The Collected Rulings (and Wisecracks) of Rich Wulf

The question is, simply put, are all skills with the "Lore Skill" subtype considered a "Lore Skill" for all purposes and rolls? Yes. The Asako courtiers rule. Yes Henshin/Courtiers can combine their benefits, assuming a character can somehow get into Henshin (becoming a Henshin is a rather daunting roleplaying task). Henshin can only raise to boost the effects of a Mystery once. Fukurokujin's Blessing does indeed grant bonus Insight for any skill with the Lore subtype. Standard action is a misnomer. It should be a complex action. (meaning you can't also attack that round) EDIT: Also, any character build that attempts to demonstrate brokenness by portraying a Rank 8 Character of any stripe will generally earn the reply "Well I sure hope your Rank 8 is godlike - he's Rank 8!" That doesn't mean that I discourage you putting together such builds to see what the system does, however, stapling down trends like that helps us preserve future balance. I think the henshin/courtier is a pretty strong combo, though the balancing difficulty of entering the Henshin school seems to weigh it out. Henshin/courtiers should be pretty rare.

He shoots... and he scores!!! Now that is a Technique worth having. Just another thing, on Round 2, both Roy and Fred would be in the same condition, right? On a side note: Yes, just like it is for every other character in the game. For everyone else it generally takes two rounds though. With Tides of Battle, however, it is a very viable tactic. Holy Sisters of Mirumoto! I have to reevaluate my tatics. Just to clarify this is what I mean. Rufus is fighting Bill and Ted. Bill and Ted both get higher initiative than Rufus. Round 1 Rufus goes Full defense, as he has Defense 5. Ted swings and misses. Bill swings and misses. Rufus uses Tides of Battle to reduce Bill's Initiative. Technically Bill and Ted can do this as well because they didn't take any damage either. Let's say Rufus gets lucky and gets initiative on Bill, but Ted is still ahead of Rufus. Round 2 Ted swings and misses Rufus, who is still enjoying Full Defense. Rufus now goes on Full Attack and demolishes Bill. Bill, being dead, takes no action. Tides kicks in again but for the sake of argument we'll say Ted maintains Initiative superiority. Round 3 Ted goes first, gets three Free Raises because Rufus is still suffering Full Attack penalties. Rufus dies. Badly. Had Rufus gone first, he might have been able to go back on Full Defense or even regular Attack and prevent this unseemly fate. Poor Rufus. Anyway that's just meant to illustrate when the posture effects kick in and go away. Clearer now?

RESPONSE TO EDIT: Are you saying that Full Defense until my action then Full attack is a valid tatic? Yes, just like it is for every other character in the game. For everyone else it generally takes two rounds though. With Tides of Battle, however, it is a very viable tactic.

and prevents him from being locked into Defense mode in the first round of combat as a character milking the Defense Mastery Ability typically is. I still didn't get what you mean by that. Works like this: Doji Roy, Courtier with 5 Defense. Initiative is rolled, Roy sees he's going last. He says "I want to go on Full Defense!" He is now locked into Full Defense as if he had declared it on his turn. He cannot attack now, even if he wishes to. Shosuro Fred, Shinobi student. Initiative is rolled, Fred sees he's going last, he doesn't say a thing. He's considered to be on Full Defense as if he had declared it last round, even if there was no last round. On his turn, he can declare posture and do whatever he wants just like any character can. He CANNOT go back into Full Defense once his action is complete, unless his action was one that would not break Full Defense Posture. Basically the Defense Mastery ability gives you the option of taking part of your action before it's your turn. The Shinobi does no such thing - it just gives you the luxury of having a posture's benefits before combat even starts.

RESPONSE TO EDIT: Am I to undertend that the Tsuruchi are to take over Rokugan in the near future? No, because every school in the game is extremely powerful in the context of their unique specialties. So, in a way, everyone is broken. People just tend to get freaked out about the Tsuruchi due to the combination of "Strong attacks + Standing way over there." Ranged attacks do have their inherent weaknesses. A Tsuruchi is not particularly potent in melee, and they are one of the few schools for whom every Rank Technique is chained directly to ONE specific weapon.

Don't mean to get into a debate with Shawn here, but I wrote this technique and it actually does not work the way he describes. Shosuro is in Full Defense. Remains in Full Defense unless one of the following things happens: 1) You are unable to utilize Full Defense, due to being restrained or the like. 2) You take an action that is illegal when on Full Defense, such as attacking or moving at more than half speed (you then default to Attack Posture). 3) You just decide not to be on Full Defense, for whatever reason. If you enter a combat with a Shosuro, he is probably on Full Defense already, as if he had declared Full Defense posture on his last action and was still enjoying the benefits. If he decides to attack you, he is no longer on Full Defense. Here is the tricky part: A Shosuro does NOT gain any special abilities to declare his Posture anew if he drops Full Defense. He has to do it just like everyone else. If he gives up his auto Full Defense, he has to wait until his next turn to switch it back on again, just like everyone else. The technique just prevents him from being surprised, and prevents him from being locked into Defense mode in the first round of combat as a character milking the Defense Mastery Ability typically is. If you're that afraid of a Shosuro Shinobi waiting for you to miss and then demolishing you... go on Full Defense yourself. Call for help. Try yelling "NINJA!" that usually works. I guarantee if the Shinobi doesn't quickly take advantage of the one-on-one combat, things will swiftly turn against him. EDIT: To offer some help to the Shosuro out of the interest of equality - I will note that the Shosuro are one of the few schools likely to use Combat Reflexes in a one on one battle to trade their initiative DOWN, if only to mess with their enemy's head.

Broken as in overpowered? The Tsuruchi longbows are extremely powerful, yes. They are definitely out of balance with all the other bows. I will not deny this, just as I will not deny that Utaku steeds are clearly better than any other horses... If the Utaku steeds were in the darned book, that is. :o But yes, the Tsuruchi bows are better than all the other bows. That's why only a handful of characters get to use them. EDIT: As my own armchair historian moment: The Mongols were hideously broken. They threw the whole environment out of whack. I demand immediate errata.

The players aren't too bad at ditching their D&D mentalities, I think, but the issue goes further then the example in question. What I'm concerned about is the idea of how combat should work. Should samurai be, as a general rule, engaging other 'honorable' opponents (ie, non-shadowlands/creepy spirits) in a one-on-one basis, or could multiple honorable samurai descend on the same foe, and not shame eachother or themselves? Honor is not a straitjacket. It's a guide. Take everything in context. If I were that Bayushi, I'd be horribly insulted and shamed that the Utaku thought I needed help. He was MY opponent. I could handle him. Her interference was an insult to my school. Once the Hida was down, I'd thank her and then begin quietly planning my revenge. Wouldn't kill her, mind you, just remind her of her place - INFERIOR TO THE MIGHTY SCORPION CLAN.* Now this is me. Another person in my place might say "By the Fortunes thanks for the help he was about to dig a ditch in my chest." Is it dishonorable in general for two people to attack the same opponent? Not by default, but context can cause a great deal of confusion and variety. Depends on the individuals involved. If it was a formal challenge, then yes, the Unicorn has shamed herself and everyone involved and the Hida and Bayushi would be well within their rights to set their duel aside and deal with her together. *that was in character as the arrogant Scorpion bushi I've always wanted to play. No offense intended toward Unicorn players.

Ok I have a question about the Rank 1 technique in 3E. Rank 1 – Return the Strike Because of their tenacity and outright stubbornness, the Badger are feared as opponents in combat through the Empire. They are burly, tough, and capable. There is a proverb in Rokugan: “If you plan to strike a badger, prepare to accept your own strike.” The Badger rolls first for initiative and then may subtract as many points as desired to a minimum initiative result of one. The amount subtracted may be added to all to hit rolls in the round. Ok since Initiative isn't rolled each round now, how should I go about handling this one? His initiative returns to its normal total at the end of each round. If he wants to, he can subtract it again to gain the bonus on subsequent rounds or go when his normal time is up.

Before this degrades into a duel of internet armchair experts debating the worth of respective pieces of historical weaponry, here is an answer to the original question: A player who is told to pick a bow, may pick any bow. The Tsuruchi bow says you cannot select it if you have not trained with the Tsuruchi. So, yes, a Tsuruchi Bounty Hunter may begin with such a bow. Now: returning to the Mongolian bow vs. the English longbow - I will be blunt and many of you will predict what I am about to say. "Rokugan is not the real world." The Tsuruchi family's place in the canon setting is, and likely always will be "the best damned archers in the world." Thus any and all historical precedent from the real world is more or less irrelevant here. The Tsuruchi longbow is the best because they're the Tsuruchi. Period. We now return you to your regularly scheduled debates. :)

Let's take a look at Feint, because it's a mechanic designed to be subtle. It's not something that you're going to notice as being particularly potent right away - and you'd better not. After all, it's a Feint. The advantage of a Feint over a Focus is that if your target moves out of range, your Focus is wasted. Basically in a Focus, you're attempting to gain the same benefit a duelist would in a formal Iaijutsu duel, where both opponents generally stand still, concentrate, then cut one another to pieces. Thus if your opponent even takes a step back as a simple action, forcing you to follow, the Focus is wasted. (Focus is a great deal more useful for snipers, who can wait till an unsuspecting target relaxes for a bit then put an arrow through his skull.) Feint in and of itself is not *intended* to be something that's easy to use or obvious in its utility. The reason is simple, but I will put it in its own paragraph for emphasis: If feinting were easy, everyone would feint. All the time. If you could declare any amount of Raises you wished but, if you missed, apply those Raises on your next attack, why would I not feint on EVERY attack? Generally in my experience players call one or two Raises against difficult opponents anyway. What risk is there if they can now do this with wild abandon, knowing that if they miss they will gain these Raises (along with any additional Raises they might call) on their next attack? Feints are intended to help you in pulling off extremely difficult maneuvers, as they give you a Raise you may utilize in addition to those required by your Void. They're best used when your opponent's retalitory strike is a non-issue because (as others have noted) sometimes the return strike is not worth the risk. A few good uses for Feint... 1) If your ally is knocked down, disarmed, or heavily wounded. You can use this to set up a coup de gras without fear of being harmed in return. 2) If you have an ally nearby boosting your TN somehow, either through the Guard action, magic, or a rank tech such as the Tamori shugenja's. With the luxury of more time to prepare your attack, you could launch a more devastating assault. 3) If there's an attack you really, really, really, really, really, really need not to miss. So much so that it's better than having the two attacks. What if you've only got one jade arrow? Making a feint with that club at first would be a pretty handy way to gain some insurance. What if you're a Shiba Bushi who plans to spend all his Void on a single perfect strike and wants just that little bit of additional insurance to make sure you haven't wasted your time? 4) Set and spike. Full attack is dangerous. Very dangerous. If you're going to Full Attack someone, you should really make sure they die. Feinting while still under the benefit of the normal Attack Posture then switching to Full Attack with an additional Raise for damage could take that bad guy straight the (expletive deleted) out. 5) Miscellanous - the Feint as described in the book is a baseline mechanic, an action ANYONE can do. A courtier with no combat abilities whatsoever can pretend he's trying to kick his enemy in the goodies and gain the Feint bonus. Then there are specialists, characters designed to make use of Feint. Some Schools take this benefit and build on it, creating a more impressive technique. Witness: Bayushi Bushi Rank 2, Daidoji Harrier Rank 4, Usagi Bushi Rank 4, Bayushi Bushi Rank 5, Usagi Bushi Rank 5, and whatever possible future techniques may take advantage of this mechanic. All of these techniques would be overpowered if Feint were moved out of its current form to the alternate versions suggested in this thread.

Hey folks... As you probably have noticed, the new Bushi and Courtier schools pack quite a bit more punch than their previous incarnations. While it's our intent to eventually present as many of the old schools as possible, either in new supplements or in web updates, it may be a while before we get to them all. A player who's using a character from an earlier edition thus might feel a bit left out translating his character and standing beside one of the burly new Bayushi Courtiers or Hida Bushi. Thus, the following is a generic and customizable "update" for every school that has not yet been converted to 3E. It requires a bit of work from player and GM alike, but it's far better than nothing, imo. A bushi or courtier school not yet converted to 3E gains the following abilities: Rank 1) Add your character's (pick a Ring appropriate to the school) to (pick one: melee attack rolls, ranged attack rolls, damage rolls, initiative, specific Skill roll, TN to be Hit). Pick variables appropriate to your school. Rank 3) Gain a Free Raise when utilizing a weapon technique, style, or maneuver that is specific to your school. Consult your GM to determine the very specific details of when this Free Raise occurs. It should be something that you conditionally receive frequently (such as once per round, but only when feinting) or that you receive less frequently, but under less restrictive circumstances (such as any time you spend a Void Point while wielding a tetsubo, or once per battle when facing enemies from a specific clan). Rank 4) Double the bonus from the Rank 1 ability. Rank 5) You now gain two Raises from the Rank 3 ability. Shugenja schools unconverted from earlier versions gain the following ability: Any time you cast a spell pertaining to your elemental affinity and spend a Void Point, you gain a Free Raise in addition to the Void Point's normal effects. Once you determine the temporary bonuses for a specific school, they should maintain consistency from one character to the next (PC or NPC). If we later release a new version of the character's old school, he should convert to the new version. This is intended only as a placeholder mechanic.

Ok, another odd one. The Tsuko's Storm kata on page 199. This kata negates that advantages of opponents attacking me from the sides or behind... what are those advantages? It sounds sort of like flanking on page 169, but I couldn't find any evidence that one person sneaking up on you from the sides or behind gains any benefit. A number of abilites are restricted to if you are aware of the attack... does this kata let you respond as if you are always aware of attacks on you? This definitely could have been worded better. It's a limited resistance to being Surprised (also on page 169). Essentially if someone is surprising you in melee, and you are capable of defending yourself, you suffer no penalty. (A character surprising you by firing at you from range or attacking in darkness still gains all benefits of surprise.) Further, it insists I declare "a Full Attack" each round... What's that? Is it suposed to say I need to declare "the Full Attack *Posture*" each round? The wording suggests it is even more stringent and I have to declare the posture AND hit something (anything, nearby flowers perhaps, if no enemy is handy)... I doubt am I really supposed to hack at stuff every 6 seconds for up to 2 hours just to keep this ability active while waiting for the fight to start after my half hour of warm-ups :)... No you just have to be in the Posture. Though, if you like, you could attack something every round. Maybe bring a hackeysack or something...

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