My players have just been accosted by an undead samurai. He served a shogun, Kaigo Kugetsu, that's been dead over 100 years.
One of my players asked me how the shogun Kaigo Kugetsu died.
this is what I pulled out of my arse on the spot;
Some say ninja, perhaps even kunoichi.
Another rival family tried to take the shogunate from the Kaigo; there was a time of battle and struggle. Kugetsu's death wasn't made public for three years.
It was said he died of a blood clot traveling to his lung, but......
those who know better, know it was......shadowy assassins......
There's a kabuki play about it...
Night of 99 Black Swords
....a kabuki play that is forbidden upon pain of death to perform, to attend a performance of, or to even own a manuscript of.
can anybody think up something better; I'm kinda feeling "meh" about what I came up with.
heh heh...
Did the player make their Know:History roll?
I say it was NEENJAR GEE-TAR ATTACK!
I didn't call for one really. It's pbp, so I sometimes don't worry too much about the rules due to time constraints. They're kinda high level though.
'Sides, I gots mad bardic skills yo
Also,......there's no telling whether or not the story I kicked out is the truth; i.e. Rashomon.
The rocks tell me stories
The birds quiet when I play my guitar
The pork chops run in fear from my approach
At this point, the only suitable solution is....
Kill! KILL!!
Yeah; there's always that
The pork chops run in fear from my approach
Oink?
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If nothing else, bukkake tsunami seppuku.
TORA! TORA! TORA!
Thats so gross Uri :p
I don't want to know what that is.
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Actually, wait! I think I got something.
You say the undead samurai served the shogun, Kaigo Kugetsu. And the shogun died under mysterious circumstances?
So maybe the samurai was tricked into making a binding oath by someone who wanted the shogun dead, and he had no choice but to carry out the deed himself or at least not prevent it from happening.
So then when the shogun, the samurai's sworn lord, died from his betrayal, he was cursed to undeath.
twirls beard thoughtfully
Wikipedia says Ieyasu either died of syphilis or cancer.
Maybe he was betrayed and poisoned by his wife with the undead guy, her lover. The betrayal cursed them both into undeath, and you can throw her out as a souped-up Penanggallan (or however you spell it) later on
Oh, there's definitely gonna be a penanggallan. heh heh.
Can't resist the urge to heh heh have a floating head trailing guts, man.
You spelled it right.
Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare
you're all screwed when I finally see this movie.
Oh, there's definitely gonna be a penanggallan. heh heh.
Can't resist the urge to heh heh have a floating head trailing guts, man.
Yeah, I've been wanting to run a fight like that since 1st ed.
I want a possessed paper umbrella yokai.
A rival lord framed the samurai for treason, causing the shogun to have the samurai's family executed. In retaliation, the samurai killed the shogun. Now the samurai cannot be put to rest until the remains of his young son receive a proper honorable burial. And somewhere in the kingdom, a haunted babycart with a machine gun begins hunting descendants of the numerous illegitimate children of the shogun.
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When the barbarians attacked the gates of the city the ancient shogun with his retainers began casting a complex ritual to call upon a great and powerful Kaiju to defend them from this invasion. So great was his fear of the beast that in cowardice the unfaithful samurai slew one of the Magicians summoning the monstrosity. This then did not end the ritual but instead the Kaiju was uncontrolled and swept through killing both sides and leaving the ancient castle in ruins. His master the shogun died in sorrow watching his people wiped out and cursed the samurai until he binds 1000 evil spirits. Or some such.
I just think it's worth noting that despite having read this thread several times, I still see "shotgun" in the title almost every time until I double-take.
Carry on.
Shotgun Shogun......that has a nice ring to it.
When the barbarians attacked the gates of the city the ancient shogun with his retainers began casting a complex ritual to call upon a great and powerful Kaiju to defend them from this invasion. So great was his fear of the beast that in cowardice the unfaithful samurai slew one of the Magicians summoning the monstrosity. This then did not end the ritual but instead the Kaiju was uncontrolled and swept through killing both sides and leaving the ancient castle in ruins. His master the shogun died in sorrow watching his people wiped out and cursed the samurai until he binds 1000 evil spirits. Or some such.
That's definitely how one of the shoguns died. Beats syph, anyhow's.
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My players have just been accosted by an undead samurai. He served a shogun, Kaigo Kugetsu, that's been dead over 100 years.
One of my players asked me how the shogun Kaigo Kugetsu died.
this is what I pulled out of my arse on the spot;
** spoiler omitted **
can anybody think up something better; I'm kinda feeling "meh" about what I came up with.
Ninja translated back to Indoeuropean breaks down into 'Ni-ng-atto' which means basically 'under orders of the father'. 'The Father' is a shadowy figure of fairy-tale stuff and if you look at all the different ranks of Ninja - you get to the Jenin who are supposed to be head of Ninja Clans but the translation included 'under orders' as part of the word so 'the Father' is even bigger than the head of Ninja Clans.
If you Translate 'Shogunate' to indoeuropean you get ' - to father' in the indoeuropean. So potentially the Shogun is 'the Father' of the Ninja Clans...kind of puts a whole other spin on what happening in Japan.
Basically the Shogun had become the overlord who controlled the Assassins and the Samurai and played them against each other.
The Shogunate can be reduced to:
Seu-gene-atto (refering to a blood relative in the third party - to begat - the father). The bit about referring to a blood relative in the third party means the relationship has a degree of secrecy.
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Are you just inventing these etymologies? Just curious; I looked for them and found different word origins.
The Shogun died in the midst of male only orgy comprised of only lower born men. The shoguns men killed everyone who attended to protect the shogun's honor then killed themselves so none could ever find out about the shoguns shame.
It you want him to be assassinated, could always crib from history.
Commodus makes a nicely vile tyrant, he wasn't precisely portrayed in the movie Gladiator, he was less a sniveling twit and more a vicious psychopath. If you use something like the actual story, unless a player is a Roman history buff, they won't recognize the story.
Naah,
from Wikipedia;
"Ninja is an on'yomi (Early Middle Chinese-influenced) reading of the two kanji "忍者". In the native kun'yomi kanji reading, it is pronounced shinobi, a shortened form of the transcription shinobi-no-mono (忍の者). These two systems of pronouncing kanji create words (ninja/ninsha or shinobi-no-mono) with similar meanings.[9]
The word shinobi appears in the written record as far back as the late 8th century in poems in the Man'yōshū.[10][11] The underlying connotation of shinobi (忍) means "to steal away" and — by extension — "to forbear", hence its association with stealth and invisibility. Mono (者) means "a person".
also from Wikipedia;
"The term transcribed as: sei-i taishōgun, seii-taishōgun or sei-i-tai-shōgun means "great general who subdues barbarians" or "the generalissimo for the subjugation of barbarians"[5]. Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate, seized considerable power and land from the aristocracy in Kyoto. He became the practical ruler of Japan, and received the title sei-i taishōgun. Thereafter, the heads of three successive shogunates received the same title. After the downfall of the Kamakura Shogunate, certain conditions had to be met in order for a warlord to be bestowed the title of shogun. First and foremost, the warlord had to descend from the Minamoto clan. Secondly, all of Japan had to be unified under a single warlord, or daimyo. If a daimyo unified Japan, and was not of Minamoto descent, then he would be given the title of "regent". In formal diplomatic communications with foreign countries, the title taikun, the source of the English word tycoon,[6] was used."
The Shogun died in the midst of male only orgy comprised of only lower born men. The shoguns men killed everyone who attended to protect the shogun's honor then killed themselves so none could ever find out about the shoguns shame.
This is going into the history somehow too; not sure how.
I like ole' Commodus.
I got to meet Joaquin Phoenix IRL back when he was "Leaf;" he's kinda a character himself.
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Kobold Samurai (Sword Saint Ronin) 15
CN Medium Humanoid
Init +6; Senses Perception +18, darkvision 60 ft.
DEFENSE
AC 28, touch 20, flat-footed 21 (+7 Armor, +6 Dex, +1 Deflection, +1 Natural Armor, +1 Size, +1 Dodge, +1 Insight)
HP 132 (15d10+45)
Fort +13, Ref +14, Will +11
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee Iajutsu attack +24 (1d4+8d6+9), Two Wakizashis +22/+22/+17/+17/+12 (1d4+9/15-20)
Ranged longbow +21/+16/+11 (1d6-2/×3)
Special iajutsu strike +8d6
STATISTICS
Str 6, Dex 22*, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 8
BAB +15; CMB +13/+23; CMD 31
Feats Dodge, Double Slice, Improved Critical (Wakizashi), Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Iron Will, Toughness, Two Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (Wakizashi), Weapon Specialization (Wakizashi),
Skills: Climb +2, Craft (Trapmaking) +7, Bluff +5, Diplomacy +5, Handle Animal +5, Knowledge (Local) +15, Linguistics +3, Perception +18, Ride +10, Sense Motive +18, Stealth +28, Survival +13, Swim +2,
Languages Common, Tian, Draconic, Minkai,
Special Challenge 4/day (+4 to hit and AC if he has also been challenged, +15 damage), Brutal Slash (+7), Terrifying Iajutsu (DC 24), Roaring Iajutsu (DC 23), Self Reliant (May reroll Will Saves one turn later), Without Master (1/combat), Chosen Destiny (1/day), Resolve and Greater Resolve (8/day), Honorable Stand (1/day), Demanding Challenge,
Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds (1), potion of bear's endurance (1), potion of heroism (1), potion of barkskin (CL 12th) (1),
Gear Cloak of Resistance +3, Mithral Chain Shirt +3, Two Agile +1 Wakizashis, Belt of Dexterity +2, Ring of Protection +1, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Ring of Sustenance, Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone, longbow w/20 arrows
I'm going to make this as a PC sometime, but until then...
heh heh heh....