Brainstorms

## Time

**Beats** - sussing out how they work in regards to time and the impact of this time on RP.

* One thought: A 'Beat' is a time of RP focus where all PCs are drawn to a single location. After the Beat, time is allowed to dilate to accommodate various RP scenes, etc. Then, STs set the next 'Beat' and PCs are conceptually gathered once more.
* Other thought: Let's just wing it? With a small game, conceptually addressing the time and pacing and plausibility of the actions will be in the hands of the PCs.

## Theme

Here's a series of questions that I have, as an outsider-looking-in, that may be useful in constructing Theme files and Setting info. I'm sure a bulk of these things are already addressed in ways that are not yet plotted into the wiki, but maybe there's a question here or there that will be useful.

* Game of Thrones meets L5R? - There's a few computer games out on the market, as well as a few tabletop games that make use of family-building and long-time games. Is SNA doing this? Will there be an accumulation of 'Beats' that eventually add up to my main character passing away, and my focus shifting to his or her descendants? Am I making this up? >.>
	+ **No, that's the intent! Though it may be awhile before mortal PCs dies. But that's also why essentially immortal PCs are allowed.**
* Small game, connections: If it's a handful of people playing the game, will there be some system or approach that will help drive RP together? Similarly...
	+ **This should be managed by the focus of chapter-stories which will move narrative focus around the empire.**
* Player-Created Content: How much license will players be given in developing their corner of the world? If I want to play the heir to a House who has a giant family and a storied history and an ancestral home known for its idk giant topiary gardens and crucially important sea port, is this all kosher? If another player wants to join my bandwagon, cool, but will Players trend towards building their own house/family/setting/etc, you think? In relation to the "Connections" bit, above, how do we encourage interrelation during the development process instead of unique-snowflake silos?
	+ **Yes, see Holdings. It's also the duty of staff to direct people to clans/Houses they may feel are a good fit for new PCs. We will likely be gating clans as well so there's not too much overlap, or an overabundance at any given time.**
* NPCs: Storyteller and Setting-based houses/clans/VIPs are intriguing to me, at this point. I'm sure this will be revealed as the setting gets written, but I'm wondering how much interaction I might expect with the "greater world" if the Players are the real movers-and-shakers of the game.
	+ **NPC Clans will be made over the course of the game. There will be opposing forces in the world. And the hope is that PC clans will create some dynamic forces of their own.**

## Vocabulary

I'm looking at 'marked' or 'struck' as qualifiers for the exalted. "Sun-struck." "Moon-marked." These are not entirely complimentary, as those with power often wield it badly (also, virtue flaws, which we're keeping). Terrestrials are 'touched'. Exalts in general are mistrusted, but respected. Even the children of Amaterasu herself are looked upon in much the same way as Icarus and Daedelus--as having gotten too close. Banishing these assumptions is ultimately up to the exalt in question. Being an Exalted is a somewhat lonely proposition in a great many instances.

'Branded' is a modifier not said in polite company.

Another word for Exalts in general.

Exalted often uses "Chosen" in the books. The Chaemera (talk) 13:00, April 24, 2015 (UTC)

## Mass Combat

### Exalted

Statistically, a complementary unit (as opposed to a solo unit, which is a single person in a mass combat situation) is its commander, with trait bonuses awarded according to the numbers, equipment and training of her troops. The special traits of complementary units include:

Magnitude
The size of a unit.
Drill
The trained discipline of a unit.
Endurance
The physical reserves of a unit’s members. Solo units also have this trait.
Might
The overall mystical power of a unit, factoring in magical equipment.
Close Combat/Ranged Attack Rating
The skill of the unit members at attacking.
Close Combat/Ranged Attack Damage
The lethality of unit members when attacking.
Armor
The average protection provided by unit members’ armor.
Morale
The overall bravery of a unit.
Special Characters
A non-numerical listing of important characters within a unit’s ranks.
Formation
A non-numerical trait that describes a unit’s current tactical arrangement.
All actions are rolled using the dice pools of the unit's commander, with Abilities capped by **War**. Combat rating and damage of the unit are added to related rolls as bonus successes, again capped by War (also some variance depending on unit formation and such). Might also adds bonus successes. Difference in Magnitude gives bonuses to the bigger and penalties to the smaller. Etc.

In effect, Exalted Mass Combat rules are the same as single combat rules, but using a unit of troops as equipment. They're much more complicated than that, but that's the basis.

### L5R

The Mass Battle system allows characters to determine how
involved in the fighting they are, and then uses the characters’
capabilities to determine how well they are faring at that level.
Conflicts of this scale are measured in Battle Turns, which
consist of thirty minutes each. Every character participating
in the battle must determine the results of their involvement
once per Battle Turn. The length of a battle can vary wildly,
but a good rule of thumb is that one Battle Turn takes place
per 250 troops on each side. So a battle between two forces of
500 men each would take two Battle Turns to resolve.

The GM makes a Contested **Battle (Mass Combat) / Perception** Roll between the generals
in command of the rival armies. If one of the generals
wins the roll by 5 or more, that general’s army
is considered to be winning while the other side is
losing. If the difference is less than 5, the battle is
considered even.

Players decide how involved their characters are in the battle in question. Are they in the vanguard up to their eyes in enemies? Or as they in the reserves and can't even see the enemy army? Once that is determined, each player rolls 1d10 and adds that to the sum of their **Water** ring and their **Battle** skill. The total of this roll is compared to a table taking into account which side is winning and where the character is in the fighting. Results can vary from simple rewards (or "rewards" in the form of wounds) to special Dramatic Encounters within the battle.

### Mass Combat Here

As L5R rules with following additions.

Generals
As given, a roll is made between generals to determine who is winning or losing. This roll is an opposed Military Rating roll. A Military Rating is calculated by adding the sum of the following.

* The total Military Holdings sent to the battle, including any additional bonuses from those Military Holdings.
* Any Infrastructure, Clan, etc. Holding bonuses that might apply.
* The General's War rating.
* The total of Insight and Essence amongst PCs that are participating (excluding the general), who could/would reasonably be at the attacked location.
* Any random bonuses or reductions from other Holdings (including enemy units).

Remember that bonuses are only added from Military Holdings present at **This Battle**. The Defender is always guaranteed to have at least the military force assigned to the attacked Holdings. Any additional forces they wish to assign must have the ability to **move** to that location. Generals can't simply declare that they are grabbing a military force on the other side of their province without another Holding that allows them to do that (usually roads via Infrastructure Holdings). Even adjacent Holdings to the one being attacked that have a military presence can't join in unless some other Holding allows them to do so (or they have some ability that allows them to do so, like being cavalry).

Once the rolls are made, mass combat continues as written.