Premise and Metagame

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3125
Month of the Dog

The Month of the Dog marks the first anniversary of Yasuki Ayame's rule over the Tango province on the Green Carp. The young governor had been nominated as the successor of her father after his thirty years of rule, overseeing the archipelago province. The islands of the archipelago are seen as an attractive destination by the Crab Clan and the other Clans of the Emerald Empire. Perhaps once the brightest star when it comes to being the Green Carp's centre of education and a prized resort destination, the islands have admittedly experienced a slight downturn in prosperity late into the previous governor's rule. Wanting what was best for the province's future, the governor stepped down and appointed Yasuki Ayame as his successor.

With Yasuki Ayame's new rule over the island, she has an ambitious vision of the future. She seeks to reignite the province as a prime destination and centre of commerce for the western oceans provinces. The Tango Provinces only need to find their spark to become one jewels of the Green Carp once again. The Yasuki of the province are in need of a new influx of commercial interest and customers, which can only be made possible with a new partnership. Governor Yasuki Ayame wants nothing off the table and has cast her net wide to all Clans to explore every possibility to revitalize the island to its former glory, both with the Crab Clan's current staunch allies and those they are traditionally less acquainted with.

Enterprising and shrewd samurai of all Clans have been approached with an invitation to stay at Shiawase Island, the major seat of governance of the Tango province. In order to qualify as a major business partner, each Clan representative must prove themselves capable, considerate, and, most importantly, have a large amount of capital to invest towards the future of the Tango provinces. Each representative of the other Clans will participate in various activities that highlight parts of the provinces' customs and the Governor's general interests, as well as some leisurely activities that may provide good publicity for the Silver Fin broadcasts along the way. Each success will further the Clan's agenda as a potential business partner, and in turn, convince their respective Clans to open their coffers to make a successful bid.

Local and visiting Crab will also participate in the events, but will instead utilize their resources and success to aid the other Clans of their choice as individuals. This would make each Crab Clan samurai in attendance act as a potential sponsor to aid in each Clan's bid to become a business partner with the Crab of the Tango Provinces. They could be instrumental in shaping their own Clan's future, and their favour will prove valuable.

Clans with the best relationship will start off with a sure foundation, while other Clans and traditionally less Crab Clan-friendly Clans will have to start from the beginning in making their bid. The Spider Clan will have the least amount of starting Bid Points, unsurprisingly. Player bids will be done as individual rolls once per session, and any successes will allocate progress toward their respective Clans. In the case of Crab Clan Samurai, they will vote with their successes toward a Clan of their choice. In addition, any Gentry businesses possessed by the characters will generate Bid Points once per session toward the bid, representing their Clan's financial foothold and leveraging them toward the bid. Some influential Crab Clan NPCs will have a small finite amount of Bid Points, which they might allocate throughout the game. Ultimately, a large majority of Bid Points will be earned through events, as the characters accumulate funds toward the bid or earn the trust and respect of the locals. Some events will award Bid Points through participation, placement, and/or achieving a minimum to pass the event.

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Bidding Rolls

Once per session, a character may attempt to make a bidding roll. A bidding roll represents a character's ability to aid in a Clan's bid to become a lucrative trading partner to the Crab of the Tango Islands. This represents the character's off-screen activities as they work within their Clan to procure more funds toward a bid, build a better standing with the locals, or convince others that they will make for a better partner in this joint venture.

This roll is done against a TN of 20 and characters may use the following skills for this roll: Courtier (Manipulation)/Awareness, Intimidation (Control)/Willpower, Temptation (Bribery)/Awareness, or Commerce (Appraisal)/Perception. On success, the character earns 1 Bid Point with an additional 1 Bid Point per successful Raise Called. For this instance, characters may choose to allocate these points anywhere they wish, even outside of their Clan. In most cases, characters are allowed to support another Clan, but these activities are done in public and characters are allowed to question other characters on their decisions. If a Character wishes to keep their support anonymous, they may make 1 Raised Call to mask their activities. Non-Crab Clan and Ronin must allocate these points on rolling.

Bidding Rolls are considered to be Social Skill Rolls made against samurai characters, but they are not Contested Rolls, meaning that techniques and advantages referring to Contested Rolls do not apply. They are also considered to be made against someone of the same rank or lesser rank. Benten's Blessing applies.

When making your rolls, please list the following in the description of the roller, Skill being used, Void usage, other modifiers, and Raises of any sort. Where the roll is allocated must be noted too, whether to their own Clan or another. We will be lenient for the first few in-character days and provide warnings, after that incorrect rolls will not be counted.

Temptation and Intimidation count as Low Skills, and using them causes the character to lose Honour as per the core rules.

Gentry

In addition to the once per session Bidding rules mentioned above, characters with existing businesses or mercantile operations will have some further weight on the bidding process. The Yasuki will recognize fellow merchant patrons and their represented businesses as a sign of confidence and their commitment to their willingness to do business. This can be leveraged to boost their appeal as a potential business partner. Based on the type of Gentry: Unique Holding the character may possess, a number of Bid Points will also be generated once per session. These Bid Points can be spent in the same way as a Bidding Roll, either toward their own Clan's interests or another's.

These points are generated with the once-per-session Bidding Roll and spent at the same time. Please note where they are going toward in your roll description.

• Small Unique Holding: 1 Bid Point generated once per session
  Medium Unique Holding: 2 Bid Points generated once per session
  Large Unique Holding: 3 Bid Points generated once per session

Please see the revised Gentry - Unique Holding rules here for full details.

Starting Bids

Each Clan will start with a different bid amount, showing their starting interest in investing in the Tango Islands commercially. This amount is determined by their political relationship with the Crab Clan, political prowest, and their economic wealth as a Clan. While the Crab Clan allies will start the game with a lead on the bidding process, this will naturally change with the involvement of Clan representative sent to Yasuki Ayame's to negotiate an attractive contract and build a better relationship with the locals.

Crane: 15
Dragon: 20
Lion: 10
Mantis: 15
Phoenix: 10
Scorpion: 20
Spider: 0
Unicorn: 10
Imperials: 20
MCA/Minor Clans: 5
Ronin (as individuals): 0

Crab Clan and Ronin Participation

The participation of Crab Clan and Ronin characters in the game will work differently. These characters will operate wholly as individuals, rather than representing their own Clan. As a result, they will be accumulating Bid Points on an individual basis with the once-per-session Bidding Rolls, Gentry Bid Point gains, and event participation wins. It is not the goal of any Crab Clan samurai to win their own contract, they are not looking to partner with themselves, but rather to use their accumulated points to invest in the bid of a respective partner in the bidding process. While some Crab Clan samurai will honour existing political allies, these samurai will be operating with their own independent opinions and judgment. Meanwhile, ronin characters will be operating as mercenaries, albeit with less influence. It will be up to other characters to petition for their favour, through character role-playing and negotiations.

In addition to their regular points, each Crab Clan samurai will accumulate Bid Points once per session equal to their Social Position Status, rounded down. For example, if a Crab Clan samurai should have 2.5 Status, they will be generating 2 Bid Points per session to use towards a bid partner of their choice.

To prevent surprise gameplay swings, both Crab Clan and Ronin characters are required to use all of their Bid Points at the end of Session 2 and Session 3.

Game Outcome

At the end of the game, the Clan with the most amount of Bid Points will be considered to be the most suitable business partner with the Crab Clan samurai of the Tango Provinces. While other Clans, depending on their standing, may also be rewarded with secondary standings for their efforts. The other Clans suffer no consequences for failing to lock in a contractor with the Tango Province and will merely have to focus elsewhere on the Green Carp for an opportunity.

Tie breakers will be determined by the highest starting Bid Points (as above), as traditional Clan politics edges out in negotiations. If there is still a tie, this is further determined by the most points awarded personally by the Governor and Hatamoto combined.

The Clan with the most Bid Points will secure a lucrative merchant contract on the Tango Province Islands. They will be given priority on merchant licenses on all the islands, the lowest legal taxes, and become a key partner in future projects to further development on all islands of the archipelago. Most importantly, with this secure standing, they will have the possibility to expand further in the Green Carp and be given a notable dock on the Skycarp so that they can be given a priority on shipping and trade. This contract is approximately 3 Large Unique Holding and 10 Medium Unique Holding Gentries.

The Clan with the second most Bid Points will have a say in the planning and development of the Tango Provinces. They will also be allowed to lease property and land to host businesses on the Tango Province islands. This comes with lower taxes and a second priority on leases not claimed by either Crab Clan or their key partner. Most of these contracts will be outside of the Lower City of Nakahama City, Mount Nakahama, Namigashira Bay and Azuma Beach. This contract is worth approximately 1 Large Unique Holding and 5 Medium Unique Holding Gentries.

Finally, any Clan or party may use 30 Bid Points for one lease on Shiawase Island. This will allow either an existing Gentry business/unique holding to open up a branch on the island and expand their operations as a chain or open a new business opportunity in hopes of taking part in the Tango Province's future economic prosperity. For reference, this will be equivalent to 12-point Gentry Unique Holding, if the Clan member or party in question does not own a Gentry themselves. If they already own a Gentry Unique Holding, they will be upgraded to an 18-point Gentry Unique Holding instead.