L5R House Rules

Setting Changes

• Everything on these pages assumes the start date to be the year 1118, during the 16th year of Hantei XXXVIII's reign. Thus, everything that has happened since then... hasn't happened. If your GM is using this, don't expect anything. Also, realize that ronin and the Minor Clans have things considerably harder in this era.
  • Lady Amaterasu is the Sun Goddess, and Lord Onnatongu is the Moon. Spells or effects that call upon the Sun or Moon are changed appropriately - IE, Amaterasu's Anger, By the Light of the Lord Moon, and so on.
  • Hochiu's Call to Heaven is called Tsuke's Call to Heaven (he developed it first anyway. Damned taint).

• Zeni are not copper coins on their own, but rather strings of 100 coins each. This makes the 'one week of food is the smallest denominator' problem go away. Also, it allows for a way around silliness like... a single trail ration meal costing five weeks worth of food. It's also closer to historical Japanese coinage (koku/koban to thousands of zeni/mon sen).

• There will be no guns of any sort in my Rokugan. Yick. That road will not be trodden. Gaijin pepper is finicky and hard to handle with things smaller than the occasional cannon, and even that's a pain in the butt reserved for flagships of gaijin navies.

Rules to Remember

This is partly for me. These are not house rules, but errata and rules that have changed between editions that are easy to forget. Thus, they are listed here.

• The [FAQ] answers many basic questions and provides a bit of errata.
• Decreasing your honor by one rank provides 3 character points and does count as a disadvantage.

House Rules

Separate House Rules Pages

• L5R Heritages - Completely redone heritage rules.
• L5R Economy - If it's ever needed... a rework of the price lists for more sane figures. Probably won't be relevant.
• L5R Advantages - New and altered advantages. Some of these are a more critical part of the setting than others.
• L5R Disadvantages - New and altered disadvantages. Some of these are a more critical part of the setting than others.
• L5R Dojos Custom Dojos.
• L5R Schools - New and changed schools.
• L5R Spells - New / changed spells.

Miscellaneous Changes

• First optional rule on page 94 of the 3rd edition core book is in effect: Characters only gain insight from a number of skills equal to the sum of their rings.

• Total ranks may reach up to 9 for mortal characters, at 350 insight. Only about half a dozen individuals are at this level of capability at any point in time.

• In OpenRPG, rolls may be made with up to a hundred (100) dice. No real need for silliness before then!

• A samurai's annual stipend / expense account is equal to their status cubed * 5. So, a normal starting character gets 5 koku per year, a status 2 character gets 40, 3 gets 135, 4 gets 320, 5 gets 625. This is a general rule and not an exact figure, and, of course, they are expected to provide for their servants and take care of their duties to their clan with these funds, as well as provide for others under their command.

• Fine Items cost three times the normal price. Exceptional items cost twenty times the normal price.
  • When forging a poor item, you need half the item's cost for raw materials (1/20th of the item's normal cost).
  • When forging a low quality item, you need 1/10th of the item's cost for raw materials (1/20th of the item's normal cost).
  • When forging an average item, you need 1/10th of the item's cost for raw materials.
  • When forging a fine item, you need 1/15th of the total cost of the item for raw materials (a fifth of the item's normal cost).
  • When forging an exceptional item, you need 1/40th of the total cost of the item for raw materials (half the item's normal cost).
  • Forging a legendary item requires raw materials equal to the item's normal cost.
  • Forging an item typically takes a number of hours equal to ten times the cost of raw materials in koku. For higher quality items, many competent smiths are capable of forging their own tools, cutting the price of raw materials drastically but likewise increasing the time taken. The GM should use their discretion in this matter.

Spell Rules

• Shugenja gain three spells upon rising in school rank, as per the older rules.
• Shugenja add their Rank to a spell's DR, just like strength adds to weapon DR. This of course does not apply to the various weapon spells.
• Raises on spells are limited by the higher of the character's Shugenja Rank or their Void Ring, whichever is higher.
• Area, Range, and Target may always be raised for, as follows, in addition, further rules are provided for duration. If the spell's description provides a more generous benefit, then use that to determine raise effects instead. See below for specifics:

Area: If the spell covers an area, every four raises adds an equal amount to the radius or other length - four raises on a spell with a 25' radius becomes a 50' radius spell. This only affects spells with a set radius or 'line of effect' - spells with odd dimensions or no dimensions cannot be universally affected in this manner.

Duration: You may make four raises to lower 'Total Concentration' to 'Full Concentration', or four raises to lower 'Full Concentration' to 'Casual Concentration'.

Target: If the spell normally only affects a limited number of targets, an additional, like number of targets may be affected for two raises. For example, if a spell only affects a single target, three may be affected for four raises. If the spell does not affect targets specifically, raises cannot be used for such affect.

Range:

• If the spell normally has a range of self, it can become touch for three raises.
• If the spell has a range of touch, it can become 5' for one raise.
• If the spell has a range of 5' - 20', each additional raise adds 5' to the range.
• If the spell has a range of 25', each additional raise adds 25' to the range.
• If the spell has a range of 100', each additional raise adds 100' to the range. A total of three raises on this makes it a mile or line of sight, instead (your choice).

Combat Rules

These are implemented to increase the value of raising rings.

• Mooks (normal people) calculate wound levels using their Earth * 1, though the Out level is still Earth * 5. No one who achieves rank 2 or higher is considered a mook. One is either a mook or a hero.
• Heroic characters calculate wound levels using their Earth * 3, and Earth * 10 for their Out level.

• Characters roll for initiative using their Air Ring, not Reflexes. Thus, the roll is (Air Ring + School Rank)k(Air Ring).
• When attempting to perform a knockdown on someone, you need to make a number of raises equal to their Air Ring, instead of 3.

• When attempting to disarm someone, you need to make a number of raises equal to their Water Ring, instead of 3.

• In order to make an additional attack in a round, you must make a number of raises equal to (7 minus your Fire Ring, minimum 0). If your Fire ring is 7 or higher, and you normally get two or more attacks in a round, you may perform this twice in a round, for a number of raises equal to (9 minus your fire ring, minimum 0) for all four attacks involved.

• A called shot requires a flat number of raises (no matter the target) equal to the victim's lowest ring. If successful, you may sever a limb or inflict a similarly permanent injury (see below) by doing the victim's Earth*6 in wounds (for mooks), or Earth * 20 (for heroics).
• A Torso hit in this manner causes the Permanent Wound or Bad Health disadvantages (GM's discretion).
• A Leg hit in this manner causes the Lame or Missing Limb disadvantages.
• A Head hit in this manner causes the Bad Sight or Missing Eye disadvantages.
• An arm hit in this manner causes the Missing Limb disadvantage.
• Other disadvantages may be applied as the GM sees fit.