Daimyo's Castle (GM's Notes)

This is going to be a board where I can leave quick notes for ease of reference.

Dice Values and Outcomes:

Six Sided Dice (Ring Dice):

1 - Blank
2 - Opportunity & Strife
3 - Opportunity
4 - Success & Strife
5 - Success
6 - Explosive Success & Strife

Twelve Sided Dice (Skill Dice):

1 - Blank
2 - Blank
3 - Opportunity
4 - Opportunity
5 - Opportunity
6 - Success & Strife
7 - Success & Strife
8 - Success
9 - Success
10 - Success & Opportunity
11 - Explosive Success & Strife
12 - Explosive Success

Target Numbers (TNs):

TN 1: An easy task for most people, such as carrying half one’s weight or finding a misplaced item.
TN 2: An average task, such as jumping a ten-foot ditch or recognizing someone in disguise.
TN 3: A difficult task, such as scaling a cliff without rope or finding a well-hidden object.
TN 4: A very hard task, such as diving safely from the top of a waterfall or recalling someone’s exact words years later.
TN 5: An extremely hard task, such as stirring a demoralized army to action or hurling someone using only one hand.
TN 6: An extraordinary task, such as discerning someone’s whereabouts from the mud on their sandals or felling a tree with a single axe blow.
TN 7: A heroic task, such as outwrestling a troll or naming all of one’s ancestors in order.
TN 8: A legendary task, such as shattering stone with one’s bare hands or outwitting a Fortune.

Opportunity as a Descriptior:

One way to use is to add a descriptive adverb to the verb that describes one’s activity in a check, based on the ring used for the check:

Air: Act precisely, stealthily, or subtly
Earth: Act cautiously, calmly, or thoroughly
Fire: Act creatively, fearsomely, or noticeably
Water: Act efficiently, flexibly, or gregariously
Void: Act instinctively, inscrutably, or sagely

Adding one of these descriptors can significantly change the way a character’s activity (the check) actually occurs in the narrative. The GM should consider how the character’s descriptor might change how their success or failure is received, what consequences it has, or what new narrative opportunities it might create.

Opportunity as a Narrative Tool:

The other fundamental way to use opportunity is to add a narrative detail that surfaces as the character undertakes the task—a new piece of information that their character notices which can create interesting new avenues for the story. The type of detail a character can add varies by ring along the following themes:

Air: People’s strengths and weaknesses, emotions, small details in objects
Earth: The character’s own memories, history of people and objects, defensive positions
Fire: People’s motivations, flashes of insight, conspicuous absences
Water: Environmental dangers, presence of useful terrain or objects, escape routes
Void: Supernatural presences, flashes of premonition, instinctive warnings

Skills and Approaches:

Artisan Skill Group:

Aesthetics: Nonutilitarian art
Composition: Literature and poetry
Design: Finery and worn art
Smithing: Armor and weapons

Approaches:

• Restore a damaged piece through upkeep (Earth)
• Adapt an existing piece into something else (Water)
• Invent a new piece from raw materials (Fire)
• Refine an existing piece to make it function better (Air)
• Attune yourself to a piece of art (Void)

Social Skill Group:

Command: How to assert authority over others, especially of lower status
Courtesy: How to appeal formally to others, especially of higher status
Games: How to discuss and play games to socialize
Performance: How to communicate with and influence an audience

Approaches:

• Reason with them to act based on logic and duty (Earth)
• Charm them to develop positive feelings toward you (Water)
• Incite them to act on their emotions and desires (Fire)
• Trick them into believing something you want them to believe (Air)
• Enlighten them to understand a fundamental truth (Void)

Scholar Skill Group:

Culture: Current events, historical trends, and etiquette
Government: Law, bureaucracy, posts, and positions
Medicine: Health, injury, and disease
Sentiment: Psychology, emotions, and motivations
Theology: The spiritual realms, mystical beings and phenomena, and religious rites

Approaches:

• Recall it from memory (Earth)
• Survey the surroundings for clues about it (Water)
• Theorize possibilities of its nature (Fire)
• Analyze a specific thing for details about it (Air)
• Sense it with your instincts or a hunch (Void)

Martial Skills:

Fitness: Performing athletic feats and resisting harm
Martial Arts [Melee]: Using close-quarters arms
Martial Arts [Ranged]: Using missile weapons
Martial Arts [Unarmed]: Fighting bare-handed and with improvised weapons
Meditation: Mastering oneself and controlling emotion such as anger, fear, and hate
Tactics: Fighting with squads and armies

Approaches:

• Withstand opposing force to wear it down (Earth)
• Shift opposing force to work against itself or for you (Water)
• Overwhelm opposing force with a quick burst of power (Fire)
• Feint to lure opposing force into a position of vulnerability (Air)
• Sacrifice to let opposing force score a victory so that you can achieve a greater end (Void)

Trade Skill Group:

Commerce: Sales, trading, and speculation
Labour: Farming, construction, and production
Seafaring: Sailing and living on the ocean
Skulduggery: Criminal organizations and activities
Survival: Living in the wilds beyond civilization

Approaches:

• Produce what you need through physical toil (Earth)
• Exchange one type of labour or resources for another (Water)
• Innovate a new way to get what you need (Fire)
• Con someone to get something for nothing (Air)
• Subsist in your environment without disrupting it (Void)

Weapon Attributes:

Weapons have the following attributes:

Category: The archetype of the weapon, such as "swords," "polearms," or "bows." Some techniques require specific categories.
Name: The name of the weapon.
Skill: The specific skill used to wield the weapon. This is usually one of the Martial Arts skills: Martial Arts [Melee], [Ranged], or [Unarmed].
Range (RNG): The distance in range bands at which an attacker can hit a target with the weapon. A single number (e.g., "1") or a range of values (e.g., "1–2"). Note that range is both a maximum and a minimum; a target closer than the lowest listed value of a weapon’s range is not considered to be in range of that weapon.
Base Damage (DMG): A reflection of how quickly blows from this weapon wear a defend[/s]er down. Attack actions frequently reference this value.
Deadliness (DLS): The lethality of the weapon. A weapon with high deadliness more easily inflicts gruesome injuries or death (see page 269).
Grips: The ways to wield the weapon (1-hand, 2-hand, or others). If a weapon lists multiple grips, each lists any alterations to the attributes that using that grip applies.
Qualities: Any additional effects not covered by a weapon’s table profile or individual entry.

Armour Attributes:

Name: The name of the armour.
Resistance Values (R. Values): Most armour provides defence against one or more categories of damage. While a character is equipped with a set of armour, they gain the indicated amounts of resistance against the damage types listed for the armour. Two common categories are:
Physical: Provides the listed resistance against physical harm in its many forms.
Supernatural: Provides the listed resistance against invocations, mahō, and other mystical effects.
Qualities: Any nonstandard effects not covered by an armour type’s profile or entry (see page 240).

Conflict Sences:

When two or more characters are acting in opposition to one another over an extended period of time, the GM may call for a conflict scene. There are several primary types of conflicts. Each uses the same core framework but has unique rules for the options characters can pursue and for its resolution. Common types of conflicts are as follows:

Intrigues are social conflicts. Even the Emperor does not make decisions without first listening to the counsel of his highest retainers. The most impactful conflicts in all of Rokugan are often the words traded between high-ranking samurai—or at least they begin with those words. Petitions to great lords, treaties, political schemes, trade agreements, pacts, and marriages change the face of Rokugan every day, and exerting political influence is the primary duty of many samurai.

Duels are one-on-one battles of honour. When a matter cannot be resolved with will, wits, and rhetoric alone, honour sometimes demands that a samurai seek resolution by drawing steel. Duels are an important part of the political process in Rokugan, and the mere possibility of a formal challenge can be incredibly potent leverage.

Skirmishes are small-scale battles. From pitched battles between rival factions to targeted raids against enemy clans, skirmishes tend to be chaotic, small-scale battles with a few combatants on each side.

Mass battles are battles between entire armies. Open warfare is relatively rare in Rokugan, but it is devastating in its impact.
On the off chance that their daimyō asks it of them, any samurai must, in theory, be prepared to serve in war in some capacity, whether as a warrior, an advisor, a strategist, or a negotiator.

Conflict Overview:

Although there are numerous types of conflicts, all conflicts follow a general structure. The overview below is a general primer for conflict scenes, while the Detailed Conflict Breakdown, on the next page, presents a more technical set of instructions.

Phase 1—Initiative: During this phase, characters have a chance to assess the scene, opponents, and options by making an Initiative check (see Initiative Checks, on page 250).

Phase 2—Take Turns: After characters have gotten their bearings in the scene, play proceeds to this phase, during which characters
can use the many means at their disposal to pursue victory in the conflict.

Phase 3—Resolution: Each conflict ends with a Resolution phase. During this phase, the conflict’s results are made clear to those involved, and final effects are resolved.

Phase 1: Initiative

At the beginning of a conflict, the GM describes the unfolding scene, and each player can take the opportunity to ask questions about the surroundings. Then, each character makes an Initiative check as they seek to get their bearings in the conflict. Initiative affects the order in which characters act.

Initiative Checks

An Initiative check helps determine a character’s initial value for the scene. Each type of conflict uses a skill for its Initiative check, listed below:

Intrigue: TN 1 Sentiment check.
Duel: TN 1 Meditation check.
Skirmish: TN 1 Tactics check.
Mass Battle: TN 1 Command check.

A character can use any ring for this check. After a character resolves their Initiative check, that character enters the stance matching the ring they used. Each PC participating in a scene should make an Initiative check, as should each sufficiently important
NPC (minion NPCs can generate initiative value without a check, using their focus or vigilance attribute).

Determine Initiative Values

A character’s initiative value is based on their state of preparedness when the conflict began.

If the character was ready for the conflict, their base initiative value is their focus attribute. If the character was unprepared (such as when surprised), their base initiative value is their vigilance attribute.

Then, if the character succeeded on their Initiative check, they add 1 to their base initiative value, plus an additional amount equal to their bonus successes.

Set Initiative Order

Organize the characters by their initiative value, highest to lowest, and record this initiative order along with the values. This is the sequence in which the characters act during Phase 2: Take Turns in many conflict types. If two or more characters have the same initiative value, the one with the lowest honour attribute acts first, followed by the others in ascending order of honour.

Phase 2: Take Turns

After Phase 1: Initiative, the characters involved in the conflict act over a series of rounds. The order in which the characters act and the number of rounds the characters should play out before proceeding to Phase 3: Resolution are defined in each type of conflict.

Rounds

Before any character acts during Phase 2: Take Turns, a new round begins. Any effects that occur "at the beginning of the round" resolve. Then, starting with the character at the top of the initiative order and descending in sequence, each character takes one turn each round. After the turn of the last character in the initiative order ends, the round ends. Any effects that occur "at the end of the round" resolve. Then, the GM declares either that the conflict has ended (and proceeds to Phase 3: Resolution) or that it has not ended (and repeats Phase 2: Take Turns, beginning a new round).

Turns

During a character’s turn, the character performs the following steps:

Step 1: Beginning of Turn

When a character’s turn begins, that character becomes the active character. Any effects that occur "at the beginning of the character’s turn" resolve at this point.

Step 2: Set Stance

Next, the character sets their stance. This is a character’s poise, footwork, tact, or some combination of the above depending on what the conflict entails. Each turn, a character can remain in the stance they were already in or switch to a new stance. As part of setting a stance, a character may set the grip with which they are wielding a weapon (see page 230). A character may also drop any number of items on the ground. Readying a new weapon requires an action, however. After setting a stance, a character remains in that stance until the beginning of their next turn. In addition to determining which ring a character uses for the action they perform during Step 3: Perform Action and for any other checks they make while in that stance, each stance confers a passive benefit during a conflict, described in Table 6–1: Stances.

Step 3: Perform Action

After setting their stance, a character may perform their allotted action for the turn. Each action is a distinct effort the character undertakes, described by their player or provided among the sample actions for the encounter or by the character’s personal abilities. Most actions require a check. Once per turn, before or after performing an action, a character can also move a short distance (narratively or in range bands, as described on page 265).

Step 4: End of Turn

After a character performs an action and completes any associated activities (such as movement in a skirmish), the turn ends. Any effects that occur "at the end of the character’s turn" resolve at this point. The character ceases to be the active character, and the turn of the next character in the initiative order begins.

Phase 3: Resolution

Once the characters involved have completed their objectives (or definitively failed), the conflict reaches a clear end, or the GM feels that the scene should logically draw to a close, the conflict concludes. Any effects that occur "at the end of the conflict" resolve at this point. Play proceeds to a new scene as directed by the GM.

Stances:

Earth: When other characters make Attack action checks and Scheme action checks that target you, they cannot spend opportunity to inflict critical strikes or conditions on you.

Water: During your turn, you may perform one additional action that does not require a check. This action cannot share a type with another action you perform this turn.

Fire: When you succeed on a check, you count as having one additional bonus success for each strife symbol on your kept dice.

Air: Increase the TN of Attack and Scheme action checks targeting you by 1. If your school rank is 4 or higher, increase the TN by 2 instead.

Void: You do not receive strife from strife symbols on your kept dice. You can still receive strife from other sources.