Looking for a little help

[Suimaru 8]

I have a question I dunno why I didn't ask sooner. If you use the Maneuver action, does that mean you cannot attack unless in the water stance and didn't also roll a fitness check to move further than one range band?

[nameless ronin 706]

14 minutes ago, Suimaru said:

I have a question I dunno why I didn't ask sooner. If you use the Maneuver action, does that mean you cannot attack unless in the water stance and didn't also roll a fitness check to move further than one range band?

Yup. If it's not your Water stance 1 free no check action, that's your one action for the round.

[Suimaru 8]

Cool, so if combatants wish to move more than the default 1 range band, they lose an attack action, bar water stance.

[Magnus Grendel 11,672]

2 hours ago, Suimaru said:

Cool, so if combatants wish to move more than the default 1 range band, they lose an attack action, bar water stance.

Exactly so. in a skirmish, that's one big advantage of slightly 'reachier' polearms over a short blade; theoretically a 'water dancer' with a spear can move up as their free move, jab you a bit, then fall back with a free manoeuvre action, ending just outside range 2 - a blade-armed opponent has trouble reaching them to attack unless in water stance themselves.

[Avatar111 553]

2 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Exactly so. in a skirmish, that's one big advantage of slightly 'reachier' polearms over a short blade; theoretically a 'water dancer' with a spear can move up as their free move, jab you a bit, then fall back with a free manoeuvre action, ending just outside range 2 - a blade-armed opponent has trouble reaching them to attack unless in water stance themselves.

A polearm fighter using water stance and a trident with coiling serpent kata (better than iron forest by a mile!)

...and for the giggles throw the new busted Yoriki title in there for the crits or coiling serpent on demand.

 

Ooof.. almost absurd.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Avatar111

[Black_Rabbit_Inle 166]

  There's a water Shoji that let's your allies move, IIRC.

[Franwax 386]

4 hours ago, Black_Rabbit_Inle said:

  There's a water Shoji that let's your allies move, IIRC.

Slippery maneuvers lets your allies move 1 range band towards a position of your choosing (which then becomes Obscuring for them)

[Suimaru 8]

Back again. I'm having trouble with something, my player's disadvantage, incurable illness. Every time he does something, I glance at that disadvantage and think "there are WAY too many times this will come into play." Even in combat, since combat can be very physically taxing. I haven't had him do any re-rolls in combat, yet, as I feel that may be a bit TOO much (for now, he may well have died had I made him re-roll) so this brings the question, outside of the examples given, when would be be appropriate for this? I figure pretty much anything not combat is probably fair game, I just don't want his character to be a walking storm of coughing fits, every time he tries to do something but ignoring it too much just seems wrong.

[Isawa Miyu 46]

2 hours ago, Suimaru said:

Back again. I'm having trouble with something, my player's disadvantage, incurable illness. Every time he does something, I glance at that disadvantage and think "there are WAY too many times this will come into play." Even in combat, since combat can be very physically taxing. I haven't had him do any re-rolls in combat, yet, as I feel that may be a bit TOO much (for now, he may well have died had I made him re-roll) so this brings the question, outside of the examples given, when would be be appropriate for this? I figure pretty much anything not combat is probably fair game, I just don't want his character to be a walking storm of coughing fits, every time he tries to do something but ignoring it too much just seems wrong.

First, since the disadvantages are actually a form of advantage in this game (they're how you get Void points), encourage your player to trigger and use it. If that doesn't work, then maybe don't trigger it in short combats, or physical exertions, but definitely DO if anything goes on for a while. Chase scene into combat? Fair game, seems to me. The player chose it. If they aren't willing to activate it themselves, and they're unhappy when you use it, it's time to talk to them about altering their character (or in a dark worse case scenario, letting them die if that's the outcome, and rerolling). There is NO point in taking a character element, and then ignoring it like a red-headed step child (to use a hilariously outdated, and awful, expression, altered slightly).

[nameless ronin 706]

9 hours ago, Suimaru said:

Back again. I'm having trouble with something, my player's disadvantage, incurable illness. Every time he does something, I glance at that disadvantage and think "there are WAY too many times this will come into play." Even in combat, since combat can be very physically taxing. I haven't had him do any re-rolls in combat, yet, as I feel that may be a bit TOO much (for now, he may well have died had I made him re-roll) so this brings the question, outside of the examples given, when would be be appropriate for this? I figure pretty much anything not combat is probably fair game, I just don't want his character to be a walking storm of coughing fits, every time he tries to do something but ignoring it too much just seems wrong.

It should not come up whenever the PC does something taxing. Incurable Illness is for prolongued strenuous activity, for pushing yourself too hard. So, riding a horse for several hours because you're in a hurry? II triggers. Riding a horse for 10 mins to show it off to someone you want to impress? No II. Practicing your kata in the morning before breakfast? No II, normally. Training hard most of the day to show your sensei you mastered the next level of his kendo instruction? Definitely II. Keeping up with your personal correspondence? No II. Overseeing your Clan Champion's correspondence? II might kick in. 

If you feel that there should be some kind of rule of thumb to use for combat, I might suggest something like: after half Endurance rounds of combat there's a 50% chance II is triggered (GM rolls a black Ring die, if it's a Strife result II is triggered for the rest of the fight); for every extra skirmish scene the same day this 50% chance occurs a round earlier.

I really don't think this has to come up considerably more often than other disadvantages, unless the player really wants to play his character as someone who is always pushing his limits.

[Suimaru 8]

Oh, that looks like it could work out well. Thanks, both of you.

[Suimaru 8]

this is less a question, more a concern. Under the clans views of bushido, Phoenix values Righteousness (which can double the honor gained/forfeited in regards to this tenet) they don't really value Sincerity (so they gain/lose less honor in regards to this one) the concern is, they sort of feed into each other, every breach or sacrifice of either could lead up a larger gain/loss of honor than others. I may be reading too much into this but it almost seems like this could end up sending a character somewhat dramatically in one direction.

 

Now for a question, when honor/status/glory loss mentions attribute rank, I used the search feature for attribute rank but it only had one result, which was table 7-1 but didn't mention how to find attribute rank, I feel like i am missing something, somewhere, I just can't seem to find it.

[AK_Aramis 1,002]

2 hours ago, Suimaru said:

this is less a question, more a concern. Under the clans views of bushido, Phoenix values Righteousness (which can double the honor gained/forfeited in regards to this tenet) they don't really value Sincerity (so they gain/lose less honor in regards to this one) the concern is, they sort of feed into each other, every breach or sacrifice of either could lead up a larger gain/loss of honor than others. I may be reading too much into this but it almost seems like this could end up sending a character somewhat dramatically in one direction.

 

Now for a question, when honor/status/glory loss mentions attribute rank, I used the search feature for attribute rank but it only had one result, which was table 7-1 but didn't mention how to find attribute rank, I feel like i am missing something, somewhere, I just can't seem to find it.

• Honor Rank is the 10's digit of Honor
• Glory Rank is the 10's digit of Glory
• Status Rank is the 10's digit of Status 

I'll find the page reference and edit it in shortly

Edit: page 37, left col.

Edited December 24, 2018 by AK_Aramis

[Suimaru 8]

thank you, I'd been looking everywhere for that.

 

One more question, I know that when dealing damage, if the damage is reduced to 0 no critical strikes happen but what about critical strikes inflicted by spending opportunity?  Are those also treated the same way?

[Franwax 386]

8 minutes ago, Suimaru said:

One more question, I know that when dealing damage, if the damage is reduced to 0 no critical strikes happen but what about critical strikes inflicted by spending opportunity?  Are those also treated the same way?

As far as I understand, it’s perfectly possible for a strike to inflict zero damage (after resistance) but still inflict a critical hit with a double opp. So yeah, this could result in the target being at zero fatigue, but suffering the wounded condition from the crit. 

Note that if the weapon used was razor edged, it still gets damaged if all the physical damage is negated by physical resistance. 

[Magnus Grendel 11,672]

8 hours ago, Franwax said:

As far as I understand, it’s perfectly possible for a strike to inflict zero damage (after resistance) but still inflict a critical hit with a double opp. So yeah, this could result in the target being at zero fatigue, but suffering the wounded condition from the crit. 

Note that if the weapon used was razor edged, it still gets damaged if all the physical damage is negated by physical resistance. 

Correct. In fact, this is one of only a handful of times you'd do so - most of the time you'd decline to keep 2 successes, fail your strike action and not take damaged to your weapon rather than inflict a zero-fatigue strike which does nothing anyway and breaks your katana.

If you're accepting damage to a blade in order to inflict a double-handed katana critical strike with an extra deadliness opportunity or two...that becomes potentially worth a day's repair work afterwards.

[Franwax 386]

6 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

If you're accepting damage to a blade in order to inflict a double-handed katana critical strike with an extra deadliness opportunity or two...that becomes potentially worth a day's repair work afterwards.

Another application I see is to use a disposable/secondary weapon like a Tanto to inflict a measly crit to your enemy’s plated armor and reduce its resistance by 2.  Narratively, you sneak into their guard and cut the silk cords that hold the breastplate together. You may ruin your knife but your buddies will have an easier time damaging the enemy afterwards. 

[Avatar111 553]

22 hours ago, Franwax said:

Another application I see is to use a disposable/secondary weapon like a Tanto to inflict a measly crit to your enemy’s plated armor and reduce its resistance by 2.  Narratively, you sneak into their guard and cut the silk cords that hold the breastplate together. You may ruin your knife but your buddies will have an easier time damaging the enemy afterwards. 

Just do a crit with your punch instead.

No blade dmg, same result.

Narratively; "yeah rules!!"

Edited December 25, 2018 by Avatar111

[Franwax 386]

1 hour ago, Avatar111 said:

Just do a crit with your punch instead.

No blade dmg, same result.

Narratively; "yeah rules!!"

Yeah, that’s why I’ve decided to only apply the damage effect to armor when it makes sense that the attack may alter the protection granted. Throwing a rock with 2 opp on a plated armor? Nah, I don’t see that happening. Fist attacks are not the most ludicrous for that though... after all you use your hands to remove an armor 😛

I would also alter the time it takes to fix that “damage” depending on how it was inflicted. Tying back some cords is not the same as hammering back metal plates into shape. 

[Avatar111 553]

3 hours ago, Franwax said:

Yeah, that’s why I’ve decided to only apply the damage effect to armor when it makes sense that the attack may alter the protection granted. Throwing a rock with 2 opp on a plated armor? Nah, I don’t see that happening. Fist attacks are not the most ludicrous for that though... after all you use your hands to remove an armor 😛

I would also alter the time it takes to fix that “damage” depending on how it was inflicted. Tying back some cords is not the same as hammering back metal plates into shape. 

A gm gotta do what a gm gotta do when playing ffg l5r

 

[Suimaru 8]

Back with another question. Just had a complication where one player was hiding an item (a bribe they accepted but didn't want found) it was concealable, so I went and checked what to do with concealed items with the quality and used the rules for that, which led to the player being upset, because when the contents of their bag revealed no dagger, they said it must be hidden on them, no one was able to determine it, to which the player had their character call for a strip search, that didn't go over too well, at all.

Is there a better way to handle finding items hidden on a person that doesn't basically make the concealable quality not mean anything?

Edited January 14, 2019 by Suimaru

[Franwax 386]

Not sure I understand the situation completely... was your player trying to hide something or find a hidden item on someone else? And was it a dagger or a sum of money?

The rule for concealed items is pretty straightforward: it’s hidden, and if someone suspects something they roll Design (Air) or Smithing (Air) with a TN of 3. If they fail, they cannot see anything and shouldn’t have in-game reasons to push the matter further. They should roleplay as if they were convinced that nothing is hidden. 

[Suimaru 8]

Ah, some information is missing, could've sworn I had it. The character that was hiding something had multiple hidden weapons (shuriken, another knife, and also the item in question that was accepted as a bribe, a jade dagger and more) we had a hard time trying to figure out which of the items were found, due to the wording on concealable that reads like this "If the onlooker succeeds with two or more bonus successes, they also determine the type of the hidden item" does the TN3 mean they find every hidden thing on the character?

 

The reason they were still pushing it, is they saw said character accept the bribe, though right now the party is a bit split due, in character, over how they acted in character, mostly the timing of the accusation, as this could've caused issues with the upcoming battle.

[Magnus Grendel 11,672]

On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 10:56 PM, Suimaru said:

this is less a question, more a concern. Under the clans views of bushido, Phoenix values Righteousness (which can double the honor gained/forfeited in regards to this tenet) they don't really value Sincerity (so they gain/lose less honor in regards to this one) the concern is, they sort of feed into each other, every breach or sacrifice of either could lead up a larger gain/loss of honor than others. I may be reading too much into this but it almost seems like this could end up sending a character somewhat dramatically in one direction.

Not sure I fully follow. Yes, if you follow or violate a clan's beliefs, it can fairly dramatically shift the honour lost/reward.

Note that most important decisions - the ones which aren't "do you press the 'honourable' or 'dishonourable' button?" will hit multiple levers at once. Honour gains are called 'sacrifices' for a reason - it should have cost you something meaningful to do that or it's not really important.

 

As an example:

Courage has a breach associated with fleeing from a battle to protect your lord. However, if you don't disengage, you're knowingly endangering your lord, which is a (pretty big) violation of Duty.

So a Lion (High regard for Courage) might well stand on the lines and fight to the death whilst a Scorpion (High regard for Duty) will break off and run for the command post in the same situation

Despite this, both would be making the correct (i.e. 'best' or at least 'least worst') choice in terms of the change to their honour score.

 

6 hours ago, Suimaru said:

Back with another question. Just had a complication where one player was hiding an item (a bribe they accepted but didn't want found) it was concealable, so I went and checked what to do with concealed items with the quality and used the rules for that, which led to the player being upset, because when the contents of their bag revealed no dagger, they said it must be hidden on them, no one was able to determine it, to which the player had their character call for a strip search, that didn't go over too well, at all.

Is there a better way to handle finding items hidden on a person that doesn't basically make the concealable quality not mean anything?

It's basically a question of the situation. Unless the person in question is already being treated as a criminal (or is a peasant to start with) you do NOT get strip-searched. Being asked to show the content of a bag you're carrying is one thing, but it's a massive, massive violation of courtesy to start on a pat-down or strip-search unless you have a very good reason.

 

3 hours ago, Suimaru said:

Ah, some information is missing, could've sworn I had it. The character that was hiding something had multiple hidden weapons (shuriken, another knife, and also the item in question that was accepted as a bribe, a jade dagger and more) we had a hard time trying to figure out which of the items were found, due to the wording on concealable that reads like this "If the onlooker succeeds with two or more bonus successes, they also determine the type of the hidden item" does the TN3 mean they find every hidden thing on the character?

If they're looking for a specific thing, then I'd roll for that, with air opportunities (since a close scrutiny of a person is Air) potentially spent to notice other details (i.e. other concealed things than the thing you're looking for)

3 hours ago, Suimaru said:

The reason they were still pushing it, is they saw said character accept the bribe, though right now the party is a bit split due, in character, over how they acted in character, mostly the timing of the accusation, as this could've caused issues with the upcoming battle.

If they know the player accepted the bribe, then an inspection (even a slightly rude insistence on one) is not unreasonable, but if the inspection is failed, then it's going to be a case of "all right, where and when did you stash it?"  because as far as they can tell it's not on their person anymore (again, insistence on a false accusation - which it is if they can't find the dagger- is still  a violation of Courtesy and arguably Honour - depending on how certain they can be of what happened).

[Suimaru 8]

So I did handle trying to find a concealed item right. I was a bit worried. Though the player now thinks it's unfairly impossible to do but it's more their own fault, having no points put into the two skills called for. They could've had help in searching but they blew that chance out the water with the bad timing of exposing this, there were bigger issues, like the massive army marching on their location.

One of my players took animal bond, they have a Hawk with them, which has proven interesting, they brought up a question, when does the Hawk act in combat? I was thinking of having it work like the attendant and just act on the same initiative but that requires a support action to let it do an action and they were wondering if they could have it assist them on martial checks.