Rokugan Question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Rokugan Question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Darth Sephiroth
06-04-07, 01:38 AM I've ended up in a Rokugan game recently and was starting to wonder just how common a wandering swordsman would be. Someone with permission to wander to improve his skills while being rather young while remaining in good standing.
HidaAkira
06-04-07, 05:17 AM There is the tradition of musha shugyo, whereby a young, fresh-out-of-gempukku character asks for permission and is granted leave to go temporarily ronin to improve his skills.
Basically, you use only your personal name, as you are technically ronin, and nothing you do or say will have much of an effect on true samurai. The deal is such that you come back when you are done, show off your new skills and your erstwhile lord offers you fealty again.

This is not common, however, since both your sensei and lord will have to agree that there is a good chance that you will learn something they have not been able to teach you (in most cases this would be seen as an insult to your teacher), and it is also dependant on the clan being relatively at peace, so they can afford to spend lots of time and money educating you to go off and do stuff not directly related to your duty and perhaps die with no benefit to the clan.
Zaver
06-05-07, 12:12 AM In the book Hagakure, it has a part that says every samurai should go ronin at least once in his life. That's real Japan so it's not a good Rokugon point, but it's more or less valid.
narukagami
06-05-07, 11:46 AM In the book Hagakure, it has a part that says every samurai should go ronin at least once in his life. That's real Japan so it's not a good Rokugon point, but it's more or less valid. Oddly enough, anything in Hagakure should be taken with a grain of salt. The author was considered unorthodox and weird by his peers, and the book was not very popular during its time. It didn't gain its reputation as the "premier book of samurai honor" until long after the samurai had already been abolished, when it was convenient for Japan to retroactively apply those non-existent virtues onto its history.
However, because Rokugan is based wholly on poorly researched stereotypes, it works better as a source of information for that setting than it does for a historical Japan based one.

With that said, the Rokugani tradition of musha shugyo was a rarity that would only see practice in long times of peace. It wasn't something allowed to just anyone, and could only be done with permission from your lord after it was petitioned to him by your sensei. I can see it happening to teach a highly talented yet "too big for his britches" student who has never seen any actual combat off the practice mat how not only the world works, but a lesson on REAL life-or-death combat.
Zaver
06-05-07, 12:30 PM Oddly enough, anything in Hagakure should be taken with a grain of salt. The author was considered unorthodox and weird by his peers, and the book was not very popular during its time. It didn't gain its reputation as the "premier book of samurai honor" until long after the samurai had already been abolished, when it was convenient for Japan to retroactively apply those non-existent virtues onto its history.
However, because Rokugan is based wholly on poorly researched stereotypes, it works better as a source of information for that setting than it does for a historical Japan based one.

I also take the view of what better place to use romanticized samurai fantasy then in a fantasy game, so that helps.
SlanderPanic
06-09-07, 03:15 PM Such a character likely wouldn't be a member of the samurai caste, but he could be inspired by the legendary Toku (http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Toku), who rose from heimin to samurai to daimyo of the Monkey Clan and Captain of the Imperial Guard and, finally, was posthumously elevated to Fortune of Virtue by Toturi III in 1165.
Note that this is 7 years after the timeline ends in Oriental Adventures. If your DM is using that timeline, then Toku is still alive and the Monkey Clan has been around for nearly 30 years. Your character could very well aspire to join the Monkey Clan or he could wish to rise to glory on his own, the way Toku did.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Darth Sephiroth 06-04-07, 01:38 AM	I've ended up in a Rokugan game recently and was starting to wonder just how common a wandering swordsman would be. Someone with permission to wander to improve his skills while being rather young while remaining in good standing.
HidaAkira 06-04-07, 05:17 AM	There is the tradition of musha shugyo, whereby a young, fresh-out-of-gempukku character asks for permission and is granted leave to go temporarily ronin to improve his skills. Basically, you use only your personal name, as you are technically ronin, and nothing you do or say will have much of an effect on true samurai. The deal is such that you come back when you are done, show off your new skills and your erstwhile lord offers you fealty again. This is not common, however, since both your sensei and lord will have to agree that there is a good chance that you will learn something they have not been able to teach you (in most cases this would be seen as an insult to your teacher), and it is also dependant on the clan being relatively at peace, so they can afford to spend lots of time and money educating you to go off and do stuff not directly related to your duty and perhaps die with no benefit to the clan.
Zaver 06-05-07, 12:12 AM	In the book Hagakure, it has a part that says every samurai should go ronin at least once in his life. That's real Japan so it's not a good Rokugon point, but it's more or less valid.
narukagami 06-05-07, 11:46 AM	In the book Hagakure, it has a part that says every samurai should go ronin at least once in his life. That's real Japan so it's not a good Rokugon point, but it's more or less valid. Oddly enough, anything in Hagakure should be taken with a grain of salt. The author was considered unorthodox and weird by his peers, and the book was not very popular during its time. It didn't gain its reputation as the "premier book of samurai honor" until long after the samurai had already been abolished, when it was convenient for Japan to retroactively apply those non-existent virtues onto its history. However, because Rokugan is based wholly on poorly researched stereotypes, it works better as a source of information for that setting than it does for a historical Japan based one. With that said, the Rokugani tradition of musha shugyo was a rarity that would only see practice in long times of peace. It wasn't something allowed to just anyone, and could only be done with permission from your lord after it was petitioned to him by your sensei. I can see it happening to teach a highly talented yet "too big for his britches" student who has never seen any actual combat off the practice mat how not only the world works, but a lesson on REAL life-or-death combat.
Zaver 06-05-07, 12:30 PM	Oddly enough, anything in Hagakure should be taken with a grain of salt. The author was considered unorthodox and weird by his peers, and the book was not very popular during its time. It didn't gain its reputation as the "premier book of samurai honor" until long after the samurai had already been abolished, when it was convenient for Japan to retroactively apply those non-existent virtues onto its history. However, because Rokugan is based wholly on poorly researched stereotypes, it works better as a source of information for that setting than it does for a historical Japan based one. I also take the view of what better place to use romanticized samurai fantasy then in a fantasy game, so that helps.
SlanderPanic 06-09-07, 03:15 PM	Such a character likely wouldn't be a member of the samurai caste, but he could be inspired by the legendary Toku (http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Toku), who rose from heimin to samurai to daimyo of the Monkey Clan and Captain of the Imperial Guard and, finally, was posthumously elevated to Fortune of Virtue by Toturi III in 1165. Note that this is 7 years after the timeline ends in Oriental Adventures. If your DM is using that timeline, then Toku is still alive and the Monkey Clan has been around for nearly 30 years. Your character could very well aspire to join the Monkey Clan or he could wish to rise to glory on his own, the way Toku did.