Games of

Discourse“Isn’t it a pity,” mumbled Kakita Ryoku to her pillow,

“when a young lady takes her lover’s leave, but insists
on properly padding her robes and perfecting her
makeup first?”
Ide Qutlugh’s hands froze on her obi’s knot as she
knelt before the mirror. “But at Kyūden Doji,” she
whispered, “protocol is everything. Surely even…
now…I must not be seen in dishabille?”
“Then again,” Ryoku said, curling her body against
Qutlugh’s leg, “it’s quite understandable that youths,
new to such experiences, might confuse propriety and
courtesy in this way.”
Qutlugh frowned. “I don’t catch your meaning,” she
said after a moment. Ryoku sounds like a passage from
that salacious book she wrote, she thought.
“On your walk back to your chambers, have a
look around,” said Ryoku. She rested her cheek on
Qutlugh’s knee, looking up into her eyes for the first
time that morning. “This may not be Kyūden Shika,
but you’ll be far from the only one returning from a
furtive tryst. Some of them hurry along, their faces
stolid masks, hats tied on too tightly, makeup strict
as a geisha’s. How funny! Whom do they suppose
they’re fooling?” Ryoku made a mock-serious face,
and Qutlugh giggled. “Others stroll with confident
languor, jackets loosely and lazily tied, hats carelessly
askew. ‘We all know why we’re here,’ they say, without
speaking a word. ‘Why regret it?’”
“I see now. It sets others’ hearts at ease, and shows
care for the circumstances.” Qutlugh grinned. “Not
proper. But courteous.”
“And,” Ryoku said, “it affords you more time to
spend cuddling.”
Twelve minutes later, Qutlugh slipped outside. She
winked at the guard, whose mouth twitched into a
faint smile. On her slow walk back, she bowed low
to the Shinseist shrine’s head priest, who flushed and
stammered a greeting as he returned the gesture
before hurrying away. Before heading inside, she
stopped by the fishpond to watch the sun rise behind
the parapet, feeling very courteous indeed.Matthew Wynn (Order #20055116)
Running The
“Winter Court” Game
This book contains a tool kit for running Legend of
the Five Rings games focused on political conflict
and high-powered intrigue. The Legend of the Five
Rings core rulebook describes this style as the “Win-
ter Court” game. A Winter Court adventure may fea-
ture daring battles, mysterious exploration, and tense
investigation, but these activities can easily be tied up
in politics. In political play, each character’s personal
success and failure is bound to the fate of a faction,
such as their family, clan, or religious order. While the
dramatic stakes and complex, unpredictable interac-
tions of player and NPC decisions may seem intimidat-
ing to GMs unused to improvisation, a political game
can be extremely rewarding and is one of the most
iconic Legend of the Five Rings experiences.
The first section of this chapter offers tools, advice,
and structure for political and intrigue-heavy games,
with particular attention to in-character romance, engag-
ing characters dedicated to subterfuge (such as shinobi),
and spending in thematically relevant ways. This is
followed by a discussion of Courtesy, one of Rokugan’s
Seven Tenets of Bushidō, and of how it fits into Rokugani
society. The chapter also includes new titles from the
regions and courts described in earlier chapters and
rules for expanded relationships in bonds.
Politics, intrigue,
and Player safety
On page 122, this book discusses how to employ a
set of signals or similar system that players may use
to express their discomfort with content in the game.
Such a system is particularly important for politically,
socially, and especially romantically focused games. In
addition to the fact that content in the fiction may be
upsetting or distasteful, the analog gaming community
and the excuse of “in-game content” have often been
the delivery vector for harassment many players have
experienced. Accordingly, it is wise to take safety and
consent as seriously within the context of your hobby,
as you would at a workplace or in public with strangers.
running Political and
intrigue-Heavy games
Politics and intrigue, like combat and warfare, can
go in many different directions. At its core, a political
game casts the players as influential individuals whose
actions change the balance of power among a number
of factions struggling for influence and control. Political
power may be taken and bartered through military or
intellectual pursuits, but political maneuvering (the use
of secrets, lies, favors, and social pressure) is perhaps
most closely associated with intrigue.
In this type of game, the GM and the players must
work together and share information more proactively;
it may seem counterintuitive, but intrigue play that
relies heavily on secrets and misinformation actually
requires the players at the table to be more honest with
one another than usual.
Knowing your Players
Politics and intrigue can refer to many play styles.
Fantasy novels and television have made factional
politics—high powered, high stakes, and cutthroat—
extremely popular. However, other players may be
more familiar with spy dramas, which often focus on
smaller-scale incidents, or with delicate social maneu-
vering in the style of The Tale of Genji or The Pillow
Book, which are more about interpersonal relation-
ships than grand political drama. Before launching into
a political game, it is a good idea to hold a “session
zero” in which players and the GM get together and
discuss their touchstones for political fiction. This is
also a good time to establish expectations: what kind
of politics does everyone want?
Another useful question to ask is, “What is an excit-
ing moment you can see your character participating
in?” The answers you get help you calibrate the kind
of content and conflicts you introduce to the game, as
well as to guide character creation so players’ choices
represent their intent. As you begin to create antago-
nists and scenes for them, make sure that the duelist
has the opportunity to show off their skill in high-stakes
fencing matches, and the shinobi raised by a secretive
mentor (who seems suspiciously like a tengu) in the for-
est has verdant hunting grounds in which to shadow
loose-lipped lords.
Player SKills versus
CHaracter SKills
Keep in mind that players out of character do not have
their characters’ skills, and that no one should expect
this of the players. This concept seems obvious in the
case of physical matters: it’s perfectly normal for a
player with limited physical ability to play as an expert
fencer with bulging muscles. When that character
swings a sword at a foe, we don’t expect the player to
be able to do the same out of character. But we should
also remember that a character’s intellectual and social
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CHAPTER 3: GAMES OF DISCOURSEMatthew Wynn (Order #20055116)
capabilities may exceed their player’s—and this is
okay! In some political roleplaying games, it is custom-
ary for politics and socialization to be resolved through
the players acting out all their characters’ words and
actions in social contexts. This approach can be fun,
but it means that the resolution of conflict in the fiction
ends up relying on the players’ social and intellectual
skills, not the characters’. This means that, for example,
players who are less socially inclined, shy, or new to
your social context, and who therefore have difficulty
with demanding social situations, are not empowered
to interact with the narrative.
In L5R, it is okay for a shy or less self-assured player
to field a political mastermind or a seductive charmer,
just as it is okay for someone who lacks fencing skill to
play a masterful duelist. A player who challenges them-
self with a character who is different from them should
not be penalized for that choice.
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safety signals
Signals are a predetermined way for players to
let the group know they're not comfortable with
what's going on in a game. What form this takes is
up to your group. The simplest kind of safety signal
involves an object players can lift or touch, a hand
symbol they can make, or a code word they can
say to express discomfort. The GM should make it
clear that neither the person using the safety mech-
anism nor the person whose content is to be modi-
fied is to suffer censure for their action, and that the
mechanism is there so the table can more safely
explore sensitive or difficult topics like intimacy and
violence with the knowledge that they have a way
to watch out for one another’s well-being.
While a simple system is sometimes best, you
can also add some diversity to the symbols. You
might have “red” (stop immediately), “yellow,”
(this is fine but let’s not go further/speed up) and
“green” (this is great/amp it up) symbols. Another
option is to have different indicators for “let’s stop
and discuss now,” “fast forward past this,” and
“let’s replay that differently.” It is also good prac-
tice to thank the person using the safety mechanic
and the person whose content is to be edited for
their honesty and good sportsmanship.
Going against the apparent flow of a story
to use a safety mechanism can be intimidating.
The less the uncomfortable person is required to
explain their discomfort, the better the system
works. Explaining what they’re uncomfortable with
or (worse yet) any traumatic experiences that led
to their discomfort may worsen the situation.
If there is any confusion about the matter (for
instance, if other members of the group are unsure
exactly what content they should avoid), the GM
(or another intermediary the player feels comfort-
able talking to) should offer the player a chance to
privately explain so that the intermediary can out-
line the boundaries for the benefit of the group.
You may be nervous that an abusive player
may intentionally misuse a safety mechanism to
seize an unfair advantage for their character or to
aggravate a player they do not like. This is a place
where it is important to understand the difference
between a safety mechanism such as this one and
a traditional RPG game mechanic.
While game mechanics should generally not
be used to make the game less fun for other play-
ers, they do have a gameplay element that can
at times be adversarial between players, and that
is okay as long as both players are okay with it.
By contrast, the entire purpose of safety signals
is to help everyone feel comfortable so they can
have fun—and any player who uses it in bad faith
should be reminded of that fact. If they persist in
doing so after being asked to stop, that player
might not be the best fit for your gaming group.
lines and veils
During your session zero (see Knowing Your Play-
ers, on page 121), remind the table that their
out-of-character comfort and safety are more import-
ant than the quality or continuation of the game.
Offer players an opportunity to set lines and veils.
Lines are boundaries that state what content
should never enter the game: for example, “no
torture” or “no spider-based monsters.”
Veils are boundaries that state that certain
types of content may exist in the fiction but should
never be described in detail: for example, “no
descriptions of the specifics of torture” or “spider
monsters can exist but shouldn’t be the primary
enemy in a session.” Remind players that if they
feel uncomfortable and need to step away from
the table or the game—either temporarily or per-
manently—the other players will respect them.
Also, be sure to introduce the safety mechan-
ics and confirm that all players understand and
respect them.Matthew Wynn (Order #20055116)
So, when you approach a climactic point in a social
or political confrontation, always offer the option to use
the dice to resolve it. If the players involved would pre-
fer to continue speaking and acting in character, that’s
their prerogative, but they must have the option to
rely on the game’s mechanics instead. As a corollary, if
you are an experienced roleplayer and you know your
partner would prefer to continue without resorting to
the mechanics, it’s doubly important that you make the
gesture of asking the other player if they want to roll,
even if you know the answer is no. Doing so is an act of
courtesy toward any players present but not involved in
the conflict who might be less confident in their acting
skills. It shows that the more confident players at the
table will not judge or think less of a player who does
want to go to the dice.
Player Knowledge of
RoKugani Culture
Similarly, L5R does not expect individuals out of char-
acter to understand Japanese or Rokugani manners.
Making reference to the fine points of etiquette—the
height at which someone bows to someone else, the
signs that a belt has been tied in haste, a sword held
in an inopportune position to denote ease and lack of
threat—can add fun and evocative detail to a scene.
That said, all too often in gaming, these details are
misused. If you know details about Rokugani culture,
language, or etiquette (or about the real-world ideas
from history, myth, literature, and film that inspired
Rokugan, such as those from Japan), it’s okay to show
off a little—but only a little. Do not assume other play-
ers have the same context you do. Strike a balance
between overloading them with information, and leav-
ing them mystified as to what you are doing and why.
Furthermore, be respectful of any real-world source
concepts that inspired these details, and to the real
people to whom those concepts might have differ-
ent meanings. Ultimately, remember that the goal is
to have fun, and while some amount of immersion in
details of the setting can help that, it shouldn’t take
over completely.
PreParation
witHout Planning
A political game is more difficult to moderate than an
action- or investigation-focused one. The challenges
the GM presents to the players must be more multi-
faceted than a monster or villain to be struck down,
or a specific hidden truth to be uncovered. Political
play works best when the players are presented with
a diverse web of potential allies and enemies and
are given a diverse set of approaches to achieving
their goals.
The traditional approach of contriving a series of
scenes is unreliable at the best of times, and this is
even more true in the dynamic social circumstances of
a court game. While you must be ready to improvise
in a highly social game, you can still do some advance
preparation of a most enjoyable kind: inventing non-
player characters and the factions they represent.
QuicK PreParation
for tHe First Session
For your first session, keep to two or three major influ-
ential NPCs and corresponding factions, with perhaps
a handful of background characters whom you can
later promote if your players latch on to them. For each
faction, write some general notes about the following:
$ What important resource they have that other
factions might want: soldiers, rice, social
cachet, secrets
$ What they desperately need and cannot get
without someone else’s help outside the faction
$ Who their representative is
$ What the representative is good at and uses to
get their way
$ What the representative desperately needs,
independently from the faction
$ A general conception of how their behavior
and speech differ from those of other people at
court, so that you feel comfortable speaking in
character as this representative
Your starting factions should be locked in some
form of adversity with one another. The nature of the
adversity is up to you, but it should be positioned such
that if the player characters do not involve themselves
somehow, the circumstances clearly and gradually
grow worse and more intense in a way that is bad for
the court in general. Setting up a situation rife with
conflict this way allows you to hook the players organi-
cally, since “everyone has orders from the Emperor” is
a less reliable motivator at Winter Court.
Let tHe Players Create Details
Once you have enough details in play that the factions
can make each other’s lives miserable if ignored, resist
the urge to add too many specific details to the fac-
tions and their representatives—or, if you do, do not
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tie yourself to the details ahead of time. You do not
yet know which ones the players will be interested in
and investigate deeply. If you leave things flexible, you
have the opportunity to add details that suit the play-
ers’ actions and interests as the story develops.
For example, you might not know until you see the
players’ reaction to an NPC whether you want that NPC
to be a support or an antagonist to the heroes. If the
PCs are struggling to succeed and stay afloat, give the
NPC heroic qualities and have them offer help for a
price. If the PCs are lacking for antagonism, turn the
NPC against them.
failure and momentum
As with most situations in Legend of the Five Rings,
political games reward thinking about both success
and failure as interesting. “Nothing happens” failure
can break the momentum of the story. In politics, after
all, nothing stays still for long; the different players are
constantly dancing and moving around one another,
and any individual’s failure is an opportunity for their
enemies or allies. If a courtier makes a check to con-
vince a representative of an enemy clan to help them
against a common foe, then fails the check, “the other
representative is not convinced” is not an especially
interesting outcome.
Instead, think of failures as other ways to move the
situation forward. If Ikoma Tarō fails to convince Doji
Yoshiko to join forces with him, have her capitalize on
his failure. Have her threaten to reveal his vulnerabil-
ity to mutual political enemies unless he concedes to
some goal of hers, or have her attempt to draw other
people into the conversation to support her position.
You can even have the active character “fail for-
ward”: their action fails, but comes with a new opportu-
nity for accomplishing the goal in some other manner.
Perhaps Doji Yoshiko is unconvinced, so she demands
that Tarō shoulder the responsibility for the plan by
staking a great deal of his personal reputation (glory)
on a successful outcome. Perhaps she is in debt to a
shinobi who has blackmail material on her, and though
she cannot join Tarō's cause, she tells him that should
he eliminate the enemy agent, she would be very glad
to lend him aid.
Dynamic failures of these kinds help keep the game
moving forward in surprising and satisfying directions.
A GM who relies on dynamic failures needs to prepare
less in advance: each player’s successes and failures in
the moment writes the plot for the GM, and the GM
and the other players need merely follow along.
romance and intimacy
Presenting romance in a game requires a balance
between too much subtlety (in which case no one
notices) and too much clarity (in which case the romance
seems awkward, dull, and possibly even intimidating).
The process of introducing opportunities for romance
to your players mirrors that of introducing a plot hook:
give the players the chance to make interesting choices
and see where their decisions take them.
Adding romance to a game works differently for
different players. Surprise and spontaneity are integral
to some players’ understanding of romance because
they allow the romance to generate a sense of won-
der. However, others feel more comfortable with a
predictable path for romance, perhaps even discussing
the general arc in advance to alleviate possible ten-
sion. Ask your players what they are most comfortable
with, and then let them take the lead on advancing
their characters’ romantic stories. If a player wants an
NPC to take a more active role in courting their char-
acter (rather than their character seeking the romance
initially) you should still offer the player a chance to
decide (and adjust) the tenor and form their suitor’s
courtship takes.
The potential for romance begins with character
design. If you know your players particularly well, you
may have prior experience to draw on in terms of cre-
ating characters you know they’ll want to get involved
with; however, if you don’t have much history with the
players, creating romanceable NPCs is a more scatter-
shot process. The “sandbox” approach, in which you
present a number of possible options and then further
develop those to which players latch on, is likely to
be more reliable. In order for a player to develop an
emotional connection with an NPC, you need to cre-
ate a sense of their humanity—that there is more of
an inner life to them than just the words that come out
of the GM’s mouth. Three components contribute to
this sensation:
$ Confidence. It is a general principle that con-
fidence is attractive, but the most attractive
form of confidence to a modern player is a little
different from Rokugan’s samurai standard. The
culture of battle, honor, and glory in Rokugan
means that most “brave” or “confident”
samurai take these concepts to the point of
foolhardiness. They want to be the most cel-
ebrated poet in the province, or the first into
the breach with no regard for their own safety,
because they know that such audacity gets
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them recognized by samurai of higher station
who can offer them things they and their family
need to survive downturns in their fortune and
advance to higher station still. However, this
kind of confidence isn’t as useful for romantic
situations. A quieter, more steady confidence
is a better choice. Think about ways your char-
acter can show confidence and vulnerability at
the same time: by showing honesty about feel-
ings of uncertainty or sadness, for example.
$ Competence or Interest. Simply put, the NPC
should have something going on in their life
that continues to be important to them even if
they become romantically involved with a PC.
The NPC should be very skilled in at least one
area, or extremely passionate about something
(even if they aren’t especially skilled). This
quality isn’t really important for the purposes
of impressing the PC or their player. It’s more
important to give the NPC a sense of indepen-
dent life and passion—the idea that they’re
a real person with a history and a life of their
own. Showing what the NPC is good at is a
strong opportunity to show what they care
about. Their competence need not be in a tra-
ditional realm such as combat or artistic expres-
sion, though those are definite possibilities. A
character who is good with children or animals,
who is a good listener or offers wise advice in
times of trouble, or even who shows unusual
diligence in the practice of an art at which they
will never be the best are all viable options.
$ Vulnerability. Most NPCs should have vulner-
abilities—things they need, goals they cannot
achieve on their own—to allow the PCs to
interact with them meaningfully. This quality
motivates the NPCs to seek PC contact and
ensures that the PCs remain the focus of the
adventure. Believable vulnerability, in the
form of realistic weaknesses, anxieties, and
troubles, gives a character realism and human-
ity, which are crucial to the formation of an
emotional connection.