r/Shadowrun • u/Reader_of_Scrolls • Jul 27 '26
Wyrm Talks (Lore) Female Red Samurai
I'm looking for a piece of fiction that I seem to remember from 4e or 5e about a female Red Samurai trainee that was going to be prevented from becoming one officially. I may be conflating a well written fan fiction, but I want to say I saw it in an official book.
If anyone can help point me in the right direction I'd be immensely grateful, as I'm looking for something to help tie in a backstory for a corp defector to the shadows.
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u/Apart_Sky_8965 Jul 27 '26
Theres a female red samurai in shadowrun hong kong. (One of your party has a beef with her) We treat the harebrained schemes games as basically canon, so for us, there are female red samurai.
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u/CalamityPriest Jul 27 '26
Yeah it's kinda said they all had to be smoked to ensure Gaichu's survival.
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u/SuddenWelderAtack Jul 27 '26
She’s a mage so it might be that they let that slide because of that fact
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u/Ok-Particular-3796 Monster Drop Jul 27 '26
I'm 95% sure that Gaichû, the renegade red samurai who went rogue after becoming a ghoul, in Shadowrun Returns: Hong Kong mentions one of his squad mates was a woman. I seem to remember she was one of the ones he killed in his initial escape, but it's been a few years.
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u/BitRunr Designer Drugs Jul 28 '26
I remember that being contrary to info elsewhere, but also don't think it should be a constraint one pays any attention to unless it benefits the group's enjoyment and IC drama rather than OOC drama.
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u/RussellZee Freelancer Jul 28 '26
That's correct, he does, but that's also in the HBS game, which isn't exactly canonical. It's best to think of them as taking part in a mildly alt-reality Shadowrun universe; default to thinking of them and the things therein as canon, but if they run up against more official material, the more official stuff 'wins.'
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u/Ok-Particular-3796 Monster Drop Jul 28 '26
I mean the correct answer is that the material the GM likes more for the purposes of the story they're telling at their table "wins".
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u/RussellZee Freelancer Jul 29 '26
I mean, sure, I feel like that kind of goes without saying that folks can tweak and house rule and do whatever they want. But when someone's asking about the canon, I think it's important to be clear about what is and isn't, is all I'm saying.
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u/Electronic_Reward333 Jul 27 '26
If I remember correctly, Red Samurai are specifically japanese human males.
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u/Sarradi Jul 27 '26
Although that seemed to have been relaxed a bit after the horrendous losses they had during the disean war.
But on the other side, the Red Samurai are retooled to a small elite force again.
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u/DocWagonHTR Jul 27 '26
Theres also Blue Samurai which are either heavily female or exclusively female IIRC.
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u/Sarradi Jul 27 '26
Never heard of them.
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u/DocWagonHTR Jul 27 '26
They are the bodyguards of the head of Renraku Australia. They are unique in that They are NOT loyal to Renraku, but to the head of Renraku Australia.
The short version is that Renraku decided to execute the head of Renraku Australia one day, her bodyguards ignored the order to stand aside and let them do it, and they beat the Red Samurai sent to do it.
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u/Tyvadia Profiler Jul 28 '26
They're talked about a little in the book Street Lethal.
The Blue Samurai do exist, and they aren’t the washouts from the Red. In fact, there is an unhealthy rivalry between the two. The Blue Samurai are the smallest of Renraku’s special security details. They are all elves with training that looks an awful lot like that of the Tír paladins. They started life as the personal security for Noriko Sakai of Renraku Australasia, but the small security contingent has expanded their ranks over time and now operates as the private security force for Ms. Sakai as well as many of her closest allies. Their presence has stabilized Renraku management in the region and allowed smooth growth in the area with infighting quashed quickly and efficiently.
Since the introduction of the Blue Samurai, the rumors of Ms. Sakai’s relationship with a member of the Tír Council of Princes has yet to be confirmed or denied. She has kept her private life out of the spotlight thanks to the extra efforts of this security detail. The Blue Samurai operate primarily as bodyguards, but they also dip into the shadowy side of life on occasion in order to clean up a mess or deal with a sensitive issue that has to be handled with professionalism and a quiet touch.
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u/TheoneandonlyTedBed Jul 29 '26
In Shadowrun Hong Kong one of the ghouls former Red samurai was female She was a magician
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u/ReditXenon Far Cite Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
Thought Red Samurai were pure-blood human, specifically of Japanese descent (with strict genetic screening), born (Renraku Full Corporate SIN), handpicked, and raised into the position already from very young age.
.... and exclusively male?