Okumas Guide To Gaijin 1

Okuma’s guide to Gaijin
This homebrew works refers to previous editions books on the Gaijin nations and updates
them for 4th edition. It also refers a lot to 7th Sea, but in no way is meant to endorse the fact
that Théah is in the same world as Rokugan. I just used it as inspiration for Thrane and
Merenae and to allow easier references for descriptions for readers, since I’ll be rather short
on those. Some of the information comes from the L5r wikia for the LBS content, as I
couldn’t track down every card from this game. Everything else is based on the released
books and novels for L5r. The cover art was done by the artist Shosuro Akae, done for the
previous guide I did back in 2006, of 140 pages long describing the Burning Sands. This
guide is a sequel of sorts. The others pictures come from Imperial Histories 1, Exotic Arms
and Equipments and the LBS and L5R CCGs.
Proofreading done by Tonbo Karasu. Thanks to http://imperialblock.com/visualspoiler I was

able to look through most of the LBS CCG’s cards.
Summary :
- 1) Advantages / disadvantages and skills
- 2) The Thrane and Merenae
- 3) The Burning Sands
Due to the size of the files, the following chapters are in part 2 :
- 4) The Ivory kingdoms
- 5) Yobanjin and the Sand Moto
1) Advantages / Disadvantages and skills.
This chapter explains the modifications to skills, advantages and disadvantages between the
normal 4th edition rules (it also refers to the LBS rpg 4th edition update
http://www.l5r.com/files/2013/09/LBS4E.pdf ) and introduce new ones.
Umi no Koete covers Thrane and Merenae, Caliphatee covers Medinaat Al-Salaam, Qabal,
Assassins, Jackals and Ebonites. Burning Sands covers the Caliphatee, the Ashalan, the
Ra’shari and the Senpet. Yodotai, Yobanjin and Ivory Kingdoms (or Ivinda) are independent
groups.
The following table explains the modifications to advantages and disadvantages. If a new
name is listed under one of the columns, it is only a renaming to fit more the corresponding
culture. NA means this particular faction cannot buy the following entry. The value
modifications are listed if necessary, referring to the base price listed in the corresponding
book. If there is no numbers, consider the price is not modified.
Advantage Umi no Caliphat
Ivinda Yobanjin Senpet Yodotai Ashalan Ra’shari
s list : Koete ee
Max 15
Gentry NA NA NA
pts
Inheritanc
e
Servant
Wealthy
Absolute
Direction
Clear
-1
Thinker
Crafty -1
Daredevil
Inner
Dark Inner Inner Inner Inner Inner Inner Inner
strengt
Paragon strength strength strength strength strength strength strength
h
Cult of Jinns, Jinns,
Forbidden Gaijin the Wyrms, Undeads, true Ashalans Jinns,
Knowledg Pepper, destroy Great Jinns, None. history, , true Nagah,
e sorcery er, Hawks Khadi. Nagah, history, Khadi
Nagah Khadi. Khadi.
Heartless
Higher
Purpose
Irreproach -1 for
-1 -1
able Ebonite
- 1 for
Languages
Ebonite
Military
Laughing Remote Remote Remote Remote Remote
family, - 1
Plains village village village village NA NA village
if social
Native citizen citizen citizen citizen citizen
position
Precise
-1
Memory
Read Lips -1
Sacred
Devout Devout Devout Devout Devout Devout
Forest NA NA
family family family family family family
Native
Sage -1 -1
Sage of Student Student
Higher
the Sword NA NA NA NA of the NA of the
educaton
and Fan path path
Shadowed
-1 -1
Heart
Soul of
-1 -1
Artistry
Strategist -1
Tactician -1
Virtuous
Wary -1
Artisan Artisan Artisan Artisan Artisan Artisan Artisan
Watanu-
backgroun backgro backgrou backgrou backgroun NA backgrou backgrou
Trained
d und nd nd, - 1 d nd nd
Way of the -1 -1
Land
Battle
-1 -1
Healing
Bland
Warrior’
Warrior Warrior’
Crab Warrior’s Warrior’ Warrior’s Warrior’ Warrior’ s hands -
’s s hands -
Hands hands -1 s hands hands -1 s hands s hands 1 for
hands 1
Ebonite
Dangerous
-1 -1
Beauty
Hands of
-1
Stone
Peasant Peasant Peasant Peasant Peasant Peasant Peasant
Iron Heart
backgroun backgro backgrou backgrou backgroun NA backgrou backgrou
Native
d und, -1 nd nd, -1 d nd nd
Large -1 -1
Prodigy -1 -1
Quick
Quick
-1 -1 -1
Healer
- 1 si not
Silent noble or -1 -1 -1
priest
Strength of
-1
the Earth
Voice -1 -1
Naga
NA NA NA NA NA
Ancestry
Allies
(both
versions)
Blackmail
Blissful
Betrothal
Broken Sailor Sailor Sailor Sailor Sailor
Wave backgroun backgro backgrou backgrou NA NA NA backgrou
Citizen d und nd nd nd
Mercha Merchan Merchan Merchan Merchan
Clear Merchant Merchant
nt t t t t
Water backgroun backgroun NA
backgro backgrou backgrou backgrou backgrou
Native d d
und nd nd nd nd
Darling of
NA NA NA
the Court
Different
School
Fame
-1 (spi -
Heart of der,
Vengeance rhumal)
Hero of
NA NA
the People
-1 for
Leadership Khastri -1
ya
Multiple
Schools
Sensation NA NA NA
Social
Position
-1 if
Spy
NA NA social
Network
position
Stolen
Identity
See
The See way of See way See way See way of See way
way of
Daimyo’s the of the of the the NA NA of the
the
Path daimyo daimyo daimyo daimyo daimyo
daimyo
See
The World See way of See way See way See way of See way
way of
of the the of the of the the NA NA of the
the
Daimyo daimyo daimyo daimyo daimyo daimyo
daimyo
Craftsm Craftsma Craftsma Craftsma Craftsma Craftsma
Water Craftsman Craftsman
an n n n n n
Hammer backgroun backgroun
backgro backgrou backgrou backgro backgrou backgrou
Citizen d d
und nd nd, -1 und nd nd
Zakyo Gambler Gambler Gambler
Toshi backgroun NA NA NA NA NA backgrou backgrou
Citizen d nd nd
Blood Blood of Blood of
Blood of Blood of Blood of
NA of the NA NA the
Osano-Wo Sedjem Conquest
Vishnu wyrm desert
Child of
Chikushud NA NA NA
o
Chosen by Chosen Chosen Chosen Chosen Chosen
Chosen by
the by the by the by the NA NA by the by the
the gods
Oracles gods gods gods gods gods
Elemental
NA
Blessing
Enlightene
NA NA NA
d
Friend of Guru
the NA master NA NA NA NA NA NA
Brotherho y
od
Friend of
the NA NA NA
Elements
Great
Destiny
Inner Gift
Kharmic Tie of Tie of Tie of Tie of Tie of Tie of
Tie of fate Tie of fate
Tie fate fate fate fate fate fate
Luck
Magic Applies to Applies Applies Applies Applies
-1
Resistance own magic to Sahirs to Sahirs to Sahirs to Sahirs
Medium NA
Reincarnat
NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
ed
Seven Blessin Blessing Blessing Blessing Blessing
Blessing of
Fortune’s g of the of the of the NA NA of the of the
the Gods
Blessing Gods Gods Gods Gods Gods
Touch of
the Spirit NA
Realms
Great
Potential
Student of Inner Inner
Inner will Inner will Inner will Inner will Inner will Inner will
Shourido will will
Well
+1 +1 -1 -1
connected
Ruined
city -1 NA NA NA
shadow
Disadvant Umi no Caliphat

Ivinda Yobanjin Senpet Yodotai Ashalan Ra’shari
ages list : Koete ee
Ruined
Ruined Ruined Ruined Ruined Ruined Ruined Ruined
City NA
family +1 family family family +1 family family family
Survivor
Ascetic NA Sahir +1 NA
Brash
Can’t Lie +1
Compulsio
n
Perfection Strength Insight Determina Control Knowled
Consumed Will +1
+1 +1 +1 tion + 1 +1 ge +1
Contrary +1 +1
Disbelieve
-1 +1 +1 NA
r
Doubt
Driven
Fascination
Frail Mind
Greedy +1
Gullible
Idealistic +1
Insensitive +1 +1
Jealousy +1 +1 +1
Lost Love
Obtuse +1 +1
Overconfi
+1
dent
Phobia
Soft-
+1 +1
Hearted
Wanderer +1
Bad
Eyesight
Bad Health
Blind
Disturbing
+1 for
Countenan +1 +1
Jackal
ce
Epilepsy
Lame
Low Pain
Threshold
Missing
Limb
Permanent
Wound
Small
Weakness
Antisocial
Black
NA
Sheep
Blackmail
ed
Bounty +1
Clear Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor
Water backgroun backgro backgrou backgrou backgroun backgro backgrou backgrou
Stigma d und nd nd d und nd nd
Renowned
fencing
Dark Edge
school NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Reputation
backgroun
d
Dark
Secret
Dependent
Infamous +1 +1
Lechery
Pacifis
Pacifism Pacifism Pacifism Pacifism
Nikesake Pacifism (2 m (2
NA (2 pts NA (2 pts (2 pts (2 pts
Stigma) pts only) pts
only) only) only) only)
only)
Obligation
Rumormo
nger
Social
Disadvant +1 +1
age
Sworn
Enemy
Countrysid Countr Countrys Countrysi Countrys Countrys
Water
e yside ide de ide ide
Hammer NA NA
backgroun backgro backgrou backgrou backgrou backgrou
Stigma
d und nd nd nd nd
Gambli
Gamblin Gambling Gamblin Gamblin
Zakyo Toshi Gambling ng
g family family NA NA g family g family
Stigma family ties family
ties ties ties ties
ties
Bad
+1 +1 +1
Fortune
Bitter
Betrothal
Cursed by
+1
the Realm
Dark Fate +1
Haunted NA +1 NA
Momoku NA
Seven
Fortunes’
Curse
Unlucky
Debt +1 +1
Modifications to skills :
- Calligraphy : Thrane, Merenae, Yobanjin, Senpet, Yodotai, Mekham, Rhuumal (the
Ivory Kingdoms written version of the Ivindi langage) are all different written dialects
and are different skills. Some of those, like Thrane, Merenae, Rhuumal and maybe
Mekham have a high language emphasis, covering the more educated version of it.
- Courtier and etiquette : Umi no Koete, Yobanjin, Yodotai, Ivinda and Burning Sands
are different courtier traditions and are different skills.
- Divination : astrology is used by every culture, but Kawaru doesn’t exist. The Umi no
Koete and the Ra’shari uses tarot cards, the others uses often bone reading.
- Iaijutsu doesn’t exist, but the Umi no Koete have fencing, which works exactly the
same but for fencing weapons.
- Intimidation is a bugei skill for all factions.
- Games include chess (Ivory Kingdoms), riddles and logic (favored by the Qabal),
cards (Thrane and Merenae) and dice (favored by the Yobanjin and Yodotai).
- Locksmith (intelligence, merchant) : emphases are lock assembly and lock picking.
You are skilled at fashioning locks and picking them. When crafting a lock, each raise
increase the TN to pick it by 5, while picking starts at a TN of 15 and take a minute to
be done.
o Rank 5 : halve the time to pick a lock.
o Rank 7 : free raise to pick or craft a lock.
- Jiujutsu become brawling, Kyujutsu archery (but uses perception), Kenjutsu
swordsmanship and ninjutsu assassins weapons.
- Tahaddi (agility) : the knives dueling use the same emphases and mastery as iaijutsu.
Tahaddi duels works like iaijutsu duels.
- Defense : new emphases, shield, which allows you to use the TN benefits of a shield
in full defense stance.
- Firearms (intelligence, weapon skill, low-skill for Rokugani) : emphases are pistol and
musket. Reloading a firearm requires three complex actions.
o Rank 3 : you may ignore one 1 on your dice for misfire.
o Rank 5 : reloading requires one less complex action.
- Canon (intelligence, weapon skill, low-skill for Rokugani) : requires 4 people to be
used. The roll is made by the one leading the group.
o Rank 5 : requires 2 less people for a minimum of 2
- Oyumi become crossbow (see imperial archives page 98) and is available to all the
Gaijin groups.
- Some skills, like lore : theology, have to be divided in multiple versions according to
cultures, like etiquette and culture. Lore : theology Burning Sands and lore : theology
Ivory Kingdoms covers too different subjects to be the same skill. See with your GM.
Special : non-spellcasting school ranks and advantages that can cast spells. Some of the
mechanics below allow characters to cast spells while not having any ranks in any
spellcasting school. These never requires scrolls but also can never learn others spells than
those granted by the technique or advantage, and if they ever get spellcasting ranks, those
spells are totally separate from those of their spellcasting schools except for the daily slots.
New advantages and disadvantages :
- Oasis finder (mental) : 3 pts, Burning Sands characters only, you can cast sense
(water) like a shugenja of your insight rank without any affinity or deficiency.
- Servant of the smokeless fire (spiritual) : 2 pts, sahir only. You have the ability to
summon jinn.
- Reader of the stars (mental) : 3 pts, Burning Sands and Ivory Kingdoms characters
only, you can cast sense (air) like the oasis finder ability. You can use this ability to
know the time of the day and rough estimate of your latitude and longitude.
- Khadi (spiritual) : 8 or 10 points. You have become one of the Heartless, the sorcerers
using black magic to remove their heart and become immortal. You heal one wound
per minute (during the reaction phase) regardless of the state your body is in (which
can be really disturbing for those watching the process). You can only be permanently
destroyed by destroying your heart, in the 8 pts version of this advantage your heart in
the control of someone else. Once per month you must put your heart in someone
else’s body, transforming it into a ghul. You earn the first rank of forbidden lore :
Khadi, or if you have it already, are refunded the experience points for it. You lose
immediately two ranks of integrity, but that cannot drop you below 3,0.
- Gorilla bodyguard (material) : 4 pts for Ivory Kingdoms characters and Caliphate
characters, 3 pts for House of Dahab characters. You have a free raise on animal
handling (apes and monkeys), and are considered to have 5 ranks in this skill for your
personal gorilla. Use the stats of the Ape on page 10 of Enemies of the Empire with +
1 earth and modify the wounds accordingly.
- Fitfully sleeping blood (spiritual) : 8 pts. You have the blood of Jinn, one of your
ancestors being of the smokeless fire or you have been seeded by the power of the
Seeding discipline. You can have a minor Jinn power (see Jinn rules below) or a
medium Jinn power and a blood limitation.
- Inheritance : crysteel (material) : 9 pts, Ashalan only, crysteel is an extremely hard
material, that can only be shaped and created by the Ashalan sandsmithes. You have a
weapon of your choice crafted in it, which grants it a + 1k0 bonus to attack and
damage rolls, is as strong as a Kaiu blade and count as crystal for all invulnerabilities.
- Curse of the Grey Crone (spiritual) : - 3 pts, male assassins only (before the
Awakening all male Asassins must have it, and get the points for it, after the splitting
of the faction, not every male has it). The curse manifest itself either physically
through deformities or internal through pain and lack of focus. You have the weakness
disadvantage (corebook page 162), and increasing this trait is at + 1 experience point
per rank. In exchange you earn the elemental blessing advantage for a different ring.
- Paragon of faith (spiritual) : 6 pts, Senpet or Ivinda characters only, you have one
more Ka point that your Ka ring, but it can only be spent to activate Senpet or Guru
schools techniques. Contrary to normal spiritual advantages, you can buy it with exp
any time if you have lore : theology Burning Sands (Ten Thousand Gods) 5 or lore :
theology Ivory Kingdoms (Ivory pantheon) 5.
- Defiler of the Dead (mental) : - 2 pts, Senpet characters only. You have abandoned
your belief in the gods to pursue a path of personal power. You lose and cannot have
the paragon of faith advantage, but you can still use all your Senpet school abilities
related to faith. You have the disturbing countenance disadvantage when interacting
with Senpet characters.
- Forlorn (social) : - 1 or – 3, you have lost faith in the structure of your society. You
have the antisocial disadvantage (one rank, cumulative with the antisocial
disadvantage) when dealing with members of the government or the priesthood (or
both if you have the – 3 pt version). This disadvantage can only be taken by characters
belonging to a group with a highly structured state and faith, like the Senpet Empire,
the Ra’Shari culture or the Ashalan’s organization around the Council of Twelve.
- Blood of the Hanif (physical) : 1 pt, Yodotai and Hanif only. You have a bloodline of
the higher caste of the original Hanif. You cannot take the Despicable disadvantage
and have + 1k1 to social rolls with Yodotai.
- Cosmopolitan (social) : 5 pts, Yodotai only, you are able to mix your cultural heritage
with the Yodotai culture perfectly. You have one free language corresponding to your
ancestor’s culture, the Seven Fortunes’ blessing (Benten) and + 1k0 bonus to social
rolls with Yodotai. This is a denizen of advantage.
- Soul of a warrior (spiritual) : 12 pts, Yodotai only. Whenever you go into battle, you
can call forth a spirit warrior to your side. It works like the Kitsu spirit legion ability
(book of air page 180) with the same use of slots and Ka expense but stay only for the
duration of the skirmish. The stats for the spirit warrior are identical to the spirit
samurai of the technique with the modifications of page 238 of LBS.
- Despicable (mental) : - 2 pts, Yodotai only. You don’t really believe in the Yodotai
credo and aren’t able to call upon some of their powers. You cannot have the blood of
the Hanif, soul of a warrior and cosmopolitan advantages. You have the disturbing
countenance disadvantage when dealing with Yodotai and you cannot have the magic
resistance advantage.
- Rebellious : this disadvantage is removed. Dark secret : Yodotai rebel, despicable and
forlorn do the same job.
- Illiterate (social) : - 1 point. You don’t know how to write and read.
- Favored weapon (mental) : 3 points, - 1 for warrior, you have mastered the use of a
weapon to an unmatched level. Each time you get this advantage, select a different
weapon. As long as you have a score of 5 + in the corresponding skill, you can spend
one Ka point on damage when using this weapon. If you ever get the ability to spend
Ka point on damage with the same weapon from another source, you are reimbursed
the experience cost of this advantage.
- Master of styles (mental) : 4 points, - 1 for Akodo bushi and Yodotai. Through
practice over the years you have mastered some particular styles of fighting. You can
switch kata as a free action. This doesn’t apply to every kata, see with your GM which
kata are covered by this advantage. If ever get this ability through another mean, you
are reimbursed the experience cost of this advantage.
- Sacred weapon (material) :
o Dhul Fiqar weapon (Caliphatee) : 6 pts, only those of the Sultan’s blood are
supposed to be allowed to use weapons made of Sultan’s steel. But they have
widespread over the decades and many guards and officials can be seen with
one. Shortswords, longswords and daggers made of this steel are known to
exist. + 1k1 to damage (max 3k3), unbreakable and – 2 to target’s reduction.
o Black steel sword (Ebonite) : 6 pts, this 3k2 longsword has a blade of steel
darkened by adding some unknown substance through a secret ritual of the
Ebonite. The blade count as obsidian for the purpose of passing
invulnerabilities and reduction.
o Rod of Dahab (Dahabi) : 3 pts, a copy of the diamond-headed magical staff
found in Laramun that serves as symbol of office for the Qolat masters, this
2k3 (heavy weapons) mace increased the TN to disarm you by 5.
o Qabal dagger (Qabal) : 4 pts, this 2k2 dagger is usually plain and simple, so to
not be noticeable. After all, for centuries, the Qabal was hunted by the Khadi,
and anything that could be seen as a symbol that their enemies could recognize
conceal it and + 1 TN to be hit per insight rank when you have it in your hand
and are in defense or full defense stance.
o Twisted moon (Assassins) : 5 pts, a copy of the Wicked Moon, the dagger of
the Old Man, the twisted moon is a 3k2 dagger that ignore 3 points of
reduction. The assassins made them to honor their founder.
o Ra’shari throwing knife (Ra’shari) : 7 pts, there is dozens of styles for those,
but they are all 2k2 knives that double the range they can be thrown with the
athletic skill and always return back to their owner after being thrown.
o Golden scimitar (Senpet) : 5 pts, this 3k3 scimitar is made of a mysterious
bronze alloy that is way stronger than normal bronze and reflect light, giving it
his name of golden scimitar. It is unbreakable and you get a free raise on
disarm attempts.
o Spirit gladius (Yodotai) : 6 pts, sometimes the ancestral spirits of the fallen
Yodotai came to fight alongside the legions. Sometimes they leave those 4k2
gladius to those who are worthy of them. They ignore all invulnerabilities.
o Jackal shortsword (Jackal) : 4 pts, this 3k2 curved shortsword is made to
transfer poisons more efficiently, add + 5 to TN to resist poisons applied to the
blade. The jackals want their targets join their undead horde, even from the
smallest of scratches.
o Ensorceled longsword (Umi no koete) : 8 pts, created long ago, during a age of
magic for the Umi no Koete, those 3k2 longsword that can be used like a rapier
and grant the same bonuses as a rapier. As long as you have the scabbard,
they’ll always appear back in it when summoned, wherever the blade could be.
o Ritual dagger (Rhumal cultist) : 6 pts, enchanted with vile magic, those 2k2
daggers will make the victim bleed of 1 wound per round in there is any
exploding die on the damage. The bleeding is not cumulative and will last until
healed, but any normal or magical healing will stop it.
o Blade of the Maharaja (Khastriya) : 6 pts, those 3k3 scimitars have been
crafted by the swordsmithes of the Maharaja over centuries and gifted to the
nobles houses of the Ivory Kingdoms. Your integrity rank is considered one
rank higher as long as you carry it.
o The String of the Kingdoms (Ivinda, Mantis) : 5 pts, this ivory bow, later
known as the String of the Colonies by the Mantis, is one of the many
composite longbow created over the years by masters artisans. It’s a strength 4
yumi that gives no penalties when used from horseback and the double its base
range.
o Staff of the Raja court (Ivinda) : 6 pts, those staves are known for carrying
ancestral blessings from the Guru and Jakla, crafted from precious woods and
highly decorated with jewels. Those are unbreakable 2k2 bo that ignores 3
points of reduction.
o Khadja (Ashalan) is (material) and not granted (LBS update page 4). You can
upgrade it to have crysteel parts, as above, for + 6 pts.
o Six-rings swords (Yobanjin) : 6 pts, the Yobanjins do not have the masterly of
blacksmithing the Rokugani have, but they can create some masterwork
weapons. This 2k3 Yobanjin ring-sword (see Imperial Archives page 98)
increase the number of raises required to disarm you by one.
o Crystal naga weapon (Naga) : identical as inheritance : crysteel.
- Touch of the spirit realms : Black Earth (spiritual) 5 points. You have a link to this
spirit realm between others, giving you a special kharmic tie to spirits. When fighting
a creature with the spirit trait, you do not halve your damage. This ability does not
affect reduction and other invulnerabilities, just the effect of the spirit trait.
- Cursed by the realm : Black Earth (spiritual) 4 points. The Lying Darkness has
found a way to your soul. You have -1k1 to all rolls to resist its corruption.
- Venom (physical) : naga only. You have the ability to spit and inject through biting
venom (it is considered a poison), a rare but quite valued trait among nagas. To spit
requires an attack roll with perception / athletics (throwing) roll with 2 raises for a
called shot to be effective, while biting is done with a normal unarmed attack roll with
1 raise for a called shot to be effective. You cannot generate multiple venoms and can
use it only once every 5 –your earth ring rounds.
o Acid : 5 pts, this weak acid is still dangerous to things made of organic matter,
while totally useless against things like metals. It has a VD equal to your water
ring when applied. It quickly oxides when in contact with air, making it unable
to be applied on weapons or to deal damage over time.
o Blinding fog : 6 pts, the name came from the appearance of the venom when
spit, which create a sort of small mist, but injected the poison create a dulling
of all senses the same way. The target must make an opposed earth roll against
your air roll or be blinded for a number of round equal to the difference.
o Blood coagulator : 4 pts, this venom provokes a slowing of the blood of the
target, which leads to horrible pains. The target is considered to have one more
rank of wounds for penalties for fire ring rounds. This effect cannot be stacked.
o Touch poison : 5 pts, a poison the Scorpion want to study, the target’s veins
infected with the poison turn deep blue for a moment. Make an opposed earth
ring roll between you and the victim, who suffers the difference between the
rolls in wounds if you win.
o Neurotoxin : 8 pts, using this venom requires one more called shot raise to be
used, as it requires to hit specific points on the target to be effective. Make an
opposed roll of your water ring against the target’s earth ring, if you win, one
ring (outside of void and similar) randomly selected is reduced by 1 for one
day. This effect can be stacked, but reduce any ring to 0 do not kill the target
(but, rendered helpless and comatose, she may die of starvation or thirst).
- Scent (physical) : 1pt, nonhuman only, you have a sense of smell improved contrary
to other nagas or members of your species. You have + 2k1 on all perceptions rolls
involving scent. This stack with the natural scent ability of your race, if any.
- Student of the past (spiritual) : Naga only. The Naga equivalent of ancestors, they
works like ancestors but a naga can have more than one. That because they are past
lives, not actual spirits contacting you (hence the lack of demands). Some works like
human-only advantages, see their entry for prices and effects.
o Duty of the scout : 3 pts, one of your past lives was a talented scout, and you
remember the Great Lessons of this role. You get + 1k0 to all perception rolls.
o Duty of the warrior : 7 points, one of your past lves was a devoted warrior.
Select one bugei skill from the naga warrior starting school skills. You have +
1k0 to your rolls with it.
o Duty of the vedic, child of the Bright Eye : 3 pts. Through your experiences as
Vedic devoted to the sun, you have mastered contact with the Akasha and
medicine techniques. Meditation requires only 15 minutes for you to recover
an Akasha point and you can add your akasha rank to the number of wounds
you heal when using the medicine skill.
o Duty of the vedic, child of the Pale Eye : 7 points, you have been a skilled
vedic. Select one high skill from the naga vedic starting school skills. You
have + 1k0 to your rolls with it.
o Duty of the Jakla : 10 pts. Through your past lives as a jakla, you found ways
to use the Akasha for magic. You have one more Akasha spell slot available
than normal.
o Duty as a hero of the bloodline war : 4 pts. Through your experiences during
this war, you are filled with a sense of virtue. All caste losses are reduced by
1with a minimum of 1 and all gain are increased by 1.
o Duty as a malcontent of the bloodline war : - 3 pts. Your inner shame for
siding with the Shahismael shaken your resolve. All caste gains are reduced by
1 to a minimum of 1 and all caste losses are increased by 1.
o Duty as a follower of the Shahismael : 6 pts, Dark Naga only. You followed
the future Dark Naga in his previous life and now that you are both
reincarnated, you have joined together again. You have + 1k0 to your attacks
rolls against nagas.
o Duty of legionaries of the Qatol : equivalent of enlightened advantage. You
were a member of the Qatol’s legion and served valiantly.
o Cobra soulbinder : equivalent to chosen by the oracles advantage. You were
among those who were taught the secrets of the Cobra reincarnation.
o Oseuth, warrior of the Pale Eye : 8 pts, rare are those who were once the
warrior of the Pale Eye. You have ranks equal to your Ashaka in the advantage
magic resistance, but this resistance only applies to human magic.
o Shakarash, wife of the Qatol : 6 pts. Her tricks created the first pearls, giving
you a powerful link to them. You are considered to have an emphasis when
you cast spells, allowing you to reroll “1” on spellcasting rolls.
o Syba : equivalent of the Seven fortune’s blessing (Bishamon) advantage. The
Syba stood and faced waves after waves of creatures of the Foul, defeating
them one by one, and your memories of this life help you fight.
- Water snake (physical) 3 pts, 4 for chameleon and Ningyo : naga only, you have to
take a one hour bath every day or all your TN increase by 3 for every day you haven’t
spent one hour into the water.
- Tales (spiritual) : the tales are the Burning Sands and Ivory Kingdoms’ equivalent of
ancestors, and they follow the same rules. But instead of being actual ancestor spirits
guiding you, they are archetypes born of stories that are dwelling in Yume-do. Having
a tale means you are inspired by it and try to emulate it, which means they are not
linked to groups but to personalities. Each as examples of what is required to follow
one, and names are examples (Ivory Kingdoms could have a tale of two houses
fighting for the tale of the Moto and the Senpet for example). Ra’shari characters pay
tales 1 less point while Yodotai cannot have any. Yobanjins can have them too.
o A dying sahir’s tale : 7 pts, as the tale says, he was proud and powerful, but he
couldn’t escape the Khadi forever. It’s a tale of fighting against all odds.
 Requirements : driven (proving you are the best duelist), dark paragon
(perfection) and everything about performing better in duels. This tale
is for talented duelists.
 Inspiration : the tale give you the strength to improve your dueling
style. You have + 1k1 to all your tahaddi rolls.
 Demands : you cannot refuse a duel.
o Dark journey home : 7 pts, the tale of travelers who fought through the desert
to get home, his tale is all about survival and determination.
 Requirements : dark paragon (will), dark paragon (determination),
strength of the earth and everything about survival and stamina.
 Inspiration : when calculating your movement, your water is considered
1 rank higher. The starting TN for meditation (fasting) is 5 for you and
not 15. You are considered to have the touched by the realm (Yume-do)
advantage. If you have it already, you need half the normal sleep time.
 Demands : unless at your home, you can never sleep two nights in a
row at the same place.
o The Tale of Selqet and the eye of night : 4 pts, the tale take the name of the
ronin Dairya’s story of meeting with Selqet, the name the Senpet gave to
Bayushi Kachiko, but it is a tale of victory. Many stories have the same ending
of a victorious hero defeating all his opponents and conquer all odds.
 Requirements : dark paragon (determination), daredevil, quick, Seven
fortunes’ blessing (Bishamon). It’s a tale for warriors devoted to a
cause, to a goal to achieve and willing to face everything for it.
 Inspiration : whenever you put an opponent to the down wound level or
lower, you heal 4 wounds immediately.
 Demands : you must always give a chance to your opponents, never
taking the easy option in fights. It involves waking sleeping opponents,
never using ranged attacks on unaware opponents and so on.
o The tale of Selqet’s capture : 3 pts, a tale of spying and seduction, this tale is
all about the people working in the shadows to achieve their goals. Again, it is
now named from the story of the Scorpion Thunder, but they have been spies
since the birth of society and storytellers to use them as villains.
 Requirements : silent, ruined city shadow, a high rank in the stealth
rank, low glory. This is a story for those who do things out of sight.
 Inspiration : whenever you spend void points on skills used to seduce,
lie and do things without being seen, you get + 3k1 instead of 1k1.
 Demands : you must share with someone else, once per month, a secret
that this person do not know. Doing it for money count.
o The tale of the 4 goddesses : 7 pts, the scroll tells of 4 goddesses who will
awaken the moon, the story of the awakening itself. It’s a story about
knowledge and magic, favored by scholars and sahirs.
 Requirements : dark paragon (knowledge), sage, fascination for stuff
like Naga. This tale is for those who seek knowledge above all.
 Inspiration : + 1k0 to all lore rolls.
 Demands : to avoid destroying knowledge and sharing knowledge.
o The tale of the fourth avatar : 6 pts, a tale of devotion and loyalty, it is part of
the stories of the Awakening, a prophecy wrote hundred years ago. This one
took the shape of the sacrifice of Shosuro Tage to bring back Shinjo. This tale
is about sacrifice, loyalty to country, gods or love. It is about devotion.
 Requirements : obligation to a group, true love, high integrity...
 Inspiration : whenever you spend Ka points on actions toward
protecting those you are devout for, you add + 1k1 + rank in your
highest ring instead of the normal + 1k1.
 Demands : to never betray those you sworn loyalty to.
o The tale of the last raid : 6 pts, there is many tales of raiders harassing towns
and caravans. The tales of the last raid end either with the raiders rich enough
to retire or they completely exterminated, depending who the storyteller want
to emphases the story on. It’s a story for those who live from fighting.
 Requirements : high weapon skill, seven fortune’s blessing
(Bishamon), paragon of bushido (courage)… this tale is devoted to
those who lives through their fighting skills, whatever the reason.
 Inspiration : whenever you spend a Ka point to reduce damage, you
reduce 10 + highest ring rank instead of the normal 10.
 Demands : your last Ka point of your pool can only be spent to reduce
damage.
o The tale of the Moto and the Senpet : a tale of armies fighting each other,
counterattacking and harassing each other, this tale is for the strategists, the
leaders of men, from army commanders to bandit leaders.
 Requirements : tactician, leadership, high battle rank…
 Inspiration : during mass battle, you can add twice your highest ring
rank to your result and gain reduction equal to your highest ring rank.
 Demands : as long as you have troops, you shouldn’t leave them.
o The tale of the stolen heart : 6 pts for shugenja, 7 pts for Sahir. To quote the
tale “A sahir’s heart spark with lightning, spreads like plague, burns like fire. It
shines like the first moment of the cosmos. To steal a man’s heart is to steal a
piece of the universe.” This tale is about the lure of magic and of power.
 Requirements : high spellcraft, many spells, magic-related advantages.
 Inspiration : once per day, you can transform one spell slot of one
element into an universal spell slot if you are a [shugenja] or have one
more spell slot per day if you are [sahir].
 Demands : never spend a day without casting a spell.
o Vendetta : 3 pts, there is more stories of blood feuds that anyone except the
Ra’shari can remember. Integrity and honor calls for people to swear loyalty to
groups which in turn need to be avenged if their enemies win.
 Requirements : heart of vengeance, obligation to a group. This tale is
for those who lost something important to them or an honor-bound to
avenge something, forgetting their own personal goals for vengeance.
 Inspiration : whenever you are fighting someone of the faction who
wronged those you fight for, the target considered you as a nemesis
(see the Sworn enemy disadvantage, corebook page 162).
 Demands : never pass an occasion to act upon your vengeance.
School tags :
[Sorcerer] are the magical users of the Umi no Koete.

[Sahir] are the magical users of the Burning Sands. They can use kihos like shugenjas.
[Warrior] regroup all the warrior classes. They can use katas like bushis.
[Guru] are mystical people searching enlightenment. They can use kihos like [monks]
[Diplomat] are the social classes.
[Artisan] are the crafting schools.
[Rogue] are scouts, assassins and others people working in the shadows.
Contrary to [bushi] schools unable to combine with [shugenja] schools, [sorcerer] schools can
be combined with any schools.
[sahir] and [warrior] : Sahir characters cannot have ranks in a [warrior] school, with two
possible exceptions (the Ashalan and the Khadi because they are long-lived).
Magic outside of Rokugan :
Shugenja have reported that the kami act differently outside of Rokugan. While it doesn’t
seem to be much a problem in the Yobanjin lands, it does changes things when they reach the
Ivory Kingdoms or the Burnings Sands. Magic works normally in the High Steppes and the
Yobanjin territories.
Shugenja spellcasting in the Burning Sands itself, the Senpet Empire, the Western Wastes, the
Great Void and the Yodotai Empire suffers a + 5 TN penalty. But as the kami there are slow
to answer to the call of a shugenja, which makes it harder to cast a spell, it has also a small
beneficial aspect : failed spellcasting rolls do not cost a spell slot.
Shugenja spellcasting in the Ivory Kingdoms and the Demon-infested swamps and jungles
that border the Shadowlands suffers an increase of one complex action of spellcasting time.
This is because the kami are sluggish and somewhat different from those in Rokugan. This
penalty can be ignored for shugenja who have spent time in the region as they get used to
understanding the subtle differences between the local kami and those from their homeland.
However the kami of the Ivory Kingdoms are primal forces and stronger than those of
Rokugan so that, once per day, a shugenja can make three raises on a spellcasting roll to cast
it without spending a spell slot.
Spellcasting in the White Lands, the Nothing-corrupted lands south-west of the Great Void
suffers a + 10 TN penalty. Also failing a spell due to the TN penalty (so, making a roll good
enough to cast the spell originally but not good enough for the + 10 TN) make the caster earn
one Shadow point (not a Shadow rank, see the optional rule in the Lying Shadow chapter of
Enemies of the Empire).
The Shadowland taint outside of Rokugan :
Some says the Taint does not exist outside of Rokugan, but there is proof otherwise : the
Ma’Ghul, the ambassador of Jigoku assisted the Jackals in Medinaat al-Salaam, ghuls are
tainted; free ogres roam the Western Wastes, trying to rebuild their former kingdom; the oni
known as the Destroyers were summoned in the Ivory Kingdoms. Some say that the Taint
does not affect Gaijin, yet Garen Hawthorne was tainted.
So the Shadowlands taint has spread as far as the Burning Sands, at least. But the people of
those lands are seemingly unaware of its existence and the Rokugani who have been there
didn’t see many tainted people or creatures. Blood magic in Rokugan became tainted when
the released kansen, Jigoku-tainted kami, where released with the fall of Fu-leng from
Tengoku. In truth, the kansens have spread past the frontiers of Rokugan, but so far from the
Festering Pit, they are not as strong or as quick to react as those from the Empire.
As such, the Taint exists in those lands, but acts a bit differently. When using maho in those
lands, the number of Shadowland points earned is lowered by your insight rank, to a
minimum of 1. Non-Rokugani characters cannot use the Embrace the Taint ability until they
have learned about the Shadowlands Taint, but in exchange the Taint display no symptoms.
They do not gain Shadowlands powers or mutations, and outside of mental troubles (and for
the most advanced infection like level 3 or 4, some minor physical changes formerly
associated with level 2 : active infection, but really discreet), shows nothing that a Kuni
witch-hunter could recognize as symptoms of the Taint. But as soon as theyEmbrace the
Taint, the Taint manifests like for Rokugani.
Whatever your level of infection or the use or not Embrace the Taint, Shadowland Taint
progression is the Burning Sands is one check per month with a TN of 5. In the Ivory
Kingdoms the TN is 10.
The Lying Shadow and the Burning Sands :
Outside of Rokugan, the Lying Shadow works exactly like in the Empire, with two exceptions
: the White Lands, in which the power of the Shadow is magnified (see the entry in the
location sub-chapter of chapter 3) and the Burning Sands. The same magic that turns the
Nagas into the Naar Teban changes those who bear the mark of the Lying Darkness.
As such, consider the Shadow ranks of characters to be one rank lower for the use of Shadow
powers and drawbacks (for example, a character with a Shadow rank of 1 is considered to
have a Shadow rank of 0 in the Burning Sands, while one with 4 is considered to be only 3).
As such, it can break the control of the Shadow over someone as long as he stays in the sands.
Weapons containing sands of the Burning Sands (for example, forged from metals coming
from the lands burned during the Day of Wrath) round damage up from the partial
invulnerability of Shadow-tainted creatures and add + 2 to the damage result after dividing
due to the invulnerability. Not every metal used in the Burning Sands come from the area
infused with the Sun’s magic, 95% of those made by the Mekhem are, 50% of the Senpet’s
and about 5% of the Yodotai, for example.
Half rokugani :
The creation myth of the Rokugani and their ability to use the Void, a more encompassing
element than Ka or Panache, make that if one of the parents had a Void ring, all the kids will
have a Void ring, no matter which ring the other parent had.
2) Thrane and Merenae (Umi no Koete) :
Thrane and Merenae characters use drama instead of void. For a character, drama works
exactly like void. For interactions with effects that target void, refers to the rules described in
4th edition core book and book of the Void. Otherwise, a character built from there is created
exactly as a character from Rokugan, barring the following changes below. Note that this
system is only meant for NPC creation.
Merenae : + 1 awareness
Thrane : + 1 intelligence.
Little is known about those two cultures, except that Merenae seems to be
inspired by Spain (Castille in 7th sea) and France (Montaigne) while
Thrane seems to be inspired by English (Avallon) and Dutch (Vesten).
They first meet Rokugani in 439 (Isawa Calendar) in the port of Aqahab,
in the form of Moto and Ide scouts of the Ki-rin clan.
They have a religion, which involves an entity named Kharsis. It seems many are devote
followers of this belief. They also have magic, which is often called blood sorcery. Not
because it involve blood, like maho, but because bloodlines carry the power of magic. All of
those bloodlines are nobles, so technically being able to use magic makes you a noble, but in
truth, the shame of a bastard using magic often led to them being hidden or executed. Magic is
rare and feared by most people, who don’t understand it. Even the nobles are wary of those
few who can use the magic of their ancestors.
The Umi no Koete have faced the Yodotai at times, meetings that didn’t go well. Wars were
fought, but the Yodotai never pushed toward the island regions of the Thrane and Merenae,
and so never threatened their kingdoms. But what threatened and brought them down was a
plague from the Senpet. Explorers from the kingdom of Thrane met with the Senpet empire,
and a plague was brought back. This illness was not dangerous to the Senpet, but for the
unprepared Thrane, it was deadly. 80% of their population died during the 10th century (Isawa
Calendar) and the plague struck the neighboring countries in the same way (except Merenae),
bringing a dark age.
The Umi no Koete lost many technological advancements and resources, forcing them to
revert to older techniques. Whatever they could hold on to was preserved but it all became
rarer. Advanced firearms became less common; armies had to go back to older muskets,
canons and pistols. Swords were brought back as the main dueling weapon as not every noble
could afford a pistol anymore. Magic became more common as a resource, people practicing
it again more often and overtly.
Thrane and Merenae characters have their own version of honor. While it is called honor
where they come from, to avoid confusion with the Rokugani honor system, it has been
renamed Panache. The Panache system works exactly like the honor system, with the
exception of the values it supports. I could make an entire file explaining a complex honor
system with many examples about how depending of what you do, you win or lose panache,
but I’ll just explain the key virtues linked to it. The base for it is the code of Chivalry, but it’s
an antiquated thing for most of the nobles class of those two countries, which explains their
tendencies to emphasize only some virtues and not having such a great panache (also, it
doesn’t apply to non-noble). Remember that panache works like honor for bonuses against
things like intimidation.
- Courage : I shall protect the weak. You should not fear when you have to fight. You
should not show that you are afraid. This virtue doesn’t force you to fight impossible
odds, so sneaking away is possible, as long as you have done everything you could
before coming to it. You are a noble warrior and shall act like one.
- Justice : I shall hold a passion for justice in my heart. A true gentleman believes in a
justice that punishes the wrongdoings. The thieves, the liars, the cheaters should be
punished according to their crimes.
- Generosity : I shall give aid to any man, woman, child, friend or foe, without though of
reward or compensation. Being the strong and the riche, the noble class should be
providing protection and guidance to the lower casts.
- Mercy : I shall show mercy to a defenseless foe. Fighting someone unaware of the
battle, or unarmed, is not honorable. Duels should also be one against one. Alongside
generosity, mercy is usually the virtue most modern noble forget.
- Modesty : I shall show humility before the Creator and his work. Bragging isn’t really
welcomed at the court. One shall be proud of his accomplishments but not boast them
at every occasion.
- Temperance : I shall keep guard against treason in my own heart and in the heart of
others. Etiquette separate the man from the animal, and one should be always mindful
of the complex social system. Uncouth warriors are unwelcome in court.
Panache values :
- 0-1 : Honorless scum.
You are without honor. Like the thugs living on the streets, you are a selfish coward. You are
anathema to all the virtues of the code of Chivalry.
- 2-3 : Villainous.
Cruelty and selfishness is rife. Barbaric warriors have this rank. They sometimes have a sliver
of honor (eg not killing women) but that is about it.
- 4-5 : What is expected.
You follow the basic rules of the code, but barely. You mostly pay lip service to it or are too
weak-minded to live by the higher standards of it. Most nobles have this rank.
- 6-7 : Gentleman.
You are the type of hero the romantic speaks of. You try your best to live by the code in
everything, but sometimes you falter or one virtue is too hard for you to follow.
- 8-9 : Heroic.
You embody the virtues of the Code. You are a shining example to live by.
- 10 : Paragon.
This level is nothing but a faltering moment, for such a rank of panache is too hard to
maintain with the difficulties of life… or led to your death due to you refusing to bow.
Status and glory works like they in the L5R corebook, just that they mostly work only for the
respective country and their neighbors. Social position starts with noble (1,0), with military
grades / Navy grades going as following : corporal / sailor (1,5), sergeant / mate (2,0),
lieutenant /petty officer (3,0), captain / lieutenant (4,0). There is also magistrate and religious
positions, which follows a complex structure only expert understands.
Molinero school (Merenae, Warrior) : + 1 awareness

This school is a famous fencing school that teaches espada
(swordsmen) a more defensive style than the other well know
schools. It uses a parrying dagger in its left hand, often named a
main-gauche. Through parrying with it, the fencer can block enemy
attacks, which are frequently rash ones, as the second most famous
aspect of this school is the habit of teasing and insulting the
opponent. This is done so that the enemy loses focus and makes
impulsive attacks, offering openings in his defense when doing so.
One variant style uses a triple dagger to increase disarms in addition
to parrying, but make it harder to parry.
Starting panache : 5,5

School skills : defense, knives (dagger), swordsmanship, fencing, etiquette Umi no Koete,
intimidation, any bugei or high skill.
Starting outfit : dagger, rapier, nobleman or woman’s clothing, travelling pack, 8 gold coins.
1st rank : Molinero’s defense.

The first lesson of this school is how to use the dagger in their left hand. You ignore all dual-
wielding penalties when you have a dagger in your left hand. Your TN increase by your
school rank when you have a dagger in your left hand. You have +1k0 to intimidation rolls.
2nd rank : Molinero’s sarcasm.

The school is known for the constant insults and sarcasm of their students. As a free action,
you can make an intimidation (control) / awareness roll with a TN equal to your opponent’s
willpower X 5 (+ bonuses against intimidation). If you succeed, your opponent suffers a – 3 to
all his attacks rolls for a number of rounds equal to your school rank. Each raise on this roll
increase the penalty by 2. You cannot use this technique on a particular opponent more than
once per skirmish. It can be used in a duel.
3rd rank : Molinero’s strike.
Like the 3rd rank of the Kakita Duelling school.
4th rank : Molinero’s speed.

More than many other fencing schools, the Molinero is fast. Their students are often dancing
around with their two weapons. You can make attacks with knives and swords as simple
actions.
5th rank : Molinero’s dance.

You have mastered the perfect art of dancing to the tune of combat. When using a dagger and
a sword and after making two attacks during the
same round, you can make use the extra attack
maneuver with the dagger for three less raises.
Morriston school (Thrane, Warrior) : + 1

reflexes.
An antiquated school for many, this fencing
school is popular among soldiers for the use of a
buckler to increase defense while making attacks
with a more common sword than the rapier. It
offers a wide range of attacks, but tends to have a
repetitive pattern to it. With the plague which led
to the fall of civilized combat in Thrane, the
Morriston school returned as a major school
among soldiers and poor nobles.

School skills : defense (shield), swordsmanship, fencing, battle, etiquette Umi no Koete,
firearms or archery or crossbow, any skill.
Starting outfit : small shield, rapier or longsword, travelling pack, warrior or officer outfit, 6
gold coins, appropriate ranged attack weapon and ammunition.
1st rank : Morriston’s apprentice.

While you have a sword or a gun in one hand and a shield in the other hand, you ignore all
penalties for dual wielding. You can add your shield bonus to your TN to be hit whenever you
are not in full attack.
2nd rank : Morriston’s journeyman.

When using a shield, you gain reduction equal to your drama ring.
3rd rank : Morriston's thrust.

A soldier school, the Morriston teaches the mastery of melee weapons. You can make simple
attacks with melee weapons.
4th rank : Morriston’s master.

Your focus on your defense offers you opportunities when you decide to strike. When you are
in defense stance, you are also considered to be in center stance.
5th rank : Morriston's twist.

This difficult move to master is a tell-tale of the school. While parrying with the shield, the
swordsman makes a series of short thrusts before making a slash attack. Once per round,
when in defense or full defense stance, you can spend a drama die to make an attack, as a free
action, against one opponent who is attacking you, before the resolution of his own.
Torvo style, new path (Warrior, Merenae) :

A dueling school that makes the duelist keep his left hand behind his back while fighting, it is,
contrary to the Molinero, all about silence and focus. The school teaches to fight on your side
to make a narrower target and allows you to make quick forward thrusts, forcing yourself into
the opponent’s stance to disturb it with feint like disarm. It make it a really efficient technique
in duels, since it is all about observing your opponent’s dance and stance.
Replace : Molinero rank 2
Requirements : fencing 3, swordsmanship 3, defense 3
Technique : Torvo’s strike.

Your mastery of the sword allows you to need one less raise to do the extra attack, disarm,
called shot and feint maneuver. You learn two additional pieces of information during the
assessment stage of a duel. You have + 1k0 on focus rolls.
Cornejo school (Warrior, Merenae) : + 1 intelligence / Hapworth school (Warrior,

Thrane) : + 1 reflexes.
The mastery of the longbow was already dying by the time of the battle of White Stag because
of firearms being seen as more modern and efficient. The Hapworth school taught how to use
crossbows efficiently at the time. But after the plague ravaged the land and resources
dwindling, people returned to the cheaper longbow and the hunting skills of this school to
help them survive. On the other side, the weapon created by Espada Cornejo led to the
development of flintlock weapons that spread quickly. While created by the Merenae, the
school for mastering firearms was taught in every neighboring country, especially in Thrane
where the last rank was created. You have to select your favored weapon when entering this
school and apply the corresponding bonuses per technique.

School skills : brawling, craft : bowmaking (Hapworth), craft : crossbow (both) or craft :
polvora (Cornejo), firearms (Cornejo) or crossbow (both) or archery (Hapworth), athletics,
any bugei or low skill, stealth, hunting.
Starting outfit : appropriate good quality ranged weapon, tools necessary for the craft skill,
corresponding ammunitions, sturdy outdoor outfit, dagger, 5 gold coins.
1st rank : Point-blank mastery.

You have +1k0 to your attacks rolls when in attack stance. The base range of your firearms
(Cornejo) / archery (Hapsworth) / crossbow (both) weapons increase by 1’ for each rank in
this school.
2nd rank : Short-range mastery.

You can increase the damage of your bow (Hapsworth) or crossbow (both) by crafting it
yourself, or improve the damage of your firearms (Cornejo) by refining the gunpowder used.
As long as you use those homemade products, your VD is increased by 1k0.
3rd rank : Two shots, two kills.

You have mastered the reload of your weapons. You can now make simple action attacks with
bows (Hapsworth), or reload a firearm with one less complex action (Cornejo). For the
crossbow (both schools), you reload with one less complex action, unless you have the
mastery rank 5 of crossbow, in this case you reload as a simple action and can shoot with
crossbows as a simple action.
4th rank : Medium-range mastery.

Making raises with archery (Hapsworth), crossbows (both) or firearms (Cornejo) isn’t limited
by your Drama ring. You have a number of free raises equal to your school rank to use for the
called shot maneuver only when using the favored weapon of your school.
5th rank : Long-range mastery.

Your mastery of your weapon has few equals. You ignore 3 points of reduction on your target
and your damage dice explodes on 9 and 10 when using your school’s favored weapon.
Tytus style (Thrane, warrior, new path) :

Mastery of the horse is a skill which nobles of Thrane and Merenae are supposed to excel at,
since owning a horse and a sword are the distinctive traits of nobility. As long as he has both,
the poorest of nobles has little trouble proving his status. As such, techniques were created to
fight with a horse, using his speed, agility and strength to allow fast attacks with the spear and
sword. This is not seen as the most noble of styles as it offers the chance to flee to avoid
counterattacks, it is a really efficient one that became more common after the plague. This
school is the only one still teaching the use of the broadsword (Seibore).
Replace : Morriston rank 2
Requirements : horsemanship 3, swordsmanship 3
Technique : centaurus.
When riding a horse, you can use its strength value instead of yours for your damage rolls and
use its reduction in addition to yours. You cannot use a shield when using the reduction of the
horse.
Sicaire school (Rogue, Thrane and Merenae) : + 1

agility
In a civilized society like those of the Umi no Koete,
you cannot solve every problem with a duel. You
need to sometimes use more discreet means, or
sometimes your main resources are finances instead
of skill with a sword. For those, the sicaire are here.
A talented guild of assassins, everybody publicly
despises them but that nearly everyone wants to be
able to afford their services. They are the response to
many problems, even if sometimes all they do is
sneak in and deliver a paper. Knowing that the sicaire
could enter your home can make you change your mind. They tend to work independently of
nations and families, but some are bound by oath or money to a group and works exclusively
for them. Sicaire can be found in many positions of power, sometimes hidden as cortesano /
cortesana (courtier) or consejero (advisors) of those who make the courts dance.
School skills : stealth, athletics, knives (dagger), craft : poison, temptation, sincerity (deceit),
any skill.
Starting outfit : 5 daggers, crafting materials and tools, 3 different outfits, travelling pack, 6
gold coins.
1st rank : one poison.

The sicaire works first with poisons, even if most of the poisons he uses are non-lethal. You
have a + 2k0 bonuses to your rolls to resist poisons and illnesses and also to your craft :
poison and medicine (antidotes) rolls. You have + 1k0 to your stealth rolls.
2nd rank : 2 hands.

When using two knives, you may ignore the penalties for dual wielding. When using knives,
you ignore an amount of reduction equal to your school rank.
3rd rank : 3 kisses.

Distraction, confidence and efficiency are what the sicaire is about. When spending a void
point when making a roll with a school skill, you add 2k2 instead of 1k1.
4th rank : 4 daggers.

While the sicaire are more about infiltration that actual fighting, sometimes they have to. You
can make simple action attacks with knives. When using throwing weapons, you can throw 4
of them during one complex action.
5th rank : 5 moves.

After spending 5 hours studying someone thoroughly (these need not be consecutive, but each
session needs to be at least an hour, and no more than a week can pass between sessions), you
get + 3k0 to all your temptation, sincerity, investigation and stealth opposed rolls with this
person. The bonus expires after a week, although the duration can be extended by studying the
target for one hour before that week end. You can have this ability active for a number of
targets equal to your Fire ring at any one time.
Hawthorne school (Warrior, rogue, Thrane) : + 1 constitution.

A sailor school, which contrary to most schools listed above,
accepts mostly commoners. But they are no less deadly,
especially on a ship. They are talented with improvised weapons
and uneven ground and use as main weapons a pistol and a
cutlass. They are a more rounded school than most swordsman
schools, teaching non-combat skills. More than conventional
fighting, the school is based on tricks to distract the opponent.
School skills : athletics, brawling, sailing, firearms,
swordsmanship, intimidation, any bugei or low skill.
Starting outfit : pistol, 6 doses of powders, 36 bullets, sailor outfit,
5 gold coins, travelling pack, short sword and 2 daggers.
1st rank : Hit’m hard

Sailors have to be adaptable to survive the difficulties of a ship and deter people with their
reputation. You suffer no penalties to movements or attacks whenever you are prone or an
uneven terrain. You have a + 2k0 bonus to rolls to resist alcohol effects. You can add your
intimidation rank to your damage rolls. You do not have any penalties when using improvised
weapons.
2nd rank : Quick tack.
You know when to move against the flow and when to move with the flow. During mass
battle, you can reduce the damage you suffer by your school rank and increase your mass
battle roll by the same value. You suffer no penalties for dual wielding if one of the weapons
is a small weapon. You can draw a small sized weapon as a free action if both your hands are
free.
3rd rank : Fancy swordplay.

You have impressive fighting skills. You can now make an attack as a Simple action with
firearms, swords, improvised weapons and daggers.
4th rank : Spit in death’s eye.

You have been to the brink of death and come back from it over and over. Reduce your
wounds penalties by your school rank.
5th rank : Ancient training techniques.

You know all the best tricks. Whenever you spend a drama point you get the benefits of two.
Once per day, you can spend a full round drinking something invigorating (in defense stance
if you want) to recover all your drama points.
Forlani style (Warrior, Merenae, new path) : + 1 reflexes.

A more socially accepted variant of the Hawthorne school is the Forlani style, using a sword
cane and its scabbard. The scabbard is an improvised weapon, and the sword cane requires a
TN 20 investigation / perception roll to see it’s a weapon, but otherwise works like a rapier.
School skills : athletics, stealth, etiquette Umi no Koete, fencing, swordsmanship, brawling
(improvised weapons), any high skill.
Replace Hawthorne rank 1
Starting outfit : sword-cane, rapier, nobleman’s outfit, 7 gold coins, travelling pack.
Technique : Fancy Footwork.

You suffer no penalties to dual wielding if you have a sword cane and its scabbard as
weapons. You do not have any penalties when using improvised weapons. During the stance
selection phase, you can either add your panache to your TN to be hit or to your damage. The
Fancy swordplay technique do not applies to firearms and daggers for you.
Magic of the Umi no Koete :
Their magic is called blood sorcery because for some unknown reason, only some bloodlines
can cast spells. You need the forbidden knowledge : sorcery advantage (one rank minimum)
to be able to enter one of the [sorcerer] schools of the Thrane and Merenae. Sorcerers start
with three spells and, when they increase in school rank, they immediately learn two new
spells of any mastery level which they can cast. They can learn others spells through research
for an xp cost equal to the mastery level of the spell (with a maximum of 5 X current school
rank spells). They can forget some spells to learn new ones.
Casting a spell requires a spell casting roll of school rank / ring (determined by the school) at
a TN of 5 + (5 X mastery level of the spell). As for normal spells, casting requires a number
of complex actions equal to the Mastery level to be cast, with raises reducing the number of
complex actions as usual. Sorcerers have a number of spell slots equal to the school ring X 3.
Backlash : if you fail a casting roll, you suffer a number of wounds equal to the master y level
of the spell (for example, small flesh wounds appears on their face) unless another backlash
effect is listed.
Levenslot (sorcerer, Thrane) : + 1 awareness

This magic is all about the tapestry of destiny and predicting the future. Those blessed with
this rare magic can see patterns in the Void (which they call fate) and try to weave and
unweave some outcomes to increase or decrease the chances of those happening. It doesn't
allow a complete control of the future, with even the best masters of this art not achieving
total prediction, but only a little control of the probabilities. Mostly women are able to access
this magic, but the rare males who are blessed (or cursed) with the ability are able to reach the
same level of mastery. The Ziener (seer) can see the strands of fate in tarot cards (a divination
deck), coins being money, cups passion, swords conflicts and staves authority. Based on the
symbols on the cards, the Ziener can see which strand of fate can be altered to which result
and focus on altering those. But as each strand supports the pattern, playing too much with
fate can create backlash for the sorcerer.

School skills : divination (tarot), etiquette Umi no Koete, calligraphy Thrane, knives, courtier
Umi no Koete, lore : omens, any high or low skill.
Starting outfit : good quality tarot deck, writing tools, dagger, nobleman or woman’s outfit, 7
gold coins, travelling pack.
Technique : Measure, tug, weave and unweave.

You can see the treads of fate and alter them. Your casting ring is drama. You have a + 1k0
bonus to your lore : omens and divination rolls.
Spells : sense (air), sense (water), commune (air), commune (water), all the spells with the
divination keyword and all the void spells, and the following name spells (See Enemies of the
Empire page 118) : bend name, bless name, mend name and name talent.
Fuego (Sorcerer, Merenae) : + 1

intelligence.
The magic of Fuego (fire) is all about exciting
the threads of the tapestry (the elements) to
create damage. Burning through the tapestry, a
Fuego master is seen as dangerous to
everyone, including his allies. The use of this
magic tends to burn everyone around, which
explains why they are often showing traces of
burns. Practitioners of the trade tend to be
feisty and flamboyant, favouring fire-related
colors.

School skills : etiquette Umi no Koete, calligraphy Merenae, any bugei skill, stealth, defense,
medicine (wound treatment), craft : polvora.
Starting outfit : travelling pack, first aid pack, dagger, craft materials and tools, good quality
craftsman’s outfit, writing tools, 5 gold coins.
Technique : to burn the tapestry.
You can excite the threads around you, setting them alight with your power. Your casting ring
is fire. You have + 1k0 to your medicine rolls due to your habit of healing your burns.
Spells : sense (fire), summon (fire), command (fire), all the spells with the thunder keyword
and all the fire spells.
Kata :
Kata work the same way as for Rokugani characters but applied to warriors schools instead of
bushi schools. Don’t forget void is drama for the Thrane and Merenae, and that some paths
change the faction tag of the school like the Forlani style. I haven’t listed every kata available
in 4th edition, but that selection should give you ideas to adapt the remaining ones.
- Striking as air, striking as fire, striking as earth, striking as void and striking as water
are unchanged and available for any warrior school.
- Balance the elements style is available for the Molinero school.
- Breath of the wind style is available for the Forlani style, sicaire and Morriston
schools.
- Disappearing world style is available for the Molinero, Hawthorne and sicaire schools.
- Hidden blade style is available for the Hawthorne and Molinero schools.
- Indomitable warrior style is available for the Hawthorne and Tytus style schools.
- Reckless abandon style is available for the Hawthorne school.
- Spinning blades style is available to the Hawthorne, Forlani style, Sicaire, and
Molinero schools.
- Veiled menace style is available to the Sicaire school.
- Strength of the Crab is available to the Hapworth school.
- Son of the storms is available to the Sicaire and Hawthorne schools.
- Strength of the Mantis is available is to the Hapworth, Hawthorne and Cornejo
schools.
- Strength of the Scorpion is available to the Sicaire, Molinero and Morriston schools.
- Strength of the Unicorn is available to the Tytus style.
- Art of Ninjutsu is available to the Sicaire school.
- Strength of the Spider is available to the Morriston school.
Weapons :
The pistol, the musket and the canon are described on page 97 of Imperial Histories 1. You
will notice that I modified the firearms and canon skills as I apply the misfires rule featured
on the same page. For the purpose of the supernatural effects of firearms, consider that a
firearm ignore one point of supernatural reduction per 5 damage point the roll did and that
they can bypass invulnerability.
- Ashi-kyu : (kyujutsu or archery : ashi-kyu) this Thrane and Merenae composite

longbow requires 3 strength to be used. The bow's strength is the archer's strength – 1
and the range is archer's strength + 2 X 100'. Keywords : large, Thrane and Merenae.
- Seibore : (swordmanship : seibore) this heavy and long knight's sword, sometimes
called a broadsword, was already antiquated when
the ships arrived in Rokugan. Using it requires
strength and stamina 3, DR is 0k4 and it reduces
reduction by 4. Keywords : large, Thrane and
Merenae.
- Gunpowder pistol : (Firearms : gunpowder pistol) is

identical to the pistol except for the following : range
33', it ignores the armor part of the TN of the target
and every “1” rolled count double for the misfire
rule. Keywords : small, firearm, Thrane and
Merenae.
- Gunpowder shotgun (usually called blunderbuss) : (firearms : gunpowder shotgun) is

identical to the musket except for the following : range 66', it ignores the armor part
of the TN, reduces reduction by 4 and every “1” rolled counts double for the misfire
rule. Keywords : large, firearm, Thrane and Merenae.
- Rapier : (swordsmanship : rapier) DR 3k2, you can uses awareness instead of strength
for damage rolls. Keywords : medium, Thrane and Merenae. The sword-cane is
identical except the Dr is 2k2 and grants a raise to sleight of hand rolls to hide it.
- Triple-dagger (knives : dagger) : this 1k2 modified dagger allow for better disarm
maneuver, as you need one less raise to do so, but your insight rank for the TN bonus
granted by two weapon wielding is reduced by 2 and this dagger cannot be thrown
accurately with strength (double opponent’s armor TN bonus and reduction).
Creatures :
- Gaijin horses uses the Unicorn riding horse rules, corebook page 322.
- Nekomata / Caith Sith

The fairy cat of the Umi No Koete is not unknown to the Rokugani.
Named the Nekomata in the peasant folklore, this cat with a ghostly
fur and a really long tail divided in two is known as a trickster. It is a
shapeshifter from Chikushudo with a link to meido, which shows in
his macabre humor : his tricks are often painful, sometimes even
deadly, to his targets. Legends says that a really old cat turns into a
nekomata for having lived many normal cat lives, and as such they are
nicknamed elder cats and normal cats tend to show some kind of
reverence to them. His powers are often seen as maho and the Umi no
Koete sees them as monsters. (The Nekomata was introduced in the
official Oriental Adventures / L5R scenario Treachery’s Reward).
Air 2 Earth 2 Fire 2 Water 2
Initiative : 3k2 Attacks : claws 3k2 (complex)
Damage : 2k2 (claws) Armor TN : 10
Réduction : 5 Wounds : 10/+5; 20/+10; 30 /dead
Skills : defense 4, acting 3, sincerity (deceit) 5, sleight of hand 3, stealth 3, temptation
(seduction) 3.
Special abilities :
- Shapeshifter : Nekomata is a shapeshifter and can take the shapeshifter abilities and
penalties as per page 244 of Enemies of the Empire.
- Spirit.
- Eyes of the owl : the Nekomata has the Eyes of the owl shapeshifter ability.
- Puppeteer : the Nekomata is known for its ability to raise the dead. It works like the
spell summon undead champion (corebook page 269) cast the same way (Nekomata is
considered to be insight rank 2) with the same wound cost (but there is no actual blood
spilled, just a loss of energy) but duration is concentration. There is no kansen
involved in the raising of the dead, as it is just a marionette animated by magic (hence
the concentration duration) and the Nekomata can have only one active at a time. But
in Rokugan, Ivory Kingdoms and Burning Sands, kansen usually come quickly to the
animated body and find a home in it. That means as soon as the undead isn’t
controlled anymore by the Nekomata, the kansen can use the body as he wants.
Kansen as such are really happy to find those corpses already turned undead that the
Nekomata leaves behind them. However the shapeshifter can take back control of a
previously raised undead with his puppeteer ability (treat it like the spell Puppet
Master, corebook page 271, with the same rules modifications as summon undead
champion earlier).
- Ventriloquism : the Nekomata can talk through the undead he is puppeteering as he
wants, and can also talk to all felines.
- Ancestral protector / Mokumokuren :

The Umi no Koete have many legends of ancestral protectors, ghosts of heroes
of the past protecting their homes long after their deaths. They are usually
bound to some kind of grave, and as such can only fight to defend the land
around it. The Rokugani have a similar story in the shape of the Mokumokuren,
the ghost of a minor 11th century Phoenix shugenja named Hagakure, which
after his death became the protector of the Emperors. His funeral stone is kept
in their bedroom so the ghost can fight anyone who would try to threaten the
Child of Heavens.
Air 2 (reflexes 4) Earth 3 Fire 3 (agility 4) Water 4

Initiative : 7k4 Attacks : 9k4 (simple)
Damage : 7k3 (spectral sword) Armor TN : 30
Reduction : 7 (bypassed by jade, crystal, obsidian). Wounds : 80/dead
Skills :
Special abilities :
- Spirit.
- Fear 2.
- Immortality : as long as his grave symbol is intact, the ancestral protector will come
back to (un)-life one hour after being killed.
- Invisible : without the use of a sense air spell or any similar ability, Mokumokuren is
invisible at will as long it doesn’t attack.
- Incorporeal : the ghost can became intangible or not during the reaction stage of a
round. While he is intangible, only spells can affect him and he cannot attack.
Burnings Sands :
Characters from the Burning Sands uses Ka in place of the Void, but it works otherwise in the
same way. . For interactions with effects that target void, refers to the rules described in 4th
edition core book and book of the Void.
Family bonuses :
- The Mekham : the native people of the Jewel descended from a collection of tribes
who founded a farming community that later extended to house a cosmopolitan
population coming from multiple neighboring countries and tribes, under the rule of
the Sultanate and its executive power, the Caliphate (which became more important
under the immortal Caliph and gave the name to this overall faction). Often named
after the philosopher who founded their culture, they tend to have a dark tan skin and
black hair, and some unifying facial traits, but it is nowhere a rule. Their social culture
is known as the Caliphate, and is both not a faction and the biggest of them all. It is the
common name of all the people not belonging to the major factions, including the
Askaree (the royal guard) and the Qadi (the Caliph’s magistrates). They are nowhere
as unified under the Sultan as the factions are under their champions, but they do have
their own organization. For the purpose of schools, the soldier of the city guard (LBS
update page 2), the free sahir (LBS update page 3), Alley thug [rogue], scholar
[artisan] and street rat [rogue] (LBS update page 11) are considered Caliphate schools.
o The Jewelers : + 1 willpower. The Jewelers are the common people of
Medinaat al-Salaam, the various thugs, merchants, artisans and so on that
many wealthy totally forget they ever existed. Despite not members of the
factions, they form the biggest part of the population of the Jewel of the
Desert, which has a population said to exceed one million.
o The Aqahbaians : + 1 awareness. Aqahba is a port up north, at the frontier of
the Senpet Empire and the Yodotai empire. This is where the Thrane and
Merenae first met with the Ki-rin clan and heard of Rokugan and later brought
back a plague from the Senpet. Part of the region known as the Great Void, it
is an independent city-state but its commercial ties to the whole region and
especially the Jewel make his population really similar to the Caliphate. The
Tortoise clan has agents here, keeping tracks of the contacts between countries.
o The Nahr’umarans : + 1 perception. They live alongside the river that gives
them their name, and is the lifeblood of most of the Burning Sands region. The
farmlands here feed most of the population of the Jewel and the neighboring
areas. They are sturdy, hard-working people who tend to have darker tone of
skin. The most southern tribes have even black skin.
o Nomads : + 1 stamina. The nomads are the numerous tribes that live in the
desert, going from oasis to oasis. They are sturdy, hard-working but really
friendly people for those who do not anger them. They have strong traditions
of inviting guests and saving people in the desert but can also raid the same
people if they are rich and safe.
o The Hanif : + 1 willpower. Light skin, sometimes blond hair, the Hanif looks
quite different from the others ethnic groups of the Burning Sands. They are
parents of the Yodotai : long ago, they left the region after the Day of Wrath,
and were known as the Hanif because of lack of gods. In the now Yodotai
empire, Conquest came to them and the Yodotai were born. Those who didn’t
follow this new god decided to be named the Hanif and return to their
homelands. They split into 14 tribes and were enslaved by the Senpet. Only the
11th tribe, following Mekhem (Shinsei’s name in the Burning Sands) escaped
this fate. The 11th tribe and the escaped slaves of the Senpet and some remnant
of the Sheel Kingdom (see Yodotai) are now living in farming communities or
nomad tribes in the deserts around Medinaat al-Salaam.
o The Qadi and Caliphate guards : + 1 perception. This new faction is born from
the new Caliphate that Adira built after the battle of the Shattered Jewel. They
are the new police force of the city of peace, using the intimidation of their
assassins technique to keep peace. The name Qadi means servants or judges.
They can use assassin keeper and (for some talented few) assassin slayer
schools as Caliphate schools but their only other available school is soldier of
the city guard.
- The Houses of Dahab : the houses of Dahab are a powerhouse in the Jewel, a cartel of
merchant houses that seat at the council with the Sultan and the Caliph. They rule
most of the trade in the region and schemes their own secrets plans. They are the most
numerous factions in numbers in the Jewel, being second in numbers to the Jewelers.
Dahabi schools can be found page 4 of the LBS update.
o House Asmari : + 1 strength. The closest thing to ambassadors the Houses
have, their official job is to rule the trade with others countries.
o House Basiri : + 1 intelligence. They are specialized in luxury items and can
levy taxes, a privilege that they are the only ones to hold in the Houses.
o House Enour : + 1 willpower. This house primary interest is mining, and is
losing ground because of the lack of workers, afraid of the work conditions.
o House Haffit : + 1 agility. The house in charge of water base her prices based
on the income of the one wanting to buy, which give her a strong support from
the lower classes and great power over everyone not living near the river.
o House Hazaad : + 1 awareness. The youngest and most hated house had won
the right, trough blackmail and bribery, to use magic while everyone else in the
Jewel outside of the Caliph’s forces are forbidden by law. Many magic-users
flocked to the rising house to be allowed to use their powers.
o House Mendadi : + 1 reflexes. This house controls the blacksmiths.
o House Menjari : + 1 perception. Banks and moneylenders are her purview.
o House Rashid : + 1 stamina. Construction workers and carpenters, and some
related jobs, are under his control. She overprices her work for the riches but
she is fair for the poor, seeing no reason to overpressure them.
o The Order of the Blood-red tiger : + 1 agility. Haroun’s enforcers, known as
the Qadaam, are the Qolat assassins created during the events that led to the
Awakening. Contrary to the others houses, all the members of this family are
members of the Qolat, even if they may not be totally aware of it. They work
for Haroun and are supporting his attempt to get control of the organization.
They can use assassin slayer and assassin duelist schools as Dahabi schools, as
also any other Dahabi schools but not the Dahabi bargainer school.
- Qabal : the Qabal is a secret organization of sahirs who fight the ban on magic. They
are a divided group only united for their beliefs in the use of magic. Qabal schools can
be found page 4 of the LBS update.
o The Traditionalists : + 1 intelligence. They believe knowledge should be
hoarded and only shared after the student has proved himself.
o The Progressivists : + 1 willpower. A young generation believing that magic
should be shared and calling upon sorcerers of all nations to work together.
o The Celestial Alliance : + 1 awareness. A secret organization of free Jinns,
Qanon (human fused with Jinns) and sahirs, they have been working since the
original Day of Wrath to promote Jinns and sahirs working together as equals.
They were living in a floating hidden citadel but many members of their group
were also members of the Qabal, a secret society in a secret society, hiding
their double affiliation. Most members of this group sacrificed themselves to
defeat the Lying Darkness after their victory against the Jinn Kaleel.
o Seed of Qanon : you cannot have the fitfully sleeping blood, you are a fusion
of a Jinn and a human, the ultimate power of the Seeding path, the secret of the
Celestial Alliance. You aren’t human anymore and follow the shapeshifter
creation rules (enemies of the empire page 244). In addition to shapeshifter
abilities you can take Jinn powers (minor as minor abilities, medium powers as
major abilities) and blood limitation as penalties of equivalent level. You are
an orphan who has been raised by the Qanon in the City of Orphans in the
Black Earth, and your memories of it have been removed once you were of age
and brought back to Ningen-do. As such, you can take touch of the spirit
realms for 1 less point and cursed by the realm for one more point, but you
cannot have any advantage or disadvantage that relates to your life before
returning to the mortal world.
Blood limitation : through the Seed of Qanon, it is possible to mix jinn powers with human
blood. Those have a price, which are often called blood limitation.
Blood limitation : minor

- You must drink 1,5 times the normal amount of water.
- You must wear flamboyant clothing
- You speak with an otherworldly voice.
- All shapeshifter minor penalties.
- Phobia (1 pt, brass)
- You need to eat fire regularly.
- You must dress in clothing of the other gender.
Blood limitation : major

- All shapeshiftter major penalties.
- You have inhuman eyes.
- Phobia (3 pt, brass).
- You need to always sleep on sand.
New shapeshifter powers :

- False shadows (minor) : you can cast way of deception (corebook page 168) like a
shugenja of your insight rank.
- Improved animal form (minor) : you can alter your animal and human form so to
shapeshift partially : half human half animal, talking animal, human with tail…
- Kami tongue (major) : you can cast commune like a shugenja of your insight rank void
ring times per day.
- Spirit fire (major) : Ryu and Fuschicho only, you can cast the fires from within
(corebook page 182) like a shugenja of your insight rank. Each casting inflicts you 3
wounds.
- Reincarnation (major) : insight rank 5 only. Whenever you die, lower all your rings by
1, and adjust your insight rank and school rank accordingly. If none of your rings is
reduced to 0, you are brought back to life, healed to the crippled rank. Fuschicho are
fully healed by this ability.
- False self (major) : you can cast gift of the wind void ring times per day like a
shugenja of your insight rank. You suffer 3 wounds per minute in this state, 2 if you
are a Saru or a Tanuki.
New shapeshifter penalties ;

- You cannot enter a building where someone lives unless invited to do so. But you
consider places with open doors as inviting everyone. Minor.
- If someone drops something, you must immediately pick it up and return it. Minor.
- You can never own more than you can carry, if you exceed this limit, you must give
the excess at the first people you meet. Minor.
- You must eat living flesh every day, mice and insects count. Major.
- There is an item that you must always have with you. You break the taboo everyday
you do not have it, unless someone has it and tells you. In this case, you must obey his
commands. Major.
- Ashalans : the immortals Ashalans are not humans, given powers by their creators the
Jinns and infused with some of the magic of the Sun. They have blue skin with
markings that looks like tattoos and share 12 souls for their whole race.
o Immunity : Ashalans are immune to all magical and mundane poisons and
diseases.
o Light sensitivity : all Ashalans have phobia (sun, 2 ranks), which applies to
being at the surface and start losing rank of stamina at the speed of one per
month spent at the surface. The loss stop if the Ashalan spend at least a week
per month underground, and recovery of lost stamina ranks is one rank per
additional week.
o Shadow cloak : the ability of controlling the shadows around them give +2k0
when immobile, + 1k0 when moving to stealth rolls.
o Tattoo of domination : works like page 141 of LBS but it is considered an
intimidation effect for bonuses like honor ranks.
o All Ashalans have + 1 Ka and Momoku.
- Half Ashalan : only a few of those have ever been born, only one in 700 years before
the Awakening. After this event, the Ashalan scattered around the world and more
may have been born since. They are identical to Ashalans except that they do not have
the tattoo ability, that their shadow cloak is + 1k0 all the time but their light sensitivity
is reduced to 1 rank and stamina loss is stopped and recovered after only 3 days. Their
skin tend to have a more flesh-like color than the blue-grey ones of the full-blooded
Ashalans, which can sometimes make them pass for tattooed slaves.
- The true daughters and sons of the Mountain : + 1 reflexes. Once they were the only
assassin faction and were just known as such. After the death of the Old Man of the
Mountain, the faction split and got divided and some of their knowledge was used by
others groups like the Kolat assassins and the new Qadi police force. Assassins’
schools can be found page 6 of the LBS update.
- Ra’Shari : once followers of Vishnu, living by the tripartite blessings of Provider,

Preserver and Pervader, the Ra’Shari have abandoned their ties to the gods of the
Ivory Kingdoms to follow the mission given to them by the Ashalans : to preserve the
knowledge of what was before the Day of Wrath. Ra’shari schools are page 6 of the
LBS update and page 190 of LBS for the Diviner school.
o The great caravan of commerce : + 1 willpower. Richly attired, they deal with
bringing exotic goods from across the world to local bazaars.
o The great caravan of entertainment : + 1 awareness. Focusing first on
surviving, second on making a profit and third on saving the world, those
brightly colored caravans are what most people imagine the Ra’shar as.
o The great caravan of memory : + 1 intelligence. Knowledge is power, and this
caravan deals in that, first and foremost.
o The great caravan of mysticism : + 1 perception. Those trades in fortunes and
secrets, always being one step ahead of everyone.
- The Senpet : + 1 Ka. The Senpet are highly religious and revere the Ten Thousands
Gods. Senpet schools can be found page 7 and 8 of the LBS update.
- The Yodotai empire : the forever expanding and conquering Yodotai empire is a
power coming from the west no-one has found a way to stop once it has brought his
full strength against a kingdom. It has so far only pushed forward in the Burning
Sands against the Senpet to punish them from the enslavement of the Hanif.
o Yodotai : + 1 strength. Fully assimilated Yodotai only differs by their physical
appearance and some few reminding trinkets of their former culture.
Everything else has been assimilated in the huge empire. All Yodotai
characters can buy ranks of Magic Resistance at any point at – 1 exp cost.
Contrary to others characters, this advantage applies to all magical effects.
Yodotai characters cannot have ranks in spellcasters schools.
o The Sheel Kingdom : + 1 willpower. The Sheel was a splinter group of the
Hanif who build a country hundred of kilometers west of the Jewel of the
Desert. The Yodotai warlord Piron conquered it in 1110 without bloodshed,
recognizing them as cousins of his own people. He contacted the disappointed
nobles houses of the kingdom, and after ten years, they united to overthrown
their king and join the Yodotai Empire. Freed Hanif, their slavery put to an end
after the Yodotai conquered the Senpet empire as punishment for enslaving
their long-lost cousins, can also use this family bonus. Both groups aren’t fully
incorporated in the Yodotai’s culture of conquest and tend to be administrators
and others support functions to the legions.
- The Jackals : the Jackals have suffered many setbacks after the Awakening, which
they attempted to stop. The Celestial Alliance fought them for allying with Kaleel,
then it was the Ebon Hand for allying themselves with the Rhumalites, and after that,
the Ivinda and the Rokugani for allying themselves with the Spider clan and their
failed attempts at taking over. Before that, they were a small and discreet faction,
trying to stop the Awakening from happening and revering the Sayel (the entity known
as the Lying Darkness) hidden in the Ebon Stone while being allied to Jigoku through
its ambassador, the Ma’ghul (a powerful undead Akutenshi). Due to the practice that
created them, those who survived the test of the Ebon Stone have usually one rank of
Shadow Taints, long-term agents who didn’t go through it have one Shadow point and
many necromancers have a few points of Shadowland Taint. But the power of the
Lying Darkness is balancing everything in them like in the former cult of Onnotangu :
those Taints progresses slowly, if at all. After the Destroyer War and the fail of
Daigotsu’s forces, the Jackals found allies in the Black Chrysanthemum court, the real
Spider clan, and used Daigotsu’s followers as sacrifices. The objectives of the leaders
of the real Spider clan forked from those of the Jackals and they parted ways, but they
still sometimes share resources and information, often using Daigotsu’s false Spider
clan as patsies in the process. Alley thug, street rat and scholar paths are new paths of
rank 1 for non-Sahir Jackals schools.
o Jackal raised : + 1 agility. The Jackals often adopted urchins and raised them in
the beliefs and cultures of their organization.
o Rejects of the Burning Sands : + 1 awareness. The Jackals accepted many
rejects from the population and were built from survivors of the Ebon stone
test. Those had been through have learned to blend in with normal people.
o Recruits from the Ivory Kingdoms : + 1 willpower. Survivors Ivinda have
joined the rebuilding Jackals once they have turned them back on the weak
Spider refugees. The Jackals offer them a structure to rebuild.
- The Ebonites : playing an Ebonite is a complex matter. Ebonites tend to be members

of the Caliphate or the Ivory Kingdoms, sometimes even more foreign groups who are
united in their beliefs of protecting the world from the Darkness hidden in the Ebon
Stone. The group itself was nearly completely wiped out during the Destroyer War by
the Ebon Daughter, a servant of Kali-Ma, a powerful champion of Jigoku the
Rhumalites believed to be linked to the Ebon Stone itself. So, there is no Ebonite born,
you have to create a character of another group and buy the different school or
multiple schools advantages to enter the order. With some exceptions, before getting
the third rank of your Ebonite school, you have to pass the test of the Ebon Stone. See
Enemies of the Empire page 139 for resisting Shadow corruption. Characters must
have an integrity rank of 6,0 at least, once becoming an Ebonite, the character cannot
progress anymore in any non-Ebonite school.
Status does exist in the Burning Sands, but mostly refers to your
place in your faction (even if you do have some influence overall
through your position in it in respect of others factions). It is a
much less complex and important value as in Rokugan, but still is
important. The Khesir are the local equivalent of the Hinin (there
is no real eta equivalent, as blood isn’t as taboo here as in
Rokugan), the domestics, artisans and farmers are the equivalent
of the Heimins, the city guard is the equivalent of military
positions, the factions are equivalent to the clans. Money being
important in the Burning Sands, merchants have a high status
based on their successes and wealth. The Quadi, the Caliph’s police force and enforcers, are
equivalent to the Emerald Magistrate for status. See page 77 of Burning Sands for more
details.
Reputation is the name for the equivalent of Glory used in the Burning Sands. It works the
same way (with some little differences, like both bride and groom gains reputation equal to
the father’s reputation rank when marrying). Infamy tends to be much more common than in
Rokugan, while news tends to travel not as fast between some factions. See page 78 of
Burning Sands for more information.
Integrity is the Burning Sands equivalent of honor. Integrity is described page 80 of Burning
Sands, but this version was made for 3rd edition. I’ll be then explaining quickly how integrity
works for Burning Sands characters. Integrity gives the same benefits as honor against
temptation and fear (see Honor rules in the L5r corebook for more details).
Integrity values :
- 0-1 : Unreliable traitor.
You are known to be only out for yourself. You have betrayed your superiors, accepted bribes
and have accomplished crimes like kidnapping and murder on a regular basis.
- 2-3 : Coward.
You are a criminal, but you tend to have still some loyalty to your faction. Violence and lies
are your day-to-day life, and your loyalty last only until you are really threatened.
- 4-5 : What is expected.

You are the usual member of society. You can sometimes do minor crimes like theft and
espionage, flee from battle or disobey an order, but you tend to show kindness to others,
protect your faction’s interests and avoid violence as much as possible.
- 6-7 : Trustworthy.
You are a role model for many, knowing compassion enough to help a wounded enemy,
facing clearly superior foe on behalf of your faction and avoiding lies.
- 8-9 : Exemplary.
Rare as those who reach this level. You are a shining example of what integrity means.
Compassionate, honest, loyal and avoiding violence unless necessary.
- 10 : Legendary.
Only in tales someone has this level of integrity, for humans can’t maintain such hard
demands on themselves.
Spellcasting :
The TN is same as for shugenja spells of the same Mastery Level and raises works the same.
The normal Sahir spells casting time is one action. Ra’Shari can cast at max 6 spells of one
cokoloi per day while others Sahirs uses normal spell slots (see below to find the
correspondence between cokoloi and disciplines and elements).
Ring Sahir discipline Ra’Shari Cokoloi
Air Summoning and Sand Dusk
Earth Black Magic and Purity
Fire Blessing /curses and Blood Dawn
Void/ Ka Celestial and Creation
Water Control and Night Night
See full magic rules in LBS page 117 for sahirs and cokaloi are LBS page 190.
New magic disciplines :
Night discipline (water) :

The Night discipline of magic is a discreet, barely
known overall and often seen as sinister. In truth, this
magic is not different from any other and do not have
anything really foul like the Ghul discipline of Black
Magic. It’s just a magic of mystery and stories, the rare
assassins’ sahirs are often specialized in this magic that
favors stealth and misdirection.
Mist magic :
The Nahr’umar river create mist during the coldest
hours of the day. It’s a troubling sensation for the
people of the Burning Sands to feel the water being
around them like this. Mist magic call upon the water in
the air to create temporary effects. It’s a really difficult and rare magic, since water isn’t that
common in the most desolate areas of the Burning Sands.
- Mastery level 1 : you can conjure a small mist to protect you from attacks by
misdirecting them. The diluted water can hydrate plants but is a bit short for drinking.
You can cast the equivalent of extinguish (corebook page 181), cloak of the miya
(corebook page 188) and conjure smoke (enemies of the empire page 120).
- Mastery level 2 : despite the difficulties, you can summon a bigger amount of water
and create a real, if temporary protection. You can cast the equivalent of summon fog
(corebook page 170), sanctuary of the waves (book of water page 182) and Blood of
Darkness (but made of normal mist, without blood, corebook page 269).
- Mastery level 3 : your control of water is impressive and you can create a real wave
of water to attack and a rainbow shield. You can cast the equivalent of Typhoon’s
surge (book of water page 182) and of the shining shield of Akhim (see Moto section)
Shadow Magic :
The night is full of shadows and the Sahir that follows this path can create shadows to
obfuscate and create things out of it. As such, it makes it a perfect magic for assassins.
- Mastery level 1 : you can summon shadows and make them shape, creating cloak,
hoods and weapons out of the darkness itself. You can cast the equivalent of cloak of
night (corebook page 167), netsuke of wind (corebook page 171, but the item is made
out of shadows and disappear if it is not in contact with you) and hidden visage
(corebook page 168, but your visage is covered of shadows, not actually altered)
- Mastery level 2 : your mastery over the darkness allows you know to create more solid
shadows that make better weapons and protections. Through your mastery you can
create complex and lasting objects, you can cast the equivalent of yari of air (corebook
page 168, but it is made of shadows), reach through the void (corebook page 195) and
shelter of the earth (but only works in shadows, book of earth page 199).
- Mastery level 3 : you can be one with the shadows, turning into a shapeless near
invisible entity. You can cast the equivalent of essence of air (corebook page 169), gift
of wind (corebook page 171) and steal the air dragon (corebook page 263).
Dream magic :
A really rare magic, not many people believe it exists. They see more as a manifestation of the
skills of the best storytellers than the works of a sahir.
- Mastery level 1 : you have the power to make people sleep and transmit messages
through dreams, as also get some insight from dreams in your life. You can cast the
equivalent of dream messages of Yume-do (enemies of the empire page 188, but the
message is only delivered when the target sleep, waiting until then), reversal of
fortunes (corebook page 188) and wind-born slumbers (book of air page 190).
- Mastery level 2 : you have the power to heal those who sleep. You can cast the
equivalent of Jurojin’s balm (corebook page 174) and way to inner peace (corebook
page 187) together as one spell but only on a sleeping target.
- Mastery level 3 : through dream, you can reach the power of the Void, in a limited
way. People believe that dreams can be made real with power. You can cast the
equivalent of drawing the void (but this spell is cast before going to sleep, and grants
the void points when waking up after 8 hours), fill the emptiness (corebook page 196,
but the target sleep one hour) and dream walk (enemies of the empire page 120).
Sand discipline (air) :

The Wind-bound, the free sahirs of the sand pirates, are
specialists of this discipline, which calls upon the power of air
and earth to protect and destroy. While not exclusive to them,
rare are the sahirs outside of the Wind-bound to use it by fear
of being considered a sand pirate.
Tornado
The sheer power of the winds of the desert is feared. The
magic of the path of Tornado call upon this power to attack,
blind and protect the user. It is not a discreet magic, car
sometimes calling upon it can be seen from miles away, or can’t be mistaken with a normal
weather event when sand start to pill up in the streets of a city.
- Mastery level 1 : you can summon sands and control it, mostly to protect you but can
use it to push away people. You can cast the equivalent of blessed wind (corebook
page 167), tempest of air (corebook page 167) and Blood of Darkness (but made of
sand, not a blood red mist, without blood, corebook page 269).
- Mastery level 2 : the power of the sand winds can now transport you or you can make
a shelter out of the sands. You can cast the equivalent of shelter of the earth (book of
earth page 199) and call upon the wind (corebook page 168).
- Mastery level 3 : you have mastered the power of the dangerous winds of the desert,
able to summon them to strike your enemies. You can cast the equivalent of striking
the storm (corebook page 170) and strike of the tsunami (corebook page 190).
Heat
The power of the desert’s sun is unmatched, a constant reminder of Shilah’s wrath. The few
sahirs who dare call upon her power are feared for they can bring destruction to many. Even
their allies fear them for calling upon the power of heat can leave scorched earth and destroy
food supplies around the target of their spells due to the heat generated.
- Mastery level 1 : you can call upon the nergies of the sun to improve the abilities of
your items. It’s a limited effect, but you can also protect yourself in a warm bath of
heat. You can cast the equivalent of biting steel (corebook page 180), channel the fire
dragon (corebook page 264) and purge the weak (enemies of the empire page 27 but
no wound required but the area of effect is divided by 5).
- Mastery level 2 : you are now mastering the control of heat to a much better degree,
able to use it to burn things and to create hallucinations and mirages to befuddle your
enemies. You can cast the equivalent of relentless heat (corebook page 183), conjure
dream (enemies of empire page 118) and envious flames (corebook page 181).
- Mastery level 3 : you are the stuff of legend, the master of the desert’s heat and
suffering. You can create local drought and burn people alive, while provoking mortal
hallucinations through the shimmering wall of heat surrounding you. But you have to
remember you aren’t Shilah’s equal or you’ll be burn by her wrath while trying to use
her power. You can cast the equivalent of your heart’s enemy (corebook page 171),
shining light (corebook page 184), hungry blade (corebook page 184)
Travel
The most common of the spells from the Sand discipline are those of travel. Many sand Sahirs
only know the spells of travels and live as guides among the nomads and caravans. They are
really useful and discreet, and a Sahir using those to help a travelling group may find them
willing to lie about him being a magic user as long as he stays discreet and helpful.
- Mastery level 1 : the basics of travel magic is about being able to survive the sand,
either by passing through it or by increasing your speed or endurance to survive it.
You can cast the equivalent of hands of clay (corebook page 176), speed of the
waterfall (corebook page 188) and stone’s endurance (book of earth page 200).
- Mastery level 2 : the sahir can now improve on his spells to help travelling but also
summon food. You can cast the equivalent of embrace of Kenro-ji-jin (corebook page
176), spirit of water (corebook page 188), and Inari’s blessing (corebook page 188).
- Mastery level 3 : rare are those who reach the ability to cast this spell, despite Travel
being the spell category the most common in the Sand discipline. It grants you power
on those who travel with you and to reach through the Black Earth. You can cast the
equivalent of the ties that bind (corebook page 189), sharing the strength of many
(corebook page 177) and teleportation (see Moto section).
Blood discipline (fire) :

The power of blood is often linked to Kaleel, the moon god, and the
madness that come with. The blood discipline isn’t considered something
Sahir should use, like the Ghul spells. Anyone knowing the spells of this
discipline is considered a criminal by those who see its effects, due to the
sheer horror of what they bring. Blood has only two series of spells,
madness and pain, which tells about the evil that come with it. Calling
upon the power of the Blood spells may bring Shadowland Taint, like
maho spells, but in a really limited way. I tend to consider learning a new spell has worth
earning one Shadowland Taint point.
Madness
There is tales about the power of the dark curses turning people into animals and worst. Some
is through the use of curses and blessings spells, but madness spells are the most feared of
them all (even through the discipline itself is really rarely known). They are the stuff of
legends, and many believes those spells don’t exist, but Khadi and Jackals have hunted down
secrets tombs and repositories in hope of bringing the power of madness down on their foes.
- Mastery level 1 : you can bring fear into those who face you, through subtle curses or
powerful images. You can cast the equivalent of curse of the clan (without blood,
enemies of the empire page 28), curse of the kansen (without blood, enemies of the
empire page 28) and inspire fear (without blood, corebook page 269).
- Mastery level 2 : the madness you can summon now overtake the mind of those who
are cursed with it, making them unable to control themselves. They charge into battle
without considering their life or can never find sleep. You can cast the equivalent of
haze of battle (corebook page 184), bloodlust of Toshigoku (enemies of the empire
page 188) and curse of the unblinking eye (without blood, corebook page 270).
- Mastery level 3 : the power of nightmares is yours now. You can cast the equivalent of
Yume-do’s horrific nightmares (enemies of the empire page 191) and Hate’s heart
(without blood, using replacement stat for honor, corebook page 272).
Pain
A simple thing, the power of the pain spells is to make it difficult for those who fall to it to
focus and fight the caster. Many Khadis tortures their victims with it for the sheer moment of
control it bring, long after their victims have already tells everything their interrogator asked.
- Mastery level 1 : your control over pain is limited, but you can make it difficult for
your target to focus or to control his limbs. You can cast the equivalent of disrupt the
aura (corebook page 182), disrupt the limb (corebook page 269, without blood), pain
(without blood, corebook page 271).
- Mastery level 2 : you are now mastering the limits and working of the human body.
You can cast the equivalent of bonds of blood (enemies of the empire page 123, DR is
1k0 per 2 wounds, max equal to fire ring + raises), agony of Toshigoku (enemies of
the empire page 190 but with only one target, damage 1k1 and cannot be raised), suck
the marrow (without wounds, enemies of the empire page 28).
- Mastery level 3 : you can create an unimaginable pain in someone, as you are a master
of pain. You must make an atemi attack on your target and spend a Ka point. Every
hour, the target will lose one point in one of its ring, always the highest left (tie are
GM’s choice) until they have lost your insight rank ranks. The rings cannot be reduced
to less than 1, but if all rings are lowered at 1,
traits over 1 are lowered like rings.
Purity discipline (earth) :

The spells of purity are a secret only the Sahirs of the
Ashalan and the Celestial Alliance know, even if
sometimes a powerful free sahir discovers some of
them. The spells of purity are a counterpart to the
Blood discipline in many ways, the dark reflection also
showing in the fact both disciplines have only two
paths. The power of purity is meant to fight the Jinns
and the creatures from the Spirit Realms, including
Khaleel’s legion and Sayel (Lying Darkness).
Ward
The protective spells of ward are really powerful; helping the rare fighters of the Celestial
Alliance and of the Ashalan faces those supernatural menaces and surviving.
- Mastery level 1 : the first spell of ward is all about simple protection, but really
efficient. Many warriors have thought themselves dead but keep on fighting due to the
power of those spells. You can cast the equivalent of armor of earth (corebook page
173), elemental ward (corebook page 174) and force of will (corebook page 176).
- Mastery level 2 : the ward spells are just ways to use Hakhim’s seal in more powerful
ways that a normal Sahir. You can cast the equivalent of earth’s protection (corebook
page 177, only applies to sahir spells) and ward of purity (corebook page 183)
- Mastery level 3 : you are aware of the powers of the Spirit Realms and ways to stop it
with Hakhim’s seal. Such knowledge is rare among the Burning Sands, blissfully
unaware of the others realms. You can cast the equivalent of strength of the crow
(corebook page 177) and Earth dragon’s ward (book of earth page 197). You also
know have mastered the power of Umar’s mirror (you can now practice
counterspelling, see book of fire page 182).
Binding
The way of binding is hated by the Jinns, for it binds them into servitude more than any other
Sahir power. The powerful enchanters of the Celestial Alliance can create magic items from
bound Jinns, a process even willing Jinns will always be resentful of. Free Jinns of the
Alliance may still negotiate with you, but most Jinns will see you as one of their most hated
enemy if you call upon the power of Binding. But with it, you can force Jinns to do your
bidding, for a short time and with consequences. You cannot have the summoning discipline
and loose the Servant of the smokeless fire advantage when you take a level in this discipline.
- Mastery level 1 : the Sahir can call upon Hakhim’s seal, making it appear around the
target and immobilizing it, or call upon the power of Heaven itself. You can cast the
equivalent of jade strike (corebok page 174, but the spell affect all creatures with the
spirit trait as if having taint), minor binding (corebook page 174, also affect every
creature with the spirit trait) and grasp of earth (corebook page 176).
- Mastery level 2 : you can now summon a more powerful seal upon your enemies, but
also are aware of the power of Sayel and how to bring the power of the Heavens down
on it. You can cast the equivalent of be the mountain (corebook page 175), bonds of
Ningen-do (corebook page 176, modified like minor binding) and smite the nameless
(enemies of the empire page 121).
- Mastery level 3 : the feared Banes of Jinns of the Qabal have such level of mastery in
the way of Binding ,allowing them to force Jinns summoned by enemies to works for
them. You can cast the equivalent of major binding (corebook page 179), wall of earth
(corebook page 178), and draw closed the veil (corebook page 196).
Creation discipline (Ka) :

Rare are those who can call upon the power of the Creation discipline, even among the
Celestial Alliance and the Ashalan, who keep its secrets. Even with a
teacher and all the books written during centuries about this discipline, rare
are those who can actually cast a spell from it. They call upon the energies
of the creation of the universe itself, the powers from before the Day of
Wrath. You cannot learn a spell from creation before you are rank 3 in a
[sahir] school, and you must have lore : theology Burning Sands (Spirit
realms) 5
Name
During the First Age of the world, Shilah (the sun) and her husband Kaleel (the moon) named
everything but a sliver of Nothing that would be later known as the Sayel (the Lying
Darkness). The spells of the way of Name calls upon the power of the originals words that
were used to name things. It is a power really similar to the Name magic of the Nezumi, and it
also relates to the Meishodo, the Unicorn magic, that also calls upon the names of things.
- Mastery level 1 : you don’t use Hakhim’s seal for the spells of Name, you directly
calls upon the names of all things. With this level, you can reach for simple names and
pronounce them to temporary alter it. You can cast the equivalent of garbled tongue
(Book of air page 185), mend name (don’t need the true name, but you need to bleed
as many wounds as the number of full wound ranks the target has, enemies of the
empire page 120) and name talent (enemies of the empire page 122, but ring is Ka).
- Mastery level 2 : you have mastered more names, allowing you to alter things that you
couldn’t target before, like people from outside the Burning Sands. You can also now
cast the equivalent of Tenjin’s ear (book of air page 188)
- Mastery level 3 : through the power of names you can read knowledge by looking at
things, seeing the names of everything through the kamis that compose them. You can
cast the equivalent of knowledge of Yomi (enemies of the empire page 190).
Passage
The spells of Passage are limited, but are powerful in the aspect that they open through spirit
realms. In Rokugan, the knowledge of Spirit Realms is limited, but it is even more in the
Burning Sands. Like the lower classes of the Empire calling nearly every spirit realms Jigoku,
90% of the people of the Sands calls the Spirit Realms the Blighted Lands or the Black Earth.
In truth, the Black Earth is a desolated Spirit Realms that exists between others realms, and
the magic of Passage allows you to connect to it and travel there or close doors to it.
- Mastery level 1 : passage spells are limited in what they can do, but have unique
effects as you can reach through dimensions. You can now open limited portals to the
Black Earth for mundane purpose. You can cast the equivalent of the marvelous
Furoshiki bag (see Moto section) and the door that lead nowhere (see Moto section).
- Mastery level 2 : you can now close portals and send back people to their spirit realms,
against their will. You can cast the equivalent of close the door (enemies of the empire
page 124, without needing the true name) and + 2k0 to lore : spirit realms rolls.
- Mastery level 3 : you master the magic of portals, you can now cast sense (element
decided by GM, see enemies of the empire page 188 for the corresponding ring to a
spirit realms. Black earth is earth) to detect portals (see sense, universal spell corebook
page 164) and the equivalent of opening the veil (book of water page 184, but by
default this spell open on the Black Earth, one raise get you to Chikushudo, Meido and
Yume-do, 2 raises to Sakkaku, Gaki-do and Toshigoku, 4 raises to reach Yomi).
Seeding
The name of this path come from the main spell of this series : the seed of Qanon. It’s a
magical act that link a Jinn into the flesh of a human, allowing him to survive the lingering
effects of the Day of Wrath and avoid being banished to the Black Earth. The ritual that
creates the Qanon, those humans with Jinns in them, is only the purview of masters of the art.
- Mastery level 1 : the sahir can call upon the energies of the seal that pertains everyone
and ties them together. You can cast the equivalent of rebuke the heavens (book of
void page 192), share cunning (enemies of the empire page 122) and share name
(enemies of the empire page 122, with duration of a month and no death backlash).
- Mastery level 2 : you are able to put fuse a Jinn and a human enough so that the
human can use some of the power of the creature. You can cast the equivalent of
primal senses of Chikushudo (enemies of the empire page 189)
- Mastery level 3 : the sahir can now fully put a Jinn into a human through a ritual,
allowing to cast the equivalent of seed of Qanon (wrongly written as Qanan, book of
water page 183) and bestial nature of Chikushudo (enemies of the empire page 190).
You can also grant the benefits of the Fitfully sleeping blood and Seed of Qanon
advantages through a 24/48 hours ritual that reduce permanently your Ka ring by 1 or
2 and reduce the Ka ring of the target permanently by 1. Doesn’t work if the target
doesn’t have a Ka ring and if any of his ring is lower than 2 (including after the Ka
expense), but the target doesn’t have to be willing (or even awake) during the ritual.
Schools :
The Heartless Khadi (sahir, advanced school, Caliphate, Senpet) :
Using the forbidden sorceries of the Senpet book of the dead, the Heartless
Khadi have practiced a ritual to become immortal. The simple but long and
horrible ritual done, the undying Khadi slowly loose all humanity and crave
only for power. The Caliph, the most famous of the Khadi in the Burning Sands
(Iuchiban and Yajinden being more famous in Rokugan), created a few dozens
of Khadi to serve as her enforcers. Contrary to normal [sahir] schools, you can have ranks in
[warrior] schools before joining this school, but cannot gain anymore ranks in a [warrior]
once you have taken a rank in this school. Please understand this school is a NPC school and
isn’t meant for players, ever.
Requirements : Khadi advantage, forbidden lore : Khadi (two ranks), intelligence 5, earth 4,
lore : theology Burning Sands (senpet) 5, spellcraft (black earth) 4. If you are one of the Qadi,
the Khadi enforcers of the Caliph, you only need one rank of Forbidden lore, intelligence 4
and lore 4, but also investigation (interrogation) 3 and intimidation (control) 3 and lore : law
Burning Sands 3.
Rank 1 : Judge of the Jewel.

You are mastered the infamous powers of the undying Heartless. Ranks in this school count
as ranks in your [shugenja] or [sahir] school with the most rank when you joined. If you have
no spellcasting school, ranks in this school count as a Qabal summoner ranks. You receive a
free raise when bargaining with Jinns. You reduce all taint acquired for maho spells by your
school rank in this school and + 1k0 to rolls for lore : Shadowlands.
Rank 2 : Ceremony of the Hidden Heart.

You have learned how to practice by yourself the ceremony of the Hidden Heart. You gain
one rank in the Forbidden Lore : Khadi, if you have already the maximum rank, you gain one
rank in the Forbidden Lore : Jinns. You gain one rank of Magic Resistance advantage, even if
you have the maximum rank. This version applies to all magic.
Rank 3 : Heartless Moon.

The Senpet linked the Khadi ritual to the Moon in the Book of the Dead. You can now make
simple attacks with daggers. You can now spend as many ka points as you want on
spellcasting. You have + 1k0 to spellcasting for one of your sahir discipline.
Ashalan schools modifications (from LBS update page 4 and 5) :
- Blood-sworn (warrior) : school skills are athletics, battle, defense, swordsmanship,
polearm, lore : theology Burning sands and investigation. You get one emphasis of
your choice in either swordsmanship or polearm.
- Children of midnight (sahir) : school skills are divination, lore : history Burning
Sands, medicine, meditation, spellcraft, lore : theology Burning Sands (Lady Fate),
any lore or weapon skill.
- Heart-seekers (warrior) : battle, defense, investigation, lore : Khadi 2, spellcraft,
stealth (ambush) and any one weapon skill.
Ashalan violators (new path, Ashalan, warrior) :

The Ashalan have long studied many techniques and secrets on how the human and others
creatures’ bodies work. Through their mastery of physical and spiritual energies, the violators
have learned how to distract and counter their foes. In a really supernatural way, they can
prevent someone to use his knowledge of combat for a limited time.
Requirements : Ka 3, any weapon skill 5, intimidation 3, lore : anatomy 3

Replace : Sun-riders 5, Blood-sworn 5 and Heart-seekers 5
Technique : disrupt the rhythm.

When fighting a skirmish, you may spend a Ka point to prevent one targeted opponent in
melee range from using his school techniques for his next two turns. This technique can be
used in duels.
Sun-riders (diplomat, rogue, Ashalan) : + 1 agility.

Integrity : 4,0
Starting skills : athletics, defense, horsemanship, hunting (survival), stealth, swordsmanship,
etiquette Burning Sands.
Outfit : see LBS page 146.
Rank 1 : Show the Lady no fear.

Your sun phobia is reduced by one rank. The time length between stamina losses is increased
by your insight rank days. You get a free emphasis of etiquette.
Rank 2 : The sun has no mercy.

When you are in center stance, your TN to be hit increases by your insight rank. This
technique works in duels. You can now spend Ka points to reduce damage and increase sun-
riders school skills rolls.
Rank 3 : The ever-shifting sands.

You have now + 1k0 to all your school skills rolls.
Rank 4 : Dawn does not come twice.

You can now make simple attacks with [ashalan] weapons and scimitars.
Rank 5 : sirocco of steel.

You need three less raises to make maneuvers (with a minimum of one) with [ashalan]
weapons and scimitars.
Ashalan Foe-hunters (new path, Ashalan, Warrior) :

The Ashalans are immortals, and they face immortals foes since the Day of Wrath. While the
Heart-seekers track down the Heartless, there are others immortals enemies of the Council of
Twelve, the in shape of the Jinns and the Nagas. The Foe-hunters are specialists of
eliminating those through decades of training and century-old techniques.
Requirements : lore : Jinns or lore : Nagahs 3, any weapon skill at 3, agility 3

Replace : Heart-seekers 4, Blood-sworn 4, Sun-riders 4
Technique : Immortal hatred.

You can make simple attacks with [ashalan] weapons of one skill of your choice between
knives, polearm or swordsmanship, the skill being the weapon skill used in the requirements
to enter this path. When fighting any non-human entities for which you have a relevant lore
skill of 3 or more, you can spend Ka on damage rolls with any weapons you can make simple
attacks with. You cannot spend more than one Ka point that way per turn.
Ashalan sandsmith (artisan, special, Ashalan, advanced school) :

The Ashalan have discovered techniques to turn sand into the powerful crysteel, replicating
the powerful magic of Shilah’s Day of Wrath, albeit in a limited way. When you join this
school, you have to decide which keyword you’ll give it between [rogue], [diplomat], [sahir]
and [warrior] in addition to its [artisan] keyword.
Requirements : being an Ashalan, Ka 4, craft : weaponsmithing 6, lore : theology Burning

sands (crysteel) 3.
Rank 1 : Crystal of the sands.

With a two weeks long ritual, you can turn normal crystal into crysteel and shape it into a
weapon. That is the basic of the crysteel art. Depending of the keyword you gave this school,
you get one of the following bonuses :
- [sahir] : ranks in this school count as ranks in one of your sahir school.
- [diplomat] : you can cast voice of the wind (book of air page 188) like a shugenja of
rank equal to your rank in this advanced school.
- [warrior] : you can cast path to inner peace (corebook page 187) like a shugenja of
rank equal to your rank in this advanced school.
- [rogue] : you can cast commune (earth) like a shugenja of rank equal to your rank in
this advanced school.
Rank 2 : A friends of the sands.

You are now a full Ashalan sandsmith, for you can now create from sand and fire crysteel
through a month long ritual (for one weapon).
Rank 3 : Undying sands.

Even among immortals, rare are those who have reached the ability of master sandsmith. You
can now use the power of crysteel to the level of legends. You can now make two weapons at
a time, and can cast hungry blade (corebook page 184) like a shugenja of rank equal to your
rank in this advanced school on any crysteel weapon.
Senpet priest (sahir, senpet) : + 1 to any trait.

This school is a rework of the Senpet sahir school. The Senpet
are a devout people, and through rituals, astrology and
sacrifice they can call upon their powers and accomplish
miracles. But Senpet magic turn a lot around things people would consider black magic, like
creating undeads. Through their powers call kansens to do their bidding, they do it through
their gods and as such do not get Shadowland Taint. But a Senpet priest stopping to consider
himself an intermediary of the divine would pay the price as his protection would disappear.
They tend to the way of one or more gods, one of the most common being Re the Keeper, god
of truth. “Ours is not the way of lies, but is neither the way of honesty. We lay our faith upon
the altar of fact and allow the rest to take its proper course.” But others gods existed like
Sedjem the silent, Ebe goddess of adultery or Toth.
Integrity : 5,0
Skills : medicine, meditation, spellcraft, lore : theology Burning Sands (ten thousand gods) 2,
divination, any high or bugei skill.
Outfit : as per the school, LBS page 214
Technique : by the grace of the gods.

You can cast your spells through the Ten Thousands Gods instead of Hakhim’s seals, but the
game effects are the same. Once per day per school rank, you may spend any number of Ka
points up to your lore : theology rank on a spellcasting roll. You automatically have the first
rank of Ghul creation (Black magic discipline), the spells sacrifice for the gods and voice of
ten thousand (LBS page 216 and 217) and the first level of power in any other path of any
discipline available to you. Every time you increase rank, you can learn the first level of a
power of a new spell or increase the level of power in any type of spell you already possess.
Ghul destroyer (new path, sahir, Senpet) :

With the power of creating and controlling undead at the base of a lot of Senpet rituals, it is
no surprise undead uprising is a problem the Senpet empire has to deal with. The Ghul
destroyers are talented priests tasked with keeping the undead population under control.
Replaces : Senpet priest 2
Requirements : lore : theology Burning sands (ten thousand gods) 3, lore : undead 3
Technique : holy devastation.

You have learned to face the horrors of the unliving. You have a + 2k0 bonus to your fear
rolls. When casting a spell that damages of impedes an undead creature, you have 2 free raises
on your spellcasting roll.
Ghul Hunter (warrior, Senpet, new path) :

The undead invasions are not a common threat, but one worth
having specialized warriors ready to face. The number of Ghul
destroyers being rather limited, Ghul hunters train alongside them
and are more common, forming teams when the need arise. Many
are members of the brothers of the Black Shield, the elite infantry
forces.
Replaces : any non-sahir Senpet school 2
Requirements : lore : theology Burning Sands 2, lore : undead 2
Technique : holy strike.

Fighting undeads trained you to fight creatures that do not know pain. You have a + 2k0
bonus to your fear rolls and you ignore your school rank in reduction when fighting undead,
half your school rank (rounded up) if you are fighting other creatures. You can spend a Ka
point to make your target loose invulnerability for your school rank rounds.
Avatar of Ten Thousand (warrior or sahir, Senpet,
advanced school) :
Those who are part of the elite group known as the
Avatars of the Ten Thousand aren’t bragging : their
faith and devotion allowed them to reach such a level
that part of their gods’ essence is at times invested in
them and allows them great feats of power. They pray
to the 85 Senpet Gods of war usually. While most of
those end being military leaders, some become
courtiers (Tjatey) or even Vezir/Vezira (diplomat) but
are always powerful figure in the Senpet society.
Requirements : lore : theology Burning Sands 6, Ka 4,

weapon skill at 4, paragon of faith advantage.
Rank 1 : power of the devout.

You are a zealot follower of the gods. When you join this school, it has the sahir keyword if
you have any rank in a Sahir school, if you have no Sahir school is has the Warrior keyword.
If this school has the Sahir keyword, you can now make simple action attacks with one
[Senpet] melee weapons of your choice, selected with this rank. If it has the warrior trait, you
can now cast the following spells as a shugenja with affinity for earth of your insight rank in
this school : armor of earth (corebook page 173), courage of the seven thunders (corebook
page 173, Senpet characters count as great clans and others as samurai), tetsubo of earth
(corebook page 175, base shape is of a khopesh) and be the mountain (corebook page 175).
Rank 2 : might of Ten Thousand.

Your presence inspires others to greatness. You may spend a Ka point during the reaction
stage of any turn. You and all your allies at 15’ earn + 1k0 to attacks and damage rolls. This
ability can only be used once per skirmish and the effect last until the end of the skirmish.
Rank 3 : we carry the gods.

You can now become temporary an avatar of a god, your body being at the center of a
manifestation of the god of pure elemental energies that covers your body like an armor. Once
per skirmish, during the reaction stage of a skirmish, if you have any wound, you can spend a
Ka point to have invulnerability for Ka rounds.
Senpet taskmaster (Senpet, diplomat) : + 1 willpower.

The Senpet, the people of the Scarab, are violent people.
Even their Tjatey (courtier) are dangerous as they keep in
check a population of slaves. They often follow the
teaching of Toth, the Senpet god of deception. Toth
delights in toying with the simple truths of the universe.
His greatest joy is derived from the torments of others,
whose reliance upon the substance of facts he twists
beyond measure. The taskmaster applies that to his
training of slaves. The Senpet have a keen sense of
justice, to ensure the stability of their society : some of
their punishments include chaining people upside down
over braziers. They have open wounds dripping blood
into the fire, turning it into thick vapor that dried the organs of the victim.
Integrity : 3,5
Skills : courtier Burning Sands, investigation, sincerity, peasant weapons (whip), etiquette
Burning Sands, intimidation, engineering.
Outfit : whip, sandals, tunic, traveling pack, dagger, 9 copper.
Rank 1 : position is power.

The Senpet Tjatey are all about their social position. They learn to use and abuse it to control
their slaves, as a courtier of such level only deal with administrative work and ordering slaves.
You can add your status rank to your intimidation rolls, you can use willpower for
intimidation, get a free emphasis of intimidation and any time you would be using your
integrity, you can use instead your void + insight rank instead.
Rank 2 : trials of desperation.

You are now a high ranking taskmaster. You are called upon to take of slaves only if an
example is needed or to lead them into battle. If your status is lower than 4,0, you earn a
status rank, otherwise the xp equivalent of one rank of the social position advantage. The DR
rating of whip is increased by +0k1 for you and you can make called shots to increase the
wound penalties of your target. This technique can only affects creatures who have wound
penalties and requires a number of called raises equal to the target’s willpower – 2 (minimum
1) to activate. If the attack succeed, for water ring rounds, the target is considered to suffer the
wound rank penalty of the next wound rank (+ 3 become + 5, + 5 become + 10) and so on.
Rank 3 : never look back.

You are seasoned Tjatey and don’t deal with slaves at all anymore. You are in charge of
higher administrative and judicial work, and your underlings deals with them. You have
earned your position through intimidation and torture, and you can use it to ensure your
position. After talking with someone for one hour you can make a willpower / intimidation
(control) contested roll against their willpower / courtier. If you win, the target cannot spend
void points on rolls targeting you for a number of days equal to your status rank. You can
have only insight rank people under this effect at a time and someone cannot be targeted more
than once by an attempt, successful or not.
Rank 4 : blood calls to blood.

You are a powerful administrator in the Senpet authoritarian society. As a successful Tjatey,
you have been able to impose your view through intimidation but also less savory means.
Those who cross you have to pay in blood their actions. You can now make simple attacks
with a whip and can use it to create a fear 1 effect by making an intimidation (bullying) /
willpower roll contested roll against their willpower + bonuses against fear and intimidation.
It is a complex action that requires the target to be able to hear and see you, but not to
understand you if you have something to show your intent (like a whip).
Rank 5 : meeting your destiny.

Thanks to the support of the ten thousands gods, you are now among the highest cast of the
Senpet administration. Your words are power and can kill thousands. You have achieved your
place in your society, and enjoy the benefits of it. As
long as you do not attempt to thwart your destiny, you’ll
be buried with honors according to the rites of your
people and rise in the underworld at a place of power.
Whenever you are dealing with someone of lower status
rank than you, you have + 5k0 to your courtier and intimidation rolls. You have + 3k0 to your
etiquette rolls with someone of higher status rank than you.
Heirs of the Ivory Kingdoms (Ebonite, new path) :

The Ebonite haven’t forgotten all their ties to the Ivory Kingdoms, and the Ivinda refugees
after the Destroyer war brought back some of their techniques.
This technique is the Rajya ke Varisa (second city the people page 103) but replaces the
Ebonite templar rank 4, cost a Ka point instead of a void point and you use your integrity rank
instead of your lore : theology Burning sands or Ivory Kingdoms rank.
Ebonite principle (Ebonite, advanced school, diplomat and sahir or warrior) :

The Principles are officers, their leaders, their priests. Each has surrendered part of their soul
and personality to the stone and replacing with some of the power of the stone. By giving up
this part of humanity, they get a supernatural power
allowing them to resist evil’s temptation. If you ever let
yourself be tempted by those anathemas to your code, all
your ranks in this school are immediately removed with all
the benefits they granted you. If you have any sahir ranks,
this school has the sahir and diplomat tags, otherwise it’s
warrior and diplomat.
Requirements : One weapon skill at 3, lore : Lying

Darkness (Ebon stone) 3, integrity 6,0 +, great destiny
advantage, Ebonite templar 5 or rank 6 with Ka 5 and at
least two advantages that show willpower and devotion to the Ebonite cause.
Rank 1 : Soul of the Ebon Stone.

Sharing the power of the stone transcend those who can survive the test. You are immune to
any form of corruption, including the Shadowland Taint and the power of the Lying Darkness,
but also the Taint of the Spirit realms and so on. You are immune to fear and you can add
your integrity rank to the TN of any hostile spell cast against you, of any hostile technique
against you and to the result of any roll means to resist an effect like manipulation. You have
to select a virtue which embodies your personality and your advantages. Your status is now of
6,0 as you are now one of the head of the Order of the Ebon Stone.
Rank 2 : Incarnation of a Virtue.

You immediately earn 10 exp points that must immediately be spent to get you powers related
to the virtue you are embodying. Those can be any advantages or kihos (bought at normal
cost, consider you are a Brotherhood monk of your insight rank for requirements) or even
spells (cost is twice the mastery rank, you don’t need a scroll, you can cast them as a shugenja
of your insight rank and have your integrity rank spells slot in total). There are no conditions
to those, since you don’t actually have them, just the technique copying the effects. Example :
- Duty : paragon of bushido (duty), wary.
- Judgment : to seek the truth (air 1) and know the mind (air 4).
- Truth : to seek the truth (air 1), whispering winds (air 2), clear thinker.
- Wrath : touch of the spirit realms (Gaki-do), fiery wrath (fire 3).
- Balance : drink of your essence (void 2), witness the untold (void 1), altering the
course (void 2).
- Valor : leadership, courage of the 7 Thunders (earth 1) and strength of the earth.
- Vengeance : heart of vengeance (Enemies of the Ebon Hand), Seven fortunes’ blessing
(Bishamon).
- Will : dark paragon (will), dark paragon (determination).
You also gain the touch of spirit realms (Yomi).
Rank 3 : Joining the Brotherhood.

This rank can only be learned if you have an integrity of 8,0+ but is learned immediately
when you fit the conditions and forgotten as soon as you don’t anymore. It can be learned just
after your death if your death makes you reach the requirements. At the moment of your
death, you will rejoin the ranks of the virtues (27 known at the time of the Awakening). As a
Virtue, you are an entity with the same stats and skills, the spirit trait, and you are a native of
Yomi (you have the appropriate Taint instead of the mortality taint of Ningen-do). You can
manifest to help the brotherhood of the Ebon Hand in their times of need.
Sand pirate school (rogue, caliphate, warrior) : + 1 agility.

Based on the use of the scimitar to make fluids movements to keep the
enemy at bay until an opening is offered, this school is a really
defensive school. As such, it has become a basis for the Sand Pirates
and many groups of sailors and bandits all over the Burning Sands, to
keep themselves alive (and keep the guards busy while their comrades
take the loot) before making an hasty escape. Maybe group leaders
make their members take a blood oath, an oath that makes those who
take it brothers of blood by bleeding their hands together so the blood
mix and drip into a pool of water. Jana Barakah, the sultan of the
sands, is the most famous of the Sand Pirates, and own a flying ship
built by the people who lived before the Day of Wrath.
Integrity : 3,5
Skills : athletics, swordmanship, sailing, stealth, investigation, games : dice, sleight of hand.
Outfit : dagger, scimitar, light armor, desert outfit, sandals, 1 copper.
Rank 1 : run for your life.

Before you can claim to be a bandit of any worth, you have to survive. That implies learning
first to escape your rivals. You earn the daredevil advantage (if you have it already, you are
reimbursed the experience cost), your TN to be hit increase by your total rank in [rogue]
schools and your water ring is considered one rank higher for the purpose of movements.
Rank 2 : diving through the crowd.

You have survived your rivals long enough to get noticed by the authorities. You have a +
1k0 bonus to all your athletics and stealth rolls. Your speed is not reduced when going
through groups or difficult terrain.
Rank 3 : rogue’s fortune.

Leaving the small fishes, you can now swim among the sharks. You can now make simple
attacks with the scimitar and any daggers. You suffer no off-hand penalties when you have
only such weapons in your hands.
Rank 4 : a handful of sand.

A fair fight is not the type of fights a sand pirate prefers. You have learned how to use dirty
tricks to increase your chances in combat. When you are in the defense stance, you can target
an opponent in melee range. If you pass successfully a feint maneuver on this target within
school rank rounds after selecting it, you can make an awareness / sleight of hand
(prestidigitation) roll TN opponent’s insight rank or air ring (whichever is higher) X 5. If you
succeed, the target is dazed. You can have only one target selected and under the effect of this
technique at a time, and the TN to daze the target increased by 5 every time you attempt again
to daze, even if the attempt was not successful.
Rank 5 : desert ambush.

The bandits of the desert usually don’t kill their targets, only threatening them until they give
them between 25 to 50% of their fares. But sometimes, looting and fleeing doesn’t work, and
they have to fight to escape. When attacking a target under the effects of blinded, dazed,
entangled, fatigued, grappled, prone or stunned conditions or if you are mounted or beneficing
of the higher condition, your raise for damage give you +1k1 instead of + 1k0 and you have a
free raise toward the feint maneuver.
Wind-bound sahir (rogue, sahir, caliphate) : + 1 awareness.

The free sahir of the nomads inhabitants of the desert don’t learn their
magic the way the students of the Qabal does, with lots of books. They
learn it by harnessing under the supervision of a mentor or by
summoning storms in the empty desert until they can control the
elements. As such, their techniques all are based on the sand discipline,
and usually summoning is their second discipline. But they are
dangerous in the way they can call upon things feared by men.
Integrity : 3,5
Skills : calligraphy, divination (bone reading), spellcraft, lore :
theology Burning Sands, sailing, knives, any one skill.
Outfit : staff, knife, clothes, cloak, travelling pack, sandals, 5 copper.
Technique : A coming storm.

Master of the power of the desert, you progress by one rank at each school rank in the Sand
discipline. You start with one rank in the Summoning (primal elements) discipline and one
rank in a discipline of your choice that cannot be Night. In addition to your rank in the Sand,
you earn one rank in any two disciplines for each of your rank in this school after the first.
You get + 1k1 when casting spells of the Sand discipline.
Assassin seductress (assassins,

diplomat, new path) :
The Daughters of the Mountain often
have to deal with males on a regular
basis, and uses their weaknesses to
accomplish their missions. In time, they
had to learn how to use easily
concealable weapons to defend
themselves when they are operating out
in private places. This path teaches them
how to uses small knives effectively to
distract and wound their opponents so to
let them escape after their mission. The
members of this path often pose as
Safeer/Safeera, the local term for courtier, but they had others less savory covers.
Replaces : any Assassin school 2
Requirements : acting 3, sincerity (deceit) 3
Technique : just business.

You are extremely talented at seducing your target. You have + 2k0 to all your temptation
rolls. You also know how to pin an opponent so you can catch up to him or flee quickly. You
can make a feint maneuver with a thrown or [small] weapon. If your attack passes, you can
decide to make it do no damage, if you do so, the target is entangled as you have used your
weapon to pin him to something. You can make called shots maneuver to increase the TN of
the entanglement by 5.
Ra’shari scimitar dancer (Ra’shari, warrior, new path) :

The dancing sword style offers a great spectacle to those who watch it, with the scimitar
dancing around the user as he keeps spinning on himself.
Once developed for dancers to impress the crowds, it has
later developed into a full combat style, which uses the
speed to attack multiples targets, but only true masters
can accurately pinpoint anything.
Replaces : Ra’shari knife-fighter 3.
Requirements : swordmanship 4, perform (dance) 5.
Technique : sudden strike.

When using two scimitars, you don’t have the off-hand
penalties and the extra attack maneuver requires one less
raise. The technique two knives, two wounds now applies
to knives and scimitars instead of knives and unarmed
attacks for you.
Dahabi house guardian (Dahab, Caliphate, new path, warrior) :

The houses of the wealthy in the Jewel are often victims of thieves. As such, the Dahab
houses have started to train professional guards to ensure their security. The technique they
are used has been originally developed by the eunuchs protecting harems, and who still use it
to this day. As such, two groups can teach those techniques to a wide area of students.
Replaces : Dahabi enforcer 2, soldier of the city guard 2
Requirements : intimidation 3, swordmanship (scimitar) 3, defense 3.
Technique : dark alley.

This style uses primarily the curved edge of the scimitar to
make powerful attacks using the full force of the swordsman,
but also the straight part near the guard to push all of this force
in an attempt to disarm their opponents. The disarm
maneuvers requires one less raise for you and you get + 1k1 to
all your contested strength rolls. If you disarm attempt work,
you can immediately create a fear 1 effect on the victim as free
action. The target suffers a penalty to this willpower roll equal
to the difference between the two rolls during the strength
contest.
Master marksman (Caliphate, Dahabi, Ra’shari, Jackal,

Ashalan, Assassins, Ebonite, Senpet, Ivinda, Yobanjin, Naga, Thrane, Merenae,
Yodotai, new path, warrior) :
Every nation has its own master marksmen, specialist of ranged weapons. All of them uses a
different shooting style, but they are based on aiming, what the Rokugani calls Yomanri.
Despite their different weapons, they are all dangerous killers at a distance. You have to select
one favored weapon among those available to your school based on your faction when taking
this path.
- Caliphate, Ebonite, Ivinda and Dahabi : bow, crossbow
- Ra’shari : bow, thrown weapon.
- Jackal, Naga and Ashalan : bow.
- Assassins : assassins weapons, bow.
- Senpet : sling, bow.
- Thrane and Merenae : firearms, bow, crossbow.
- Yodotai : sling, crossbow.
Replaces : any warrior school 4.

Requirements : perception 4, agility 3, weapon of choice 5
It is the same technique as the Unicorn Yomanri archer, book of air page 173, but it applies to
the favored weapon selected when entering this school.
Horse raiders (Caliphate, Ra’shari, warrior, new path) :

The people of the Burning Sands had a cavalry tradition long before the Day of Wrath, and
kept it after it, even if it evolved to include camels too. Those cavalry units are mostly light
cavalry forces, they are specialized in disrupting opponent’s plans in battle by harassing its
flanks and killing their officers. As such, they are also talented archers and scouts. Moto
Kagibe, once known as Ma’rhadi of the 7th chronicle, brought friendship between Unicorn
and Ra’shari and helped developed to a higher level of mastery the techniques for his people.
Replaces : soldier of the city guard 2, Ra’shari knife dancer 2, Ra’shari trader 4
Requirements : horsemanship 3, archery or crossbow 3, battle 3.
Technique : Al Ashwa.
Al Ashwa is a traditional battle cry of the people of the sands. You get + 1k0 to your archery
or crossbow rolls, you can add your school rank to your mass battle rolls. If you are in an
army, you can reduce the opponent’s general mass battle roll by your school rank.
Jackal undead master (Jackal, new path, rogue)

After abandoning the weak Spiders to their fate, the Jackal
united with some of the Chuda in an attempt to rebuild their
organization after the Awakening. While their bases and
political power was nearly all gone, their mastery of the
arcane arts only increased. Pillaging resources from
Daigotsu’s followers, the Jackal have found Ivindas willing to
join their causes and opponents to the new regime. They then
developed this new technique.
Replaces : Janir 4 or Kabir 4
Requirements : lore : undead 5, spellcraft 4, willpower 4, intelligence 4.
Technique : lurking shadows.

The Jackals are the masters of the ghulls, the dead left to dream of lives they cannot live in the
sewers of the Jewel. Even those who aren’t sahir can master some of the necromantic magic
of their order. You can cast spells of Ghull 1 and 2 (Discipline : Black Magic) like a rank 4
sahir. You cannot do anything else as a sahir, like learning new spells.
Yodotai pratician (diplomat, Yodotai) : + 1 awareness.

The Yodotai are a religious society and a civilization of
conquerors, but to support that they need Sectorem
(courtiers). They have to take care of the logistics, justice
system and overall assimilation of culture through
education. They form a sort of learner cast, and most of
those are members of the practician, the noble cast that
give the name of this school. Many commoners join this
school to actually rise through it to this noble cast, a shown
of integration, or to serve as Legatus (ambassadors) to
newly discovered countries.
Integrity : 5,5
Skills : knives, etiquette Burning Sands (bureaucracy), courtier Burning Sands, lore : theology
Burning Sands (Yodotai), investigation, commerce, any high skill.
Outfit : pugio, sandals, tunic, toga, traveling pack, 9 copper.
Rank 1 : a new perspective.

The first lesson a new practician learns is all about understanding things from a new
perspective. They have to understand what make ticks others countries, master the ways of
their cultures, and find bridges between their traditions and the Yodotai’s so to influence them
and control them when they are added to their empire. Devotion, goddess of Love, is the
goddess that emphases the most the first missions of a new practician (usually, a Nuncio, an
envoy) trying to ensure that new cultures are absorbed and loyal to the Empire. After talking
with someone for one hour, you can make an
awareness / etiquette (conversation) roll against your
target’s awareness X 5. You learn one of his social or
material advantages, the one with the most point value.
You can take raises to learn more advantages. You can
use this technique once a week on someone and over
weeks can learn new advantages without raises.
Rank 2 : you’ll join us.

The second thing that a practician must master is the
use of intimidation : he after all represent the biggest
conquering empire of the known world. Sometimes,
threats work better than gifts. Yodotai bearing gifts is a
saying people use to refer to deception, as practician
often seek the help of Shadow, their god of deceit. You get a number of free void points equal
to your status rank every day that you can spend on any of your social rolls.
Rank 3 : Call to arms.

You can call now upon agents and military forces, like
saboteurs, legionaries and others diplomats to support your
course of action to bend people to your will. Fidelity, goddess
of Loyalty, is the one that emphasizes this aspect of the
practician’s life, which usually as reached the rank of Legatus.
After talking with someone for a day, you can make an
extended courtier (manipulation) roll over a week against the target Awareness + status X 5.
If you succeed, your agents and forces have been able to cut off the target from one of his
social or material advantage (like gentry) for a number of weeks equal to your insight rank.
You cannot use this technique more than once a week on a target.
Rank 4 : rule through order, fear or friendship.

Between the terrible Conquest and the mighty and merciless Sea (goddess of fear), the
Yodotai gods aren’t about compassion and friendship. But a true practician need to know
when to use fear and when to use friendship so that the order wanted by the Empire is brought
to everyone. As the rank 3 Doji courtier technique.
Rank 5 : assimilate.
A scion of the council, the political power that rules when the Yodotai Emperor or Yodotai
warrior aren’t in Octavion, the capital city, you are the symbol of the Yodotai’s reach and
control. Justice, god of law, has given the Empire a strict system that a talented Sectorem
know how to use to further the goals of the Yodotai. You have learned to use your advantages
to bring disparate groups together, through order, fear and friendship. You have +5k0 to your
social rolls against someone who has accepted gifts from your rank 4 technique.
Sicarius (rogue, warrior, Yodotai, new path) :

Sometimes, Praefectus (military leaders) are forced to resort to less direct means of actions
that battles or diplomacy. Such would cost a lot of resources to the Yodotai empire, in either
troops and supplies on their side or salted lands on the other side; or be doomed to failure.
That why the sicarius (assassins) exists : to remove some problematic enemy leaders by any
means necessary. Inspired by the acts of Caelus (god of the skies) who killed the 10 sons and
daughters he had with Terra (goddess of earth) and led to the creation of the Yodotai empire
and religion, the Sicarius are forced to poison, murder and sabotage to create order.
Replaces : Yodotai pratician 3 and Yodotai mercenary 3.

Requirements : knives 4, stealth 4, craft : poison 3, investigation 3, sincerity (deceit) 3, silent
or ruined city shadow advantage. You can waive the silent or ruined city shadow advantage
by increasing three of the skills requirements by one.
Technique : Attack at dawn.
You have mastered the gifts of Shadow and Caelus, making you the underhand of the Yodotai
warlords, their secret weapon. You have abandoned much of your honor in the name of
Conquest and will have again, but your actions will be forgiven in the name of success. When
you spend Ka points to enhance stealth and sincerity (deceit) rolls, you get + 2k2 instead of +
1k1. You can make simple attacks with knives.
Yodotai artisan (rogue, artisan Yodotai, new path) : + 1 intelligence.

Under the name of artisan can be found a wide bunch of people : blacksmiths, bow-makers,
but also alchemists and inventors. They are the supporting units of the Yodotai legions,
furnishing the soldiers with the technological advances collected over the year. They forge
weapons and armor, maintain and use the siege weapons and
create J’li’lu’s fire (greek fire). They have the combined
knowledge of many nations assimilated in the empire to
understand to maintain the arsenal of weapons the legions
uses, but some invent new weapons based on the needs of their forces, which give them the
nickname of inventors.
Replaces : Yodotai mercenary 1, Yodotai practician 1

Integrity : 5,5
Skills : crossbow, engineering, commerce (mathematics), any one craft skill, investigation,
etiquette Burnings Sands, defense.
Outfit : toga, oyumi, 20 crossbow bolts, dagger, craftsman’s tools, 12 copper, light armor and
travelling pack.
Technique : every man’s army.

La Bellis Yoditarium tells that you have to use every weapon available to succeed, and it is
the job of the artisans to supply the weapons, armors and others technologies that the
Prafectus may require. Each Yodotai artisan is a master in his own specialty but is also
talented in logistics and building to support the advancing armies and building camps.
Whenever you are making a crafting roll, you can work with someone else. The other(s)
participant(s), up to one per 20 points of TN required (eg, 1 for TN 5 to 20, 2 for TN 21 to
40…), must have at least 3 in the corresponding craft skill. For each helper you have, you
earn + 1k1to your roll and you can take one additional raise over your max limit. You can
reduce time and costs by 1 % per school rank of any helper which has this technique.
Unearthly child (same as original school, Qabal, Shapeshifter, new path) + 1 awareness.
Some people says you can’t choose your family, and you are a perfect example of it. You are
a shapeshifter, either one the hengeyokai (animal spirits of Chikushudo) or have been seeded
with a Jinn, a child of the smokeless fire. As such, your body can change to fit your inhuman
nature, and you have decided to explore your heritage and master the power of your ancestors.
Requirements : be a shapeshifter, a Seed of Qanon or a Qabal member with the Fitfully

Sleeping Blood advantage. If you don’t take this school as your first rank, you need to have
lore : spirit realms 3 and sincerity (deceit) 3.
Starting honor / integrity : same as original school.
Skills : same as original school.
Outfit : same as original school.
Technique : reverence to Chikushudo.

Through meditation, research or just sheer luck, you have discovered that you could increase
your supernatural abilities. You gain one minor shapeshifter abilities and one major or two
minor additional shapeshifter abilities.
Kata :
Kata work the same way as for Rokugani characters but applied to warriors schools instead of
bushi schools. Don’t forget void is ka for Burning Sands characters. I haven’t listed every kata
available in 4th edition, but that selection should give you ideas to adapt the remaining ones.
- Striking as air, striking as fire, striking as earth, striking as void and striking as water
are unchanged and available for any warrior school.
- Balance the elements style : the Blood-sworn, Heart-seekers, Sun-riders, Yodotai
Legionnaire, Senpet Legionnaire and Senpet Charioteer.
- Breath of wind style : Sun-riders, Sand pirate school, Sicarius, Assassin slayer,
assassin keeper, Ra’Shari knife-fighter, Jani.
- Disappearing world style : Sun-riders, Sand pirate school, Soldier of the city, Ra’Shari
knife-fighter, Jani.
- Hidden Blade style : Senpet Taskmaster, Sand pirate school, Sicarius, Dahabi
enforcer, Assassin Slayer, Assassin Keeper, Ra’Shari knife-fighter, Jani.
- Indomitable warrior style : Soldier of the City, Dahabi enforcer, the Blood-sworn,
Heart-seekers, Senpet Legionnaire, Senpet Charioteer, Yodotai Legionnaire, Ebonite
templar.
- Iron Forest style : Soldier of the city guard, Senpet Charioteer, Yodotai Legionnaire,
Yodotai mercenary and Ebonite templar.
- Iron in the mountains style : Senpet Taskmaster, Soldier of the city guard, Dahabi
enforcer, Yodotai Legionnaire, Yodotai mercenary and Ebonite templar.
- Reckless abandon style : Soldier of the city guard, Assassin slayer, assassin keeper,
Jani.
- Strength in arms style : Dhabi enforcer, Senpet legionnaire, Yodotai legionnaire,
Ebonite templar.
- Strength of purity style : Senpet warrior schools, Yodotai warrior schools, Ebonite
templar.
- Spinning blades style : Sand pirate school, Sicarius, Assassin slayer, assassin keeper,
Ra’Shari knife-fighter, Jani.
- Veiled menace style : Sun-riders, Sand pirate school, Sicarius, Assassin slayer,
assassin keeper, Ra’shari knife-fighter, Jani.
- Strength of the Crab : Ebonite templar.
- Strength of the Crane : Senpet warrior schools, Yodotai legionnaire, Ebonite templar.
- Strength of the Lion : Soldier of the city guard, Yodotai legionnaire, Senpet
legionnaire.
- Son of storms : Senpet taskmaster, Sicarius, Dahabi enforcer, Assassin slayer, assassin
keeper, Ra’Shari knife-fighter, Jani.
- Strength of the Mantis : master marksman.
- Dance of the winds : Senpet warrior schools, Yodotai warrior schools, Ebonite
templar.
- Strength of the Phoenix : Soldier of the City Guard, Dahbi enforcer, the Boold-sworn.
- Strength of the Scorpion : Sun-riders, Sand pirate school, Sicarius, Dahabi enforcer,
Assassin slayer, assassin keeper, Ra’Shari knife-fighter, Jani.
- Strength of the Unicorn : Sun-riders, Horse raiders, Senpet Charioteer, Soldier of the
City Guard.
- Art of Ninjutsu : Sicarius, assassin schools.
- Strength of the Spider : Senpet taskmaster, Dahabi enforcer, Jani, Ebonite templar.
Equipment :
- Senpet dagger (knives : dagger) : the Senpet used bronze daggers for a long time
during their early history, making it a primary weapon for their forces until better
weapons were developed. It's a 1k2 weapon [Senpet][small] that breaks if more than
one exploding die is rolled for damage.
- Senpet mace (heavy weapons : mace) : the Senpet used maces since before they
started recording history, moving from a simple stone on a stick to a modern metallic
cone on a club. While not a common weapon since the creation of modern swords, it is
still considered a useful weapon against armored opponents. It’s a 3k3 [large][Senpet]
weapon that ignores 3 pts of reduction from its target and that after each attack reduces
the TN bonus of the armor by 1 until the armor is repaired.
- Yodatai legionnaries shield : the Yodatai have a wide variety of weapons due to
the numerous cultures they absorbed. The basis of the Yodatai defense tactics,
those shields are really sturdy and can reflect light to make it harder for archers to
target them. [large][Yodotai], armor TN + 7, reduction 3, TN increase by 2
against ranged attacks, but all agility related rolls by the bearer are increased by
3.
- Plumbata (athletics : thrown weapon) : 2k2 [small][Yodotai], do not had user's

strength. Large hand-held lead weighed darts that are thrown by hand, this
weapon is used only by the Yodotai. The shape and weight of this weapon give
him more range than most thrown weapon and its barbed edge make it difficult to
remove. The legionaries use it at the start of a battle before using their main weapons.
- Whip (peasant weapon : whip) : 0k1, [small][Senpet][Yodotai][Caliphate][Jackal]

[Ra’shari][Ivinda]. Usually used to bring compliance to groups of animals and
humans, the whip is mostly used by the Senpet as a weapon.
- Magic carpet : book of air page 127. One of the most common, if not the most
common, nemuranai in the Burning Sands, there is even an unit trained to fight using
those : Lakeisha’s sky raiders.
- Crystal Wind’s crystals : the enchanted crystals created by the Ashalan Crystal Wind
can be found in many places all over the Ivory Kingdoms, the Burning Sands and
Rokugan. While the Ashalan himself dies during the Age of Conquest by the hands of
a ratling, Br’nn, using one of his own creation against him, the crystals can
still be found, looted from his realm in the Frontier region of the Ruined
Kingdoms. They are highly detectable by shugenjas and jaklas when there
are more than a few fingers of it at the same place, as the kami are swirling
all around the area. A spellcraft roll TN 25 or lore : crystal TN 20 will
identify the origin of it as a multi-elemental item with a powerful
enchantment. If someone touch such a crystal or attempt to commune or
sense it will get into contact with Crystal Wind (if he still alive) or his left-
over spirit. If someone has touched it before, you’ll also see the spirit of the previous
bearer, in this case Crystal Wind will have the appearance of the previous bearer but
covered of Ashalan tattoos. Crystal Wind will attempt to parlay with anyone who get
into contact with him, while then attempting to take over his mind. The first Round
that a PC is in contact with the crystal, he must succeed at a Willpower Trait Roll (TN
15) or become Dazed. If the PC succeeds at the roll, the TN increases by 5. A new
Willpower Trait Roll must be made each Round the PC remains in contact with the
crystal. If contact is broken, the process begins again at the TN where it left off if the
character comes into contact with the crystal once more. A character who is Dazed as
a result of contact with the crystal must continue making the Willpower Trait Roll,
including any relevant penalties. A second failed roll results in the character becoming
Stunned, and then a third failed roll results in the PC falling unconscious for a number
of Rounds equal to his Earth Ring. Upon recovering from unconsciousness in this
manner, a PC is completely dominated by Crystal Wind and will be under his mental
control until the crystal is destroyed or the character is rendered unconscious and
exorcised of the Ashalan’s control. There is no recorded ways to break this control,
but some people escaped it. If someone breaks from the control of Crystal Wind, the
crystal will grant him the effects of the item without penalties. Those crystals will
grant a + 1 to attack rolls per round of battle to the bearer, the bonus is not cumulative
if the bearer wore more than one crystal but each piece of crystal will increase then
TN of the willpower roll by 3. Weapons made of those crystals are considered crystal
for all purpose. After Crystal Wind’s death, the crystal keeps their powers, but the
willpower rolls for control are once per week. What is left of Crystal Wind’s
personality, or from a previous bearer, will
be attempting to take over the character.
- The potion known as the Blood of Jinn is

actually what its name suggest : it’s the blood
of a Jinn magically bleed (spellcraft 30 or
lore : jinn 20 can identify it, creating a dose
requires a Jinn, some supernatural blade like
one made from obsidian and a ritual know
only to those with lore : jinn 5+). Due to its
supernatural nature, it was only sold on the
black market. It could heal any wound (it cast
on the drinker the spell peace of the kami,
corebook page 192) but the soul burned in
trade (the drinker loose all his Ka points and
suffers from curse of the realm : Yume-do for
a day per wound rank healed).
- Another famous magic potion mentioned in the storytellers’ tales is the water from a
mirage. Mirages are created by reflecting something that exists on a wave of heat,
making it looks closer that they are in reality (people often mistake hallucinations due
to dehydration with mirages), a combined action of fire and air kami. As such, people
talented in calling upon those (Sand discipline, Mist discipline, or summoning : five
primal elements) can convince the air kami to turn themselves into a liquid. Anyone
who drinks it will be considered under the effect of the spell gift of the wind (corebook
page 171) with a duration of 15 minutes.
- Alim’s charm of protection : forged centuries ago by the Qabal sahir Alim from an
unknown metal and a Jinn’s tear, this amulet looks like a ruby in the middle of a silver
circle. The bearer is considered to have three additional ranks of the magic resistance
advantage, which applies to all sources of magic.
- Ntzoke’s amult of night : a golden torque with a gem as black as the darkest night, it is
says to reflect the darkest recess of the human soul and turn men’s deepest lies against
them. The amulet cast every hour to seek the truth (corebook page 168) like a
shugenja of rank 3 with air 4, is permanently under the effect of the spell wolf’s
proposal (corebook page 169) and can cast air rank of the bearer times per day know
the mind (corebook page 717) cast in the same way as to seek the truth but this time on
the bearer’s commands.
- Raliraq’s mystical lute : this impressive lute is made of a wood that has a copper shade
and has the ability to raise the spirits of those who listen to it. Ra’shari have been seen
using it over millennia, but others have been known to use it, making specialists
believes that there is more than one. Works like the Shakuhachi of air (book of air
page 128).
- Bronze lantern : book of fire page 133. The famous magic lanterns that capture jinns
and forces them to obey the commands of the one who rubbed it.
Creatures :
- Camel, cat of many tongues, roc are in the LBS appendix page 286, ghuls in Enemies
of the Empire page 268, Nuppeppo (known as mass of corrupted flesh here) are in
Enemies of the Empire page 272, ghosts (shikko-gaki, Enemies of the Empire page
275), horse (Unicorn riding hose corebook page 322), lion, ox and wolf (corebook
page 323), zombie (corebook page 331), golem (second city the campaign page 100),
Vata’s herd (see chapter 4 of this guide).
- Giant :
(use Daidarabochi, book of earth page 210 but with intelligence 1 and Shadowland Taint 3,5).
Giants don’t goes into the desert itself but lives in the mountains chains that surround it : the
Yobanjin ones and the one west of the Badger clan lands. They tend to be really stupid, but
legends talk of smarter ones leading bands of ogres, those would have a fire ring of 3 and
some of the Ogre bushi techniques.
- Ogres :
Known sometimes as the Shadow Horde, there are roaming bands of ogres warriors in the
Burning Sands, mostly near the Badger clan lands but some have been known to live south in
the Western Wastes. They are free ogres (see Enemies of the Empire page 230) and are
organized small tribes contrary to the lone creature of most Rokugani stories. They are raiders
that sometimes allies themselves with the Sand Pirates, but those alliances end as soon as the
loot has been shared.
- The efreet :
Created by the Monkey Man using the dark magic of the Mummified Jinn skull and the
undead creation spells of the Jackals, those entities looks like jinns, but corrupted by the
power of the Shadowlands. Which is exactly that : they are jinns corpse animated by kansens,
and while their power is really limited compared to real jinns, they are powerful if stupid
servants. Mechanically, create minor mighty jinns with the undead trait in addition to the
normal rules for jinns, but they loose shapeshifting and the ability to talk, are limited in spells
to black magic (death), intelligence is lowered to 1, Shadowland Taint of 3,0 (but cannot
transmit Taint through damage or blood, but the better crafted Efreet can have Shadowland
powers) and have invulnerability (partial, to wood and unarmed attacks) and fear 3. Due to
their limited intelligence (on par with bakemonos), they are really limited in what skills they
can have (they still have an instinctive understanding of commerce, but cannot raise this
skill), they are basically limited to bugei and low skills.
- Lizard of water and fire :

Known as the salamanders, those strange desert lizards have been turned into magical beings
when Shilah burned the land. They have now the ability to generate fire like a ryu while
retaining their amphibious abilities. Since they tend to be dangerous and highly territorial,
travelers thanks the gods that they are rare and in groups only during the mating season. The
fact they have been hunted by th Assassins (their scales are used to create the poison known
as the Blood of the Caliph) also diminished their number. They uses the rules for the Komodo
dragon (book of earth page 211) but can turn its scales on fire a number of times times per day
equal to his fire rank. Anyone engaging them in melee combat while on fire suffers 2k2
damage. Water can quench the fire on part of the creature for a time.
- The desiccated :
The Rokugani knows the desiccated as the creation of Chuda shugenja as a by-product from
the harvest of blood from the location in the Shadowlands known as the Fields of Blood :
victims were made to bleed there for days at a time, creating bodies that look completely
dehydrated (hence their name). Zombies created from those bodies are more intelligent and
have more tactical skills than normal zombies. In the Burning Sands, the desiccated do exist
too, but are really rare. They are created from travelers who died of thirst in the desert and are
found by a wandering kansen to animate. The Jackals have learned from the Chuda how to
create such creatures, and have used it to serve the true Spider clan (who hides in the Shadow
of Daigotsu’s false clan) in the Ivory Kingdoms and in the Burning Sands until their alliance
felt apart as their goals didn’t coincided anymore.
Air 2 Earth 3 Fire 3 Water 4 (strength 6)
Initiative : 3k2 Attacks : claws 5k3 (complex), ono 5k3
(complex)
Damage : 6k3 (claws) , 6k4 (ono). Armor TN : 22
Reduction : 5 Wounds : 72 / dead.
Shadowlands Taint : 4,5
Skills : battle 3, jiujutsu 2, heavy weapons 2.
Special abilities :
- Beheading (see zombie, corebook page 331).
- Fear 3.
- Undead.
- Breath : can breathe a cone of dust one per day which has the same effect as breath of
the Fire Dragon (but only last one round) and the make everyone in the cone
considered to be fatigued until the reaction phase of the next turn. They cannot be in
full attack stance while fatigued.
- Naar Teban :
Under the loose authority of the Nagah abomination warlord Rashima, the Naar Teban are the
nagas (called here nagahs, a term who came from the Ivory Kingdoms) of the Burning Sands.
They are nothing like their counterpart of Rokugan, or even the Dark Nagahs from the Ivory
kingdoms. Sometimes known as the Fire Salamanders, the Naar Teban are the remnants of the
naga who lived in the half of the Shinomen that was destroyed during the Day of Wrath. The
powerful magic of the sands changed them forever, and any nagas that cross the limits of the
Burning Sands will undergo a transformation into one, falling into a deep slumber and being
filled with nightmares that send waves of pain through the Akasha. They have golden scales,
powerful legs in place of a tail and the ability to spit out a toxic substance called “the
consuming flame” which sticks to their target and make it melt away. Not many of the
original inhabitants of the burned Shinomen are still around; most of the recent Naar Teban
were abominations casted out from the surviving nagas. They bear no ill-will to their cast-out
cousins, only hunting them down when they re-enter Rokugan because of the pain they create
through the Akasha and that affects their entire race.
The Naar Teban, under the orders of Rashima, participated in an event known as “the culling”
during the events of the Awakening, but no-one knows what really happened. Based on the
ability of the Dark Naga to contact abominations throughout Rokugan and the Ivory
Kingdoms, it’s possible that he contacted the Naar Teban in hope they would trade the secrets
of the naga cities buried under the sands. They had a surge of activity during the War of
Serpents, threatening the Ki-rin’s path that crossed their territory.
Naar Teban are created like a normal Naga character (see Enemies of the Empire page 79 and
chapter 4 on the Ivory Kingdoms) but get 20 additional experience points, loose all
advantages and disadvantages linked to the Akasha (like divine focus, student of the past…)
when they transform and gain the following new abilities :
- Breath attack : for one Akasha point, the Naar Teban can spit venom on a cone area
extending 15’ from his mouth. Everyone in the area of effect must make a reflex roll
TN 25 or suffer a DR equal to the Naar Teban’s earth ring.
- Strong scales : reduction 3.
- Link to the Akasha : each time a Naar Teban spend an Akasha point, every non-Naar
Teban naga within 60 miles must make a willpower roll TN 20 or be dazed. Even if
they succeed, they are in agony and suffers + 3 to all their TN.
- Strong legs : Naar Teban lose their tail (if they had one) during the transformation, and
get strong legs that grant them + 3k0 to all athletics (jump) rolls and swift 1.
- Claws : the Naar Teban have claws with a DR of 0k2, skill : jiujutsu (claws).
- Linked to the Sands : every month spent outside of the Burning Sands, the Naar Teban
must make an earth roll TN 10 (+ 5 per month spent away of the Burning Sands) or
lose a rank of earth that cannot be recovered until he spent a week in the Sands.
- Jinns :
Jinns are powerful creatures which predate humanity, and for humans of the Burning Sands,
created their ancestors. There is hundred of different Jinns, which many strange abilities.
There is no official classification, as the otherworldly creatures never explained how to
differentiate them and categorize their powers. A jinn could be classified as belonging to a
particular element (despite their general name of child of the smokeless fire) : Flame
(smokeless fire), River (salt less water), Wind (cloudless air), Sand (weightless earth), or Ka
(shapeless shape). This classification is mostly based on the elements they are able to control
through their magical powers. While the same elements as those of Rokugan, they are
culturally different in some aspects, which can create troubles for samurais. Another
classification was Elder Jinn, who were able to command several elements, and Smaller Jinn,
who only commanded one element. But again, this consideration is based just on observation
from mortals and may not relate at all to the actual ages of the beings. Others than the humans
had deals with the Jinns, the Nezumi called the jinn as "evil spirits that should be dead", and
avoided the Burning Sands fearing them (and the lack of resources to scavenge), while the
Ashalans have a long history of dealing with them. Some Jinns were brought to service in
Rokugan and the Ivory Kingdoms, meaning they aren’t linked to the magic of the Sands. Free
Jinns are Jinns who have the ability to walk Ningen-do as they wish contrary to their brothers
who need summoners or special magic like the seed of Qanon to do so.
Those rules are an expanded version of those in LBS page 291, which are required to use the
following rules.
- All Jinns have the spirit trait, the following abilities : shapeshifting (can change shapes
at will) and invincible (cannot be killed by mortal means), and skills in brawling and
commerce. They can speak perfectly every language of the humans and of some of the
ancient races.
- Determine the power of the Jinn : minor, medium or major. Those are unchanged.
- Determine type of Jinn : mighty, sly, hardy, mystical or labor. Those are unchanged.
- Jinn trait bonuses (except an error made the hardy jinn trait bonuses are to be switched
with the mystical jinn’s ones), Jinn protections and Jinn combat bonuses are
unchanged, with one exception. Results 3 to 7 are now reduction equal to highest ring.
- Notice that Jinns have advantages and disadvantages combination not allowed for PC.
That because they are inhuman creatures and some is used only as mechanical effects
instead of copying and pasting the text.
The Jinn abilities tables are changed :

- A minor Jinn can have max one medium Jinn ability but as many minor Jinn abilities
as allowed by the ability creation bonuses.
- A medium Jinn can have max one major Jinn ability and as many medium Jinn
abilities as allowed by the ability creation bonuses. He can trade some medium
abilities for two minor abilities.
- A major Jinn can have any abilities as he is allowed, and can trade a major ability for
one medium and one minor ability.
- The creation and purity disciplines are limited to major
and mystical jinns.
- Specialized spellcasting : some Jinns seems to be
incarnation of one particular mystical attribute. As a
minor ability, the jinn is a qabal Sahir of rank 1 who
considers all his spells bought with this ability to be his
discipline, and has 4 ranks of spell mastery to spend.
As a medium ability, rank pass to 2 and he has 8 ranks
of spells, as a major ability it’s 3 and 12 mastery ranks
to spend.
Minor Jinn abilities comprises of discipline levels of 1

Medium Jinn abilities comprises of discipline levels of 2
Major Jinn abilities comprises of discipline levels of 3
- Shadow-jinn :
A Jinn can be a Shadow-jinn. Those are part of a group named the Quest that are tasked to
face Kaleel’s legion, the reason they entered a pact with the Sayel (Lying Darkness). All
shadow-jinns share their memories, making dealing with one a complex matter, but the
weaker ones (mostly the unnamed) are so consumed by the Shadow they are like
Shadowbeasts. But they tend to be smarter, but phlegmatic and slow to find interest in
anything, spending time waiting for something to spark finally a reaction in their emotionless
mind. Being a Shadow-jinn is a minor ability that grants them a shadow rank of 2 (Minor
Jinn) or 3 (Medium Jinn). There is only one Major Jinn that is a Shadow-Jinn and it is Israk,
brother of Kaleel the champion of the Jinns. Shadow-jinn are a type of jinn barely anyone
knows about, so only the most knowledgeable sahir can directly summon one. They are
notoriously difficult to summon, making that a day worth of service is only + 0 for table a2.11
(LBS page 295) and others values are modified accordingly. Their nature also make difficult
for them to stay in Ningen-do, and as such they can never been summoned for more than a
week.
The following section describes every official Jinn (with the exception of Kaleel) ever
published with a short bio on what they did during their time since the Jinn war. You are free
to use them as sample Jinns or as inspiration for your games.
Saqr Al Fediq :
This major mystical jinn pretended to be an human and joined the Celestial alliance, selling
his service as a sahir specialized in a crossroad spell (a transport spell).
Traits bonuses : + 1 air, + 2 water.
Protections : suffer no wounds penalties, cannot be affected by spells.
Abilities : sand (travel 3), creation (passage 3, seeding 3), specialize spellcasting X 3 (various
[travel] spells).
Combat bonuses : bonus to TN to be hit and extra wounds at each rank equal to higher ring.
Skills : brawling 6, commerce (appraisal) 5, acting (human) 5, lore : Lying darkness 2, lore :
Jinn 5, courtier Burning sands 3, etiquette Burning sands 2, sincerity (deceit) 5, investigation
1, defense 1.
Advantages / disadvantages : forbidden knowledge (Lying Darkness), forbidden knowledge
(Jinn), sage, read lips, perceived integrity (3 ranks), true love (Sahlah).
Ayna, jinn of the brutal harvest :

A Qanon medium mighty jinn, Ayna was seeded in a human female but she was in the
control. She joined the Celestial Alliance to fight Kaleel’s legion, a force of nature rushing
into the fight. She is fast and powerful, and uses it to keep her targets from reacting.
Traits bonuses : + 1 fire,+ 1 water, + 1 reflexes
Protections : suffer no wounds penalties, + 10 TN to be hit.
Abilities : blessing and curse (blessing 3), purity (ward) 2
Combat bonuses : bonus to total of attack rolls, damage rolls and initiative equal to highest
ring.
Skills : brawling 7, commerce 4, etiquette Burning sands 3, acting (human) 3, defense 2.
Advantages / disadvantages : dark paragon (strength), quick, heart of vengeance (Khaleel’s
legion).
Ajbar Ibn Kaleel, jinn of malignity :

A brother of the Jinn Kaleel, who took the name of lord Moon, Ajbar was a member of
Kaleel’s legion. A hardy medium jinn, his title came from his habit of turning people mad.
Traits bonuses : + 1 earth, + 1 fire, + 1 strength.
Protections : add highest ring to wounds to each wound rank, reduction equal to highest ring.
Abilities : blood (Madness 3).
Combat bonuses : bonus to total of attack rolls, damage rolls and TN to be hit equal to highest
ring.
Skills : brawling 7, commerce 4, defense 7, battle 1.
Advantages / disadvantages : dark paragon (strength), large, strength of the earth.
Akhad Ibn Kaleel :
A major hardy free jinn, this member of Kaleel’s legion used his powers and skills to
intimidate and force others Jinns to work for the Legion.
Traits bonuses : + 2 earth, + 1 water, + 1 air, + 1 strength.
Protections : suffer no wound penalties, cannot be knocked down, reduction equal to highest
ring.
Abilities : summoning (Jinn 2), purity (binding 3).
Combat bonuses : extra wounds to each wound rank, bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls and
and TN to be hit equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling (martial arts) 10, commerce 5, intimidation (bullying) 5, courtier (control) 3,
lore : Jinn 3.
Advantages / disadvantages : dark paragon (will), great potential (brawling), forbidden
knowledge (Jinn), large.
Gathriq :
A minor hardy jinn, the gatherer of Kaleel’s legion was in charge of finding and reuniting the
members of the legion. He was a sneaky and sly despite his nature, a creature of shadows.
Traits bonuses : + 1 earth, + 2 fire, + 1 perception.
Protections : + 10 TN to be hit.
Abilities : none.
Combat bonuses : bonus to TN to be hit and initiative equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 2, commerce 3, stealth (sneaking) 5, investigation 5, lore : Jinn 3, courtier
Burning sands 1.
Advantages / disadvantages : silent.
Jinn of a thousand midnights :
A minor mystical Jinn, he is a perfect example of magical items created by binding a jinn. He
was trapped for centuries by a Qabal sorcerer in a cloak, giving the bearer the ability to fly.
Traits bonuses : + 1 air, + 1 intelligence.
Protections : none.
Abilities : sand (tornado 2, travel 1).
Combat bonuses : none.
Skills : brawling 2, commerce 3, lore : Burning Sands 3, spellcraft 3, lore : Qabal 2, etiquette
Burning Sands 3, hunting (trailblazing) 3, investigation 2, defense 2, sailing 2.
Advantages / disadvantages : quick.
Jinn of decay :
While being a minor mighty unnamed jinn, this jinn is one of the most famous of them all.
His powers are the stuff of legends and storytellers have dozens of stories featuring sahirs
calling upon his destructive abilities. The jinn himself as little personality, as an unnamed
jinn, he is more a force of nature than a conscious entity.
Traits bonuses : + 1 strength, reflexes and agility.
Abilities : black magic (death 2) .
Combat bonuses : bonus to attacks and damage rolls equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 5, commerce 3, defense 3, art de la guerre 3, hunting 3, investigation 2,
stealth 2.
Advantages / disadvantages : dark paragon (strength).
Asifet of the fleet, jinn of desert tempest :

This minor labor jinn is all about travelling through the desert at the speed of the wind. He
usually carry a chariot behind him to transport his summoner, but as the wind, he can never be
bound for long. Summoners usually avoid summoning him for more than a trip at a time.
Traits bonuses : +2 perception, + 3 strength.
Protections : none.
Abilities : sand (travel 2).
Skills : brawling 2, commerce 3, investigation (notice) 3, athletics (running) 9, hunting
(trailblazing) 3, defense 1.
Advantages / disadvantages : way of the land (Burning Sands).
Jinn of desire :
The medium mystical jinn is known to offer power and wisdom to those who summon it. All
too many beginning sahirs assumed those gifts would be everlasting or free, only to discover
the blessings quickly fade as the Jinn is liberated from his service.
Traits bonuses : + 2 air, + 1 intelligence.
Protections : cannot be affected by spells.
Abilities : blessing and curses (blessings 3, curses 2, fortune 2), celestial (farsight 2,
divination 2).
Combat bonuses : bonus to TN equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 4, commerce 4, calligraphy Mekham 3, divination (astrology) 5, lore : jinn 5,
lore : Khadi 5.
Advantages / disadvantages : inner gift (foresight), inner gift (lesser prophecy), forbidden
knowledge (Khadi).
Jinn of Destruction :
Storytellers often mix the power of the Jinn of Decay with those of the Jinn of Destruction :
both are unnamed mighty jinn, but the Jinn of Destruction is a major jinn and brought his
powers as a force of nature to a whole different scale. The Jinn of Destruction destroys
buildings, sometimes entire city blocks, while Decay only kills a few humans at a time. Many
summoners of the Jinn of Destruction have died by his hands as he destroyed the target they
designed… and the collateral damage killed them and dozens of people around.
Traits bonuses : +1 fire, + 1 earth, + 1 water, + 1 strength
Protections : suffer no wound penalties, cannot be affected by spells and reduction equal to
highest ring.
Abilities : specialized spellcasting major X3 (summoning gale air 3, slayers’ knives air 5,
wrath of kaze-no-kami air 6, earthquake earth 5, fiery wrath fire 3, the fist of Osano-wo fire
3, defense of the firestorm fire 4, destructive wave fire 5)
Combat bonuses : extra wounds per rank, bonus to damage and attacks rolls equal to highest
ring.
Skills : brawling 6 , commerce 5, intimidation (bullying) 7, engineering 5, battle 3, defense 3,
temptation 1
Advantages / disadvantages : consumed by strength, compulsion (destruction), dark paragon
(determination), friend of the elements (fire), large, blessing of the seven fortunes
(Bishamon), touch of the spirit realms (Gaki-do).
The Jinn of Eternal Beauty :

This medium labor jinn is not a combatant, she is all about social interactions. She helps her
summoner to deal with humans and jinns through her appearance and mastery of the etiquette.
She spent 400 years hidden in the human known as Kurrat al Ayn before being released and
becoming one of the Celestial Alliance and meeting her fate alongside them.
Traits bonuses : +3 air, + 1 intelligence
Protections : none.
Abilities : summoning (Jinn 2), control (influence 3).
Skills : brawling 4, commerce 4, etiquette (conversation) Burning Sands 5, courtier Burning
Sands (manipulation) 7, temptation (seduction) 5.
Advantages / disadvantages : voice, dangerous beauty, seven fortunes’ blessing (Benten),
soft-hearted.
Jinn of infinite eyes :

There are things even the Jinns fears, and the Jinn of Infinite Eyes is one of them. This
powerful major mighty jinn is feared by his kind for he has hunted and destroyed many of
those who opposed Kaleel’s legion in the name of his master. It has no mercy or remorse in
doing what he does, even enjoying being such a powerful supernatural horror.
Traits bonuses : + 2 earth, + 1 fire, + 1 reflexes.
Protections : suffer no wound penalties, reduction and bonus wounds per rank equal to highest
ring.
Abilities : purity (binding 3), creation (passage 2), special (fear 5).
Combat bonuses : bonus wounds per rank, bonus to TN to be hit, attacks and damage rolls
equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 6, commerce 5, hunting (tracking) 7, battle (skirmish) 5, defense 3, lore :
Jinns (weaknesses) 3.
Advantages / disadvantages : heart of vengeance (Jinns), wary, inner gift (foresight), large,
quick, brash, cursed by the realm (Toshigoku).
Jinn of Reflection :
The Jinn of Reflection is a minor sly jinn with one power : the ability to create doubles of the
summoner, either through spells or by shapeshifting himself depending the level of control
and role the sahir ordered him to play.
Traits bonuses : + 1 air, + 1 perception
Protections : none.
Abilities : specialized spellcasting (can cast Divide the soul void 5 on the summoner, mists of
illusion air 2)
Combat bonuses : bonus to TN to be hit, initiative and extra wounds equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 2, commerce 3, acting (male, female, summoner) 5, etiquette Burning Sands
(conversation) 3, sincerity (deceit) 3, temptation (seduction) 3.
Advantages / disadvantages : jealousy (summoner), touch of Yomi (acting)
Jinn of the Dark Hour :

Twice the size of a man, this minor mighty Jinn has a coal black skin and a mouth that looks
like a shark. He is known for his skills as a warrior, especially with his bronze scimitar.
Traits bonuses : + 1 reflexes, strength and agility.
Protections : reduction equal to highest ring.
Abilities : black magic (death 2).
Combat bonuses : bonus to attack and damage rolls equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 2, commerce 3, swordmanship (scimitar) 5, defense 5, battle 3.
Advantages / disadvantages : large.
Jinn of the New Moon :

Maybe the strongest Jinn outside of Kaleel and his first siblings, the Jinn of the New Moon
cannot be summoned by normal means. It can only be summoned when the stars align and
cost the lives of those who summons him. He fought to save the Moto during the Awakening.
Traits bonuses : special, see abilities.
Protections : special, see abilities.
Abilities : New Moon (the Jinn of the New Moon is a major Jinn. His nature, sly, mighty, …
and the nature of all his rings, skills and so on are decided when summoned by the summoner
to fits his mission. He can, during the reaction phase of any round, spend a Ka point and
changes all of those within the limits of the Jinn creation rules).
Combat bonuses : special, see abilities.
Skills : special, see abilities.
Advantages / disadvantages : special, see abilities.
Jinn of virtue :
The Jinn of virtue, a free medium mystical Jinn, is behind a lot of the Celestial Alliance’s
actions, working as a mediator, a strategist and a well of knowledge for the organization.
Traits bonuses : + 1air, + 1 water, + 1 intelligence.
Abilities : summoning (Jinn 2, implements 2), creation (seeding 3, passage 2), binding 2.
Combat bonuses : bonus to TN equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 4, commerce 4, etiquette Burning Sands (courtesy) 3, sincerity (honesty) 3,
courtier Burning Sands 3, defense 3, battle (mass combat) 3, lore: Jinn (Celestial Alliance) 3,
lore : history (true history) 3, investigation (notice) 3.
Advantages / disadvantages : clear thinker, dark paragon (knowledge), forbidden knowledge
(Jinn).
Tahir :
This minor mighty Jinn keep telling people he had lived 6000 years, but who can tell if he
saying the truth or not ? What is sure is that his appearance as a giant man made of fire truly
classes him among the child of smokeless fire and shows his passion for fiery infernos.
Traits bonuses : + 1 fire, + 1 agility.
Abilities : summoning (primal elements 2).
Combat bonuses : bonus to attack and damages rolls equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 5, commerce 3, intimidation 5, defense 2, hunting 3.
Advantages / disadvantages : large, overconfident.
Alakrai, elder jinn trickster :
Many sahirs warns their apprentices about Alakrai, for while he is a useful medium mystical
jin, his tricks are known to also affect their summoners. He has an odd speech pattern,
speaking so fast all words are tied together and repeating some likes an eager goblin.
Traits bonuses : + 2 air, + 1 perception
Abilities : control (influence 2, illusions 3, transformation 2), specialized spellcasting (2X
medium, various [illusions] spells).
Combat bonuses : bonus to TN to be hit equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 4, commerce 4, acting 3, investigation (search) 3, defense 3, intimidation
(control) 3, sleight of hand (prestidigitation) 4, stealth (spellcasting) 4
Advantages / disadvantages : crafty, daredevil, quick.
The Arbiter of the Qanon :

A powerful medium sly jinn, not due to his mystical supernatural powers, but to his position
and nature. Hosted in the body of the Senpet sahir Hekau, the leader of the secret Qabal, the
Arbiter is the leader of the Qanon, the Jinns seeded in human bodies. They became the
frontline warriors of the Celestial Alliance during their war against Kaleel.
Traits bonuses : + 1 air, + 1 water, + 1 awareness.
Protections : suffers no wound penalties.
Abilities :
Combat bonuses : bonus to TN to be hit, wounds, attacks rolls and initiative equal to highest
ring.
Skills : brawling 4, commerce 4, etiquette Burning Sands (courtesy) 5, courtier Burning Sands
(manipulation) 4, investigation (notice) 4, sincerity (deceit) 5, lore : Jinns (Khaleel) 3.
Advantages / disadvantages : leadership, strategist, voice, obligation (major, Qabal and
Celestial Alliance).
Kai, jinn of hungry dreams :
This medium mystical jinn is the sworn enemy of the Nightmare Devourer, as his job is to
help the dreamers to have a restful night. This is not altruistic, for he feeds on the energies of
their dreams in Yume-do to fuel his existence in the spirit realms and avoid as such being sent
to the Black Earth like the rest of his kind. He will be helpful to people who summons him to
put a stop to nightmares and sleepless curses, as long as they respect him.
Traits bonuses : + 1 air, + 1 water, + 1 willpower.
Abilities : Night (mist 2, dream 3, shadows 2), child of Yume-do and forge of dreams (like
Baku, page 257 of enemies of the empire)
Combat bonuses : bonus to TN to be hit equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 4, commerce 4, spellcraft 3, lore : spirit realms (Yume-do) 7, meditation 3,
investigation 3, divination 2
Advantages / disadvantages : touch of the spirit realms (Yume-do), soul of artistry, silent
The Jinn of the Tempest :

This minor hardy Jinn worked for a Senpet Sahir that found a way to get his hands on the
Black Heart, the Immortal Caliph’s own heart removed through the ceremony of the Black
Heart. The Jinn is a great protector of treasures, keeping enemies at bay and enduring attacks.
Traits bonuses : + 1 air, + 1 earth, + 1 reflexes.
Protections : reduction equal to twice his highest ring.
Abilities : sand (Tornado 3).
Combat bonuses : bonus to attack, damage rolls and extra wounds per wound rank equal to
highest ring.
Skills : brawling 4, commerce 4, investigation (notice) 3, athletics 3, battle (skirmish) 4,
defense 4, hunting (tracking) 3, stealth (ambush) 4.
Advantages / disadvantages : wary, strength of the earth, touch of the spirit realms
(Toshigoku).
The Jinn servant :
The Jinn servant is a major labor Jinn who found the way to permanently kill his brethren
during the Day of Wrath. He used his knowledge against his kin for his summoners, but when
the war ended, his brothers found and punished him. His name was removed and he was
cursed to serve humans for all eternity. He was later contacted by Qolat, a survivor from
Laramun, a city destroyed by Shilah during the Day of Wrath, and was offered a position as a
Qolat master in the organization that was also known as the Servants of Laramun.
Traits bonuses : + 1 air, +2 earth, + 1 water, + 1 perception.
Protections : none.
Abilities : black magic (life 3, death 2), blessings and curses (fortune 2).
Skills : brawling 6, commerce 5, lore : Jinns (secret to kill a Jinn) 10, lore : Qolat 5, spellcraft
3, lore : history (Day of Wrath) 3, divination 3.
Advantages / disadvantages : bad fortune (cursed to serve), obligation (major, Qolat), sworn
enemies (all the Jinns), forbidden knowledge (Jinn), forbidden knowledge (Qolat), great
destiny.
Nightmare devourer :
The enemy of Kai, Jinn of hungry dreams, the medium mighty jinn known as the Nightmare
devourer is a predator of Yume-do. Like his sworn foe, he lives in Yume-do to avoid the fate
of his brethren to be cast out in the Black Earth, where he feed on the energies of people’s
nightmares. He found pleasure in the thrill of hunting prey through the nightmares, using his
powers to make them worse for them and more pleasurable for him. He also uses his
knowledge of people’s dark secret to torment them or make them do his bidding.
Traits bonuses : + 1 air, + 1 water, + 1 strength.
Protections : suffer no wounds penalties, cannot be knocked down.
Abilities : forge of nightmares and hypnotizing sleep (like Baku no oni, enemies of the empire
page 257)
Combat bonuses : bonus to attacks, damages and initiative rolls equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 4, commerce 4, intimidation (bullying, torture) 7, stealth 5, lore : spirit
realms (Yume-do) 2.
Advantages / disadvantages : touched by the realm (Yume-do), quick, blackmail (many).
Afshin, the Jinn of earthly pleasures :

A minor labor jinn, Afshin has only one skill : summoning food and cooking it. But he is
great at it, able to feed many people with whatever they wish. They just have to describe what
they want, and he will make it. Powerful sahirs like to call upon him to make life comfortable.
Traits bonuses : +3 awareness, + 2 intelligence.
Protections : none.
Abilities : specialized spellcasting (blessing of Inari, but can cook it up to be nearly anything,
and path to inner peace and Jurojin’s balm, both casted automatically and at the same time on
anyone eating his food. He cannot cast those spells otherwise).
Skills : artisan : cooking (magical food) 7, etiquette Burning Sands (conversation) 3, sleight of
hand (prestidigitation) 3, stealth 3, sincerity (honesty) 2.
Advantages / disadvantages : prodigy (all his skills are considered school skills), soft-hearted,
phobia (3 pts, violence).
Israk Ibn Kaleel :

After his brother took the name of their father and became Kaleel, the champion of the Jinn,
and wage war against their parents, Israk didn’t side with him. After the Day of Wrath, Israk
scoured the spirit realms for his brother, and met the Khayel (the Lying Shadow). After
making a pact with it, Israk became the first of the Shadow-Jinn. At the head of the Quest, he
joined the Celestial Alliance, which was lead by his agent Lurza, and disappeared alongside
the others members of the Alliance at the end of the Awakening. He is a major sly free Jinn.
Traits bonuses : + 2 earth, + 1 air, + 1 willpower
Protections : suffers no wound penalties, reduction equal to highest ring.
Abilities : shadow-jinn,
Combat bonuses : creation (name 3), purity (ward 2), control (transformation 2).
Skills : brawling 6, commerce 5, lore : Jinns (Kaleel) 5, lore : spirit realms (Black Earth) 3,
lore : Lying Darkness (Shadow-jinn) 3, investigation (search) 3, defense 3, hunting (tracking)
3.
Advantages / disadvantages : driven (find Kaleel), obligation (major, the Quest), forbidden
knowledge (Lying Darkness), magic resistance (Sahir, 3 ranks), sage
Nim, the 999th Jinn :
After the Day of Wrath and the creation of Harik’s ruby, only 999 jinns were still alive, and
Nim was the 999th. A free medium sly jinn, he loved the cats of Medinaat al-Salaam and they
loved him in return. He played with them a lot, and pretended if a Jinn died, one of them
would too. After finding a reanimated talking head, a chain of events led to him joining the
Celestial Alliance in their war in the heavens, during which he joined their final fate.
Traits bonuses : + 2 air, + 1 perception.
Abilities : control (influence 1, illusions 1, transformation 1), black magic (life 1), blessings
and curses (blessing 1, fortune 1) and summoning (primal elements 1).
Combat bonuses : bonus to TN to be hit, initiative and extra wounds to each wound rank
equal to highest ring.
Skills : brawling 4, commerce 4, animal handling (cats) 5, stealth (shadowing) 3, sleight of
hand (escape) 3, investigation (notice) 3, defense 3, athletics 3, lore : Jinns 1.
Advantages / disadvantages : way of the land (Medinaat al-Salaam), touch of the spirit realms
(Chikushudo), small, silent.
Al Amaq, the jinn of Lost Hopes.

Another member of the Qanon, this major labor Jinn joined the Celestial Alliance in their war
against Kaleel and lost his life during their final battle alongside the others members of the
Alliance. His name comes from his special power of taking the appearance and skills of
someone which has been targeted by the summoner. Through some blood or some item of
value to the target using in the summoning ritual, the Jinn become a copy of such target. The
main goal of summoning Al Amaq is to kill the target, who lose all hope of victory since he is
fighting a supernatural version of himself, with all his skills and abilities and not his flaws.
Traits bonuses : see abilities.
Protections : see abilities.
Abilities : lost hope (when summoned, Al Amaq takes the appareance of a target designed by
the sahir during the ritual. Use the Jinn creation rules to have him as close as possible to the
stats of the copied target, knowing that he’ll not lower his base rings or skills to match. He
may not have enough points to copy all the skills, and he can’t copy all advantages. For
example, he can copy prodigy but not allies. But he will try to be as close as possible to those
and when facing the target, will take its appearance and use the same weapon as it. Al Amaq
can copy school techniques as abilities, and can skip some : for example, he could have Moto
bushi 1 and 3 and not 2. He can only copy one rank 4+ technique, and the trade is one ability
= one technique).
Combat bonuses : see abilities.
Skills : see abilities.
Advantages / disadvantages : see abilities.
Keeper of the Marble Flame :

The mad black medium hardy jinn known as the Keeper of the Marble Flame has been
trapped for centuries in the temple of the White Tiger by the enchanted gold chains the
ancestor of the Ra’shari crafted. Since now the city of Pahatan is in ruins, he has turned mad
because of the imprisonment and seeks revenge on any living being. He is known to have
cursed people into giving birth to minor Rakshasa.
Traits bonuses : + 2 earth, + 1 agility.
Protections : reduction equal to highest ring, do not suffer wound penalties.
Abilities : specialized spellcasting (dancing with demons, enemies of the empire page 29, but
an improved version that can create the rakshasa curse or turn someone into an animal, and
permanently)
Combat bonuses : bonus to TN to be hit and extra wounds per wound rank equals to highest
ring.
Skills : brawling (tiger style) 4, commerce 4, lore : spirit realms (Jinn) 3, lore : Ivory
Kingdoms (Ra’shari) 3, defense 3, battle 3, investigation 3, hunting 3, stealth (ambush) 4.
Advantages / disadvantages : dark paragon (perfection), quick, heart of vengeance (Ra’shari),
lord Moon’s curse.
Locations :
- Aqhaba : a wealthy commercial port that deals with the Senpet Empire, the Caliphate
and the Yodotai, Aqhaba has seen people from far-away lands like the Thrane, the
Merenae or allies of the Tortoise clan. It’s a neutral location because of his economical
importance to many countries, something it has worked hard to preserve. Most of the
population is little different from caliphate, either in appearance or culture, except for
the huge percentage of the population made of fishermen and sailors
- Fields of roiling grain : a really fertile area that the Nahr’umar river floods at least
once a year, it’s the main food supply of the Jewel and the surrounding areas. The
black soil left after each flood is cultivated, and the harvest feed the region. But some
is left to lady Shilah and her children after harvesting, as thanks. Olive gardens, like
Menhir’s famous grove, are cultivated on the southern part of those fields.
- Crimson stronghold of the Khadi : the secret citadel of a group of heartless sorcerers,
that were Iuchiban learned their secrets and much later another Hantei came to learn
them. Magically hidden and protected by wards and jinns, rare are those who heard of
it. Hidden in the middle of the desert, magic provides to those who dwells here.
- The city of bronze : the formerly flying city of

the Jinns, protected by Kaleel’s legion, is
nothing but ruins crashed in the sands of the
Great Void after the Awakening. Magical
buildings, secrets and artifacts still lie there, but
no-one has found it, yet. Legends says that there
still a couple of Jinns of the Legion protecting it.
- The Hidden Mountain is a remote place in

which hermits known as the Yogui studies
mysterious arts through meditation and fasting.
The Old Man of the Mountain, which founded
and ruled the Assassins, learned their mysterious
ways centuries ago. Their techniques evolved
into the Assassin schools but also the Guru techniques of the Ivory Kingdoms.
- The city-states of J’li’lu are one of the first conquest of the Yodotai Empire. An
advanced civilization with the beginning of a democracy, they were known for their
masteries of sciences and art. Independent city-states, each with their own story and
culture, they united against the invaders but quickly recognized defeat. They were
rapidly absorbed into the Yodotai empire due to the similarities between their cultures.
It is said Mekhem learned the craft of road-building from them. Their advances in
alchemy and architecture served the empire over the centuries.
- Pahatan : the ruins of the “Golden City” of the Ra’shari, who were forced to abandon
it after the Day of Wrath. The Temple of the White Tiger still stands, dedicated to
Vishnu’s aspect of the Preserver (when he blessed the earth with rain), protected by
the mad Jinn known as the Keeper of the Marble Flame.
- White lands : the origins of this area is lost to time, and rare are those who saw it and
survived. During the return of the Unicorn, the followers of Shinjo passed through it
and lost many of their numbers to the odd things that lived there. Alabaster trees with
tentacles branches capturing riders and monsters stealing memories were the main
dangers of this area, but the Unicorn didn’t spend enough time in this place to notice
that despite different shapes, they were the same entities. In truth, they were animals
and plants transformed into Shadowspawns.
The White Lands is an area who is the Lying Shadow’s equivalent of the Shadowlands
: some scholars among the Jinn have suggested the portal linking it to the Black Earth
allowed the Nothing to corrupt both areas, but which felt first is an unanswered
question. It’s a bleak area, a white desert like a salt lake with no water left. There is
really little terrain of any sort, just a flat white sandy area with a few alabaster trees
here and there. Magic here is twisted as the kami have been nearly all swallowed and
undone by the Nothing (see 1st chapter) and those who stay too long, if they avoid the
Shadowspawns, starting hearing voices and having nightmares (consider they have the
cursed by the realm : Yume-do disadvantage) unless they accept the help of a loved
one in their dreams, which is only a manifestation of the Shadow. They offer help for
memories at first, even if the character doesn’t know he is losing them, and shortly
after they start earning shadow
points (see Enemies of the
Empire page 138).
- The doomed city of

Laramun : once one of the
biggest cities of the region that
will become the Burning
Sands, it was entirely
destroyed during the Day of
Wrath. Contrary to all others
locations listed here, it is in
the Empty Plains, the northern
limits of the Ivory Kingdoms,
but its importance in the
history of the Burning Sands
put it in this section. In 152 Iuchi found there books that led to the creation of
Meishodo. A brotherhood of Khadi took it over and rebuilds it using slave’s labor after
that, and when the Otaku found it again in 298 they were forced into slavery by the
Heartless sorcerers. Otaku Kunami allied herself with the talking horses, led by Vata,
held too prisoners, and freed everyone. Tales says that later the city felt to a civil war,
but when the Ashalan explorer Hojyn found it, he discovered that all the inhabitants
had all been wiped out by some sort of powerful magic. It is known that the Qadi used
this place as a stage point for their operations but never actually occupied the city
itself, just the outskirts, and so weren’t affected by the curse despite pillaging it.
- Ten miles canyon : here, Wajahd the wise stopped with the staff of Sumarkhan and
one hundred soldiers an invading army from the Ivory Kingdoms of one thousands
soldiers, summoning jinn after jinn to support his forces. This canyon serves as the
main trading road between the Burning Sands and the Ivory Kingdoms.
- Stairs of Samarrat : one of the few buildings which survived the Day of Wrath, they
were built by ambitious men wanting to see the sun for themselves. This huge hollow
tower with external stairs survived through magic and fate, but now rare are those
courageous or foolish enough to climb it. It is said that climbing the hundred thousand
stairs is an experience that changes a man. From here you can see for hundreds of
miles around, including the Jewel on clear days.
- The Great Eye of the Desert : the Senpet capitol city has a sight on every great
pyramid ever built to honor its pharaohs. The town increased its size from its founding
to their conquest by the Yodotai without pause, but the sands had started to cover
some of its majestic buildings before the Awakening, forcing the Pharaoh Hensatti to
call for help from the Jewel of the Desert to advert the terrible prophecy who
announced its end. Sadly, siding with the mad Immortal Caliph left the Senpet without
resources and many enemies. Once conquered by the Yodotai, the sands found much
less resistance and the glorious buildings of the Pharaoh are slowly swallowed.
- City of the dead : a huge Senpet funeral city built to bury the first Pharaoh. Huge
mausoleums and temples pave the roads to the pyramids themselves. Once the secret
repository of the Book of the Dead, many of those tombs have been pillaged over the
year. But for one successful looter, a dozen joined the immortals undead guardians of
the City itself. Still, that never stopped the greedy from trying to get rich.
- Jandaq caverns : for decades, slaves were used by the Senpet to mine the minerals
from those caverns, mostly copper to create the bronze of their weapons. The Hanif
were quite numerous in those slave camps, which led to the Yodotai invasion of the
Senpet empire, and those caverns were one of their first target. The taskmaster
attempted to use the slaves as cannon fodder, which only infuriated more the Yodotai.
- The River Valley : just south of the Fields of the Rolling Grain, this valley is known
for its production of fresh fishes and some fruits, making it an important food source,
especially for the wealthy who want something different. Under the supervision of the
regent In’am, the commercial crossroad as bloomed into an important commercial hub
as a road used by the Ivory Caravans started to pass through it.
The Jewel :
Medinaat al-Salaam, which means in mekham the city of peace, is also known Kala Jahir, the
city of a thousand stories or Aliquet-Ra the jewel of the desert. A sprawling capitol, she has
outgrown her walls more than once and is divided in quarters, but the lifeblood and center of
the city is still the Nahr’umar river. The commerce of water is the most important of the city,
with wells spread all over the town and water-bearers transporting to those who can pay. But
the town thrives on commerce of all kind and markets of all sort covers a good part of it.
- The quarter of the portals of delight and fancy is one of the entertainment districts of
the town. Most of the establishments here are considered den of iniquities, like Abdul-
Rafi’s inn or Ghassan’s gambling house. The houses of Dahab control most of the
activities here, but the Assassins have, to no-one’s surprise, agents and contracts there
too. The festival grounds, the more honorable entertainment area, spread through most
of the inner quarters from the Casbah to here and border the portals of delight and
fancy, making it easy for people to go from the nicer areas to the darkest.
- The merchant quarter is the commercial district of the city, as the name says, and is
the beating heart of the Jewel. The common name of all the commercial areas of it is
the bazaar and it is said that anything your heart’s desire can be found here, for a price.
Caravans of spices and copper from the Senpet lands meet here with caravans of food
and river fishes from the south. Gold and silver is traded here alongside stories
(Ra’shari and Caliphatee storytellers are quite famous) and sweet water (water from
secret wells, which taste better than the water from the river), and about every public
entertainment and legal goods. The Thoroughfare is the most important commerce
area of the merchant quarter, and the houses of Dahab are in charge of it, they used
their influence to kick the Ra’Shari out of this place (they settled in Peddler’s row).
The presence of items from outside of the Burning Sands is left to the houses, which
enforces as they say fit the desires of the Sultan and the Caliph (always officially
maintaining the orders of the Sultan, but with the help of the Immortal Caliph,
unofficially it wasn’t always the same). The Hoshi trading house, built under Hoshi
Wayan, is in this quarter, serving as a teaching place where the Dragon samurai try to
teach the Tao to the locals and studying, as they learn about Mekhem’s teachings
(Shinsei’s name for the Caliphatee). When the Ivory Kingdoms caravans are
welcomed in the city, one part of the quarter is known as the Ivory Market for that is
where the Ivinda come to sells their fares. The merchant quarter has some small ports
as it builds alongside the river, but most of the ports are in the river quarter.
- The maze is the poorest quarter of town, located north of the residential quarter and
east of the Casbah. It has many streets and is really cramped, hence it’s name.
Peddler’s row, where the Ra’Shari merchants create temporary stands to sells their
goods, is the most famous part of it and the closest to the residential quarter. The
thieves quarter is the nickname of the most dangerous part of it, where the haraam, the
forbidden (the local equivalent of the eta) are also the most numerous. Despite the
overall wealth of the city, and public services working on ensuring everyone within its
walls are fed, plagues and malnourishments are common among those who dwells
here. The pious often goes to give help to the destitute, but sometimes the quarter has
been blocked by the authorities (to no avail, tunnels and others secret passageways
exist) to prevent riots and maladies to spread.
- Located north-east of the center of the town, the Royal Quarter is named from the
royal palace of the Sultan, the palace of Wonders, the center of power of the city. Its
host the famous halls of reflection, a gallery of expensive mirrors, the residence of the
Caliph and the sultan, the administrative center of the city and the residence of the
houses of Dahab, the harems protected by eunuchs or the fabled 9 rooms of golden
wonders, forbidden to anyone but the Sultan’s immediate family and protected by an
Ebonite, the guardian of the 7 keys. Heavily protected by the Askaree, the courts rule
from here the entire city and most of the neighboring lands. It’s from the wide open
area in front of it, near Lady Sun’s temple, that the Sultan spare one criminal on the
third day of the 7 days festival of fasting, that celebrate the sparring of humanity by
Shilah. Close to it was the great Library, one the numerous libraries of the city, but
this one was open to all students of sciences and arts for most of its existence (until the
immortal Caliph closed the doors to prevent Sahirs to learn magic). The name great
library was due to its huge size compared to the private libraries of the houses.
- The temple quarter is dominated by the grand mosque of the house of the Heavens,
devoted to the all the gods recognized by the sultanate, but most of its surface is
devoted to Shilah, the all-merciful lady Sun, where the rhumans (priests) beg for her
continued mercy. Smaller mosques are spread throughout the city, the name temple
quarter only referring to the houses and shops near the house of the Heavens (some
selling religious related items). The razed library of the Qabal, destroyed by the
Caliph’s khadi, is under reconstruction in this quarter, near the famed Duqaq’s school
of astronomy. At least one prison well, in which people found guilty by the Khadi
were trapped for everyone to insults and harass, is still present in this quarter.
- The Khesir quarter, known as the Last Stop by those who lived there, is north of the
Maze and is the oldest and poorest part of town. It is surrounded by a wall to protect
the rest of the city from the filth of the criminals who lives here and want to hide. On
the northern exit of this quarter were the ancient pillars of Qaharaba, a place of trading
protected by magical pillars. Those were created by the Jinns before the Day of Wrath,
when Qaharaba was a trading town for the children of the Smokeless fire and the
ancient races. Their ancient magic still prevents much hostility between those who
come to trade here (everyone wanting to attack someone suffers the effects of your
heart’s enemy, corebook page 171). Redemption court, on the opposite side of the
quarter, is a place where those who wanted to join the faceless hidden here could show
their guilt and be “judged” by the renegades living in the Last Stop. Only those
wanting a new life or an early end would come through this place. Without surprise,
much of the immense sewer system of the town ends here, allowing secret
organizations like the Jackals to enter in and out of the sewers discreetly.
- The barracks of the Janissary, the Sultan’s troops, and their elite archer unit, the
Nessid (“the forgotten”) are near the Senpet (and later Yodotai) garrison, the biggest
of the embassy of the Jewel, located west of the Palace and south of the Merchant
Houses’ luxurious estates. This make this quarter the military quarter of the town, but
not the safest : corruption and racket were common under the Immortal Caliph’s rule.
- The residential quarter is the northest quarter of the city, where the lower and middle
classes lives. Kyuden Rojin, a place owned by the Unicorn group known as the
Wanderers, is one of the residential houses here. This group forms talented scouts and
explorers who have been to the unexplored reaches of Rokugan, the Colonies and the
Burning Sands. Originally funded by Moto Chagatai to find resources for the Unicorn,
they became important (while still not well-known) to their clan when they found the
Ki-rin’s path connecting Rokugan to the Colonies by the land. But the most famous is
the House of Enour, known for its white palm tree that grows on the tomb of the first
ebonite, Al-Ameer, who was buried under it.
- The river quarter : east of the merchant quarter, the river quarter is where most (and
the biggest) of the ports of the town are located, and where most storage facilities are.
As many riches are stored here, it is one of the most patrolled area of town and one of
the safest one, much more than the military quarter. It doesn’t protect the buildings
from the flooding that happens once every ten years, as the river rebels against the
sun’s madness as the poets says. At the limit of the merchant quarter is Jenna’s shop of
wonders, the only magic shop officially still open. While a supporter of the Qabal, the
Khadi have never proved it and uses her talents to locate magical artifacts and lost lore
too, so for now they let her be. The only thief who attempted to steal from her is
trapped in a crystal ball in view of everyone. The famous Qasbah, an inn that is the
most common first stop of travelers and visitors to the city, is known to denies no-one
in its walls (even if sometimes, this policy was nearly changed).
- Sentinel Point, the Ebonite area, is a fortified structure and training area near the
western limit of the city. It surrounded the temple of the Black Stone, which suffered a
lot during the Awakening. The building itself is adjacent to the Prophet’s wall, that
surrounds the city, which the legend says the prophet rebuilt entirely by himself with
only one word. After the Awakening, the Ebonite used it as a police station of sort.
The Black Earth :
The Black Earth is a strange spirit realm, a world between

worlds, the space between the other Spirit Realms. It is
possible Maigo no Musha actually took over some of it to
create itself. Is it a bleak unforgiving land, a desert of
blackened earth like scorched by the sun for millennia, so
inhospitable that it is also known as the Blighted Realm.
Contrary to the White Lands, who had been reduced to a flat
landscape, the Black Earth does have buildings, hills and
mountains. The Black Earth looks like the lands of the
Burning Sands before the Day of Wrath, but ruined by
centuries of unforgiving drought and abandonment. That is
what the world could have been if the Nothing had been able
to become powerful enough to destroy nearly everything, leaving a shell maintained by the
few spared kami.
The Black Earth doesn’t seem to have any purpose in the overall cosmology, but some
suggest it may have been a Spirit Realm linked to the Jinn and the world before the Day of
Wrath. The citadel of Kaleel’s legion was stranded there for centuries, alongside the Kami
Shinjo after she was kidnapped by the Nothing. The Awakening opened a door to this realm,
freeing the Kami but also the jinns of the legion. But even after this event, this realm was
from the Day of Wrath to now just a place for the Lying Shadow to survive, to evolve, to
study the world. Some scholars have theorized that it may be here that the entity survived the
naming by Hitomi at the end of the War against the Shadow.
The realm has little denizens : shadow-jinns, some Jinns and shadowspawns have been
spotted roaming those wilderness, but they are really little for a huge area. It is rumored the
Naar Teban have been crossing over to this realm to use it as a base of operation, but it would
mean their Jakla have found a spell to reach it, something the Khayel (the Nothing) has never
been able to, nor the Jinn themselves.
Control in this realm is the corruption of the Lying Darkness, but do not affect people fast. It
only starts after the feeling of helplessness and desperation starts sinking in. Then, it starts
affecting them like in the White Lands, but items with an important sentimental value do
protect. Consider them like fingers of jade, and as they protect you, the memories that
correspond to them fade and the items seems to dull and weaken. Both things will stop and
reverse (naturally for memories, through an easy fix for items) once they leave the realm, with
the exception of any Shadow points.
The realm has little relationship to others realms, if any at all. It seems it’s through here that
the invading armies of Yodotai spectral legionnaires invaded Maigo No Musha, giving
credence to the fact the realm took over some of the Black earth, and the gate of Meido, held
by Ryoshun, seems to have one time linked to here, but there is no definitive proof. There is a
portal in the White Lands, that is rumored to be in the last building standing in this area, and a
portal beneath Medinah Al-Salaam protected by the Ashalans. The portal known as the Oasis
of Spirits, where Shinjo disappeared and met her children’s father, may have opened to the
Black Earth, but likely opened on Chikushudo. It is an oasis that constantly changes of
location among the Burning Sands.
Mechanical effects of the Black Earth : outside of the corruption, consider it like the White
Lands for spellcasting. The constant troubling effect of the Nothing makes memories difficult
to access, so characters need to take a raise with no effect on lore rolls or fail automatically.
The 47 sayings of Mekhem (the order is not official, it’s just to number
them) :
1) Never hesitate. All animals fight to the death when cornered … even the human ones.
2) Women are charmed by bold, audacious men. Lady Luck is no different.
3) When all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.
4) When you cannot seduce your enemy, seduce the ones he loves.
5) Fear and respect are the same. Lady Sun provides to those who understand this truth.
6) Always face the weak while standing beside the strong. The former will either fall or
improve, and the latter will either remember your loyalty or be vulnerable to your
sword.
7) The majesty of nature is not meant to be imprisoned. The longer it remains docile, the
more ferocious it will be when released.
8) Trust not the slumbering giant.
9) If you have wounded your enemy but he has not wounded you, you have done enough.
Let him bleed and he will die.
10) One copper to a man who has thirty is just another copper. But to a man who has
nothing, it is all the world.
11) Rich men, powerful men, crafty men, wise men, witty men, handsome men and
cunning men. Without water, they are all dead people.
12) A man who cannot watch and wait sees beauty in nothing …
13) Those who voluntary put themselves under the heel of a tyrant get exactly what they
deserves.
14) If you can’t sabotage your enemy’s plans, sabotage his men.
15) When stranded on an island in a sea of adversaries, put your most trusted friends upon
the shore.
16) A hero has the wisdom to awaken the courage that sleeps in the heart of the common
man.
17) Vengeance is the purity of purpose without remorse.
18) Whenever there is light, there must be Shadow.

Okumas Guide To Gaijin 1

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Okuma’s guide to Gaijin

Proofreading done by Tonbo Karasu. Thanks to http://imperialblock.com/visualspoiler I was

1) Advantages / Disadvantages and skills.

Disadvant Umi no Caliphat

New advantages and disadvantages :

[Sorcerer] are the magical users of the Umi no Koete.

Magic outside of Rokugan :

The Shadowland taint outside of Rokugan :

The Lying Shadow and the Burning Sands :

2) Thrane and Merenae (Umi no Koete) :

Molinero school (Merenae, Warrior) : + 1 awareness

Starting panache : 5,5

1st rank : Molinero’s defense.

2nd rank : Molinero’s sarcasm.

4th rank : Molinero’s speed.

5th rank : Molinero’s dance.

Morriston school (Thrane, Warrior) : + 1

Starting panache : 4,5

1st rank : Morriston’s apprentice.

2nd rank : Morriston’s journeyman.

3rd rank : Morriston's thrust.

4th rank : Morriston’s master.

5th rank : Morriston's twist.

Torvo style, new path (Warrior, Merenae) :

Technique : Torvo’s strike.

Cornejo school (Warrior, Merenae) : + 1 intelligence / Hapworth school (Warrior,

Starting panache : 5,5

1st rank : Point-blank mastery.

2nd rank : Short-range mastery.

3rd rank : Two shots, two kills.

4th rank : Medium-range mastery.

5th rank : Long-range mastery.

Tytus style (Thrane, warrior, new path) :

Sicaire school (Rogue, Thrane and Merenae) : + 1

1st rank : one poison.

2nd rank : 2 hands.

3rd rank : 3 kisses.

4th rank : 4 daggers.

5th rank : 5 moves.

Hawthorne school (Warrior, rogue, Thrane) : + 1 constitution.

1st rank : Hit’m hard

3rd rank : Fancy swordplay.

4th rank : Spit in death’s eye.

5th rank : Ancient training techniques.

Forlani style (Warrior, Merenae, new path) : + 1 reflexes.

Technique : Fancy Footwork.

Magic of the Umi no Koete :

Levenslot (sorcerer, Thrane) : + 1 awareness

Starting panache : 4,5

Technique : Measure, tug, weave and unweave.

Fuego (Sorcerer, Merenae) : + 1

Starting panache : 5,5

- Ashi-kyu : (kyujutsu or archery : ashi-kyu) this Thrane and Merenae composite

- Gunpowder pistol : (Firearms : gunpowder pistol) is

- Gunpowder shotgun (usually called blunderbuss) : (firearms : gunpowder shotgun) is

- Nekomata / Caith Sith

- Ancestral protector / Mokumokuren :

Air 2 (reflexes 4) Earth 3 Fire 3 (agility 4) Water 4

Blood limitation : minor

Blood limitation : major

New shapeshifter powers :

New shapeshifter penalties ;