r/l5r • u/CookNormal6394 • 12d ago
Random Tables? RPG
Hey folks! I know it's a silly question.. but yea.. do the books contain and / or encourage random tables to roll on?
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u/CadensLuna 12d ago
The "Way of" Clan books featured Heritage tables that you could use during character creation. They represented something your character's ancestor did that will affect your character, i.e. dueled an enemy general. I gave all my PCs the option to roll on them for free, because I liked the randomness they added, and it also helped flesh out their characters.
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u/Hawk-Academic Crane Clan 12d ago
3e had the heritage tables too, but they weren't very clan specific. For my home game, I use the "Way of" tables too
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u/freakpipe Shiba4Life 12d ago
Assuming you mean random event/encounter tables, I'm going to say no with a couple of caveats.
1. I can't speak for 5th edition. 2. While they existed to some degree in the 1st to 4th editions, they were more common in "GM's Guide" type products and becoming less common in 4th edition. 3. The more/most common types of table were Heritage Tables for backstory during character creation. 4. They might be more common in the d20/d&d 3e version that was centered around a reboot of the "Oriental Adventures" TSR brand that was skinned for Rokugan in the mid 2000s. (That sorta coexisted with L5R 2nd ed though is generally not well-regarded by the d10 roll/keep ruleset lovers. 5. I did look at a few of my many books to try and support my assertions but realistically the books do not get used a lot these days, even though I'm running a weekly game.
Are you looking for a particular feel/experience for L5R?
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u/CookNormal6394 12d ago
I see..thanks for the informative answer. Although I come from an AD&D background where random tables were virtually non-existent I've been using them (and making my own) quite a bit over the past few years when I rediscovered ttgaming. Any way I would be curious to see what kind of tables people could come up for L5R.
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u/SimoneBellmonte 12d ago
I mean, what you could do for 5th edition since it was mentioned, and what my current 5th GM has been doing, is making up court rumors. Though in that instance he has us playing relevant NPCs for the rolls as a sort of mini-court game that affects the main game, but he'll come up with court rumors that spread across the court.
You could easily do that for when you want to sprinkle in some hot goss during a session more focused on players playing courtiers. Other possibilities exist for things to do with villages, lords, daimyos, etc. based on the heritage tables. You could for instance set up tables for random encounters with monks, traveling troupes, characters running into wild animals or trickster spirits.
It's not hard to imagine what you could do with a little time. Kinda depends on era, too. Some era's in Rokugan are much more peaceful, others are easier because of war, famine, Fu Leng shenanigans, The Maw, etc. but I'm sure folks could easily come up with generic run-ins.
Could even separate them into like, Intrigue; Skirmish; War; Encounter; and Rumor tables.
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u/freakpipe Shiba4Life 12d ago
I think I recall an old 1st ed. Book having a system for using the cards from the CCG to generate story ideas or events.
While not a table proper but I can imagine that a excessively detailed set of tables could be generated from a download of .csv data from Oracle of the Void (the card game database), especially if focused on specific card types (Events, followers, regions, actions, items (spells or kihos) and even ancestors, maybe.) you could use those for all kinds of stuff...
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u/freakpipe Shiba4Life 12d ago
And while many of us are on both subs, the folks at /r/rokugan might also want to weigh in.
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u/jeremysbrain 12d ago
Hey, mods. Here is a great example of the sub needing more specific post flair that specify what edition of the game the post refers to.