House Rules/Rulings

[jemmus]

To keep track of rules items we decide on them. This post will be updated as we go along. If you spot something that's not correct, please let me know and I'll revise.

Budo and Shugendo
a) The character who kills the opponent gets full Budo points. Other characters who attacked the opponent get half Budo points (even if they missed and didn't get a hit).
Shugendo points are awarded per spell cast, points equal Knowledge Required/100. (Mud = .1, Darts = .3, etc.)
b) Gakusho spells are Wit/100 unless otherwise specified.
c) The rule about killing blows and half-points for attacks also applies to Shugendo, with this award applying to Shugendo if it is higher than other Shugendo calculations.
d) Bushi need to have engaged in the combat to get the 1/2 Budo award, and Shugenja and Gakusho need to use magic in the encounter to gain Shugendo. Thus if an encounter is entirely resolved with magic, only those who used magic in the encounter get an award, Shugendo. Conversely, if an encounter is resolved entirely martially, even with a Shugenja or Gakusho engaging with martial weapons but not magic, only the Bushi get Budo.

Please see Marullus's post with a discussion and excellent examples about this house rule. https://www.unseenservant.us/forum/view ... 53#p544553

Gakusho Shugendo
Healing
Buddhist clergy casting a basic Healing spell receive Shugendo = (.1 x Level of Spell), if successful. Using a Yoga in Healing receives Shugendo equal to Knowledge used/100, rounded to the nearest tenth. Shinto clergy receive a flat .1 Shugendo for Healing as their doctrines declare the sick and injured to be ritually impure, and thus they gain less merit for such activity. https://www.unseenservant.us/forum/view ... 59#p552059

Blessing Spells
A critical success on a blessing allows x2 blessings on that character for that day and double shugendo.

Distractions
Each Distraction reduces the character's BCS by 1. E.g. if BCS is 10 and the character has 3 Distractions, the adjusted BCS is 7.
Characters get one Will saving throw per detailed turn. A successful ST reduces the number of Distractions by the Effect Number of the ST.
A character with more Distractions that its Will cannot take an action during the turn. But it can still make its Will ST. If the ST reduces the Distractions to below the Will score, the character can act on its next Option Phase.*
*Text in italics is a proposed rule. -jemmus

Action Phase Ties
If PCs or NPCs have Action Phases in the same phase, the GM will roll and post all of the tiebreaker rolls. The characters will take actions in the order of highest to lowest rolls. This is to save players a posting step and help speed up the PBP game.

Non-Book Equipment
Utility Knife - 1s, weight Negligible
Shovel (Steel Blade) - 2s, weight 6
Shovel (Wooden Blade) - 20c, weight 4
Backframe, 15c, weight 1

Personal Status for Ninja in Disguise
We use the undisguised ninja's Personal Status (he well he presents himself) with the factor of the role he is portraying (how he is perceived) to get the Personal Status and BCS. For example:
Budoka: 35 base Personal Status x.5 = 17.5 or BCS 3
Gakusho: 35 x.4= 14 or BCS 2
Peasant: 35 x.1 = 3.5 or BCS 0

Horse Fodder and Stabling (Honor or Death campaign)
Fodder for a horse is 7 cp/day. Stabling is 11 cp/day. Stabling is virtually mandatory in towns and villages. Characters can't leave their horses standing out on the public road or on private property. (More precisely, on the Emperor's property that has been assigned some other use).

[Marullus]

House Rule modification of section 1061.3 - Self Healing

• A single permanent Ki point spent is sufficient to bring a dying character up to 0hp and being unconscious. (It is not necessary to spend permanent Ki 1-to-1 for hit points to achieve this.)
• (Edit to add) The Kobi exception: If your negative hit points exceed your total of positive hit points (i.e. -35 / 35), this option cannot be used due to the mass trauma. Spending Ki to stay active an extra round is still valid until Ki runs out, per the book.

Discussion here. Unanimously agreed.

Original book text:

Code: Select all

1061.3 GENERAL KI POWERS

Self Healing
Unfocused power. A character whose total damage should
render him unconscious may retain consciousness for 1 Detailed
Turn per point of current Ki. The current Ki score is reduced by 1 per
Detailed Turn, so the when he runs out of Ki, the character will
collapse. No concentration is necessary to start using this power.
If a character's damage is fatal, he may be able to resist death itself
by using Ki. If he wishes to' the character may expend sufficient Ki to
restore sufficient Hit Points to bring his damage total back below the
lethal point, at 1 to 1. This expenditure lowers the Permanent Ki
score. That is, the Ki is not recovered next day. It is gone. If the
character has Ki left after this reduction, he may use it to remain
conscious at described above.

[jemmus]

Calculating damage for kyujutsu shots Revised
- Add any modifiers for arrow type.
- Add char's Strength bonus, if any.
- Do the die rules, per the man-rating of the bow. Each roll gets the adjustments above.

[jemmus]

(Post moved to more relevant thread)

[Marullus]

Modification to 1043.3b Base Movement Allowance (BMA)

• While in the Astral plane, BMA is calculated with Will instead of Speed, if moving along the mirror of the physical world.
• Moving too far from your physical body may have consequences. For example, being defeated astrally when far from your body may require a will save or your spiritual form gets lost and must be reunited in game play.

[jemmus]

Observe Situation
Characters doing the Observe Situation begin observing on the Phase in the turn. They can hold the action for later phases, and use it when there is something to observe/report.
If they continue observing the next turn, they observe throughout the turn, from start to end.

Characters using Observe Situation can speak and give simple reports on what they observe. The report happens on the same Phase as the Observe Situation action.

[jemmus]

Astral Senses
Successful use of the spell earns .1 shugendo.
The entranced shugenja may be led around to detect magic and identify the true forms of supernatural things in different places.

[Marullus]

I'm giving Taka a new spell to compensate for my error on the Astral Senses / Magic Duel issue. Where the magic duel specified that an opponent could be present only astrally, I didn't connect that this was a component of a very high level spell. Since this is now a major plot arc for Taka and this game, I'm adding a spell of her own creation to allow her to do what she has done, and rules for doing it again...

New Spell: Empower the Soul
Kn: Wood 28 Range: Self Cost: 1/detailed turn Duration: Varies
In her studies of life and its conjunction of both body and soul (Wood school), Taka mastered an ability to energize her soul with the energy of life and allow it to move, even if only for a short while, free from her body in the Kakuri-yo. Her soul glows brightly with the effort, attracting attention in the astral, but is able to move free from her body in limited terms. She can move with a BMA based on her Will score (not speed), and cannot pass through any physical barrier that would impede her body or ward which would normally impede a spirit. She is still vulnerable to damage in the physical world, as her energized soul is invisible but still tangible.
If she remains near her body, any damage taken either in the astral or physical world will result in her abrupt return to her body at 0hp from subdual damage. If she passes more than 10 yards x LoC from her body, she must succeed in a Will save to return to her body when damaged - otherwise she is severed and either utterly slain or becomes a lost spirit (NPC) and trapped outside the karmic cycle - a tremendous risk that any wise shugenja would not dare to take. While in the Kakuri-yo she has the benefit of Astral Senses, can engage normally in Magic Duels, and use the Basic Powers of a Shugenja. No other spells can be invoked.

New spell approved per Jemmus in this post. This spell is unique to Haruto.
New Spell: Voices of the Blood
Kn: Soil 20 Range: Touch Cost: 10x LoS Duration: 1hr per LoS
The Shugenja can open the potency of lineage in his blood, gaining the ability to hear any words spoken by an immediate blood relative or ancestor. He is still present in his own body and cannot speak with or answer the relative. If he is not in a Shinto Shrine when he invokes the spell he suffers a -1 BCS. If in a Class A shrine or beside a kami rock, tree, or other marked kami place, +0. And so on up to +5 for a major Class F shrine.

[jemmus]

Magic Detection
In addition to making the shugenja aware that there is magic in the area, the spell identifies what is magical. For example, a magical entity, weapon, or other item.

Magic Analysis
Also identifies the source of magical emanations. In addition, can identify the School of the spell, if applicable. If it isn't a spell from a School, the shugenja gets a clue about it's nature. The shugenja can roll again to try to determine which specific spell it is. (These are the standard rules for Magic Analysis. I put them here for comparison with Magic Detection).

[jemmus]

Character Death and Karma
GM has discretion to award bonus karma, and waive the requirement that the new character be in the same profession. GM can also decide that the new PC starts at a higher level.

[Marullus]

I am going to treat the Wakizashi as a SHORT weapon, not MEDIUM. This creates important differentiation between it and the Katana, and reason to carry both. The no-dachi remains LONG.

[jemmus]

Agreed, good call I think. I'd like to propose that using a katana indoors be at a hindrance. Unless it's in a dojo with open floors and high ceilings. Historically wakizashi were favored for indoor fighting. Kenjutsu uses a lot of overhead strikes, and getting a long katana caught on a rafter or a doorframe could be instant death.

[jemmus]

Faster Attributes
Every 10 points of skill increase in a Bugei adds 1 physical attribute point. and every 20 points of skill increase in a Fine Art adds 1 mental attribute point. RAW, every 50 points a Bugei is raised increases one physical attribute by 1 point and every 100 points a Fine Art is raised increases one mental attribute by 1 point. (They state that each raise in BCS [5-point increments] raises .1 and .05 attributes, respectively, with no rounding up.) This house rule raises attribute acquisition x5 in our PbP setting.

Spells with schools
For each workweek spent learning a magic skill, one spell of those available in the learned skill range is also acquired. If the school increase isn't large enough to reach a new spell on the list, none is learned. RAW, school learning follows skill rules and spells follow task rules, such that you can greatly increase school knowledge and learn nothing you can do with it, and doing both simultaneously is unnecessarily complicated. This house rule adds benefit to regular study, but much less than starting skills, which grant all spells when you gain skill points.

[jemmus]

Okay... Bushido is super tactical, so I had to actually look at it on a grid. Everything is measured in 1 yard increments. For tactical combat, it BMA is converted into points. Moving 1 yard forward costs 1 point. Moving one yard sideways or backwards costs 2 points. Rotating 60 degrees costs 1 point. Because it is looking for 60 degree rotations, I'm using a hex grid, which has 60 degree wide faces.

...Everything only makes sense of you use miniatures and maps.
Short range is when the hexes are adjacent. Medium range is when the miniatures are one hex apart. Long range is when the miniatures are two hexes apart.

Hex grids have horizontal and vertical formations which are different, so I plotted this three different ways to look at it:
Hex #1.JPGHex #2.JPGHex #3.JPG

The important calculation is, "When doing a Close to Engage, you can move half your BMA and then attack." THIS is where almost all tactical movement happens and the amount of BMA therefore matters a lot. I did calculations based on each of the three hex arrangements. Here's results. In each case, we're starting from front facing at Medium length and assuming medium weapons (i.e. katana). For purposes of forum approximation, I propose the following list as possibilities. (Depending on the grid, you can shave off a point in some cases, perhaps being side-facing-medium-range at 3 instead of 4... but I propose this list as a standard for fairness.)

Tactical movement options

• 2 pts (3-4 BMA): You can reach a side facing, but you have to enter short range and you can't turn. Net effect is both parties attacking a foe in their side facing (-5) who is also side-facing you (+5) and at short range (-1) , net -1 to each.
• 3 pts (5-6 BMA): Attacker can reach a side facing AND rotate so you're front-facing, but have to enter short range. Net effect is both parties -1 for short range, attacker has +5 for being in oponent's side facing. Opponent has -5 to hit the attacker at his side-facing. Attacker +4, Opponent -6.
• 4 pts (7-8 BMA): Attacker can reach a side facing and rotate to be front-facing and remain at medium range. Attacker +5, Opponent -5.
• 5pts (9-10 BMA): Attacker can make it to a REAR facing and rotate, but enters short range. Attacker +9, Opponent -11.
• 6pts (11-12 BMA): Attacker can make it to a REAR facing and rotate, remaining at medium range. Attacker +10, Opponent +10.

In my game, I already house ruled that the Wakizashi is a Short weapon, not Medium. This gives much more incentive to a dai-sho style, allowing the samurai to strike with the appropriate length weapon when constantly changing positioning.

[Marullus]

Here's the missing tactical maps, which can help with visualizing future movement with other weapons...

Hex #1.JPG (26.42 KiB) Viewed 858 times

Hex #2.JPG (23.4 KiB) Viewed 858 times

Hex #3.JPG (22.33 KiB) Viewed 858 times

[jemmus]

Since we're treating wakizashi as Short weapons, I think we should treat tonfa as Short also. The striking part only extends a few inches beyond the users' fists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonfa

[Marullus]

Since we're treating wakizashi as Short weapons, I think we should treat tonfa as Short also. The striking part only extends a few inches beyond the users' fists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonfa

No issue.

The use so far has been Tonfa-enhanced-unarmed-strikes, which are SHORT and base Unarmed, with extra damage added. Unarmed strikes can be MEDIUM if you are using a Kick, but these can't be Tonfa-enhanced. Using Tonfa as its own weapon is Medium under RAW, I think, because you you can spin the weapon around and use it long-end-out instead. I don't mind ruling it is short like a Wakizashi anyway (and Buru's unlikely to use it this way in short range when enhancing a short unarmed strike is better).

Agreed, good call I think. I'd like to propose that using a katana indoors be at a hindrance. Unless it's in a dojo with open floors and high ceilings. Historically wakizashi were favored for indoor fighting. Kenjutsu uses a lot of overhead strikes, and getting a long katana caught on a rafter or a doorframe could be instant death.

Making sure we note this:
In RAW, every obstacle (except the floor) within range of your weapon is a hinderance (i.e. -1 BCS). So, indoors the ceiling counts, as do adjacent walls, ill-placed pillars, or allies you hope not to hit.

So, if you're in a 'normal' 10' hallway, a wakizashi is used normally, but the Katana is used with -3 to avoid two walls and a ceiling. (In D&D, you would be two PCs abreast, but here they would take a -1 for adjacent allies.)

[jemmus]

I'm going to say that the Kumo clan's ninja Clan Dialect (p.21 of Book 1) include silent hand gestures sign language, in addition to spoken and written special dialect. The ninja team members need to be able to do at least basic communicate without audible speaking. The score for the skill is 50 + Wit (BCS Wit score +50 / 5 on a d20 roll to communicate inaudibly).

[Marullus]

I'm going to say that the Kumo clan's ninja Clan Dialect (p.21 of Book 1) include silent hand gestures sign language, in addition to spoken and written special dialect. The ninja team members need to be able to do at least basic communicate without audible speaking. The score for the skill is 50 + Wit (BCS Wit score +50 / 5 on a d20 roll to communicate inaudibly).

That already exists - it is "Kuji-kuri (sign language)" and has its own formula and is already on the sheets.

[Marullus]

I pored over the poison rules until they made sense. For the use of others, the poison information is:

• Normal poison is Fast poison. The victim saves against it once each Detailed Turn. For double the cost you can get Lightning poison, where the victim saves each phase of each detailed turn. Poison to coat darts or weapons has to be the Injected type.
• You can also get Slow poison for assassination jobs - slow poisons can take minutes to days, and don't work in detailed time. Non-injected poisons are half the costs below (like a slow poison that is ingested in their food, or contact poison on their bedding) where inhaled poisons are x2.5 more. Everything below is for Fast Injected poisons.
• The level of a poison is the number of points damage it does each failed save. Each time-period, the victim makes a Health Save. If he passes he takes no damage and it reduces the level of the poison by 1. When the poison level is reduced to 0, it is over. If he fails the save, he takes the level in damage (see below for types) and retests again at the next time-period.
• Fast Lethal Injected Poisons cost 20sp X Level. They reduce the current Health Attribute. When Health reaches 0, they get a final save to see if they go into a coma or die.
• Fast Paralytic Injected Poisons cost 25sp X Level. They reduce the current Speed Attribute. At 0, they are paralyzed.
• Fast Narcotic Injected Poisons cost 10sp X Level. They reduce the current Strength Attribute. At 0, they pass out for 1d3 hours per remaining level of the poison.
• Fast Disabling Injected Poisons cost 5sp X Level. The level of the poison is the number of Distractions suffered (cumulatively). They lower the BCS of the victims actions that turn. When the number of distractions exceeds their Will score, they can't act at all due to disorientation.

So, at 5-25sp for a level 1 fast poison or 10-50sp for a level 1 lightning poison, it is possible to purchase with starting coin. But a victim only needs to succeed on one save in order to end the progressive decline (recovery is another matter requiring healers and time). Level 2 and level 3 poisons have significantly more effect but multiply the cost by the level.