Rising Sun Campaign - Honor Rules

On, Shame, and Honor

One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness. - Imagawa Sadayo (1325-1420)

Personal (and Family) honor is a very big issue in Mythic Nippon. Status symbols that are important among other cultures-power, wealth and position- pale next to honor in importance in Nipponese culture. A character's deeds, good or ill, attest to the character's trustworthiness and decency. His honor, in turn, reflects on the honor of his family.

In HERO game statistics, honor should be treated as a extreme reputation. However, the character receives no points for this reputation; all characters have it and it's impact can be good or bad.

In the Rising Sun game, the general concept of honor is described by 3 different numbers. On represents positive impacts on personal honor. Shame represents negative impacts on personal honor. The difference of these two-On minus Shame-is called Personal Honor. These factors also have an impact on Family Honor.

Starting Honor

Every character has an amount of starting honor derived from their family and their profession. Roll a number of dice according to the character's social rank:

Social Class	Honor Dice
Upper Nobility (Kuge) Lower Nobility (Buke) Samurai (Buke) Ronin (Buke)	8D6 6D6 4D6 3D6*
Priest (Gakusho) Heimin Eta (Ninja)	2D6 2D6 1D6*

* -Ronin automatically receive a shameful event in addition to the 3D6; i.e., add one to the total, and subtract 1D6 as shame. This is the event which left the character or his family as Ronin.

** -Heimin who are Yakuza receive an additional shameful event in addition to the 2D6.

***-Eta who are ninja roll an additional D6 family honor and D6 family shame. This applies among ninja. Unlike most additional honor rolls, each honorable event that results from these rolls can result in further honor or shame.

When you roll you family honor, for any "1" that is rolled, roll another D6 and record the total of any such dice as family shame. This is, like personal shame, negative. This represents a shameful event in the family's past.

If a "6" comes up on the dice, roll another D6 and treat this as additional positive family honor. This represents a particularly positive event in the family's past.

Recording Family Honor and Events

Unlike personal honor, it is not necessary to record On, Shame, and Honor in 3 categories. Only the net family honor and individual family shames are important. The character's net family honor becomes the character's starting On. Unless the character has a background that indicates otherwise, the character's starting shame is assumed to be 0, so the character's starting personal honor is usually equal to the character's family honor as well.

The player may select honorable or shameful events for a PC's family, but such events should be appropriate to the character's family's station. The following are some sample honorable and shameful family events.

Some events are "great honors" or "great shames." These events usually result from combining 2 honors or shames. These are marked with asterisks.

Family Honors	Family Shames
Advantageous Marriage Ancestral Alliance Ancestral Feud Brilliant Artisan Business Classic Artist Famous General* Famous Holy Man Famous Minister Hereditary title Hero (Folk or Great Hero) Land (appropriate to station, sometimes) Merchant fleet Tragedy (especially one well endured) Imperial Bloodline*	Betrayal (Great Betrayal) Common Bloodline, for Buke (or Kuge) Criminal (For Buke or Kuge) Curse Defeated family (possibly*) Infamous Minister Infamous General Notorious Moneylender

Honor for Ninja

Ninja are normally considered by the bulk of the Nipponese populace to be bereft of honor. However, in their guises, they may gain honor among the common people. They also gain a separate allotment of honor that only applies among the ninja family.

Ninja with a secret identity roll family honor for their secret identity normally. One half of the personal honor gained in the ninja's assumed identity is applied towards their honor among the clan; doing a good job in disguise is worthy of accord among the ninja. Honor gained in their ninja guise or for ninja-specific events is applied directly towards the ninja specific honor scores.

Gaining On

On-positive personal honor-may be gained in a variety of ways. Regardless of the activity, in order for a character to gain On from an event, at least 2 people other than the character must know about the event.

Battle:

Defeating foes: defeating a foe is worth a base of 1 On for every 20 points of ability the foe has. This number is halved (round down), if the NPC is inferior in actuality (i.e., cp total) or in view of the character (e.g., a Samurai defeating a Yakuza.) Except in the case of notorious threats, only the character striking the killing blow receives these points.

Suffer wounds: the character receives one point of On for every two points of BODY damage received.

Courageous action: if the character performs courageous actions, such as charging archers or facing down superior odds, any of the above awards that apply are doubled.

Duels:

Winning a duel: This is worth the same points as defeating a foe IF the duel is not to the death. If the duel is to the death, the earned On is doubled, i.e., 1 for every 10 CP.

Iiajutsu duels: These are worth an additional 50%. Iajutsu duels require the duelists to have the fast draw skill. The first action in a duel must be a strike and all combat levels must go into OCV or damage. Both combatants are at ½ DCV in the first phase.

Breaking the conditions of a duel: This automatically earns the breaking duelist an amount of shame equal to one half of the On that could be earned from the duel. Cheating in a duel forfeits any On and also earns a full measure of shame equal to the honor that could be gained.

Losing a duel: Losing a duel does not, of course, gain the character any On. However, the character may, at the GM's option, allow the character to recoup up to one half of the shame that would be recouped by winning the same duel, if the conduct and prowess demonstrated by a character during the duel are exemplary.

Flashing swordplay:
    Flashy moves in a combat or duel may earn the character extra points. If the character takes a voluntary penalty throughout a fight, the character receives a an amount of On equal to the penalty per head taken. This bonus is halved against inferior opponents, and no On bonus should be allowed if there was no threat to the character.
    The HERO system is allows a great variety of feats in combat. An especially creative player who pulls some interesting stunts may earn extra On at the GMs discretion. A good guideline is 1 On per surprise bonus that the character receives from surprise maneuvers.

Defeating a notorious threat:
    Normally, the On for a battle or duel goes to the person who actually is involved with it. If, however, an NPC or monster is particularly notorious, actions leading up to the defeat of said foe may be portioned out to the party according to whose actions lead up to defeating the foe. The total should be the same as for combat, i.e., 1/20th of the CP total of the threat.

Specific actions:
The above are perhaps the most common methods for a character in a cinematic action campaign to gain On. However, there are a number of other opportunities for good role-players to gain On.

General On gains:

Action Value

Acquiring property
Avenging a family member
Completing a great deed 1+ 5+ 5+

Defeating an ancestral enemy
Each 10 xp gained by character
Fulfills an oath 2* 1 2+

Fulfills family debt
Giving great gift to NPC
Granting favor to NPC 7+ 1+ 1+

Heroic death
Making item of quality
Marrying into higher birth rank 10+ 1+ 2**

Mastering a skill (16-)
Risking life for another
Serving a great lord
Winning a contest 3 5 1*** 2+

* -In addition to any On from battle.
** -Per rank level of the family married into above that of the character.
*** -Per rank level of the lord.

Specific On Gains:

Gakusho: Value

Tending to NPCs
Removing a curse
Defeating Sohei / Yamabushi of a rival monastery
Forming an alliance with a Buke family 1 1+ 1* 2**

* -In addition to any On from combat.
** -Per rank level of family above the Gukusho

Bushi
(Samurai, Kensai, Ashigaru, Budoka): Value

Victorious against overwhelming odds
Forming an alliance with NPC family
Gaining Buke skill at 11-
Leading a victorious force in battle
Taking prisoners 3* 2+** 1*** 3+* 1*

* -In addition to any On from combat.
** -Plus 1 for each rank level above the character's
*** -Buke only

Ninja: Value

Completing a ninja mission 3+

Shugenja: Value

Creating a spell or magic items
(at GM's option, Shugenja may also use the
Gakusho list.) 1*

* -Per 5 active points

Yakuza: Value

Per 1 gold gained from theft or business*
Making accord with local Daimyo
Claiming territory from opposing gang 1 3+ 5+

* -The latter may pertain to legitimate businessmen.

The rank levels referred to are equal to the number of dice a character of that class receives for starting honor.

Note that most of the awards are listed with a "+" notation. Such ratings should be regarded as minimums. The GM can and should award higher On totals according to the situation. For example, giving a "great gift" to an NPC is very subjective. Giving a fancy fan to a pretty hiemin girl might be worth a point of honor. Presenting such a fan to the Shogun's daughter might even insult her unless it is very fancy indeed. Presenting a flamboyant fan of phoenix feathers to the Shogun's daughter might earn 2, 3, or more points of On-depending on how difficult it was to obtain.

Gaining Shame

To ask a question is a moment's shame; to remain ignorant is a lifelong shame -

As On is to be sought, shame is to be avoided. However, there is a drawback to having much honor: you are held to a higher standard. For each 10 points of On you have, you add at least one point to any and all shame awards you receive. This may not normally exceed double the base value of the shame award, but the GM may make exceptions. If your character is a bushi with 50 honor and enters into a debt, the character receives 8 shame instead of 3!

However, a shame (and the points associated with them) may often be removed, by methods of the GM's choosing. Usually, an insult may be avenged by a duel. Repaying debts remove the shame associated with them. And so on.

There are some events that are, on the other hand, very difficult to remove. The only way to avoid the shame of losing a combat is by committing seppekku. Likewise, great shames such as treason or objecting to a lord's actions may only be corrected in this manner. In the latter case, the shame of objecting to one's lord is transferred to the lord!

The following are some basic guidelines for shame "awards."

General Shame Awards:

Action Value

Accused of crime or dishonor (accurate or not)
Banished
Being taken prisoner 3+ 3+ 5+

Breaking an oath
Convicted of crime
Losing a birthright 3+ 6+ 3+

Losing a contest
Losing to a "rabble" NPC
Murder of a family member 1+ 2+ 5+

Uncalled for rudeness
Refusing a contest or duel
Requesting a favor
Treason 2+ 2+ 2+ 15+

Specific Shame Awards:

Gakusho / Sohei Value

Lesser pollution*
Greater pollution*
Losing the monastery's minyan** 1+ 3+ 5+

*- See the Gakusho package deal for details on what constitutes pollution for a Gakusho.
**- Only for Sohei or temple / shrine priests.

Bushi et al. Value

Losing a duel
Overindulgence
Refusing a duel 2+ 2+ 3+

Using a ninja weapon*
Entering into debt*
Fleeing a fight 1+ 2+ 6+

Leading a losing force in battle
Losing an heirloom
Refusing one's lord
Taking a Bribe* 3+ 5+ 3+ 1+

* -Buke only

Shugenja: Value

Lesser pollution*
Great pollution* 1+ 3+

*- See the section on Gakusho. These may also pertain to a personal taboo.

Yakuza: Value

Losing territory to rival gang
Discovered by police
Defeated by a commoner 3+
2+
1+

Effects of On and Shame on Family Honor

As a character gains personal honor, his honor reflect on his family. However, shameful events will hinder this effort. For each ten full points the character gains in On, the character's family honor goes up by one.

Shame works in a similar manner. However, shame tends to be more harmful than On is helpful to family honor. For each ten points, or fraction, of Shame the character accumulates, one is deducted from the family honor. In addition, any shame the character has subtracts from any On contribution the character has toward the family honor!

Impact of Personal Honor on the Character

There are 3 main ways in which personal honor impacts a character, game mechanics wise.

As mentioned earlier, a character's personal honor is handled much like a reputation in HERO game mechanics. The base roll is 8-. For each ten full points of On that the character gains, and for each ten full points of shame that the character gains, this roll is increased by +1. Thus a character who gains 40 points of On and 13 points of shame the character gains, the character has a reputation roll of 13- (i.e., the base 8-, plus 4 for On, plus one for shame.)

A character who becomes known for great honors will be sought out by followers and lords alike, perhaps even given gifts. A shameful character will be shunned by all.

A character's family also has a reputation, of 8-, plus one per 5 full points of family honor. It is perfectly possible that a beginning character will be an unknown member of his family. But since characters gain On and Shame faster than their families, it is likely that PCs will soon become more prominent than their families.

Second, honor is a central part of Nipponese life. If a player does not play his character appropriately (unless the player decided to make a despicable, dishonorable character from the outset) the GM should take this into account when awarding experience points. A Samurai who avoids a duel should not normally be awarded the character point bonus for good role playing. A Samurai who retreats from a battle and decides to just "live with the shame" is totally inappropriate role-play. Such a character should not only be denied a role-playing XP bonus, but be hit with the bad role-playing penalty as well.

Finally, upon the demise or retirement of a character, personal honor translates into karma. If the character's personal honor total is positive, that player's next character receives an equal amount of extra character points, up to the previous character's experience total. If the old character's karma exceeds its experience total, the new character receives a number of extra character points equal to the xp of the previous character plus one-fifth of the honor score over the character's XP total.

However, if the old character's honor total was negative, the new character must take disadvantages at least equal to the character's negative honor total, and does not receive points for these disadvantages! As you can see, it behooves a player whose character is accumulating a negative honor total to have that PC commit seppekku before that player's next PC becomes totally unplayable!

Recording Honor

The whole honor accounting system may seem a little complicated. However, I feel it will help enhance the environment of the game. In the HERO tradition, to help players keep track of honor, I offer this chart, which contains a capsule version of all the pertinent tabulations. It can be printed on the back of a character sheet and used to keep track of honor:

Family Honor	Family Name:
Starting Honor (SH)	FH bonus (FB) (On -Shame) / 10	FH penalty (FP) Shame/10	Family Honor (FH) = SH+FB-FP

Family Honors		Family Shames (and Value)

Personal Honor
On	Shame	Personal Honor =FH + On - Shame	Reputation Roll = (8 + On / 10 - Shame / 10 ) -


Record of Deeds:

Example of honor: Bob just completed making Ichikyo Rosei, a new PC samurai (not a member of the lower nobility). To determine his starting honor-and the honor of the family-Bob rolls 4D6. The rolls come up: 1, 3, 4, and 6. This gives him a base of 14 family honor. However, he rolled a one and a six. He must roll 1D6 and subtract it, and record a shameful event in the family's past, and roll another 1D6 and add it to the total, and record a positive event in the family's past.

For the shameful event, Bob rolls a 1. This is a pretty minor shame, so Bob picks a correspondingly minor blight on the family. Bob decides that one of his great uncles was a notorious moneylender who had gotten fed up with the some lavishly decked out successful merchants in his home village and decided to start his own usury... which he backed up with his katana. Bob records "notorious moneylender (1)," indicating that this deed is costing the family one honor, which may be corrected if Rosei comes up with a way to make amends for uncle Ichikyo's shameful behavior. Bob subtracts 1 from the family honor for a total of 13.

Now Bob rolls for Rosei's positive family event and rolls a 4. Bob decides that his great grandfather was a famous minister who once served the Shogun. He records "famous minister" under the list of family honors. It is not necessary to record how much family honor this was worth since one does not generally "correct" this sort of thing. Bob adds 4 to the family honor for a total of 17. Since he has no On or Shame yet, this is also his personal honor.

In his first adventure, Rosei serves a lord of the lesser nobility (worth 6 On), defeats three 40 point ninja (normally worth 2 each, but halved to one each since they are rabble), masters the KS: Painting skill (3 points), and paints a beautiful painting (craft quality item, 1 points) and presents it to a daughter of a local samurai (normally 1 point, but the GM decides it is worth an extra point.) He also gains 10 xp during his adventures, for 1 point. This gives him 16 On.

Since he has no Shame yet, his raises his family honor by one to 18. His personal honor is now the sum of his family honor and On: 18+16 = 34.

In the next session, Bob gets concerned about the possibility of Rosei getting injured in an upcoming battle. Rosei visits a Yakuza moneylender to get some extra money to upgrade his armor. This is normally worth 2 shame. However, the GM deems it especially inappropriate for a samurai of Rosei's status to be pandering money from the Yakuza, and inflicts 4 points of shame on Rosei instead. On top of this, such activities are truly beneath one of Rosei's personal honor. Since he has 34 personal honor, the GM adds another 3 to this shame award for a total of 7! Sheesh, what a guy has to go through for a spare koku these days!

For this amount of shame, he immediately inflicts the loss of one honor to his family for having Shame points. Further, the 7 shame also subtracts from his On's contribution to the family honor-from 16 to 9. This costs him a second family honor. His family honor is now 16. His personal honor is 16+16-7=25. Rosei's father is not going to be happy with him!

Action	Value
Acquiring property Avenging a family member Completing a great deed	1+ 5+ 5+
Defeating an ancestral enemy Each 10 xp gained by character Fulfills an oath	2* 1 2+
Fulfills family debt Giving great gift to NPC Granting favor to NPC	7+ 1+ 1+
Heroic death Making item of quality Marrying into higher birth rank	10+ 1+ 2**
Mastering a skill (16-) Risking life for another Serving a great lord Winning a contest	3 5 1*** 2+

Gakusho:	Value
Tending to NPCs Removing a curse Defeating Sohei / Yamabushi of a rival monastery Forming an alliance with a Buke family	1 1+ 1* 2**

Bushi (Samurai, Kensai, Ashigaru, Budoka):	Value
Victorious against overwhelming odds Forming an alliance with NPC family Gaining Buke skill at 11- Leading a victorious force in battle Taking prisoners	3* 2+ 1* 3+* 1*

Shugenja:	Value
Creating a spell or magic items (at GM's option, Shugenja may also use the Gakusho list.)	1*

Yakuza:	Value
Per 1 gold gained from theft or business* Making accord with local Daimyo Claiming territory from opposing gang	1 3+ 5+

Action	Value
Accused of crime or dishonor (accurate or not) Banished Being taken prisoner	3+ 3+ 5+
Breaking an oath Convicted of crime Losing a birthright	3+ 6+ 3+
Losing a contest Losing to a "rabble" NPC Murder of a family member	1+ 2+ 5+
Uncalled for rudeness Refusing a contest or duel Requesting a favor Treason	2+ 2+ 2+ 15+

Gakusho / Sohei	Value
Lesser pollution* Greater pollution* Losing the monastery's minyan**	1+ 3+ 5+

Bushi et al.	Value
Losing a duel Overindulgence Refusing a duel	2+ 2+ 3+
Using a ninja weapon* Entering into debt* Fleeing a fight	1+ 2+ 6+
Leading a losing force in battle Losing an heirloom Refusing one's lord Taking a Bribe*	3+ 5+ 3+ 1+

Shugenja:	Value
Lesser pollution* Great pollution*	1+ 3+

Yakuza:	Value
Losing territory to rival gang Discovered by police Defeated by a commoner	3+ 2+ 1+