By Eric Cajiuat.
The Five Rings: 5 Old Masters, each devoted to one aspect of Miyamoto Musashi's Way of Five Rings.
Using the Old Master's +6 barehanded damage, his Fire Fist does a hideous 16 damage that bypasses toughness!
Using Wing of the Crane to substitute his 10 Chi for his 4 Strength, as well as the Old Master's +6 barehanded (and footed) damage, his Flying Windmill Kick also does 16 damage, with the potential for several hits, all at no extra shot cost!
Yeah, I could've made him a full Drunken Master, but in real life I own and am pretty good with a bullwhip and wanted to throw one of those in. My players always groan whenever I throw a bullwhip wielding guy, so the Ring of Water seemed most appropriate.
Not too much to say here, but I wanted a character who could take and dish out a lot of damage, as opposed to dodging around a lot. The Ring of Earth is the logical choice.
Almost the antithesis of the Ring of Earth, I wanted someone who was almost impossible to hit. Add to that the ability to throw around guys that hit him, I wanted fighting this guy to feel like flailing at empty air, especially when you get hit with your own weapons or tossed away when you attacked. There was a high-level schtick in the Path of the Empty Bottle that I really wanted, but oh well...
There they are: the Legendary Five Rings! Let me know what you think and feel free to use them if the idea appeals to you. There's not a lot of leeway with them stat-wise; suffice it to say that Fire, Water, Void and Air are all more agile, but Earth is slower, but smarter. I've also changed one of the Info skills to Geomancy for each one, especially Earth's since it fits the profile.
Last modified: September 10th, 1997; please send comments to durrell@innocence.com.