Artisan Skills

Artisan skills represent a character’s expertise with works of surpassing beauty that capture the imaginations of those who see them and that win renown for their creators at court.

Aesthetics

Art has been expected to be half of a samurai’s pursuits since the founding of the Empire. An appreciation and understanding of art is so ingrained in a samurai’s training that to look upon a work and not be moved is, to the samurai, a sure sign of barbarianism, a charge that bestows great shame upon those who bear it. The more martial clans understand that art is essential for clearing a warrior’s mind and reminding them of life while so often surrounded by death.

The Aesthetics skill covers activities that create non-utilitarian visual art, such as bonsai (trimming plants to encourage their growth in an artistic fashion), ikebana (flower arrangement), origami, painting, and rock gardening. Such arts serve a deeply important role in the courts of Rokugan, and any courtier is expected to have an understanding of their principles, techniques, and guiding philosophies. By understanding a work of art, one can gain insight into its creator, and that insight can be invaluable in pursuing political agendas and court intrigue alike.

Aesthetics Approaches

The Aesthetics skill can be used with the appropriate rings as follows:

Restore Approach (Earth Ring): Restoring a damaged piece, maintaining something’s beauty, safely transporting a piece.

Adapt Approach (Water Ring): Altering an existing work, completely reworking or rebuilding an existing piece, finding inspiration for new works.

Invent Approach (Fire Ring): Creating a new work, brainstorming new possible works, developing new methods and techniques for creating art.

Refine Approach (Air Ring): Finding a flaw in a piece and removing it, adding a detail that enhances a piece, hiding a subtle message within a work.

Attune Approach (Void Ring): Learning a work’s purpose, discerning whether a work has any supernatural qualities or features and awakening those features within it.

Composition

Almost all samurai are literate, for holding nearly any office, bureaucratic or military, requires the ability to read and write. Thus, while not all samurai explore the finer points of wordsmithing, literature is an elevated art in Rokugan. Courtly samurai are expected to know dozens of classic poems by heart and grasp literary allusions that can provide important subtext in conversation. The best poets compose in the moment, with every sentence they speak layered with meaning.

Haiku, a three-line poem with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, then five in the last, is one of the most popular forms of poetry in Rokugan. Writers often use it to describe a moment in time, from the first snowflake seen in winter to a moment of tranquility by a pond. Others practice different forms of poetry, including longer poems and competitions of linked poems traded back and forth, or write prose in the form of travel diaries, philosophical essays, and even fantastical tales.

Literature allows a character to create powerful compositions that sway readers and to understand the literary devices and allusions that underlie such influential works. Additionally, the aesthetics of calligraphy are important to many writers in Rokugan, so Composition also governs the act of putting words on a surface in ink in a pleasing way.

Composition Approaches

The Composition skill can be used with the appropriate rings as follows:

Restore Approach (Earth Ring): Restoring an old text that has been damaged by time or exposure, annotating a difficult text with references that make it easier for readers to understand, transcribing a work without errors.

Adapt Approach (Water Ring): Translating a text from another language, adapting a work for a new medium, using an old quote in a new context that reframes its meaning, combining visual elements with textual elements.

Invent Approach (Fire Ring): Writing a first draft of a new text, filling in the missing gaps of an incomplete text, brainstorming ideas for new written works.

Refine Approach (Air Ring): Correcting errors in a work, removing excessive and unnecessary verbiage from a work to make it read more cleanly and quickly, adding a nuanced allusion or reference, introducing implications and subtext.

Attune Approach (Void Ring): Understanding a writer’s deeper purpose behind a work, discerning whether a work has any supernatural qualities or features, learning about oneself from a text.

Design

Presentation matters. At court, it is often said that beautiful looks reflect a beautiful soul, and also whispered that one whose soul is corrupt will display physical signs of that corruption. Despite wiser words on the subject by Shinsei and other sages, a skilled samurai who dresses shabbily will often be seen as lesser than the barely competent one who is well dressed.

Design covers the act of making clothes for times of peace and formal occasions. After all, arms and armor are not appropriate for all situations in a samurai’s life, much as some individuals might lament this reality. However, that does not mean that a samurai attending court can afford to choose their garments with any less care than when they take to the battlefield. Carefully selected clothes and adornments are vital weapons and armor to courtiers, allowing them to send subtle

signals to others and avoid humiliation at the hands of enemies. Thus, the creation, maintenance, and assessment of clothing is an important field of expertise, allowing a character to create and improve on items worn in many formal situations.

Design Approaches

The Design skill can be used with the appropriate rings as follows:

Restore Approach (Earth Ring): Stitching up a tear in a damaged piece of clothing, storing a piece of clothing such that it will not degrade, replacing lost parts of a piece of clothing.

Adapt Approach (Water Ring): Repurposing an old piece of clothing to serve a new function, adding a new element to an outfit to let it function in different circumstances, turning an old piece of clothing into raw materials for a new project.

Invent Approach (Fire Ring): Sewing a new piece of clothing, inventing a new style, crafting a new accessory, conjecturing about possible new trends in clothing.

Refine Approach (Air Ring): Improving an existing piece of clothing with embellishment, choosing clothes that send a specific message, adding filigree to a piece of jewelry that enhances its beauty.

Attune Approach (Void Ring): Learning the deeper purpose for which a piece of clothing was made, discerning whether a worn item has any supernatural features, awakening the supernatural properties slumbering in an object of power.

Table 3–2: Sample Tasks (with Rings) and TNs for Artisan Skills

TASK | TN

1

Sketching a new drawing with charcoal (Fire), refining the draft of a letter (Air), choosing the right color of clothing to express a specific message to someone (Air), maintaining a sword after a battle (removing the Damaged quality) (Earth).

Mixing a new color of ink from two existing pigments (Water), drafting a new poem (Fire), stitching up a torn piece of clothing (Earth), honing a blade to improve its edge (Air). | 2

3

Repairing a cracked teapot (Earth), Translating a work into a different language without losing any meaning (Water), creating a new adornment or decorative accessory (Fire), fitting a blade onto a new hilt (Water).

4

Weaving a subtle message into a painting that only the desired recipient will understand (Air), determining whether a scroll’s contents are mystical in nature (Void), determining whether a piece of clothing has any supernatural qualities from a distance (Void), forging a new blade (Fire).

5

Awakening the supernatural properties within a work (Void), transcribing a text that has been damaged by fire and smoke without any divergences from the original (Earth), finding an appropriate replacement for a lost garment among a pile of miscellaneous clothes (Water), Intuiting the mystical properties of a suit of armor without knowing its history or creator (Void).

Smithing

Samurai are warriors, and even their arts are influenced by war. The Smithing skill covers the creation of arms and armor for ceremonial and battlefield use. Many samurai go into battle wielding armor and weaponry that are stunning works of art in their own right.

The finest armor and weapons—especially the daishō—are created with an eye toward both use and aesthetic, as they will be in service for centuries. They must reflect the influence and wealth of the family that owns them, for the sword is said to be the outward manifestation of the samurai’s soul. Ruling families have weapons hundreds of years old, displayed in a place of honor as a living reminder of each family’s history. The Phoenix and Crane are famous for the beauty of their work, while the Crab blades are known for durability and effectiveness. Those rare creations worked by a Kakita smith are widely acknowledged to be the greatest of all.

Smithing Approaches

The Smithing skill can be used with the appropriate rings as follows:

Restore Approach (Earth Ring): Repairing a damaged weapon or piece of armor, performing routine upkeep and cleaning on a weapon or piece of armor, treating a weapon or piece of armor to prevent rust and corrosion.

Adapt Approach (Water Ring): Improving an existing weapon or piece of armor, reshaping a mundane item into a weapon, sizing a weapon for a new wielder, salvaging a destroyed sword to reforge it.

Invent Approach (Fire Ring): Forging a new blade, crafting a new piece of armor, inventing a new weapon or piece of armor, conjecturing about possible new weapons and armor technologies.

Refine Approach (Air Ring): Polishing a blade to hone its edge, improving a spear’s grip, adding embellishments to a naginata to accent the beautiful wave pattern of the steel.

Attune Approach (Void Ring): Learning the purpose for which a weapon or piece of armor was forged, discerning whether a weapon or piece of armor has any supernatural features, unlocking supernatural potential within a forged item.