More Rokugan Court Events

   For today, here’s the second section of the Rokugan Court Events listing. This isn’t complete of course, but it should prove sufficient for when you need to come up with something quickly.

   (5) Mental Competitions tend to be less serious than physical ones – at least to start with. In Rokugan, care must still be taken to keep the situation under control. Scholars and Courtiers are usually less touchy than Bushi, but once egos come into play you may still wind up with duels being fought over trivia.

• (1) Antique Evaluation and Forgery Detection / Aphorisms of Bushido
• (2) “Clue” (Investigating) / Tabletop Games (Go, Shogi, Battletech, Mahjong, etc)
• (3) Criticism / Debates
• (4) Essay Writing / Forgery Detection
• (5) Heraldry Recognition / Koans
• (6) Logic, Math, and Mechanical Puzzles / Meditation / Ninja Spotting (or at least spotting hidden things)
• (7) Public Speaking / Puzzles (Logic, Mechanical, Mathematical)
• (8) Reflections on the Tao / Riddles and Obscure Lore
• (9) Scavenger Hunt / Situational Puzzles (Of Bushido, Honor, and Duty)
• (10) Spirit Sensing / Theology

   (6) Tales, Lectures, and Classes differ principally in the depth in which they cover their material. Tales are informal, although occasionally enlightening, expositions. Lectures attempt to cover some topic in useful depth, and usually come in strings of a week or two. Classes are more elaborate, usually last at least a month, and provide useful instruction under the usual rules. Tales and Lectures are fairly easy to arrange, although care must be taken to avoid finding a boring, offensive, or simply ignorant speaker. Classes are a bit harder: you actually need someone who really knows the subject and how to teach it. They also tend to attract less interest than lectures and tales since they require a much greater commitment to get anything out of.

• (1) Alchemy / Ancestors / Antidotes and Toxins
• (2) Architecture and Engineering / Astronomy / Battle Tactics
• (3) Botany / Bushido / Crafts (Various) or (Clan) Studies
• (4) Divination and Omens / Economics / Folktales
• (5) Geography and Cartography / Ghosts and Spirits / Herbology
• (6) Heraldry / History / Law
• (7) Linguistics / Logic / Magical Lore
• (8) Mechanics / Music / Naga Lore
• (9) Gaijin, Naga, Nezumi and other obscure Studies / Physics / Planar Studies
• (10) Superstitions / Theology / Zoology

   (7) Physical Competitions are pretty straightforward – and, unlike most other competitions in Rokugan, are relatively safe. It’s pretty rare for a Samurai to want to challenge all the witnesses to dispute the outcome of lifting weights or horse racing.

• (1) Archery / Boat Racing
• (2) Dog Racing / Dressage
• (3) Fishing / Foot Races
• (4) Hang Gliding / Horse Races
• (5) Horse Riding / Hide-and-Seek
• (6) Kemari and other Ball Games / Kite Flying
• (7) Orienteering / Siegecraft and Weapons
• (8) Sledding or Skiing / Sumo Wrestling
• (9) Swimming / Swordsmanship
• (10) Weight Lifting and Unarmed Combat / Wrestling

   (8) General Events are simply the activities that fill days when nothing else is going on. For the most part, except for fireworks, they’re not particularly expensive or difficult to arrange.

• (1) Adornment (Exotic Costumes, Face Painting, Costume/Role-Playing Parties)
• (2) Animal (Bird, Butterfly, Insect, etc) (Breeding, Training, Watching, Exhibitions, Fights, Collecting)
• (3) Bingo / Raffles / Carnival Games
• (4) Formal Dinners / General Parties
• (5) Fireworks / Magical Presentations / Fortune Telling
• (6) Hunting (Bandits, Hawking, Monsters)
• (7) Receptions and General Gatherings (Basically simply spending the day negotiating)
• (8) Seasonal Events (Snow and Ice Sculpting, Firefly Catching,
• (9) Tea Ceremonies / Food and Wine-Tasting
• (10) Viewing (Dawn, Flowers, Storms, Sunset)

   (9) Combat Events are relatively common as tournaments, but – at least hopefully – are uncommon when it comes to serious fights. Nevertheless, the Samurai are a warrior caste, and such events are always popular.

• (1-2) Duels: Swordsmanship is THE classic, but virtually any other weapon will do.
• (3) Grand Melee: Basically a battle, albeit one normally limited to using bokken and other less dangerous substitutes for the usual deadly weapons.
• (4) Magical Battles: These are always popular if they can be arranged. This includes attempts to get Monks to show off their abilities, but that’s almost as rare as the Shugenja showing off theirs.
• (5) Open Battle: A tournament where anyone is allowed to compete, including Peasants, who may thus gain status as Ashigaru.
• (6) Peasant Battles are essentially simply training exercises for the Ashigaru, but do allow the aspiring generals and commanders to show off their skills – although they’re usually forbidden to use any weapons personally.
• (7) Siege Exercises include competitions with siege weapons, ladder-climbing, storming walls, and similar events. This sort of thing is rare, if only because it’s very expensive to arrange.
• (8) Smashing: This is basically a game of showing off how well you can destroy inanimate objects – cutting through old helmets or irreparable armor, smashing walls with heavy weapons, breaking boards with your bare hands, and so on. As an alternative, there are occasional exhibitions of fine control, such as cutting stone, pottery, or trees without leaving any sign of damage until the object begins to slide apart.
• (9-10) Unarmed Combat. This includes all the classic forms – karate, ju-jitsu, and many more. It’s quite popular, and a lot less lethal than even most blunted weapons. This category also includes exotic stealth-combat, evasive, and similar techniques.

   (10) Festivals are often local, and are extremely common. Oddly enough, while every area has some regular festivals, there are plenty which are – thanks to omens, odd traditions, and rare triggering events – only occasionally celebrated. Secondarily, if you want to have a festival, some priest somewhere in the city will almost certainly be able to think of one if you can just supply the necessary resources to hold it. Exactly what a Festival is celebrating usually sets the tone, but processions, music, foodstuffs, and people running around in strange costumes can usually be assumed.

• (1) Activities (Kite Flying, War, Farming, Jadeworking, Smithing, Teaching, Walking, Commerce, Charcoal-Burning, Woodworking).
• (2) Animal (Shapeshifters, Rat, Dog, Horse, Stag, Fox, Bull, Sparrow, Nightingale, Carp, Phoenix, Ki-Rin, Nezumi, Naga, Goblin, Giant Monsters of Legend, etc, etc, etc…).
• (3) Carnival (General, Fools Day (when convention-breaking is allowable), Dancing, Beer / Sake).
• (4) Celestial Kami (Sun, Moon, Dragons or Elements, Founding Kami, Ryoshun, Star or Stars, Constellation/Zodiac).
• (5) Children (Boys, Girls, In General, Coming of Age, Childbirth, Sex).
• (6) Harvest, Fertility or Resources (Thanksgiving, Various Foods and Drinks (Buns, Noodles, Rice, Sake, Etc), Fertility, Jade, Bamboo, Iron, Silk).
• (7) Holy (Blessings, Dragon Boat Races, Purification, Forgiveness of Debts, Luck, Day of the Dead, Gates, Shrine Dedications).
• (8) Local Spirits (Ancestors (specific or general, often the founders of something, such as the local Clan), Processions, Rivers, Forests, Hills and Mountains, Groves, Specific Kami).
• (9) Natural Beauties and Events (Butterflies, Flowers (Plum, Cherry, Lotus, Etc), Sunset, Dawn, Night Sky, Waterfall, Snow, Rain, Songbirds, Cloud, Changing Seasons, Solstices and Equinoxes, Trees, Clear Sky)
• (10) Traditions (Day of Thunder or Seven Thunders, Imperial Birthday, New Years, Forfending Rituals (versus Disease, Fu Leng, Taint, Monsters, and other Horrors), Bad Omens, Honoring the Creation, Floating Lanterns, Winter Bathing, Naked (Loincloth) day, Dolls, Bean Throwing, Celebration of some Victory, Sunbathing, the Laying of some terrible local spirit or ghost)

   The first section of this list (categories 1-4) is Here.

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