1st Scroll - The Will of Nobles - 5th - 6th Days

[ffilz]

Taisho will welcome Akemi as will Hiroshi.

[jemmus]

Not to skip Ito's and Omi's turn, but I want to move along and get you guys partly out of the Nippon law, order, and etiquette stage. Omi proposed that the group continue on together and Ito more or less accepted, so it doesn't sound like they're opposed to Akemi. If either are, we can retcon that later.

I'm also not going to make us hash out who goes with Kentaro and Omi on the armor-doffing mission. It was uneventful, and everyone safely returns to the checkpoint in Kofu.

It was after dark when the bushi walked their horses up to the checkpoint, folded o-yoroi slung over the mounts' sides in balanced loads. The officer is gone, and the samurai, ashigaru, and their captain all seem to be all new faces. Except for one samurai bushi. He approaches the officer. Taicho-san, it is the indicated ones. The bushi bows and falls back. The officer half-bows the the group as a casual says gesture of basic respect, before speaking from a position of having responsibilities and a job to do. It seems to the travelers that he might have had many jobs to do today, and more waiting tonight.

We were expecting your return. We see that you have complied with the law. It is irregular, but because we were previously advised of the special situation, you will be admitted into the city from the highway after dark. At present, all travelers wishing to stay overnight in the city must obtain an inn pass. Because we know of you and your service escorting a buke to Kofu, the registration process will be waived. But for one night only. Buke will pay one silver coin for a pass to stay at an inn. All others will pay one copper. One may stay at the home of a relative with no pass. Staying at any other place, including an unlicensed inn or a yakuza gambling house, is a punishable crime. That is the law. Understand? It's not so much a question as a drilling of the requirements into heads, and looking around to see if anyone didn't get it.

Merchants, tradesmen, and ordinary travelers must report to the Office of Registration. Not one of you kuge-escorting lot fit the type. Duelists and people on sword quests, gakusho quests, budo quests, or any other kind of wandering around Nippon looking for trouble and getting yourselves and others killed quest must report to the Special Duties Commission office. In this special case, you may go directly to your inn, and dine, bath and sleep until the morning. But not after the Hour of the Hare.*

The captain jerks a thumb toward a mid-rank samurai sergeant. Detail a squad of three more bushi and eight ashigaru and get them into an inn, stay awhile, then you hustle back. We've got a checkpoint to watch. If anything happens at the inn, just send word to the western barracks. At least 42 bushi are ready, and 50 to 100 ashigaru can be summoned within a day. /dialog]*
*According to Bushido, 5 AM to 7 AM.

[jemmus]

Next chapter. The party made it from Neno-san (o-bakemono mountain), to Chiyoda-cho and finding and defeating the bandits there (tactical Bushido style), and made it to Kofu city (the objective of the first part of module).

Ito, Kentaro, Omi, Taisho, please level up to Level 2. Younger chars such as Hiiroshi, Haruto, Akemi, ot just yet, you're still Level 1. Which is not to say you're not much less as powerful.

[ffilz]

Eiji's hit points actually go down... I never rolled at 1st level and instead had a "6" that was in the sheet... So I just rolled 2d3+10:

[Marullus]

Yeah, Eiji probably started with a copy of Kentaro's sheet and I rolled a 6 at first level. Good catch.

lv 2 hit points [1d10]=5 +21
Kentaro now has 26 hit points at level 2.

His Zanshin stays 1, but will go to 2 when he reaches third level.

All rolls that add level get +1 BCS - that's automatically calculated on the spreadsheet.

Questions posted in the tracking thread so I can update actual Budo totals.

The next segment I assume lets us have some downtime - I will begin working on goals for what Kentaro and Haruto do respectively to advance skills, gain Budo/Shugendo, and earn On/Status....

[Marullus]

Code: Select all

1052.0 Study and Training
Characters increase their scores in a Skill by deliberate study. This
is measured in "Study Turns" of 1 week and is usually performed in
"Downtime," the time between actual adventures.
For each Study Turn spent in training, a character increases his
score in the chosen Skill by an adjusted figure derived from his
Learning Rate Ability. For each Turn of study, calculate this adjusted
Learning Rate as follows:
(Learning Rate + Learning Bonuses)/(2 x Learning Hindrances).
A Learning Bonus is some enhancement, added to the base
Learning Rate. A Hindrance is some condition which reduces overall
learning ability. Each Hindrance halves the effective value of the
study period.
1052.1 LEARNING BONUSES
Each Bonus adds 1 to the Learning Rate unless otherwise
specified.
Studying with Teacher of Level Superior to student's own.
This reflects the inherent superiority of the higher Level
characters and is not influenced by the respective Profession of
Teacher and student. For example, a 4th Level character studying
under a 5th Level character.
Studying with Teacher of 6th Level (Master).
Studying under any character who is 6th Level gains the student a
bonus, no matter how high the student's own Level is.
Studying with Teacher who has mastered Skill (score of 99 in Skill).
While any character with a score in the Skill that is higher than the
student's may teach him the Skill, a character who has mastered the
Skill may be assumed to offer a better level of teaching ability.
Studying at an Academy. Monastery, School, etc., specializing in
Skill.
Centers of learning that have a special place in their curriculum for
a given Skill usually developed highly effective teaching methods.
When the Gamesmaster designs such a place that will be a
permanent fixture in the campaign, he should note what Skills it is
noted for teaching, in which it will receive this bonus.
Studying Bonus Skill for student's Profession
Skills harmonious with the student's background, ie. his
Profession, will be more easily mastered.
Studying with Aid of a Torimono (Teaching Scroll).
Torimono, besides being notable art/literature works, could be
written by the great Masters of the past, distilling their knowledge
into valuable pointers for the student. Possession of a Torimono
scroll on the subject of the Skill understudy (assuming the student is
Fully Literate in the script it is written in) will give a bonus if studying
with a Teacher. If a Teacher is not available, the Torimono will act in
his place, thus cancelling the Hindrance for solo study but not
granting a normal bonus.
Private Instruction
Contracting a Teacher to spend all his time with a single pupil will
increase the student' Learning Rate by a significant Bonus. The
pupil receives a Learning Bonus equal to (Teacher's score-
Student's score)/10. The Gamesmaster may choose to allow small
groups Player-Characters to receive this bonus together, if studying
the same Skill under the same Teacher. This will depend on how
generous he wishes to be with such training.

1052.2 HINDRANCES
Studying without a Teacher.
The tradition of acquiring specialized Skills in Nippon requires a
master, a Teacher as defined below. Characters lacking a Teacher,
or substitute such as a Torimono scroll, will incur a Hindrance.
Student has score over 60 points in Skill studied.
Once a given level of mastery has been reached, a student in any
field will find it more difficult to achieve the final development of his
Skill. Having mastered the "basics", arbitrarily set at 60% of the
subject matter, a Hindrance is levied against further study.
Not studying a Freely Improvable Skill.
Once the number of Skills studied exceeds the character's Freely
Improvable Skills Ability, study in other Skills is at a Hindrance. For
example, a character with Freely Improvable Skills equal 12 has
studied 12 Skills during his career so far. If he starts to study another
Skill, progress in it is at a Hindrance. Should he acquire more points
in this Ability, he may designate this new Skill as Freely Improvable.
This removes that Hindrance from further study in that Skill.
Not studying full time (eg. teaching others, holding a job, court
duties, etc.).
Characters engaged in minor activities may still study, but at a
Hindrance. Such activities include holding a job, even that of
teaching others. Being engaged in an adventure, going on a military
campaign (ie. in an army marching into battle), doing research, etc.,
should preclude study. The Gamesmaster may wish to have Player-
Characters who teach be unable to study, if he wishes to limit crosstraining
among Player-Characters.
Wounded, ill. convalescent, etc., if allowed to study in the first place.
Characters recovering from wounds, diseases, or other damage
will be hard put to keep up the gruelling pace of the dedicated
student in Nippon. The Gamesmaster may wish to forbid study in
his campaign by those not in perfect health. He may waive this
requirement if they train in areas which are not hampered by their
wounds, such as the Arts. Alternatively he may permit study in any
field, but at a minimum of 1 Hindrance.

Code: Select all

1041.4 IMPROVING ATTRIBUTES
There are two methods of increasing Attribute scores up to the
maximum value of 40, without recourse to such atypical means as
magic, drugs, the intervention of spirits, etc.: these are Skill Study
and Exercise.
SKILL STUDY
The study of Skills will serve to exercise the Attributes and
contribute to their increase as Skill advances. Increasing the score in
a Bugei (martial technique) may be applied to improving any
Physical Attribute. Advancing in an Art can improve Mental
Attributes.
Every time a new point in the character's Base Chance of Success
is gained by study, the character will increase one of the permissible
Attributes. If the gain was in a Bugei, a Physical Attribute may be
increased by .1 point. For gains in an Art, a Mental Attribute may be
increased by .05 points. Additionally, upon achieving a score of 99 in
a Skill ("Mastering the Skill) a similar increase is received in one of
the appropriate Attributes. Of course, a fractional value in an
Attribute will not affect the use of the Attribute. A character with
Strength of-21 has the same Strength-derived benefits as someone
with 21.9. Only when a full point is gained in an Attribute will changes
occur in the character's qualities.
EXERCISE
A character may increase an Attribute directly, by spending 1 full
month (3 consecutive weeks) exercising it. The Gamesmaster may
require that such exercise take place in proper surroundings: an
Academy or Dojo for the Physical Attributes, and a Temple, Shrine,
Monastery or Academy teaching the Arts for Mental Attributes. In
this case, provision should also be made for member of Professions
lacking easy access to such institutions, such as the Yakuza and
Ninja. Assume gang or clan installations will provide proper facilities
for exercise.
The increase of one's Attribute scores, whether by these means or
by the intervention of supernormal forces, is the only way to
permanently increase the characteristics derived from the Attributes
(Abilities, Saving Throws, and Capabilities, as described below).

A Study Turn is one week. It improves one skill by the Learning rate + modifiers. As Buke, both pay 1 silver per night at an Inn. Kentaro has 11 gold, Haruto has 17 gold. They can stay almost two weeks / study periods per gold coin. It depends how long circumstances let them study before the war hits the fan... I'm going to start with eight weeks (two months) for 4 gold, 20 silver unless circumstances say otherwise.

Kentaro has a Learning Rate of 2. Haruto has a Learning Rate of 2.

Kentaro:
Kentaro has a variety of interests, but war is in the offing and he feels the need to improve his swordplay as the highest priority. While learning Okuden would be fun, he wants to focus on his core skills first. Also, the social factors for learning an Okuden are significant, requiring building status in the Sensei's school as a Group Status and succeeding in convincing the Sensei with the status rules before you can learn... so what Sensei NPC we're hooked up with and what Okuden he knows will also be important. We probably need to become junior instructors (i.e. group status) and work for him before that's even feasible, and I don't know if we're rich or capable enough to even think of that yet.

So, Kentaro seeks a school taught by a kenjitsu master... something which should be available in a city like Kofu. Showing his superior blade and the commendation scroll written personally by the Kuge Noble to him as Yojimbo (plus his impressive size and physique) should hopefully recommend him to a favorable institution, despite his rural pedigree and homespun ways.
This potentially grants: +1 (taught by higher than second level) +1 (taught by 6th level master) +1 (taught by someone with mastery of Kenjutsu) +1 (taught in a school) +1 (bonus skill for class). A total of +5.
Page 8 has the tables to randomly determine the availability of teachers of each aspect, or that the GM stock the location with specific NPCs for plot purposes (which is also cool). If all bonuses are found, then that +5 costs 5 silver pieces per week or an additional 3 gold, 10 silver for the two months. If he can't find a suitable sword instructor, he will seek a bow instructor instead.

If that is successful, he studies eight weeks, pays 8 gold between housing and training. His existing score is 60 which gives him 1 hinderance. So, he gets (2+5) / (2*1) = 4 skill points per week of training, or 32 points of learning, raising his Kenjitsu to 92. (If he ends up studying the Kyujutsu instead, he gets full credit for the first week's training to 61%, then gets the hinderance only after that, raising his 55 by 35 points to a total of 90.)

Attributes: It looks like each raise in BCS, not in the base skill, raises an attribute by .1 points. So, it takes 50 points in skills to raise a single physical attribute a single point? Studying Fine Arts raises Mental attributes at half that rate, so 1 attribute point for every full 100 points of skill raise. That's a bit insane and hardly worth tracking... I'm hoping that I have that wrong. Or, we need cheaper housing rates/huge hauls of gold to allow us to study years to improve our PCs between adventures...

Since holding a job, performing court duties, or training others would hinder him and his studies, he does no other major function during his study time. He does invite Akemi to stay with him and, during his restful periods each evening, tries to enjoy time with her over dinner and playing the Samisen. He will stay in touch, preferably having dinner, with Omi, Ito, and the others, until circumstance change to deny them further training.

(I'd like to improve his Samisen, but not if it provides a hinderance to his main study... that system is pretty brutal.)


Haruto:
(Noting that Haruto developing his own spell "Voices of the Blood" is worth 2.2 Shugendo. We might want to help him catch up by allowing that award.)
(Also noting that learning Spells gains Shugendo, using spells gains Shugendo, learning Spell Schools does not...)

As "Chosen One" of the Breath of Fuujin mystical practitioners, he will seek out a mentor/school among their Shinto Shrines in the city. (Same tables as above, but with modifiers of +10/-10 for it being a Magical Skill instead of a mundane one, or there's stocked NPCs per Jemmus' storylines.) So, the same math for up to +5 learning rate and a total of 8 gold for housing and training combined for eight weeks. (Just realizing, that's an easy 1 gold per week of high quality school training plus housing, which keeps the math good and simple.)

If he can find a suitable teacher in multiple skills, his goal will be raise each of his schools from 26 to at least 40. With a maximum of 2+5= 7 learning rate, that would be two weeks per school, raising them each to 47 over the course of six weeks. If he can't find a good teacher in all three skills, he'll just focus on improving in whichever school(s) he does find a good teacher for. (The same eight weeks will reach 54 each in two schools, or 73 in one school as the hinderance kicks in at 60.) He won't hit 60, so shouldn't get a hinderance, and would actually learn at the full rate instead of the half-rate.

Unfortunately, both the Power Score and the Magic BCS are calculated off of the attributes and not the skills, so all that magical learning won't actually help him get better at spellcasting. Every 100 skill points will get him 1 Will, and that will give him 1 Power Point and .2 Magic BCS. His Magic BCS will require 500 skill points be learned on Arts before he gains +1 BCS. (God, I hope I'm wrong.) Edit: I'm wrong. There's also "Spell Complexity" which grants a +1 BCS for every 10 points you have in the School above the amount you needed to learn that spell. So, there is a factor to allow Spell Schools to contribute to BCS at half the rate of normal skills. So, advancing spell school mastery will make easier spells have a higher BCS.

What those extra School Skills do achieve is letting him be eligible to learn some better spells. This is explained under 1073.5c Learning Spells and has a number of factors that depend on who my teacher is, whether they know the spell I want or not, and if they have a scroll in their possession written about it. It probably takes 3-4 weeks to learn the new spells and double that if I have to write out a scroll about it first, so may be insurmountable in the eight week period. If he can find a teacher and raise his School Skills to 40, and it is possible to learn the spells, he'd be interested in the following in roughly priority order: Road of Metal, Road of Wood, Road of Soil, Confusing Gaze, Arrows of Soil (Gale Wind), Bar Men, Fronting the Storm, Fetters of Truth, Eyes of True Sight.

Roleplay-wise, Haruto will also seek to visit his father, though he worries about staying in the home with him and his stepmother. He will pay the cost of the Inn (and stay with the rest of the party) if he needs to - if he can offer them all to stay in his family's home he will also do so. He will try to avoid "court duties" (which count as a hinderance and divide all learning he could do in half.) If he's not staying in the family home, he continues to watch his father at dusk magically, and if he is speaking to his father in person on any particular day, he will look in on his brother, the local vilage daimyo. He looks forward to meeting his new younger half-siblings, but fears they may be like their mother. If it inspires his feelings of longing and regret, he will look in on his younger full siblings magically instead. (If this is consequential casting, and he succeeded every about other night, he could roughly achieve his needed 10 Budo over the course of two months in the city.)

[jemmus]

Nice. A quick reply before I do some necessary study about schools and learning.

Per the rules, the cost of an inn is 5 silver per night, or 5 copper for non-buke. The house rule is that stabling a horse is 11 cp per night. I haven't posted it yet, but the inn in Kofu the party found kind of specializes in long-term stays. It's kind of a boarding house/inn. The weekly rate is 25 silver/copper, 55 copper for stabling.

Haruto can stay with dad and step-mom, but step-mom isn't inviting anyone else. Especially eta Akemi. Dad can find very affordable homestays in samurai homes for Omi and Ito, if they want. A 2 silver per day contribution to the household would be courteous/expected.

Beside the maps, the Honor Bound module has good stuff about Kofu's schools, shrines and temples. The one Kentaro wants is below. Unfortunately, it's snobby and exclusive.
Normally it won't let ronin in at all, but Kentaro's letter from the Kuge carries some weight. As does the fact that he has live combat experience and is 2nd level. But he'll need a some kind of successful roll to be admitted. He can roll once per week. I'll have to figure out how to determine the odds (based on Status, the letter, the PC's level, Rhetoric or other applicable skills, etc.) Kentaro would have to pay 20% higher than the usual rate. Because he's Takeda, Haruto would pay only half the rate.

There are also shrines with excellent teachers of yogas and fine arts. There are teachers for about any fine art in Kofu. And schools for healing, sumai and armory. There's no shugenja school (library?) in the module. But there should be a way for shugenja to improve skills in Kofu. More on that when I've done my homework on downtime learning.

If other PCs don't want to do downtime learning, they can split off and do an adventure. With a smaller party size, of course.

Kofu-koukina-geiiji-jutsu-ryu
(Kofu School of the Noble Arts)
Orientation: Class C Gentleman’s Academy.
Sensei: Miyaguchi Minoru (Level 6 Bushi; A).
Staff: Shishikura Yukio (Level 6 Bushi; B); Takeda Satuko (C) and
Shiho Masayoshi (D) (Level 5 Bushi); Nagano Hidekazu (E) and
Nakatani Chisako (F) (Level 3 Scholars).
Available Skills: Heraldry C, E (19); Go B, D, E (18); Ikebana A, D,
E (16); Tea Ceremony B, C, F (16); Bejutsu A, B, D (15); Ni-to-kenjutsu
A, B, D (15); Iaijutsu A, B, C, D (15) with Hurling Okuden (11); Chikugojutsu A, B, C, D, E, F (15); Kenjutsu A, B, C, D (15); Senjo-jutsu a, B,
C, D, F (15); Hawking A, D (15); Japanese Classics E, F (15); Hojojutsu
B, C, D (14), Sojutsu A, B, D (14); Kyujutsu A, B, C, D (14); Yari-nagajutsu A, B, C, D (14); Naginatajutsu A, D (13); Bowyer B, D (13); all
Literacies E, F (13); Chinese Classics C, F (13); Rhetoric F (12); Poetry
D, E (11); Calligraphy A, E, F (11); Music Instrumental F (11); Music
Singing D, E (9); Court Dance E (6).
Notes: Miyaguchi Minoru is sixty-four years old, snobbish, slightly querulous, and extremely particular about who he admits to his academy: applicants must be able to provide evidence of their Buke ancestry and the status of their Clan (.8 or above). Furthermore, they may not be Ronin, or in service to a daimyo hostile to the Arikawa Takeda clan. If in doubt, he will raise the fee by 1D6 x 10%. Members of the Arikawa Takeda clan receive a discount of fifty percent.

[ffilz]

Hiroshi isn't going to be able to afford much for long having only 8sp 40 cp after staying at the inn the 1st night.

If everyone is OK, I think Taisho would at least pay for Hiroshi's boarding since he was helpful to the group.

Taisho will certainly want to work on his Karma Yoga and maybe some other skills.

[Marullus]

Hiroshi really did get screwed for coin. (Haruto would be in the same boat except that he started with superfluous gold equal to the party's gains.) If you are willing to have Taisho pay his housing that sounds fine to me. It would be better to just retcon him starting with some extra coin of his own so he can match the party and also get a downtime.

If the snobs refuse Kentaro, can we do rolls to find a different school/teacher? The snob academy isn't the only place for him to learn in the city, I hope? Some rolls on the table on page 8 could generate alternatives.

There's no shugenja school (library?) in the module. But there should be a way for shugenja to improve skills in Kofu.

I deliberately created the "Breath of Fuujin" as a school/group/cult as a narrative element to allow him to seek out others of like affiliation in cities and towns. I am assuming they're embedded in Shinto temples. They could have their own temples/schools or they could be embedded in other temples. They could be overt and known, or they could be a clandestine organization. That's all up to you.

Having them as a group in which Haruto has group-status allows you to use the randomization table on page to determine what kind of tutor he finds and/or the social mechanisms to determine if he can convince them to teach him at that time.

[jemmus]

Taisho seems like the kind of guy who wouldn't let a colleague go homeless and hungry, so he can pay for Hiroshi's room and board if you like. Hiroshi can also get a Hazardous or Non-Hazardous job to pay his bills. The rules for those start at 2071.0 (p.39 of the players' book).

The snob school is the only well-known bugei school in Kofu. But with some investigating, Kentaro can probably find a smaller, more obscure dojo. But the sensei probably won't be at 6th level like the ones at the famous school.

Let's say that the kamunushi at the Fuujin shrine knows a Fuujin devotee shugenja in Kofu. He gave Haruto a letter of introduction to him. That should open the way for Haruto to find a shugenja mentor in the city.

[Marullus]

Okay! Well, lets see how this system works when we push through its gears.

The Snob School requires a roll. That means the "Using Status" section, 1062.4.
Max Coin Gift [2d10]=13

Kentaro has nothing to avail a him except his own personal status, so we start at BCS 2.
Kentaro has no spontaneous social arts that will avail him here... showing his ineptitude can only hurt him. BCS 2.
He will offer the snobby Sensei a cash gift of a gold coin (12 sp, with a rolled maximum of what he'll accept being 13), bringing it to BCS 14.

Haruto is really liking his role as herald. He's in his "home turf," has a gift with words, and will offer to tell the tale of any of his companions exploits to help them find what they need here. He'll use Rhetoric to aid Kentaro.
Rhetoric (BCS 15) [1d20]=16
The Sensei is not impressed by having someone intercede on behalf of this yokel, that lowers him to BCS 13.
Status Check [1d20]=14

...depending what additional factors Jemmus adds, that looks like "request refused" but could be "granted if he jumps through hoops first."

If he then goes and looks for a teacher and this is a Class A city...
Find a Teacher [1d100]=94[1d100]=29
He finds a teacher who is not superior level or 6th level, but does have a 99 skill and a school. I think?

[jemmus]

The letter from the kuge gives +2 to BCS. So it looks like Kentaro is accepted. But with Haruto's help, he also finds smaller kenjutsu and kyujutsu dojos. They're more affordable (no additional cost for being ronin), but not as prestigious as snobby Kofu Ryu. And they're specialized schools, so there's the bonus for that. Studying at Kofu Ryu should provide some bragging rights (status increase).

Name Saburo
School No name dojo
Location Kofu
Caste Middle heimin (farmer)
Level 4
Skills Kenjutsu, tantojutsu
Master 99 Yes

Name Iwataki no Ryusuke
School No name dojo
Location Kofu
Caste Middle ronin
Level 3
Skills Kyujutsu
Master 99 No. But add 1d6x10 to highest student's skill to check.

[Marullus]

Alright!

Since Kentaro paid a whole gold coin as a gift to get in, he is relieved and accepts the enrollment at Kofu-koukina-geiiji-jutsu-ryu
(Kofu School of the Noble Arts) and the associated status it carries. After all, he's trying to rise back to honor his grandfather, and things like this surely help.

Status:
His personal status is based on level, rank, and On... adding a BCS bonus to that in social interactions isn't described, but your perogative. What's the social bonus for Kofu-koukina-geiiji-jutsu-ryu
association? +1 BCS to personal status?
I also assigned him 10 Group Status as "Member" since he was accepted; that could be used in place of personal status, but won't be relevant until he achieves "supervisor" or "manager" status at the school (group status is restrictive that way) or at least "senior member" with "Leader's favor." Since it is a super-prestigious school that is respected outside its own membership, I gave it a status factor of .8 unless you say otherwise.

Costs:
Kentaro stays at the boarding house for the cost of 26.83 silver for room and stabling. (Holy cow! We're paying more than 2 gold per week to stay in the city??) He hopes Akemi also stays there, but since his costs are mounting and she got her own share of treasure, and they're not married (yet), he doesn't assume he has to pay for her. So, for the first eight weeks that's 26.83*8 = 214.64 silver.

Since the school has all +5 bonuses, that's the 5 silver cited above. He pays 20% extra because their snobby, so that exactly 6 silver per week. 6*8 = 48 silvers for eight weeks. Plus, he had to bribe the guy a full gold piece to get admitted, so that's another 12 silver, for 60 silver total.

214.64+60 = 274.64. That's then 22 gold, 10 silver, 19 copper for eight weeks.
...Kentaro has 11 gold.

So... we try again.
He bribes the school, so now 10 gold. That's 120 silver.

It is 26.83 for housing and stabling and 6 for training for each week he's in the city. Total of 32.83/week.

His ten years worth or rice avails him just three weeks in the city. At the end of week three he has 1 gold, 9 silver, 15 coppers left to his name and needs to go adventuring. (He was clearly unprepared for the reality of city life vs mountain life... and is shocked IC at how fast the money goes.)


Learning:
He got into the good school! That means he gets the full +5 to his learning rate of 2. He has a hinderance as his skill started at 60, so he only gets 4/week of study. So, blowing all his cash on three weeks, his kenjitsu score goes up 12 points, from 60 to 72.

With a new Kenjitsu of 72, he has to find a lucrative adventure at the end of week three. He has 1 gold, 9 silver, 15 coppers. Let's see how the other PCs fare...

(Hiruto is also hosed, as he has to pay the 25 silver rent. Taisho is paying it, and perhaps also Akemi, so the four of them probably need to find a paying gig that doesn't require staying in the inn around that time. Ito, Omi, and Haruto have the options for paying exponentially less, so they can probably afford to train longer while the plebians go find work. I feel like this system forces us to break up the party and I don't know how I feel about that.)

[jemmus]

I made that plus to social BCS on the fly. I should have instead had the kuge's letter boost Kentaro's status for the encounter. Anyway, your roll was close enough that the letter and pushed it over the top for Kentaro to be accepted.

Yeah, lodging is really expensive for buke. Thirty times higher than for non-buke, who pay in copper. Akemi will pay her own room and board, unless Kentaro insists.

[Marullus]

Ahhh... right. In order:
* Haruto stays with his family for free
* Taisho and Akemi pay in copper. (25cp/week... so less than 1sp.)
* Ito and Omi get to say with Haruto's dad's friends for 2sp per week.
* Only Kentaro and Hiroshi are the only ones screwed for 2+ gp per week as Ronin.

So, Taisho pays 3 silver for himself and 75 silver for Hiroshi for three weeks (6 gold, 6 silver). I hope that Hiroshi, Taisho, Akemi, and Kentaro can go looking for an adventure for pay. Ito, Omi, Haruto, (and Akemi) can stay longer and study... I don't like that this means splitting the party and leaving them out of the next six months of RL time. It's disproportionate, rather than just "we'll sit out tonight's session."

1) I will post about Haruto's learning when you have said what quality of teacher he has found.

2) How long Haruto stays to study (some extended study would be great! But the point here is to not skip the adventures) will depend on what Ito and Omi do and how that's going to work in terms of OOC all of us getting to study and adventure together.

TL;DR - I am unhappy with how the unequal housing rates IC are impacting the group dynamics and the logic of us continuing to adventure. Downtime is too critical, as the only route to advancement, and in a PbP format (vice a tabletop session) I think it's more important that we all get to study in downtime the same number of weeks and then get into adventures again together with the next storyhook.

[ffilz]

I probably have some thoughts on this but I may not have time for an in depth look of response until Monday possibly evening.

[jemmus]

Yet again, there will be a summary of this for-color text in the next post. Important gameplay information at the end.

The squad of samurai and ashigaru hustle the travelers through the checkpoint. When they're out of earshot of the sub-officer, two of the samurai stop and confer among themselves. It seems that they reach an agreement. The travelers enter the city of Kofu, following the bushi. It is a fairly quiet in the darkness of the early night, but people still go about the business of shutting down the day. Here a messenger runs down the street with his long pole with a box at the end over his shoulder. There a vegetables seller takes the last of his goods from his street stall into his house. Two middle-aged men, already drunk, stumble down the street with their arms around each other's shoulders. A woman with a basket full of bundled greens hurries home. But at certain buildings, it seems that people are just starting their workdays. Lit paper lanterns hang from roof eves and cast illumination into the street. They are marked with katakana brushstrokes. Dining. Sake. Grilled Chicken. Noodles.

But some shop fronts are more brightly and colorfully lit than the others. [“Old Man's Waterfall” [Yoronotaki, a place's name. It looks, smells, and sounds like a more upscale grill. Hanayashiki Cherry Blossom Villa is likely a teahouse for with oiran female musicians and hosts for higher-ranking and wealthier samurai to meet, relax, and probably discuss the real state of things among people they can trust.

Haruto has been to Kofu, but it when he was just kid. All he can do is follow the young samurai bushi in front and the ashigaru behind, turning right when they do, left and right again. After a quarter of an hour or so, the party are in the street in front of a two-story traditional rectangular Nipponese building. A large white paper lantern hangs from a frame in front of it and bears the katana strokes for Sho-Chiku-Bai. So there is no doubt of the meaning the other side of the lantern has sumi-e ink paintings of the the leaves and branches of the sho-chiku-bai-- pine, bamboo, and plum. The three plants of Nippon revered for their perserverence through the hard months of winter. Taisho notes the unassuming Shinto-like name of the place. He's pleased.

The samurai bushi slide aside the door and enter the street-level foyer. They announce in too-loud military voices, Pardon! Pardon! A slightly round-faced, very energetic, cheerful and middle-aged woman greets the bushi and the group behind them also. Welcome! She bows to the bushi. And the amiably and cheerfully to the group behind.

“Present your inn passes!” the second from lead samurai barks. He hands them to the innkeeper. She briefly inspects them, tucks them into her kimono's wide belt sash, and bows and says, “Thank you for favoring my little inn, o-bushi-sama. One moment please. She scurries into the interior and soon appears with some broad leaf wrapped bundles. “They're very humble and not very delicious, but a small present of some rice cakes for o-bushi-sama's children or their barracks mates.” The young and healthy samurai eye the bundles. “Until next time!” they say, and bow to the person of established relationship.

The mistress of the inn says to the travelers, “We are honored to host you, please come in and be comfortable. It's your first time here, I believe.” She escorts them into the inn, then courteously slides the sliding door in front of the samurai and ashigaru guardmen's faces, with a slight bow and no further ado. “Some stay with us only a day, many use our humble place as their home whenever they are in Kofu. But we are best at hosting guests for long stays. Many travelers stay with us for weeks or months, despite who humble this place is. I prefer to know my guests, rather than having new ones every night who might get rowdy. I'm not so young anymore, you know.” She smiles pleasantly and briefly runs her hand over her long gray hair tied at the back.

Lanterns hanging from the walls illuminate the main room for gathering and dining area with conservative, even frugal, amounts of light. The room is entirely covered with wood-framed woven rice straw tatami mats. Traveling merchants dine with their assistants, many of whom are probably their eldest sons. Their porters fare more simply at a long common table over more aged and worn tatami. Four heimin merchants are at a table drinking sake and eating grilled fish and side dishes. From the way the comfortably lounge, at ease and elbows on the table, they seem to be old acquaintances, as well as regulars at this inn.

"Not two hours ago a kuge came to Kofu and the Takeda took him to the castle," a portly one says.
A hook-nosed second one says, "No! Why would a kuge of Kyoto come all the way to backwater Kai? It's very far."
A third, an unusually handsome bout almost bald one says, rather smugly, "Of course it's because of the war."
And a fourth, a small and thin man says, more quietly with a conspiratorial tone, "It's said that he conspired against the new Taira Emperor. And they want his head."
"I heard that too,” the portly one says. And that the Takeda taking him was a risky and impetuous move. It may prove to be their downfall in the end. Some gakusho has foreseen that."
The bald one, again rather smugly, "All of this intriguing, treachery and war stuff will be all of our downfalls in the end. Except for those who think." He taps the edge of his forefinger against the side of his head. "Today I bought salt at five silver per bushel. Exorbitant, neh? But last week I bought salt at three silver, and this week I sold it at four. And next week I'll sell what I bought today at six."
"Muneta-san, you'll go as broke as a dice gambler speculating on salt that way," the slight man says.
"Not if I put profits away and save them. And if I invest in other things."
"Such as what, for example?" says the hooknosed man.
"Commisioning weapons. Hiring eta for grave digging and cremations. Hiring gakusho for funerals and exorcisms. War brings the dead and also ghosts. Why not make some money off of both? It will be providing a service to Kofu and Nippon. And of course, for the living who don't want to be either buried, cremated, or exorcised, protective amulets, tea leaves reading, palm reading and such. Don't steal my business plans, any of you. Neh?"

The table is silent for a moment, pondering the potentials of these markets, half-dubious about their colleague and competitor's seriousness. The rather rotund merchant speaks. “You'd be getting into the temples' and grand shrines' profits there, Muneta-san.”

He looks back at them all, deadpan. “Yes, very dangerous.” Then he breaks into a grin. "Well then, I'll invest in sake. Mistress-san,” he calls out, “Another flask, please!” The merchants all burst out laughing. “Empty cups!" Each drains the contains of his little ceramic cup, Muneta pulls his wide sleeve back and refills each cup in turn from the sake flask. The four continue talking about trivial details of local happenings, the prices of things, the risk of the Takeda raising taxes and tariffs, and other things merchants and residents of Kofu have to talk about.

Costs for staying at the inn-- 5 coins per night (silver for buke, copper for everyone else. 25 coins for 7 days (that is, two days for free). 11 copper per night for stabling horses. Buke get private but quite narrow rooms upstairs. People paying copper coins sleep and store their possessions in one of two large common rooms on the first floor with the main room and the kitchen. As is typical if dwelling in Nippon, there are no locked doors, only shoji sliding panels, in the inn. The dormitory have folding screens (with mediocre artwork) for when someone needs some privacy (for letter writing or reading, conversations that can be heard but not seen, etc.)

There are some long-term residents already in the two dormitories, so the non-buke must divide themselves between them. I assume that Kentaro makes sure that he and Akemi are together in one of them. Which leaves Taisho, Hiroshi, and Haruto (if he's sleeping in the inn instead of at home) to stay in the other one.

[jemmus]

Yet again, there will be a summary of this long text in the next post.

The squad of samurai and ashigaru hustle the travelers through the checkpoint. When they're out of earshot of the sub-officer, two of the samurai stop and confer among themselves. It seems that they reach an agreement. The travelers enter the city of Kofu, following the bushi. It is a fairly quiet in the darkness of the early night, but people still go about the business of shutting down the day. Here a messenger runs down the street with his long pole with a box at the end over his shoulder. There a vegetables seller takes the last of his goods from his street stall into his house. Two middle-aged men, already drunk, stumble down the street with their arms around each other's shoulders. A woman with a basket full of bundled greens hurries home. But at certain buildings, it seems that people are just starting their workdays. Lit paper lanterns hang from roof eves and cast illumination into the street. They are marked with katakana brushstrokes. Dining. Sake. Grilled Chicken. Noodles.

But some shop fronts are more brightly and colorfully lit than the others. [“Old Man's Waterfall” [Yoronotaki, a place name. looks, smells, and sounds like a more upscale grill. Hanayashiki Cherry Blossom Villa is likely a teahouse for with oiran female musicians and hosts for higher-ranking and wealthier samurai to meet, relax, and probably discuss the real state of things among people they can trust.

Haruto has been to Kofu, but it when he was just kid. All he can do is follow the young samurai bushi in front and the ashigaru behind, turning right when they do, left and right again. After a quarter of an hour or so, the party are in the street in front of a two-story traditional rectangular Nipponese building. A large white paper lantern hangs from a frame in front of it and bears the katana strokes for Sho-Chiku-Bai. So there is no doubt of the meaning the other side of the lantern has sumi-e ink paintings of the the leaves and branches of the sho-chiku-bai-- pine, bamboo, and plum. The three plants of Nippon revered for their perserverence through the hard months of winter. Taisho notes the unassuming Shinto-like name of the place. He's pleased.

The samurai bushi slide aside the door and enter the street-level foyer. They announce in too-loud military voices, “Pardon! Pardon!” A slightly round-ish, very energetic and cheerful middle-aged woman greets the bushi and the group behind them also. "Welcome!” She bows to the bushi, then to group.

“Present your inn passes!” the second from lead samurai barks. He hands them to the innkeeper. She briefly inspects them, tucks them into her kimono's wide belt sash, and bows and says, “Thank you for favoring my little inn, o-bushi-sama. One moment please. She scurries into the interior and soon appears with some broad bundles of delicious things wrapped in papers of broad dried leaves. “They're very humble and not very delicious, but a small present of some rice cakes for o-bushi-sama's children or their barracks mates.” The young and healthy samurai eye the bundles. “Until next time!” they say, and bow to the person of established relationship.

The mistress of the inn says to the travelers, “We are honored to host you, please come in and be comfortable. It's your first time here, I believe.” She escorts them into the inn, then courteously slides the sliding door in front of the samurai and ashigaru guardmen's faces, with a slight bow and no further ado. “Some stay with us only a day, many use our humble place as their home whenever they are in Kofu. But we are best at hosting guests for long stays. Many travelers stay with us for weeks or months, despite who humble this place is. I prefer to know my guests, rather than having new ones every night who might get rowdy. I'm not so young anymore, you know.” She smiles pleasantly and briefly runs her hand over her long gray hair tied at the back.

Lanterns hanging from the walls illuminate the main room for gathering and dining area with conservative, even frugal, amounts of light. The room is entirely covered with wood-framed woven rice straw tatami mats. Traveling merchants dine with their assistants, many of whom are probably their eldest sons. Their porters fare more simply at a long common table over more aged and worn tatami. Four heimin merchants are at a table drinking sake and eating grilled fish and side dishes. From the way the comfortably lounge, at ease and elbows on the table, they seem to be old acquaintances, as well as regulars at this inn.

"Not two hours ago a kuge came to Kofu and the Takeda took him to the castle," a portly one says.
A hook-nosed second one says, "No! Why would a kuge of Kyoto come all the way to backwater Kai? It's very far."
A third, an unusually handsome bout almost bald one says, rather smugly, "Of course it's because of the war."
And a fourth, a small and thin man says, more quietly with a conspiratorial tone, "It's said that he conspired against the new Taira Emperor. And they want his head."
"I heard that too,” the portly one says. And that the Takeda taking him was a risky and impetuous move. It may prove to be their downfall in the end. Some gakusho has foreseen that."
The bald one, again rather smugly, "All of this intriguing, treachery and war stuff will be all of our downfalls in the end. Except for those who think." He taps the edge of his forefinger against the side of his head. "Today I bought salt at five silver per bushel. Exorbitant, neh? But last week I bought salt at three silver, and this week I sold it at four. And next week I'll sell what I bought today at six."
"Muneta-san, you'll go as broke as a dice gambler speculating on salt that way," the slight man says.
"Not if I put profits away and save them. And if I invest in other things."
"Such as what, for example?" says the hooknosed man.
"Commisioning weapons. Hiring eta for grave digging and cremations. Hiring gakusho for funerals and exorcisms. War brings the dead and also ghosts. Why not make some money off of both? It will be providing a service to Kofu and Nippon. And of course, for the living who don't want to be either buried, cremated, or exorcised, protective amulets, tea leaves reading, palm reading and such. Don't steal my business plans, any of you. Neh?"

The table is silent for a moment, pondering the potentials of these markets, half-dubious about their colleague and competitor's seriousness. The rather rotund merchant speaks. “You'd be getting into the temples' and grand shrines' profits there, Muneta-san.”

He looks back at them all, deadpan. “Yes, very dangerous.” Then he breaks into a grin. "Well then, I'll invest in sake. Mistress-san,” he calls out, “Another flask, please!” The merchants all burst out laughing. “Empty cups!" Each drains the contains of his little ceramic cup, Muneta pulls his wide sleeve back and refills each cup in turn from the sake flask. The four continue talking about trivial details of local happenings, the prices of things, the risk of the Takeda raising taxes and tariffs, and other things merchants and residents of Kofu have to talk about.

Costs for staying at the inn-- 5 coins per night (silver for buke, copper for everyone else. 25 coins for 7 days (that is, two days for free). 11 copper per night for stabling horses. Buke get private but quite narrow rooms upstairs. People paying copper coins sleep and store their possessions in one of two large common rooms on the first floor with the main room and the kitchen. As is typical if dwelling in Nippon, there are no locked doors, only shoji sliding panels, in the inn. The dormitory have folding screens (with mediocre artwork) for when someone needs some privacy (for letter writing or reading, conversations that can be heard but not seen, etc.)

There are some long-term residents already in the two dormitories, so the non-buke must divide themselves between them. I assume that Kentaro and Akemi are n one of them. Which leaves Taisho, Hiroshi, and Haruto (if he's sleeping in the inn instead of at home) to stay in the other one.

The travelers have to show up at a Commission office to be able to stay at an inn in Kofu tomorrow night. By tomorrow crack of dawn. Hiroshi and Akemi watched for that and reminded the less watchful or more tired friends about that. But it truly does seem like a homey inn in Kofu. A place for dog-tired cold travelers. A place where the old innkeeper ma'am would peek in, through a blanket, and not let you freeze. And a spot where you might hear the thoughts of the local sake-drinking localss

[Marullus]

Buke get private but quite narrow rooms upstairs. People paying copper coins sleep and store their possessions in one of two large common rooms on the first floor with the main room and the kitchen.

There are some long-term residents already in the two dormitories, so the non-buke must divide themselves between them. I assume that Kentaro and Akemi are n one of them. Which leaves Taisho, Hiroshi, and Haruto (if he's sleeping in the inn instead of at home) to stay in the other one.

Making sure I understand... Buke pay in silver and get private rooms upstairs. Non-buke pay in copper and are in the two dormitories downstairs.
If Kentaro is in a downstairs dormitory with Akemi, does that mean he's only paying copper? Is there some social cost (that might cost him his school membership) for doing so? If not, he definitely is more comfortable paying copper and being with Akemi and the non-Buke...

[jemmus]

Oops. Kentaro would be upstairs. Only Taisho and Akemi downstairs. If we want to tweak the rules, we'd have to decide whether PCs would lose On or status by paying non-buke rates. I kind of hate to mess with lowering status, because status is already pretty complicated. But we might need a rule, because what happens if a buke gets in a situation where he simply doesn't have the silver to pay (e.g. got robbed, refugee from a disaster, etc.) Losing On would simpler. Say, 1 On per day? Or (2 x PC's level) x .25) On per day? That way higher level PCs with lots of On wouldn't be getting a better comparative deal. 2nd level would lose 1 On per day. 6th level would lose 4 On per day.

Or we can keep it simple and just stick with the rules as written. Thoughts?

Unless otherwise specified, prices are in copper for non-Buke and
in silver for members of the Buke and higher classes. Naturally, the
service rendered is appropriately modified to suit the consumer.