The Empire of the Rising Sun (3.5e Campaign Setting)/Honor
Contents
Honor and Alignment
In the Empire of the Rising Sun, alignment is significantly less important than in other campaign settings. This is partially because it follows the Tome rules, which point out that the Law/Chaos axis is entirely pointless, and partially because, in the empire, honor is more important.
What does this mean? Well, it means you can have a Chaotic Evil samurai who still follows his lord but is slightly eccentric, and you can have a Lawful Good rogue who lies all the time to "uphold the greater good" or something. It also means that the rules for honor presented here cannot be used for this campaign setting.
Honor in the Empire of the Rising Sun deals with how well a person adheres to the tenets of Bushido: Honesty, Courage, Compassion, Courtesy, Honor(as in honoring the dead and holy places), Sincerity, and Duty.
The Honor System
So how do we make it work in the context of the Tome rules? First, honor is measured in points, from 0-30. As mentioned above, there are 6 levels of honor, and it takes five honor points to gain or lose a rank. The five ranks are:
Honor 0-5 — Honorless: Being honorless means that you do not follow Bushido. Some honorless people are simply foreigners who do not know the culture of the Empire (like drow, who live in the Underdark), while others oppose the code on purpose (bandits, outcasts, some ninja and ronin).
Honor 6-10 — Untrustworthy: Untrustworthy people understand that, in order to live, they must be somewhat honorable. Untrustworthy people generally put on an honorable facade around others, but see little wrong in lying, cheating, stealing, etc.
Honor 11-15 — Average: People of Average honor believe in Bushido and follow it whenever they can. However, they do recognize that it is nearly impossible to be honorable all of the time. They have a strong sense of duty, but are willing to enjoy all the pleasures of life.
Honor 16-20 — Exceptional: Those with Exceptional honor are devoted to Bushido and do not usually go against it. They will, however, betray Bushido if their lord orders them to, which causes them anguish.
Honor 21-25 — Soul Above Reproach: A soul above reproach is fairly rare among samurai. He is absolutely devoted to Bushido, and almost nothing will come between his beliefs. A Soul Above Reproach will still betray Bushido for his lord, but those who do often ask permission to commit ritual suicide.
Honor 26-30 — Un-Freaking-Believable: Those with honor this high are rare. Those that are Un-Freaking-Believable are completely selfless, treats others how he expects to be treated, and never mistreats others unless they have proven to be dishonorable. They are so honorable that they will not betray Bushido, even for their lord's sake.
Gaining and Losing Honor
All characters start off with 11 Honor at first level, because they are Average and haven't done enough to be labeled yet. Any class that swears an oath or has a code of conduct (ie the samurai and knight) add 4 to their honor for obvious reasons, giving them a starting honor of 15. Characters who are part of a clan take their clan's starting honor score, plus any bonus honor granted by class choice.
Players should only be aware of their honor score when they create their character, reflecting how honor is up to others to decide and judge. After that, it should be handled by the DM, reflecting the highly personalized nature of honor. Players should be told when they gain or lose a level of honor, but should never be told their actual honor score.
Acts only count as honorable or dishonorable if they are witnessed by NPCs, or if NPCs hear of them (because there will be few peasants around when you slay a demon, but people will eventually know about it). Things that are honorable include, but are not limited to:
- Telling the truth, especially if it will result in repercussions
- Facing a clearly superior foe to preserve the lord/family's honor
- Helping a wounded foe
- Being honorable to someone you are at war with (On and off the field of battle)
- Fulfilling promises, especially if they are at a great cost
- Following your lord's orders, even when you disagree personally
- Avenging the death of a family member or your lord
- Defeating an ancestral enemy
- Saving someone's life
- Leading a victorious force in battle
- Completing a great quest or adventure
- Dying a heroic death
Dishonorable acts include, but are not limited to:
- Openly practicing a dishonorable Skill (DM's digression)
- Deliberate deception
- Disobeying your lord
- Instigating unwarranted violence
- Being accused or convicted of a crime
- Being taken prisoner
- Breaking an oath
- Losing a birthright, including ancestral weapons
- Losing a duel, especially against an inferior opponent
- Refusing a duel
- Treason
- Debt (of money or favors)
- Fleeing a fight
- Leading a losing force in battle (even if the loss had nothing to do with you)
- Using the weapons of peasants or ninja
As a general rule, it should be more difficult to gain honor then it should be to lose it. Doing an extremely honorable thing should not grant an extreme amount of honor points, but doing an extremely dishonorable thing may take away many honor points. You may not lose more then 9 honor points at one time for a single action, no matter how severe it is.
The Benefits of Honor
Whenever a mechanic like this is introduced, the first logical question the players ask is "Why should we care?" In order to make players actually want to get more honor, here's how it works: For every 5 honor points you possess above 10, you gain a +1 honor bonus to your command rating and all Charisma based skills, because people take your word more seriously.
Additionally, when a PC becomes a Soul Above Reproach, he may use suggestion as a spell-like ability once per day. When he becomes Un-Freaking-Believable, he may use charm person once per day. This reflects others admiration for the character.
Honor works both ways, however, and for every 5 honor points you possess below 10, you gain a -1 honor penalty to your command rating and all charisma based skills (unless, of course, you have the False Honor feat).
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