What is Influence?
Definition
Influence is the currency by which a player or group of players can manipulate the overall workings of the court. The time of the great and powerful within any court is limited, and even minor leaders have have very many people who demand their time and request services of them. A low-ranked samurai could hardly request an audience with a Clan Champion without somehow earning the right to be in their presence. Influence is spent by players to buy anything from the opportunity to persuade a daimyo to listen to your plea, to requisitioning new provisions or guards, to earning that special invitation to the next Winter Court. Influence is earned by players by winning contests of wit and skill, by favorable gossip or glorious deeds, or by persuading influential peers of the righteousness of your cause.
Influence is not a personal status like Glory or Honor, and it is not a built cumulative achievement like Momentum for 5th Edition social scenes. As a currency, it can be earned, pooled, traded between characters, stripped, or given away. However it is only valid in a single court.
Starting Influence
That which is fashionable today may be out of fashion tomorrow. Each court, whether it last a week or all winter, has its own new influence pool. Influence does not carry over from court to court. It does, however, carry over from scene to scene, so as long as your character is a member of that court and that court is actively occurring, their influence remains.
A Samurai normally enters court with an influence in proportion to their current Glory.
Each Court has a threshold, and with Influence below that threshold, a PC would never be permitted to enter the court.
Definition
Influence is the currency by which a player or group of players can manipulate the overall workings of the court. The time of the great and powerful within any court is limited, and even minor leaders have have very many people who demand their time and request services of them. A low-ranked samurai could hardly request an audience with a Clan Champion without somehow earning the right to be in their presence. Influence is spent by players to buy anything from the opportunity to persuade a daimyo to listen to your plea, to requisitioning new provisions or guards, to earning that special invitation to the next Winter Court. Influence is earned by players by winning contests of wit and skill, by favorable gossip or glorious deeds, or by persuading influential peers of the righteousness of your cause.
Influence is not a personal status like Glory or Honor, and it is not a built cumulative achievement like Momentum for 5th Edition social scenes. As a currency, it can be earned, pooled, traded between characters, stripped, or given away. However it is only valid in a single court.
Starting Influence
That which is fashionable today may be out of fashion tomorrow. Each court, whether it last a week or all winter, has its own new influence pool. Influence does not carry over from court to court. It does, however, carry over from scene to scene, so as long as your character is a member of that court and that court is actively occurring, their influence remains.
A Samurai normally enters court with an influence in proportion to their current Glory.
- In 5th Edition, they start with points in Influence equal to their current Status + their Glory, divided by 20.
- In 4th Edition, they start with points in Influence equal to their current Status + their Glory + 2 - their Infamy.
Each Court has a threshold, and with Influence below that threshold, a PC would never be permitted to enter the court.
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Influence Modifiers
A glorious member of the Crane Clan might find their influence curtailed if they are trying to advance in the court of the Lion when the two clans are at war. Starting influence can be modified by the relationships between the faction the samurai is from and the faction to which the court belongs.
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Influence Thresholds
Each Court has a threshold of admission, and Samurai who do not fall within the threshold of Influence would never be able to participate in that Court. It is possible to win additional influence outside of that court in order to be permitted entry
If the Samurai meets or exceeds the Threshold Status, but does not have an Invitation to the court, they need to spend Influence equal to the minimum threshold Influence to acquire an invitation first, or they can have been granted one by a previous court, or as a reward for previous victories
If they choose, they can lower the cost of this influence by their status (status/10 for 5th Ed). If this reduces the cost of the invitation to 0, they simply declare they have an invitation and may enter. However, this results in a 2 point honor loss for their lack of courtesy in barging in without an invitation. |
