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[HailFire]

A long, long time ago, there existed a forum game... it was known as Nihon Nights: Tale of the Samurai, thatkid's anachronistic open world adventure in the vein of You are King, but with a distinctly Japanese flavor, using flavor-stripped Legend of the Five Rings rules... and it was good. It sadly didn't last, though, as thatkid was worn down by life, laziness, lack of co-GMs, and certain (unnamed) players after only a couple months.

Slightly over a year later, though, I'm looking to start a spiritual successor to it, both because NN had so much unrealized potential, and to atone for my repeatedly started and promptly abandoned projects here; the rules will remain much the same- though supernatural elements will be present- and the setting, while different, will remain distinctly similar.

All I need to begin this journey to the East are a couple of people to help me co-GM the game (both to help keep it running, and that we might be able to participate ourselves by rolling for each other- thatkid himself has expressed interest as signing on as a co-GM, but it's not official yet), and some brave souls willing to play it! A lot of information is in the OP of the old thread, which I'll be largely copying- if you have any other questions, you need but ask!


It is said that once, in ages past, the islands of Saikoku were one vast, verdant land; the First Golden Empire thrived there for centuries in peace and harmony, building great momuments and exotic technologies, until a war broke out in the Heavens- Dark and jealous Kami, spurned and downtrodden since the dawn of time for their foul ways, and the servants they seduced with promises of dark power sought to overthrow the Celestial heirarchy and take by force what they claimed to be rightfully theirs.

While they were eventually defeated, the consequences were harsh- aside from the vast loss of lives, when the vile god who led the revolt was finally struck down and cast from the Heavens, he plummeted to the earth with such force that the impact shattered the continent into innumerable fragments, cast far and wide by his death cry, and the sheer weight of his evil tore a hole straight into the very depths of Hell where he landed; that festering rift spawned the Shadowlands that consume that island and those around it, as Jigoku's corruption spreads and seeks to devour all it touches.

The second Golden Empire never fully recuperated... while some lost technologies were recovered, civilization once again sprang forth from the ruins of the land, and the sacred Emperors, descendants of the Kami, still rule without question, the nation is hopelessly fragmented; countless Clans have sprung forth to govern the disparate islands, and while they all venerate the Emperor, they constantly seek to grow their power and resources, either taking them from their rivals, or expanding into the savage, uncolonized wilderness.

One hundred and fifty years ago now, the Daiyama clan had been able to subdue the warring clans with cunning, charisma, and sheer force of arms, and their Daimyo was appointed Shogun by the Emperor- Military ruler of all the land under him, charged with protecting the Empire from the Shadowlands and foreign invasion. Like all good things, though, the reign of the Daiyama Shogunate is drawing to a close- Their influence over other clans has waned gradually over the decades, and only recently, the standing Shogun has been assassinated by forces unknown, with no heir to succeed him! As the families of the Daiyama clan scramble to fill in the power vacuum, the other clans shore up their walls and muster their armies- and the Golden Empire stands at the brink of civil war!


The journey begins on a modestly sized island- roughly the size of real-world Shikoku- itself part of a vast archipelago, the extent of which has not been mapped out in an age. Society strongly resembles that of feudal Japan, but the level of technology varies wildy depending on the region; electricity flows through many buildings, and though automobiles don't exist and firearms are rare to the point of legend, many clans move troops and cargo by train or subway rather than horse and wagon.

The town of Amemura, near the center of the island, is a bustling center of trade; the nexus of a smattering of farming villages, and the lifeline between two ports, with its railway cutting through dense forests and foothills- to the east stands the principal city of the island, a trading port and naval resupply base owned by the Daiyama Shogunate, and to the west lies the easternmost holdings of the Hoshikawa Clan, the coarse and hardy defenders of the walls that keep back the Shadowlands far to the the west... though the island is not exclusively controlled by those two Clans. Whether this is your destination, or merely a stop on your journey, where you go from here is up to you: in this land, a single sword or a sharp tongue might carry you anywhere you wish to go!

Of the rest of the Saikoku, much is left undefined; there are virtually innumerable Clans and the noble Families that fill them, great and small, legitimate and false, and each houses Schools of great renown with which to teach their kindred potent skills- though the GMs reserve final say of what is and isn't canonized, the lore of the game will largely be left up to you, the players.

EDIT: The game has officially started! The IC thread is here.

[HailFire]

On Character Creation (Disclaimer: most of this has been copied from thatkid's original post):

Spoiler: Character Application Sheet (click to show/hide)

Player Name: Your username, please.
Character Name: Your character's name.
Profession: Please choose the closest approximation to your character's profession- Bushi/Samurai/Ronin, Courtier/Scholar, Monk, Spy/Ninja.
Clan: Please name your clan here. Just the name. You should further describe the clan with another app, if it's new.
Family: If you are part of a noble family within that clan, please name it here. You should further describe the family with another app, if it's new.
School: What school or temple were you taught at? Please name it here. If you weren't, simply put down “N/A”. You should further describe the school/temple with another app, if it's new.
Physical Description: A paragraph or so describing your character physically. How old do they appear? How old are they really? Are there any distinguishing markings or features such as scars, birth marks, or something more mundane like hair styling? Are they muscular or weak? Fat, skinny, or healthy? Ill?
Personality: A paragraph or so describing how you expect to roleplay the character. Are they hot-headed, or cool and collected? Callous or caring? Naive or world-weary? Likes and dislikes? Honorable? Are they a criminal? This need not be definitive, if in the course of play you find that you have completely contradicted yourself here that's perfectly fine (I do this myself frequently).
Skills: A paragraph or so describing what your character's skills and talents are. Have they been trained for quick-draw duels? Horse riding and commanding troops? Are they a skilled orator, or a brutish thug who favors intimidation tactics? If they frequently fight, what sort of fighting style do they use? How did they gain these skills? Were they instructed, are the skills innate, or are they self-taught?
Biography: Two or more paragraphs describing your character's life prior to the game's beginning. What sort of immediate family do they have? Where did they grow up? What sort of friends did they have? What do they want in life? Why have they arrived in Amemura?
Goals: What does your character want in life? What are their goals? This may be as simple as “To test their skills against the best swordsmen they can find.” Or it may be several paragraphs describing complex motivations and aspirations political or otherwise.

Spoiler: Family and Clan Creation Sheet (click to show/hide)

 A Family is a noble lineage recognized by the Imperial government, headed by a Daimyo, his extended family, and their servants and retainers; While Families are also commonly known as clans, a Clan, in this context (and to avoid confusion), refers to a coalition of families, with the strongest or most influential family at its head; other Clan families might be their allies, vassals, or clients.

Name: The name of the family or clan. While a Clan commonly bears the name and mon of its principal family, this is not always the case.
Clan: This is only necessary for family applications: What clan are they part of?
Description: A one to three paragraph description of the family/clan and it's politics. This will be provided later in the thread so new players may get a quick idea of the family. If you want to go further in depth, simply add the information elsewhere.
Mon: The family/Clan's emblem. Allied families on equal footing sometimes combine their Mon for their Clan emblem in a show of solidarity, while powerful ones frequently impose parts of their Mon on that of their vassals as a sign of ownership, and weak, fledgling clans readily acept the honor of integrating part of a patron's Mon into their own, as it helps lend them legitimacy, much as marrying into their family would.

Spoiler: School Creation Sheet (click to show/hide)

Name: The name of the school or temple.
Specialty: What is the school or temple known for teaching? A certain style of combat? Courtiers? A religion? Ideally, they teach whatever your character is.
Description: A short, one paragraph description of the school, its ideals/philosophy, politics, and members. If you wish to go into further detail, simply append the extra detail after the app- this portion will be used to provide new players a quick glimpse of the school.

We will be using flavor-stripped Legends of the Five Rings rules (though the Shadowlands do still exist). If you are familiar with the system, you may also construct your own character sheet. Homerules/bans are listed below. Otherwise, I will create your sheet for you based on the information in your application. If you make your own mechanical character sheet, please send them to me via PM.
Similarly, if you are familiar with the system you may choose to tie your school or family (but not your clan) to L5R schools and families (which I'll be doing anyways when I make your sheet). Short descriptions of player-made families and schools (and related mechanics) will be listed in a later post. If/once this gets off the ground, we may get a wiki to compile further information.

You need not ask another player for permission to start as part of their family, clan or school. You do need to request permission to be directly related to them in some way (parent, sibling, best friend, mentor, student, etc.).

Spoiler: Home Rules/Bans (click to show/hide)

-Health is based on Earth x3, as opposed to the default x2.
-Starting exp and status (but not glory, honor, etc.) will be based on character applications. The max starting rank is 5, the minimum is -3. Max starting experience is 120, minimum is 40.
-Users of the Multischool Advantage may freely switch between any schools they have when they rank up.
-The Togashi Tattooed Order is still banned. While magic does exist in this world, sorcerers are extremely rare, reclusive, and generally feared and reviled... but magic ability is not a binary on/off switch set at birth. You may not start play as a Shugenja of any school, but you may be able to learn their skills later on given the proper circumstances. Other schools and things may be banned as we go, but I'll try to work with you.
-With proper plot reasoning, you may learn from a school that is not within your family/clan. Generally this requires an instructor who is willing to risk incurring the wrath of their Clan, and any other story-risks such an affront might incur.
-You may still take advantages/disadvantages that affect spell casting, but you won't gain any benefit from doing so unless you can find a practitioner to tutor you, or outside of very niche circumstances. Everyone has an affinity and a deficiency in certain elements, and these will be assigned based off of your character's personality.
-For expediency's sake, when rolling for you the GMs will always assume you keep your best rolls. If for some reason you want to keep lower rolls, please PM the GM before they roll for you.

FAQ

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Q) Why the anachronistic setting?
A) Because of the Rule of Cool, mostly. Also because it means I don't need to worry about historical accuracy, and if I get lazy and decide to stop trying to come up with culturally correct names for NPCs I can just toss out a western name.

Q) Where can I get a copy of the L5R rules?
A) http://bit.ly/J1nhGb

Q) Will there be large scale warfare?
A) L5R allows for it, so yes. It could be a while before anyone goes beyond small skirmishes, though, depending on how people choose to play and the types of characters app'd.

Q) Is character death permanent?
A) Yes, of course. If you go around challenging everyone you meet to a duel to the death, or blindly charging into battle against multiple opponents with no thought towards tactics you could very well end up dead. Even a courtier might run the risk of being assassinated, and just because you're a monk doesn't mean you might not end up on the wrong side of someone's weapon. PvP should be expected, as well. In essence: Be prepared to die, but don't expect it.

Any other questions that you feel should be added/answered here? Just let me know.

Spoiler: Explanation of Rules and Rolls (click to show/hide)

In the interest of not being sued, I am going to be purposefully vague in some aspects directly copy and paste this segment. For this, I apologize.

Rolling

Essentially, the L5R system (which we will be using) makes use of the Roll-and-Keep system as well as two sets of stats: Rings, which each contain 2 attributes, and Skills which are exactly as they sound. Rolls are annotated as xKy, where the first number is the total dicepool and the second is the number of dice kept from that pool, and then added together to form your result.

All skills are tied to a particular attribute. The first number, x, in a skill roll is decided by the skill rank + the associated attribute. The second number, which is the number of dice kept y, is equal to the trait.

For trait rolls, both x and y are equal to the trait in question.

Contested Rolls are self-explanatory: All characters involved roll, the character with the highest score wins.

You may choose to Raise the difficulty of a particular roll in order to accomplish more difficult goals, such as disarming or tripping an opponent or targeting a specific body part. This raises the difficulty +5 per raise.

All 10s "explode", adding another die to the pool. Except on unskilled skill checks.
There are two types of cooperative rolls: In one, everyone adds their skill bonus to the primary actor's roll total. In the second, the person with the highest skill's skill is added to the total of everyone else's roll.
Cumulative rolls are self-explanatory, and exist.

Combat

In combat, a character may take a certain number of wounds. As they gain more wounds, they begin to progress through a series of states, each with negative modifiers to rolls in order to represent the injuries in question. The levels of each character's wounds are decided by their Earth Ring multiplied by 3. (A character with 2 Earth would be considered "Nicked" at wounds 6, and "Grazed" at wounds 12, for instance)

In a character's turn, they may take one complex action (attack, mount a horse, string a bow) and one free action (draw a small weapon, say =<5 words, etc.)
OR
One free action, and two simple actions (draw a medium/large weapon, move, dismount, guard someone, say =>5 words)

In combat, a character may shift between several stances:
Attack, the standard stance.
Full Attack, which sacrifices defense for better damage in melee.
Defense, which adds the Air Ring to a character's defense but may not attack.
Full Defense, which prevents a character from moving or attacking, but allows them to add the results of a Defense/Reflexes roll to their defensive stat.
And Center, primarily used in iaijutsu which prevents a character from taking any action but provides a bonus, modified by his Void Ring, to one roll on the next round. That same second round, they also gain a one time initiative modifier.

When attacking, a character rolls their weapon skill against a difficulty level decided by the opposing character's Reflexes Trait and Armor. If their skill check beats the difficulty, they hit.
Each weapon has a stat called DR, which essentially reads as 2k3 (a katana). They add their Strength trait to the pool for this stat. The dice kept decide the number of wounds dealt.

For every full night's rest, a character heals twice his stamina plus twice his insight rank. Skills may aid a character in healing faster.

There are specialized rules of Iaijutsu, but I will not go into detail about them here. Know that there are three rounds: Assessment, focus, and strike. One gives you information on your opponent, the other decides who attacks first, and the last is the actual attack.

Currency
1 Koku = 5 Bu
1 Bu = 10 Zeni

Void Points
You have a pool of Void Points equal to your Void Ring which can be spent for various useful effects, or to use certain Techniques. These can be recovered through rest or meditation, and represent those occasional flashes of inspiration or enlightenment where, just for a moment, everything makes sense, and anything is possible.

By spending a Void point, you may, once per Round:

-Gain a +1k1 bonus on any one roll excluding damage rolls, before I make the roll. If you're performing an action that you feel you absolutely must succeed, declare you're using a Void point then.
-Temporarily gain a rank in a Skill you don't know, avoiding the penalty for using it unskilled.
-Reduce the Wounds you take from a single source of damage by 10- you must declare this before the next Round is posted, and I will assume you do this automatically if the attack would kill you, unless you specify otherwise (or the attack would kill you anyway, even after damage reduction).
-Increase your Armor TN by 10 for one Round, making you harder to hit; declare this between rounds as well.
-Swap your Initiative Score with a willing target for the remainder of the current fight. Only  one person has to expend the Void point, and you must do this at the beginning of combat.
-Increase your Initiative Score by 10 for the remainder of the current fight; declare this between Rounds.
-Activate a School Technique that costs Void Points: you may do this instead of or in addition to any of the above, bypassing the one-point-per-Round limit.

For more information on maneuvers, iaijutsu & grappling, skills+ rings + traits, glory/infamy + honor + status, advantages/disadvantages, equipment, and literally anything and anything else, please acquire the rulebook. Remember that you don't have to know the rules to participate!

[mcclay]

Sure, I'll bite.

[Shootandrun]

Manifesting tentative interest.

[Patrick Hunt]

Ptw

[HailFire]

I've updated the first posts with some fluff and information on applying for the game; the immediate setting will come up in the first post of the IC thread (once it's started), with a review of all of the clans, families, etc. in the second.

[Nerjin]

I'm interested. I want to re-read the rules a few times before I outright decide to play though. Might Co-GM

Edit: Well I have no clue about how this system works so I wont' be Gming at all.

[thatkid]

As I've said, I'm willing to help out on the running-things side of things. I just can't promise that I'll be horrendously useful, both for reasons you are already aware of and because courses start this coming Tuesday.

[Ardas]

Watching with interest for now.

[filiusenox]

Spoiler: Charsheet (click to show/hide)

Player Name: Filiusenox

Name: Shiseiji Kiyoshi

Clan: None

Family: None people would care about

School: Hehe.

Physical Description: Weathered with scars, this man is of average height, with a thin, sinewy build. Long, mangy hair, hangs down pass his shoulders, and oft-done in a topknot. He has an angular, pinched, plain face and jutting, crooked nose.

Personality: Saturnine and sanguine by turns, this man is either or when mood takes him. Generally quiet, he sticks to himself and his own, often spending most of his time alone. Or drunk. He cares not for his birth, but bluntly advertises it when asked for a name.

Skills: Kiyoshi was trained in the use of his 'father's' tantos by...his mother of all people, who was a popular 'courtesan'. His long stints of wandering the world, and wilds, have taught him to forage for food, hunt, poach, and find shelter for himself, and otherwise just survive, as well as quickly learning how to fix and mend his armor and weaponry, as much as possible. Learning how to tend to his many wounds also came in handy.

Biography: This young man was born in a only slightly-tainted city, to a whore and an unknown father. Since his mother often had...'guests' over, who didn't much like silly children getting in the way, he often had to wander the half-ruined city, sometime taking shelter in a defunct subway tunnel.
In this tunnel, the young man had his first encounter with the tainted, an experience that left him scarred, mentally and physically.
A man, however, a wandering ronin hunting the beasts, rescued him, barely. The man, after tending to the boy's wounds, returned the child to his mother, forgoing the 'reward' she offered. Naturally, he quickly began to copy the wandering samurai. Eventually, using money from odd jobs around town, he bought the set of tantos from his mother, and set out.
He managed to sneak pass the wall after leaving the island, entering into a ruined city on the other side.
He barely survived, dragging himself back across and avoiding whatever sentries may be there. He tended to his wounds and tried again, and again. And again. Finally, after killing his first shadow-beast, he started wandering.
Goals: Purge the Shadowlands of the Taint-Beasts.

[HailFire]

By the way, in case it wasn't clear, you guys can start making your characters now. 

Also, for clarification, there's no limit to how many people can join, and we're always recruiting; I'll probably throw up the IC thread for you guys to start posting as soon as we have 3+ approved characters.

If there's anything at all you guys want to ask or need to know, please do so, here or in PMs!

Ninja'd: Fil, looking over your post now; things are checking out so far, so I'll get working on your sheet and PM you it and any concerns that I have.

[mcclay]

Spoiler: Tenchi Yuchikigo (click to show/hide)

Player Name: Mcclay
Character Name: Tenchi Yuchikigo
Profession: Ronin
Clan: Yamakatei
Family: Yuchikigo
School: Nope
Physical Description: Tenchi looks to be about 40 when in fact he is only 29. Many long years of wandering Saikoku has left him world weary and tired. He is blind in one eye from a sword strike many years ago. He has short, dark hair and looks relatively muscular. He is healthy looking and seems to have a sparkle in his eye despite what he has encountered.
Personality: Tenchi is a hot headed young man, early in his life. He is very caring but not naive. He believes that most people are good underneath but some hide it in layers of evil and sin. He wishes to show the world that though life is filled with pain there might still be something worth living for. In a realm of constant war and fighting he is a screaming fire work in the dark, ready to spit in evil's eye even at his own destruction. Tenchi will not go quietly into the dark.
Skills: Tenchi is a swordsman and an honorable duelist. He prefers the long sword (Katana or whatever.) over the bow or knife. He was trained by his brother before he died and learned the rest of what he knows on by fighting those who would do evil to other men. He has some small skill in commanding and leading the common people and knows his way around nobel society.
Biography: Tenchi was born the second son of the prestigious noble family Yuchikigo in Clan Yamakatei . He looked up to his brother Yuri from a young age and saw him as more of a parent than his parents. Yuri taught Tenchi to do good to others and to fight for what was right. He taught him to help others and to protect those weaker than him. When Tenchi was about 10 Yuri was challenged to a duel by a member of a rival clan. Yuri seemed to prevail at first but then he suddenly slowed and died. The other duelist was accused of poisoning Yuri but he escaped before he could be caught. The next day Tenchi left home to go and destroy the other clan.
Tenchi made it to the first small village he found and challenged the first other swordsman he saw. He was defeated soundly but the other man took pity on him and trained him. The other man also shared Yuri's vision of a righteous society and sent Tenchi on his way with much needed humility and skill. Tenchi wandered the land looking for evil to fight and goodness to uphold. He came to Amemura to see if he could help anyone there. He also heard rumors that said that the rival clan was making moves take the village.
Goals: To uphold good and to destroy the evil. Also to take revenge on the rival clan and the swordsman that killed his brother.

Spoiler: Clan Yamakatei , Family Yuchikigo (click to show/hide)

Name: Yuchikigo
Clan:  Yamakatei
Description: Yamakatei  clan is one of the older clans of Shikoku. They were created after the fall of the first Golden Empire and have kept a tenuous foothold in the mountainous northern reaches. They excel at fighting one-on-one duels and mountain fighting. The Yuchikigo are one of the three members of the Tribunal of Families that govern the clan. They balance out the power-hungry Kimattehidarui  and the crusading Eraiseisen. The Yuchikigo believe that all men have both good and evil in them and its is their duty to push them towards good. With this belief they challenge the forces of the Shadow-lands everywhere.
Mon: The emblem of the Yamakatei clan is a mountain, strong, tall and powerful against any forces that would seek to destroy them. The mon of the Yuchikigo is of the same mountain but with a sun behind it. This symbolizes the Yuchikigo's desire to go about the world and bring light and law to it.

tl;dr: Japanese paladin.

[HailFire]

Mcclay: The character looks good to me- I'll get onto making a sheet for him.

The other part of your app... the clan is fine in principle, if somewhat sparse in description, but the names you have for them... well, they kinda suck, frankly.    You should come up with something that at least sounds Japanese; this is a helpful resource for that that I wholeheartedly recommend. EDIT: To clarify, I don't object to foreign names... just not for families, unless they're actually foreign. (and that wouldn't have affected my decision, anyway)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On a more humorous note, Yuri is a male name... in Russian. In Japanese, almost every single variation of the kanji in Yuri used for names is female, with the most common use of the word being 'lily'... or lesbian pornography. 

Also, I noticed that thatkid never explained Void points anywhere, so I'll probably get a briefing on them up in the second post sometime.

EDIT THE SECOND: Why, exactly, is your character a Ronin? Also, why is his surname completely different to that of his family?

[mcclay]

Yuri's parents thought he was going to be a girl. You can see why he was a good duelist.
Also I work on the names.

[thatkid]

I never explained void points because they were way too complicated for a "rules in brief" type thing hehe.

As promised, I'll get File's sheet done soonish if you haven't already.