Game: Legend of the Five Rings (first edition – Alderac Entertainment Group, 1997)
My Experience: I’ve been hanging out in Rokugan since my junior year of college, when the hall director saw some of us playing Magic: The Gathering in the third floor lounge of Holmes Hall. He remarked that his buddy, John Zinser, was involved with a company that was bringing some new card game to market. I was hooked as soon as the first free samples showed up. A couple of years later, the RPG set in the same universe released, and the Louisville Gaming Mafia engaged with it pretty much immediately. I’ve run or played each of the four editions AEG put out and it remains one of my go-to systems and settings.
Iuchi Masuyo, Reluctant Yojimbo
Iuchi Masuyo would much rather be something other than what she is. A samurai-ko in a family of shugenja; a ground-fighter in a clan known for its cavalry; a captive at court descended from a line of nomads and explorers. None of these are what she wanted, and only the weight of duty holds her back from forsaking it all for the life of a ronin. She is an exceptionally angry woman, angry enough that those who know her say she’d have better been born into the Lion Clan, and those who are closest to her can – some days – get away with using her nickname of “Matsu-yo” to her face.
The Iuchi are the Unicorn Clan family from which most of the clan’s shugenjas emerge, as do the few courtiers who can navigate the Emerald Empire’s courts on behalf of their half-wild brethren. These gentle souls need protectors, both in the courts and on the roads between, and Otaku battle-maidens and Shinjo archers are ill-suited to the palaces of Otosan Uchi. So, by and large, the Iuchi supply their own yojimbo – bodyguards – from among the ranks of those samurai of their line who are better suited to blade than pen or scroll.
Masuyo does her duty without public complaint. Whenever it’s socially acceptable, she hides behind her ceremonial armor and its ornate mempo so she has an excuse not to speak. But every Unicorn around her knows she’s hungry for an assignment that will free her from court and release her under the open sky.
Traits
Clan: Unicorn
Family: Iuchi
School: Shinjo Bushi
Rings and Traits
Fire 2: Agility 3, Intelligence 2
Air 3: Reflexes 3, Awareness 3
Water 2: Strength 2, Perception 3
Earth 2: Stamina 2, Willpower 2
Void 2
Skills
Archery 1
Courtier 1
Defense 3
Etiquette 1
Hunting 2
Iaijutsu 2
Kenjutsu 2
Horsemanship 2
Naginata 3
Advantages: Quick, Way of the Land (province where the campaign is centered)
Disadvantages: Benten’s Curse, Sworn Enemy (equal rank; offended Phoenix samurai)
Equipment
naginata
katana
wakizashi
daikyu with 20 armor-piercing arrows
light armor, far more ornate than she’d like, but at least it has a mempo that hides most of her facial expressions
traveling pack
steed, cared for better than she cares for herself
court kimono
Notes and Afterthoughts
Masuyo plays against several stereotypes that are present throughout L5R’s run. She’s a fairly simple character, handicapped in social interactions by Benten’s Curse and her generally low social skills, but she’s not uneducated in courtly graces… she just doesn’t much care about them. As a bodyguard, she’s about as mechanically effective as I could make a starting Unicorn bushi, including boosting both Defense and Naginata as high as they’ll legally go.