OOC Discussion

[Marullus]

Sounds good.

[jemmus]

Warning-- Hyper-nerdy, chatty RP stuff. It could add interest to role play, but not much to roll play.

Kaida's use of polite word-forms with the merchant's family is good PR. This doesn't matter much game-wise, but..... Japanese language has levels of politeness, mostly having to do with how verbs are pronounced. As an example, wakaranai ("I don't understand").
Regional dialect casual - wakaran (Hiroshima), wakarahen (Kyoto region)
Casual - wakaranai
Ordinary polite - wakarimasen
Formal polite - kashiskomarimasen

Higher rank Kaida would normally use the casual level with lower rank merchants. Or to be a little more polite, she could mix ordinary polite words with casual words. Here, a suppose she's using ordinary polite word-forms with them. The formal polite level is used when speaking to someone with a much higher rank. Only educated people such as priests and scholars, samurai, and nobles are expected to know and be able to use this lingo.* Also oiran/geisha. It's part of their training.

There's also the option of using a regional dialect casual, to portray being from a certain region of Nippon. But it's a kind of "super casual" level, used by either uneducated people or socially rebellious people (yakuza, modern day Japan college students among themselves).

*This level (called keigo) uses a lot of indirect communication, with the speaker not being so rude as to directly state an idea or concrete information. Instead, they hint at something, and the listener is supposed get the meaning of the inference. It caused the Japanese embassy in Washington D.C. to not clearly understand when Tokyo cabled that Pearl Harbor was about to be bombed, and they were supposed to declare war.

[Rex]

I am heading into the woods for a few days and then off to visit my Mom for the rest of the week. I may be able to check in once or twice over the next week. Feel free to NPC my character(s) as you see fit.

Have a great week everyone!

[jemmus]

Have fun Rex!

[jemmus]

Sorry for the delay posting! I have no good excuse, I can only say that GMing my other game (Boot Hill) has been keeping me busy. Game on!

[jemmus]

Please choose your PCs' hensu-jutsu guises and update character sheets. You get one per 4 points of BCS in the skill, round up. So if the BCS is 5, the PC gets two guises.

Historically, useful ones were Shugenja and Pilgrim, because both traveled around a lot. A downside is they aren't expected to have any local connections, or to really establish any. (Unlike the fishermen, who might make some ongoing connections in the city, if they want).

[ffilz]

Please choose your PCs' hensu-jutsu guises and update character sheets. You get one per 4 points of BCS in the skill, round up. So if the BCS is 5, the PC gets two guises.

Minoru has 3, noted on his development sheet next to the skill. I chose those some time ago during chargen.

[Marullus]

If I get a disguise I’ll go with fisherman since that would be familiar , and his uncle and he fished a lot when younger

Fuma and Jinsei get 2 disguises, Minato and Kaida get 3. Stats

I would choose one from each social strata for Kaida if we can be original.

A wandering priest

Wandering Priest: The Ninja can reel off theological jargon and will
be able to hold up his end of a theological dispute. Of course, any
attempt to perform priestly magic will fail, although the Ninja can go
through the motions of trying to use occult power believably.

A merchant (of fish or from "another province")

Merchant: The Ninja can haggle with the best of them and is able to
quote market conditions fluently. The arrogance of the merchant
class is accurately portrayed.

A Buke daughter
Has the manners to pass amongst the Buke class, to serve tea, to fake cultured upbringing of fine arts, etc.

[jemmus]

So does Kaida's buke daughter hensu-jutsu includes all castes of bushi, from eta to samurai?

[Marullus]

No, I am just getting confused on what you're calling things.

Page 39 Birth Table divides society into three strata: Buke, Heimin, and Eta.
- Buke is divided to Samurai in Service, Samurai, and Ronin
- Heimin is divided into Farmer, Merchant, and Artisan

I said "Buke daughter" meaning it can be used for any family of that warrior Caste, whether Samurai, Noble, or Ronin.

I don't understand what an "Eta Buke daughter" would mean.

[jemmus]

Whoops, that was a typo. I meant "eta bushi's daughter." But now I see what you mean. Kaida could be the daughter of a samurai or ronin, say, budoka. Buke is the group of castes, budoka is the profession.

[Marullus]

....so you mean "Buke is the group of castes, bushi is the profession?"

If not, I am still confused.

[jemmus]

Yes, exactly. What a meant was, Kaida's parent could be of the buke (samurai or ronin) group of castes. But he/she wouldn't necessarily have to be from the bushi profession. A samurai or ronin caste character can take any profession, they don't necessarily have to be bushi. (The exception-- and there usually is one in my favorite eccentric and highly refined-up and utterly unforgiving RPG rules system of Bushido is-- only eta caste characters can be ninja. In this particular game, everyone is eta caste. And RP-wise, from a ninja clan. But professions-wise, only Fuma, Jinsei, and Minoru are Ninja by profession. Kaida is from the same caste and the same Kumo clan, but Shugenja profession).

[jemmus]

Three of the nakama are together (Fuma, Jinsei, and Minoru) so GM posts about them will be in the main IC thread.

[Rex]

I am heading into the woods for the week. Will be back late Sunday the 5th or Monday the 6th. NPC my character(s) as you see fit.

Have a great week everyone!

[jemmus]

A shadow in night
Unseen Jinsei did take flight
Yakuza lost sight

Jinsei ninjutsu (10) [1d20]=9 And modifier for posting in haiku

The modifier for posting in haiku are preposterously stupendous, as are the XP bonuses. However, only if you make your Haiku skill BCS roll (+ or - any discretionary modifiers the GM may apply based on the merits of the text of the haiku). In certain instances, the GM may allow substitution of a Wit saving throw (Wit/3) for a Haiku BCS roll. If the haiku is done in kuji-kuri, two consecutive BCS or ST successes are required. If successful, the bonuses and XPs literally explode. But-- please bear in mind that there's always a 5% chance of a Critical Failure (roll of a natural 20) for any ST or BCS roll. If that happens, we'll have to agree on a house rule about the consequences. In my opinion, to maintain game mechanics balance, the potential penalties should be weighted to correspond to the potential rewards.

All was going fine
But I had to scratch my ear--
Critical Failure.

[jemmus]

Nice ninjutsu crossing that second street. That will count toward leveling up. Kaida's successful hensu-jutsu infiltration will count too. (We use achievement-based leveling in this game).

[Grognardsw]

メリークリスマス

Merry Christmas!

[jemmus]

Merii Kurishimasu!

[Rex]

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas Everyone!