OOC Discussion

[jemmus]

For anything non-IC, of course.

[jemmus]

Pre-Game Notes
FYI, I'm a real Japan and samurai history otaku. (So much of an otaku that I spent five years in Japan working and studying Japanese). So sometimes I'll throw in so samurai Japan lore for color or interest. That said, no one is expected to be an expert on medieval Japan or Japanese culture. We're playing Bushido, not Medieval Japan Simulator, right?

Also, this is my first time GMing a PBP game and GMing Bushido. And I've only played a little Bushido as a player in the Frank's Bushido game. If you see me missing or misinterpreting something in the game system, please let me know. And let's agree to let other players know if we see that they're missing something. It's pretty easy to miss something in a rules system as complicated as Bushido's. Let's help each other learn as we go along.

I'm hoping everyone can finish there character sheets by April 30. If you have any questions as you work on yours, please post in the Character Generation thread.

Yohkoso! (Welcome!)

[Marullus]

First!

If you see this, it means permissions work now.

I am excited to be here. I am not versed in Japan at all, but am trying to pick things up quickly. I love game systems, though, and have plowed through Bushido in the last week. It is mechanically intriguing - much more thoughtful than some other games.

I am grateful to join both games and try it twice.

[Enoch]

How do people feel about ninja PC's? I know in a historical campaign it's extremely unlikely you'd see any cooperation between them, but this is Nippon (and the idea that a high-rank samurai would travel with a heimin bushi is ahistorical as well).

I think the class is interesting and could work well (assuming they don't go around wearing black pajamas and hiding behind trees all the time). Perhaps some threat has caused a ninja clan to ally with a samurai clan or temple or something.

But if it makes people uncomfortable, I'm also curious about budoka and iaijutsu duelists (Kyuzo is one of my favorite characters in Seven Samurai).

[Marullus]

I think it is possible if well executed; I would like to explore your ideas.

For the purpose of the group, if we establish a long term personal history, perhaps that would overcome it? Or, I like your idea of a group alliance (the temple and the ninja clan have common ends).

One thing I note in the Bushido roles:
- Ninjas have no On.
- However, Ninja clans actually have a pretty high Status Factor and personal status works normally within their clans as within other groups. That means a Ninja acts in social interaction rules with more success than any Heimin, Merchant, and half the Yakuza.

For me thst implies that, well, Ninjas DO interact, and with actual identities (not just cover stories).

[jemmus]

I'm not opposed to ninja being in parties. If we followed the logic of the ranks system in Bushido, samurai shouldn't associate with yakuza, heimin, and really anyone else but maybe some ronin hirelings. Letting them associate with ninja too isn't much more of a stretch. I think there are ways we can make mixed-rank parties at least kind of make logical sense. I'm working on a couple of ideas about how and why the party came together, and stayed together.

By the way, Nippon is not at war currently, but rivalries and tensions are high. There should be plenty of work for a ninja PC carrying messages, reconnoitering, spying, doing counter-espionage, and so on. Possibly an assassination or two. Ninja might have to break out into solo threads for those missions. But maybe sometimes not.

[spanningtree]

Hey gents, finally got a moment to tune in here. Just a little background, all I know about this game system is from a cursory look at the core rule book over the past few days. IE: not much, please bear with me. Also, I have taken Aikido and Goju-ryu in the past for short periods of time and work for a Japanese company (visited Tokyo a few times) but from some of the post I have read so far it seems many of you have a far deeper grasp of the culture than I. Overall, please bear with me. I am thinking about a Shugenja profession with an angle based on discontent with the powerful Buddhist temples that have been lead astray or corrupted by wealth and power. The character would be more of a Taoist/philosopher/ascetic but has respects for religions that follow harmonious paths, hence the distaste for the currently evolving situation. Thoughts?

[Enoch]

A lot of us aren't much more familiar with this than you are, don't worry. I discovered this system less than a week ago, and my gaming in it consists of a single post in another game. And I have a lot less knowledge of feudal Japanese culture than a lot of other people.

[jemmus]

Exactly right. We're playing Bushido, not Feudal Japan or any form of Japan Simulator. This is an FRPG set in a myths and legends samurai setting. And no worries about masterying the Bushido rules to start with. I think we have at least two talented RPG systems analysts on board to advise us. Cool about the Go-Ryu and Aikido. Shotokan karate and kyudo archery here. Welcome again spanningtree, I think you'll find everybody around here very thoughtful and helpful.

[Marullus]

Happy to be in the boat with you! I'm new to Japanese culture, making it up on the fly. I love game systems, but began with Bushido last week at the same time as Enoch.

I am thinking about a Shugenja profession with an angle based on discontent with the powerful Buddhist temples that have been lead astray or corrupted by wealth and power. The character would be more of a Taoist/philosopher/ascetic but has respects for religions that follow harmonious paths, hence the distaste for the currently evolving situation. Thoughts?

That sounds cool! I just worked through the foibles of a Shugenja for the other game. PM me with any questions and I'll be glad to walk you through.

[Marullus]

For getting in the mood... I'm researching what Samisen music is for my musician/Bushi.

Samisen music for a Fictional Nippon.
Thunderstruck
Bad Guy
Shape of You
Smooth Criminal
It's My Life
Trooper
Wake me Up
Lemon

Factual stuff...
...I am happy to know that Bushi also means "melody."

[jemmus]

Nice. Traditional Okinawan shamisen have a snakeskin sound board. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ ... en-7801425 But main islands Japanese would have and maybe still do find that repulsive. Japan tradition is averse to leather and leatherworking, because of the Buddhist ahimsa prohibition against killing living things. But I suspect it's really more about the Japanese culture's focus on purity and aversion to "pollution." They wouldn't want something that is obviously a part of a dead animal on a musical instrument. Focus on purity is such a cultural trait that a famous shrine, I think the Yumedono ("Hall of Dreams") has been torn down and rebuilt anew every few years since the 12th century.

In modern times, on monthly "big trash" collection day, people throw out operating TVs, stereos, rice cookers furniture, etc. When they things get a few years old, people replace them, even though they still work fine. My very cheap American co-worker furnished his whole apartment that way.

[Marullus]

Are there ramifications if I choose to be Okinawan, then? Or are we overlooking an aversion to leather on instruments in Nippon? (It says leatherworkers are Eta, but not that others refuse to utilize their wares or services.)

[jemmus]

At this point in Nippon's history an Okinawan would be considered a foreigner. He/she would probably be assumed to be Chinese. The character would probably speak Japanese with an accent. If you roll a high rank, we could maybe assume that the character is a delegate from Okinawa's ruler or a big trading house. In that case, you would have an appointed madoguchi ("window"), which is a kind of local chaperone who helps a foreigner adjust to Japan. Otherwise, you'd probably be treated with suspicion wherever you go. Foreigners who aren't "sponsored" by a local power are viewed with suspicion in Nippon. People will probably assume you were exiled, or are a pirate or criminal who had to flee from his homeland.

[Marullus]

Noted.

So, a local who still happens to play the Shamisen, then.

[jemmus]

The campaign ID is 909.

[spanningtree]

That sounds cool! I just worked through the foibles of a Shugenja for the other game. PM me with any questions and I'll be glad to walk you through.

Many thanks, I may have to take you up on the offer.

[jemmus]

Kwaidan ("Ghost Stories"), an old 1965 Japanese film, is great for getting the feel of Nippon of this era. And just a great movie all-around, to me at least. It's four or so short stories that were originally written by Lafcadio Hearn. Lafcadio was an interesting Greek-Irish journalist who had to emigrate to different places around the world, and from 1890 to the end of his life lived in Japan. Not the urban part, but the foggy, chilly, northern backwater part facing the sea to Korea. He married a Japanese wife, lived a rural life, and recorded folk ghost stories as short stories, in English. Kwaidan makes a film of a few of them. Really nice colorful and kind of stylized visuals and acting, I think.

In any event, great stuff for the backstory of Nippon samurai, heimin, and gakusho of Nippon. They got the armor, weapons and clothing spot on. (There's a subtle tricky part in the "Earless Hoichi" segment, where the ghosts themselves get their armor wrong. It's bright steel and kind of pre-steampunk. When the armor turns back to oranges and other bright colors of braided silk, that's when the ghosts went back centuries and got it right....) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwaidan_(film)

It's streaming on Amazon Prime, but $3.99 to rent. But 85% of viewers give it a 5.

[Enoch]

Kwaidan ("Ghost Stories"), an old 1965 Japanese film, is great for getting the feel of Nippon of this era. And just a great movie all-around, to me at least. It's four or so short stories that were originally written by Lafcadio Hearn. Lafcadio was an interesting Greek-Irish journalist who had to emigrate to different places around the world, and from 1890 to the end of his life lived in Japan. Not the urban part, but the foggy, chilly, northern backwater part facing the sea to Korea. He married a Japanese wife, lived a rural life, and recorded folk ghost stories as short stories, in English. Kwaidan makes a film of a few of them. Really nice colorful and kind of stylized visuals and acting, I think.

In any event, great stuff for the backstory of Nippon samurai, heimin, and gakusho of Nippon. They got the armor, weapons and clothing spot on. (There's a subtle tricky part in the "Earless Hoichi" segment, where the ghosts themselves get their armor wrong. It's bright steel and kind of pre-steampunk. When the armor turns back to oranges and other bright colors of braided silk, that's when the ghosts went back centuries and got it right....) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwaidan_(film)

It's streaming on Amazon Prime, but $3.99 to rent. But 85% of viewers give it a 5.

I've never heard of it, but it sounds awesome. I will definitely rent it.

[ffilz]

Looking really good, I'll try my hand at a character this weekend. I'm curious about the magic systems, so I may look at a priest of Shugenja but I know we already have one (losing track between the two games)?

If my experiences go well between my PbP and this one, I might consider Bushido for my next live play Roll20 campaign