Topic: Rokugan setting in HARP?

[Dr_Sage]

Good evening.

I am considering a new campaign for my friends, and it will be run in the old Rokugan, aka Esmerald Empire setting (Legend of 5 Rings).

I am considering:

A- learn the L5R setting;
B - Pley it on DnD 4 ed;
C - Use the HARP system.

Any ideas/ suggestions?

I believe HARP rules helps a lot in the sense of lethality, "realism", possibility of emulating the Iaijutsu as an Ambush-like skill and more...

DnD would be  easier, s my players are used to it.

Learn a new system would be a pain at the momment, but its an option.
 

[Elton Robb]

Not related to HARP, but ARMS Law 2003 has conversion statistics for the Legend of the Five Rings RPG.  That could point you in the right direction.  If you are planning on using HARP full course, I hope you do the best you can with the conversion.  I'd suggest you get the L5R RPG.

[lordmalachdrim]

L5R's system is pretty easy to learn. I started a campaign with it recently ran 3 sessions and died because we couldn't get our heads around the whole japanese culture (family first, your life doesn't matter and doesn't belong to you, be willing to kill your self at a drop of a ha).

[munchy]

In RM2 there was the old Oriental Companion which would be easy to use with HARP.

Anyhow, I never found it that difficult to converse a few things into RM or HARP. Stat blocks for NPCs in campaigns were usually made up by me anyway and the background information does not need to be changed when moving from one system to another. With the monsters in HARP, M:AFG and the C&M conversion from the Vault you should be absolutely fine to play in the world of L5R using the HARP system.

I would definitely use HARP as the other options are not as interesting or require a lot of learning new stuff. The hedge wizard from HARP offers a great option for a low magic user that could be encountered. Wait for "Something wicked" to be published if you want to involve really bad demon magic and use Martial Law to recreate the warrior societies needed for a setting like the one of L5R.

We played a short campaign in an oriental setting in RM without the need of conversion as most of the things are usually setting independent when it comes to stat blocks etc. (As I mentioned before ... sorry, I'll stop rambling now, I think I made my point.)

[Dr_Sage]

Thank you for all the imputs!!

SO basically some fellows suggests getting L5R, other fellows suggests HARP (No DnD suggestion as expected ).

Anyway the scenario is building up in my mind.

lordmalachdrim,

my old group found out that you can play Rokugan without killing entire parties. We - somehow - focused on the task at hand and quickly got involved in a complex campaign, but admetely he didn't have much court action. Mostly roleplay, infiltration and fights.

munchy,

I will probably decide to use HARP indeed, and I hope you fellows don't mind me bombing you all with questions. As a starter:

Bellow, in general lines, these are the main characters to be translated into game mechanics:


-> Crane: Court (social) skills, maybe some dueling. The guy is supposed to be charismatic, have a fast tongue and a fast katana. Class suggestions?
-> Scorpion: Stealth and subterfuge skills, maybe some deception. She will be beutifull and probably a rogue.
-> Crab: He is the toughest guy. The stronguest bushi in the party, trained to be able to sustan a lot of punishment in the body and soul. Fighter is the obvious class. Maybe barbarian/berzerker...
-> Dragon or Lion: This guy will be the quintessencial samurai. The warrior, the duelist, the "all arounder" in melee combat. Probably the most attached to the bushido code of them all. Fighter? Paladin? Warrior Mage?
-> Phoenix: he is the Shuguenja, a "holy men" that is both enigmatic, wise, and a true elemental spellcaster. Considering building as Elementalist.
-> Wasp: this guy will be an archer. Period. He will have some social skills, but mainly an archer. Class?


Brainstorm anyone?

[masque1223]

-> Crane: Court (social) skills, maybe some dueling. The guy is supposed to be charismatic, have a fast tongue and a fast katana. Class suggestions?
-> Scorpion: Stealth and subterfuge skills, maybe some deception. She will be beutifull and probably a rogue.
-> Crab: He is the toughest guy. The stronguest bushi in the party, trained to be able to sustan a lot of punishment in the body and soul. Fighter is the obvious class. Maybe barbarian/berzerker...
-> Dragon or Lion: This guy will be the quintessencial samurai. The warrior, the duelist, the "all arounder" in melee combat. Probably the most attached to the bushido code of them all. Fighter? Paladin? Warrior Mage?
-> Phoenix: he is the Shuguenja, a "holy men" that is both enigmatic, wise, and a true elemental spellcaster. Considering building as Elementalist.
-> Wasp: this guy will be an archer. Period. He will have some social skills, but mainly an archer. Class?

Note:  I have never read or played L5R, so I'm just working off your descriptions.  I can say that for most of these, the skills and talents you pick are going to be much more important to help with clan emulation than the HARP professions are.  Having said that:
Crane:  Rogue or Harper. 
Scorpion: Rogue, Thief, or Harper
Crab: Fighter
Dragon or Lion: Fighter or Cleric with Combat as a favored category
Phoenix: Elementalist sounds good, possibly with a few levels of Cleric
Wasp: Ranger is the obvious choice, make sure you pick the Quickdraw talent.

[Kasdaye]

It would mean starting at a higher level, but you could multi-class some of them to make them more accurate.

For Crane you could have some levels in rogue to get his social skills up. Especially public speaking for his occasions in court. He could also have a few levels in monk and create a katana weapon kata. This would take quite a few DP to get correct but could be devastating if done correctly!

To symbolise his sheer speed with a katana he could forgo armour to get chi defense and swashbuckler instead (swashbuckler works with the duelling image and the charming image too!), and possible even put ranks into blade barrier to imply his blade is constantly moving quickly and negate the -5 to initiative for using a large weapon.

I had a samurai character a bit like that a while back (Hence the profile pic being Kimbei from Samurai 7!).

He was difficult to hit and worked really well! Although sadly not well enough to avoid being torn in half by a Class IV demon. R.I.P... *sob*

[Dr_Sage]

Thank you all.


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