Roleplaying game

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Chapter 1: Playing the Game
Chapter 1: Playing the Game
•  Incite (Social Skills): For Social skills, the Fire approach lets a char-
acter engage with someone’s existing emotions and desires rather than 
their raw logic. The Fire approach can also be used to get others to act 
on these things in spite of obvious pitfalls or justified fears.
•  Innovate (Trade Skills): For Trade skills, the Fire approach allows 
a character to develop new technologies and techniques, create new 
products and services, and get resources in new ways.
Water
The Water Ring represents an adaptable, powerful, and perceptive per-
sonality. The approach is balanced and reversible, as the character works 
to get results without overextending themselves or underperforming. 
A character with a high Water Ring value is naturally affable, physically 
flexible, observant, and easygoing.
The Water approaches for each skill group are as follows:
•  Adapt (Artisan Skills): For Artisan skills, the Water approach hinges 
upon transformation—making works function in new ways by chang-
ing them, translating works of art into other languages or mediums, 
and reducing works to their component parts to serve as raw materials 
for a new piece.
•  Survey (Scholar Skills): For Scholar skills, the Water approach serves 
to give a character information about their environment and wider 
circumstances. It can be used to identify things within an area of ex-
pertise, detect broad trends and currents, or find out how things work 
in a practical sense.
•  Shift (Martial Skills): For Martial skills, the Water approach relies on 
making the circumstances work for the character. It seeks the path of least 
resistance for greatest efficacy. Those taking a Water approach will seek to 
redirect incoming energy rather than expending energy of their own.
•  Charm (Social Skills): For Social skills, the Water approach is focused 
around interacting gregariously and building a rapport with others. 
It allows a character to instill desires and emotions in others, uncover 
the existing desires of others, and win people’s sympathy.
•  Exchange (Trade Skills): For Trade skills, the Water approach allows a 
character to trade resources or labor of one type for another. This lets 
the character acquire items and services efficiently and at a low cost.
Void
The Void Ring represents a centered, unflinching personality; it can also 
represent the “flow state.” By letting go of the suffering inherent in one’s 
ego-driven desires, the samurai can transcend earthly limitations. It is the 
enlightened approach, accepting the nature of all of the elements at once, 
yet allowing no one element to dominate. A character with a high Void 
Ring value is likely to be spiritually sensitive, wise, and introspective.
The Void approaches for each skill group are as follows:
•  Attune (Artisan Skills): For Artisan skills, the Void approach lets a char-
acter understand the purpose of a work, know why the work has appeared 
before them now, and sense the work’s supernatural qualities, if any exist.
•  Sense (Scholar Skills): For Scholar skills, the Void approach repre-
sents a character’s “sixth sense,” giving them hunches about supernat-
ural phenomena in their environment and even future events.
•  Enlighten (Social Skills): For Social skills, the Void approach allows 
the character to challenge the core beliefs of others, causing them to 
reassess their decisions, look again at what they truly desire, or even 
break free from powerful emotional states or mystical manipulation.
•  Sacrifice (Martial Skills): For Martial skills, the Void approach cov-
ers acts that are so in tune with the rhythm of the cosmos as to appear 
effortless. Rather than opposing or using existing forces, it transcends 
them. Without direction by any conscious thought, the character’s body 
instinctively does what is necessary for success, no matter the cost. 
•  Subsist (Trade Skills): For Trade skills, the Void approach allows a 
character to live in harmony with their environment, finding ways to 
make the most out of very little without disturbing their surroundings.
Skill Ranks
Skills represent a character’s training in a particular art. When making a 
check using a given skill, a character rolls a number of Skill dice equal to 
the number of ranks they possess in that skill. For player characters, Skill 
ranks have a value between 0 and 5, though certain supernatural beings 
might possess Skill ranks that fall outside of this range.
•  Rank 0: This represents a lack of formal training. The character has 
only a cursory understanding based on limited direct experience.
•  Rank 1: This represents the beginner or amateur level. The character 
has taken their first steps in formal education on the topic and has 
grasped the rudimentary elements of its study.
•  Rank 2: This represents the apprentice or initiate level of study. They 
have begun to delve into the deeper nuances of their art.
•  Rank 3: This represents the trained professional. They have enough 
theoretical understanding and practical experience to go out into the 
world and use their skills to earn a living or serve their lord well.
•  Rank 4: This represents the advanced level of study. They are called 
upon to invent new subfields within their area of expertise or train oth-
ers in their art. They might be asked to teach lower-ranking students 
within their dōjō or be given supervisory responsibilities by their lord.
•  Rank 5: This represents so-called mastery of a given skill, though in 
truth, it is just the beginning of mastery. These individuals often become 
sought-out teachers or champions of their specific field, and their names 
will be passed down as exemplars of the art. And yet, greater mysteries 
always exist, to be pursued for the acquisition of secret techniques, per-
sonal enlightenment, and a greater understanding of the wider world.
•  Rank 6+: This represents enlightenment on a given matter, or a 
degree of supernatural knowledge that exceeds human limitations. 
Matching Rings with Skills
Each ring can function alongside any skill, but each ring/skill pairing 
(called an approach) reflects a different strategy and set of results. As 
such, rather than reflecting only discrete mental or physical traits of a 
character as they have in past editions of the Legend of the Five Rings 
Roleplaying Game, in this edition, each ring represents a character’s 
propensity toward a particular way of thinking, acting, and using 
the tools that their skills provide them. A character with a high ring 
value for Fire is best at seeking out novel, flashy solutions, whereas 
a character with a high Earth Ring value is patient and respectful of 
tradition—and this is true regardless of whether they are in a social 
situation, crafting a piece of art, or fighting.
Each skill group has a set of five approaches (one per ring). This 
means that all rings are useful in all spheres of activity, but they 
function in different ways. This can help to differentiate two char-
acters who have similar skill ranks, so long as their ring values are 
different, as one will be better at achieving some ends with those 
skills than the other.

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