Playing Go

Back to Schools General Information

Playing Go

By Isladar

• these rules can be used with my School of Go

Normally, the game of Go has no mechanical effect in Legend of the Five Rings. However, Go in the context of the tournament in Ryoko Owari should be a bit more dramatic than a single roll. To simulate this I've adapted the rules for Iaijutsu duels.

For the purposes of a game of Go, your wounds are equal to your Intelligence x2, Intelligence x5 for Out

Step 1: Opening Game

Each player makes a TN 5 Awareness/Go Skill Roll. For each increment of 5 points by which he exceeds the TN, a player may choose to learn the following pieces of information about his opponenet:

• Willpower
• Awareness
• Intelligence
• Insight Rank
• Remaining Void Points
• Void

Each player then chooses his opponent's Willpower, Void, or Awareness. During the game each player will Focus using the Trait or Ring that the other player chose for him. These rules refer to the chosen Trait or Ring as "Choice."

Step 2: Middle Game/Focus

As the game continues, the TN of both opponents is reduced to 5. The player who had the higher total on the Awareness/Go roll in the Opening Game has the option to Focus or Pass first.

If you choose Focus you must make a Choice/Go roll vs. your opponent's current TN. If this roll is successful, both players' TN increases by 5, and the option to Focus or Pass goes to the other player. If this roll fails, the TN does not increase, and you must declare "Pass"--see below. You may only choose to Focus a number of times equal to the Trait or Ring chosen by your opponent. If you cannot Focus any more, you may spend a Void Point to Focus again, and may continue as long as you have Void Points remaining.

If you choose to Pass before you are required to, your opponent may choose to Focus rather than Pass. Only if both players Pass or one player must Pass does it move into the Endgame step.

Step 3: Endgame

If you have no choice but to Pass, then both players immediately make an Awareness/Go roll against, gaining a Free Raise for every time they each declared a Focus.

The winner is the one who overcomes his opponent's TN. In the case that both players overcomes their opponent's TN, Wounds are assessed and the player who suffered the fewest Wound Levels is the winner.