Sequence of Events
Stage 1: Initiative Stage 2: Turns Stage 3: Reaction
Actions
Each round, samurai can make •One Complex action + Free actions •Two Simple actions + Free actions
Armor TN
5 + (Reflexes x5) plus any bonus from armor and other special abilities.
Initiative Roll Insight rank / Reflexes and add any relevant modifiers.
Wounds
Healthy: No Penalty Nicked: +3 to all TN Grazed: +5 to all TN Hurt: +10 to all TN Injured: +15 to all TN Crippled: +20 to all TN; increase complexity of Move Actions Down: +40 to all TN; can only perform Free actions (not Move) and must spend Void to do so. Out: Immobile, unconscious and likely dying. Can not take any action.
Spellcasting Roll School Rank / spell’s element Ring against a TN of 5 plus (5x spell’s mastery level). Max spells of certain element per day is equal to the shugenja’s Ring in question. If roll fails, spell slot is wasted. Casting time takes as many Complex actions as the spell’s mastery level. Spell is cast on the final round of spell casting.
Stances
Full Attack: Can not take any Simple or Complex action other than to attack, and can only move towards his enemies. Can not be used to deliver ranged attacks. Attacks gain a +2k1 bonus that round but Armor TN is reduced by 10. Move actions increase the travelled distance by extra 5 feet. Can not be used while mounted. Attack: Standard stance. No bonus and no penalties. Center: No action is taken this round. On the next round, the samurai gains a +1k1 plus his Void Ring bonus to his attack roll. The samurai also adds 10 to his Initiative for that round only. Defense: Add the Air Ring plus Defense Skill rank to Armor TN while in this stance. Can not attack directly but can cast spells (even attack spells). Full Defense: Roll Defense / Reflexes and add half to Armor TN. Counts as a Complex action for the round.
Maneuvers Called Shot (Variable Raises) Disarm (3 Raises) Extra Attack (5 Raises) Feint (2 Raises) Guard (0 Raises) Increased Damage (1+ Raises) Knockdown (2 or 4 Raises)
Grappling
A samurai initiates grapple with a Jiujutsu / Agility roll versus Armor TN. If successful, target is grappled until his turn, when he can attempt to control the grapple. Gaining control is a contested Jiujutsu / Strength roll. Winner has control until the other’s turn. Controller can: Hit: Deal unarmed damage as a Complex action. Throw: Target is thrown and becomes prone within 5 feet. Target is no longer in the grapple. Complex action. Break: Ends the grapple as a Simple action. Pass: Does nothing as a Free action.
Conditional Effects
Blinded: Suffers a -3k3 penalty to range attacks and -1k1 to close attacks, and -5 to Armor TN. Samurai’s Water Ring is 2 lower for Movement (min. 1). Any Simple Move actions require a successful Athletics / Agility roll (TN 20) or the samurai falls prone. Dazed: -3k0 to all actions. Can only stay in Defense or Full Defense stances, and can not be perform an Iaijutsu duel. Each round the samurai can remove the effect with a successful Earth roll (TN 20). The TN is reduced by 5 each round after the first. Entangled: Can take no physical action except to break free (a Strength roll against a TN). Fasting: After 24 hours, can not regain Void from sleep. After two days, suffers +5 to TN of most rolls. Every day after that, suffer additional +5 TN penalty. After days equal to Stamina, samurai suffers 2k1 Wounds per day until fed.
Acknowledgment Blood Feud Caught in a Lie Completing a Quest Craftsmanship Defeat Duels Family Dishonor Gifts Idleness Indifference Immortality Learning Marriage Public Bragging Romance Skirmishes Status Stealing Credit Warfare
Fatigued: After 24 hours without sleep, suffer +5 penalty to all TN of rolls. Increase penalty by +5 every additional day without rest. After Stamina many days, make Willpower roll (TN 20) every two hours or fall asleep. Can not take the Full Attack stance. Mounted/Higher: Gain +1k0 bonus to attack rolls against targets who are not mounted/higher. Prone: Suffer -10 penalty to Armor TN against melee attacks. Can not use Move actions, and can only adopt the Defense or Attack stances. Can not use large weapons and suffer -2k0 penalty when using medium or small weapons. Simple action is required to stand up. Stunned: Can not take any action. Do not calculate Reflexes into Armor TN (or the equivilant). Recover by making a successful Earth roll (TN 20) during reaction. If failed, the effect is removed during the next reaction stage.
Gaining & Losing Glory
Publicly acknowledged by someone of Status 7+, gain 1 rank
Avenging a feud gains Glory equal to opponent’s Status or Glory (lower) Lose double the Glory gained by the act about which the samurai lied
Gain Glory points = half the Glory Rank of one issuing the quest Gain one Glory Point per Raise made when creating an item In battle (officer) or duel (duelist), lose opponent’s Glory Winning a fair duel earns 1/3 of opponent’s Status/Glory Lose one Glory rank if close relative commits an act worthy of seppuku
Gain Glory = Glory/Status of giver if giver is of higher Status Lose 1 Glory per week if no Glory is gained Being ignored, reduce Glory gains by 1, increase losses by 2
Inspiration for a work of art, gain Glory = Glory rank of most prominent admirer
Gain one Glory rank when Insight rank is increased
Increase Glory of lower-Glory spouse to one less than higher-Glory spouse
After gaining Glory, add 1 point through bragging One point for public declaration of love (without identifying lover) Gain one Glory point for defeating bandits, ronin, etc. Gain Glory equal to Status gain Gain Glory equal to the event being usurped Gain 3 points for suriving a battle, 6 if on the winning side
Gaining & Losing Honor
Act Accepting a bribe Accepting responsability for superior’s shameful act Acknowlidging a superior opponent Aiding a wounded enemy Being an accomplice to a heinous crime Being an accomplice to a minor crime Breach of etiquette, blasphemous Breach of etiquette, major Breach of etiquette, minor Disloyalty to lord, spouse, or superior Duped into performing a criminal act Duped into performing a disloyal act Duped into performing a foolish act Disobeying a lord’s command Enduring an insult to your ancestors Enduring an insult to yourself Enduring an insult to your family or clan Facing a superior foe in the name of your family Fleeing from battle Following orders despite personal misgivings Fulfilling a promise despite great personal cost Giving a truthful report at your own expense Lying to bolster your reputation Manipulate another into dishonorable behavior Politely ignoring another’s dishonorable behavior Protecting clan/family/lord’s interest despite great risk Showing kindness to one beneath your station Showing sincere courtesy to enemies or rivals Using a Low Skill Using false courtesy to gain advantage over an enemy
Strength of Honor
Characters are allowed to add their Honor rank to the result of all rolls to resist the uses of the Intimidation Skill and the Temptation Skill, and to resist Fear of any kind.
Optional: Honor Roll
Once per session, a samurai may re-roll a single failed roll against the same TN. This time, however, he rolls his Honor in dice and kept dice. If the re-roll fails, he loses 10 points of Honor.
0 0 8 5 9 -1 0 -1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 2 0 8 0 6 10 8 0 0 3 8 6 9 0 0
1-2 0 7 4 8 -4 -1 -6 -2 0 -2 -4 -2 -2 -2 -2 2 0 6 -2 4 8 6 -2 -2 2 8 6 7 -1 0
3-4 -3 6 4 6 -8 -4 -10 -2 -1 -6 -8 -4 -4 -2 -4 2 -2 5 -4 0 6 4 -4 -4 0 6 4 5 -2 -2
5-6 -4 4 2 6 -12 -4 -10 -2 -2 -10 -12 -6 -4 -6 -4 0 -2 4 -6 0 4 2 -6 -6 0 6 4 2 -3 -6
7-8 -7 3 2 5 -16 -8 -16 -6 -2 -14 -16 -10 -6 -6 -6 0 -4 3 -8 -2 2 0 -8 -8 -2 4 2 0 -6 -10
Fear
9-10 -8 3 0 3 -20 -8 -20 -6 -2 -18 -18 -14 -8 -10 -8 2 -4 2 -10 -4 0 0 -10 -10 -2 2 2 0 -9 -10
Fear effects have ranks, from 1 to 10. To resist, roll Willpower against a TN of 5 + (5x the Fear rank). Samurai can add their Honor rank to the roll. If the roll fails, the samurai suffers penalty equal to the Fear rank in dice to all rolls. If the roll fails by 15 or more, the samurai either flees or cowers helplessly.
Discerning Honor
A samurai can find out the Honor rank of another by making a Lore: Bushido / Awareness (TN 30).
Void
•Gain a +1k1 bonus to Skill, Trait, Ring, or Spell Casting roll (spending Void must be declared before the roll is made). Damage rolls may not be enhanced in this manner. •Temporarily increase his rank in a Skill from 0 to 1, avoiding untrained Skill penalties. •Reduce the amount of Wounds suffered from one source of damage by 10 (this must be done immediately after the damage total has been announced). •Increase his Armor TN by 10 for one round. This is done at the beginning of the combat round. •Exchange his Initiative Score with one willing target for the remainder of the current skirmish. This is done at the beginning of the combat round. Only one of the two characters needs to spend a Void for this effect to take place. •Increase the Initiative Score by 10 for the current skirmish. This is done at the beginning of the combat round.
Move Actions
Free action: Water x5 in feet Simple: Water x10 in feet Complex: No real rules
Terrain Basic: City streets, plains, sparse forest, etc. No change. Moderate: Tall grass, foot hills, beaches, etc. Water is one lower for Movement (min. 1). Difficult: Mountains, dense forest, hip-deep water, etc. Water is two lower for Movement (min. 1).
XP Cost Trait: 4x new rating Void: 6x new rating Skills: Equal to new rating Emphasis: 2 Advantages: Equal to rating Kata: Equal to mastery level Kiho: Equal to mastery level Kiho (other monks): 1.5x mastery level Kiho (shugenja & ninja): 2x mastery level
Iaijutsu Dueling Iaijutsu duel is done in three stages: Assessment: Both assume the Center stance and make Iaijutsu (Assessment) / Awareness roll against a TN of 10 plus their opponent’s Insight Rank x 5. If successful, the samurai learns one of these facts, plus one more per each Raise: •Opponent’s Void •Opponent’s Reflexes •Opponent’s Iaijutsu Skill •Opponent’s Iaijutsu emphases •Opponent’s current Void points available •Opponent’s current Wound level If either beats the other’s roll by 10 or more, he gets +1k1 bonus on the Focus roll.
Focus: Both make a contested Iaijutsu (Focus) / Void roll. If one beats the other by 5 or more, he has earned the right of first strike. A Free Raise is earned for every additional 5 points the other is beaten. If neither beats the other by at least 5, both strike at the same time. Strike: Attack normally with Iaijutsu / Reflexes, using any Free Raise earned on previous stage. The second samurai may then strike after the first. If the duel was to the first blood, the second samurai has lost. If the duel was to the death, the duel becomes a standard skirmish until either one is dead. The act of striking counts as each character’s action for this round.
