Samurai and Ninja Adventure(Temp-Paused)[3E]

[arcaric]

Enter Shinjo Takayama, a young Unicorn samurai who is a direct descendant of the unicorn clans patron Shinjo. A prodigal youth he has only recently completed his Gempukku, which puts him close to seventeen. He has managed to begin awakening the mystical properties of his katana, a blade which has been in his family for centuries and never shown any overt properties and a spectral Unicorn has come to his aid when he needed it.


Now both the sword itself and its' sheath have begun to showcase magic, the blade can take the form of a number of different weapons and the scabbard is self aware...and is a self proclaimed expert on the cleaning and maintenance of swords. It also claims to hold the secrets of ancient knowledge and to have the skills to train a master swordsman, although the only useful qualities it showcases are an awareness of where its' owner and sword are at all times and the ability to sprout dozens of segmented legs, similar to the legs of a spider.


Name, Shinjo Takayama
105/105=48(abilities)+0(combat)+9(defences)+18(Skills)+19(advantages)+11(powers)
Glory=1
Status=2

PL: 6
[48]Abilities
Strength: 1
Stamina: 1
Agility: 5
Dexterity: 1
Fighting: 8
Intellect:3
Awareness: 3
Presence: 2

[*]Combat[*]
Initiative: +13
Unarmed: +8 1 (S) Close
Sword: +8 4, Crit 19-20 (S) Close, Multiattack
Bow: +6 3 (P) Ranged

[9]Defenses
Toughness: +4(1+3)
Dodge: +8(5+3)
Parry: +8(8)
Fortitude: +5(1+4)
Will: +5(3+2)

[18]Skills[36sp]
Acrobatics 1(+6)
Athletics 5(+6)
Close Combat: Type (+9)
Deception (+2)
Expertise: Military 4(+7) Int
Expertise: Etiquette 5(+7) presence
Insight 2(+5)
Intimidation 2(+4)
Investigation 2(+5) Int
Perception 2(+5)
Persuasion 2(+4)
Ranged Combat: Archery 5(+6)
Sleight of Hand (+1)
Stealth 1(+6)
Technology (+3) Int
Treatment (+3)
Riding 5(+10)
Sailing (+3) int

[19]Advantages
Assessment
Benifit: Ambidextrous
Benifit: Status-Shinjo Family
Benifit: Wealth 1
Fearless
Uncanny Dodge
Improved Initiative 2
Skill Mastery (Riding)
Eidetic Memory
Sidekick 7
Equipment 2

[11]POWERS
Swift Like the Wind/2pp
-quickness 1
-speed 1

Divine Soul 3pp
-Luck 3

Mijuku Katana 10pp -4pp=6pp
Strength Based Damage 3
Multi Attack 4
Improved Critical
Change shape (feature)
Only useable by chosen wielder (feature) for all others it functions as simply and ordinary katana (only gets Damage and Improved Critical)
Easily Removable -2/5

[10ep]EQUIPMENT[10]
Gosoku Armour; Protection 3, 3ep
Yumi; Ranged Damage 3 6ep
Spyglass (Binoculars), 1ep

[35sp]SIDEKICKS[35]
Ancestor Unicorn (large)
Str 4, Stam 5, Agi 1, Dex 1, Int-2, Awe 0, Pre-3
Powers; Growth 4, Innate, Movement 5 (Dimensional Travel 1, Permeate 2, Water Walking, Trackless) Speed 6, Senses 12 (Direction Sense, Dark vision, Danger Sense, Sight: Penetrates Concealment and Counters Illusion, Acute; Olfactory)
Skills; -3 stealth
Total cost=31

Mijuku Saya
Speed 1
Track Katana (feature) can sense the location of its’ other half, the shapeshifting katana. Can also share this sense with its’ owner.
Track Wielder (feature) Can sense the location of its’ owner
Intelligent (feature) Has rudimentary self awareness and can “communicate” telepathically with its’ wielder, offering advice on cleaning and maintaining different weapons, generally at inappropriate times. Also it can walk and “see” not well enough to do anything useful but it can see well enough that when it sprouts its’ spider like legs and walks it can find its’ owner or find its’ sword, without running into too many walls, shrubs, people etc.
Total cost=4

COMPLICATIONS
Motivation: For the Clan, Combination of Patriotism and Responsibility. In Short Takayama has undertaken the responsibility of a Unicorn Samurai and will do everything he can to uphold what that means.

Almost a Barbarian: The Unicorn Clan faces some prejudice with the other clans due to many of their non Rokugani customs.

Poor Timing: Takayama's saya tends to telepathically butt in and offer advice. Seldom is this advice useful in nature, however it is almost always distracting. For instance if Takayama were discussing politics the saya would begin to comment and these comments would eventually rise to a telepathic shout, most probably about the weather or the benefits of wearing a hat. Making it very difficult to concentrate. The saya seldom does this during battle, most often in social situations, when it feels left out.

[insaniac99]

I haven't gone over your character in depth, but I LIKE the concept as a fellow player. Two quick points of advice though are that I'm not sure how useful the dimensional travel will be, and it could be power-stunted if you ever need it.

And secondly it seems to me that thematically, the unicorn would counter illusion, seeing the true things. I dunno of Lot5R unicorns, but I've never heard of them having x-ray vision, only vision that sees true things or through falsehoods, which sounds like a good reason to have counters concealment and illusion; you can do a straight across swap of those two for the x-ray vision. you could also throw in a cheap "detect falsehoods" instead of the dimensional

[arcaric]

I do like the idea of seeing through illusions, the x ray vision is just so it can see when it travels through solid objects (walls etc). The Dimensional travel is for the unicorn travelling to and from its' home dimension in...wherever it is divine, intangible ghosty unicorn thingies come from. I think I'll spend the first pp we earn on another rank of sidekick.

[Hound]

I'm not soo sure I am keen on a Unicorn sidekick...

I will ponder on it, while I think about it, please double check your math, at a quick glance, I see some of your skill points don't add up correctly, or use the correct attribute.

[Mr.United]

Will finish my Samurai tomorrow.

[arcaric]

Checked my math, there was one skill out of place which is now fixed.

If you don't want a unicorn, could it be some sort of spirit horse?

[Hound]

Okay what I mean is....

"I have a magical sword that changes shape...." How so? do you mean you can conceal it as a paper fan and WAMMAO suddenly its a sword?

Or do you mean one minute it's a mace, the next minute it's a spear, the next a sword?

What are it's limitations?

Why exactly does it grant you the ability to summon a magical horse? It seems.... weird and out of place.

As it stands it dosnt make much sense to me. It just doesnt seem to fit the character, or the world.

I mean if it was a caster who could create anything out stone, and could create a "stone horse" to ride from her powers for temp travel, that makes sense.

If he was a blood/death caster and he created a bone horse? man he would be hated by the masses, but understandable.

But just a random spectral horse? =\ just seems really random with no point.

[arcaric]

The sword...Yes, It can change shape into other weapons, at the moment pretty much anything that wouldn't need a stat change...for instance eventually I'll start adding different forms as alternate powers. So with the example a sword and a spear, one for on the ground and one for on horseback etc. From a game mechanics view there isn't really much different between a katana and an ordinary spear, the only real difference would be to my descriptions of him fighting...if I wanted to conceal it as a fan or have it turn into a bow or something then it would need to be an alternate power, which eventually it will have.

The horse/unicorn is meant to be a spiritual guardian of sorts, a bit like a guardian angel or possibly the spirit of one of his Ki Rin ancestors. He can call out to the horse and the horse will do this cool thing where it coalesces in mid air, he can then ride the horse. I took a bit of inspiration from Monkey with the horse, because the horse is kind of like Monkey's cloud. Also to my understanding of the Rokugani religion a lot of it has to do with spirits and dead ancestors, which is what the horse is.

Also as to fitting the character, having a horse/unicorn spirit guardian is a perfect fit, the founder of the unicorn clan Shinjo could transform herself into a Ki Rin and when she met up with a Unicorn and gave birth to their 5 children, 4 of them chose to be Unicorns/Ki Rin and as a direct descendant from Shinjo he technically has a little bit of Unicorn in him too.

The sword and the horse have nothing to do with one another, they are two totally separate things.

[timothy]

Brother Masaki
Ht: 5' 0"
Build: Slim
Hair: Black (shaved except for eyebrows)
Eyes: Brown

Attributes-
Str: 2, Sta: 4, Agi: 6, Dex: 0, Ftg: 8, Int: 2, Awa: 6, Pre: 2
total- 60pp

Advantages:
Agile Feint
Assessment
Benefit 1- status: monk
Equipment 2
Evasion
Die Hard
Great Endurance
Improved Initiative 2
Improved Trip
Takedown 2
Trance
Uncanny Dodge
Weapon Bind

(Skill Mastery- acrobatics)
(Skill Mastery- athletics)
total- 16 pp

Skills-
Acrobatics +9 (+15)
Athletics +8 (+10)
Expertise- philosophy +8 (+10)
Expertise- martial lore +6 (+8)
Expertise- etiquette +3 (+5)
Expertise- go +3 (+5)
Insight +9 (+15)
Perception +4 (+10)
Persuasion +3 (+5)
Ranged Combat- thrown +8 (+8)
Stealth +4 (+10)
Treatment +3 (+5)
total- 34 pp

Powers-
Martial Training- +2 close damage, str-based. 2 pp

Mental Focus- array. 4 pp
1) external focus- speed 1 (60'/rd), enhanced advantage 2- skill mastery acrobatics, skill mastery athletics.
2) internal focus- regeneration 3, persistent, limit: only while using trance.

total- 6 pp

Defenses-
Dodge 8
Parry 8
Toughness 4
Fortitude 4
Will 8
total- 4 pp

Equipment-
rokushakubo- add reach 1, split 1 to strength. 2 ep
bo-shuriken- add range to str/str-based damage. 4 ep
medical kit- feature 1- assorted medicinal herbs, accupuncture needles
3 ep for miscellaneous.

Offense-
Initiative- +14
Unarmed- +8, dc19
Rokushakubo- +8, dc19, reach, split.
Bo-Shuriken- +8, dc19, ranged.

Motivation- Guide and Protect. Although Masaki's placement was intended to enable the Botahist Brotherhood to manipulate the governor, Masaki takes his position seriously and will act decisively to aid and protect his lord.

Youthful- Masaki is very young and appears even younger for one in his position. This frequently causes others to discount his abilities and/or not take him seriously.

Vows of the Brotherhood- Masaki's vows prohibit him from using any intoxicant, from gaining personal wealth, from eating red meat and from engaging in sexual relations.

Burden of Responsibility - Masaki knows that much is expected of him, as a prodigy, as a spiritual guide, as a guardian, as one with a 'grand destiiny). He feels the pull of many conflicting responsibilies. These are great burdens, especially for one so young.

Destiny- It is believed by many within the Botahist Brotherhood that Masaki is the reincarnation of a past master sent to fulfilled some great destiny. It is possibly even the truth...

Background-

It was not unusual for foundlings to be left at the Botahist Monastery, though usually they were left at the gate rather than beneath the spreading branches of the ancient camphor tree. If it hadn't been for Brother Shujo's preference for meditating in the old tree's shade, the babe might never have been found.

Named Masaki, for the tree he had been found beneath, the babe was unusually silent for one so young. As he grew into a boy and then a young man, his silent nature remained.

The brothers who raised and taught him soon came to believe that he was the soul of a former brother, perhaps even a former abbot, coming again to the great wheel of life. He seemed to remember the skills and knowledge of the Botahist masters rather than learn them. They tried many ceremonies and rituals to learn of his past incarnation, but none were successful.

When the boy turned fourteen, despite his youth, he was given the tests of the Brotherhood. He passed all of them easily, surpassing the skill and knowledge of initiates much older than himself. Abbot Shujo, the monk who
had found the babe so long ago, personally administered the vows that bound Masaki to the Brotherhood.

When word came from the capitol that there was to be a new governor appointed, Abbot Shujo made the decision to send Brother Masaki to serve him as spiritual guide and protector. Secretly he hoped to use Masaki's position, as all such advisory positions were used, to manipulate the new member of the Imperial Family as part of the Brotherhood's goal of increasing their power and prominence.

He had not, however, counted on Masaki not playing the Brotherhood's game...

(With GM permission, at some point in play I would change the monk vows complication for an enemy complication involving the brotherhood due to his choice to serve his lord rather than the brotherhood's nonspiritual goals.)

[Shadow13]

So would a Mirumoto Swordmaster from the Dragon clan work for you?

[Walking Dad]

Kuni Katashi Crab Earth Shugenja



PL 6/ 105PP

STR 0
STA 4
AGL 1
DEX 1
FGT 0
INT 3
AWE 3
PRE 4

Powers
Sense Elements: Senses 1 (Element Awareness) • 1 point

Earth Magic (12 pp array)
Rock Storm: Cone Area Damage 6 • 12 points
Hand of Jurojin: Healing 4 (restorative) • 1 point
Tetsubo of Earth: Damage 8 (accurate 2, reach 1, Improved crit 1) • 1 point
Wooden Prison: Affliction 6 (cone, selective, resisted by will, limited to 3rd degree: transform into tree) • 1 point
Tomb of Jade: Ranged Affliction 6 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Damage; Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobilized, Extra Condition, Limited Degree) • 1 point
Time's Dedly Hand: Ranged Weaken Toughness 6 (only affects objects) • 1 point
Strike at the Roots: Ranged Weaken Defenses 3 (broad). • 1 point
Jade Strike: Ranged Damage 6 (limited to creatures with Shadowlands taint, affect Incorporeal 2, penetrating 4) • 1 point
Wall of Earth: Create Earth/Stone 6 • 1 point
Grounding Energy: Nullify 6 (Broad: Magic) • 1 point

Essence of Earth: Protection 4 (sustained, move activation) • 2 points

Fire (5pp array):
Wings of Fire: Flight 2, linked damage 1 • 5 points
Amaterasu's Blessing: Environment Control 5 (light) • 1 point



Advantages
Benefit 1 (Kuni Witch Hunter), Equipment 1, Improved Initiative 1, Languages 1 (Ratling), Luck 2, Ritualist

Equipment:
Wakizashi (dam 1 sword) 1ep
Jade pieces 4 ep

Skills
Deception 2 (+6), Expertise: Courtier 4 (+8), Expertise: Magic 5 (+8), Expertise: Shadowlands 4 (+7), Insight 6 (+9), Intimidation 4 (+8), Investigation 6 (+9), Perception 6 (+9), Persuasion 4 (+8), Ranged Combat: Earth Magic 5 (+6), Riding 2 (+3), Treatment 2 (+5)

Offense
Initiative +5
Unarmed +0 Close, Damage 0
Tetsubo of Earth +4 Close, Damage 8
Earth Magic +5 Ranged, Damage 6 (and various other effects))

Defense
Dodge 4 Fortitude 6
Parry 4 Toughness 8 (4 without Essence of Earth)
Will 6

Power Points
Abilities 32 Skills 25 Powers 30 Defenses 12 Advantages 6 Total 105

Background:

Kuni Shugenja general info:
The Kuni Shugenja school burned down in 716 and teachings since then were conducted by a teacher taking an apprentice. Teachings involved dissection and close examination of body parts of shadowlands creatures. Other details in the teachings were left up to the individual teacher. Apprentices were picked every year at Kyuden Hida. Students must possess a strong stomach and burning desire to understand the nature of the shadowlands. Trapping live Shadowlands creatures for examination could bring generations of fruitful knowledge and was common practice.

Witch Hunters:
Kuni Witch Hunters were identifiable by their trade mark stark white kabuki style face paint, and the jade amulet was a symbol of their status as a hunter. The jade amulet would sometimes have a pair of crossed claws, much like the Kuni family mon, representing their ever-present defense. The amulets would also often have spells cast on them to enhance the protective ability of the jade.

Tactics
The Kuni Witch Hunters were merciless when destroying the corrupt. Their violent tactics often earned them the fear of those they protected, but the Hunters saw this fear as a useful tool to keep others pure.

[Hound]

Arcaric the build is fine the way you want it.

Tim, love your monk.

Shadow13 you can make anything you want

[timothy]

Glad you like him.

Added the background.

[Shadow13]

Hound I will have to bow out of this. I can not get the numbers to work an the theme an ideas I have for the build.

[insaniac99]

Hound I will have to bow out of this. I can not get the numbers to work an the theme an ideas I have for the build.

perhaps one of us could help?