In this page you will find some rules about magic I've created to fill some existing gaps or simply to modify something I didn't like. I've tested this rules in my games and I can say they are quite reliable and don't slow down the game. Here you will also find the Fortune magic, an idea about a magic as old as Rokugan itself...

These are the sections of this page:

i) Rules about magic

ii) Fortune magic

iii) New spells (maybe)

 

RULES ABOUT MAGIC

How to spend raises:

Imagine a Scorpion shugenja trying to do a spell but he doesn't want those Lion guards on the other side of the door no ear him casting. This is a bit difficult if he has to cast the spell allowed... and if the tries to hide behind a bush, all that kamis flying around him will make look like a Christmas tree... and finally if you have to gesticulate to cast the spell, you will not cast many spells by surprise...

But all this problems can be solved by a skillful shugenja with some raises: with three raises you can skip the spell recitation or you can avoid de appearance of the kami and with two raises you can skip the gesticulation. This makes 8 raises in total, so only a few powerful shugenja can cast spells "by surprise". But this can't be done with every spell, spells with Mastery >4 are too complex to use any raises in this way... It must be said that I don't allow to decrease partially the amount of kami summoned or the volume of the shugenja's voice when casting. This way you can skip a lot of roll that would slow down the game.

For those not-so-skilled shugenja there is another possibility: investigating the spells to be casted in a subtle way. This options gives two free raises to skip recitation, gesticulation or kamis to spend as you wish, but this option adds +10 to the investigation TN if it's a Water or Earth spell, +15 if it's a Fire spell or +0 if it's an Air or Void spell. Ex: Yogo Jun is hidden behind a bush and wants to cast a Tempest of Air without her enemies noticing it. She decides to skip recitation and the appearance of the kamis, so she will need 6 raises but, unfortunately, she has only Void 4. Thanks to the two free raises the spell gives she will be able to cast the spell and blow her enemies away.

It' also possible to change the shape of a given spell with two raises (or spend more than two raises to make a greater change in the spells shape), like for example with Fire from Within or to do some other effects more (or less) useful like with Tempest of Air. In the following table you can see some examples:

 

 

Rules for rituals:

Rituals are a good thing because a group of Rank 5 shugenja can get together to cast a super-spell... but they will obtain the same effect as if they had done it alone (just like bad sex). And that's not a good idea. This is the rule I use: for every 2K0 exceeding the 10 dice maximum the shugenja controlling the ritual can keep an additional 0K1. When he keeps 10 dice, for every 5 dice he can keep he gains a free raise. The ritual is controlled by the main shugenja, and he's the only one that can make raises. The maximum number of raises is increased by one for every shugenja additional to the first in the ritual. If any of the shugenja in the ritual have some kind of free raise for rituals (or the element of the ritual) it can be used in the ritual, doesn't matter who is the main shugenja (its use will be chosen by the main shugenja, however).

In order to join the casting of a ritual you need a copy of the ritual, and once the ritual has been cast all the participating shugenja have spent a spell from the corresponding Ring.

 

FORTUNE MAGIC

Introduction

•

Prerequisites

•

Spells

Introduction

Long before Shinsei's arrival the shugenja practiced a different, old kind of magic. This old magic, with its source in the knowledge of the Fortunes acquired by constant prayer and deep meditation and contemplation, let the ancient shugenja cast incantations using the different nature of the myriad of existing Fortunes (major or minor). Unlike the magic used nowadays, this kind of magic is not based on the control of the summoned kami, but in a prayer to the correct Fortune (or Fortunes) asking her to manipulate the elements in the same way Fortunes control the elements to create a natural disaster (for example). The shugenja that practiced this kind of magic had to be absolutely respectful to the Fortunes, for if he didn't he would suffer the wrath of the violent side of the Fortunes to make him pay for his insolence. The changing nature of the Fortunes makes this magic a very complex one to cast but the effects obtained can very well be more powerful than those obtained with elemental magic.

With Shinsei's arrival and the acceptance of his philosophy this magic was set aside in favor of the easier elemental magic, but this was so not for its simplicity nor for its power; the real reason was the easiness of this magic to offend the Fortunes. The shugenja saw in the elemental magic the possibility to do almost the same they did with Fortunes magic but without risking to offend the Fortunes. With this new magic the Fortunes were more respected and the possibility that a novice shugenja could insult and summon the wrath of the Fortunes was eliminated completely. Still nowadays the shugenja Schools use the scrolls were the sufferings of the insolent shugenja are depicted with luxury of details to teach their students to be always respectful.

With all this, the shugenja that match the necessary prerequisites can have access to this kind old magic with varying degrees of freedom depending on the Clan. Inside every School where this kind of magic is accepted at least one shugenja taking care of the preservation and catalogation of the scrolls of this magic can be found. Nevertheless the Senseis of the Schools are the ones to dictate the School's policy about this magic:

Isawa School: the students of this School, normal shugenja, tensai and ishi can ask for this kind of magic, although the ishi have never shown any kind of interest for it. The tensai, whatever the element, have no penalty to cast Fortune spells. Inside this School any kind of Fortunes spells can be found, but not battle spells.

Agasha School: although the Dragons embraced Shinsei's philosophy completely, inside its libraries can be found a good number of Fortunes scrolls, mainly combat and protection spells.

Kitsu School: due to their devotion to their Ancestors, inside this School many Fortune scrolls can be found, mainly protection and healing spells. Here battle spells can also be found, a kind of spell that cannot be found anywhere else (or so the Kitsu say). Inside the Ikoma libraries a lot of scrolls about this kind of magic can also be found, but they tell the stories of those shugenja that failed to cast properly a Fortunes spell.

Soshi and Yogo Schools: the Scorpions have never shown any kind of interest for this magic, due to its difficulty and the dangerous secondary effects, not to mention the possibility to offend the Fortunes. Anyway, if a student shows some kind of interest for this magic the School will not keep him from having access to it (not more than usual). Inside this two Schools you can find some kinds of spells, but you never know exactly(!).

Kuni School: due to the story of this School almost all the information about Fortune magic was lost long ago, but enough can still be found scattered among the remainings of this School to fins a spell or investigate the subject. This material is spread over Kuni Areno, so any investigation will be painfully difficult (honest!), and finding any spell will be thanks to the Fortunes mercy (or just a good sensei). In order to do any kind of investigation about this magic it will take a lot time traveling and a lot of nice talking to persuade the caretakers of the scrolls to let you take a look at them... If you can manage to find a spell it will be Earth-based or protection-related.

Asahina School: this School considers this kind of magic too offensive towards the Fortunes, so the students are forbidden to investigate it or own any related scroll (any present related to Fortune magic must be handed out to the School and it can be considered an insult...).

Iuchi School: this School grew outside Rokugan, so there's absolutely no Fortune spell inside its libraries but the students are completely free to investigate whatever they can.

The Fortunes are alien beings to the human body (there is no Fortunes Ring), the shugenja has to rely on his experience and on his skills to understand and control the Fortunes. If a shugenja wants to cast a Fortune spell he has to roll his School Rank + Theology (keeping his School Rank) vs. the TN of the spell. The shugenja can cast a number of spells equal to his School Rank and can have them back by praying for 2 hours (aloud, must succeed in a Intelligence + Theology TN 20). If the shugenja fails the casting roll he will suffer some kind of spell-related backfire because he will incur in the Fortunes fury. If this magic is used to damage something (or someone) the shugenja must keep the highest damage dies. Although it's not elemental magic, the shugenja can spend Void points due to the special nature of this Ring (Void is everywhere and nowhere at once).

Fortune magic can be cast inside the Shadowlands, but it doesn't suffer the same penalties than elemental magic. Elemental magic is harder to cast inside the Shadowlands because most of the kami have been corrupted, so when summoned they do they're own bidding instead of the shugenja's. However, Fortunes are a lot more sensitive to the corruption than the elemental kami and the presence of Fu Leng nearby doesn't help much. This makes casting Fortune magic inside the Shadowlands a very delicate subject if you want the spell to do the expected effect. In game terms, the TN of the spell is not increased but due to the huge amount of corrupted Fortunes inside the Shadowlands the spell will work properly only if the GM wants but if he doesn't, the effect can be (and will be) something quite bad for the shugenja. To try to avoid this, the shugenja can prepare the surrounding area where he'll be casting the spell with a ritual to summon some good Fortunes. This way the possibilities of obtaining the desired effect increase dramatically.

Prerequisites

No Rank 1 shugenja is allowed to use this magic and shugenja Rank 2 or higher must have Theology or Lore: Fortunes Rank 4 o 3 respectively at least and a minimum of Glory 4 or some kind of Fortune-related fascination (or something similar). The interpretation of the player has to show that the character is deeply interested by the Fortunes, and the player should know all the Fortune-related material available. A shugenja that matches the prerequisites can choose only one Fortune spell every time he reaches a new Rank, following the School restrictions.

In order to make a spell and innate ability the shugenja's School Rank + Theology has to be equal or greater than the Mastery level of the spell and he must spend 3 experience points. It takes the Mastery of the spells in hours to memorize it.

If the shugenja wants to investigate a Fortune spell (remember, he must match the prerequisites) he has to give a very good reason to his School about why should he be allowed to investigate such magic. He has to explain the spell he wants to create (WoP rules). The investigation rules are as described inside the WoP but with the following modifications:

• if the Mastery is higher than the investigator School Rank + Theology, the spell cannot be investigated.
• the investigation roll is equal to School Rank + Theology.
• the investigation time required is doubled (two months minimum investigation time), as well as the time needed to gain any investigation bonus (but the bonification is not doubled!).
• all the Schools suffer a +5 to the investigation TN (even Isawas!) but not the Kitsu, they suffer no modificator. The ronin, Asahina and Iuchi students, due to the lack of information, suffer a +20 instead of +5. The Kuni not only suffer the +5 but they also have to endure endless travels and selfish shugenja (that is endless games full of fights and hard interpretation...).
• the correct-wrong Ring effect modificators are ignored.
• the known spells modification is divided by three.
• subtle casting spell modification cannot be used.

Remember that the shugenja investigator is not the only one who will have a copy of the spell (WoP).

Spells

If Lore: Fortunes is used instead of Theology, the Lore Rank is multiplied by 2 when calculating spell effects (effect range, damage...). The term "DR: Rank" means that the spell damage is School Rank + Skill Rank (Lore: Fortunes or Theology) keeping the School Rank. If no range is shown then it's line of sight. The Fortune spells cast inside a temple gain a free raise. There is no shugenja School that gives a free raise to their students with this magic but the Isawa (the free raise for rituals can be used with this magic). The battle spells are completely useless if cast outside a battle (that is, any combat played using the Battle Table in L5R). In spell descriptions the word Skill refers to Theology or Lore: Fortunes.

The spells list is here. It will open in a new page.

 

NEW SPELLS (maybe)

I would like this section to grow with new spells. I'll try to post new spells often, but if you have any spell you want to share, mail me and if I like it, I'll post it here.

The spells will open on a new page. Choose the element you like.

Transform

This one is the Transform I use in my games. Up until now I've had no problem. UP UNTIL NOW. But that doesn't mean it cannot be abused.

TN: equal to the number of elements by 5, as explained in WoD. The repeated elements are not counted.

Casting time: calculated as in WoD. The repeated elements are not counted.

Duration: permanent

Concentration: none

Effect: this spell transforms a volume equal to a sphere with 1,5 meters radius. For every raise the radius is increased half a meter. Not all the matter inside the sphere has to be transformed (so you can create just one kimono and not a sphere full of kimonos). The object created will appear however it takes more space (so the kimono will appear unfolded). Mechanical objects, even simple ones (mini-catapults) cannot be created. The created objects are of Average quality and the quality cannot be increased. People can't be transformed (you can't turn flesh to shit but you can turn air to shit... puaj). Forged weapons can't be created (katana, the blade of the yari, the metal studs of a tetsubo, metallic part of a tessen, kamas, sais...) because they have Void but you can create unforged weapons. Please note that unforged weapons will be of a pathetic quality, and will not last longer than a couple of hits (at most).