FFG L5R

Reason · Sep 16, 2021, 4:21 PM

Any opinions and/or experience with FFG's L5R?

EDIT: Point of clarification -- the RPG, not the CCG.

-r

ZombieGenesis · Sep 16, 2021, 10:13 AM

@reason I don't have extensive experience with it but from what I've heard, so long as you're okay with their unique dice system, it's not bad.

Jennkryst · Sep 16, 2021, 1:13 PM

@reason I love the quirky dice, anything to put some of the ST power in the hands if the player, who already has some amount due to potential meta-posing... the dice just give specific guidelines for how.

Pyrephox · Sep 16, 2021, 1:25 PM

I think there was a Legend of the Five Rings MU* for a while - I remember playing on it briefly. I think the problem is that it's a very rigid setting, meant to provide a small tabletop group plenty of opportunities to have to navigate high-stakes social interactions with unforgiving rules of conduct. This works a lot less well in a MU* setting, so you might have to think about how you want that to work, and give people some specific guidance on what the OOC expectations are for certain IC constructs like etiquette and honor.

Ominous · Sep 16, 2021, 3:53 PM

@reason

Do you mean the card game or the RPG?

Reason · Sep 16, 2021, 4:21 PM

@ominous Great point of clarification, I should edit the original post to clarify that thank you -- the RPG.

-r

Jennkryst · Sep 16, 2021, 9:46 PM

@pyrephox That was 4e... I mean. The setting is still the same. But also no one has given the new system a go.

But also also, has anyone brought up L5R in the L&L thread?

Songtress · Sep 17, 2021, 12:29 AM

As someone who has purchased the ' 5th Edition by FFG, I agree a MU* is hard, the culture's 'hard' rules are part of the draw, but culturally in MU* trying to enforce what the character would know via training and culture would be hard to enforce.

But it would be a lovely world to play in, if you drew from the wealth of 4th edition (extraneous information), but used 5e timeline & cultural reference) would be great.

The downside is that you have to have a good player base to keep the correct cultural feel, but I kind of love the idea of being able to sit and sip tea, or talk mystical philosphy.. or travel be a horse-girl (because you know Unicorns are best! But then so are the Crane)

Ganymede · Sep 17, 2021, 12:31 AM

@songtress said in FFG L5R:

The downside is that you have to have a good player base to keep the correct cultural feel, but I kind of love the idea of being able to sit and sip tea, or talk mystical philosphy.. or travel be a horse-girl (because you know Unicorns are best! But then so are the Crane)

This is literally who and what I RP.

Songtress · Sep 17, 2021, 12:36 AM

Cranicorn! (Unicrane?)

Either way.

GreenFlashlight · Sep 17, 2021, 2:55 AM

@jennkryst I was briefly interested in an online L5R game. I was told by the players there that being a courtier was the worst option, because anyone could join a talking scene, but courtiers could not realistically join any other kind of scene.

Ominous · Sep 17, 2021, 2:58 AM

@greenflashlight

Yeah, but just because anyone can enter a talking scene scene, doesn't mean they should actually talk. If you have an audience with the Emerald Champion, you want the good with words guy to go be good with words.

Misadventure · Sep 17, 2021, 5:19 AM

Sounds like a good setup for allowing people to have a courtier character and one for other type scenes, and allow them to be in the same house/group/org as a way to participate.

mietze · Sep 17, 2021, 5:34 AM

I think @bored had a game? Or iirc they would be a good person to talk to about it. I might be conflating them with someone else though.

GreenFlashlight · Sep 17, 2021, 6:21 AM

@ominous said in FFG L5R:

@greenflashlight

Yeah, but just because anyone can enter a talking scene scene, doesn't mean they should actually talk. If you have an audience with the Emerald Champion, you want the good with words guy to go be good with words.

The impression I got is, it was the kind of game where your ability to roleplay the intricacies of the setting supersede your character's stats. Unless this hypothetical L&L5R game makes it a rule that you have to roll dice to be polite and personable, I don't see a way around that.

Jennkryst · Sep 17, 2021, 5:03 PM

@greenflashlight said in FFG L5R:

@ominous said in FFG L5R:

@greenflashlight

Yeah, but just because anyone can enter a talking scene scene, doesn't mean they should actually talk. If you have an audience with the Emerald Champion, you want the good with words guy to go be good with words.

The impression I got is, it was the kind of game where your ability to roleplay the intricacies of the setting supersede your character's stats. Unless this hypothetical L&L5R game makes it a rule that you have to roll dice to be polite and personable, I don't see a way around that.

Upvoted for brilliant plan, always roll every social scene ever. I am not joking. If you want to @emit as being super social skilled etiquette-follower... roll those dice and prove it.

Reason · Sep 17, 2021, 8:25 PM

@jennkryst said in FFG L5R:

@greenflashlight said in FFG L5R:

@ominous said in FFG L5R:

@greenflashlight

Yeah, but just because anyone can enter a talking scene scene, doesn't mean they should actually talk. If you have an audience with the Emerald Champion, you want the good with words guy to go be good with words.

The impression I got is, it was the kind of game where your ability to roleplay the intricacies of the setting supersede your character's stats. Unless this hypothetical L&L5R game makes it a rule that you have to roll dice to be polite and personable, I don't see a way around that.

Upvoted for brilliant plan, always roll every social scene ever. I am not joking. If you want to @emit as being super social skilled etiquette-follower... roll those dice and prove it.

In scanning the rules, it does appear that tense social scenes are designed to be routinely engineered and rolled out (in at least some cases) as a conflict to be overcome.

Maybe I'm misreading it, but it feels like some of the 'Attack this cave of kobolds!' aspects of conflict in other games are intended to be 'Navigate this tense intrigue subtext in an otherwise normal setting' in this one. With penalties for 'unmasking' (i.e., losing your cool).

(Edit for an attempt at clarity: Kobolds vs. Social tension)

-r

GreenFlashlight · Sep 17, 2021, 7:10 PM

@jennkryst said in FFG L5R:

Upvoted for brilliant plan, always roll every social scene ever.

I agree. There's literally no reason to ever build a character who isn't Appearance 1 but whose PB is Scarjo, so you can spend those extra points on Dexterity while still getting to be so hot everyone's flinging themselves at you.

Ominous · Sep 18, 2021, 3:15 AM

If you don't want to roll social contests or have some other mechanics that social characters have exclusive proficiency at interacting with, then stop making a "social sphere" or courtier characters a thing in MUs. It's like saying "Mages are a thing!" then providing no mechanics for using magic.

Ganymede · Sep 18, 2021, 3:15 AM

@ominous

Courtiers are quite literally one-third of the entire game. You can't just write them out.