Ronin family names are rare, but they are not wholly unknown. They are most often created when the Emperor chooses to reward a ronin for an exceptional deed, such as Usagi helping to defeat the Bloodspeaker, Tsi creating a magnificent weapon for the Imperial house, or Yotsu rescuing the Emperor’s son. Usually, these families quickly gain the right to create a Minor Clan (such as Usagi becoming the Hare Clan) but on some occasions they continue as ronin families for many generations. Eventually such families either die out, become a Minor Clan, or get absorbed into another clan or family. For example, the Tsi eventually become the Oriole Clan and the Kaeru become a vassal family of the Ikoma. The Yotsu in the canonical L5R timeline have sworn fealty to the Seppun family and may be on their way to being absorbed by them.
A ronin family can also be created when a samurai family is officially disbanded but its members refuse to accept the judgment, clinging to their name and traditions while living as wave-men. The Akodo and the Usagi during the Clan War and Hidden Emperor eras are examples of this phenomenon, as are the Tsume in the Heroes of Rokugan era. Unless they can restore their reputation, these sorts of ronin families tend to die out within a couple of generations, both due to loss of faith among their members and enmity from clan samurai who consider their behavior improper.
Mechanically, a ronin PC who belongs to a ronin family must spend 5 Experience Points on Social Advantage: Ronin Family. This grants him the ronin family’s Trait bonus as well as social connections to the rest of the family— the GM may award a variety of bonuses and obligations in play based on such connections. Such characters still technically have Status of 0.0, but their name grants them a certain degree of respect from clan samurai that other ronin do not receive.
The ancient techniques of Togashi Kaze, which formed the basis for almost all modern Rokugani martial arts, still survive in a somewhat abbreviated form among the peasants of Rokugan and the monks of the Brotherhood of Shinsei. The technique is rare and those who know it usually pass it down privately to a few select students, preserving its secrets from the samurai who Kaze opposed.
The Guards are a ronin otokodate based in a remote town. They hire out their members to protect merchants and courtiers, earning funds to maintain themselves in reasonable comfort. In contrast to many ronin bands, the Guards are a fairly honorable group, and do their best to carry out their contracts honestly and successfully. In game terms, the Guards’ Wrath Technique can also be used to represent any group of reasonably honorable ronin who hire themselves out as guards or escorts.
Many ronin join local criminal gangs, where their skills can quickly bring them to a position of prominence. The infamous fireman gangs of Ryoko Owari have developed a technique for maintaining control of the patrons in the gambling houses and other dens of iniquity they control. This technique can also be used to represent any local crime lord who reigns over his own small territory like an underworld daimyo.
Nanashi Mura (“Anonymous Village”) sits on the edge of Dragon Clan territory near the vast Dragon Heart Plain. Imperial records indicate the village is a holding of the Dragon, and it is true they are responsible for its administration. In reality, however, the Dragon have always permitted the ronin who call the city home to rule the village’s affairs, so long as they meet their taxes and maintain peace in the region. The village is overseen by a council of ronin and their will is enforced by a group of warriors and magistrates known as the Eyes of Nanashi.
The East Wind is a benevolent ronin brotherhood devoted to protecting the common people of East Hub Village, a city on the outskirts of Otosan Uchi. The Eastern Hub’s primary role as a port ensures a constant stream of wealthy merchants, a breed that often suffers from mild paranoia and usually has excess funds to spend in protecting investments. The East Wind initially found gainful employment with such merchants and used their pay to purchase simple holdings of their own within the city.
The Claws of the Wolf are a small group of rather vicious vigilantes who subscribe to the ideals of Toturi Sezaru, an Imperial heir who lived during the mid to late twelfth century and whose death helped usher in the Race for the Throne. Sezaru was one of the most powerful shugenja of his age, and perhaps of all time, but struggled throughout his life with emotional detachment and borderline sociopathic tendencies. He never surrendered his honor, but came close on more than one occasion, especially during his ruthless and relentless hunts for members of the Bloodspeaker Cult.
Composed primarily of former Crane and Lion, the Tessen came together to attempt to protect the people of Toshi Ranbo, centuries before it became the new Imperial City. The constant changing of hands between the two clans left the city in a terrible state, often plagued by criminals who knew the clans were too busy with one another to bother hunting them.
Ruthless in the extreme, the mountain bandits known as Tengoku’s Justice could threaten the reputation of the Forest Killers as the most reviled bandits in the Empire if they
Inspired by the young and charismatic ronin Tawagoto, this group of ronin and peasants rallied together to protect the innocent people of Rokugan from the rash of violent peasant revolutions inspired by the mad monk Kokujin while the Great Clans were engaged in another war of succession. Eventually the clans recognized the threat and sanctioned Tawagoto’s activities, lending him aid to complete the task of hunting down Kokujin’s forces and destroying them.