Roleplaying game

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Chapter 2: Creating a Character
Chapter 2: Creating a Character
Iuchi Meishōdō Master School [Shugenja]
The Unicorn understanding of magic and the spirits has been greatly 
influenced by their years exploring outside the Empire, and the making 
of magical talismans remains the focus of their craft, meishōdō. While 
they serve as priests to the Unicorn, the Iuchi Meishōdō Masters rarely 
confine themselves to a temple or library, preferring to travel and experi-
ence the world. Their magic is unique among Rokugan’s shugenja; using 
words of power taught to them by foreign sorcerers, the Iuchi Meishōdō 
Masters bind the spirits into talismans, which can then be gifted to others 
to use. Their unique heritage makes the Iuchi one of most open-minded 
and experimental of the shugenja families.
Ring Increases: +1 Earth, +1 Water
Skill Increases (choose three): +1 Aesthetics, +1 Design, +1 Martial Arts 
[Melee], +1 Meditation, +1 Survival, +1 Theology
Techniques Available: Invocations, Shūji, Rituals
Starting Techniques:
•  Invocations (choose two): Grasp of Earth, Jurōjin’s Balm, Rushing Wave
•  Rituals: Commune with the Spirits
•  Shūji (choose one): Weight of Duty, Well of Desire
Honor: 40
The Way of Names (School Ability): As a downtime activity, you may 
make a TN 2 Design check using any ring to bind a spirit to a vessel and 
create a meishōdō talisman for one invocation of that element that you 
have learned. While you have the talisman in your possession, reduce the 
TN to activate that invocation by 1.
You can give the talisman to another shugenja, allowing them to per-
form that invocation even if they have not learned it and reducing the TN 
to activate it by 1, but the talisman ceases to function after a number of 
uses equal to your school rank.
You may have a number of meishōdō talismans up to your school rank. 
You can only have one meishōdō talisman for any single invocation.
Starting Outfit: Traveling clothes, wakizashi, any one weapon, calligra-
phy set, traveling pack, Unicorn warhorse, 8 koku.
Shinjo Outrider School [Bushi]
The Shinjo Outriders are the core of the Unicorn military, emphasizing 
speed, flexibility, and getting there first with the needed strength. All Shin-
jo Outriders learn the art of reconnaissance and how to get the most out of 
their horses. No samurai is more mobile than a mounted Shinjo Outrider. 
Their preferred weapon is the cavalry bow, which they use with great 
accuracy even while moving at a gallop. Trained to live off the land and 
explore on their own if need be, the Shinjo Outriders thoroughly learn the 
terrain of each potential battlefield before having to fight over it.
Ring Increases: +1 Earth, +1 Fire
Skill Increases (choose five): +1 Commerce, +1 Fitness, +1 Martial Arts 
[Melee], +1 Martial Arts [Ranged], +1 Medicine, +1 Survival, +1 Tactics
Techniques Available: Kata, Shūji, Rituals
Starting Techniques:
•  Kata (choose one): Striking as Fire, Striking as Water
•  Shūji: Lady Shinjo’s Speed
Honor: 40
Born in the Saddle (School Ability): The bond between a Shinjo Out-
rider and their mount is legendary. In Shinjo lore, many noble steeds are 
nearly as famous as their riders.
Once per scene, before rolling dice, you may declare that you are di-
recting your horse to aid in a task and describe how its efforts should 
be helpful in those circumstances. Reduce the TN of the check by your 
school rank. Your horse must be present in the scene for you to use 
this ability.
Starting Outfit: Traveling clothes, ashigaru armor, daishō (katana and 
wakizashi), scimitar, yumi, knife, traveling pack, Unicorn warhorse, 7 koku.
4. How does your character stand out within their school?
Even in a training system as regulated as that of a dōjō, different students 
excel in different areas. Even a pair of twins from the same family attend-
ing the same school might differ in temperament, aptitude, or inclination.
Choose one of the following options and increase your rink rank by 
the specified amount:
•  Creativity, passion, or drive (+1 Fire Ring): Your character is recog-
nized by their teachers and peers for their inventive ideas, their sin-
cere love for the craft of their school, or their intense and irrepressible 
desire to succeed in their field. Their energy and enthusiasm inspire 
fellow students and galvanize rivals to put forth their best as well.
•  Grace, eloquence, or empathy (+1 Air Ring): Your character stands 
out in their school for their finesse, the refinement with which they 
express themself in social situations, or their sensitivity to the feelings 
of others. To other students, their efforts often appear effortless, but 
the truth of the matter is that their innate attention to detail means 
that they work as hard as anyone else, if not harder.
•  Adaptability, friendliness, or awareness (+1 Water Ring): Your char-
acter’s willingness to roll with the punches, gregariousness, or un-
derstanding of their environment stands out among their peers. Your 
character tends not to get stuck in mental ruts the same way many 
people do, or at least they have ways to get out of them afterward.
•  Thoroughness, patience, or calm (+1 Earth Ring): Stoicism is a trait 
valued greatly in Rokugan, and your character bears challenges and 
hardships without complaint. Your character’s teachers might have 
come to rely upon them as an assistant instructor, while their peers are 
likely to see them as a source of wisdom and stability.
•  Self-awareness, insight, or mysticism (+1 Void Ring): At a certain 
point, all arts become a study of the universe, oneself, and the rela-
tionship between the two, and your character is more adept at seeing 
things within both than most of their peers are. They might even 
seem to have a supernatural sense of things, and act based on hunches 
about what is to come in addition to their insight about their place in 
the wider universe.

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