Bushi d6 - Religion

Religion

The people of Honzu worship the kami, who are the spirits of the world. Pretty much every natural feature has an associated kami, including rivers, waterfalls, old trees, and even clearings in a forest.

The most powerful kami are the family of: Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun; Sarutahiko, God of the Earth; and Tsukuyomi, God of the Moon. 

There are also kami for things such as war, farming, and other daily activities. These kami wax and wane in power, depending on what is going on in the world. Some dragons are also powerful enough to be considered kami.

The evil dragon Uwibami has a cult that captures people, whom they feed to the dragon.

Bushi d6 - Roles of the Samurai

Yeah, this has a lot of L5R influence. That's because their roles are fantastic for this genre.

Roles of the Samurai

The Daimyo is the leader of a noble Family. Each Great Family has its own Daimyo, and the lesser noble Families also have their own Daimyo. This includes the independent Families.

The Bushi is a warrior, first-and-foremost. He can be a duelist, an archer, or just a second-son who fights in the army. 

A Monk is a religious warrior. They are unaffiliated with the Families, but instead serve a temple as a priest or soldier.

Ninja come from the samurai class, but always present themselves as one of the other roles. Many act as bushi or courtesans, only performing their role as an assassin when directed by their leader.

Sorcerers are magically-adept. They use magic to protect their Family, both in the home and on the battlefield. Evil sorcerers are executed, unless they can maintain a secret identity or successfully flee to Onizan.

Ronin are not really a role, though most of them are bushi or sorcerers. They are samurai, but they are not affiliated with any Family. Most of them act as mercenaries, though quite a few turn to banditry in lean times. 

Bushi d6 - Current Year

This is an outline of major events during the current year of my Bushi setting.

170 IA 

Matsuki
1: New Year’s celebrations throughout the Empire.

Kisaragi

4: Merchants from Konoe arrange a long-term term trade agreement with one of the tribes in Nagazawa.

17: A Nezumi shaman appears at the Imperial Palace in Miyako. He warns of dire portents in the spring, but is shuffled off after the courtesans treat him to several parties, where they show off the barbarian sorcerer to their friends.

Yayoi

17: Imperial troops defeat an oni raid along the western border of Onizan.

Uzuki

23: Ichijo Matsu has a terrible nightmare where the Palace is bathed in blood. She sends messengers to Miyako to warn of impending danger.

25: The evil sorceress Wu Jiao launches her attack on the Imperial Palace in Miyako. The Emperor Honzu Ryoto and his immediate family, as well as a large number of courtesans from all of the Great Families, are slain.

26-28: Battles continue throughout Miyako, with samurai fighting against bakemono, oni, and undead warriors.
29: The Hero Minase Junzo slays Wu Jiao, sacrificing himself to end her assault.

30: Battles continue in Miyako, as the evil monsters attempt to flee.

Satsuki

1: The last remnants of the monsters are destroyed in the city. Many escape into the underground tunnels and cave systems.

3: House Gojo backs a young cousin of the deceased Emperor, named Honzu Tetsu.

8: Daimyo Takashi Toshiro publicly rejects Honzu Tetsu, stating that the boy will merely be a figurehead for Daimyo Gojo Shun.

15: A Council of the Great Houses is held in Miyako. House Gojo threatens House Takashi, declaring that they are traitors to the Empire for not accepting Tetsu. The Takashi Courtesan leaves the Council.

15-30: Meetings occur regularly between the Great Houses, with everyone attempting to gain allies. Konoe remains staunchly neutral, and Daimyo Konoe Iwa has stated that no warships from the other Houses would be allowed to transit around her island. Daimyo Kujo Hideki has at least initially backed her on this stance. Kujo and Daimyo Ichijo Matsu attempt to smooth things over between Gojo and Takashi, to no avail.

Minazuki

1: The majority of the Honzu troops are in the Imperial Army, which is stationed around Onizan. The generals remain loyal to House Honzu, but no one has managed to claim leadership of the Family, as only cousins who were not at the Palace actually survive. Much political infighting is going on in Miyako, and several minor Honzu family members have been assassinated in the last few weeks.

10: A small oni army attacks the imperial troops just east of Nezoka. A powerful oni lord is determining how distracted the Imperial forces are.

Shadowrun and an anime suggestion

If you are a fan of Shadowrun (and I am!) or other cyberpunk, I highly recommend you set aside time to watch the anime series Psycho-Pass. It is set in a dystopian future, where a computer system reads people auras. If you show up as a latent criminal, you will be arrested or even executed by a team of a Detective and a Hunter.

The show is very well done, and you can guess what happens if you've read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick (which is even recommend by name during an episode). Minority Report is the movie based upon this short story.

In any case, I'd give this show a 9/10 for general sf fans, and a 10/10 for cyberpunk/Shadowrun fans. Since it's on Hulu, it's free and legal, and the animation company actually gets paid, so they can make more anime in the future.

Bushi d6 Martial Arts - hmm, maybe

Not sure how I'm going to approach martial arts for my Bushi d6 game. As is, there's pretty much nothing for it in the Mini6 rules. At this point, I've just ported in rules for choking, slams, and wrestling from d6 Fantasy. I may just leave everything as the Brawling skill, and leave it at that.

Maybe rename it to jiujitsu, but not really change anything else. With the combat maneuvers, I'm not sure going very specific for various flavors of karate is worthwhile. At best, I might have Brawling subdivided into wrestling and striking, with each gaining a +1D or +2D to specific maneuvers.

Bushi d6 Calendar

Anyone familiar with Japan should recognize these names, as they are the old months of the Japanese calendar.

Months of the Year

Matsuki (Month of Affection/January)

Kisaragi (Changing Clothes/February)

Yayoi (New Life/March)

Uzuki (Unohana Flower Month/April)

Satsuki (Early Rice-planning Month/May)

Minazuki (Month of Water/June)

Fumizuki (Month of Books/July)

Haochizuki (Month of Falling Leaves/August)

Nagatsuki (The Long Month/September)

Kannazuki (Month of the Gods/October)

Shimotsuki (Month of Frost/November)

Shiwasu (Priests Running/December)

Annual Blog Cleaning

Just did my annual cleaning of the gaming blogs I follow. In all, six gaming blogs got removed, as none had updated in over a year. There are a few more that are over 10 months, but I didn't delete them, as you never know if they might reboot.

It's a shame so many gamers start blogging, and then just stop. I know my output dropped dramatically this year, but I still managed at least a couple posts in my worst months. It is really hard to post if I don't have a project, as I did all my pontificating a few years back, and am quite frankly burned out on that stuff.

So, here's hoping a bunch of new gamers start blogging, and tons of great material gets published for me to steal for my games. Hahahaha!

Bushi d6 - money

There are three standard types of coins used: gold koban, silver ichibuban, and bronze mon. There are 100 ichibuban to one koban. There are 10 mon to one ichibuban. Mon are made with a square hole in the center for stringing them together. Koban are only used for large trade transactions, and as currency between nobles. Most people only see ichibuban and mon in daily life.

All prices listed for equipment are in silver ichibuban unless noted with an (m) for bronze mon.

Bushi d6 - Samurai Family Names

Samurai Family Names

Honzu (Imperial Family)

Retainer Family: Minase.

Gojo (Great Family)

Lesser noble families: Asukai, Daigo, Kaoin, Oimikado, Reizei, Shijo.

Warrior families: Asai, Honda, Ishida, Kusonoki, Okuba, Shibata.

Ichijo (Great Family)

Lesser noble families: Aburakoji, Hirohata, Kuga, Matsuki, Nomiya, Washio.

Warrior families: Askikaga, Fukushima, Kaga, Matsudaira, Suwa, Ukita.

Konoe (Great Family)

Lesser noble families: Inokuma, Jimyoin, Kawashi, Nanba, Rakujochigusa, Shimizudani.

Warrior families: Date, Hachisuka, Mori, Miyamoto, Okamoto, Takezaki.

Kujo (Great Family)

Lesser noble families: Anenokoji, Kajuji, Konjo, Nakayama, Sanjo, Tokudaiji.

Warrior families: Hojo, Kato, Kuroda, Murakami, Tanuma.

Takashi (Great Family)

Lesser noble families: Imaidegawa, Karasuja, Masachika, Saioji, Shigenoi, Yamashina.

Warrior families: Chosokabe, Heike, Hosokawa, Kuki, Ooka, Saito, Takeda.

Unaffiliated warrior families: Genji, Hattori, Maeda, Oda, Shimazu, Takigawa, Tokugawa, Watanabe.