GM Notes
Rokugan is an alternate setting for any AQ adventure and is available to any GM willing to use it. However, I do ask that a few simple rules be followed:
- Do not use anyone listed as a Personality as a villain. These are incredibly strong people and can take on almost any adventurer single-handedly. They are also great leaders. They possess entire armies are their disposal, not warriors or lackeys but armies a thousand strong. I haven’t written them up because I don’t see it ever being necessary. If a need does appear (like the PCs attack them) they are all about rating 100 to 900. They have the best in armor, weapons, and skills. And they are not foolish enough to fight a party alone; they will always have help.
- The only exception to this are those listed as Shadowlands Personalities. These are not legendary clan leaders but rogue minions of evil. They are still amazingly strong, but do not have as many soldiers at their beckoned call.
- Personalities are listed to give important names to the Clans. It is all right for adventurers to encounter these great men, but they should not fight them. They can be used for information, employers, and so forth. Just not villains. And unless they save the world, the adventurers will never gain an audience with the Emperor (especially since he is in bed with the plague).
- Magic items are very rare in Rokugan. Terisium does not exist in Rokugan so magic items do not either. The only exceptions to this are those created by other means; Shadowlands Porcelain Masks and the Black Scrolls are examples of this. Each magical item has a history and should be thought of as an artifact. In most cases even the most powerful clan will only possess a single magic sword (always the Clan Champion’s blade, which is passed down through the generations). Magic items always possess a soul within them, be it good or evil. Breaking the item releases the soul violently (so they explode normally).
- Unless an adventurer shows great honor and skill before other samurai, they should not be allowed to join any of the Clans. A good example would be saving a Daimyo’s life (not an easy task). The people of Rokugan are very racist and will usually consider them gaijin (foreign devil) dogs. Regardless of the circumstances, no non-human will ever have a chance to become a samurai.
- I tried not to create too many skills or abilities for those in Rokugan. They are included for color, not power. Be very careful when using them.
- As noted in other places, Rokugan does not have priests in the normal sense. No one pledges themselves to serving the gods and gains spells from that pledge. Ancestor worship is a large part of Shintao, and some shugenja gain abilities from this. They follow the rules of nomads.
- One exception is that Fu Leng does offer spells to his followers. His followers may either use Rudri or Anubis spells (never both).
- Rokugan materials are of the highest quality. Common items are iron, fine items are steel, and very rare and expensive items are jade.
- Rokugani armor comes in three varieties: scale, plate, and leather. The leather is only worn by gaijin and the Unicorn Clan (others see wearing dead flesh as horrid). This follows the usual rules for leather armor. Rokugani Scale is very well crafted scale armor; it has the same DVs as standard scale, but encumbers like chain mail (move 30’, adds to AGI and PWR checks). This is the most common samurai armor. Rokugani Plate is very expensive and very difficult to make. It follows the same rules as Full Plate and is almost always made of steel. A single suit of Jade Plate exists in the Empire and it is for the Emperor’s personal use only.
- Rokugani weapons are much like Jaern weapons. The only difference is that some weapons do not exist in Rokugan. The usual weapons are:
- Bo staff (as Quarterstaff, favored by monks)
- Rokugani Bow (as Geleian Longbow)
- Chakram (favored by desert bandits)
- Falchion (also a desert weapon)
- Katana (typical samurai weapon)
- Naginata (favored for defense, not usually seen on the battlefield)
- Ninja-to (ninja sword, as short sword)
- No-Dachi (samurai great sword)
- Nunchaku (favored by monks)
- Pike
- Shamshir (the great sword of the desert)
- Shuriken (ninja weapon)
- Slings
- Tetsubo (as Great Mace)
- Wakizashi (samurai weapon of honor more than attack).
- When running any adventure that may severely alter the events of Rokugan (such as having a Daimyo die or a Clan War begin) let me know beforehand. As long as it will not completely destroy my story, I’ll let it happen.
- Rokugan battles are very large scale. The Great Clans do not send a skirmish force against each other. If they attack one another, they send thousands of troops. The battles are always bloody and can last for days or even months (such as the Scorpion Coup or the Battle of Beiden Pass). Honor is the most powerful force in Rokugan and all samurai would rather die than run away (though a "tactical withdrawal" is usually allowed). Try to keep the PCs out of battles, as they may be forced to stay in Rokugan for several gaming sessions.
- Besides that, do what you will. Enjoy and if you have any questions, contact me. Justin Gaskins at metal@purdue.edu or gaskinsj@yahoo.com.