Variation of "Classes"
Oct 19, 2015 8:44:12 GMT -8
Post by G.I. Joe on Oct 19, 2015 8:44:12 GMT -8
So I started this discussion on a different thread, but then was [politely] asked to fuck off because discussing variation between characters of different schools was not entirely productive to the point of the thread. So I am obliging the person. However, I am also not going to let this topic drop because I think it will make for an interesting discussion.
The point of contention is :
I disagree that there is very little ability difference between the "classes" of L5R. Firstly, each school is not it's own class. There are four "classes:" Bushi, Shugenja, Courtier, and Monk. Six if you include non-people and half-people. But to address his point specifically; by his logic, to be effective, all Dragon Bushi need to be duelists who utilize Niten (the technique of using the entire daisho taught by the dragon). However, this is not the case. I bring the example of Mirumoto Tatsuhiro, my friend's character, who did not use Niten, instead favoring a tetsubo, and was FAR more combat effective than my character who was a more "generic" student of the Mirumoto Bushi School; excelent duelist, used Niten, and had very little training in most other types of combat. The way I like to think of the classes and schools is similar to getting a technical degree. Being a Bushi is like pursuing an engineering degree, and then the Mirumoto school is a specialization into Aeronautical Engineering. The place where the similie falls down is in that there is no "general" Bushi, except maybe a ronin with no techniques.
Now I open this topic up to the forum at large. Am I wrong? How varied do you feel L5R characters are?
The point of contention is :
From a game-play perspective, the schools turn L5R into a class-based system with a very limited selection of classes. And yes, while I know there are lots of schools, unless you want to take a 10-point advantage and wrap your backstory around it, from the moment you pick your clan you are restricting yourself to four schools, and usually only one of each archetype, sometimes two Bushi schools if you're lucky.
Why is every Lion courtier a bard? Why is every Phoenix courtier a walking encyclopaedia? How does that make sense in a diverse and ever-shifting political minefield/landscape? Why is every Lion bushi either a suicidal berserker or a dual-wielding specialist? Don't they have just normal samurai?
Why is every Lion courtier a bard? Why is every Phoenix courtier a walking encyclopaedia? How does that make sense in a diverse and ever-shifting political minefield/landscape? Why is every Lion bushi either a suicidal berserker or a dual-wielding specialist? Don't they have just normal samurai?
I disagree that there is very little ability difference between the "classes" of L5R. Firstly, each school is not it's own class. There are four "classes:" Bushi, Shugenja, Courtier, and Monk. Six if you include non-people and half-people. But to address his point specifically; by his logic, to be effective, all Dragon Bushi need to be duelists who utilize Niten (the technique of using the entire daisho taught by the dragon). However, this is not the case. I bring the example of Mirumoto Tatsuhiro, my friend's character, who did not use Niten, instead favoring a tetsubo, and was FAR more combat effective than my character who was a more "generic" student of the Mirumoto Bushi School; excelent duelist, used Niten, and had very little training in most other types of combat. The way I like to think of the classes and schools is similar to getting a technical degree. Being a Bushi is like pursuing an engineering degree, and then the Mirumoto school is a specialization into Aeronautical Engineering. The place where the similie falls down is in that there is no "general" Bushi, except maybe a ronin with no techniques.
Now I open this topic up to the forum at large. Am I wrong? How varied do you feel L5R characters are?