Ultimate Combat Priest Asahina Shugenja
Playing in the living campaign as i do, i'm often forced to look for the most bang I can get out of a starting character with the least amount of points. I've come to the conlusion that if your goal is to make a combat shugenja Asahina is the way to go. Lets look at the basics. For those of you who are not aware the asahina technique is to spend a void and add their honor in unkept dice to their spellcastign roll. Pretty spiffy by itself, not great but certainly not terrible either. Next up, when i spend said void i calculate any effects on the spell as if my relevant ring was my honor rank higher. This is where things really get sick. Assuming i take maximum disadvantages for a total of 55 character points. I will play Asahina Family, even though going daidoji on the whole allows a better build. +2 to Reflexes 28 Points +1 to Awareness 12 Points +1 to Void 12 Points +1 to Honor, 3 points For my spells i take tempest of air, anything else is groovy but tempest of air is where this gets sick. Combat begins, any number of no range attack bad guys shows up. Cast tempest of air spending a void, now my air ring is effectively an 8. I mow them down for as long as i want as I'll most likely go first on initative. The spell lasts full concentration plus 1 round, so i could carry on a pleasant conversation with my party members as i tear the oposition apart with my hurricane force winds. Since only kisda has an earth of 8 any lesser being is knocked on their duf unable to harm me provided their not greviously wounded. Assumign the average earth of most opposition to the party is 3 their also taking 5k5 damage while their being knocked down. This makes even the best built fire shugenja pretty much cry themself to sleep at night with their paltry 4k4 on fires from within, since fires gets no raises for damage. I don't either but hey with a 5k5 damage and my enemies spending much of their precious actions getting to their feet i should be alright. Then a few insight ranks pass as I decimate anything without artillery support off the map. I hit rank 3, thereby getting me over my fire deficiency and allowing me to take fires from within. I've probly got an earth of at least 3, a fire of at least 3 and a void of at least 3 or better. My honor might have creeped up to five. Now i deal with my fires, to as many targets as i can get the spell off on. I push the button they now take a conservative estimate of 7k7 reguardless of earth ring. At fouth rank i get heart of the inferno and am doing 10k10 plus change damage to entire areas. Am i the only one that feels this was severely overlooked in the playtesting phase? It's especially disturbing given the asahina's more woarlike bent, their consistantly outdamaging an isawa fire shugenja.

I think that this might have been the result of thinking : Hey those guys are pacifists. If I remember correctly the matter was brought to Shawn once and he said something like why would they use their honor to attack people, those guys are pacifists. That's why I homebrewed in my games that the Asahina Sohei is not a new path but an enitrely new school. Pacifist shugs get the insane school while the destroyers get the ok shcool.

The Sohei Path at Rank 2 utterly removes any “but they’re pacifists” augments from the equation. Yes Asahina are the best nukers in the game and air spells are the best element in the game. Tempest of Air and Wisdom of the Kami and secrets of the wind and invisibility and flight, and making it rain and freeze utterly preventing war and being based on air and thus awareness making them great courtiers along with Benten’s Touch.... and …and …and….yeah. FTW! Heaven forbid you have Ishiken-so and a Rank 4 Shiba Bushi trained Daidoji Yojimbo to get unlimited void via Kharmic Intent. :shock: There is ONE limiting factor: going around killing people will utterly prevent you from ever having honor above 3 unless you are in war time, and then it is up to the general to use your power.

yeah, as a GM I simply wouldnt allow a non-pacifist base school asahina. Point blank. Sekawa and his mad sohei cronies be damned!! There are too many 'type-breaking' asahina schools IMHO and not enough 'type-confirming' ones. Shugenja in general should be frowned upon for being involved in violence. They are priesthood, they should act like it.

Perhaps as a side project some of us should start working up a list of religious taboos and vows, and which Shugenja Families observe them.

problem is that the Crane council of the damned CCG (Yes I embrace the hate) as chosen that the Asahina will continue on their violent path. ZOMG VIOLENNNNCEEE!!!!

Actually yes i will complain. Because it makes no sense that an Asahina shugenja gets effectively the only spell damage boosting technique in the game. They are better at unleashign their burnination against the Shadowlands, an instance that should come up once in a generation, then a kuni or an isawa is by far. Additionally they are good at burninating everything. That's i my point, the technique disproportionally benefits damage dealing spells and is in my opinion the best shugenja technique in the game. They completely pants the isawa, the kuni, and prettty much any other spell caster. Yes the isawa can generate a lot of raises if they have to but since raises now do very little for spell casters there's not a whole hell of a lot one can do with said raises.

You put the finger right were it hurts, Magic in the First Ed. was based on the concept that every single spell was a mod of Sense, Commune, Summon and raises actually were the way to bring change to your spells. 3rd edition calcified so much magic that it made the raises system a joke when it comes to magic. Bushi can boost their damage to ridiculous amounts but Shugenja cannot even use the basis of the Roll and Keep system, the ability to make raise to increase the effect of your rolls. I consider this a travesty of the idea behind the Roll and Keep system, a gross attempt at making the shugenja less effective (to the point of ineffectiveness in 3rd edition) and an unbalanced system that actually make the bushi unbeatable. Don't get me wrong, a Shugenja can still tacke down a bushi but not trougth damage only spells. I mean the rank 6 Fire spell does 10Kx (mostly 5 or 6) each round. You don't kill a rank 5 bushi with this but he will sure as hell kill you in one round.

Violent Asahina? BLACK SHEEP! Perhaps even Cast Out. The rest of the Asahina are not going to be happy with you. I am against violent asahina as well. I would be tempted to make it a requirement to take the "pacifist" flaw if you wished to be Asahina. I don't mind if Asahina get violent, just as long as they are confronted with the consequences of their actions. Violence begets violence. Have a few Sohei assassinated...

While this discussion is partially relevant to the peacefull, or rather non peacefull nature. I know how to fix Asahina PC's what i'AND inapropriate for the historical nature of the school. 2) Shugenja need some way to rtaise for damage to bring their combat capabilities in line with their bushi breathen. 2b) A side effect to this is the complete whoring over shugenja recieve from carapace as written. 3) Asahina Sekawa needs to die, in a fire. Fixes. 1)Give the Asahina a secondary tech item that while still tied to honor is not the completely broken offering currently put forth. The asahina technique is the only shugenja technique that acts in this factor. I would like to see the Asahina recieve a number of free raises equal to honor rank when they spend a void. This is a powerfull, but well balanced technique. 2) Bring back the capability to raise on spells for damage. Maybe introduce a new shugenja rank 2 path available to any shugenja. Call it the war shugenja path, i Don't know, or just include generic raises back intot eh mix. 2b) EIthe rmake carapace not affect magical damage, or give certain spells (Jade based spells, High level fire spells) the ability to bypass carapace. The tetsubo of the shugenja's arsenal. 3) Kill sekawa, give any players who voted to keep the Asahina ont he militant path a severe beating.

Here's a list of spells that make use of the elemental rings for non-damaging (or not primarily damaging) effects. Air By the Light of Lady Moon Cloak of Night Mists of Illusion The Eye Shall Not See False Realm Lady Moon's Legion Symbol of Air Wall of Air Rise, Air Earth Grasp of Earth Benevolent Protection of Shinsei Death of Stone Symbol of Earth Tomb of Jade Prison of Earth Fire Death of Flame Symbol of Fire Void Essence of Void Void Release Void Strike Void Supression Water Castle of Water Path to Inner Peace Regrow the Wound Symbol of Water Wall of Water Words of the Kami