Musical Horns, Ongaku no Ryoko

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Any questions, I'm happy to try and answer, though some things may be sekrit, depending on if Ryoko can return in future games.

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

Was she a shugenja in training, monk in training, or something else?

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Something else. Basically ogres on lore have a unique form of magic that isn't fleshed out *at all* in the books, so I was working with GM team to expand on that. As they are elemental creatures, it made sense for it to be a natural/instinctive sort of thing that she woke up through encountering ancestral remnants of when Ogres were a dominant civilization.

So basically she was becoming an ogre hag, but was gonna rebrand it because hag sounded kinda... nasty.

It most closely resembles Kiho from a fluff perspective, mechanically is resembles Sahir magic/Togashi Tattoos, but with a different spell selection.

It's not finished yet, but eventually might be.

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

Interesting! I'm always interested in new magic systems, if you want another head to bump ideas off of.

[Nozomi]

Any questions, I'm happy to try and answer, though some things may be sekrit, depending on if Ryoko can return in future games.

I just have to say that the longer her horns got, the cuter she got and the more alarmed Phi got because she was just "...should... should I be checking you with jade?!?"

What do you feel was the most surprising direction that things took for her? I know the magic element was a thing you were working through the whole time. So I'm curious about the surprising turns

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

I was surprised with all your description of the horns, that no one else mentioned they reacted to her powers.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

I was surprised with all your description of the horns, that no one else mentioned they reacted to her powers.

I know - I was waiting for literally anyone to point out her horns were changing color.

Any questions, I'm happy to try and answer, though some things may be sekrit, depending on if Ryoko can return in future games.

I just have to say that the longer her horns got, the cuter she got and the more alarmed Phi got because she was just "...should... should I be checking you with jade?!?"

What do you feel was the most surprising direction that things took for her? I know the magic element was a thing you were working through the whole time. So I'm curious about the surprising turns

Honestly the magic thing was sort of planned, but how it played out was a surprise - I knew something would kick it off, but not what.

As for the most surprising things... Ryoko was made to be a wannabe popstar, a cultural competitor, but this really wasn't the game for the plot thread, so her jealousy and musical focus (yes, I built a bushi with awareness 4, voice, a servant drummer, and 11 pts of exp spent on perform skills), so her bushi school was literally just a relic of me doing character creation and thinking 'she's a ronin, so I guess I pick a ronin path, and none of them are relevant for perform.' Tonfa seemed cool, and somewhat sheperdy, so I opted for that based on that alone. I was hoping her musical side would come out more, but it mostly ended up just being people cheering her on, so no epic rivalry yet.

The most surprising thing to me was how chill people were about the whole ogre thing - maybe if we'd had more seidou, but even the Nezumi were very relaxed around her, and I was expecting a lot of hostility on that front, that she'd need to prove herself more, so I was taken off guard by how quickly people accepted her.

The idea of her being romantically involved was, by and large, a joke to me, until it actually happened. That was a huge surprise to me, also, who she fell for. I 100%, if shown a cast list, would not have picked Yamadono as the one she'd be interested in, but after their first meeting where she decided he was a big sweetie and also a great dad, she was kind of smitten from there. She never had a dad, so that definitely fed into her seeing him being there for Matsu and finding that super attractive, which sort of started her down that path.

Interactions with the Jiyo, learning to read, being recruited so vigorously by two different Imperials who hadn't talked to each other, that surprised me as well, and was a part of what pulled her that direction. I really enjoyed those threads and I hope Ryoko was fun for people to play with - I know she was a bit of an oddball, but she tried her best.

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

I actually waited as long as I did to have Kyosei waiting to see how others reacted, and if you betrayed the group before approaching you. Perhaps wasn't obvious enough, but that was part of his reasoning. By the time he did, he was fairly confident you were just a strange looking person, perhaps under a curse.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

I think Ryoko's weirdness was downplayed by the fact we had so many weird people, and family of weird people, there.

Outside those already mentioned, any character you clicked with? I would have thought the musical/voice connection would have pushed you toward Saruko or Taochusu.

Interactions with the Jiyo, learning to read, being recruited so vigorously by two different Imperials who hadn't talked to each other, that surprised me as well, and was a part of what pulled her that direction. I really enjoyed those threads and I hope Ryoko was fun for people to play with - I know she was a bit of an oddball, but she tried her best.

We have a fun thread in the Imperial private forum that more or less goes like that:
"What's your plan with Ryoko?"
"Have her travel the Empire for the glory of Shiba."
"I mean, except for what I already suggested."
"Wait, when did you suggest that? I thought this was my idea."

[Taochusu]

Your rival has been defeated!

No more music with Taochusu and Ryoko

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

I actually have the Drums skill, but with a 2 trait, and 1 skill, you would have blown him away. He's about only good for background rhythm keeping.

[Ryoshun Mai]

Did you ever get to use the Scary Stick(tm)?

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Did you ever get to use the Scary Stick(tm)?

I did not. I spent that fight in defense mode, and attempting to grapple an evil spirit. Ryoko isn't the best at the fights.

Your rival has been defeated!

No more music with Taochusu and Ryoko

I know, it's sad. She liked him a lot, and really wanted him to join the Ongaku because she thought he'd enjoy having a home that traveled about and had music and companionship.

I think Ryoko's weirdness was downplayed by the fact we had so many weird people, and family of weird people, there.

Outside those already mentioned, any character you clicked with? I would have thought the musical/voice connection would have pushed you toward Saruko or Taochusu.

She never had a thread with Saruko, not even once. Not sure why. I enjoyed my thread with Taochusu but he was so nice she didn't actually click as a rival for him, so I ended up just planning to do an end of game music thread, but then he got dead.

[Nanzi]

I find most player/characters are pretty accepting of those disadvantages that would be pretty alienating in real life.

Mainly because being rude to someone usually means they don't want to have more threads of you being rude to them unless you make it fun.

[Ch’chit T’kkiri]

The most surprising thing to me was how chill people were about the whole ogre thing - maybe if we'd had more seidou, but even the Nezumi were very relaxed around her, and I was expecting a lot of hostility on that front, that she'd need to prove herself more, so I was taken off guard by how quickly people accepted her.

Along what Nanzi said, I wouldn't say Ch'chit was 'relaxed' around Ryoko... It was a matter of having bigger concerns than the stupid thing these humans had dragged along with them. Ch'chit thought very poorly of you in private... but OOC going out of my way to pooh-pooh the weird ogre girl didn't seem all that fun to play out. If I had been compelled to talk to Ryoko rather than just ignore her... there would have been less 'relaxed' vibes.

So keep that aversion to rat-people. It might save your life one day.

[Noriaki no Yamadono]

Thank you for being a wonderful RP partner. It has been great fun!

[Jiyo Sora]

Ready for the ogre-yak cavalry?

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ready for the ogre-yak cavalry?

I'm not sure we're there yet, but with any luck, soonish!

Thank you for being a wonderful RP partner. It has been great fun!

I enjoyed it - I didn't expect her to fall for anyone, but it worked out for sure. Yamadono was an interesting one for her to fall for, and I'm glad she can give him a peaceful retirement from the life of war smash into another sort.