Roleplaying game

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Chapter 2: Creating a Character
Part III: Honor and Glory
Honor and glory are everything to a samurai. Honor reflects one’s inward 
opinion of how well one adheres to the tenets of Bushidō, while glory 
reflects how well-known one’s name is throughout the Empire. In a per-
fect world, samurai could bring glory to themselves and their clans while 
maintaining their moral integrity, but in Rokugan, samurai are frequently 
tested to see which one they value more highly.
For more information, see the sections on Honor and Glory in Chap-
ter 1: Playing the Game.
5. What is your character’s duty to their lord?
In theory, samurai care only about serving their lord. What is the pri-
mary service that you render to your lord? How does your lord call upon 
your skills?
Write down your answer on your character sheet under “Giri.” Giri is 
how your character acquires esteem in the eyes of their lord, and thus is 
the main way your character gains and loses glory. See more under Giri, 
on page 24 of Chapter 1: Playing the Game.
•  Bushi characters might be given tasks suited to bodyguards (yōjimbō), 
guards, soldiers, magistrates, executioners, or generals.
•  Courtier characters might be given tasks suited to artisans, perform-
ers, guides, diplomats, magistrates, seneschals, or spymasters.
•  Shugenja characters might be given tasks suited to priests, research-
ers, librarians, warrior-priests, shrine keepers, or spiritual advisors to 
daimyō. Rarely, shugenja might be guards, artisans, or magistrates.
•  Monk characters who no longer belong to a Great Clan generally do 
not serve their lord but the interests of their order. They might be given 
tasks suited to priests, temple caretakers, charity workers in their local 
community, librarians, teachers, or pilgrims. Monks who still belong to 
a Great Clan usually have duties similar to those of a shugenja.
•  Ninja characters are hired assassins and infiltrators, but they usually 
have a cover guise. A ninja’s giri is almost always a secret, and the 
player of a ninja should also decide what their character’s outwardly 
stated giri is when selecting their true objective.
At this point, you should also work with your GM to determine who 
your character’s lord is: What is their name? What role do they serve in 
their clan? What sort of personality and history do they have? Depending 
on the type of campaign your GM is running, your character’s lord might 
be a clan magistrate, a city governor, a provincial daimyō, or even a Great 
Clan family daimyō. The GM should give players a large degree of leeway 
in their selection of a giri, so long as it is not disruptive to the story, as it 
should be something that the player is invested in seeing their character 
attempt to achieve throughout the story.
Your character might even have two lords, such as if they are an Emer-
ald Magistrate. In this case, not only would your character be expected to 
serve the Emerald Champion on behalf of the Emperor, but their family 
daimyō would still expect them to work toward the clan’s interests at the 
same time. If your character possesses or acquires a title or major obliga-
tion to a different lord or bureaucracy, the GM might ask you to create 
another giri for them based on this other lord’s expectations. Again, the 
GM and player should collaborate to create something both are excited to 
explore in the story.
Selecting One’s Giri Properly
Giri provides characters with the first of their two primary drives within 
the story. You should be able to answer the following questions in the 
affirmative when considering your character’s giri and ninjō (personal 
feelings) together, and if you cannot, you should talk to your GM about 
selecting a different giri:
•  Is this giri something you want to see your character pursue or con-
tend with during the story? This does not mean that your character 
should always enjoy the weight of their duty, but you, the player, 
should be excited by the prospect of getting to watch your character 
struggle with it.
•  Can your character make progress toward completing this giri no matter 
where the campaign takes your character? A good giri has clear paths you 
can explore with it even when it does not tie in to the main plot, and it 
should be something that can influence your character’s choices no matter 
what location they travel to or what obstacles they face.
•  Is this giri likely to conflict with your ninjō at least occasionally? Be-
ing pulled between duty and desires is a key part of many works of 
samurai fiction, and even if the two are not diametrically opposed, 
your character should sometimes have to make hard decisions about 
which is more important in the moment.
6. What does your character long for?
In theory, samurai care only about serving their lord, but in practice, samu-
rai possess their own individual desires as well. What is the greatest, most 
pressing personal goal or belief that your samurai carries within their heart?
Write down your character’s personal goal on your character sheet un-
der “Ninjō.” Ninjō is a challenge that you set before your character, forc-
ing them to confront the ideals of Bushidō and the cost to uphold them 
as they pursue their desire. Thus, it is the main way your character gains 
and loses honor. Another way to look at ninjō is to ask yourself what goal 
might tempt the character to disobey their lord or do dishonorable things 
in their attempts to achieve or protect it. See more under Ninjō, on page 
22 of Chapter 1: Playing the Game.
Samurai drama revolves around competing desires. To create quanda-
ries for your samurai that enhance drama and make for enjoyable role-
playing, you should set your character’s giri and ninjō in opposition. The 
GM will be working to bring both up during the course of the campaign 
and force you to make difficult decisions relating to each.
Selecting One’s Ninjō Properly
Ninjō provides characters with the second of their two primary drives 
within the story. Some classic personal desires from works of samurai fic-
tion include variations on the themes of ambition, art, beauty, belonging, 
Enlightenment, envy, family, glory, greed, love, justice, knowledge, peace, 
safety, revenge, or a combination thereof. Things like “to be an honorable 
samurai” or “to obey my lord” are poor selections for a character’s ninjō. 
These are simply baseline requirements of being a samurai, and more 
importantly, they do not provide the character with clear moments of fal-
libility that make characters in Legend of the Five Rings interesting to play. 
By comparison, the similar ninjō of “to punish samurai who abuse their 
power by dishonoring themselves” or “to win my lord’s love” provide 
enough room for conflict with the general precepts of being a samurai to 
function well as ninjō.
You should be able to answer the following questions in the affirma-
tive when considering your character’s ninjō and giri (duty to one’s lord) 
together, and if you cannot, you should talk to your GM about selecting a 
different ninjō:
•  Is this ninjō something you want to see your character pursue or 
contend with during the story? This does not mean that your char-
acter should always find pursuing their desire pleasant, wise, or even 

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