive have been a staple of western and eastern action films since...well....ever.

[Doji Meshou 130]

7 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Exactly. It doesn't remove the disadvantage, it removes the effect of the disadvantage. The guy is still mute, but he made a sharp gesture and gave you The Look and right at this moment you know exactly what he meant.

L5R is essentially a Samurai movie; being able to achieve physical feats that are blatantly logical loopholes given the injuries you've just seen someone receive have been a staple of western and eastern action films since...well....ever.

That's definitely one way to play L5R! My group  plays it more like a game of courtly intrigue. I don't know if you've read any Guy Gavriel Kay, but I've always played L5R more like his book Under Heaven (about political upheaval in a fictionalized Tang Dynasty) than Seven Samurai.

(Thus imposing logical limitations, a more formally articulated dueling structure than the 5E open source core lays out, etc. Small wonder our favorite 4E book was Emerald Empire.)

Edited October 18, 2017 by Doji Meshou

[Magnus Grendel 11,673]

40 minutes ago, Doji Meshou said:

That's definitely one way to play L5R! My group  plays it more like a game of courtly intrigue. I don't know if you've read any Guy Gavriel Kay, but I've always played L5R more like his book Under Heaven (about political upheaval in a fictionalized Tang Dynasty) than Seven Samurai.

(Thus imposing logical limitations, a more formally articulated dueling structure than the 5E open source core lays out, etc. Small wonder our favorite 4E book was Emerald Empire.)

No. But between quite a few Mandarin Court novels like Empress Orchid and Sengoku Jidai novels like the Totally-not-Tokugawa-honest Shogun, I've read enough of the sort.

And I apologies; no, it's far from the only way to play L5R settings. But the point remains valid - this is a story where the protagonists are 'heroic' individuals, and overcoming what should be logically impossible challenges (physical, mental or whatever) through the sheer force of awesomeness is a repeated trope of the often mythologisized setting.

(and the more formalised duelling structure is fair enough - it doesn't, for example, have currently any purchase in the rules but the lord whose territory you're on expecting that a duel be fought only with ceremonial items is not unreasonable).