Outfitting and Training

once. If a doctrine applies to one cohort, it can be applied to multiple cohorts by succeeding at the training check multiple times.

Armies can be improved through two means described in this section: DOCTRINES and EQUIPMENT UPGRADES.

Doctrines

Battle-Tested

Soldiers who have faced the enemy before as a unit are generally more reliable, as each soldier knows how their comrades will behave under the stress of battle.

Training Check: TN 4 Command (Earth) check

Narrative Requirements: The army must have survived one mass battle.

Applies to: Entire army

Effect: Increase the army’s discipline by +5.

Doctrines are army and cohort rules that characters can add to their army. As a downtime activity, a character may make the listed TRAINING CHECK to attempt to train their army in a new doctrine for which it meets the narrative requirements. Each doctrine specifies whether it applies to one cohort or to the entire army. If a doctrine applies to the entire army, it can only ever be applied

Clan Doctrines

Each Great Clan has its own preferred strategies and tactics, and the samurai of each clan are trained to best support their commanders’ methods of warfare.

Training Check: None

Narrative Requirements: The army must consist primarily of the forces of a single Great Clan.

Applies to: Entire army

Effect: The entire army gains one of the following based on its clan.

Crab: When this army would receive panic, it receives that amount of panic minus 2 instead (to a minimum of 1).

Crane: After a leader in this army makes a successful check to perform a Challenge action, if the challenging leader wins the clash, the enemy receives panic equal to that character’s glory rank. If the challenging leader loses, their army receives panic equal to their glory rank.

Dragon: When performing the Rally action, if a leader in this army succeeds, add a number of bonus successes equal to that leader’s ranks in Meditation.

Lion: When this army would remove 1 or more casualties or panic, it may remove an amount equal to the status rank of its commander instead.

Phoenix: After a leader in this army performs an Assault action, if they succeed, the enemy army suffers attrition equal to that leader’s ranks in Theology instead of Command.

Scorpion: Reduce the TN of the first Scheme action check each leader in this army makes each mass battle by 1 (to a minimum of 1). If this army’s commander is also a leader, reduce the TN of the first Scheme action check the commander makes by 2 instead (to a minimum of 1).

Unicorn: When performing the Rally action, a leader in this army may make a TN 1 Survival check instead of a Command check.

Fervor

A belief in one’s own righteousness is a terrifyingly effective motivator, and convincing one’s soldiers that the will of the Heavens guides their cause makes them far more motivated to stand against harsh odds—but also more likely to come to believe that they should be interpreting this will for themselves.

Training Check: TN 6 Theology (Fire) check

Narrative Requirements: None

Applies to: Entire army

Effect: Increase the army’s discipline by +10. Increase the TN of monthly checks to maintain the army by 2.

Out of Nowhere

Stealth tactics are viewed by some as dishonorable, but Akodo wrote with great regard for the power of infiltrators and spies.

Training Check: TN 4 Skulduggery (Air) check

Narrative Requirements: The army must have access to a forest or other large piece of Obscuring terrain in which to train.

Applies to: One cohort

Effect: When this cohort’s leader performs an Assault action, if the target cohort is in Confining or Obscuring, the leader may spend as follows:

+: The enemy army receives panic equal to the leader’s ranks in Skulduggery plus spent this way.

Sappers

Capturing a fortification through direct attack is a bloody, brutal prospect most commanders prefer to avoid. Capturing a fortification with a small force by using subterfuge is a far more appealing option.

Training Check: TN 3 Labor (Air) check

Narrative Requirements: The army must have access to a fortification in which to train.

Applies to: One cohort

Effect: When this cohort’s leader generates momentum points toward a strategic objective to seize a fortification (such as the Capture a Position objective against a fortification), they generate 2 additional momentum points toward that objective.

Siege Defenders

Defending a fortification against attackers is preferable to facing them in the open, but specialist troops will still perform better than those without experience in defending an entrenched position.

Training Check: TN 3 Labor (Earth) check

Narrative Requirements: The army must have access to a fortification in which to train.

Applies to: One cohort

Effect: While this cohort occupies a fortification, treat its difficulty level as 2 higher.

Strike as the Storm

While most Rokugani warfare is based around land tactics, attacks by water are not unheard of, and Mantis sailors are rightly respected as some of the most skilled at unexpected flank attacks and ambushes.

Training Check: TN 4 Seafaring (Water) check

Narrative Requirements: The army must have access to at least one warship, or several smaller vessels, capable of carrying the cohort with this ability.

Applies to: One cohort

Effect: When the leader of this cohort performs the Assault action as part of their initial landing, they may spend as follows:

: The target cohort’s leader suffers the Dazed condition.

+: One additional enemy leader per spent this way suffers the Dazed condition. If using the rules for Battle Zones, this can only affect leaders whose cohorts are in the same zone as the target.

Thunderous Charge

Among the Great Clans, only the Unicorn Clan trains heavy cavalry units in significant numbers. However, since their return to Rokugan, the other Great Clans have begun to experiment with their own cavalry units.

Training Check: TN 5 Fitness (Fire) check

Narrative Requirements: The army must have access to enough quality steeds (Unicorn warhorses or equivalent) to equip a cohort with this ability.

Applies to: One cohort

Effect: The first time the leader of this cohort performs an Assault action during each mass battle, if the enemy cohort is in Open terrain and the leader succeeds, they inflict additional attrition and panic to the enemy army equal to their ranks in Survival.

Equipment Upgrades

Equipment upgrades can be added to an army as well, by purchasing or requisitioning them. Each equipment upgrade specifies whether it applies to one cohort or to the entire army. If an equipment upgrade applies to one cohort, it can be applied to multiple cohorts by acquiring it multiple times.

Baggage Train

Supply logistics are crucial to keeping an army in service for long periods of time, and without a baggage train, an army cannot operate far from its garrison.

Rarity/Cost: Rarity 6 / 2,000 koku

Applies to: Entire army

Effect: Reduce the TN of monthly checks to maintain this army by 2 (to a minimum of 1).

Battlefield Medical Supplies

Giving soldiers the means to staunch minor injuries can help keep an army in the field, curbing infection and the spread of disease. For the rules of a single character using this item, see page 90.

Rarity/Cost: Rarity 3 / 50 koku

Applies to: One cohort

Effect: When a character leading this cohort removes 1 or more casualties from the army, they remove that amount of casualties plus 1 instead.

Nagae Yari

Needle-pointed spears arranged in a hedge are an imposing sight for anyone, even heavy cavalry. For the rules of a single character using this item, see page 88.

Rarity/Cost: Rarity 6 / 1,000 koku

Table 3–6: Army Maintenance Check Results

CHECK RESULT | EFFECT

Success with one or more bonus successes

Remove casualties and panic from the army equal to your ranks in Government, plus 2 per bonus success.

Success | Remove casualties and panic from the army equal to your ranks in Government.

Failure with 1–3 shortfall

The army receives panic equal to your shortfall. If the army’s panic exceeds its discipline this way, reduce the army’s panic until it is equal to its discipline. However, the army refuses to fight for the next month.

Failure with 4–6 shortfall

The army receives panic equal to two times your shortfall. If the army’s panic exceeds its discipline this way, it breaks apart into multiple chunks. These new armies and warbands spread across the countryside, pursuing their own agendas or even turning to banditry.

Failure with 7+ shortfall The army revolts, and attempts to overthrow its commander and their leaders. Chaos ensues, and the commander must fight for their life, negotiate, or flee to survive!

Applies to: One cohort

Effect: When an enemy leader performs an Attack action check against this cohort, they treat all terrain as Dangerous terrain (see page 267 of the core rulebook).

Tetsubishi

Designed to ruin the feet and hooves of enemy troops and horses, tetsubishi are iron caltrops make the prospect of attacking a unit extremely unpleasant. For the rules of a single character using this item, see page 91.

Rarity/Cost: Rarity 4, 100 koku

Applies to: One cohort

Effect: As a Movement and Support action, the leader of this cohort may deploy tetsubishi. Until the end of the next round, after the leader of a cohort (or army) with the cavalry or heavy cavalry rule performs an Attack action check targeting this cohort, that leader’s army receives 3 casualties and 3 panic.

Upgraded Armor

While investing in one’s soldiers’ armor is expensive, keeping troops alive for longer allows them to gain vital experience on the battlefield, making the army stronger as its members become more skillful.

Rarity/Cost: Rarity 7, 3,000 koku

Applies to: Entire army

Effect: If the army’s commander succeeds at the check to maintain the army, they add 2 bonus successes.