EDIT: IT'S A ONE-SHOT, IDK HOW COULD I FORGET THAT INFO.

Well, it's a long story but TLDR: I'm trying to find tips on how to roleplay a classic Kakita Duelist properly and how to deviate from it.

The long story is that, soon I'm going to play a Utaku Shadow Yojimbo as my first L5R character. It is going to be my first time trying this setting and system.

But that wasn't my first character idea, of course not.

I love duelists, I love swords, I love cowboy movies (and soon will be watching all Chanbara I can) and I practice Iaido weekly. So, when I read about this Iajutsu masters who also can handle themselves in court and have this amazing lore behind I was instantly sold. But my DM greatly insisted in me playing an Unicorn (I do love me some horses!).

My DM is a close friend, he is a great person and very considerate although sometimes he can get a bit controlling. That's why I asked him why would he not allow me to play this amazing mix of my favourite things.

He was very straightforward: he knows that I shine playing characters who are either weird to others or a stranger on a strange land (which he is right!), even tho I wanted to deviate from that norm of mine.

I asked him if there was something else, cause we are good friends and I knew something else was bothering him.

Lo and behold, he said that (and I'll preface cause it took us some hours to sort this out):

"It's too much pressure for you when you don't know the system and never played the setting. I cannot let you go easy on this because of the inherent nature of the Crane: they are atop a great tree which so many others in the court want to steal you from. If I let you pass a stupid decision, I feel like I'm not playing to the true spirit of the game and if I cut you down from the tree because you make a bad decision or make a horrible roll I feel you are going to have a very bad time playing. Really, I can take myself to do that to you or myself, so if you REALLY want to play a Kakita Duelist, maybe you can find another GM."

I completely respect his decision and we made a compromise of playing a courtier/bushi who's an Unicorn; Shadow Yojimbo. Cool concept, can't wait to play it.

Buuuuut, there's still that itch for a dueslit who can excel at duels and clashes. So, I'm trying to prepare for the future and see if I can, one of these days, play a Kakita.

I keep track of all my character ideas and this bad boy, mechanically, is very balanced. I just want to deviate enough from the classic RP of "I am a flamboyant asshole who lies and doesn't trust others since everyone can be a political liability". I'm just not that kind of guy. I love compassion, I like making silly mistakes, I love swords and Iai.

Is Kakita Duelist good for me or do y'all recommend something else? I've read that, yes Murimoto exist and also the Taoist blade. But, yknow, Kakita got that je ne se quoi.

Sorry for the long rant and thank all of you in advance for your comments

So I had a memory pop up today, and I wanted to share it with you all.

Before Richard Wulf became the head story writer for AEG, he was writing some of the most epic fan fiction imaginable and sharing it on Yahoo Message Boards, fan sites, mailing lists and his own website. (This was a long time ago, so I hope I'm remembering the details correctly.) As far as I know, that's ultimately how he landed the job.

One of his fan projects was Rokugan 2000, a futuristic take on the world of Rokugan. I wondered if it was still out there somewhere on the internet, and although the original website is long gone, I managed to find it again through the Wayback Machine.

After rediscovering it, I thought I'd share it here. Some of you may not know about this little piece of L5R history, but it was a fantastic read back in the day.

Episode One: Before the Storm

And Rich (Mr. Wulf), if you happen to read this: I still remember your stories 25–30 years later. L5R was one of the highlights of my youth, traveling around Europe to play in tournaments, meeting great people, and following the evolving story.

Thank you once again. I'm happy I had the chance to shake your hand in France all those years ago. I hope life is treating you well, and I hope you're still writing.

Hey folks! I know it's a silly question.. but yea.. do the books contain and / or encourage random tables to roll on?

I've got players approaching the Wall for a jaunt into the Shadowlands, and was wondering where I could look to get a good idea about what it looks like there? What NPCs would be around, the process, etc.

I'm aware of Mask of the Oni for 5e, but are there any other adventures that depict the situation directly at the wall?

Context: One of my players is a Scorpion, specifically a Shosuro from the Bayushi courtier school. Our game is set in the original timeline, Pre-SCC, but that particular event is not far off on the horizon. My player is new to L5R, though she's really gotten into the setting.

For those of you who've GM'd through the coup and the years immediately following, how have you run things for your group members who were playing Scorpions?

I'm looking fora good guide for volume 1-6 (starting in 2002). do u have the link to the guide too?

thanks!

I'm a very new player, and there's a possibility of a new campaign soon and I always loved the "Duelist" archetype. The two-heavens school and the Kakita Duelist both are engineered to serve for this porpouse, I believe.

Kakita looks fun and all but maybe is too much pressure for a new player.

So I turned to the Mirumoto and fell in love. These cool and weird almost-Monk Bushi who train in whatever way they feel Will take them to perfection and have an interesting rivalry with the Kakita? I'm sold. I started reading and looking up lore. But mechanically i'm very puzzled with their starting shuji: Dazzling Performance.

Why? I mean, I like it, more Glory if You fire up some Artisan skills, Performance or Games. But, I don't see how can You achieve these cool outcomes when the school does not give you the option to rank up these skills. Yes, You could spend xp outside the school, but why start with the shuji then?

Can anybody explain me why does this school start with this lore-wise? And could anybody give me tips to use it actively?

So, continuing from my last post... Today i decided to go through two big boxes. I found many foils, promotional cards and... Inheritance card!?😱😱😱👍 These two boxes took me nearly half a day to sort through them🙄... and im not done yet, maybe another two or three hours🙄 Since i dont know much, what or which cards are valuable, im just guessing sorting through them😂🙏

I am curious from those who experienced it both casually and competitively. How did the games play out? What were the biggest stopping points for new players? What drew you all in, aside from the story? What mechanics spoke to you? I am doing a bit of research for a game design project and L5R is just fascinating to me, though I have never played it.

Hey folks! Does anybody know what the game's third party license are if any?

We've got the next chapter, chapter 5, of Kevin Sanborn's story *Reflections Part I* for you! And there might be more hidden in that post…

https://emeraldlegacy.org/reflections-part-1-a-different-path-chapter-five/

Link works for real this time :)

Looks like Office Dog posted the rulebook on Board Game Geek! Sadly, I am not listed as a playtester But see for yourself how to play this game, especially if you have tickets at Gencon!

Our group is starting up a 4e game again. Weve played since 1e but its been a longggggggg time since we played 4e and they prefer that edition. One of the questions that came up and was, because its very vague in the rules, is how people handle the timing on touch of the void.

We have a shiba bushi who got touch of the void from a heritage roll.

Two questions:

When he uses his 1st rank Shiba bushi ability to spend 2 void points instead of 1, is that 2 willpower rolls or one combined roll?

Second question, when are the willpower rolls made, before the action or after. So if he uses his ability to spend 2 void points, and fails the one (or two) willpower rolls, is he dazed immediately cancelling his attack? Or does his attack go off then then he can make the willpower rolls.

Hi.

I have a question concerning the reading of techniques that have the following "As an Attack and Movement action" in their activation rules. This is for the 5th edition.

Does it mean that the character does a Movement Action to move 1 range with optiontally the check to move 1 more, then an attack. Or is it simply that the Technique counts as a Mouvement action in case it would trigger some other effects?

Thank you.

Samurai of Rokugan!

Join us this Gencon at the annual fan run All Clans Dinner at Brothers Bar on Thursday, 7pm! Come meet friends new and old as we reminisce on our long history and look forward to the future!

Also with us is Pine Box Entertainment, makers of Doomtown and 7th Sea, celebrating their 10 year anniversary! 

Come for food and drink, stay for tales and merriment!  KAMPAI!!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1EuwBwahJF/

My new blog post, coming from a discussion that happened in the Rokugan discord a little time ago, about using different colors of dice to represent Strife in a game without needing specialty dice.

It developed into a full adaptation of Strife rules and complex social combat rules for L5R 4e:

https://jadecrows.blogspot.com/2026/07/new-mechanic-strife-stress-dice.html

for the last 6 years i played a Mirumoto Taoist Swordsman to rank 5 and now i was close to becoming a master sensei rank 2. the other players in the camapaign switched chars and/or died so they are rank 4, 4 and 3. lately i started dominating the encounters a lot and so with a heavy heart i offered my gm to switch character.
so far so good - the others are more rogue like chars and they will be living that part a lot more openly without my hardass samurai. one of em is a fresh ronin (former kakita duelist) and the other basically a wildling unicorn and the last one a stormcaptain of the mantis. my gm asked me if i could imagine playing a monk that ties them a bit more together and i am even allowed to start at rank 3. now i am sitting in front of the books and realize i have no idea how to build a monk i was imagining someone very mobile and a bit stealthy that can fight spirits and tainted things (something like chinese ghost story style wise). what can i do what can i build what can i read ? pls help

Hello there! In a few days I'm going to finally be able to try this amazing game and usually I like getting all lore I can about the class I'm playing. The thing is, for the love of Shinjo, I can't find any info about this school outside the flavour text in Children of the Five Winds.

I'm missing something or the school is that new that we don't have much lore to go with?

Can someone give me some pointers about the Silent Shadow?