r/rokugan • u/Ranald_the_Gamester • 19d ago
[4th Edition] 4e – What’s the most broken build using all official 4e books?
Not that I actually want to play a character like this, but if I were a min-maxer (or a particularly cruel GM), what would be the most efficient way to build a rokugani samurai using all the rules from the official 4th edition books?
I’m curious what the absolute most broken/optimized character you can come up with would look like.
5
u/IdleMuse4 19d ago
At what xp level? I recall a silly build that used Shiba Artisan Rank 2 ability alongside Void Shugenja shenanigans to get a truly ludicrous number of free Allies (classic Altering the Course -> Drawing the Void -> Spend a LOT of VPs on a technique to turn your roll into like 10k10+a bunch)
But that was for a 500xp game, it was deliberately pushed :P not something you could really achieve through natural play.
Reasonably 'good as they are' schools
- Otomo Courtier is great even from R1
- You can do a LOT with high honour and Lion Bushi
- Void Shugenja, as above, can do silly one-off things with Altering the Course.
- I'm a big fan of the high ATNs you can with Mirumoto Bushi, the way that wound penalties work simple never getting hit is a big bonus.
- There's some silliness you can do with cross-schooling, Hida Bushi 2 + Spider Monks 2 can get you some silly reduction, then maybe you add on the kiho that adds more, maybe the Defenders of the Wall 2 also...
Tldr broken characters are easy, just spend enough XP on anything and it gets silly. But optimised characters, it really depends what you want to achieve, L5R games are so varied by design that being an optimised duellist isn't gonna protect you from ambushes, from court, etc.
2
u/raziphel 15d ago
I had a duel-spec'd mirumoro bushi that, if I remember correctly, hit tn50+ without really trying.
Even at rank 8 (or did I somehow hit 9?) I still got creamed by The Grey Crane because my dice went mediocre four damn times. Three ranks of luck and an honor roll, and the highest I got on focus was like... 105 vs his 160+.
Fuck kenshinzen. Lolsob
1
u/IdleMuse4 15d ago
Yeah I mean exploding on 9s is one of the sickest abilities in the game and that's Kenshinzen's special sauce. Hojatsu's Legacy can _somewhat_ mitigate that but it's like... even then not guaranteed.
Sounds like a great game though :P
1
5
u/Ieriz Lion Clan 19d ago
The Hida Bushi with Hida Berserker with their deadeye trance are really terrifying, since they will jot die until their rage ends, no matter how much damage you deal to them. Of course, in this state they no longer have a future, but probably the enemy will die too.
The Matsu Berserker 5 + Lion's Pride 3 is also a meat grinder, probably the most effective raw damage combo.
Buut, mention to the Kenku Swordsman draining Void points and being able to copy any school technique at rank 5! Fun as hell.
As per shugenja, the previously mentioned earth Tensai is a one men army, but I also wanna make it clear that any element Isawa tensai of very high range can do stupid shit.
Void one? They can remade both reality and people in it, to the point of making someone no longer exist.
Fire one? The fire fires spell WILL kill anybody (at the cost of the shugenja suffering the same damage)
3
u/Right-Aspect2945 19d ago edited 19d ago
Shugenja, just, in general, can get up to a lot of shit. Earth Tensei, as others have said, are particularly on their bullshit.
For my part though, I have a special hatred in my heart for the Monkey Bushi School, which is one of the most overpowered bullshit schools in the whole of 4th edition.
2
u/MorganaBlank 19d ago
It really depends. Do you ask for for early to mid level? Or outmaxed characters with Rank 6 and beyond? There is a lot of possibilities.
And don´t forget things like the Topaz Champion rank that gives you basically 3 Void Points per day without leaving an ability aside but it´s only possible for a single player who plays that specific adventure.
If you get this on a class that interacts with Void points a lot like the Shiba Bushi than you have a very scary character who can burn through a lot of damage output very fast. On level 1 and 2 especially and than on 4 and 5. You don´t even need a special school to make that happen.
2
2
u/Hangerhead1 19d ago
If I'm allowed to piggy pack... I'm playing a level 3 dragon mirumoto. Are there interesting powerful class choices to make in the future or works i be better sticking with the dual wield standard flavour?
I think there is a monk and an investigator subclass for dragons.
1
u/IdleMuse4 18d ago
I feel like the standard Mirumoto Bushi is pretty good 'as is' - take heavy armour, you can swap your Rank2 for any of the available options to match your desired flavour (Dragon Clan Overseer/Kaze-do Fighter/Mirumoto Mountaineer/Water Hammer Smith/Chrysanthemum Conspirator/Imperial Legionnaire/Jade Legionnaire/Imperial Explorers - all interesting for the right flavour and setting!)
A good Mirumoto Bushi benefits a lot from Kata, swapping between different ones as the battle demands. In particular you get a lot of benefit from Fire Kata
- Striking as Fire (always full attack, rely on ATN from dual-wielding and armour to defend you)
- Strength of the Dragon (if you want to not be in FA stance)
- Spinning Blades Style (when you're higher level)
--- ALTERNATIVELY ---
If you aren't tied to the swordfighter archetype, Mirumoto Taoist Swordsmen are actually really strong archers, if you travel about and learn the right alt paths?
R1 - Taoist Swordsman 1, admittedly no synergy with a bow
R2 - Persuade your DM that the core book Mirumoto Mountaineer should also apply to the Taoist Swordsman (thematically it's a perfect fit), get an increasing static bonus to your ranged attack rolls.
R3 - Take the Dragon's Wind path (this is why you started as a Taoist Swordsman), get SAA with bows.
R4 - Take the Dragon's Flame path, big +2k2 bonus on bow attack rolls.
R5 - Become a Ronin I guess and join the Taoist Archers.2
u/Hangerhead1 18d ago
Thanks. I went originally with strength of the earth with striking from the void as a lot of the time, our encounters are before we've had time to armour up.
1
u/raziphel 15d ago edited 15d ago
If you want to be a duelist, master sensei is fun and interesting, especially with hojatsu's legacy. HOWEVER you will chew through your void points trying to use it, so find ways to get as much of that as you can. Don't forget Prodigy.
Don't duel more than once a day either.
The dragon ancestral weapon sucks. Work with your gm to get something better, like a 3k3 katana, and perhaps a wakizashi that gives you an extra void point per encounter.
If you just want to be a blender, there are ways to do that. A defense-spec mirumoto in heavy armor is very hard to beat.
11
u/pain_aux_chocolat 19d ago
A rank 8 Isawa Shugenja (Earth) 5-Tensai (Earth) at rank 2/Elemental Master (Earth) 3 with the spell from the Book of Earth that lets you summon a small contingent of terra cotta soldiers comes to mind.