[LFG] Legend of the Five Rings. I need a group to play a weekly game.

First off, I have never played before. But I am very interested in Japanese culture and the system seems fun though complicated. I'd need someone to show me how to play and make a character properly. The core rule book is a lot to take in all at once. I'd like to play a weekly game. Give me any day except Fridays and I can probably make it work. Though the game would have to start after 9pm eastern and go no later than 3am. I'd only be able to use voice communication, preferably on Skype, but Discord would be fine too I suppose. I have limited RP experience but I will try my best. I'm a 25 year old male from the US. I'll PM my Skype to anyone interested, just ask. I really hope to hear from someone soon! And if any others would like to join as players, feel free to post here and maybe a DM will come along and take us all under his wing. EDIT: 10/2: Still need one more player and a DM.

If you're interested in actual japanese culture, L5R is not the place to get it. It has roughly as much to do with any asian culture as the kid at ACEN who throws the 15 words in japanese he knows into english sentences to appear cultured. The system is pretty ridiculously complex and needs near 3.5 D&D levels of houserules to not be a particularly oily dumpster fire, but it can be made to function well enough. The history of the setting can be sort of interesting, but I've found that anyone who says "you can't do that because [the LORE]" is someone you never want to play with. That said, with the right people and the right mindset it can be very fun (much like D&D) and I'd be tentatively interested in joining if we could make the times work. 8pm central is a bit late of a start time for me, since I'm up at 6am M-F and I have a RL group on saturdays from 7-11pm.

Thanks for the insight. My real reason for wanting to play L5R apart from having fun is to get experience with it and to hopefully one day create my own campaign using it. I made a post on Reddit a while back asking if anyone has made a Japanese themed D&D campaign and the majority of people who posted all said to just play L5R and said "a themed D&D campaign is just the same old D&D and won't offer a different enough experience." I only have experience with D&D 5e at the moment. And sorry about the times, but they're pretty inflexible. 9pm est is the absolute earliest I could start.

True, L5R isn't exactly historically accurate or truly reminiscent of Japanese culture but it's a fantasy game, nobody's expecting or treating it as "Totally Accurate Samurai Simulator 2016" all the same, it's about as fair as saying that you'd like to get into A Song of Ice and Fire because you have an interest in the medieval period. Also I can't say that I have had massive exposure to the system but the 4th edition seems pretty stable to me without any or much need of house-ruling, although as I said, I have very little exposure to the system. Anyway, that being said, yes, I would like to get involved in an L5R campaign, anything which offers incredibly deadly combat and doesn't just let you throw charm checks at an issue until it goes away because you will roleplay damn it, is always a good game in my books. That being said I don't want to join a campaign which is just intended to be a learning experience, I like to jump into a living world and go the long-haul with a project. I also wouldn't really be looking for something which is trying hard to be "Japanese" if you see what I mean. I want L5R and it takes a lot of cues from samurai stories and movies but it has it's own world and I'd want to play in that without it turning into just another anime game, which I'm sure everyone else would want as well! Ok, rant over, you can come out now! In any case, I can't do Friday either but I also can't do Sunday, ideally I'd keep Monday free but honestly, I can do Monday just fine and I'm British so you're talking about 2 PM to 7 PM for me, so is he have no problem with whatever time-slot is chosen.

I agree with you on most everything you said Callum. And I'm not saying I want to play JUST to learn. I really want get into playing it for fun too. Though as I said, I don't know how to play fully yet, so I will need my hand held for a bit if we were to start. About a "Japan Simulator", I agree. I don't want it to be that that exactly either. What I meant was that I'd like it to take cues from Japanese culture and history. For example: Different creatures or Youkai from Japan's folklore each with their own unique quirks and abilities. I mean look at this crazy list: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_cr" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_cr</a>... There's so much potential for campaign material there. Combined with L5R's system, mechanics, and lore, I feel it would blend in very well and be loads of fun while also doing the typical clan vs clan thing or whatever you'd normally expect. If you really are interested, go ahead and PM me your Skype name then. I also have another player from Reddit. That makes 3 players and no DM yet.

bump

As someone who has recently gotten involved in L5R and played a few session, its not mechanically complex. The system itself is fairly easy to grabs, rollx, keep the y highest. its the mindset and thematics that are complex. The idea to not just be a murderhobo and take anything you want just because you can is lost on many folks who cut their teeth on dnd.

Solar, I would love to GM for your group. You should know that I am a GM for hire, with very reasonable rates. I understand that this may not be your first choice, but hiring a GM has several benefits: The GM will always show up, be prompt, seek to create adventures (and themes) that interest your group, and produce a consistently strong campaign. Here is a link to my rates and some additional info: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/4066601/game-mas" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/4066601/game-mas</a>... Good Day, Biff Alexander

Biff A. said: Solar, I would love to GM for your group. You should know that I am a GM for hire, with very reasonable rates. I understand that this may not be your first choice, but hiring a GM has several benefits: The GM will always show up, be prompt, seek to create adventures (and themes) that interest your group, and produce a consistently strong campaign. Here is a link to my rates and some additional info: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/4066601/game-mas" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/4066601/game-mas</a>... Good Day, Biff Alexander Thanks for the offer but I only play D&D because it's free. I have no money. Sorry. :\

No worries at all. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.