OOC Chatter

[Asahina Bo]

Prediction: No roll, any Stance. Secretly choose a Ring other than Void. The next time your opponent sets their Stance if it is the Ring you selected they take 4 Strife and must choose a different Stance instead.

Thinking about it, doesn't that mean this action is perfectly useless against someone with Void as (one of) their highest ring?

And can't someone just choose to use Void on their turn to be sure to avoid the prediction?

Correct

[Saibankan]

Prediction: No roll, any Stance. Secretly choose a Ring other than Void. The next time your opponent sets their Stance if it is the Ring you selected they take 4 Strife and must choose a different Stance instead.

Thinking about it, doesn't that mean this action is perfectly useless against someone with Void as (one of) their highest ring?

And can't someone just choose to use Void on their turn to be sure to avoid the prediction?

So, the thing is, the Duel mechanics are meant to be universal for all combat situations than are one on one. So while this covers your classic iaijutsu duel, it also covers one on one martial arts duels, archery duels, and so on. While a master duelist absolutely will have raised their void so they can center, and not get predicted, other cases may not and it becomes more useful.

Keep in mind that unless you're in water stance, or have an iajutsu kata to let you draw and strike, you can't both draw and strike. So predicting water shuts that down. Or maybe you're in a duel to the death. Predicting Fire means your opponent can't severely hurt you by drawing quickly and beating you to death with bonus successes. Or maybe you're up against a sneaky type who raises their TN to be hit by choosing Air and pulling off a bunch of Air trickery, either switch because I predicted Air or switch and take strife. Your opponent expecting tricksy status stuff from you? Choose Earth so he can't hide behind that.

TL;DR: It's not useless per say, it's very specific in it's uses, and not the preferred action of the kanzershin, but for the rest of you....

[Kuni Yasu]

I feel like there were several people/plots I was supposed to follow up on D11, and the past two days have just been crazy busy at work. I get to settle down a bit for a few days before diving into the convention--which tends to let me post more than work does. So If I'm forgetting you...it's not on purpose, it's just that my brain is a bit Swiss cheesy at the moment, please feel free to remind me.

[Suzume Senseki]

Prediction: No roll, any Stance. Secretly choose a Ring other than Void. The next time your opponent sets their Stance if it is the Ring you selected they take 4 Strife and must choose a different Stance instead.

Thinking about it, doesn't that mean this action is perfectly useless against someone with Void as (one of) their highest ring?

And can't someone just choose to use Void on their turn to be sure to avoid the prediction?

So, the thing is, the Duel mechanics are meant to be universal for all combat situations than are one on one. So while this covers your classic iaijutsu duel, it also covers one on one martial arts duels, archery duels, and so on. While a master duelist absolutely will have raised their void so they can center, and not get predicted, other cases may not and it becomes more useful.

Keep in mind that unless you're in water stance, or have an iajutsu kata to let you draw and strike, you can't both draw and strike. So predicting water shuts that down. Or maybe you're in a duel to the death. Predicting Fire means your opponent can't severely hurt you by drawing quickly and beating you to death with bonus successes. Or maybe you're up against a sneaky type who raises their TN to be hit by choosing Air and pulling off a bunch of Air trickery, either switch because I predicted Air or switch and take strife. Your opponent expecting tricksy status stuff from you? Choose Earth so he can't hide behind that.

TL;DR: It's not useless per say, it's very specific in it's uses, and not the preferred action of the kanzershin, but for the rest of you....

A silly and maybe stupid question to that - when do you set stances again? Is it at the start of your turn, or when you do the staredown part? I get the feeling it's start of your turn, as that's when it happens in skirmishes (at least as far as I remember?), but I'm not sure?

[Asahina Bo]

A silly and maybe stupid question to that - when do you set stances again? Is it at the start of your turn, or when you do the staredown part? I get the feeling it's start of your turn, as that's when it happens in skirmishes (at least as far as I remember?), but I'm not sure?

Both stance and staredown are 'start of the turn'. As the staredown doesn't have a roll I suppose it could be done simultaneously.

[Suzume Senseki]

Both stance and staredown are 'start of the turn'. As the staredown doesn't have a roll I suppose it could be done simultaneously.

That makes sense! I'm not sure it would matter either way. We might have to think on how stance declaration and Predicting will happen, though... PFs sound good, but then that's lots of bookkeeping...

Also - maybe I'll try to make a list of techniques that could affect duels. Not for D12, certainly, but it could come in handy at some point

[Shiba Raizo]

Yes folks, I have decided that when hammered out of his mind, Raizo's bad poetry actually takes the form of Shakespearean sonnets

I figure it's so alien to Rokugani poetic traditions that it counts

[Shika Nesshin]

Yes folks, I have decided that when hammered out of his mind, Raizo's bad poetry actually takes the form of Shakespearean sonnets

I figure it's so alien to Rokugani poetic traditions that it counts

Aw, come on.

Go Spenserian!

[Moto Mitsuki]

Thinking about it, if you don't care about agendas, the best way to heal strife and regain Void is to choose an agenda that requires a Water roll triggering your Water Adversity and to purposefully keep only one dice with an opportunity on it.

Adversity failure: +1 Void Point
Water Opportunity: -2 strife

Also works with Earth, to heal your comrades.

Heck, the adversity even helps here, as it allows to reroll these dice with success you don't want, increasing the chance to get an opportunity die.

[Suzume Senseki]

Tbh I think recovering Void, even more than strife, might use some changes in future PbP games. Might be just me, though. I'm having a really hard time coming up with ways to have that happen that don't feel unnatural...