The Setting!

so this is from Fred Wan, hes the main story continuity editor for l5r.

that means when recent fictions come out, he goes threw them to make sure they dont conflict with ANYTHING thats been written before. while some things may slip threw his sight. he still knows his crap.

Prose says:
The Lion followed the Emperor
Prose says:
Some, maybe even most, knew that he was possessed (sooner or later)
Prose says:
But the Lion are bound by honor, more than any other clan
Prose says:
and the Lion in Kyod are led by Ujiaki
Prose says:
And he is an honor hardliner
Prose says:
so as far as he was concerned, it doesn't matter if the emperor is acting "weird"
Prose says:
he's still the emperor
Prose says:
and anybody who hesitates is traitorous scum to put down
Mitchell says:
*nods nods*
Prose says:
daigotsu flips out because fu leng kills shahai, yes
Prose says:
and eventually fu leng decides that the stragglers of the clans have outlived... their lifeliness
Prose says:
and he sends people to go whack them
Mitchell says:
the crane where all whiped out right? Uji killed the fake Hoturi using the blood of the... insect thingys.
Prose says:
the Crane, as far as we know, are wiped out
Prose says:
But then again
Prose says:
Hoturi was quite proud to call himself a Crane
Prose says:
Kaneka fought Hoturi, to avenge Toturi's death
Prose says:
then Uji used the blood to "boom" Hoturi
Mitchell says:
did Uji train anybody?
Prose says:
in KyoD?
Prose says:
Kaneka
Prose says:
He and Kaneka flee the island together
Mitchell says:
lol kaneka is a harror?
Mitchell says:
man i blotched that word
Prose says:
Harrier?
Prose says:
Quite possibly
Prose says:
we don't know, because KyoD ends with them leaving the empire
Prose says:
and Kaneka swearing to keep up the fight
Mitchell says:
intresting
Prose says:
In theory, KyoD Uji would teach Kaneka to be a harrier, but the scope of the word is different in KyoD universe
Mitchell says:
do we know what happend to the other clans>
Prose says:
well, I do
Prose says:
do you?
Mitchell says:
lol no. aside from the mantis. well i know what happend to Yoritomo.
Prose says:
muhhahahahaha
Mitchell says:
and Sezaru is the oriacle of the void?
Prose says:
Oracle of Thunder
Prose says:
Void, Air, Fire, Earth, Water, they have all retreated from the mortal realm
Prose says:
only Thunder remains
Mitchell says:
ahh
Prose says:
Tsudao is Kage's student, so she's a Kolat almost for sure
Mitchell says:
!! lol awsome
Mitchell says:
what happend to the crab? mantis where whole right becouse they stayed on the island?
Prose says:
Crab split down the middle
Prose says:
many sided with Yakamo, many others joined Kuni Yori (and thus became evil)
Prose says:
Crane, I dunno about Crane
Prose says:
officially they get decimated
Prose says:
but the Crane clane is about following what is cool
Prose says:
and in KyoD, Fu Leng is cool
Prose says:
so I suspect a sizable number of the more opportunistic crane end up joining Fu Leng
Prose says:
But the clan as a whole gets decimated/wrecked by Hoturi the Heartless soon after the Day of Thunder
Mitchell says:
how about the Pheonix?
Prose says:
absolutely wrecked, a small handful remain, serving under Isawa Tsuke
Prose says:
but the vast majority die during the Day of Thunder or before
Prose says:
ok, let's cut out the exaggeration, and I'll lay it out
Prose says:
Ok
Prose says:
Real Day of Thunder:

Hitomi takes the heart out of togashi, smooshes it, and pulls 12th black scroll out. This opens it, which is the last scroll, allowing Fu Leng to achieve full power--but he becomes mortal in the process
Prose says:
Kyod:

Hitomi is full of anger and rage at everyone. She intentionally doesn't take Togashi's Heart out, which means the Thunders *can't* kill Fu Leng. She then leaves
Prose says:
She makes a pact with the Lying Darkness.
Prose says:
Yakamo eventually goes to the Dragon lands
Prose says:
But realizes that she's made some kind of horrible deal with something foul
Mitchell says:
wow, that was a bit off hehe.
Prose says:
the two fight
Prose says:
both die
Mitchell says:
*cries*
Prose says:
Fu Leng, to spite Kachiko, takes her as his wife
Prose says:
somehow people keep making the same mistakes....
Prose says:
people keep marrying Kachiko to "spite" her in some way
Prose says:
never works
Mitchell says:
lol
Mitchell says:
her kid she names "promise" what exactly for?
Mitchell says:
i know fu leng needed the kid to remain in power
Prose says:
fu leng needed a new host
Mitchell says:
to pocesse him. but i cant recall how naming her kid promise would fuck him
Prose says:
but if the host was tainted, it couldn't hold him
Prose says:
so kachiko makes aramoro sleep with her
Mitchell says:
*head desk* that makes sense.
Mitchell says:
what happend to the unicorn did they go back to the burning sands?
Mitchell says:
or where they not around for this
Prose says:
the Unicorn lose shiro shinjo to Otaku Kamoko (who is undead and serving fu leng), get wrecked, then leave for the burning sands
Mitchell says:
Nezumi? naga? did i forget any of the major clans lol
Prose says:
Nezumi never become a major force
Prose says:
Naga get wrecked
Mitchell says:
cool
Mitchell says:
few more things if your not to busy
Prose says:
sure
Mitchell says:
Shugenja? i heard a rumor they where rare outside of hte service of Fu Leng, and they get hunted.
Prose says:
yes, they are rare because they are hunted
Prose says:
non-maho is much harder to cast (fewer kami floating around)
Prose says:
and as far as the new empire is concerned
Prose says:
non-maho is blasphemous the same way the canon universe considers maho blasphemous
Mitchell says:
anything else environmental of note?
Prose says:
even though the empire as a whole is dominated by fu leng, you no longer "just pick up the taint"
Prose says:
you can't get tainted unless fu leng, or someone empowered/authorized by fu leng, goes and taints you
Prose says:
Fu Leng didn't want random people getting access to the taint, for fear of creating rivals
Prose says:
so you could walk through the shadowlands with an open wound and not get tainted
Prose says:
mind you, the shadowlands has some nasty bugs that would infest the wound and eat you from the inside
Prose says:
but you wouldn't be tainted!
Mitchell says:
hahah
Mitchell says:
oh
Mitchell says:
one last thing
Mitchell says:
Diagotsu is held up in a village
Mitchell says:
do you remeber what its called? or where its located?
Prose says:
I don't recall offhand, but he's mobile
Mitchell says:
*nods* thank you very much!

so yeah my suggestion is that Bushi start advanced 45 CP then after they hit rank 1, get 45 exp to try to hit rank 2 or do whatever with.

Shugenja should start with 45CP and then 90 EXP...

Um ... I take it you mean that:

Starting Bushi characters get 45 CP, then 45 XP to tweak around while starting Shugenja characters get 45 CP, then 90 XP to tweak around.

I would prefer that those of the resistance get the Shugenja bonus while those of the Opal Empire get the Bushi bonus.

What do you think?

the game should be lethal.

since the taint is now a gift from the "emperor" i see no reason not to just keep everyone on the same page.

Things I have in mind:

Taint would be bought as an Advantage by those of the Opal Empire. Ancestors could only be bought as an Advantage by those of the resistance.

My reasoning for the previous post is that is difficult to survive as a Shugenja in the Opal Empire. As for Bushi, the Opal Empire has the koku and the training. The resistance is strapped for both.

taint as an advantage?

don't particularly like the thought of losing my characters mind after a certain point as an advantage.

That's the risk one has to take. One still has to pay the final price to good old Fu Leng :-)