Roleplaying game

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Chapter 7: The Game Master
Glory in Play
Honor is the inner measure of a character’s alignment with the tenets of 
Bushidō: a character who is scorned by the world might still have high 
honor, if they have arrived at that point without defying the samurai code 
of conduct. Glory, then, is the external measure of a character’s success 
as a samurai. The higher a character’s glory, the more widely they are 
recognized as a paragon of samurai virtues; the lower a character’s glory, 
the more others believe they are unworthy of the name. Being a proper 
samurai includes competence, and a character with good intentions can 
still see their glory fall if they stake it on unsuccessful ventures.
Glory is not exactly a character’s fame—a character who is known for 
deeds both good and ill might have a modest glory value due to the conflict-
ing accounts of their actions—though it does confer advantages that reflect 
fame (or disadvantages that represent infamy) if it reaches certain highs (or 
lows). Rather, it is how much the outside world (with a particular emphasis 
on the character’s sworn lord) believes the character is a proper samurai.
Forfeiting Glory
A character must forfeit glory to undertake certain actions publicly. Pub-
licly admitting personal failure or disbelief in the validity of some aspect 
of Bushidō requires forfeiting some amount of glory. Deeds that defy 
Bushidō, or are just especially wicked, can also require that a character 
forfeit glory to perform them publicly.
Unlike honor, glory relies upon external perception, so actions taken 
clandestinely or in disguise do not require forfeiting glory, though some-
times they require staking it upon avoiding discovery.
Staking Glory
Sometimes, a character must stake glory rather than forfeiting it—in 
these cases, the glory rides on the results of their actions. Most often, this 
occurs when a character boasts that they will complete a task, in which 
case they stake the glory until such time as they clearly succeed or fail (in 
which case, it is forfeit). The amount of glory they must stake depends on 
how great their claim was. The GM can use the sample glory rewards (see 
Table 7–15: Sample Acknowledgements, right) as a guideline for how 
much the character must stake to boast that they can perform a task.
Staking glory can also occur when a character undertakes an inglori-
ous task clandestinely. In this case, they must stake the amount of glory 
they would forfeit to perform this task openly (see Table 7–16: Sample 
Diminishments, right). The glory remains staked until the risk of their 
discovery has ended (such as until all loose ends are tied up) or they are 
unmasked publicly (in which case, it is forfeit).
Receiving Glory Rewards
When a character is recognized for a notable deed (whether or not they 
actually did it), the GM should give that character a glory reward based 
on the degree of acclaim it represents. See Table 7–15: Sample Acknowl-
edgements, right, for more information.
Status
Status is much more static than honor and glory: rarely do characters 
need to forfeit it, and generally, they only receive it as a reward upon re-
ceiving a new title. If a character does need to forfeit status, they generally 
reset it to a specific value; for instance, if a character gives up the position 
of Emerald Magistrate and retires to a monastery, their status goes from 
40 (the status of an Emerald Magistrate, as set by the title) to 25 (that of a 
monk, found in Table 1–5: Status Scores, on page 25). Characters can 
be stripped of status under rare circumstances. If a character wishes to 
resist an effort to do this (such as by covering up or destroying evidence 
that they are, in fact, suffering from the Shadowlands Taint), they must 
stake their status upon preventing the events that would expose them 
from occurring.
Therefore, status is most often used as a comparative value, to know 
which of two characters stands higher in the Celestial Order. This has 
many uses, both narratively and with regard to abilities. The Social skills 
reference interacting with characters of lower, higher, or equal status, as 
do many examples of times a character must forfeit (or be awarded) glory 
or honor.
The GM should know the status of the PCs and compare it to that of 
NPCs where relevant. Additionally, the GM can hint at relative status and 
The Clans’ Views of Bushidō
Honor is a guide to help your players play their characters, and it can 
also help underline the differences between the ways the various clans 
focus on certain aspects of this cultural code of conduct.
Each clan has one or more tenets it views as paramount, even above 
the others. When a character chooses to forfeit honor due to defying 
one of their own clan’s paramount tenets, they double the amount 
of honor they must forfeit. When a character is awarded honor as a 
result of making a personal sacrifice in the name of one of their clan’s 
paramount tenets, the GM should double the honor they are awarded.
•  Crab: Courage
•  Crane: Courtesy
•  Dragon: Sincerity
•  Lion: Honor
•  Phoenix: Righteousness
•  Scorpion: Duty
•  Unicorn: Compassion
Each clan has one or more tenets of Bushidō it views as less signifi-
cant than the others. When a character chooses to forfeit honor due to 
defying the tenet their clan sees as less significant, halve the amount 
of honor they must forfeit (rounded up, to a minimum of 1). When a 
character is awarded honor as a result of making a personal sacrifice 
in the name of the tenet their clan sees as less significant, halve the 
honor they are awarded (rounded up, to a minimum of 1).
•  Crab: Courtesy
•  Crane: Courage
•  Dragon: Duty and Loyalty
•  Lion: Compassion
•  Phoenix: Sincerity
•  Scorpion: Righteousness, as well as Honor
•  Unicorn: Courtesy

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