HONOR! – Kitsu Kanna's Q&A

[Kitsu Kanna]

Well, here we are.

First, thanks to all the GMs and players. You were all awesome.

Second, sorry for all the people that have thrown plot hooks at Kanna, big and small, only for her to run (well, more like awkwardly stumble) in the other direction. Mix of reasons for that, some good, some dumb, some beyond my control, all OOC. Regardless, the fact is there.

Third, the obvious one. It's one thing to bring a Loyal Good character and realize a bit late this is more of a Neutral/Chaotic game. It's another to not do a single effort to fit better. Sorry for the obtuse singlemindedness that completely locked out a lot of possibilities.

Fourth, I've put a verbose explanation of how the train-wreck started and went on at the end of this post. Short version: The ongoing 2020 crisis has left its scars on a lot of us, and for me the symptoms have been an overly cautious, defensive, apprehensive, behavior all game long.

Fifth, well, fire your questions.

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The madness about Kanna is rooted deep, starting all the way back. With the character sheet.

I've come to really despise character sheets with time. How a bunch of arbitrary numbers chosen at the very start, at a point you have but a rough idea at what the story will be about, condition so much about your character. How sometimes it would make perfect sense in story for a character (yours or another) to do something but, no luck, not the right numbers, so better step down in favor of the right pile of numbers or, far worst, steal someone else's thunder.

In pen-and-paper my usual group has mostly move to systems where everyone is a jack-of-all-trades with specialties that suggest a course of action more than constraint it. While this choice was itself conditioned by the move toward short scenarios rather than lengthy campaigns, I kinda like it a lot? I'm not saying that's for everyone's taste, and I perfectly understand that someone could prefer a system that puts a greater distance between a total neophyte and an expert. To each their own.

But it's important to understand how... nonplussed I was at the idea of making Kanna's sheet.

So I had the brilliant idea of... Not making one. I mean, Kanna has one, but it's just a default Lion courtier template with half a dozen points of fluff skills powdered onto it. I didn't even have the strength to add something silly and fun to it, like Games: Oshidama, Crab Hands or Phobia: Spiders (the actual arachnid).

I thought it would remove a thorn from my side and allow me to focus serenely on what actually mattered: Story, personality, etc.

It turned out to be. The. Worst. Idea. Ever.

Even if Kanna's sheet was bland to the extreme, I still felt, even subconsciously, I had to live to it in a certain capacity, a bit like when you randomly inherit a paladin at a convention one-shot and overdo it to the death because you're not used to playing paladins.

The initial concept, completely lost at sea at this point, was a joke about what we call "court journalists" in real life. These journalists that don't really do any reporting, but instead are part of the suite of some politician, following them everywhere, dutifully repeating their propaganda and licking their boots in the hope they will be rewarded with some revelation that will sell well.

I also naturally tend to do demi-shugenja, as in someone with a priestly background but that didn't have to deal with the mechanics of spells. Maybe someone with Medium or Inner Gift if I had actually made a sheet (which, thinking of it, does sound like playing a Fighter/Rogue/Sorcerer who specializes in enchantments just to not play a Bard).

And from that moment onward, it simply went fully off the rails. Having three different directions (journalist, priest, paragon) might, on paper, still have provided interesting interactions. In practice, it created a Frankenstein monster that was just constantly tripping on her own legs, self-sabotaging with glee, each aspect (well, mostly the paragon) paralyzing the other two, and leaving little room to develop more personal sides of her personality that could have opened up smoother interactions.

Of course, a bad starting point is just that. In a different timeline, in a different headspace, course would have been corrected swiftly. Instead, I went full perseverare diabolicum, apparently supposing the problem would magically solve itself if I ignored it long enough. In doing so, I made everyone's lives, mine included, far more difficult than it should have been. So sorry about that.

Note that I enjoyed partaking in the game very much. I just wish I had been less obtrusive, more constructive, a lot of the time.

[Hato]

Hey Kanna.

Much love to you. The true impact of the Pandemic has hit people in a lot of ways, and and showing up here with a concept that didn't pan out most likely didn't help with that. While it didn't go how you wanted, I hope you found at least some moments of joy with us.

I'm curious about the duel. What kind of long term effects would we see from the Heaven's declaration from Kanna's place in the universe?

[Kitsu Kanna]

I'm curious about the duel. What kind of long term effects would we see from the Heaven's declaration from Kanna's place in the universe?

The outcome offered a good opportunity to finally dial down the whole intransigence gimmick (something that had been very mildly attempted in the previous days at best).

As for the long term... Kanna is not a character I envisioned returning or even persisting in any capacity past the game. So need to think a bit here.

One of ideas I ended up discarding because it didn't seem like it would open up venues for conversations thus making it moot for a social game (I have no idea how true this is in retrospect; would likely have been too complex to handle anyway) is that Kanna should have been working on a sorta autobiography, in the form of a series of pseudo-letters addressed to her daughter. The concept (inspired by this article) was to restore through ink and paper the link between herself, her ancestors, and her descendants, by detailing how her parentage and ancestry still shaped her in spite of her being removed from the stream (Cursed by Yomi), their legacy continuing through her and her children in turn.

I guess unearthing that more philosophical approach would make sense in the face of the heavenly shrug. Write non judgmental "self-help books" about how to align oneself with honor even if your ancestors aren't helping.

(and then distribute them in Scorpion worlds to help breed a new generation of junshin, because everything needs to be keikaku)

[Dai]

So what are you going to name the ronin stand-in for Dai who does die heroically in the battle as opposed to ruining the narrative by surviving?

[Kitsu Kanna]

So what are you going to name the ronin stand-in for Dai who does die heroically in the battle as opposed to ruining the narrative by surviving?

Well, Dai but with the kanji of problem instead of the kanji of great. Totally different person... And allows to still have Dai die in story.

[Boogiepop]

Hello! Thank you for joining us once again in Banner and Shadow War! I have to say, it's very interesting to see the thought processing between the concept, actual plan, and the retrospect regarding your character. I suppose sometimes it can be easy to assume you can flip the switch of character to go with the flow more but sometimes those concepts are hard-coded in their DNA that it's hard to pivot, much like Kanna's case. I found the concept very interesting and what she set out to do with her time here, but what happened told a different story it seems.

Finally! Semi-unrelated, I did take that melee-character-in-Banner into account and tried to come up with a workaround to make a melee build more viable. Still a work in progress! It doesn't seem fair to discard that aspect of the game and just have characters stay in one place and shoot each other all day. I suppose close quarters are a thing, as is options to start engaged, or just drop a massive melee threat.

[Kitsu Kanna]

Concept and execution are sadly two different things. Everyone has ideas, not everyone can make anything of them.

One thing I've realized this game: I tend to not pick GM-dependent advantages/disadvantages because I thought of them as extra work pushed unon the GMs... But actually, I'm more and more under the impression this eases things up, by adding an "easy" hook with which to interact with the PC. Right or wrong?

As for melee, it just has so many issues:

• To do pew pew, you need Reflexes, Earth, and maybe a bit of Perception. To do big stick, you need that AND Agility, and a bit of Strength (to complete the Water ring mostly).
• With the sidearm roughly as good as the katana and the rifle has good as tetsubo, there is little incentive going through the hassle of a melee build.
• While super cool (and thus here to stay), the new ruling about Gunfighter + Full Attack removes the very last thing melee with melee weapons had for itself.

Of course, situations can be engineered when pew pew is bad. Like inside a spaceship, where each missed shot has a chance to trigger a fatal hazard. That's how I had justified Akemi's melee build in character in Banner 3.

But that seems like a lot of efforts to accommodate the one-every-two-games character with a melee build. Honestly, at this point, I would go the other way, by cleaning the schools of their last references to melee, simplifying the rules in the process. I know L5R likes to keep strange legacy mechanics forever (ah, the kata) but these are the end times, we can break tradition.

[Boogiepop]

I'd say it would really depend on the particular hook when it comes to disadvantages. Like any issue, it will depend on how much you involve other PCs in addressing it or solving it. It's as insular or inviting as you make it to be. It's also a matter of it coming up during the story. Sometimes it becomes free points because said bad person can't make an appearance and sometimes it really blows up in your face in unexpected ways, especially when you're having a nice stay so far. I wouldn't say it's a guaranteed formula and not 'easy' by any means but would present another potential avenue at least.

[Susumu Yakumo]

Thanks for creating some interesting samurai-drama with me! Reading back, I suppose I'm not surprised that Kanna got challenged to a duel in the end, since she seemed to be a bit of a prickly customer when speaking with others, especially if the subject of the Spider was involved. ^^; I feel like the Kharmic-result was perhaps the most interesting outcome there, since it challenged the perception of both Yakumo and Kanna alike!


And I think it's really interesting your ideas and insight into Character Sheet vs Story. I've seen a lot of discussions on similar topics in other forums that talk about gaming and roleplaying games, and I've noticed that there is sometimes a divide between different approaches. Some are more whimsical in their approach to character and just let the character be adapted as the dice fall, whereas other have more firm ideas of what the character should be able to do and not do and do not enjoy adapting as unexpected scenarios occurr. Not that any way is more right or wrong than the others, as we all approach roleplaying games with the idea of how we can have fun. It's just interesting to look at from a gaming-theory standpoint.

I felt the idea of a Lion journalist to be pretty intriguing. Having a vision to write about samurai from other clans is a great icebreaker for topics and for meeting different characters, I feel - like a good excuse to ask for scenes or to make the conversations engaging. So in that vein, what ended up being the most interesting meeting or interview Kanna had during her time here?

[Kitsu Kanna]

Reading back, I suppose I'm not surprised that Kanna got challenged to a duel in the end, since she seemed to be a bit of a prickly customer when speaking with others, especially if the subject of the Spider was involved. ^^;

Yeah, Kanna was so abrasive most of the times the main reason she didn't find herself in more than one duel is mostly OOC considerations

(unrelated, but this version of the forum apparently supports more emoji than the one listed on the right)

And I think it's really interesting your ideas and insight into Character Sheet vs Story. I've seen a lot of discussions on similar topics in other forums that talk about gaming and roleplaying games, and I've noticed that there is sometimes a divide between different approaches. Some are more whimsical in their approach to character and just let the character be adapted as the dice fall, whereas other have more firm ideas of what the character should be able to do and not do and do not enjoy adapting as unexpected scenarios occurr. Not that any way is more right or wrong than the others, as we all approach roleplaying games with the idea of how we can have fun. It's just interesting to look at from a gaming-theory standpoint.

In the case of Kanna, I wouldn't exclude a semi-conscious defensive mechanics reinforcing my inability to have her pivot in the early/mid game. At that point, I was very doubtful I would have enough energy to see through the whole game, and so that naturally encouraged a mixed, somewhat hostile behavior toward plot bearers. And since in PbP every PC and NPC is a potential plot hook...

My case though is not so much about getting bad or good rolls in events at things that didn't match with the character, which can be silly but is ultimately harmless, that the fact I die inside a bit each time I read something like "that event would make perfect sense for my character, but with Earth 2, I'm going to pass". Character sheets just shouldn't be obstacles to story.

I felt the idea of a Lion journalist to be pretty intriguing. Having a vision to write about samurai from other clans is a great icebreaker for topics and for meeting different characters, I feel - like a good excuse to ask for scenes or to make the conversations engaging. So in that vein, what ended up being the most interesting meeting or interview Kanna had during her time here?

Ironically, I would say those where the interview was technically a disaster. The one that comes to mind is the thread with Koyuki, where no printable story was told, but that started paving the way toward Kanna reconsidering how she approached the other clans and their take on bushido, honor, duty, etc.