[4th] Scorpion Schools and Paths

Bayushi Troublemaker (Advanced School) The Bayushi Troublemaker is the protector of the Scorpion's honor. The Scorpion Clan's last word in swordsmanship, protection and duty. Or so others are told. In reality, the Bayushi Troublemaker is nothing more than a legitimized assassin. They are trained to twist the concept of honor and dueling and use it to legally and orderly eliminate targets of interest of  the Clan. They usually play the part of Duelists, Representatives or Yojimbos to unskilled Courtiers in diplomatic missions that had little chance of success to begin with. Requirements: Void 4, Awareness 5, Sincerity (Deceit) 6, Kenjutsu 5, Iaijutsu 4, Courtier 4, Lore (Bushido) 4. Advantages: Perceived Honor x2. Other: Honor 3.5 or less.

TECHNIQUES RANK 1: I CAN SWIM - Trough careful choice of the wrong words and dissimulated body language, the Bayushi Troublemaker can hide his own strength, causing their foes to mistakenly believe to have an advantage, a belief the Bayushi will soon prove wrong. By engaging in a courteous conversation lasting a number of minutes equal to the target's Insight Rank, you may make a Sincerity(Deceit)/Awareness roll against your opponent's Investigation/Perception. If you win, you lose 3 Glory Points, and that opponent gains the Overconfident disadvantage for the remaining of the day. Whenever an opponent with the Overconfident disadvantage (either natural or applied by this technique) engages you in a Skirmish or Duel, they must call one raise for no effect on all Attack and Contested Skill Rolls (remember the Focus Roll of a Iaijutsu Duel is a Contested Roll, but the Assessment Roll is not). (is it clear that calling a raise on the Iaijutsu Focus Roll will result in a -5 penalty for yourself?)

RANK 2: THE HONORABLE SCORPION - By cunningly misinterpreting someone's words, the Bayushi Troublemaker may make a solid argument turn into a blasphemous offense. Whenever you are involved in a discussion or negotiation, even as a listener, you may make a Courtier(Manipulation)/Awareness roll against your target's Ettiquette(Courtesy)/Awareness to intervene. If you win, you guide the conversation towards a comment that you rightfully take as an irreparable insult. The target may concede the argument, apologize and loose 5 Honor Points for loss of face, or give you grounds for a Duel to the Death (if the target has the Overconfident disadvantage, he must succeed on a Perception roll, TN 20, to even consider requesting permission to one's lord, considering this duel a 'sure win'). You add your Rank in Sincerity to all Awareness rolls, including the Assessment roll in a Iaijutsu Duel.

RANK 3: IT'S ALL LIES - A Bayushi's unorthodox fighting style makes him unpredictable, to his foe and even to himself. You may spend a Void Point to call raises after you know the result of  your Attack Roll. You may use these raises to perform the Disarm, Feint or Extra Damage maneuvers. If your opponent is afflicted by any of the following conditions, you don't need to spend a Void Point: Blinded, Dazed, Fatigued, Entangled, Stunned.

Path: Bayushi Subverter

Requirements: Iaijutsu 5, Lore: Bushido 3 Replaces: Bayushi Bushi 3

Technique: Kharmic Strike - The Bayushi Subverter is a master of sabotaging an opponent s reputation through the appearance of seemingly dishonorable behavior. Whenever the Bayushi Subverter wins a Focus Roll and has the option of striking first, they may slightly delay their strike, tricking their opponent into striking as well. The Bayushi Subverter's attack strikes first, but their opponent is forced to strike second. If the duel is to first blood, the opponent loses points of Honor equal to the Bayushi Subverter's Insight Rank. ’

When the opponent strikes second, the Bay ushi Subverter may subtly step into the blow, forcing the opponent to keep the highest dice for damage. If the Bayushi Subverter chooses this option, the opponent gains the Infamous disadvantage.

Soshi Bushi School (Bushi) Patron House: Soshi Home Dojo: Mimano Province The Soshi Bushi School was developed many centuries ago by a famed Soshi sword master. Realizing that while technique is important, a true warrior must master their own body before they can truly master the art of war, he developed a new school that emphasized the primacy of physicality. Making his students endure and perform amazing degrees of physical activity, he slowly developed a style that looks to one's raw potential and enhances it through practice. Often ignored by more technical schools, the Falling Leaves Bushi know that while the school lacks a depth of rigid movements and forms, it makes up for that in the harmony of all of their physical actions. While the school focuses on the blade, specifically the Katana; it also teaches that any weapon guided by a bushi's arms is capable of achieving the perfection of the school's philosophy. Benefit: +1 Agility Honor: 2.5 Skills: Athletics, Defense, Kenjutsu (Katana), Stealth, Tanto, Pick one Bugei Skill, and Pick one Craft or Low Skill. Outfit: Katana, wakizashi, tanto, daisho stand, light armor, armor chest, bokken, pick one weapon; sturdy clothes, traveling pack; 4 koku.

TECHNIQUES Rank One: Way of the Falling Leaves The Scorpion learns to master one's self through pure physical prowess; rigorously training all aspects of the body to become more potent and capable. This intensity in training extends to all arts of the warrior. When making any roll involving one of their physical skills, the bushi may +1k0 to the roll. This bonus does not apply to damage rolls. Further, the experience costs of all emphases in School Skills is reduced by one point.

Rank Two: Divide the Heavens The bushi has learned to bat aside arrows, thrown knives and shuriken almost reflexively. When the bushi has a weapon in hand, his TN to be hit with missile weapons or ranged attacks

is increased by 5 + his Insight Rank unless he is making a Full Attack or is currently in the Center Stance that turn.

Rank Three: Autumn's Leaves The sheer control the Soshi maintains m aintains over his dexterity and coordination have been refined to the point of nigh-perfection. They have gained the ability to maximize every action, every movement in time to their lithe grace. Many motions now become automatic and others become enhanced by their training. During the Reactions Phase, the bushi may select an opponent and spend a void. During the next Turn, any time that opponent attempts an attack against her and misses, she may inflict her Agility + Weapon skill in damage to that opponent, assuming that the Soshi may reach the targeted opponent. Further, when spending Void on a Physical based School Skill they may add their Insight Rank to the total of the roll.

Rank Four: Behind Night's Shadow The Soshi Bushi's physical art of fighting has increased to the point where his movements have become almost instinctive. When wielding a weapon that he has skill ranks in, he may make melee attacks as simple actions.

Rank Five: Stand Against the Waves Finally, the Soshi sword-master learns to let her enemies do the work of throwing themselves on her blade. During the reactions phase of combat or before Initiative has been rolled, the bushi may spend a Void Point and sacrifice their actions for the Turn. Until the beginning of her next Turn she is placed into the Attack Stance and may make an attack against them. Both of  these attacks resolve at the same time. She may not make more than five f ive attacks in this way, and may not make more than one attack per opponent nor may she benefit from the extra attack maneuver.

Shosuro Yojimbo School (Bushi) With the increasing power within the court and the often deadly machinations within the clan, many honoraries of the Scorpion felt that a stronger need for capable protectors and personal guards. It had been the usual philosophy of the Scorpion that the best way to stop an assassin is another assassin, but sometimes a more public presence is needed, especially in court. Additionally, the foundation of the Shosuro yojimbos has created a very viable foil for the rest of the family's activities, creating an image in public of stoic guardsmen that can easily deceive more naïve courtiers and has helped the Scorpion to present the Shosuro as just a minor bushi family within their Clan. It is very likely, that this feint may be the original intent behind the foundation of this school, but even if the school was only intended as a diversion, the Shosuro Yojimbos have become a very useful too l on their own. The Yojimbo of the Scorpion are in many ways a deceptive group. While they usually apply the appearance and equipment of their traditional role, and carry their weapons openly, they have the mindset of a more underhanded agent and can easily follow the stream of thoughts of a saboteur or assassin, even though they are not necessarily very competent in these roles. Even though it is not the main focus of their training, many yojimbo become so adept in reading the body language of other people and react as quickly as possible to any threat, the school has trained a few formidable duelists. Nonetheless, the yojimbos are not very popular within their own clan, and t he Bayushi bushi, especially the followers of the path of Bitter Lies, have a particularly low opinion of t heir potential rivals within their own ranks, which has let to an ongoing rivalry between these two schools.

Benefit: Reflexes +1 Skills: Defense, Investigation (Notice) 2, Kenjutsu, Sincerity, Stealth, any one skill Honor: 2.5 Outfit: Light Armor, Fashionable Clothing, Daisho, any one weapon, Traveling Pack, 5 koku teac hes the Indomitable Warrior and Veiled Menace Katas: The Shosuro Yojimbo School teaches Styles.

Techniques: Rank 1: Shield of the Lord - A yojimbo's main function is to protect his ward and to find a threat before it actually manifests. You gain a bonus to your Initiative Rolls equal to your Investigation Skill Rank. When using the Guard maneuver, both you and the person you guard gain a Bonus to Armor TN equal to your Defense Skill Rank.

Rank 2: Eyes in the Back of the Head - The most powerful lesson of the Shosuro Yojimbo is to never trust anybody. You gain a +1k1 bonus to resist any attempts to intimidate, manipulate or deceive you, as well as to your Investigation skill ski ll to detect ambushes.

Rank 3: Vicious Counterstrike - The duty of the protector is not only to shield his charge from harm, but also to make sure that no one can harm your charge agai n. During the Reaction Phase, you can pick an opponent who has attacked you or the target of your guard maneuver since your last turn. You gain a +1k0 bonus to all melee attack rolls against this f oe for a number of turns equal to your school rank. This technique is cumulative (a number of  times equal to your school rank) and resets with each other application.

Rank 4: The Strength of Conviction - A yojimbo never fights so fiercely as when defending his charge. You may make melee attacks as Simple Actions instead of a Complex Action.

Rank 5: The Hidden Smile - A truly great yojimbo lures an enemy into false security before he closes in for a killing strike. When a foe attacks you or the target of your guard maneuver and misses, you may spend a Void Point to immediately attack this foe as a free action. You gain a bonus of +2k1 to this Attack Roll.

Path: Scorpion Duelist Bayushi-kami learned a valuable lesson from Shinsei. When the eyes and the face tell a different story, suspicion is aroused. Suspicion can distract a foe from the matter at hand. This lesson can just as easily be applied to dueling. The student of the Veiled Gaze tells two different stories when they adopt their dueling stance. This discord can disturb and unsettle their foe, giving the Scorpion the perfect opportunity to strike. The Scorpion, as a force in the courts of Rokugan, are only too eager to keep another tool in their arsenal of personal conflict resolution. That the Technique uses a truth that all Rokugani already should already know (the Scorpion is deceiving me) is sweet irony. Requirements: Iaijutsu (Assessment) 3, Sincerity (Deceit) 3 Replaces: Bayushi Bushi 3

Technique: The Veiled Gaze - You present a false front in all things. Opponents do not receive the +1k1 bonus to Focus rolls for winning the Assessment phase of a duel by 10 or more. Furthermore, when forced to reveal information during the Assessment phase of a duel, you may reveal a number up to your Sincerity rank in place of one piece of information.