The Day of Thunder

[Akodo Kenji]

I think rather than picking up advantages something that will play off their investigative skills or help calm people down and solve things without proceeding to dueling would be more in theme with I read the school is. I dunno maybe something like perfect gift? I'd have to think about it.

Which is someone who solves problems without things coming to a duel. They look at problems and negotiate make deals and help bond groups of people together. I might try my hand at writing up something later if i can find the beans to do so. But don't guarantee.

As it stands it's just a duel bully school as I read it. You combine it combined with Matsu Sentinel and the fact you can join it at rank 2 which will have you dropping a void for 2k2+9 minimum on focus rolls. Which isn't in itself bad. I was just curious if that was the intent.

[Hisomu Reo]

The thing is, the Imperial justice system has seen considerable player investment in making dueling the prime legal system. That is how it is in canon. I don't think anyone disputes that.

I don't think that "whenever there would be an honor duel, spend a VP and it's an opposed Investigation roll" makes any sense, and I think it would be more intrusive on play. If you can think of a way to make a courtier school technique that socially bypasses a duel, I would appreciate hearing about it, because that's something I think the character would appreciate.

Because right now, the "duel bully" as you put it is effectively a big part of canon Crane politics. That's kind of the point of canon Kakita. Straight quote from the original school description:

Likewise the Crane stranglehold on the courts is easier to maintain when any challenge can be answered by a Kakita champion taking the courtier's place in a duel.

And right now, making a duelist school whose skills can just barely keep up only and exclusively when it comes to resolving court disputes and legal decisions (which I think might be a more fair limitation) seems the only counter without unmaking what others have invested in.

[Akodo Kenji]

So, why not just make a dueling school then?

Though I will say that dawn is pretty far from canon as well, so working to find other ways to resolve problems is something that could be worked on especially as the empire is still in its infancy. Just because dueling in canon is that powerful in standard l5r does not mean it needs to be here.

My thought's is if you are making a duelist school to protect the interests of the spider clan from the Crane and Bat, that's fine. Though Spider are already one of the better dueling clans as it stands. Matsu Sentinel can easily add a flat +6 to all dueling rolls, which is huge. But outside that, I'm mostly just confused at the point of the school as it stands. As it feels counter to what the fluff that was written. Not to mention that solving disputes that don't involve the spider is something more on a imperial level.

You can write a school that buffs investigation and dueling, and that's fine but I would fluff it differently.

Maybe as a school that searches out the wrong doings of other clans in spider courts and lands and uses dueling to bring them to justice.

[Wu Zhe]

Susumu Arbiter
Ever since the First Winter Court, Ryoshun Susumu (formerly Hisomu) had been troubled by what he saw as a power block of southern Clans effectively lobbying for a strong hierarchical society, enforced by a “Might make right” attitude to dispute through the use of the iaijustsu duel. This came to a head in the duel of Kakita and Hadananzi on what Susumy viewed as spurious grounds. While Kakita prevailed, Susumu worried that Imperial Justice could be literally weaponized and could be used to bully the smaller northern Clans into compliance.

Neither the Spider nor the Bat had dedicated courtier schools of their own, but each had their own separate methods of discerning the truth and standing by it. Rather than create something from whole cloth, Susumu chose to refine techniques from many of the schools he had exposure to: the dedication to truth of the Seekers, the insight of the Matsu Sentinel, the tenacity of the Kakita and self-reliance of the Ryoshun Smith. From their techniques he crafted a set of skills for his vision of a courtier, recruiting those from each of those schools that he felt had promise. Susumu has charged his Arbiters to travel the Empire (especially the north) to keep a cohesive group, resolving disputes and making alliances

Requirements

Rings/Traits: Void 3, Air 3, Perception 3
Skills: Iaijutsu 3, Lore: Law 3, Any Social Skill 3, Investigation 3
Special: Members of this school are considered both Courtier and Bushi for the purposes for Advantages, Disadvantages and effects.

Rank 1: Truth in words, truth in steel
An arbiter is tasked with determining the truth of a situation and acting accordingly. After listening to a dispute for a few minutes, the Arbiter may roll Investigation (Notice) / Perception against a TN of each target’s Intelligence x 5. A success grants you a true and accurate, if simple, picture of the validity of their arguments and motivations. For example, you might perceive a basic assertion is true but is being overblown for effect, or someone is largely telling the truth but omitting something. The Arbiter gains +1k0 on social and Iaijustu (Assessment) rolls when acting on that information.

Rank 2: From Adversary to Ally
A skilled arbiter is not just responsible for finding the truth, but to resolve disputes in a productive way that leaves those they’ve worked with in their good graces, even if they were one the opposite side of an argument…or sway an ally to change sides. After working to resolve a dispute they may roll Courtier/Awareness vs TN the targets Status, Glory or Infamy (whichever is highest) x 5 . If successful, gain that character (or another appropriate NPC peer) as an Ally with 1 pt devotion. Additional raises may be called for additional points of devotion.

Rank 3
The Arbiter knows that duty has no limits, and their adherence to it has no limit when they open themselves up to the insight of the world around them. When making an Investigation or Iaijutsu (Focus) roll, add your Void Ring to the result. In addition, when spending Void to augment one of those rolls increase the dice from +1k1 to +2k2.

I like the flavor this

For the first rank getting a free raise instead of a +1k0 could be interesting. I could also see getting a +1k0 or a +1k1 on all iajiutsu roll when acting on the information he got since the conditions are somewhat restrictive.

Rank 2 is powerful but another school has something similar. In a pbp setting I don't think it will be used all that often.

Rank 3 is good...nothing to say.