/tg/ Custom L5R Minor Clans

The results of /tg having a crack at home-brewing minor clans, use at your own risk as these are untested.

Butterfly Clan

History

The Butterfly clan traces its history back to the actions of its founder, Tomomori Ageha, who was the retainer of a minor family that lived on the edge of Crane lands, with only a small estate and shrine complex near a grave of trees – the shrine simply being known as the “Tomomori Shrine”, its original name lost to the mists of time, though it was referred to generally as the “Shrine of Lost Souls.”

Tomomori Ageha was a, plainly speaking, remarkably samurai-ko, though she had great reverence for the kami and spirits, and most of her time was spent in keeping up the shrine for the Tomomori daimyo, the shrine complex being nearly as large as the estate, and filled with many graves, necessitating much respect. Ageha more than once considered becoming a nun, feeling it was a better suit for her, but continued to serve her daimyo out of loyalty.

All this would change with the arrival of a traveling monk who became a close adviser to her lord, and began to spend much of his time in the shrine complex. Ageha was uneasy with this man from the first – while he was polite in front of her daimyo, he adopted a crude and arrogant manner elsewhere. The butterflies of the Tomomori shrine, which flocked in great numbers and were said to be the spirits of the dead, fled from the monk and would never alight upon or even near him. At night Ageha would find the Kindly Monk, as he wished to be referred to, alone in the shrine gardens. The suspicious death of Ageha’s father and then mother, and many others in the small family, led her to investigate the Kindly Monk in his quarters – where she found him practicing maho. Enraged and distraught, realizing that those she had loved had been murdered without her being able to do anything, she sought her daimyo, apologizing profusely, warning him of the maho in the midst of his court, and begging to be allowed to commit seppuku after the maho was dealt with, to atone for her failure to see the threat before it was too late.

However, it was even grimmer that she realized. As the Kindly Monk approached and spoke with the daimyo, she realized her master was under the blood sorcerer’s sway, and would not believe her, even as the maho openly mocked her. Eventually, in a desperate rage, she left to fetch her katana and returned, trying to cut down the maho – only for him to outdraw her with her daimyo’s own blade and wound her. Taking sick pleasure in watching the spirit of this samurai be crushed, the maho advised her daimyo to forbid her from committing seppuku, and banish her for her insolent actions – but not before having the rest of her family summoned, including the man who was to be her husband, and having them executed like common criminals before her eyes, as “accomplishes” to her attempted “assassination of a valuable retainer.”

And so Tomomori Ageha was cast out and made ronin. She struggled with her new existence, and the knowledge of her failure, and soon found herself contemplating seppuku in the room of the lowly inn she was staying at. As she prepared herself, a butterfly flew into the room and fluttered near her face. Enraged at the distraction and reminder of the home she had lost, she struck at it – but it easily fluttered around her clumsy blow, and came to rest on knife edge of her blade. Ageha was ashamed at her momentary anger, and decided not to disturb the little creature. Suddenly, a multitude of butterflies flew through her window, unafraid and alighting upon her. In a moment of epiphany, she realized that these must be the souls of her family, come to comfort her and remind her of her purpose. And so Ageha was humbled.

Tomomori Ageha began to work hard to improve her lax skills, and traveled from monastery to monastery, and up into the lands of the Dragon to learn from Taoist swordsmen. She sought calm and enlightenment, and used her sword as a method to contemplate the void, only drawing it to shed blood when necessary. She became as a butterfly – a lost soul wandering the Empire, swept along in the void. Fate was not finished with Ageha, however. For her travels eventually brought her back close to her home, where she saw a procession with the Imperial seal passing – a member of the Otomo family was on a sojourn visiting shrines, and wished to see the humble Tomomori shrine. This Otomo found himself well received at the estate of the daimyo, though the daimyo did not talk as much as the Kindly Monk who served him.

The pleasant dinner was interrupted, however, by the arrival of a ronin who made the shocking claim that the hosts of this place were all slaves of a maho sorcerer. It was an outrageous claim, but the ronin spoke with elegance and sincerity, and challenged the Kindly Monk as a maho sorcerer, letting him pick someone to duel her if he disputed her accusation. The Kindly Monk mocked her as insane and said he would happily thrash a madwoman ronin himself – though Ageha was not moved. This angered the Kindly Monk, who prided himself on his powers of manipulation, and he began to openly slander Ageha and her family, to the confusion of the Otomo dignitary watching the drama unfold. Ageha simply turned away and suggested they walk out into the gardens. Now enraged, the maho once again took the sword of his daimyo and attempted to strike Ageha down as her back was turned – but in one fluid motion she drew her katana from within the folds of her cloak, and beheaded the maho with a clean blow. She then bowed before the dignitary and apologized for bringing a katana into his presence. However, the dignitary wished to understand what had happened here, and Ageho told him, long into the night, her story, saying in the end that she could not let a member of the Imperial family be corrupted and potentially have the Empire be threatened, and offering to commit seppuku. Instead, she was requested to come to the Capital and demonstrate her techniques. And as they left, in the gloom, the dignitary saw from the shrine a swarm of butterflies circle into the twilight sky.

Ageha demonstrated her technique for the Emperor and, at his prompting, told her story to an enraptured court. The Emperor was impressed by both her skill and heroism – he ordered the Tomomori family extinguished and replaced with the new Ageha Family, who he permitted to form a minor clan, so that the swordsmanship of Ageha would not be lost, and that the Shrine could be protected from Maho. Ageha agreed, on the condition that the Shrine retained the Tomomori name. Soon Ageha attracted a following of interested students, including one whom she would go on to marry, and the Butterfly Clan was formed.

Lands

The lands of the Butterfly clan are rather small, located in the southern foothills of the Mountains of Regret. Their main holdings include the village and shrine of Tomomori, both named after the small nearby wood, which is known for its flowers, butterflies and ancient ruins from some forgotten war. Also included is the Ahega estate, which include a fortified manor somewhere between a house and a castle, and the Ahega dojo. Aside from substance agriculture, Tomomori Village is only noted for the quality of its handcrafted and decorated pottery.

Customs

The small Ageha clan spends most of their days devoted to studying the Kenjutsu style of their founder, and her teachings, with much time spent meditating to further a samurai's connection with the Void. The clan's duties also see them tending and guarding the Tomomori shrine and forest. An interesting development is the growing tradition of Ageha samurai becoming renown bonsai gardeners, with many seeing the methodological art as a connection to void just as strong as meditation. The placid appearance of the gardens and their tenders, however, considers hidden steel: the Ageha clan produces some of the most deadly duelists in the Emerald Empire. Secluded amongst the multitudes of butterfly and bonsai gardens that dot the Ageha lands is the Butterfly Clan dojo, which is always busy with clan samurai learning Kenjutsu, Kyujutsu, and Iajutsu. The Ageha clan tend to dress simply, if elegantly. Their clan colours usually tend towards black and orange, with white highlights being common, white being the colour of the dead. Many Ageha do their best to try and appear humble and unobtrusive, with many in the family tending to be slender and plain looking.

Families

Ageha: +1 Awareness

When Ageha allowed her first recruits into her clan, she showed little interest in those who came to her seeking the secret of the Swallowtail Cut. She seemed more interested in those with respect for the spirits, or who wished to use her techniques for meditation, and investigated the artistic skill of the applicants as much as their swordsmanship. The current clan is descended from her initial followers and those who married into her family.

Ageha Bushi [Bushi](Untested)

Benefit: +1 Void

Skills: Any two Artisan skills, Etiquette, Kenjutsu (Katana), Kyujutsu, Iajutsu, Meditation, any other High skill

Honor: 5.5

Outfit: Light Armor, Sturdy Clothing, Daisho, Kumi with 20 arrows, traveling pack, 5 koku.

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Rank 1) Perfection In All Things The Ageha Bushi chases the moment of perfection in all things. A number of times per day equal to your School Rank, you can add your skill level in Iajutsu, Kenjutsu or Kyujutsu to any Artisan Skill Checks, or add your skills in an Artisan Skill of your choice to an Iajutsu, Kenjutsu or Kyujutsu roll.

Rank 2) Empty, and Become Wind The Ageha Bushi can sense the flow and intent in all things, if they but find peace and listen. While in the Center Stance, increase your TN by your Void Ring. Additionally, you gain +2k0 to all Meditation rolls.

Rank 3) Enter the Void In a moment of nothingness, time vanishes. You may attack as a simple action with a Katana.

Rank 4) Read the Unwritten An Ageha Bushi can easily read the world, for all things have the same emptiness. Whenever you enter the Center Stance you may select any one opponent you can see, and make an Iaijutsu (Assessment)/Awareness roll as if in a duel that gives identical knowledge, but rolling against the Target's Void Ring x 5. You may declare raises for more information as normal. As well, succeeding at this roll gives you a free raise against the target until the end of your next turn. Additionally, you gain +2k0 to all Iaijutsu (Assessment) rolls, including duels and this technique.

Rank 5) The Swallowtail Cut The Ageha has mastered the attack of No Thought, striking without thinking. Whenever you are attacked in a skirmish while in Center Stance and equipped with a Sword once a turn, you may spend a Void Point to activate an attack of No Thought. You make an immediate single attack before the enemy does - they then continue with their attack. On your next round, you may still earn your bonuses from having spent this round in Center Stance. Note that if you are ambushed, you may still decide to have started in the Center Stance.

Octopus Clan

History

The Octopus Clan is one of the least known clans of Rokugan, and one of the most bizarre – and they prefer both of these things to be true. Their motto has always been “nobility is art, but not all art is noble” – they are a clan that blends the roles of artisan and shinobi together in equal measure – like the Kasuga, Daidoji or Yasuki, they have deep roots amidst the more unsavoury parts of Rokugani culture.

The formation of the clan is cloaked in quite a bit of mystery. What is known is that their founder was Kakita Tako - though even this is uncertain, for Kakita Tako admitted himself to altering his name to give himself a new identity. Tako was a Kakita Artisan who had nothing notable about him, except, perhaps, his lack of notability. He was constantly compared unfavourably to his classmates, and his sensei deemed him worthy of only a life of mediocrity. Disillusioned and wanting for money, Tako let his honour slip in order to make ends meet, killing his integrity as an artisan and happily making good for rich merchants or upstart local magistrates, eager to gain “Authentic Kakita Artwork” for money, where usually such objects would only be obtainable through gift giving or large sums. Tako soon found that his new contacts opened up a whole new, disreputable world for him which he took to with a gusto that surprised even himself – for the first time in his life, he no longer felt like he was useless. It was a dishonourable living – but it was a living! Tako was a flexible artist – one reason he had never really excelled at his studies was because he dabbled in many fields, a little interested in all of them. Now he found himself forging documents and artwork, inventing poems for merchants to impress their mistresses and even printing propaganda leaflets for people he never asked questions of.

To Tako’s surprise, his skills started to earn him work higher and higher in the Rokugani social structure – while no one had wanted Tako the honourable artisan, now many people had need of the “Ronin Artist”. Tako realized there were certain things that Shiba and Kakita artisans simply would not do. Soon samurai patrons were requesting, very discreetly, for him to make wedding night manuals, portraits of their favourite geisha and personally commissioned pieces that regular society would find shocking. Tako was so useful because he would happily produce these pieces, while, at the same time, having a level of quality beyond the normal peasant artists who would usually create these sorts of things. It wasn’t long before Tako had to get help in meeting the demand – he scraped together some of the least prestigious members of the famous artisan schools, and began to tutor ronin samurai seeking a touch of refinement.

What is still vague is exactly what earned Tako the grandest prize of a Minor Clan, for whatever it was apparently it was sworn to secrecy. The records only state that he did a “Great Service to the Imperial Family”, without saying anything more on the matter. Tako took the Octopus as his symbol to represent how he was not the master of one focus, but of many, and as homage to one of his personal favourite works. The Octopus also represented the distribution of the clan – instead of having any central holdings, the clan instead established humbler bases in most major Rokugani cities. To this day the Tako Family, as they became known, provides a coarse, freewheeling, anarchic approach to art, existing in the shadows beyond the higher artisan families. This position never bothered Tako much – to him, all art served a purpose, in one way or another.

Lands

The Tako have no great holdings - like the octopus, their reach is everywhere, or at least in most major Rokugani cities. If they have anywhere that can be considered the Octopus's "Head", it could be an estate outside of Lonely Shore City, where the Clan Daimyo traditionally lives and manages his networks. Any who do know of the Octopus Clan usually think of this location - the Octopus Daimyo is by tradition open and friendly to travelers, and will usually happily tell a false history of his clan, where they were a minor family of the Crane elevated for their production of quality paints and inks, with which they won an important artistic challenge at an Imperial Winter Court.

Customs

The Tako exist in a sort of "art underworld" of their own creation. They undertake jobs requiring the hand of an artist with the skill level of a samurai, but with a sense of dishonour or secrecy attached. This can range from creating objectionable art, to forging documents, to spreading propaganda among the lower classes. The Tako also undertake the more prosaic task of producing artwork that is affordable and accessible by poorer samurai and ambitious merchants and ronin, who wish for a measure of quality but are unable to normally procure it from loftier artisans - many Tako artisans never make anything particularly beyond the norm, focusing on swiftly made, satisfactory pieces and imitations. The Tako are more willing to swallow pride in their work than most artisans as well, and for an extra fee, they will keep quiet about the true authorship of the skillful poem a ronin composed for his mistress. As well, much of their "objectionable" art serves a social purpose, however - these include their Wedding Night Manuals, pictures of monstrous creatures, and detailed anatomy diagrams. Many Tako also work as tutors in art for ronin and merchants - the world of the Octopus is always a busy one.

Those Tako with less artistic skills aid their clans in other ways, often more criminal. The Tako are known to use art in the smuggling of information or even goods - secret codes worked into paintings, or messages hidden at the bottom of flower vases. Though it is not something they speak about, even among themselves, the Tako have, on occasion, fallen into the role of art thieves for patrons, stealing artwork and replacing it with a near identical forgery. The Tako are also often asked to produce particularly evocative prints for the purpose of advertisement and propaganda - unbeknownst to even the Tako themselves, their patrons for this are very often members of the Scorpion Clan or Daidoji or Yaskui families, who are fully aware of what the Toka do and consider them a useful tool.

The Tako spend most of their time honing and practicing their skills and most of their samurai have much leeway in the commissions they take - usually all Toka in a single city report to a senior member of the family who acts as an overseer. The Toka tend to dress plainly - indeed, if not for their mon, many would mistake them at first glance for ronin. The one exception to this is the Toka court at Lonely Shore City, where glamorous purple and black robes are generally the fashion.

Families

Tako: +1 Agility

The first Tako retainers were a combination of the fallen and the raised - Samurai artisans, mostly Kakita, who struggled to succeed or had been shamed in some way, and ambitious ronin who aspired to have at least some artistic training. This invariably led to a suspicious character among many of the new recruits. Kakita Tako did a remarkable job in giving such a disparate group of samurai training in such a disparate style some semblance of unity - unlike other artistic schools who attempt to instill a sense of beauty first, Tako believed in teaching practical technique as a priority, letting his students develop their own senses of beauty over time. As he enjoyed reminding his students "Unskilled hands on a brush are as disastrous as unskilled hands on a katana."

Tako Artisan [Artisan] (Untested)

Benefit: +1 Awareness

Starting Honor: 2.5

Skills: Commerce, Courtier [Manipulation], Forgery, Lore (Underworld), Temptation, any two skills chosen from the following list: Artisan (Ikebana, Origami, Painting, Poetry, Sculpture or Tattooing), Calligraphy

Outfit: Simple Clothing, Wakizashi, Art Supplies, Calligraphy Set, Any 1 Weapon with the “Small” Keyword, Traveling Pack, 5 Koku

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Rank 1: Eight Arms, Seven Virtues When making opposed Artisan or Perform Skill Roll, as long as you possess more total Artisan and Perform skills (not ranks!) than any of your opponents, you gain a free raise. In addition, whenever you succeed in a contested Artisan or Perform Skill Roll against an opponent who has more ranks in that skill, you gain 1 point of Glory. You also do not lose Honour for using Merchant Skills.

Rank 2: Natural Camouflage You may add your Ranks in Forgery to the total of any Artisan or Crafting Skill Roll. When making a Forgery Skill Roll to Forge Artwork, you may spend a void point to add the sum of all ranks in Artisan, Crafting, and Perform Skills you possess to the total. Using this ability also increases the TN to determine the forgery by the same amount.

Rank 3: Floating Existence Gain a +1k0 on all Low Skill Rolls, Performance Rolls and on Attack rolls made Unarmed and with weapons with the “Small” keyword. Gain a Free Raise on Social Skill rolls made with Merchants, Ronin, Geisha and Criminals. You also only lose half Honour, rounding down, for using Low Skills.

Rank 4: Grasping Tendrils You gain a bonus of +2k0 to all Social Rolls against targets currently in ownership of a piece of your artwork. In addition, you may add your ranks in a single Artisan or Crafting Skill to the total of your Commerce Skill Rolls and you gain a free raise to your Commerce Skill Rolls against targets who have fewer total Artisan and Perform skills.

Rank 5: Reach All Corners Whenever your artwork is accepted by a target, you may spend a Void Point to gain them as an Ally at devotion 1 or to gain the Blackmail advantage against them. This benefit is lost in 30 days. In addition, you gain Fame equal to the difference in your Status.

Other Minor Clans

Cut Imperial Archives Minor Clan Rules [1]