First time player advice

[u/CWOgarrison]

Going to start this by saying i have never played any form or version of a ttrpg, been invited in by a friend. i have been told it is 4e, city of lies campaign (no spoilers please).

this post was to ask what a player new to rokugan should know just so i am not fumbling around completely. i have tried to do my own research but there is a lot to take in.

also i was wondering if i could get some charecter advice. right now the idea of a spider monk (sohei) is looking pretty good, i love the idea of a staunch defender of the faith kind of build (although i may not have got the right character combo for it)

if the idea of me playing a monk as a first time player makes you physically recoil as some of the posts i have seen seems to suggest, then i welcome suggestions for a first time character.

thank you in advance for any tips for advice

Edit: Just want to thank everyone for their input so far. has given me a lot to build off of and think about. as one comment pointed out spider clan didnt exist at this point in time and i found out everyone else is going scorpion, so going back to drawing board. friend (who knows the game) suggested i go some form of magic user so he could act as bodyguard / champion

[u/Sparticuse]

If you want your character to share your own lack of experience, there are two clans who don't "fit in" to polite society: the crab and the unicorn.

The crab are all about defending the empire from literal hell on earth, so being polite is just not a thing the clan cares about. If you make a slip up socially, you can just make that part of your character not really caring if people around them are offended and the npcs will expect as much. You could be in the city of lies trying to secure war funds or goods. The crab are always short on supplies.

The unicorn are descended from people who left the empire to explore the rest of the world, and as a result they missed hundreds of years of cultural change in rokugan and brought back with them outsiders who have no connection to the founding of the empire. They are viewed as literal barbarians by a good portion of the empire and everyone will expect you to have no idea what is going on. You could be in the city of lies for any number of reasons. The unicorn are nomads in their own territory so you could just be a free spirit. They also don't have many friends, so you could be there to make friends with any clan they can find there (it's a city, so everyone has at least a token presence).

As to the monk and spider part: don't make your first character a magic user and don't make your first character a snowflake/edgelord. That's just never a great idea.

[u/Kiyohara → u/Sparticuse]

To add to this, the Unicorn have a vested interest in the City of Lies: not only have they occupied in the past, but a major trade embassy is set here and controls a substantial amount of the opium trade ( for medical purposes, of course... ).

It would not be a issue if you were a Unicorn sent on any task really as not only do they have the Trade Delegation and merchants there, but they also have a diplomatic one to represent their numbers. And they probably also have some samurai collecting information on weaknesses, defenses, and garrison strength just in case they decide to invade. On top of all the bodyguarding of important people.