Different School and the Shosuro Shinobi

Different School and the Shosuro Shinobi
Any Crane can take Kakita Blades and not just Kakita Bushi. In fact a Crane who took Different School Shosuro Shinobi and took Great Potential Iaijutsu who gets to Rank 2 is a terrifying duelist due to the Kakita Blade’s +1k1 (average +6 on all focus rolls) and the two free raises for the Shosuro Shinibi Rank 2 tech for another +10 to focus rolls. Adding in the rank 5 Free Raise for Iaijutsu 5 and having 4 in Agility, Reflexes and Void (easily do able at Rank 1 0 XP), the Crane Shinobi gets 10k5 +21 to Focus. Are you sure that this combination is even legal by the RAW. Different school allows a character to, "select a standard bushi, courtier, or shugenja school from any other clan as your school." (page 107, 3rd Ed Rulebook) Shosuro Shinobi is not technically a Ninja school, but the school text does not specify it as being any of the other three listed. I would be very skeptical if they were classified as Bushi. They don't even have a katana. I snipped this from the AEG forums because I wanted to know what the Shosuro Shinobi was actually classified and if it could be taken with Different School by another Clan character.

I made a similar comment regarding the 3 Orders Tattooed Man, a School which is also not of one of the three types mentioned in Different School. I've (house)ruled that monk schools never require Different Schools in my campaigns, but I wouldn't do the same for the Shosuro Shinobi: monk schools pretty much take anyone in as long as they're willing to turn their back on their former non-monk life, but the Shinobi School is about as secretive as it gets. How would a Crane know of this School in the first place, and how would they ever get permission to attend it? Not going to happen, if you ask me.

I made a similar comment regarding the 3 Orders Tattooed Man, a School which is also not of one of the three types mentioned in Different School. I've (house)ruled that monk schools never require Different Schools in my campaigns, but I wouldn't do the same for the Shosuro Shinobi: monk schools pretty much take anyone in as long as they're willing to turn their back on their former non-monk life, but the Shinobi School is about as secretive as it gets. How would a Crane know of this School in the first place, and how would they ever get permission to attend it? Not going to happen, if you ask me. I had actually never thought about monks. I guess they would not qualify for different school either. The only way that I could see that you could acheive another Clan getting into the Three Orders, by the RAW, is Forced Retirement. It would be a stretch. Mainly I wanted to know what the Shosuro Shinobi were classified as. I would say Ninja, but the text does not say that. As a GM, I would not allow another clan's character into the shinobi in a million years, but what does the RAW say on this?

I had actually never thought about monks. I guess they would not qualify for different school either. The only way that I could see that you could acheive another Clan getting into the Three Orders, by the RAW, is Forced Retirement. It would be a stretch. Multiple Schools (unlike Different School) doesn't specify any type of School it can be used for, so it goes for all of them, including and . There's a FAQ entry with regards to this IIRC, but I don't have the FAQ on hand right now. Either way, even if it isn't quite 'forced retirement' joining one of the Three Orders effectively means leaving your Clan and your life as a samurai behind.

I wonder. We have , and who aren't , and . We knows we can multi-school in any of them, and somewhere in the FAQ a shugenja can go in a monk school. Can't we deal it case by case up to GM point of view ?

Can't we deal it case by case up to GM point of view ? Well, regardless of whether or not the Shinobi (should) have the tag, they certainly aren't shugenja. As such, they can certainly Multiple School to anything other than Schools. In practice, anything is up to the GM's POV. But for the theory, it'd be nice to have an official POV too. ;)

The most amusing part of this interpretation is that it implies that the Crane are willing to teach outsiders the Daidoji Harrier techniques, as that school is tagged as a school. I am of the very definite opinion that nobody outside of the clan gets to study that school, seeing as most Crane don't even know that it exsists.

The secrecy of the Daidoji Harriers is rather ambiguous in 3E. For one, it's the only Daidoji School in the core book. Are all those Daidoji supposed to train with the other Crane families? For another, the Daidoji are renowned for their unusual battle tactics. Those must be developed somewhere, right? Thirdly, the bulk of the Iron Warriors is made up of Harriers. Those don't pop up out of nowhere either.

Well, regardless of whether or not the Shinobi (should) have the tag, they certainly aren't shugenja. As such, they can certainly Multiple School to anything other than Schools. In practice, anything is up to the GM's POV. But for the theory, it'd be nice to have an official POV too. By the RAW, why can't the Shosuro Shinobi multiple school into a Shugenja School? The only restriction that I know of is that Samurai can never become Shugenja and vice versa.

I snipped this from the AEG forums because I wanted to know what the Shosuro Shinobi was actually classified and if it could be taken with Different School by another Clan character. You were correct. You cannot use Different School to take a non-bushi, non-shugenja or non-courtier school. Multiple School has no such restriction. Can't we deal it case by case up to GM point of view ? Well, regardless of whether or not the Shinobi (should) have the tag, they certainly aren't shugenja. As such, they can certainly Multiple School to anything other than Schools. In practice, anything is up to the GM's POV. But for the theory, it'd be nice to have an official POV too. ;) Currently, the Shinobi does NOT have the Ninja tag, but should. I have never seen a post from Shanw giving them the Ninja tag. A complete tagging of all the school will happen when I do the FAQ. The most amusing part of this interpretation is that it implies that the Crane are willing to teach outsiders the Daidoji Harrier techniques, as that school is tagged as a school. I am of the very definite opinion that nobody outside of the clan gets to study that school, seeing as most Crane don't even know that it exsists. No. Different Schools says a “standard” Bushi, shugenja courtier school. Each of the one schools form each clan that is not the first listed Bushi school is not the “standard bushi school”. This does bring up issues with the Four Winds and School Updates, but this artifact can be fixed in the FAQ. By the RAW, why can't the Shosuro Shinobi multiple school into a Shugenja School? The only restriction that I know of is that Samurai can never become Shugenja and vice versa. They can. Shosuro Shinobi are not "Bushi".

No. Different Schools says a “standard” Bushi, shugenja courtier school. Each of the one schools form each clan that is not the first listed Bushi school is not the “standard bushi school”. This logic seems "fishy" to me. The Akodo Bushi is the first school listed for the Lion Clan. Does that make the Matsu non-standard. There are over 100k of them around. Heck, there was a time, in the recent past, when there was no Akodo family to pass on the school. I am just saying that I am having difficulty with the first bushi school listed being considered "standard."

I'm with Katsumoto on that. I see nothing at all that defines which Schools are 'standard' and which aren't.

This logic seems "fishy" to me. The Akodo Bushi is the first school listed for the Lion Clan. Does that make the Matsu non-standard. There are over 100k of them around. Heck, there was a time, in the recent past, when there was no Akodo family to pass on the school. I am just saying that I am having difficulty with the first bushi school listed being considered "standard." Each school in the main rule has a Bushi School and Shugenja School and Courtier School and a Special School. I am even willing to let Different School apply to any school that has Bushi/Courtier/Shugenja School in the title as opposed to the Bushi/Courtier/Shugenja tag. What else could “Standard” mean if all bushi schools are allowed?

This logic seems "fishy" to me. The Akodo Bushi is the first school listed for the Lion Clan. Does that make the Matsu non-standard. There are over 100k of them around. Heck, there was a time, in the recent past, when there was no Akodo family to pass on the school. I am just saying that I am having difficulty with the first bushi school listed being considered "standard." Each school in the main rule has a Bushi School and Shugenja School and Courtier School and a Special School. I am even willing to let Different School apply to any school that has Bushi/Courtier/Shugenja School in the title as opposed to the Bushi/Courtier/Shugenja tag. What else could “Standard” mean if all bushi schools are allowed? The Lion and the Mantis break that mold. The Lion have the Akodo and the Matsu while the Mantis have the Yoritomo and the Tsuruchi. All four of these Bushi Schools seem pretty "Standard" to me.

What else could “Standard” mean if all bushi schools are allowed? Standard could simply refer to anything found in the core book, excluding entry-level paths and other Schools from sourcebooks that were released later, like 4 Winds.

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