[L5R] Setting Help Requested - High School

[hiryuu]

This is a little crazy, and I'm going to cross-post elsewhere, but I'm looking for some help for my next L5R campaign. With the "let's all build a road" campaign behind me, I thought I would do something a little weird. I've not set the "clubs" in stone yet, as can be told by my hanging sentences and half formed ideas.

Please. Heap ideas on me.

Help me, message board, you're my only hope.

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I am Iweko.

Having ascended to the post of Student Council President after the Toturi incident, I am at last able to access school records once forbidden to me. I realize the Otomo and Ikoma maintained a reputation of their hyperbole that bordered on madness, but really? They call me “Emperor.” If the Toturis had access to this information, their behavior is perfectly within the realm of understandable madness. They already had trouble dispelling reality from fantasy. The school records speak of Empires and Gods, of divine appointments, vast stretches of land toiled by peasantry, and celestial judgment.

Such hyperbole is near to pretension. This is no empire. It is a high school.

__________________

This is one of those L5R settings that takes a lot of its cues and tropes from various anime and manga, as well as a few live action gonzo gore films.

Angel Densetsu
Battlefield Baseball
Boogiepop
Demon King Daimao
Ghost Hunt
Ikki Tousen
Persona
Soul Eater


Club Members get their own private lunch rooms, have the right to carry their club katana if they wish, and can direct other students in times of trouble, such as an oni attack or club skirmish.

The school currently authorizes eight faculty-sponsored Official Clubs. These are clubs that maintain a relationship to a faculty-appointed president and collect dues. Membership in a club means social respect, honor, and the potential for advancement. Hopefuls tend to line the halls at the beginning of the year, and only a few get in. Fewer still are even able to learn the club techniques, and having parents who were club members at one point or siblings who are current members tends to help you get a leg up.
In addition to the primary club, there are multiple smaller divisions within that club that serve to help regulate it and perform its functions. Each of these also tends to be faculty-sponsored and run by a student.

In any gathering of students, you can always spot the Crab students, and not just because of their club patches. They're bigger, meaner, and tend to long hair, spikes, and black, purple, and dark blue leather. The Crab club, as a whole, is the source of much consternation among the council over whether they should exist at all, but the presence of Guidance Counselor Hida prevents them from being demoted to an unofficial club or dissolved. They consist mostly of known gang members. The Yasuki Finance Club serves as treasury department, having divorced itself from the Crane club.

The Crane club is better than you. That's what it says, anyway. They're fashionable, upright, and run with the popular kids. Being Crane is being the best among them, and the most up to date on the state of both fashion and fine art. At the beginning of every semester, the Crane meet not just to appoint and welcome new members, but to vote on the current semester's popular trends.

The Dragon club is into experimental arts and spirituality, in addition to being composed of almost as many scientists as the Phoenix club. Some club sects have, through the years of the club's existence, mastered the art of recording their history and power into tattoos.

The Lion are made up of a majority of the school's sport clubs. They wear their uniforms almost constantly, pride their identity with the prestige of the academy over even familial ties, and operate the booster club for school spirit.

In recent years, the Mantis club has achieved the status of official club. There are those who still say that even after Yoritomo's hiring on to faculty and sponsoring the club, they are still not much more than nonchalant thugs looking for an excuse to skip class and make money. Even so, the Mantis has snatched up several of the smaller clubs, such as the Wasp archery and bounty hunting club, and the Centipede Girl's Student Sun Alliance club, and the Fox forestry and magic club.

The power of the Phoenix club is based on their mastery of magic. More content than even the Dragon to be engaged in pursuits related to mysticism, science, and trying not to interfere with the workings of the school, some members still do, and serve as powerful priests.

The Scorpion club is, ostensibly, sponsored by Bayushi, and its primary purpose is to distract the other clubs from unseating the power of the student council. Really all this means is that they're incorrigible gossips, tend to be a bit vindictive, and have reduced much of their task to a network of personal vendettas and intrigues.

The street-racing Unicorn are often considered outsiders, mostly due to their “hafu” natures, the Unicorn are under the sponsorship of Shinjo. Shinjo is a thrill-seeker in addition to being the school's foreign relations counselor. The club manages exchange students, and studies foreign cultures, in addition to housing a large number of thrill-seeker types and motor clubs.

Unofficial Clubs: Some clubs have no faculty backing; the Student Council President recognizes hem as clubs as thus bestows upon them the right to carry the katana.

Badger
Bat
Dragonfly
Hare
Monkey
Oriole
Ox
Sparrow
Tortoise

There are also three Student Council clubs that directly serve the Student Council president.

The Miya club maintains the audio/video equipment, present announcements, and distribute the school paper, in addition to posting Student Council rulings at the start of every week.

Otomo club members are tasked with maintaining the Student Council's power, with the president above all else. Allowing power to become decentralized defeats the purpose of the Student Government. So long as the clubs are squabbling amongst themselves, they will not challenge the Student Government.

The Seppun club keeps the Student Council President safe from assassination and guards Student Council archives and rooms. They put their tasks above nearly all else, and have a reputation for being incorruptible. Even now, three Seppun share this room with me, and they refuse to leave or speak.

Ronin: There are some students who carry katana or pretend at membership in a club. Getting caught is punishable by expulsion or even death.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I have no input, other than to say that this is an awesome idea. (I don't have much insight into L5R otherwise.)

[houlio]

How would handle that Taint and the Shadowlands? I've always taken them to be rather integral to the setting. I do like the dynamic of inter-Clan politics in terms of petty high school dramas though; they seem like a good match.

[hiryuu]

How would handle that Taint and the Shadowlands? I've always taken them to be rather integral to the setting. I do like the dynamic of inter-Clan politics in terms of petty high school dramas though; they seem like a good match.

Exactly the same.

Either it's a rival high school with actual oni and stuff, or there's an actual Shadowlands in the southwestern area of town and the town government expects the school (mostly the Crab) to take care of it.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Why not add the supernatural element to the school itself? The creepy North Wing of the school that was shut down years ago, for shady and unknown reasons. (In reality, it harbors some sort of dark force/magic/supernatural baddie.) It's the sort of thing that gives everyone the shivers, and a lot of them try to stay away.

Heck, maybe whatever's in there is snatching away students who stay up late to work on projects in the science labs or something. It could be one of the urban legends of the school.

[The Glyphstone]

So it's like Sigil Prep, but L5R+high school instead of Planescape+University?

That's awesome.

[hiryuu]

Why not add the supernatural element to the school itself? The creepy North Wing of the school that was shut down years ago, for shady and unknown reasons. (In reality, it harbors some sort of dark force/magic/supernatural baddie.) It's the sort of thing that gives everyone the shivers, and a lot of them try to stay away.

Heck, maybe whatever's in there is snatching away students who stay up late to work on projects in the science labs or something. It could be one of the urban legends of the school.

That was going to be in there, most definitely: schools are rife with urban legends, but remember that the Shadowlands needs to have ridiculously overt elements somehow for the setting to work (a lot of the setting's overt elements aren't changing - shugenja, for example), and putting that overt element right inside the school itself is an invitation to disaster. But! There's lot of room for the covert aspects of the Shadowlands - the creepy north wing of the school, the forest of nasty scariness, the tunnel of death, all that stuff, to remain there.

Phoenix will always be late in the science labs... but they're all really creepy kids, anyway.

[Actana]

I have no input, other than to say that this is an awesome idea. (I don't have much insight into L5R otherwise.)

I will have to second that. This idea sounds so fantastically awesome I'd consider running a game in this setting immediately if I knew any more about Japanese high school tropes.

A few ideas though, from a mind without much information on L5R or high school tropes:

Even if people carry katanas around, there should still be a way to limit bloodshed. Of course it doesn't always happen the ideal way, but it stands to reason that there's an "official" place to have duels - even to death if need be. Very bureaucratic and painstakingly difficult to organize for most, but these duels would be a show in themselves. Basically if someone insults you or your club's honor, you could challenge them to a duel in some separate arena made specifically for it.

How large would the school be? With that many clubs and even more smaller ones, to have functional enough clubs with enough members, the school would need to be quite large. Not a problem in itself, but it might be good to keep that in mind. How many members does each club have (roughly anyway)? And how many students don't belong to the more prestigious clubs?

Again, this idea is brilliantly awesome.

[mabriss lethe]

Let me introduce you to Rokugan 90210. Written by Rich Wulf, (who later went on to become the Head Writer for the L5R story team.)